electrons's Blog

Wow!  This guy had it all figured out.  It may be time to invest into a locking gas cap!

click here to view gas stealing scheme

Microsoft has been working on this for some time and finally they are ready for a full blown demo on April 17th.  It is called "surface".  The next generation computer which uses no keyboard or mouse.  Granted it'll be some time until the consumer market can afford it, but the technology is here.  I am a bit skeptical until I see one for myself. 

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html  <-- click here to see the video

Enjoy,

Tom

I can’t tell you how many people buy off the shelf wireless routers for home, and never change the store-loaded settings to make it a secure network.

A wireless router gives you the capability to have wireless internet and file sharing anywhere in your house. However if not set up correctly, you are compromising your own security, especially if you live in a city. I’ll explain the 3 things you should do in order to protect your home wireless network from intrusion and to keep it safe and reliable.

1) Change the default password! Everyone knows your password is “admin” if you never changed it from the store. Anyone can enter your network and have free roaming to do whatever they wish. Change your password and make it a strong one (one that uses numbers, letters and a case sensitive letter or symbol)

2) Turn off ID broadcasting.  Log into your router (for most home users go to http://192.168.1.1) and change the “SSID Broadcast” mode to “OFF”. This feature is cool. What this does is hide your network if someone searches for a network to connect to. Even though it exists, it will not show up in a wireless search because your router is not “broadcasting” its name out to everyone. Cool huh? You’ll have to manually enter your network name the first time you connect after changing this setting. By the way, rename your wireless network name to something unique. Say you name it “MY_WIRELESS”, a network search will not show your network….but when you manually enter MY_WIRELESS as a network name, it’ll connect right up. I told you this was cool stuff….

3) Enable security.  Finally, lets add the nail in the coffin. Turn on your wireless router’s WEP or WPA security feature. You will make a passphrase and using it will generate a “key” code to enter your network. Consult the manual for this since all models are different on the way to set that up. So now, your passwords are changed from the factory loaded defaults, your network name is not broadcasted to the public and even if someone still manages to get in, they’ll need a key using your passphrase. This is about as secure as you can get with these routers. These tips will keep your home computers private, and your identity safer. Be safe.

Perhaps you may have heard about the Bot Net going around nicknamed "Storm".  Watching this one, I can see how easily it is to become infected.  For those not sure what a Bot-Net is, it is NOT a virus, but a tiny program which allows someone on the outside to silently take control by accepting commands from the outside world.  Scary huh?  Most infected computers send spam email around the clock.  Remember most spam comes from computers like yours and mine infected and taking commands from the "mother ship" computer.  But it gets worse than spam....

This "Storm" bot net is estimated to have infected 160,000 computers, and that number will only go up.  While it is not always 100% possible to detect you have it, a good measure is to run a program called Spybot Search and Destroy found here.

The lastest news on this very disturbing bot is that once you are silently part of this network of infected computers, the creators are using commands to pull information out of your PC such as bank information, passwords, etc... and selling this information they find to others.  It is an underground business out there and this is how indentities are being stolen and sold.  One expert said  "It's a fast-flux network with thousands of machines around the world, and it's grown so that it's almost impossible to shut down." Full article here.

So how do you get it?  Opening emails from people you do not know and clicking on links or opening attachments.  Visiting gaming websites, downloading games and fancy looking programs, screensavers, etc.. A new way is by using USB thumb drives that are infected.  Bot nets are becoming big news, but they are still a mystery to many including experts.  Be careful out there, use common sense and realize that every effort is being made to compromise your information.   

Hello.  I am entering a world-wide electronic design contest.  I hope I can bring home the trophy to Philly (or whatever the prize is).  The main rule and the winning design must be a way to help the environment in some way.  Any idea's from you guys out there?  Examples are an electronic light bulb that reduces power or something that cuts down emissions, etc...  Think small and simple.  Or perhaps think big.

I think you guys and girls have the brain power to come up with something good for me to design and submit.  Any idea's?  One idea I had was "something" to put old dead batteries into rather than throwing them out.  It will convert the dead energy to some power that will do something, not yet sure what.  Any brain power and ideas are welcome!  Thanks and wish me luck.

An outbreak of computer attacks is underway, different from traditional viruses. 

It is hard to cover all of the details here but I’ll try and be basic and informative.

There is a growing trend of PC computers in the US that have become infected and commanded to become part of a very complex and secret network called a BotNet.  Everyday users like you and me are falling into these networks and 99% of users have no idea what is going on under the hood of your PC.  So what is a BotNet?  I’ll explain how it works.

A hacker manages to infect your computer through an email or even just by visiting a web site.  Web sites can run “scripts” which are tiny programs once you visit the site.  From there, a tiny program hides silent and undetected.  Eventually, it silently uses your internet connection to say “I’m here” by sending a command back to the hacker to let him know that he has added another PC (yours).  At this point the hacker sends a program back to your computer called a “payload” through the internet.  This payload contains instructions, which takes over your computer and to use it to send emails.  You are now part of a BotNet.  Under your nose, without you even knowing, your PC is sending out SPAM emails to millions of people.  It can also log key strokes and send them back to the attacker for him to strip out credit card information, passwords or anything he wants.  Basically, once part of the network, your computer says, “I’m here to accept new commands.”(in computer language of course).  Your computer also launches out internet commands to find new hosts to add to the network.  It is a chain of webs and keeps spreading.  Ever wonder why SPAM emails are on the rise?  Now you know why.  Millions of PC’s are secretly sending billions of SPAM emails right under the nose of the user.  That SPAM you get in your mailbox probably came from an infected PC.  Ever wonder if your PC is one of them?  Good luck finding out.  These guys are good and run virtually undetected.  They also run crime rings on these networks.  Think about the power they have with the vast number of computers under their control.  Last summer I fixed a computer for a woman who had a virus.  I found the computer was acting like a SPAM server cranking out spam emails.  The only way I could clean it was to wipe the hard drive and start from scratch.  Removal is extremely difficult and most of the times impossible as I found myself.  Antivirus found nothing!

BotNets have become a big underground business.  Many computer security analysts have no answers.  Symantec estimated that 5.7 million PC’s are part of a BotNet network!  This number keeps growing daily.  57,000 active Bots were observed per day during the first 6 months of 2006, according to the security firm Symantec.  Also, antivirus programs DO NOT detect BotNets.  I told you these guys were good!

It is not the scope to educate on how they work and what they can do.  Rather I’d like to get the word out to educate on what is going on right now.  Google for “BotNet” and you can read tons of more stuff.

So…with that said, how can you tell if you are part of one?  I can think of 2 obvious ways.

1 -  If your PC got sluggish and slowed down, perhaps it is possible you may be part of one.

2 -  Monitor your internet light on your modem when you are not using your computer and it is turned on.  If there is internet activity that persists, good chance you are infected.

In closing…you will be hearing more about this topic in the news.  It has become out of control and spreading like fire.  Some analysts say it is too late.  Tracking them back is virtually impossible.  It is the goal of the attacker to be as silent as possible so he goes unnoticed. 

The best thing to do is to avoid becoming one.  I know that sounds lame, but it is true.

Use FireFox rather than Microsoft Internet Explorer.  FireFox is free and less prone to attacks.  Keep your antivirus programs updated, they do help against virus triggered Bot’s.  Use common sense on the web and be careful everyone.

Just saw Keri-Lee's report on File Sharing tonight.  Good report!  People need to know the ins and outs of file sharing.  If you are a file sharing person, let me add a few good tips:

1) Music files with a size of Kb (kilo-bytes) are viruses.  Do not download these!  You'll find yourself with an infected PC.  Many hackers rename viruses under a legitimate name. The file size however is a dead giveaway.  A typical music file is between 4-6 MegaBytes.  If you search for say "Apples and Oranges" and find one that is a tiny .exe file or a small file size, it is 99% of the time a trojan horse.

2)  Use a STRONG password on your PC.  If anyone does not know how to change your PC's password, please contact me.  Do not use a blank password.  Hackers run programs to try and "guess" your password using 100,000 common passwords.  Yes "password" is one of them.  Having no password is the #1 attempt.  Use something you will remember, but is also secure.  For example:  kroFNwaGRot20.  (keri's reporting on Fox News was a Good Report on the 20th).  This is called a "strong password" and is most likely not included in an attackers library of words to try.

3) NEVER open emails from your bank regarding accounts.  Your bank (if like the rest) will NEVER email you asking for passwords, account info, etc.. some emails look like your bank with genuine logo's etc...  This is the number 1 identity theft today!  Be extra vigilant.

4)  Double check that you run antivirus software and more importantly...it is up to date!  I see several cases where people have antivirus, but never ran an update.  New bugs come out weekly.  Your virus definitions keep you semi-safe.  Update them weekly!

5) I bet over 80% of people reading this have a home that  has cable or DSL connection.  Is your DSL or cable modem set for "firewall enable?"  If not....youhave a firewall built in and may not even know it.  Use it!

5) Lastly... be paranoid.  I cannot stress this more.  Identity theft is screaming along these days.  Hopefully, these few tips will help save a few identities. 

If I get some free time, I'll write up a 10 step guide to protecting your identity and computer assets.

Tom