Staying Secure on the Go with Seven Must-Have Firefox Add-Ons

When you're out and about with your laptop, you probably like to frequent spots where you know you can score easy access to the Internet via a hotspot. When you're outside your own home network, though, which you've probably secured with a password against strangers, you're often at your most vulnerable. You never know who you're sharing a network with.

Fifteen years ago the floppy disk was the most common vector used by malware writers to spread viruses, and in more recent years email has been the primary vector. But the trend now seems towards spreading malware and exploiting vulnerabilities using malicious code on websites to exploit browser vulnerabilities.

According to IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force team's 2008 Trend & Risk Report "the number of vulnerabilities affecting Web applications has grown at a staggering rate. In 2008, vulnerabilities affecting Web server applications accounted for 54 percent of all vulnerability disclosures and were one of the primary factors in the overall growth of vulnerability disclosures during the year."

To minimize the risk of succumbing to a Web-borne attack then, it's essential that you use the Web as safely as possible, and the first thing to decide upon is a browser. The two most popular choices are Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, and there's some debate about which one is more secure.

It's certainly true that Explorer is used by far more people than Firefox (due to it's being part of the Windows operating system) so one could argue that, all things being equal, choosing the minority browser is the sensible choice because it offers a smaller (and thus less tempting) pool of potential victims to malware writers.

Ensuring that the browser is up to date can help minimize security risks, but perhaps the most interesting feature of Firefox from a security perspective is the possibility of enhancing the browser's security with the addition of browser extensions or add-ons. Of course any add-ons risks adding new vulnerabilities, but if they protect against known problems at the expense of possibly adding as-yet unknown ones, then the trade-off may well be worth it.

With that proviso, here are some important add-ons to consider for anyone browsing the Web outside a trusted network and to protect against Web-based exploits as well as more general security risks. All are available from http://addons.mozilla.org.

1. NoScript

This Firefox extension allows the user to enable or disable Java, JavaScript, Flash, Silverlight, and other plug-ins (which could be malicious) for all sites unless the sites are specifically marked as trusted, which can be configured directly from the status bar. These settings can also be temporarily allowed on any given site without adding it to a whitelist.

NoScript also protects against Cross Site Scripting attacks, and ClickJacking (also known as UI Redressing) attacks that cause users to click on buttons that are obscured by other page elements.

2. CS Lite

This simple add-on allows users to selectively or globally block cookies from websites, and view edit and delete them directly from the status bar. It does for cookies what NoScript does for scripts and plug-ins.

3. ShowIP

ShowIP helps against phishing attacks by displaying the IP address of the current website in the status bar at the bottom of the browser. While this is of limited use in itself (unless the user happens to know the IP address of the Web site they want to visit,) right clicking on the IP address shown in the status bar brings up a number of options, including running a whois lookup to confirm the registered owner of the IP address concerned.

4. WOT (Web of Trust)

The WOT add-on gives a trustworthiness rating for sites that users visit based on feedback from other WOT users. The rating is accessible from a WOT button in the address toolbar.

The button itself changes color depending on the trustworthiness of the site, giving an instant warning when a user visits a site that may be a source of malware. For some sites, such as those rated dangerous, WOT brings up a warning screen with the options to proceed to the site, add it to a whitelist, or to find out more information about the nature of the dangers that other users have reported.

5. Foxmarks

There's always a danger with laptop computing that bookmarks for sites on your desktop computer won't be available on your laptop. If you then type in the address of the site manually there's the possibility that you could misspell it, and end up on a malicious Web site inadvertently.

Foxmarks (now called Xmarks) helps prevent this by syncing your laptop and desktop bookmarks, so you can access frequently visited sites via bookmarks that are known to work. Foxmarks can also sync Web site passwords (protected by a PIN) so that passwords stored on a desktop machine by Firefox's password manager are also available without having to write them down for use on the road.

This also makes it more practical to change passwords frequently and store them within Firefox without having to worry about keeping the password stores on different computers synchronized.

6. Master Password Timeout

Firefox has the ability to remember and enter passwords for sites you may visit, and these passwords can be protected with a master password. If the master password is long and not guessable but stored in your head (i.e. not written down) then having Firefox remember passwords can be a very secure solution.

The problem is that once the master password is entered Firefox gives you access to passwords without prompting for the master password until it detects five minutes of inactivity. This is a potential security risk if you leave the laptop unattended for a minute or two in a public place.

To prevent this, Master Password Timeout allows you to specify your own, shorter timeout period. The master password can also be "logged off" manually from the Tools menu once Master Password Timeout is installed.

7. FireGPG

The use of encryption and digital signatures are important ways of maintaining the security of communications that are sent over insecure channels such as the Internet when a VPN is not available. FireGPG allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign and verify the signature of text from within Firefox from a FireGPG item in the Tools menu. It also adds buttons to the Gmail Web page carrying out the same functions. Note: FireGPG requires that GnuPrivacyGuard (GPG) is installed on the laptop computer.

Exploring Office 2007: Working with Sequentially Numbered Tickets in Word 2007

Creating tickets and other sequentially numbered elements in Microsoft Word 2007 documents isn't an intuitive process. However, there is a built-in tool in Word that you can use to simplify the process. Using this, you can create documents with sequentially numbered elements such as a design that gives you tickets and ticket stubs with matching numbers.

» Create the Document

To see how this might be done, create a new Word 2007 document and choose Insert > Table and create a two-column, five-row table. Size the table cells so that the entire table fits the sheet of paper. To do this, drag the bottom border of the table downwards so it sits just above the bottom margin of the page. Click inside the table and choose Table Tools > Layout and from the Cell Size group select Distribute Rows.

Configure the starting number for the tickets — here we have used 1000

Drag the middle table divider to the left so that you have a small section on the left and a larger area on the right. Select the first column by clicking in the table and from the Table Tools > Layout tab choose Select > Select Column. Again, from the Table Tools > Layout tab on the ribbon, locate the Alignment options and click the Text Direction button to select a rotated option.

Format the tickets as desired — for example, you may want to remove the table border lines and type your text into the ticket areas on the right. Ultimately, you will print the pages and cut each sheet to create the 5 tickets and stubs.

» Number the Tickets

To add the ticket numbers, click in the top left cell, which is the stub for the first ticket. Choose Insert > Quick Parts > Field to display the Field dialog. From the Categories list choose Numbering, and from the Field Names list choose SEQ.

In the Advanced Field Properties area, click after the word SEQ and type ticketno. This is the name we are using to identify the auto numbering sequence — we must use this each time we refer to this sequence.

Click the Options button, select the Field Specific Switches tab, and select the \r switch. Click the Add to Field button and after the \r in the field codes area, type the number that you will use for the first ticket — 1000, for example. Click OK twice to end. If you see field codes instead of numbers, click inside the field code and press Shift + F9 to display the results rather than the field code itself.

The cell to the right gets the same number as the ticket stub value

This starts the numbering sequence by seeding the first number at 1,000. Click in the second cell in the first row, which is where the ticket number will appear again. Repeat the process and choose Insert tab > Quick Parts > Field and reselect the SEQ field.

Again, after the word SEQ, type ticketno and click Options > Field Specific Switches tab. This time choose the \c switch and click Add to field and then OK twice. The \c switch tells Word to insert the copy of the nearest number in this position so the same number will be repeated.

» Copying the Data

The field code from the second column of the table can be copied down to the cells below. Don't worry at this stage if the numbering isn't correct — it won't be. You will, however, need to add a different field code into the second cell in the leftmost column — this field code will be the next number in the sequence.

To do this, click in the cell and choose Insert tab > Quick Parts > Field and again select the SEQ field. Type the word ticketno in the field codes area and again choose Options > Field Specific Switches tab and this time choose the \n switch, which adds the next number in the sequence. Copy the contents of the second cell in the left column down to the other cells in the left column of the table.

The numbering may not look correct yet — to fix this, update the field codes by pressing Ctrl + A and then F9 — this selects the document and updates all field codes.

Security for the Rest of Us: An Industry Perspective on the Secure-Software Challenge

Developing secure software is easy! Just don't have any bugs. Oh, and use security APIs correctly, and make sure your software doesn't have any undocumented functionality or side effects, doesn't have race conditions, and doesn't use unsafe environment variables or any other input, for that matter. It also needs to mediate completely any access to any protected resource. The mediation must be tamper-proof, nonbypassable, and small enough to verify its correctness. Your software's security should support the users' needs. It should also be easy for users to figure out, set up, and inspect, even if they do it only once a year and don't bother to read documentation or stay up-to-date on the latest attacks and defense techniques. All this stuff must not affect your budget, development schedule, or, of course, the functionality of the software you're building (what the customers are really paying for!). Easy, huh?

Joking aside, while security was once a specialty of interest to only a few programmers, it's now a critical topic for almost all software engineers, project managers, and decision makers. This is not only because pervasive software insecurity has been in the news for the last several years but also because all software developers now feel the pressure (or at least expectations) from end users to deliver secure software.

Yet no company can afford to throw away all its existing software and redevelop it from scratch or retrain all software developers to be security experts. This is why we need methods, processes, and tools for improving the security of software created by a wide range of developers with a wide range of resource constraints, development methods, time-to-market schedules, contexts, and organizational and national cultures.

Historically, many publications specializing in security have focused on the development of software for security-critical domains (for example, military, safety critical, and government), where the production cost and time-to-market are, although nonnegligible, of secondary concern. Unlike those publications, this special issue focuses on creating and maintaining secure software by the wide range of developers who constitute the software industry—many who work in domains where cost (both production and maintenance) and time-to-market are the main driving factors.

What's special about software security?

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When most people think about software security, they think about authentication, encryption, and access control. All these security features are important, but security features alone don't make a system secure. A system's design and the techniques used to construct it have as much, if not more, impact on the system's eventual security. Why would an attacker break encryption if he or she can just exploit a buffer overflow? Why crack passwords if the attacker can bypass the authentication system entirely by typing a special URL into his or her browser?

When the Internet was younger, organizations tried to cordon off vulnerable software by putting up firewalls. A firewall would protect a vulnerable internal network from the ravages of the unruly Internet. The problem is that customers are increasingly demanding software that communicates and interoperates with other systems. Such programs must be designed and built so that they can handle attacks and intentional misuse.

Software vendors can't solve the digital security problem alone. They have to rely on secure networks and system administrators who think about security when deploying new services. Developers also have to rely on users to make reasonable choices about security. But developers can't just throw up their hands and treat security as someone else's job. Also, techniques for building high-reliability systems won't necessarily help developers build adequately secure systems. For example, redundancy is good for combating independent random events, but an attacker who can force a system to fail can often just as easily cause a redundant system to fail.

In this issue

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Getting security right is hard because an attacker—having virtually unlimited time—needs to find only one vulnerability in a system to succeed, whereas the defender—constrained in time—must ensure that the system has no weak points. Software systems are specifically difficult because of their inherent high complexity (Windows Vista, for example, is rumored to comprise 60 million lines of source code), connectivity, and extensibility. On top of that, software systems aren't linear or continuous, which makes their analysis and testing (either functional or security specific) even harder.

Security bugs themselves are harder to catch. They show up not only as a lack of required functionality (for example, missing authentication) but also as incorrect implementations (for example, easy-to-spoof authentication) or, even worse, as unintended, undocumented, or unknown "features" (for example, buffer overflow in authentication). Charlie Lai discusses several such unintended side effects of Java constructs in this special issue. His article, "Java Insecurity: Accounting for Subtleties That Can Compromise Code," examines three fundamental (and language-agnostic) coding guidelines that Java developers commonly follow to ensure their programs are safe: minimizing accessibility, creating copies of mutable inputs, and preventing the unauthorized construction of sensitive classes. But rather than focusing on the guidelines themselves, he explores the subtleties involved in applying them in Java and suggests approaches Java developers can use to account for them in their work.

But before developers can even have a chance to deal with design or implementation vulnerabilities, they need to properly collect and analyze security requirements. The right set of security requirements will lead to security features and an implementation focus that's appropriate for the job at hand, whereas the wrong requirements can lead to a never-ending cycle of security failures and associated finger-pointing. This nontrivial exercise gets even harder if developers who aren't security experts will manage the process. "Security Requirements for the Rest of Us: A Survey," by Inger Anne T�ndel, Martin Gilje Jaatun, and Per H�kon Meland, examines how people elicit and record security requirements for software projects. The authors present their own requirements methodology and argue for bringing security awareness to all participants in a software development project.

Another important security-specific activity that must be properly done during requirements and design phases is threat analysis—the analysis of what can go wrong. Even in theory, building a 100-percent secure yet usable system is impossible, without regard to budget and time-to-market constraints. So, developers must identify and prioritize threats to the system. Only then can they design countermeasures against the most critical threats and build them into the system. Jeffrey Ingalsbe, Louis Kunimatsu, Tim Baeten, and Nancy Mead reflect on their team's threat-modeling experiences at Ford Motor Company. In "Threat Modeling: Diving into the Deep End," they discuss how they applied the Microsoft Threat Analysis and Modeling process to a dozen projects, what benefits they realized, and what lessons they learned.

Despite all the advances in security technologies, development of secure software remains costly. For example, Microsoft has spent over US$200 million since 2003 on its Security Development Lifecycle, according to Steve Lipner, Microsoft's Senior Director of Security Engineering Strategy in Trustworthy Computing. The amount of investment in security is a risk management decision: what's the likelihood of an attack, and what are an attack's likely consequences? Estimating the answers to those questions is tricky. Shari Lawrence Pfleeger and Rachel Rue begin their article, "Cybersecurity Economic Issues: Clearing the Path to Good Practice," with a simple observation: time, money, and good people are always in short supply. So how much time, money, or effort should you devote to security? The authors explore how organizations search for answers and what obstacles they often encounter. They discuss how to gather the right data and make good trade-offs between cost and level of protection. They present a framework for comparing economic security models so that stakeholders can make the right investments in security.

Conclusion

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This special issue reports on the state of the practice and recent advances in engineering secure software for the wide range of industrial application domains. The articles explore practical and pragmatic ways of meeting this challenge; we hope you find them helpful in your work.

Konstantin (Kosta) Beznosov is an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He founded and leads the university's Laboratory for Education and Research in Secure Systems Engineering. He previously was a security architect with Hitachi Computer Products (America), where he designed and developed products for security integration of enterprise applications. He has also been a consultant for large telecommunication and banking companies on the architecture of security solutions for distributed enterprise applications. He's a coauthor of Enterprise Security with EJB and CORBA (John Wiley & Sons, 2001) and Mastering Web Services Security (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). He received his PhD in computer science from Florida International University. Contact him at the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Eng., Univ. of British Columbia, 4047-2332 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; beznosov@ece.ubc.ca.

Brian Chess is a founder of and chief scientist at Fortify Software, where he focuses on practical methods for creating secure systems. Secure Programming with Static Analysis (Addison-Wesley, 2007), which he cowrote with Jacob West, shows how static source code analysis is indispensable for getting security right. He received his PhD in computer engineering from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Contact him at 2215 Bridgepointe Pkwy., Ste. 400, San Mateo, CA 94404; brian@fortify.com.

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Computer Viruses, Worms and Hoaxes

In recent days, I was one of the unfortunate persons to receive the "Mydoom" worm emails. Not just one, but at least forty appeared in my popserver mailbox. As frustrating as it was deleting all of these nasty little boogers, I realized that some of these "worm" emails even came from persons I knew - or so I thought I knew.

The problem with the "Mydoom" email worm is that it specifically targets email addresses with the following extensions:

* .htm
* .sht
* .php
* .asp
* .dbx
* .tbb
* .adb
* .pl
* .wab
* .txt

Furthermore, it sends "get" requests to target domains and uses direct connections to port 80. It will also attempt to send email messages using its own SMTP engine. The worm is successful by using a mail server that a recipient uses or local server as well. Some strings to these target domain names are:

* gate.
* ns.
* relay.
* mail1.
* mxs.
* smtp.
* mail.
* mx.

The "Mydoom" worm will have subject headings such as:

* "Returned Mail"
* "Delivery Error"
* "Status"
* "Server Report"
* "Mail Transaction Failed"
* "Mail Delivery System"
* "Hello/hello"
* "Hi/hi"

What persons need to realize is that even if you "know" the sender, you must make absolutely sure that any attachments are specifically clarified from the sender before you attempt to open these suspect emails. Most worms and viruses are spread directly through attachments. Unless you are expecting an attachment from a person you know, be cautious. Do NOT open attachments unless you are absolutely positive that your known correspondent has actually sent it to you. Another thing to remember is that the "Mydoom" worm ranges from 6,144 bytes to 29,184 bytes in size and can affect Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. Luckily, if you have DOS, Linux, Macintosh, OS/2 or UNIX, your systems will not be affected by the MyDoom For those of you who share files through Kazaa, there is a new worm with aliases such as Worm.P2P.Apsiv (Kaspersky) and W32/Apsiv.worm!p2p (McAfee) and seemingly affects Windows systems 2000, 95, 98, Me, NT, Server 2003 and Windows XP. The damage profile has not yet been assessed, but it would be a good idea to steer clear of this one as well.

"Keylogger.Stawin" is probably one of the nastiest viruses as it attempts to steal a user's online banking information. A Trojan is distributed through email messages with the subject line, "I still love you," and has a "message.zip" attachment. Affecting the same vunerable systems as mentioned above, Keylogger records keystrokes and has the ability to steal personal, financial information. A few systems that Keylogger monitors are window titles such as "PayPal," "Logon," and numerous other window titles associated with banking logins.

Common Hoaxes

A popular hoax circulating the Internet is an email titled, "FREE M &M's." Sorry guys - no M & M's here. More recently, you may have received the "Life is Beautiful" virus ... er, hoax. The "Life is Beautiful" virus is not real and should be ignored. This is only a scare tactic that causes unwarranted fears and concerns.

In closing, the Internet is a massive electronical world filled with infinite bits of information. When using your "key" to this magnificent but vast window of versatile knowledge, it pays to use logic when distinguishing hoaxes from real threats such as viruses and worms. To learn more about current viruses and worms, go to: http://search.symantec.com/custom/us/query.html
For an updated listing of current email hoaxes, go to: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html

About the Author

(c) 2004 Lady Camelot - Public Relations' Director for www.holisticjunction.com

Become a Business Member at HolisticJunction.com today! Your choice for today's Internet advertising and marketing venue. Click here: membership@holisticjunction.com and be a vital part of our community today!

articles resources

http://computerarticles.net/articles/Computers/Computer-Viruses-Worms-and-Hoaxes.html

Antivirus Software – Get The Bugs Before They Get You!

You turn on your computer, and it doesn’t look quite right. Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is wrong. Some options are disabled. Even worse, you may not be able to boot your computer up at all. Guess what – it’s probably got a virus.

In today’s online world, protecting your computer from all the nasty things online is vital. Viruses can cause obvious issues, as described above, but they can also run silently in the background, propagating themselves across your computer and transferring on to the computers of people you know. Mostly, you only know you have a virus when substantial damage has already been done.

Some common signs of a virus include:

-Programs working erratically
-Computer locks up
-Greyed out options
-The browser home page has changed
-Icons have changed
-Difficulties starting up the computer

There is a solution! Antivirus software is readily available, and the good ones are very efficient at dealing with viruses in all their many and varied mutations. Basically, if you’re online, you need this type of software.

So which one do you choose? For starters, be careful of using something free off the internet, particularly if it’s one you’ve never heard of. Sometimes these programs are a way of implanting more viruses on your computer. Some of the better known brands give you the option of doing a free scan online, which is useful, but not a long term solution.

It’s really important to choose well-known antivirus software. Ask friends, or someone computer savvy, for their recommendations. It may be worth visiting a computer store and buying it there, rather than online – after all, if they’ve gone to the trouble of stocking it, it’s most likely an established and trusted product.

There are plenty of good brands available, far too numerous to list here, but some of the best known are from McAfee, Norton and Trend. Check out the support available to you – can you contact someone if you have trouble installing the software?

Most importantly, make sure there’s an easy way to update the software on a regular basis (preferably as part of the purchase cost!). For example, my antivirus software pops up a little box every time an upgrade is available. I click okay, and it’s automatically downloaded to my computer. Viruses change and develop at an alarming rate, so it’s vital to keep your antivirus software up to date.

Finally, the all-important backup! The word “backup” tends to produce the same glassy eyed response as the word “budget”, but it really is an essential part of being online. Regularly backup your important files to CD or DVD. If you’re a business user, an automated and frequent backup process is vital. Once a virus has destroyed your computer, it’s too late.

Being online is wonderful, but don’t let it become a nightmare. Antivirus software will play a vital role in keeping your online experience a positive one.

Copyright Felicity Walker

About the Author

Keeping her computer running smoothly is a priority for the author! To find out more, check out http://www.antiviruszoneonline.com for more information.

articles resources http://computerarticles.net/articles/Computers/Antivirus-Software-Get-The-Bugs-Before-They-Get-You.html

9 Steps to Protect your MS Windows System from Viruses

Nowadays as the Internet and other networks are greatly developed computer viruses are distributed rapidly and intensively. Everyday several new viruses capable to damage considerably your computer system arise. Anti-virus specialists work hardly to make updates their software against new viruses as soon as possible. The viruses can get inside computer in different ways. That is why there is no simple method to protect system. Only series of measures can give you reliable protection from the infection. Below are 9 steps to protect MS Windows based PC system from viruses.

1. Make regular backups. It should be said that there is no absolutely safe way of protection. Virus creators regularly find holes in new computer products to use them for infection of computer systems. Some dangerous viruses can considerably damage data files or even erase entire file system. Make regular backups of your data files to separate file storage device. It can be separate hard drive, flash card, compact disc or another file storage device which you choose. To ease the procedure you can use some automatic backup software. And be ready if the system will die because of virus infection.

2. Be ready to reinstall your system if it dies because of viruses. Get distributives of your operation system and distributives of software which you use and keep them together, for instance, on a set of CDs not far away from you. In this case if virus infection will cause unrecoverable system failure you can rapidly reinstall your working medium.

3. Protect your network connection with Firewall. Firewall is a software which blocks suspicious potentially dangerous connections to preventing viruses from network to penetrate into your system. Windows XP system has quit simple but reliable built-in firewall. You can enable it as follows. 1) in Control Panel, double-click Networking and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. 2) Right-click the connection on which you would like to enable firewall, and then click Properties. 3) On the Advanced tab, check the option to Protect my computer and network.

can get and install more advanced firewall software like Norton Personal Firewall or Outpost Firewall. If you use this software you have ability to permit or to block particular connections and to monitor network activity.

4. Use antivirus software. Install antivirus software which will scan your system searching and erasing viruses on a regular basis. Leaders in antivirus software products for Windows systems are Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and PC-cilin.

5. Regularly update operating system. Windows XP has built-in automatic update service. It regularly contacts Microsoft server to find updates and notifies you if updates are ready to be installed. Updates are important because hackers regularly find holes in operating system which are often used by virus creators.

6. Don't install and don't run suspicious software. Check new programs which you are going to install with anti-virus software. Don't download software from suspicious websites. To download software always seek website of software creator or official distributor. Do not open applications received by email from unknown persons.

7. Limit access to your computer. Protect enter to system with password.

8. If you use Internet Explorer, consider moving to another browser. As IE is the most distributed browser today virus creators actively use defects in its security system to infect computers. Infection may arise if you will visit webpage which contains invisible harmful code. You are more safe if you use less known browser only because virus creators do not pay much attention to it. Major IE competitors Firefox and Opera browsers provide now the same comfortable interface and range of services for working on the Web.

9. Use spam protection. Viruses are often distributed via email. Switch on spam filters in your email box to block spam receiving. If you need assistance with using of the filters you can ask your email service provider.
About the Author

Evgeny Kovalenko is the Editor of FSSD computer software directory with free submission service for software developers and distributors.

articles resources http://computerarticles.net/articles/Computers/9-Steps-to-Protect-your-MS-Windows-System-from-Viruses.html

Pirated Trojan-Infested Windows 7 RC Builds Botnet

Malicious code piggyback riding the latest major Build of Windows 7 is estimated to have infected approximately 30,000 users. The malware was bundled into the code of the operating system, a scenario on which Microsoft had provided warnings to users in the past. Leaked builds of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) Build 7100 available in the wild have become as common as the actual official interim milestones dogfooded (tested internally) by Microsoft. The Redmond company has not been shy of warning customers to keep clear of Windows 7 leaked bits from illegal third-party sources, especially BitTorrent trackers, and for good reason. Security researchers at Damballa have revealed that pirated, Trojan-infested copies of Windows 7 have been used by attackers to build a botnet, a network of compromised zombie computers under the control of the malware authors.

Tripp Cox, Damballa vice president of engineering, has indicated that the command and control server of the botnet built with the Windows 7 Trojans has been identified and shut down. "Since the pirated package was released on April 24th, my best guess is that this botnet probably had at least 27,000 successful installs prior to our takedown of its CnC command and control on May 10th," Cox explained, according to Alex Kochis, the director of Windows Genuine, pointed out that “leaked Windows 7 RC files that were obtained through bittorrent have been found to have been infected with a trojan. I say that I shouldn't be surprised because in research we supported a couple of years ago we discovered that the typical methods that someone would use to find and obtain unlicensed software (much of it over bittorrent) exposed users to significant risk from trojans and other malware.”

The domain name "codecs.sytes.net" was used for the command-and-control server of the Windows 7 Trojan botnet, Damballa researchers informed. When the CnC was switched off, the rate of infections exploded to no less than 552 users per hour. The Damballa security experts explained that the Trojan built into Windows 7 was designed to download and install additional malware.

"The pirated software is the social enticement initially, and the second state is downloading additional packages of malware installed and distributed via the Trojan on a pay-per-install arrangement," Cox stated, as quoted by DarkReading. Because it is deeply buried into the operating system, and due to yet immature security solutions for Windows 7, end users have little chances of fighting the malicious code.

"We continue to see new installs happening at a rate of about 1,600 per day with broad geographic distribution. Since our takedown, any new installs of this pirated distribution of Windows 7 RC are inaccessible by the botmaster. The old installs are accessible. The countries with the largest percentage of installs are the U.S. (10%), Netherlands (7%) and Italy (7%),” Cox added.

On May 11th, security outfit Trend Micro confirmed TROJ_DROPPER.SPX and TROJ_AGENT.NICE as two pieces of malware associated with pirated copies of Windows 7. No official confirmation was provided on whether the Windows 7 Trojan detected by Damballa was the same as the one identified by Trend Micro.

“A file being hosted in popular torrent sites posing as a copy of the Windows 7 RC was found to be a Trojan by security researchers. The file which arrives with the file name setup.exe is detected as TROJ_DROPPER.SPX. TROJ_DROPPER.SPX drops TROJ_AGENT.NICE. Both files are detected by the Smart Protection Network. Windows 7 Release Candidate was leaked a couple of weeks prior to the official release, and was also hosted by and downloaded from popular torrent sites,” explained JM Hipolito, Technical Communications.

Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) Build 7100 is at this point in time available for download via Microsoft's official and secure channels. Users will also be able to get product keys to activate the operating system, also from the Redmond company.
information http://news.softpedia.com/news/Pirated-Trojan-Infested-Windows-7-RC-Builds-Botnet-111445.shtml

AVG Internet Security 8.5 for Windows 7

AVG Internet Security 8.5 Build 336a1515 is the latest security solution from AVG tailored to Windows 7. The software is among the products recommended by Microsoft on the Windows 7 security solutions webpage, even as the operating system is in Release Candidate stage with Build 7100 available for public download since May 5th, 2009. According to AVG, AVG Internet Security 8.5 is designed to play nice not only with Windows 7, but also with previous releases of Windows, namely Windows XP and
Windows Vista. The latest version of AVG Internet Security is part of an update the security outfit introduced to its lineup of products, including AVG Free Edition and AVG Anti-Virus, which have also been bumped up to version 8.5.

“AVG Internet Security provides multiple layers of protection to ensure nothing slips through,” reads and excerpt from the product's description. “Identity Theft Protection prevents new and unknown threats from stealing your personal information like bank and credit card details. LinkScanner checks every link, making sure you're safe searching the internet and surfing the web, minimizing the risk of you accidentally visiting a poisoned web page. Web Shield detects and blocks malware threats in file downloads and instant-messaging conversations.”

As is the case with all modern security solutions, AVG Internet Security 8.5 offers complex tiers of protection against a variety of threats including viruses, spyware, rootkits, spam and phishing. According to AVG, its security solutions are run by in excess of 80 million customers worldwide. The promise from the security company is that the real-time protection offered by AVG will thwart treats associated with malicious files and applications, but also emails, instant messaging and P2P (peer-to-peer) communications, online transactions and even search results.

Users have the option to grab AVG Free Edition 8.5 and AVG Anti-Virus 8.5, but AVG has only nominated AVG Internet Security 8.5 as offering support for Windows 7.


AVG Internet Security 8.5 Build 336a1515 is available for download here.
AVG Antivirus Professional 8.5 Build 336a1515 is available for download here.
AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall 8.5 Build 336a1515 is available for download here.
AVG Free Edition 8.5.329.1515 is available for download here.

32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 (Release Candidate) RC Build 7100.0.090421-1700 is available for download here.
website information http://news.softpedia.com/news/AVG-Internet-Security-8-5-for-Windows-7-111468.shtml

New Video Converter for Mac Website Launched

March 30, 2009 -- iFunia, a leading company in Mac video conversion technologies, announces the launch of their website, http://www.iFuniaVideoConverter.com. The site offers many easy-to-use Mac video conversion programs, developed specially for Mac OS X users to convert their video portable and handy. Users will be entitled to have their popular video files converted to any other video formats for enjoying on iPod, iPhone, PSP, AppleTV and more portable players.

iFunia recognizes the fact that Macintosh users undoubtedly remains the most widely used video conversion format today. Its use stems out of the fact that it is a mainstream trend and can therefore help users quickly and easily convert video on Mac OS X.

Beside the featured all-in-one Video Converter for Mac, iFuniaVideoConverter.com also provide iPod Video Converter for Mac, iPhone Video Converter for Mac, PSP Video Converter for Mac, Apple TV Video Converter for Mac, MP4 Video Converter for Mac, Free Youtube Downloader for Mac and Youtube Converter for Mac. All of those developed for niche market and meet users' needs exactly.

The file conversion technology at iFuniaVideoConverter.com works for all kinds of video from video download websites including YouTube.com, MySpace.com, gofish.com, Break.com, google.com megavideo.com, metacafe.com, vimeo.com.

Consumers who avail themselves of this website will derive lots of benefits. They would be able to get free trial versions of Mac video conversion software that they can evaluate them first. Furthermore, users will be pleased with the simple, friendly interface, the quick conversions and fast processing.

About iFuniaVideoConverter.COM This is a new site that allows you to convert all types of videos on iPod, iPhone, PSP, Apple TV, MP4 and much more. Feel free to go to the site and download the trial versions. We have created this for all the Mac lovers out there.

About the Author

About iFuniaVideoConverter.COM This is a new site that allows you to convert all types of videos on iPod, iPhone, PSP, Apple TV, MP4 and much more. Feel free to go to the site and download the trial versions. We have created this for all the Mac lovers out there.

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1502981

How Spywares and Malwares Can Mess up Your Life

Spyware are programs that are installed on computer systems generally without the user's knowledge or consent. Spyware are small pieces of software design to do a number of different things but they overall effect is that they compromise your online safety, security and personal privacy. They are a major threat next to Viruses and install on users pc without their permission and can perform tasks ranging from redirecting your web browser to porno sites to logging every word you type on your keyboard.

Users frequently notice unwanted behavior and degradation of system performance. This is generally the sign of a spyware infestation. These can create significant unwanted CPU activity, disk usage, and network traffic. Removing viruses and spyware completely can be time-consuming and require a degree of technical expertise. On the other hand, ill-considered panic measures can cause more damage than a virus. So that is why it is best to use a trusted software to guard your system from new spyware and remove any existing spyware that may already be present on the system.

Spyware generally enter your PC via infected websites or through some software you downloaded. It may also be present in a zip archive attached to your email. The best way to protect yourselves from these are by using a spyware remover that has an active guard function.

The owners of most of the sites that are infected don't even know about it and consider that their site is working properly but infact with every load of their site they are infecting a new visitor. Sites need help from everyone to stay current. If you find any spyware or unlabeled adware on sites that care about such things, please contribute to the Privacy cause by sending a polite note to the site owner explaining how you found a spyware in their site. Again, this can only be done if you have a spyware scanner with an active guard function. When an infected site loads up, the spyware guard will know of the incoming infection. It will stop the process and notify you, in turn you can notify the owner of that website so that he can get it fixed.

Removing these adware/shareware programs can be very difficult and sometimes complicated to search out all the hidden components and cookies and will require additional assistance. In addition, since most adware programs are bundled & included with other freeware or shareware programs removing the adware can disable the parent freeware program making them inoperable so be prepared to remove or replace the offending freeware program as well. Other signs of its presence are fake firewall notifications saying that your IP is interacting with another IP through Internet. Remove one autoplay entry for some of these products, restart the computer, and it will come right back. There are multiple starting points, all checking for and repairing each other, so that professional cleanup tools are needed to root out all the infected parts of the software at once.

A lot of people don't know the difference between a spyware, an adware and a malware. So it is important that you know the difference between the three. This will help you understand the infection better and will help you in the scanning and clean up process.

Spyware need no further explanation as it has been explained in detail already. Now adware on the other hand are not basically a threat. They are simply advertisement supported softwares. These are usually present in free softwares where the user "agrees" to install a program that is free and ad supported. These ads will only run in the program or while the software is running. Since the user agreed to have such a free software installed, this software cannot be classified as a thread. An example of adware software is the popular downloader DAP. While running DAP will display banner ads in a corner of its own window.

Malware is any program designed to cause problems with the normal use of a computer or for the user of that computer. Examples of malware include viruses, Trojan horse programs, and certain forms of hijacking spyware. Malware refers to more malicious programs that can rob your PC of its ability to run efficiently, and put you in danger of financial loss and even identity theft. The most harmful forms can collect, use and distribute your personal information, like banking passwords and credit card numbers.

About the Author

If you too are a spyware hater then you should check out my blog Spyware Haters. You can also download the software, SpyZooka from there.

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1500308

How Spywares and Malwares Can Mess up Your Life

Spyware are programs that are installed on computer systems generally without the user's knowledge or consent. Spyware are small pieces of software design to do a number of different things but they overall effect is that they compromise your online safety, security and personal privacy. They are a major threat next to Viruses and install on users pc without their permission and can perform tasks ranging from redirecting your web browser to porno sites to logging every word you type on your keyboard.

Users frequently notice unwanted behavior and degradation of system performance. This is generally the sign of a spyware infestation. These can create significant unwanted CPU activity, disk usage, and network traffic. Removing viruses and spyware completely can be time-consuming and require a degree of technical expertise. On the other hand, ill-considered panic measures can cause more damage than a virus. So that is why it is best to use a trusted software to guard your system from new spyware and remove any existing spyware that may already be present on the system.

Spyware generally enter your PC via infected websites or through some software you downloaded. It may also be present in a zip archive attached to your email. The best way to protect yourselves from these are by using a spyware remover that has an active guard function.

The owners of most of the sites that are infected don't even know about it and consider that their site is working properly but infact with every load of their site they are infecting a new visitor. Sites need help from everyone to stay current. If you find any spyware or unlabeled adware on sites that care about such things, please contribute to the Privacy cause by sending a polite note to the site owner explaining how you found a spyware in their site. Again, this can only be done if you have a spyware scanner with an active guard function. When an infected site loads up, the spyware guard will know of the incoming infection. It will stop the process and notify you, in turn you can notify the owner of that website so that he can get it fixed.

Removing these adware/shareware programs can be very difficult and sometimes complicated to search out all the hidden components and cookies and will require additional assistance. In addition, since most adware programs are bundled & included with other freeware or shareware programs removing the adware can disable the parent freeware program making them inoperable so be prepared to remove or replace the offending freeware program as well. Other signs of its presence are fake firewall notifications saying that your IP is interacting with another IP through Internet. Remove one autoplay entry for some of these products, restart the computer, and it will come right back. There are multiple starting points, all checking for and repairing each other, so that professional cleanup tools are needed to root out all the infected parts of the software at once.

A lot of people don't know the difference between a spyware, an adware and a malware. So it is important that you know the difference between the three. This will help you understand the infection better and will help you in the scanning and clean up process.

Spyware need no further explanation as it has been explained in detail already. Now adware on the other hand are not basically a threat. They are simply advertisement supported softwares. These are usually present in free softwares where the user "agrees" to install a program that is free and ad supported. These ads will only run in the program or while the software is running. Since the user agreed to have such a free software installed, this software cannot be classified as a thread. An example of adware software is the popular downloader DAP. While running DAP will display banner ads in a corner of its own window.

Malware is any program designed to cause problems with the normal use of a computer or for the user of that computer. Examples of malware include viruses, Trojan horse programs, and certain forms of hijacking spyware. Malware refers to more malicious programs that can rob your PC of its ability to run efficiently, and put you in danger of financial loss and even identity theft. The most harmful forms can collect, use and distribute your personal information, like banking passwords and credit card numbers.

About the Author

If you too are a spyware hater then you should check out my blog Spyware Haters. You can also download the software, SpyZooka from there.

freedownloadmanager.org/

What is Free Download Manager? It is a powerful, easy-to-use and absolutely free download accelerator and manager. Moreover, FDM is 100% safe, open-source software distributed under GPL license. Warning: beware of fake versions.
Increase your download speed and resume broken downloads FDM accelerates downloads by splitting files into sections and then downloading them simultaneously. As a result download speed increases up to 600%, or even more! FDM can also resume broken downloads so you needn`t start downloading from the beginning after casual interruption.	HTTP/FTP/BitTorrent support FDM lets you download files and whole web sites from any remote server via HTTP, HTTPS and FTP. You can also download files using BitTorrent protocol.
Flash video download Download video from video sites, such as Youtube, Google Video, etc. The video can then be saved in native .flv format or converted to one of more popular video formats.	GNU General Public License Free download manager is now open source software released under GNU GPL.
Enjoy easy file sharing A built-in Upload Manager lets you upload your files easily to share them with other people. Upload manager can be easily integrated with your system (Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express).	Enjoy safer and more rewarding downloading You can read what other community members say about the file you are going to download, and also leave your own opinion about the file you downloaded. In this way FDM users are always warned against useless or malicious files.
More In addition, Free Download Manager allows you to: adjust traffic usage; to organize and schedule downloads; download video from video sites; download whole web sites with HTML Spider; operate the program remotely, via the internet, and more! For full features list, see the features section.
System requirements: In order to use FDM, you must have one of the following operating systems installed on your computer: Microsoft Windows 9x/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista (32bit versions only)

FDM 2.5 is released!

Dear all! We have released Free Download Manager 2.5. FDM is now released under GNU General Public License!

Of course, this is not the only thing you can rejoice at, as FDM 2.5 opens up new opportunities for its loyal users, as well as for those who are just about to join the FDM community.

What’s new:

• Flash video download
• Audio / video files converter
• Bittorent support
• Easy file sharing
• Remote control
• Portable mode
• Metalink support
• General Public License
• Multilanguage support (desired language may be chosen during installation)

See the full features list.

Free Download Manager 2.5 is available for free download here. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 9:40 am and is filed under Free Download Manager. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can bookmark this entry. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Free Software Downloads and Reviews - Download.com

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
its free software downloader

LimeWire
free limewire at sofware

WinRAR
Do you make its your computer winRaR

Orbit Downloader YouTube Downloader Camfrog Video Chat
youtube fast downloader its free

Downloader software for free, it must be Fresh Download. It works ...

Downloader software for free, it must be Fresh Download. It works ...

What's Fresh Download?

Fresh Download is an easy-to-use free downloader software that turbo charges downloading files from the Internet, such as your favorite freeware/shareware, mp3 files, movie files, picture collections, etc. Unlike any other similar utilities, this software is 100% free, no charges, no banners in the software (whichsteal your bandwidth), no spyware.

Key features of Fresh Download:

• Turbo charge downloading files in both FTP and HTTP protocols using your current internet connection (dial-up, cable, DSL / ADSL, satellite, T1, etc.)

• Pause and resume broken downloads, recover from a dropped Internet connection.

• Multiple connections download manager. To get the highest possible speed, this powerful tool uses 4 simultaneous connections (up to 8 connections) for the same file, while many other similar software only support single connection download. Based on user reports, this method may speed up your downloads by up to 400%.

• Easy integration into Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, Opera, and Mozilla in any Windows operating system (95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and XP). Simply grabs any URL from these popular browsers and Fresh Download will take over.

• Schedule your downloads for low traffic periods.

• Clipboard monitoring and drag & drop features. Easily grabs any URL from any applications.

• Antivirus support. Scan downloaded files from any viruses using your current antivirus software.

• Ability to download from password protected sites, in both HTTP and FTP protocols.

• Proxy Server support in both HTTP and FTP protocols.

• plus now it has a built-in Zip file extractor.
  

free program downloader

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
AVG new free edition

Avast Home Edition
avast it chosen better anti-Virus

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus
avira new 2009

Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition
Ad- aware its better service

Antivirus trial and full 2009

USB Drive AntiVirus 2.3
Prevent virus spreading through usb removable drives

K7 TotalSecurity 9.0
6-in-1 comprehensive protection for your PC

Antivirus Pro 2009

TrustPort Antivirus 2009 2.8.
Compact antivirus and antispam solution for the safety of your computer and data.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2009 8.00.00

Protector Plus 2007 for Windows 8.0.E01
Protector Plus 2009 antivirus for Windows

Protector Plus 2009 Antivirus 8.0.E02
Protector Plus 2009 antivirus for Windows

Security Shield 2009 7.0.1
Total Internet Security. Suite. All in One!

SecurityPlus for MDaemon 4.0.2
Anti-virus/Anti-spam protection for MDaemon

Acronis True Image Home 2009
Save your data with the most comprehensive backup and restore tool in the market

TrustPort PC Security 2.0.
Comprehensive solution for protection of computers, both desktops and laptops.

AVG antivir free

AVG Anti-Spyware Signature Database 20090430

AVG Anti-Spyware Signature Database Publisher's Description

The latest signature database for AVG Anti-Spyware

AVG ensures your safety while you search or surf the net, download music, documents and pictures, send emails or instant message by scanning documents, files, Web pages and Web links before you open them. Unlike other security products, our unique software stops the threat before it reaches your hard drive and becomes a problem. What do you get with the AVG products? * Trusted protection AVG products are running on over 70 million computers worldwide. * Easy to use software Easy to download, install and use. * Security with award-winning technology High-speed automatic updates, unique Internet security technology, certified and awarded by all major independent antivirus certification companies. * Free support Technical support and new program upgrades included at no extra cost.

download antivirus free

AntiVirus Online

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Publisher's Description

Kaspersky Anti-Virus: Protect your PC with an expert antivirus solution

Kaspersky Anti-Virus provides you with traditional anti-virus protection based on the latest protection technologies. You can work, communicate, surf the internet and play online games on your computer safely and easily. Features Email protection. Your email is secure no matter which email program you use because Kaspersky Anti-Virus scans email traffic in real-time: POP3, IMAP and NNTP for outgoing mail and SMTP for incoming mail. Moreover, Kaspersky Anti-Virus comes with plug-ins and disinfection routines for email databases for popular email programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express. Real-time Internet traffic scanning. Kaspersky Anti-Virus scans all HTTP Internet traffic in real-time no matter which browser you use. Malicious programs are detected before they are able to infect your computer. You can use the Internet for business or pleasure and still be secure. On-access and on-demand file scanning. You can scan any and all areas on your computer from individual files to drives to removable storage media. You can also chose to scan only critical areas such as start up objects, which are a favorite target for virus writers. Security for your data Prevents criminals from harvesting your data. Many of today�s Trojans and keyloggers are designed to send your data to third parties without your knowledge or consent. Kaspersky Anti-Virus detects and destroys such programs, making sure that your data stays where it belongs until you decide to share it. Rollback of malicious changes. Kaspersky Anti-Virus monitors system and application behavior for suspicious behavior. Once malicious behavior is detected, the process is blocked and all of the changes are rolled back, leaving you with a clean system and your original data intact. Stability and critical protection Rescue disk. Creating a rescue disk is quick and easy using the built in wizard in Kaspersky Anti-Virus. If your computer is ever attacked by a virus, you can restore and disinfect your system right away by yourself using the rescue disk you created even if the operating system has been damaged. Self-protection. Today virus writers begin their attack on your computer by disabling anti-virus protection. Kaspersky Anti-Virus is designed to block all attempts to disable protection, leaving you to work and play securely. Simple and Convenient Quick installation and configuration. Express installation takes only a few minutes of your time. The default settings have been configured to provide best performance and best security, so you only need to install the program and can immediately return to your usual activities. If you enjoy customizing your security, the solution has extensive and flexible configuration options that will allow you to adjust the settings exactly as you like. Minimal load on your system. A range of technologies ensures that you get the best out from your computer and stay secure: only new and changed files are scanned in real-time; scanning is paused if your other activities require additional resources; default settings for real-time monitoring ensure maximum performance. Automatic hourly updates. Kaspersky Anti-Virus checks for updates on Kaspersky Lab servers regularly. In case of virus outbreaks the checks are more frequent. All updates are downloaded and installed automatically. You don�t need to worry about a thing.