Windows Space » Security

How firewalls work

KDM — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:39:06 +0000

The internet, is not a perfectlly safe place to visit.Whenever a network is connected to the internet it faces potential danger and is vunerable to attack.

This can lead to damage of important data ,or the whole network. So the solution isn’t to cut off the network from internet, Instead we can build firewalls to protect the network.

A firewall is a software running on another computer. which inspects the network traffic through it, and denies or permits pasage based on a set of rules. A firewall’s basic task is to regulate some of the flow of traffic between computer networks.

A firewall can be implemented both in hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized internet users from accessing private networks connected to the internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall,which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specifies security criteria.

There are several types of firewall techniques:

Packet filter: It looks at each packet entering or leaving the network and accepts or rejects it based on user-defined rules.
Application gateway: It applies security mechanisms to specific applications such as Telnet servers.
Circuit-level gateway: It applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established.Once the connection is made,packets can flow between the hosts without further checking.
Proxy server: The proxy server is a application program which services the requests of the clients by forwarding requests to other servers. The proxy server hides the true network address.

Incoming search terms:

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Easy Shortcut Creator – Freeware Handy Utility

Admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:44:13 +0000

As you all might be knowing about Softwares being published all over net so as to smoothen the work experiences and decrease the work load so here we have another software by Ritesh kawadkar(The windows club and Being pc.com).

This freeware consists 20 most needed shortcuts to programs that we need in daily computer use. Though we have Windows access Panel for the same but some people prefers shortcuts to access them, for those users Handy Shortcuts would be of great use.

With a click it can create the following shortcuts on your Windows desktop:

Lock WorkStation,
Switch Account.
Shutdown,
Restart,
Log Off,
Hibernate,
Show Desktop,
Uninstall Programs,
Device Manager,
Security Center,
Windows Defender,
Windows DVD maker,
Flip 3D,
Launch Screen-saver,
Disable Windows Firewall,
Enable Windows Firewall,
Clear Clipboard,
Connect to Internet,
Safely Remove Hardware and
a Master Control Panel.

It has been tested on Windows 7 & Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit.

Download

Ritesh has created many more of such handy tools which you may find very much helpful.Here they go:->

Prevent-Disables copy paste on your computer
Windows Access Panel-Provides shortcuts to access all services of Windows

If you like this you may also like 99 shortcuts for Windows 7 and Vista

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Windows 7 IE8 Critical Patch Coming Next Week

Admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:24:14 +0000

Microsoft has readied a security bulletin designed to address a Critical vulnerability in Internet Explorer, including the latest iteration of the browser running in Windows 7. The IE patch will, in fact, be the only one that will impact the successor of Windows Vista, as Windows 7 RTM is not affected by any of the security issues patched with the wave of security updates planned for release on December 8, 2009. The information was made available through the Advance Notification for the December 2009 Security Bulletin Release, a resource designed to allow customers to get ready for this month’s patches.
“For December we are planning to release six new security bulletins addressing 12 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE) and Microsoft Office products. Three of the bulletins have a maximum severity rating of Critical and three have a maximum severity rating of Important. To help customers plan for their deployment of these updates, I want to specifically call out that they touch all supported versions of Windows and IE. On the Office side, the bulletins impact Project, Word and Works 8.5,” revealed Jerry Bryant, Microsoft security program manager.
Bryant notes that the Redmond company considers a top priority the patching of a recently disclosed Internet Explorer vulne… (read more)

Apply for Microsoft’s Security Essentials ongoing beta

Admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:18:43 +0000

Microsoft is still accepting beta testers for its "ongoing beta" of Security Essentials.
Security Essentials build 1.0.1611.0 was released to the public at the end of September and Microsoft promised future updates. The beta test program offers a test build named 1.0.1676.0 for download which updates to 1.0.1743.0.
Security Essentials is designed to work on Windows XP, Vista and 7 and protects end users against virus threats and spy ware. MSE is Microsoft’s free anti-virus and anti-spyware product that replaced Microsoft’s paid Windows Live OneCare subscription service which was withdrawn earlier this year. Neowin exclusively revealed Security Essentials in June when it was codenamed "Morro".
If you’d like to test the ongoing beta then follow the sign-up link below. If you sign-up you should be auto accepted. Thanks to Rafael Rivera for the news tip.
View: Microsoft Security Essentials ongoing beta

Source: Neowin

Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for December 2009

Admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:11:50 +0000

Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification issued: December 3, 2009
This is an advance notification of security bulletins that Microsoft is intending to release on December 8, 2009
3 Rated Critial and 3 Rated Important
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-dec.mspx

Source: MSMVPS

How to Use "Play to" and "Remote Media Streaming" in Windows 7

Admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:49:54 +0000

There are a couple of new features in Windows 7 that help you liberate the multimedia content from your PC and stream it to other devices around your home. You can even stream to your laptop no matter where you are in the world – all you need is an internet connection to do so. The two features that enable these capabilities are “Play to” and “Remote Media Streaming.” Since they both do similar things, you may be confused as to how to turn each feature on or configure its settings. But the steps are actually quite simple, just follow the instructions below.
PLAY TO
“Play to” is the feature that lets you stream media like music, photos, and videos from your Windows 7 PC to other devices connected to your home network. These can include audio/video systems, other PCs, your Xbox 360, and more. (The Digital Lifestyle blog started a wiki of supported devices – feel free to add to it!)

The “Play to” feature is not enabled by default – you have to switch it on.

Here’s how:

Before you can use “Play to” you have to turn on Media Streaming. Launch Windows Media Player and make sure it’s displaying your library, not playing a file.
Click the “Stream” button at the top and then click “Turn on Media Streaming”
In the window that appears, click the “turn on media streaming” button and click “OK”
Once enabled, you can access “More streaming options” from WMP’s “Stream” menu where you can configure options like the media library’s name, which devices to show, and which devices are allowed to access your shared media.
If adding other Windows 7 PCs, you’ll need to go to the destination PC and select “Allow Remote Control of My Player” from the “Stream” menu in order for them to show up in the “Play to” list.
Now that you have the other devices on your network configured to receive media, you can go back to your WMP and click on the “Play” tab at top-right. Look for this button:
Click the button and in the window that appears, choose the device on your network you want to send the media to.

To see “Play to” in action, check out this great demo from the Windows 7 launch in New York City.

REMOTE MEDIA STREAMING

Remote Media Streaming is the feature that lets you stream media from your Windows 7 PC to your own internet-connected PC, even when you’re outside your home network.

Here’s how to set this up:

If you haven’t already done so, you need to turn on Media Streaming as described in step #1 above.
In WMP, click on the “Stream” menu and choose “Allow Internet Access to Home Media”
For security purposes, you’ll now need to configure an online ID which will be used to access your media from the internet. In the window that appears, click on “Link an online ID”.
On the next screen, choose “add an online ID provider” to link an online ID to your Windows account:
You’ll be directed to a webpage where you can download the Windows Live ID sign-in assistant in either the 34 or 64-bit version. Download the appropriate version for your PC and then click the .msi file to install it.
Install the software, first accepting the license agreement, then click “Next” and “Finish.” (You’ll also need to click “Yes” on the User Account Control dialog box that appears)
When installation is complete, return to the “Link online ID” window and click on the “WindowsLiveID” provider that now appears in the list:

More @ channel 10

Ciplex Builds World’s First Multi-Touch Website Using Silverlight

Admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:16:09 +0000

There’s no question multi-touch enabled hardware is going to be invading many homes and offices in the years to come, and it’s exciting to see how some software makers are already building applications that take full advantage of the multi-touch experience, aided by support baked into modern operating systems and increasingly powerful graphics processors.

But until today, I had’t really seen anyone boast a full-fledged multi-touch website yet.

Well, say hello to the future by visiting the new SilverPAC website, built by LA-based Ciplex in collaboration with Microsoft using Silverlight on Windows 7.

I just got off the phone with executives from the 10-year old interactive agency, and they told me they were actually commissioned by consumer electronics developer SilverPAC to build a new website with the usual technology. Instead, Ciplex saw an opportunity to take a stab at building a multi-touch web experience for the company using Silverlight tech, supported by the fact that its customer already had a working relationship with Microsoft. This gave Ciplex the early access to the Windows 7 beta and the set of Silverlight APIs needed to accomplish the feat.

The multi-touch website was launched a couple of weeks ago with little fanfare and met with only a handful of reviews. I don’t own multi-touch enabled hardware myself, but friends who do tell me the website is at times rather slow even using brand new gear, and the set of gestures is fairly limited: you can’t rotate items, for instance. If you have a multi-touch ready device, don’t hesitate to share your opinion in comments below.

For what it’s worth, the demo video (embedded below) makes it look really cool and promising. If you so desire, you can get a half-baked experience by simply visiting the website and using your mouse for the navigational gestures, but evidently this doesn’t allow you to try out pinching or two-finder swipe actions.

On a sidenote: the introduction video on the SilverPAC multi-touch website was amusingly made in Flash.

It’s worth noting that Adobe’s recently launched Flash Player 10.1 Beta also has what it takes for these types of websites to be built and interacted with, but we have yet to see any live showcases.

Looking very forward to future launches of this type of web experience, regardless of the underlying technology, and particularly on mobile devices.

Source: Techcrunch

McAfee uncovers riskiest domains

Admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:37:27 +0000

Red means danger. And orange offers plenty of risk, too.

(Credit: McAfee)

You may want to think twice if you hit a site with a .cm extension. That belongs to Cameroon, pegged by McAfee as the world’s riskiest domain.

McAfee’s third annual "Mapping the Mal Web" report, released Wednesday, looks at riskiest and safest domains across the globe. The small nation on the west coast of Africa reached the top spot this year with 36.7 percent of its sites posing a security risk. Because .cm is often a typo for .com, McAfee said, cybercrooks like to use that domain to set up typo-squatted sites to hit you with malware.

The generic and widely used .com domain itself isn’t much safer, according to McAfee, jumping from ninth last year to second this year in riskiness, with 32.2 percent of its sites potentially hazardous to your PC’s health.

(Credit: McAfee)

Romania (.ro) is tagged as the riskiest domain for malicious downloads, with 21 percent of its sites delivering payloads of viruses, spyware, and adware. The information (.info) domain is seen by McAfee as the most "spammy," with 17.2 percent of its sites generating junk mail.

On the positive side, the government (.gov) is the safest generic domain with essentially 0 percent risk, while Japan (.jp) proved the safest country domain with a rating of only 0.1 percent. Last year’s riskiest domain, Hong Kong (.hk) dropped to 34th place with a risk rating of only 1.1 percent, which McAfee attributed to the country’s aggressive steps to stop scam-related domain registrations.

(Credit: McAfee)

"This report underscores how quickly cybercriminals change tactics to lure in the most victims and avoid being caught. Last year, Hong Kong was the riskiest domain and this year it is dramatically safer," Mike Gallagher, chief technology officer for McAfee Labs, said in a statement. "Cybercriminals target regions where registering sites is cheap and convenient, and pose the least risk of being caught."

Overall, looking at 27 million Web sites and 104 top-level domains, McAfee found that 1.5 million sites, or 5.8 percent, were risky. That’s up from 4.1 percent from the past two years, although the comparison is not direct since McAfee said it changed its rating methodology since then.

McAfee noted that cybercriminals who create domains to scam people prefer registrars with cheap prices, volume discounts, and hefty refund policies. Crooks also like registrars with a "no questions asked" policy and that act slowly or not at all when informed of malicious domains.

Thanx to cnet and Mr. lance Whitney for the news

PrevX apologises for Windows ‘Black Screen of Death’ blog

Admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:21:47 +0000

After launching an investigation into a report of the Black Screen of Death in Windows, Microsoft has announced that the problems were not caused by the latest round of updates and accused PrevX of ‘inaccurate’ reporting.

Security company PrevX reported Windows lock ups to a black screen – and the news swept the planet, not least because of the ‘black screen of death’ label.

However, PrevX has been forced to apologise for the blog that started it all after Microsoft found inaccuracies in its findings.

Inaccurate reports

"Microsoft has investigated reports that its November security updates made changes to permissions in the registry that that are resulting in system issues for some customers," said Microsoft.

"The company has found those reports to be inaccurate and our comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behaviour described in the reports."

"While we were not contacted by the organisation who originally made these reports, we have proactively contacted them with our findings. Our support organisation is also not seeing this as an issue.

"The claims also do not match any known issues that have been documented in the security bulletins or KB articles."

For more details ,visit Techradar

Fake Security Software All Up

Admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:59:51 +0000

Some fake security softwares revealed by Microsoft are :

You may recognize some of the relatively recent rogues from this list such as FakeXPA, FakeSecSen and FakeRean. Some others, such as Winfixer and SpySheriff, have origins that actually go back to more than four years ago. On page 100 of our Security Intelligence Report volume 7, we observed that rogues remained a significant threat even though they trended down to 13.4 million infected computers in 1H09 from 16.8 million in 2H08. (Internet Explorer 8 SmartScreen Filter, a browser-based security feature, contributed to part of the decline).

As we have done in the past, we again encourage our readers to run a complete, up to date AV product such as Microsoft Security Essentials to protect their computers from these rogues, especially if located in English speaking countries – the regions where these rogues appear most active (as highlighted in the SIR). MSRT is a baseline tool we provide for the ecosystem to remove prevalent threats such as high profile rogues. With Security Essentials, on the other hand, you get the benefit of the complete AV signature set from the MMPC and you get the essential protection features an AV solution needs – real time, kernel mode detection, scheduled scan, complicated cleaning functionalities to address the emergent threats, etc.

Still, awareness of the threat event is also important. Take a look at some of the write-ups of these threats, get familiar with some of the enticing rogue skins used (like that displayed in the Win32/InternetAntivirus screenshot below) and tell your friends and families to be alert to the tricks used to socially engineer victims into opening their wallets for these ‘useless at best’ rogue AVs.

Thankyou to Mr. Scott wu for this valuable information