Let’s get right to the point. The big anti-virus products suck! McAfee sucks! Norton sucks! Panda sucks! They infect your Windows-based systems with their sucktitude until you lose all productivity. Isn’t the point of anti-virus to protect you from a loss of productivity? Does this line sound familiar?

“I spent 4 hours last night trying to update <–insert horrible piece of crap anti-virus product here–> . I finally found the solution to the problem after 2 hours of googling, 1 hour of finding so an so dll file, and 1 hour on the phone with tech support trying to find out what to do with so and so dll file.”

Here is the part where I usually say “use Ubuntu instead of Windows, duh.” However, that is simply not an option for some users. So rather than preach, I’ll tell you how to protect those Windows systems without resorting to crapware. It’s simple really. Follow these steps and everything will be much better.

-If you have a new computer (Dell, HP, whatever) uninstall that stupid free trial of whatever crappy anti-virus came with it.

-If your ISP provides you with a big-name (read crappy) anti-virus software package, DON’T USE IT! Refer to the first step and uninstall it.

-If you “know a guy” (maybe your cousin’s son’s brother-in-law) that is “good with computers” and tells you that you need to install McAfee, Norton, or Panda, schedule a meeting with him face to face. Now smack him for uttering such nonsense and proceed to the next step.

-Do visit http://www.avast.com, will ya?

-Download their free home version, install it, and register it. You’ll be much happier for it, I promise.

-A small warning: Avast does talk to you when it updates the virus database, but you can turn this off if you don’t feel like being social with your anti-virus software.

That takes care of your anti-virus woes. That was easy wasn’t it? There is one other thing you can do to help keep your computer safe. STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER! Seriously, cut it out, will ya? I won’t get into an overly zealous technical argument over which browser is better, yada, yada, yada. I will just offer this.

Let’s say you are allergic to fish. Fish targets your allergies and you have a horrible, nasty, life-threatening reaction when you eat fish. But, fish came with your computer, so you eat it. Your prior knowledge of the horrible fish allergy should have prevented you from eating it. But now you are going to die a horrible, fishy, death. that’s not how you want things to happen is it? Why don’t you go get a nice chicken sandwich instead?

Spyware tends to target Internet Explorer. So, you are more likely to get spyware by using Internet Explorer. Having this prior knowledge, why would you want to use Internet Explorer when you computer is inherently allergic to it?

Don’t eat the fish, eat chicken. Don’t use Internet Explorer, download and install Firefox for free.

That’s it! Happy Computing!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Spyware, Security, Anti-virus

ShareThis

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

So you don’t want to actually delete that secret beer recipe? No problem, you can hide it in plain site using an NTFS alternate data stream. As part of my MBA Thesis, I researched different ways to hide data on Windows-based PC’s. An NTFS alternate data stream was one .

So what exactly is an NTFS alternate data stream? Well, the short answer is that it is a feature of the NTFS file system used to maintain compatibility with Apple’s HFS file system. To see an example of an NTFS alternate data stream, look at the properties of a word document. If the author and other extra properties are filled in, they are stored in an alternate data stream. This meta-data (data describing data) does not appear to take up space in Windows explorer, yet it is stored in the file system. It is that little side-effect that makes NTFS alternate data streams really useful for hiding secret beer recipes. If you would like to find out more about NTFS alternate data streams, take a look at my MBA Thesis. Otherwise, let’s hide something!

-Start by opening the Windows command prompt by clicking “Start -> Run” and typing “cmd” . Then, press enter.

-Now navigate to the Windows system32 directory by typing the following at the command-line and pressing “enter”.
cd %systemroot%\system32

-Have the path to your beer recipe file? Good.

-Now, pick a text file in the system32 directory to attach an alternate data stream to. I picked eula.txt because nobody ever reads those anyway.

-Now for the fun part. Let’s hide your beer recipe. In this example I am hiding a file called beer.txt in the C:\beer directory.

-Type the following at the command-line to hide your file.
type c:\beer\beer.txt > eula.txt:beer.txt

The part after the colon is the alternate data stream name. I just called it beer.txt for consistency. You can call it anything you want.

-Open eula.txt by typing the following at the command-line:
notepad eula.txt

You will notice that your secret beer recipe is not there. You will also notice that the file size for eula.txt has not changed if you look at its properties.

-To read your secret beer recipe again, simply type the following at the command-line.
notepad eula.txt:beer.txt

This will open up the NTFS alternate data stream named “beer.txt” intact.

Since this method will copy C:\beer\beer.txt into the NTFS alternate data stream and not move it, be sure to securely delete the original file.

That’s it! You now have a hidden beer recipe. Now go drink some beer! Happy Brewing!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Security, Data Hiding, Beer

ShareThis

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Do you have a super secret home-brewed beer recipe that you don’t want anyone to know about? Do you have the ultimate Paladin build worked out in World of Warcraft? Whether you are a master brewer or a master at Paladin PVP, you will probably want to delete some data on your Windows computer some time. If you are not looking to wipe your entire system drive, there is a nice little utility that lets you delete files and folders to the Department of Defense- DOD 5220.22-M standard. All that means is that it deletes the crap outta those there files.

It is called sDelete. It’s a nifty little program created by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals fame (now owned by Microsoft). This utility is run at the command prompt so roll up your sleeves, download sDelete, click Start -> Run and type “cmd”, and let’s get ready to delete some stuff!

Please note: Before we begin I should mention that sDelete isn’t just used for deleting beer recipes. You can delete unimportant files like old financial papers if you wish.

-Download sDelete.

-Unzip sDelete to any directory that you wish.

-Open the command prompt (Start -> Run and type “cmd” then hit “Enter”)

-Navigate to the directory where you unzipped sDelete
cd c:\full\path\to\sDelete\directory

-Type sDelete to get a list of parameters for the program. They are:
Usage: sdelete [-p passes] [-s] [-q] <file or directory>
sdelete [-p passes] [-z|-c] [drive letter]
-c
Zero free space (good for virtual disk optimization)
-p passes
Specifies number of overwrite passes
-s
Recurse subdirectories
-q
Don't print errors (quiet)
-z
Cleanse free space

-Got a directory in mind that you want to obliterate? Good.

-The following is an example usage of sDelete that deletes a directory along with its sub-directories.
sdelete -p 100 -s c:\full\path\to\target\directory

The above code will delete the chosen directory and it’s sub-directories by making 100 passes. Overkill? Maybe. But, you don’t want anybody to find out the secret sauce in your perfect beer is Benadryl do you?

That’s it! Short and sweet. If you want to delete a single file or directory, just leave out the “-s” part. Don’t get into any trouble with this utility now . Happy file obliterating!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Security, DOD

ShareThis

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As an IT Professional, I have to enforce certain network policies from time to time. I have had to implement Web filtering (I am not a fan, I assure you), email retention policies, disk quotas, and many other unpopular policies.

I have never received much whining and complaining until I implemented a policy that would lock the Windows computers after 20 minutes of inactivity. It doesn’t log the user off, it just locks the computer. This does not shut down any programs that were open. However, you would think I cut off the users’ hands.

When I implemented this policy, I heard it all. I had comments flying at me like:

“Do you realize that 8 minutes of my day are now wasted?”

Mess with people’s convenience and you have a riot on your hands. Guess what? Security is not meant to be convenient. It is just a byproduct of the world that we now live in. *Steps off the soapbox…*

As I promised at the beginning of this post, here is why the ingenuity of users amazes me. I work with some engineers that do component level electronics repair work (I work at a television station). One particular user decided that he was not going to put up with the locking console policy.

Did he edit the registry? NO. Did he hack into Active Directory and change the group policy? NO. Did he lock himself to his desk and refuse to work or eat until the policy was revoked? NO, but that would have been funny.

He modified his keyboard. WHAT!?! You say.

The console locking policy works when there are 20 consecutive minutes of inactivity. So, he put a 555 timer, a resistor, and a relay in his keyboard so that every few seconds, the Scroll Lock key would electronically turn on. So, as far as Windows was concerned, there was activity every few seconds.

Yep, a keyboard was responsible for bypassing a network security policy, but no typing was involved . I thought the whole scenario was very funny and I would like to thank the user for giving me a great story to tell. The modified keyboard has since, been removed. There is a lesson to be learned here. The lesson is not about network security, computers, or even Information Technology. It is about management.

If you can figure out what motivates people, they will come up with some pretty creative solutions. Our user just happened to be motivated by a need to improve efficiency for “8 minutes a day.”

Technorati Tags: Security, Electronics, Management

ShareThis

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Searchmarked.com Tip

Wireless hotspots are certainly convenient if you carry a laptop with you frequently. However, if a network is free and open for you, it is free and open for everyone else also. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could encrypt your web surfing and redirect your DNS requests to a safe server?

Well, you can if you use an SSH tunnel to encrypt your web browsing traffic. For this tutorial you will need a few things:

-You need access to an SSH server (I use my Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon computer at home).

-If you are using your home computer as the SSH server, you need to find out the external IP address of your home router or use DynDNS to map your external router IP to a hostname. You can find out the external IP address of your router by going to WhatsMyIP.org from a computer in your house.

-You need an ssh client on the computer you will be using to surf at the hotspot (Since I use Ubuntu, I just use the default ssh command-line client).

-It is preferable to use Firefox for the most anonymous surfing.

The following steps should get you surfing anonymously in no time. Please note that I am using Ubuntu, but these procedures could be altered to use any SSH server and any SSH client.

-Install the SSH server on your Ubuntu computer at home using the following command at the Terminal:
sudo apt-get install ssh

-Set up port-forwarding on your router to forward any external SSH traffic to your Ubuntu SSH server in your house. Consult your router manual for information on how to set this up.

-Make sure you leave your home SSH server running before you leave the house with your laptop.

-At the hotspot run the following command in the Terminal to establish the SSH tunnel:
ssh -ND 9999 username@home_router_ip_address

-Minimize the Terminal window.

-Configure Firefox to use the SSH tunnel as a proxy server by going to “Edit -> Preferences”, selecting the “Advanced” tab, selecting the “Network” tab and clicking on “Settings…” under the “Connection” section. Select “Manual Proxy Configuration” and set up a SOCKS Host for “localhost” and Port 9999. Also choose “SOCKS v5.”

-To also, encrypt DNS lookups in the tunnel go to “about:config” in your browser. Set network.proxy.socks_remote_dns = true .

Congratulations! Your DNS and Web traffic is now encrypted in an SSH tunnel. For those who would like to explore this further, you might like to know that this method can be used to tunnel through a firewall. Use this knowledge at your own risk .

Try this tutorial out and browse back to this entry in your shiny new SSH tunnel. Leave a comment when you do, will ya?

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Web, Security, Networking, SSH

ShareThis

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.