Filename Extensions in Windows

Filename extensions are an important component of Microsoft Windows: without the extension, all files and folders in Windows are considered unusable. Your software programs will not work properly; in fact, your computer will not even boot at all!

What is a filename extension? It is esssentially a suffix (at the end of every file's name) to present a file's file format which dictate how a data is stored in that particular file and folder. It is also representative in telling a computer on how a data is to be accessed. For example, a file name which goes by the name "XYZ.rar". The".rar" at the back of the file name "XYZ", is a suffix symboling that the file is stored in the format of .rar file extension, and in order to access the file, users require a program named WinRAR, which is responsible for compressing and storing the file in .rar format.

By default, Windows disabled users the direct access to view file extensions at the back of each file in order to let users rename the file easily and to prevent users who are new to computering from damaging whatever files they come across. However, users can manually turn on the file extensions through certain folder tweaks.

Ok, enough theory. Now let me introduce you to some of the most common file extension used in Windows. Some you might have already come across; others might be new to you. Either way, you'll be reminded or educated...:)

Some common file formats listed in categories:

A) File Compression:

1. rar - RAR multiple file archive (WinRAR)
2. zip - ZIP compressed file (WinZIP)
3. jar -ZIP file with java application purpose. (Java App)
4. cab - Microsoft Cabinet
5. 7z - 7-Zip compressed file (7-Zip)
6. ace -ACE compressed file (WinACE)

B) Recordable Media Archive:

1. ISO - File format for optical media such as CD, DVD and Blue-ray Disc
2. IMG - File format for archiving MS-DOS floppy disc
3. SDI - File format used for archiving and provide virtual disk functionality

C) Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets and Webpage:

1. doc - Microsoft Word document
2. docx - Microsoft Word 2007 xml-based document
3. xml - eXtensible Markup Language
4. txt - plain unicode text
5. html - Hypertext Markup Language
6. ppt - Microsoft PowerPoint
7. pptx - Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 xml-based
8. xls - Microsoft Excel
9. xlsx - Microsoft Excel 2007 xml-based
10. shtml - HTML with Microsoft Side Sever Includes
11. rss - Syndication file
12. met - Metalink for download mirror

E) Script:

1. bat - Microsoft Batch file
2. js - javascript and Jscript
3. vbs -Visual Basic Script

F) Sound and music

1. wav - Microsoft Wave
2. wma - Windows Media Audio
3. flac - Free lossless codec
4. mp3 - MPEG layer 3
5. ra/rm -Real Audio
6. mid - MIDI

G) Video

1. wmv - Windows Media Video
2. avi - video format whiche enable any form of compressions
3. flv - video encoded to run in a flash animation
4. swf - Shockwave Flash
5. gif - Animated GIF (simple animation)
6. mov - QuickTime movie
7. mpeg -
8. rm - RealMedia
9. 3GP - Video format for cell phones


While this is only a very shallow amount of file formats presented, knowing these file extensions are important; some of the people i know of who virtually play around with handphones everyday do not even know that the file extension to the videos in their handphones are in .3gp format. I can't help but wonder how did they import those videos from their PC into their handphone....not unless they only grab videos from other handphone users and never export them to their PCs....

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Create a Computer Virus in 20 seconds

People just don't believe you when you say that a virus can be created in less than 20 seconds. But of course they do. They are not virus writers or hackers or programmers. How could they believe in such a theory?

Here i am to give you information on how to create a virus yourself. I am by no means, a creator of this virus that i'm going to show you; this piece of virus is actually from Eicar, a legitimate organization aiming to educate users in PC security. My task is to inform you.


Virus are created through pieces of codes known as programming languages (those C++ stuffs). Here is one example of a virus code:


X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDA RD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*


This piece of code is provided by Eicar, and its purpose is for you to test your antivirus to see whether it's real-time are good or not. To officially make this piece of code a virus code, remove the spacing between the word"STANDA RD" on the code above.


Here's how to create the virus:

1. Before you continue, it is better that your antivirus supports REAL-TIME protection. I have warned you and thus, NOT RESPONSIBLE for any damage the virus code inflict on your PC!

2. On your desktop, right-click.

3. Select "New" and then "Text Document"

4. Copy & paste the virus code i gave you above into the text document. Make sure that there are NO SPACING between the codes, and that you didn't add anything other than the code itself.

5. Save the text document somewhere on the desktop.

6. Here's a catch:

A SUPER SENSITIVE antivirus will detect the file as a virus IMMEDIATELY after you save the file. Congratulations, because you own an antivirus with the best real-time protection!!!

An EFFICIENTLY SENSITIVE antivirus will detect the file as a virus when you click on the file, or moments after the file was saved. Congratulations, because you own an antivirus with real-time protection which is both effective and efficient, though perhaps, not the best yet.

A SUFFICIENTLY SENSITIVE antivirus will detect the file as a virus when you attempt to run the file, either on your host PC or remotely through other PCs. I'll congratulate you too, because this is the minimal benchmark for an antivirus with real-time protection.

A MEDIOCRE antivirus will not detect the file as a virus no matter how long you wait for a response; it will detect it as a virus only when you run a manual scan. Either your antivirus does not support real-time protection, or that your antivirus's real-time protection is SERIOUSLY flawed.

A USELESS antivirus will NOT detect the file as a virus in real-time, NOR detect is as a virus even when you run a manual scan. I don't know where in Merlin's Beard do you get this kind of antivirus but one thing for sure: please UNINSTALL IT and FIND A NEW ONE! You can get many free antivirus such as Avast! and Avira; both software a hundred times better than the crap you're using!


Basically, there are two types of antivirus. One operates with no real-time protection; the others with real-time protection. REAL TIME PROTECTION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ANTIVIRUS DETECTION BEING SIGNATURE-BASED OR HEURISTIC BASED. The code's purpose is to test the quality of your antivirus's real-time protection, not on how good your antivirus's detection rate are.

Conclusion: Can you believe that it only takes a few text to consider a code a virus? Just a few text and character, and your computer is infected!!!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!!

To learn more on the effects of virus, you can watch this movie from Youtube.

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Giving Avast! the Vista Look!

Among free security software, the three big boys on the scene are AVG, Avast! and Avira. These three free antivirus software share some common traits. Firstly, they are rated as the best free antiviruses in stability, consistency, detection and removal. Secondly, they are the most popular free antivirus software on download sites such as CNET. Thirdly, they all start with the initial 'A' (LOL!!!)

Of course these three antivirus also have distinctiveness that separates them from each other. AVG is famed for going easy on your machinary by using minimal system resources. Avira is famed for its 'Luke Filewalker' heuristic scanning engine. Avast! is famed for its user friendly design, which emphasizes on maximizing antivirus-user interactivity. Which brings us to the topic today-giving Avast a Vista look!

All Avast! users perhaps realized that Alwil provided users the option to skin Avast. While the default Avast! skin spots a gloss silver, media player-like interface, there are different skins user can apply to project their personal characteristics. One of the most popular skin is the Vista skin, which makes your Avast! antivirus looks Vista-like, without changing the way it functions. Here's a screenshot for you:

BEFORE: Avast!'s Default User Interface

AFTER: AVist, the Vista skin for Avast!


If you like/using Avast and want this skin as well, here's how to give your Avast! a Vista skin:

1. If you do not have Avast! but would like to use it, you can download the free edition here.

2. Download the AVist skin for Avast! from here.

3. After download, double-click the skin file in order to install AVist into Avast! (make sure you have installed Avast!)

4. By default, your skin will automatically change to AVist. Enjoy your Vista-like Avast!

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Software of the Week: Piriform Defraggler

First of all, i credit this post to Softgeeek, who discussed about this software first and inspired me certain insights on computer fragmentation...;)

Every Microsoft Windows Operating system has built-in tool for defragmentation. Of course, some commercial tools are available, and most worked as advertised. Whether you have bought a defragging software or obtained a free copy, the purpose of those software are for defragmentization. Defragmentation tools normally defragmentize at least one partition of your hard disk. But the tool, I am talking about, are unique above other defragmentation software because it expertise at defragmentizing a single file at your order. This little tool is brought to you by Piriform, which is a famous organization famed for developing CCleaner, another popular & useful utility for cleaning up your system.

Unlike other defragging tools, defraggler is a very light tool. Total file size is just 641KB and when you install it, it takes just 1.7MB of your hard disk space. When you run it after installation, it takes just 6.7MB and if you start defragmentation, it will take maximum 11MB. These sizes are nothing compared to other defragging tools with similar capabilities.



Here are some features which identifies Defraggler from other defragging software:

1. Capable of defragging individual files
2. Compact & portable in a Thumbdrive/External Hard Drive
3. Vista support with both NTFS & FAT32 file system
4. Locate fragmented file on the hard drive through graphical presentations

The best part about it is that it is FREE!!

To download it now, click here.

To visit the official website of Defraggler, click here.

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Privacy: the Best Policy!

Some people who are using the web are very privacy-concerned, which i think is nice. For example, if they are part of a social networking service like Friendster, MySpace and of course, Blogger, they would keep their sites locked down, so as to guarantee permission of entry only to those who are authorized, or already authorized as their friends, trusted partners etc. In another example, people such as me who hold privacy as of utmost importance and doesn't share much personal stuffs on the web, will enforce strict privacy on browsing the web such as dusting off all my browsing history, give indirect details when asked for personal information, keeping my hands clean from suspicious sites and so forth.

For those who enjoy privacy like me, i'm here to tell you some basic tips not on keeping your online business private, but mainly of your computer's activity private. I hope you'll like it and will use it.

Tip 1: Turn off access to recent documents

By default, your computer will enable access to documents (image files, office files, music files etc) which you have recently opened up. While this is fairly useful if you use the file a lot, it can be a privacy issue. I would certainly hate to let people know on what is the latest documents i worked on for, at least.

Here's how to do it on Vista:

a) On your desktop, right-click on the taskbar (the bar holding the start button).
b) Select 'Properties'.
c) A window called "Taskbar & Start Menu Properties" will pop up. Click on the 'Start Menu' tab.
d) On the 'Start Menu' tab you'll have two options on privacy. One of them is 'Store & display a list of recently opened files', while the other is similar with the 'files' changed into 'programs'. Uncheck the both to prevent Windows from betraying your privacy!


How to do it on XP:

a) On your desktop, right-click on the taskbar
b) Select 'Properties'.
c) A window called "Taskbar & Start Menu Properties" will pop up. Click on the 'Start Menu' tab.
d) On the 'Start Menu' tab there are the 'start menu' & the 'classic start menu' types. Click on the 'properties' button on whichever type of start menu style you're using.
e) On the "Customize Start Menu" windows, click on the 'advanced' tab.
f) On the 'advanced tab' there is a 'recent documents' column. Uncheck the option if it is checked.

Tip 2: Set Password for Logon Access


Most of the people i know love username & password, so i'll discuss about this one. If you have a computer and dislike other people using your PC for whatever reasons, this is a good option. By default, Windows are configured for one or many users on a single PC, and that's why it provide the option for us to set username and passwords during logon. But if you're using the PC alone and doesn't want people nosing in your PC's activity, here's the how-to:

To use the Logon Password in Vista:

a) On the desktop, click the start button.
b) Click on 'Control Panel'.
c) In the Control Panel, click the option 'User Accounts' (directly available in "classic view")
d) In the User Accounts, click 'create a password for your account'
e) Type in your password, reconfirm it again by repeating the password. Type a password hint (useful if you have a poor memory). Click "Create Password" and you're done!

To use the Logon Password in XP:

a) On the desktop, click the start button.
b) Click on 'Control Panel'
c) In the control panel, click the option 'User Accounts'
d) In the User Accounts, click on the accounts that you're using in the 'or pick an account to change' column.
e) Click the second option, 'create a password'
f) Type in your password, reconfirm it again, and type a password hint.
g) Click "Create Password" and you're done!

Note: If you cannot find control panel from your start menu, click on the "run..." option, and in the "run..." window, type 'control' (without the quote).

Tip 3: Guard your sensitive/important files manually by customizing the folder & hide it!

I don't encourage you to use this option if you had a poor memory, in case you forgot where you put your sensitive folder. Now, if you fear that your computer simply had not enough security, here's a useful option: turn the folder containing all your sensitive stuffs into something less eye-catching and hide it in a deep, maze-like place on your PC!

Customize & hide a folder in XP & Vista:

a) On any location of your desktop, right-click and select "New". Choose new folder.
b) Rename the folder with a less suspicious name, and throw whatever stuffs you think sensitive (example, your password lists) into the folder. Remember to delete the original stuff after you're done!
c) Right-click on the folder and select "Properties"
d) On the Properties windows, click on the "Customize" tab.
e) On the Customize tab, find the column which says "folder icons". Click on the "Change Icon" button.


f) Browse through the list of icons and find one that is less than suspicious, on which people normally would overlook (in my case, i use one that looks like a blank sheet with a question mark). Select it and apply it to the folder.
g) Now your folder is customized! Next, find a place where you think most people would likely not access, such as your 'WINDOWS' folder, which houses all the sensitive system files, and drag and drop your invisible folder into that area. (delete the extra folder on your desktop if it remains)
h) You're done!

Note: there's a method of applying an invisible icon and an invisible name for a folder to make it "totally invisible", but unless you ask for it, i won't disclose the details here (i might discuss it in a future post). Also take note that even though this tip hides folder from prying eyes, it does not exclude itself from Windows Search, which will reveal its location.

Tip 4: Placing your sensitive folder as a "hidden" folder

In the 3rd tip, the main idea is to change the way a folder looks and hide it deep in your system so as not to make it too obvious for the nasty, anti-privacy people. However, in this tip, the main idea is not to modify a folder's looks, but simply to "hide" it by not exposing it as a normal-to-access folder. Some people might enjoy the idea of customizing a folder's looks to make it less inviting, but hiding it in a place deep into your computer may not be that convenient, especially if you are afraid. That's why i'm giving this 4th tip to you...:)

Set a folder to become a "hidden folder" in XP & Vista

a) Right-click on your desktop, select "new" and select "folder"
b) Rename the new folder anything you like.
c) Now, right-click on the folder and select "Properties"
d) Find an option in the properties window which says "hidden folder" and check the box beside it.
e) Select Apply and Ok.
f) You'll find that your folder has disappeared from your desktop!

How to access your "hidden folder"?


a) Click into 'My Computer', and on the toolbar, select "Tools' & Click on "Folder Option".
b) On the folder options window, click on the "View" tab.
c) On Advance Settings, search for an entry which spells "Hidden Files & Folders". By default, the option is set to "Do not show hidden files and folders". To reveal your hidden folder on your desktop, change it to "show hidden files and folders". Go back to your desktop.
d) The folder containing all your sensitive stuffs has now appeared! To simply put it back to hidden mode, just repeat step a) till step c) and change it to "do not show hidden files and folders".

You can combine this method with tip 3, but if you frequently need access to your sensitive stuffs, it might not be such a good idea to use this method due to its lengthy procedure.

Tip 5: Shred your file using a privacy software


File shredding is not a common knowledge for those who only master the basics of computering, but then my job is to inform you...:) For those who had no idea, shredding is the total deletion of files without or with little possibility of recovering. For me, i think it is fairly useful not just because of the overall effectiveness, but also the sense of security it provided to us. To shred a file, you will require the assistance of software tools, which i will recommend some to you but first, i'd like to clarify the reason why we need to shred sensitive stuffs.

Some may already knew that files deleted through the recycle bin in a computer can be recovered; either through software or programming method. The reason why people would like to recover those stuffs (even though you'd made it clear that nobody is to know of the file's existence by deleting it) is because they hope that they might have a chance of obtaining something useful...to rob you of your peace of mind, to threaten you into paying them money or they'll expose certain privacy of yours...and the first suspect that you can expect will be those of computering knowledge who has the chance of taking FULL control over your computer (example, your average computer repair professionals at the computer retail shop). Some people thought that their deleted files are safe as long as they reformat/reinstall their operating system but wrong! You can beat novices with this technique, but not necessarily those with computer programming knowledge!

Now that you know the risk of even deleting your files, here's some shredding software i'd like to share with you:

1. Piriform's CCleaner
2. Lavasoft File Shredder
3. AbsoluteShield File Shredder

Note: All the above software are Vista-ready, so don't worry about compatibility issues.


Piriform's CCleaner is actually a cleanup tool, but attached with it is the option of cleaning up files with military deletion standard, so i recommend this software the most for secure file deletion, web browsing history shredding and more. What's more, the best thing about this software is that it is FREE!

Click here to visit their official website and download.


Lavasoft File Shredder is my personal favorite, having used Lavasoft Privacy Toolbox (which includes this feature) for nearly a year. The positive point about this software is that it provides REAL shredding, which shreds not just the existing file itself, but even backup records of the file, making it a really complete shredding tool. The negative point? Well, you'll need to buy the software LOL! Unless you would like to contact me for serial keys!

Click here to visit their official website and download.


Absoluteshield File Shredder is next favorite shredding software of mine. While being a freeware like CCleaner, its shredding abilities are no weaker than Lavasoft's File Shredder. What i like about this software is not just its real promise of shredding your sensitive stuffs, but also its abbilities in shredding redundant system files which just refuse to leave your PC quietly. If you have uninstalled some software which after its uninstallation, left some junk files which refuse to be deleted no matter how hard you try, then this software might be able to help you out!

Click here to visit their official website and download.


Conclusion: Food For Thought

A few months ago, I was told that my colleague (who is studying in the same university as i am) accidentally deleted a file in her pendrive which is related to her assignments. She asked for the professionist's help in recovering the software, which succeeded in a very short space of time. This little experience just proved how easy it is for a professionally-skilled computer user to recover sensitive information about you if they really wanted to.

I hope you'll find this piece of post helpful and like i say, i hope you will like it and will use it. Even though I encourage people to exercise moral ethics such as leaving other people's private life alone (i've been hacked before, so i understand the feeling of having your privacy breached), be aware that there ARE people who doesn't really give a damn about your privacy (forgive me for my rudeness but i find it hard to use softer words to describe those people).

Be constantly vigilant, and happy computering!!!

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Virus Total: Check for Infection on the Cloud!

It is a must in having at least one security software in every computer of a Microsoft Windows user. Some have two; one for real-time protection and another one for on-demand scanning. I used to have two as well for experimenting purpose (a combination of Kaspersky Internet Security 8 & Avast! once, and another one a combination of ESET SmartSecurity & F-Secure Antivirus 2009), but later reverted back to using a single antivirus software.

Problem is, different antivirus software has different scan & detection engines with their own strength & weakness, which means you might face problems in choosing you favorite antivirus software. Some antivirus claims to have the best detection but they actually missed the kind of virus you thought it should have caught; some antivirus which the public claim as rubbish actually caught & removed an aggressive virus and save the day. In short, other's opinion no longer is the key to you purchasing your favorite antivirus. The reality is, no antivirus software in the world are perfect; different types of antivirus software just detects different types of virus.

Secondly, there is a reason why users cannot have more than ONE antivirus running at the same time. Due to the software architecturing of security software, having two antivirus running at the same time mostly will cause massive trouble. User's PC may run slower or (to a serious degree) even freeze to a halt, computer might crash when two antivirus engine caught the same trojan at the same time and worst of it all, if your security software come bundled in the form of internet security package which consist of antispyware, firewall, antispam and antirootkit protection....your PC will be in a sate of conflict, not only with detecting viruses, but even with firewall settings and other stuffs that matters.

If you are yearning to see which antivirus performs to your expectation, and you're itching to have more than one antivirus running at the same time over a single file you suspect is infected, then you've come to the right place.

Virus Total is an online virus & malware scanning service managed by Hispasec Sistemas, a Spanish online security & information technology company. The company's aim at delivering this service is to encourage user participation in the fast detection of unknown viruses, thus facilitate a better antivirus software for the future. The service is free of charge, and users can upload the file they suspect is infected to have it scanned by no less than twenty antivirus software engines. Uploading time depends on the file size, and reports are displayed in a new tabbed window.

Main page of Virus Total, where you can upload suspected file for scanning

The antivirus software used in the scan ranges from the famous Avast!, AVG, Kaspersky & Symantec (Norton) to the relatively unknown yet powerful (in my opinion) F-Prot, GData and Panda. Besides displaying the scan results, user can even have an insight on the antivirus's version and the last time it updated its database. Even though Virus Total's scan results does not garuantee the harmlessness of a file (if all antivirus list the uploaded file as clean), it does help eliminate the two problems that i've mentioned at the start of this post: unreliable single antivirus detection rate & the inability of host PC to run more than one antivirus at the same time.

List of antivirus scan results displayed alphabetically. This is not my screenshot, though...:)

Even though this service is free of charge, remember though, that the uploading of a file can be tiresome, especially if there are alot of users who are using the services during the time of your uploading. Personally, i suggest that it's best that users should only upload files with a small size for malware check in order to not get frustrated. I would also like to stress that although this online service offer detection from many antivirus, it is always a wiser decision to install an antivirus on your host computer. Remember: the service will not watch over your computer for virus, nor will it be there for you if you're not online!

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How to Check Your Hard Disk via Command Prompt

My face LOOKS exactly the same as this Siamese cat's when i got my first "blue screen of death (BSOD)"- the reason why i make hard disk-checking a MUST in the future.

I have a habit of checking my hard drive at least once every month, just to make sure my PC is error-free and running smoothly. However, it is actually not a necessity to do that so often, as hard drive checking consumes a certain amount of time; not unless you are an uber system tweaker who constantly touch on essential components of your system (eg. your System32 files). I do, by the way....

For common users, what is the perfect timing to do a hard drive check? Just take note: when you started getting weird error messages on your desktop, and you know that it is nothing related to your software applications, it's probably time for you to do a check-up of your hard drive.

Here's how to check your hard drive via command prompt:

1. On your desktop, click your start button.

2. Find the "Run" option.

3. In the "Run" option box, type "cmd" (short form for 'command prompt')

4. In the command prompt window, type "chkdsk c:" to check your C Drive, which normally host your system files. To check all your hard drives, just type "chkdsk".

Note: If you're using Vista, run command prompt with administrative privileges, or just temporarily turn off your user account control (UAC).

5. Windows will start checking your disk!


Note: Running chkdsk in the command prompt will help recover bad sectors from your PC...which is those errors generated from minor systems area of your PC. However it does not help check file systems (system32 files) for error! I will discuss about checking file systems in the future...:)

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Software of the Week: WordWeb

As a student, i have some occasional needs for dictionary in order to understand certain stuffs i'm currently studying. Even though i have no problem in searching words on the dictionary, the pain in the neck is that flipping through the dictionaries takes some time, especially if you're looking for words with a popular initial, such as the letter 'D' & 'S'. The other problem is that dictionaries get outdated easily, as new vocabularies keep emerging due to our own kind's creativity. If you are a student or researcher in the scientific field, it gives you even more trouble trying to find scientifically-based words on the dictionary.

Today's software of the week aims to solve this problem. The software is a new kind of e-dictionary which goes by the name "WordWeb".

WordWeb is developed by WordWeb Software, based in Cambridge, UK and managed by Anthony Lewis, a software developer. There are two versions of WordWeb available, one is the free version, aiming at customers who could not afford to constantly buy contemporary dictionaries in order to update their dictionaries. The other one is the Pro version, which basically just add in a feature called Crossword Compiler, a puzzle maker. With WordWeb, you can now have a dictionary readily available for you as long as your PC is turned on!

When you turn on WordWeb, it appears as a 'W' symbol in your system tray on the lower right of your desktop


While Anthony Lewis's WordWeb functions like any other kind of dictionary, it basically solves traditional dicitionaries' weaknesses. The dictionary's vocabulary database gets updated with every new version released, and by typing in the words users can get immediate access to the words the want without delay. It also incorporates thesaurus & pronounciation guides in addition to the dictionary functions, making it just as much complete as any other physical dictionaries offered. It also supports the copy & paste functions; when users found an unknown word online, they can simply just copy & paste the unknown word into the search column of the WordWeb. If that is not enough, WordWeb also offers users access to the web-based wordweb. There are many other features available, such as configuring hotkeys for running WordWeb, choosing the types of English languages, editing your own glossaries and many more.

WordWeb in action. Click pictures for larger image.

To download WordWeb Free Edition now, click here.

To visit the WordWeb Software Website, click here.

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Online Threats: Network Attacks

Folks, this will be the last post of the "Online Threats" series and as people usually save the best thing for last, so do i (LOL!!!). The reason i think this online threat merits the last and best slot is because i think it is very creative and using it last is the best way to round up my discussions on online threats, even if the consequence of falling victim to the threat itself is annoying! I admit i had lots of fun studying this particular subject. Not that i would like to do the same by launching an attack on any websites, though.

To start things up, i would like to introduce you to a fictional scenario:

Here's the Story:

William's company, XYZ, decided to launch a brand new social website which allows members to discuss anything on blogs entries, critics' articles and global news related to computer science and technology. One of the website's features is related to the promotion of their own anti-hacking campaign which aims to reduce numbers of hacking-related incidents all over the globe. The feature received worldwide coverage, and was anticipated to be very effective against thwarting hackers all over the world. William slated the 20th of November 2008 as the official launch date of his company's social website. On the launch date, however, within a few minutes after the social website was launched, the server crashed, thus forcing the company to delay their web service for half the entire week.

(To be continued at the end of the article....)

Here's a first thought: what could be the reason for the occurence?

The reason is due to one online threat known as network attack; better defined as a Denial of Service Attack (DoS).

A DoS is a form of online attack which a person is capable of rendering a system unusable, or significantly slow it down by overloading its resources. An attacker who could not gain access to a machine are likely to apply a denial of service attack which crashes the machine. Hackers do this with the motive of preventing legitimate users access to a certain site and refraining them from using the service.

Illustration on how a Denial of Service attack (DoS) functions

There are many ways a hacker can apply network attacks on a website; there are options such as flooding a network, disrupting connections between machines....but all methods reach the same intended consequences worldwide: networks are no longer operational, business organizations crippled and thus suffered financial loss, people's goodwill towards an organization fade out with every network attack directed at the organization.

Network attacks can be further classified from denial of service (DoS) into a more menacing form called a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS), designed not just to bring a single website down, but the entire network down as well. To achieve that, hackers apply the use of botnets. Botnets are internet robots used for issuing a DDoS attack. As DDoS is a fairly large scale, coordinated network attack which inflicts the intended services through compromised systems, making the job of detecting it very difficult (as attacks can originate from several IP addresses).

Here's how an average hacker orchestrate a DDoS attack:

Step 1: Write a virus which will send ping packets to a target network/website.

Step 2: Infect a minimum of 30,000 computers with the virus and turns them into "zombie computers"

Step 3: Order the "zombies" to launch the attack by sending a "resurrection signal" to all of them.

Step 4: The zombies will start attacking the target server until every single "zombies" are disinfected.



A zombie computer is an infected computer used to do a hacker's bidding, regardless of it being physically turned on or not. Zombie computer are capable of spreading themselves and infect other computers automatically.

It sounds like "Resident Evil", right? Luckily though, network attacks can be both detected and neutralized, just as how the zombies in Resident Evil can be killed with guns and swords...:)

Here's the sumarized list of what computer experts do to neutralize network attacks:

1. Detect and neutralize handlers (studying network traffic patterns and identify possible infections)

2. Detect & prevent secondary victims (reminding all users to update their PC security software & enforce tighter settings)

3. Detect & prevent potential attacks (packets filtering & firewall configurations)

4. Stop attacks (using methodologies such as Load Balancing, Throttling and Drop Requests)

5. Deflect attacks (A form of Counter-DoS by setting up honeypots to entice an attacker into revealing their actvities & strategies of launching network attacks)

6. Post-attack forensic (basically doing some homework after the launch of an attack such as traffic analysis)


Story A Continued.....

Hoping to solve the problem, William enlisted the aid of friend and professional white hacker, Jonathan to sort things out. Jonathan spent some time analyzing the network performance and was shocked to discover the evidence of huge Sync attacks directed at William's server. After making a detailed record, Jonathan revealed to William that his server had been hit with a DDoS by an enormous amount of spoofed internet protocols (IP). There are quite an amount of zombie computers connected on the internet, and they are all directed at William's server, which causes his server to crash due to a large amount of request for the server, rendering it unstable.


That's the end of the "Online Threats" series. I had shared a lot and i hope you will like it and will apply some of it in your daily computering life.

CHEERS!!!

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What To Do When You Got Infected

I am now quite a risk-taker when onlining. When i'm still a computer newbie two years ago, i was pretty cowardly at exploring the web, visiting unknown sites and downloading mysterious stuffs. Two years later, these phobia seems to have long gone. Of course, the journey is not without hardships. I contracted countless Trojans and got two Worms when i'm still using XP. Possibly a few spywares here and there too. Even after i made the transition to Vista in summer 2008, my security woes have lessened a lot but occasionally i might get infected too.

This is the famous one: Antivirus XP 2008. This rogue software once caused a havoc during the early days of 2008.

Everytime i got infected by malwares i learn bit by bit. So here i am, trying to tell you in the form of an experienced "malware-infected user" on what to do when you got infected. Some people knew on certain instance that their PC has been infected, but they do not know the complete procedure to solving the problem.

My tutorial is based mostly on experience with a bit of technical spices, and it'll go in four steps. I shall give further recommendation after detailing my self-christened "Four-Step Process".


STEP 1: TURN OFF YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION

It's pretty simple. Either disconnect using your network sharing center or simply just pull off the ethernet cable (LOL). If you're using a laptop and are connected via wireless, that's even easier: just flick off the wireless switch or button...:)


As hackers and intruders are remotely manipulating your PC and obtaining information online, disconnecting from the web is the most simple and effective way to thwart them from taking control of your PC. Even the Trojans and Spywares require an internet connection in order to send some useful stuffs back to their creator...by turning OFF the internet connection, basically you've reduced the malwares' damage by HALF!!!


STEP 2: STOP ALL RUNNING PROGRAMS AND TASKS

I'll tell you why this is important: sometimes a malware is activated and started doing its dirty jobs because you have executed a program which is infected by that malware. So, the simple thing to do? CLOSE all programs running on your PC! If you're currently doing something, just save your work and exit; it won't do you harm.


STEP 3: GIVE YOUR PC SOME GOOD, THOROUGH SCANS

After disconnecting from the internet and shutting down all running programs, here's the familiar one: scan your PC. You wouldn't need me to tell you what to do: Pull out all the security arsenals (all the antivirus, antispyware and antimalwares you got), and start scanning! (I hope you do keep your virus databases updated though, or else you might miss out some malwares)

Using some good antivirus such as Bitdefender (shown above) is the first step towards effective virus scanning and detection.
Do not assume that your PC is safe with only an antivirus running...additional antimalwares/antispywares are best to be installed as they offer additional protection without conflicting with your antivirus, such as Netgate's SpyEmergency (shown above)

Nowadays, some hackers and virus creators are VERY UNFORGIVING. When they wanted to infect a PC they wouldn't just attach one virus to a file. They will attach MANY, some included spywares and keyloggers together with a couple of Trojans or even a Worm.

I'll tell you why...again. Malicious users often attach many malwares to a file because they are counting on the fact that lots of users only have ONE antivirus to protect themselves. By attaching MANY malwares to a file, once a user got infected, his or her antivirus perhaps may only pick up some of them, while the other malwares....well, remain HIDDEN and HAPPY. As long as the malicious user got its wish of infecting your PC, they won't care actually how many malwares your antivirus had caught. Next time when you, thought that you're safe, went back onlining again, they will still be able to gain access to your systems....

Now, back to the scanning stuffs. If your security software caught something, try to ask the security software to disinfect it first. If there is no such option available, or that the security software failed to disinfect the file, WATCH BEFORE YOU DELETE! I have a case when i used to delete an infected file and it caused one of my application software to become crippled. If there is an option called "quarantine", use it! It is there for a reason!


STEP 4: CLEAN UP YOUR SYSTEM RESTORE, DEFRAG YOUR PC AND RESTART

Here are some optional step, which can be followed but not necessarily a must. In the event that you have System Restore turned on and running on your PC, remember to wipe it clean. That is to prevent malwares once residing in your PC being preserved in a System Restore point. If you did not do it, who knows one day when you need to restore your PC to an earlier state, the malware would live once again!


As malwares can cause fragmentation on your PC due to some background "nuisance" they started up, it is advisable to to defrag your PC after cleaning up an infection. Cases are rare, but failing to defrag your PC which had been severely fragmented by a piece of malware may cause your system to run slowly or even crash, if it was the system files that got fragmented.


After all the jump and duck, remember to do this one thing: restart your PC. Some antivirus, such as my Kaspersky, occasionally will request a restart to clean up certain malwares. But even if you do have Kaspersky, the best thing is to remember to restart yourself. Restart refreshes the PC's system and gave it another fresh start. If you love your PC, then do it...:)


After detailing the "Four-Step Process", here are my further recommendation:

1. In the event you failed to clean up those pesky malwares, try to restore your PC back to an earlier state via System Restore. If you are pretty aware of your PC's malware status, make sure that you choose a restore point which is healthy and free of malwares. That is of course, achievable provided that you DID NOT apply the optional choice of cleaning your System Restore point in my 4th step!

2. If you suspect your PC is still infected or partially uncleaned of malwares, try booting your PC in safe mode WITHOUT networking and start another series of scans. In safe mode, your OS is operating at a minimum amount of software and processes, Therefore, it is a definite thing that your PC can be further checked. However, DO NOT attempt to replace any STEP 1-STEP 3 of my "Four-Step Process" with this! You'll seriously be sorry if you do that, because some malwares are designed to fully control your PC ONCE YOU RESTART for the first time they went active!!! A Trojan called Kavo.exe once did this to my XP...

Booting Windows in Safe Mode is one good way of scanning for virus, as the environment variables are limited and there are no connections to the internet.

3. If your PC has been taken over completely even after all that i recommend to you, and your PC is crippled or rendered useless, then i'm afraid a reformat aka reinstallation of your PC is required....definitely required. The only three reasons you could have got to this demonic end after following all my advice are:

A) Your security softwares (antivirus, antispyware whatsoever) are poor/mediocre in detection

B) You DID NOT update your security softwares

C) The hackers/intruders are too hacking-geeky that they totally annihilated your PC at their first attempt....(LOL..though i hope its impossible)

Reformatting an infected-beyond-recovery PC is equivalent to reducing all those malwares to nil but the entire process can be tiresome, lengthy and slightly complicating.

However, do take note that reformating your PC is the ABSOLUTELY LAST RESORT. By reformatting, even though you can be 110% sure that you'll wipe out the pesky malwares, but then you can also be 99% sure that you'll lose all your data stored in the PC. There are cases where i still managed to retrieve a few of my documents through file-recovering but then i can guarantee you approximately a 99.5% loss of previous data. If you're still able to operate your PC after some malware attacks, just backup your important stuffs on a USB drive or any other storage device before you reformat.

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Online Threats: Spam & E-Mail Spoofing

On this topic, i'll be combining two online threats together, which is both spam & e-mail spoofing. While E-mail spoofing is a standalone topic, spam is closely related to both phishing & the topics on Botnets (part of Network Attacks), which i will discuss after this topic. Even though the two threats differents significantly, i chose to discuss both together in this post mainly because they are both a nuisance to an element of your computering life - your host-based & Web-based e-mail inbox.

1. E-mail Spam

Commonly refered to as "junk mail", spams are designated to annoy users who have an e-mail service. Even though spams are usually harmless because most only facilitates the advertisement of certain stuffs (which most people had little interests in them), it can be considered as an annoyance. People getting hit by lots of spams normally had their e-mail inbox filled up daily by spam e-mails and the next thing they know, they are spending lots of time in detecting which e-mail is spam and which is not before deleting them all. If they ignore the current load of spam e-mails, they will have even more to read and to delete during the next day. Some spams are on advertising certain stuffs, but there are spams that are of pointless content,usually with threatening/frightening messages which serves to waste user's time on reading its contents.

Spam e-mails are generated by its creators, and by collecting our e-mail addresses vis different methods, they begin sending them out to our inbox at random. Spams are growing at a steady rate over the years and only recently began decreasing due to refined spam filtering by Webmail services. Most spam e-mails point to a certain website, which can be financial websites, products websites, leisure websites & even adult websites. A small portion af spam directs user to a scam website, where real threats looms.

Those with immediate contact with me via hotmail address...remember why i always mention that no spams are to be delivered to my hotmail account? That is because sometimes Webmail users are not aware of which e-mails are spams and which are not. Spamming can only be forgiven when users are not aware that their computer is infected with a botnet, which essentially encourage a system be infected with more malwares (i will discuss this in our next topic on Denial of Services attacks).

To curb spams (besides offering stronger spam filtering), most Webmail service providers such as Windows Live Hotmail also provide users a "blacklisting" option in their e-mail settings , where users can include a spam e-mail in their blacklist so the account will remember the e-mail as spams next time a similar e-mail come knocking at their e-mail inbox.

Below is an illustration of how spam on Viagra operates. Spams on Rolex watches & Viagra are the most common spam contents in the U.S


2. E-mail Spoofing

E-mail spoofing is used to describe fraudulent e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are changed to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source. Unlike spamming, which aims to get users to pay attention to a certain advertisement and attracting them to purchase/obtain the product, E-mail spoofing is essentially "spamming of a different kind", where the intention of the spoofer is to either damage the reputation of an existing organization via destructive contents of the e-mail or to get users to reply to their account (whether with fraudulent intention or not).

It is also related to website spoofing, where it imitates a well-known website which is actually run by a third party as an intention for frauds or for general protests. To track the spoofers are no easy task; as many spammers now use special software to create random sender addresses, even if the user finds the origin of the e-mail it is unlikely that the e-mail address will be active. Even hackers use e-mail spoofing technique as a mean of concealing their identity while sending e-mail attachment containing worms to destroy as user's PC. Nowadays, it is possible that all new variants of internet worms contains elements of this technique.

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Online Threats: Traffic Analysis

I dedicate this post to Softgeeek, who is the perfect online mentor and had previously assisted me in understanding lots of computelogical stuffs, especially on very sparse technical knowledge. A million thanks for making me realize that we are never 100% secure when we use the internet for data sending, unless we find a way to cure the problem permanently.

Even though i know most of you are not that paranoid till a state that you might want to block/deter anyone interested in analyzing your network's traffic, it is still a pretty useful knowledge. To confess in you, i did not use the knowledge i obtained in this particular field, because firstly, i am still a networking noob, and secondly, the process is pretty unnecessary for home users; as far as i know, only military officers will apply this kinda stuffs at large in their daily jobs, notably the US Military Defense Department & possibly, the CIA.

In computering knowledge, traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communications. It can be utilized even when you have encrypted the contents of your data over the network and thus, is a really serious privacy issue. I predict that 95% of the world today did not even know the existence of this threat, or the risk it possess.

As cynical as i have been in discussing this topic, of course, there are methods to at least reduce the damage it might bring, though not eradicating the problem entirely. That method's idea is to make yourself anonymous over the internet, and to achieve that feat, there are two ways. The first, more difficult way to keep yourself anonymous over the web is through the modification of proxy or internet protocol (IP) address by means of manual configuration. The second, more easy-going method is to modify your proxy or IP address by means of software such as Steganos's Virtual Anonym. Which leads us to another important element in maintaining anonymity on the web- the concept of Onion Routing.

The paragraph below is Softgeeek's word-by-word tutorial on Onion Routing:

Onion Routing is a technique which helps you to be anonymous during the conversation/communication over a computer network. Communication are repeatedly encrypted and then sent through several network nodes called Onion Router. Each Onion Router removes a layer of encryption to uncover routing instructions, and sends the message to the next router where this is repeated. This prevents these intermediary nodes from knowing the origin, destination, and contents of the communication.

If you look at the picture, you can fairly understand the encryption of communication in such a network.

One software which utilizes the concept of Onion Routing is called Tor. Tor is a free software implementation of second-generation Onion Routing. It has been sponsored by US Naval Research Laboratory in the past. Tor became an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) project in late 2004, and the EFF supported Tor financially until November 2005; now the entire project is being developed by the Tor Project Team since December 2006.

I'll stop at here, hoping that the information i gave you is ample enough to comprehend as a home user. If you would like to know more by doing your research on Tor (the Onion Router), you can visit their home page by clicking the link here.

To learn more about Steganos Internet Anonym, the online anonymity software, visit their official website by clicking here. Anyone wishing to download the software and use it can contact me for serial keys (required to activate the product).

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Norman Security Suite v7.10 with FREE one year license key

As promised to you in my previous post on antipharming, here i am to introduce you to a widely unknown security software which offers real antipharming protection, although it does offer other categories of protection too.

Nearly all of the people who touched on computers know about Norton, and most believe Norton are simply the best there is, which is genuinely not the case. But have they heard of Norman, a security suite which is senior to Norton by almost a decade? When Norton was still taking its baby breath, Norman was already working closely with the US Department of Security with a net profit worth 200,000$!! However, the tide seems to have changed; nowadays, not every computer professionist even know about Norman, which is a great shame.

Here is what Norman's official website has to say about Norman Security Suite v7.10:


- Complete protection for your computer
- Protects you against virus, spyware Trojans and malware continuously
- Low memory usage and CPU load for improved performances
- Helps safeguard your personal information
- A complete protection package for Antivirus, Antispyware, Firewall, Parental Control and Antipharming.

Norman Security Suite is a set of security programs to guard you against internet threats such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and hackers. The different programs with protect you against inappropriate contents, rootkits and other hostile activities against you and your computer, whether you are using online banking, chatting, e-mailing, playing or just surfing the
net.

Here's How to get a FREE 1 year license for Norman Security Suite v7.10:

1. Go to this page and select Norman Security Suite in your preferred language and download it.

2. Now go to this page and enter your name and real e-mail with other details. You will receive an e-mail containing Norman security code valid for one month.

3. Repeat step 2 again and you will have two valid security code.

4. Now, install the downloaded program.

5. After installation, open it and go to "Install and Update" on the left side.

6. Click "License Wizard" and enter any one of the two security codes you got and press finish.

7. Repeat step 6 but use the 2nd security code this time.

8. You will see that your subscription will end one year after you install both keys. If you're not getting one year subscription, keep changing keys by repeating step 2 and applying it to step 6 and 7 until you see a one-year subscription.

9. Update and enjoy!!!

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Online Threats: Pharming

I once talked about phishing, which is essentially, a form of online identity theft through means of deceptions. Later, it occurs to me that i should talk about another online threat, pharming, which is closely related to phishing, though at a much lower scale.

Pharming is a type of hacker's attack with the motive of redirecting a website's traffic to another bogus website. Hackers achieve the feat of pharming through two techniques: first, the modification of the host file on a victim's PC or through exploitation of a vulnerability in DNS server software. Like phishing, the motive of applying pharming is also to trick users into revealing sensitive information over the internet, and both methods can be combined together for the greatest effect. An action of infecting DNS by pharming is normally called "DNS poisoning".

Illustration on how antipharming works. First, the attacker "poison" a DNS server, which provides user information on the web. When a user asked for information retrieval, the poisoned DNS server will point the user to another bogus website, where the hackers can start their information-thieving activities.

One thing that is so tricky about this online threat is that even though they are rarely used, they are practically undetectable by security software such as antivirus and antispyware software. Despite the fact that there are antipharming tools available out there, they are so rare that normal users will less likely able to find a really good one that offers real protection. One of the antipharming software i knew of is included in the Norman Security Suite v7, a very little-known antivirus and antispyware software. I will post something on Norman Security Suite in the future.

Norman Security Suite/ Norman Virus Control, one of the few available security software tools with pure antipharming protection.

There are little ways of protecting yourself against pharming, but beside using antipharming tools, one of the best free thing you can take notice of is to make sure that whenever you're making a transaction or exchange of personal information online, make sure that you are in a Secure Socket Layered (SSL) environment. As i had mentioned before (check my previous post on Online Threats), users can anticipate that they are in a SSL environment when the hypertext protocol is shown as https:// instead of the usual http://. That simply means that the transaction area you're in is certified by the company itself and therefore, safe to do anything you want to.

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Software of the Week: MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware

I often encourage users to have a sidekick security software to their present antivirus protection for extra security. As i find Windows Defender a worthless junk, i began searching other security software tools. It isn't easy to find one that meets your requirement, but on today's software of the week, i shall give you information on one security software which i find very effective- Malwarebyte.org's "Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware"

Without being too critical, this is perhaps the best FREE additional security software available. Installation of the software is pretty fast; it surprisingly took me less than a minute to install the software. It spots a simple user interface, with a simple color theme and tabbed interface for easy categorization. Users can choose whether to run a smart scan or a full system scan at their own will. Database update is also fairly smooth with no break-downs, only occassionally requiring a reinstallation of the software in order to get the database to update.

The user interface of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware on my desktop

Running a smart scan usually takes about 10 minutes or longer, if you have a large system file, while a full system scan took about 50 minutes to an hour, again, depending on your computer's file size. During the scan, if you're infected with malwares, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware will display the numbers of files infected. After a scan, users can have the option of ignoring the infection or have MalwareBytes' clean it up, while backing up the infection to the quarantine section. A log file will be recorded if configured, showing the information about the scan which users can refer to later.

MalwareBytes during update. They release their updates on a daily basis

What impresses me about the software is not only of its malware detection capabilities, but its abilities in detecting poorly architectured/rogue software applications as well. After uninstallations, these software often leave behind obsolete entries and junk files which the users could not manually modify nor remove. MalwareBytes' impresses users as well with the ability to remove those unwanted software files and make the computer a much cleaner place to perform daily jobs.

While all of this functions available in the free edition, satisfied users can pay for an upgrade in order to unlock the real-time protection features. The real-time protection features are nifty, and works well with any other pre-existing antivirus software. For users wanting a real-time protection, purchasing MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware is simply the best choice.

If there was anything to complain about this software, it will be its much less attractive user interface and shortcut image. However, who would really care about its interface when it can offer rock-solid detection and most importantly, rock solid removal?

To visit their official website, click here.

To download MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware directly, click here for download.

To obtain registration keys in order to unlock the real-time protection features, please contact me at chin88skywalker@hotmail.com

"Giving is Always Better than Receiving"

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