Google announced its world's largest cloud computing centre would be set up in Hyderabad, India to attend to both global and Indian operations. Cloud computing is known as the next big thing in the web. In a cloud computing environment, users instead of running applications on their desktops, access the same applications from the large data centre called clouds. Cloud computing is Web-based processing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices (such as smartphones) on demand over the Internet.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
BlackBerry
Recently, BlackBerry is in news. Here we are going to discuss what BlackBerry means.
BlackBerry is a line of mobile e-mail and smart phone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) since 1996.
BlackBerry functions as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar and to-do list capabilities. It also functions as a portable media player with support for music and video playback and camera picture and video capabilities. BlackBerry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive (push) Internet e-mail wherever mobile network service coverage is present, or through Wi-Fi connectivity. BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone today. This includes auto-text, auto-correct, text prediction, support for many languages, keyboard shortcuts, text emoticons, push email, push Facebook and MySpace notifications, push EBay notifications, push instant messaging with BlackBerry Messenger, Google Messenger, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger; threaded text messaging and a customizable indicator light near the top right of all Blackberry devices. All notifications and conversations from applications are shown in a unified messaging application which third party applications can access also. Many of these applications would have to be running in the background of other phones to be used. BlackBerry's push gives BlackBerry devices their renowned battery life. All data on the phone is compressed through BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). BlackBerry has about two thirds less data transfer than any other smart phone, while supplying the same information.
BlackBerry commands a 20.8% share of worldwide smartphone sales, making it the second most popular platform after Nokia's Symbian OS. The consumer BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries worldwide on over 500 mobile service operators using various mobile technologies.
The first BlackBerry device was introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager. In 2002, the more commonly known smart phone BlackBerry was released, which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services. It is an example of a convergent device.
BlackBerry is a line of mobile e-mail and smart phone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) since 1996.
BlackBerry functions as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar and to-do list capabilities. It also functions as a portable media player with support for music and video playback and camera picture and video capabilities. BlackBerry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive (push) Internet e-mail wherever mobile network service coverage is present, or through Wi-Fi connectivity. BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone today. This includes auto-text, auto-correct, text prediction, support for many languages, keyboard shortcuts, text emoticons, push email, push Facebook and MySpace notifications, push EBay notifications, push instant messaging with BlackBerry Messenger, Google Messenger, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger; threaded text messaging and a customizable indicator light near the top right of all Blackberry devices. All notifications and conversations from applications are shown in a unified messaging application which third party applications can access also. Many of these applications would have to be running in the background of other phones to be used. BlackBerry's push gives BlackBerry devices their renowned battery life. All data on the phone is compressed through BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). BlackBerry has about two thirds less data transfer than any other smart phone, while supplying the same information.
BlackBerry commands a 20.8% share of worldwide smartphone sales, making it the second most popular platform after Nokia's Symbian OS. The consumer BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries worldwide on over 500 mobile service operators using various mobile technologies.
The first BlackBerry device was introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager. In 2002, the more commonly known smart phone BlackBerry was released, which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services. It is an example of a convergent device.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks are the newest form of warfare!! It is true. An article published in The Hindu dated 04/10/2010 by Mr. Peter Beaumont confirms this. The article says an attack aimed at an Iranian nuclear plant and a recently revealed 2008 incident at a US base show the spread of cyber weapons. The gist of the article is reproduced below:
A deliberate computer worm attack was happened in the computer system of the U.S military's central command which would take 14 months to eradicate. The Modus Operandi was, worm infected memory sticks were scattered in the bathroom at a military base of U.S with a hope in the human error. Somebody picked up the memory stick and used in the computer system which resulted in infection of worm to the computer network.
Like wise an attack of worm has happened in an Iranian nuclear reactor which delayed the commissioning of the reactor.
The full story is available in The Hindu daily, dated 04th October 2010.
A deliberate computer worm attack was happened in the computer system of the U.S military's central command which would take 14 months to eradicate. The Modus Operandi was, worm infected memory sticks were scattered in the bathroom at a military base of U.S with a hope in the human error. Somebody picked up the memory stick and used in the computer system which resulted in infection of worm to the computer network.
Like wise an attack of worm has happened in an Iranian nuclear reactor which delayed the commissioning of the reactor.
The full story is available in The Hindu daily, dated 04th October 2010.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
CARD SKIMMERS
A card skimmer is a device which is designed to steal information from a card with a magnetic strip, classically a credit card, when the card is used in a legitimate financial transaction. Once collected on the device, the skimmer can be used to make a clone of the card which can be used for fraudulent purposes, or the collected information can be utilized for online and over the phone transactions which do not require a physical credit card, only the information on the card. There are several ways in which a card skimmer can be used. Some skimmers are designed as standalone units through which a card must be swiped. The second type of skimmer is a small electronic device which attaches to a credit card terminal or automated teller machine (ATM). In this case, every time a card is swiped or inserted, the skimmer gathers the user's information, and it may be attached to a device which logs keystrokes to collect the personal identity numbers (PINs) of people who use the terminal.
People can protect themselves from credit card skimmers in a number of ways. If a credit card is taken by someone to be run, the card holder can ask to watch the process. Most credit card terminals are kept in plain view, making it easy for people to see if their cards are run twice, or if there is anything unusual about the way in which the card is handled. When asked to enter a PIN, people should also get into the habit of covering their hands while they enter the number, to make it harder to collect the number with the use of a camera or observation.
Standalone credit card terminals with card skimmers may look or behave in a slightly unusual way. For example, the area to insert the card may be loose or crooked, indicating that it has been moved, or that a card skimmer has been attached over the actual area of insertion. People who regularly use the same terminal may also want to note changes in the configuration, which could indicate that a skimmer is being used. Card skimmers are also often accompanied by cameras to log PINs.
People can protect themselves from credit card skimmers in a number of ways. If a credit card is taken by someone to be run, the card holder can ask to watch the process. Most credit card terminals are kept in plain view, making it easy for people to see if their cards are run twice, or if there is anything unusual about the way in which the card is handled. When asked to enter a PIN, people should also get into the habit of covering their hands while they enter the number, to make it harder to collect the number with the use of a camera or observation.
Standalone credit card terminals with card skimmers may look or behave in a slightly unusual way. For example, the area to insert the card may be loose or crooked, indicating that it has been moved, or that a card skimmer has been attached over the actual area of insertion. People who regularly use the same terminal may also want to note changes in the configuration, which could indicate that a skimmer is being used. Card skimmers are also often accompanied by cameras to log PINs.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Six arrested for credit card scam in Kerala
An international gang of credit card fraudsters has been arrested by Kerala Police. These fraudsters had purchased gold ornaments from a shop and later it was found that the credit cards used were fake ones.
The gang imported blank credit cards from China and embossed credit card numbers on these blank credit cards using Chinese punching machine. They collected the details of credit cards of different people from ATM booths through skimmer, through hacking and from foreign sources and wrote the details into the new credit cards made by them. Using these credit cards, they purchased gold worth of RS 2.75 lakhs using different credit cards from a gold ornament shop in Kannur district in Kerala.
The gang imported blank credit cards from China and embossed credit card numbers on these blank credit cards using Chinese punching machine. They collected the details of credit cards of different people from ATM booths through skimmer, through hacking and from foreign sources and wrote the details into the new credit cards made by them. Using these credit cards, they purchased gold worth of RS 2.75 lakhs using different credit cards from a gold ornament shop in Kannur district in Kerala.
Source : www.keralapolice.org (The official website of Kerala Police)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
ZOMBIE
zombie computer or often called Zombie is a computer connected to the Internet that has been compromised by a hacker, a computer virus, or a trojan horse. Generally, a compromised machine is only one of many in a botnet, and will be used to perform malicious tasks of one sort or another under remote direction. Most owners of zombie computers are unaware that their system is being used in this way.
OPEN PROXY SERVERS
In computer networks, a proxy server is a server computer system that acts as an intermediary for requests from client computer systems seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service available from a different server. The proxy server evaluates the request according to its filtering rules. A proxy server can be placed in the user's local computer or at various points between the user and the destination servers on the Internet.
An open proxy is a proxy server that is accessible by any Internet user. With an open proxy, however, any user on the Internet is able to use this forwarding service.
An open proxy allows a user to conceal his IP address and thereby help preserve his anonymity and maintain his security while browsing the Web or using other Internet services.
It is possible for a computer to run as an open proxy server without the computer's owner knowing this. This can result from misconfiguration of proxy software running on the computer, or from infection with malware (viruses, trojans or worms) designed for this purpose.. If it is caused by malware, the infected computer is known as a zombie computer.
There are hundreds of thousands of open proxies online. Running an open proxy is a high risk for the server operator; providing an anonymous proxy server can cause real legal troubles to the owner. Such services are frequently used to break into foreign computer systems, child pornography is usually consumed through proxies, and illegal content is likely to be spread through such proxies. Because open proxies are often implicated in abuse, a number of methods have been developed to detect them and to refuse service to them.
An open proxy is a proxy server that is accessible by any Internet user. With an open proxy, however, any user on the Internet is able to use this forwarding service.
An open proxy allows a user to conceal his IP address and thereby help preserve his anonymity and maintain his security while browsing the Web or using other Internet services.
It is possible for a computer to run as an open proxy server without the computer's owner knowing this. This can result from misconfiguration of proxy software running on the computer, or from infection with malware (viruses, trojans or worms) designed for this purpose.. If it is caused by malware, the infected computer is known as a zombie computer.
There are hundreds of thousands of open proxies online. Running an open proxy is a high risk for the server operator; providing an anonymous proxy server can cause real legal troubles to the owner. Such services are frequently used to break into foreign computer systems, child pornography is usually consumed through proxies, and illegal content is likely to be spread through such proxies. Because open proxies are often implicated in abuse, a number of methods have been developed to detect them and to refuse service to them.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Credit Card Fraud Prevention Tips
1. Try not to let your credit card out of your sight whenever possible.
2. Be very careful to whom you give your credit card. Never give your credit card info out when you receive a phone call. Legitimate companies don't call you to ask for a credit card number over the phone.
3. Never respond to emails that request you provide your credit card info via email -- and don't ever respond to emails that ask you to go to a website to verify personal (and credit card) information. These are called 'phishing' scams.
4. Never provide your credit card information on a website that is not a secure site.
5. Sign your credit cards as soon as you receive them.
6. Don't write your PIN number on your credit card -- or have it anywhere near your credit card.
7. Never leave your credit cards or receipts lying around.
8. Shield your credit card number so that others around you can't copy it or capture it on a cell phone or other camera.
9. Keep a list in a secure place with all of your account numbers and expiration dates, as well as the phone number and address of each bank that has issued you a credit card. Keep this list updated each time you get a new credit card.
10. Only carry around credit cards that you absolutely need. Don't carry around extra credit cards that you rarely use.
11. Open credit card bills promptly and make sure there are no bogus charges. Treat your credit card bill like your checking account -- reconcile it monthly. Save your receipts so you can compare them with your monthly bills.
12. Never write your credit card account number in a public place (such as on a postcard or so that it shows through the envelope payment window).
13. Never lend a credit card to anyone else.
14. If you change your residence, notify your credit card issuers in advance of your change of address.
2. Be very careful to whom you give your credit card. Never give your credit card info out when you receive a phone call. Legitimate companies don't call you to ask for a credit card number over the phone.
3. Never respond to emails that request you provide your credit card info via email -- and don't ever respond to emails that ask you to go to a website to verify personal (and credit card) information. These are called 'phishing' scams.
4. Never provide your credit card information on a website that is not a secure site.
5. Sign your credit cards as soon as you receive them.
6. Don't write your PIN number on your credit card -- or have it anywhere near your credit card.
7. Never leave your credit cards or receipts lying around.
8. Shield your credit card number so that others around you can't copy it or capture it on a cell phone or other camera.
9. Keep a list in a secure place with all of your account numbers and expiration dates, as well as the phone number and address of each bank that has issued you a credit card. Keep this list updated each time you get a new credit card.
10. Only carry around credit cards that you absolutely need. Don't carry around extra credit cards that you rarely use.
11. Open credit card bills promptly and make sure there are no bogus charges. Treat your credit card bill like your checking account -- reconcile it monthly. Save your receipts so you can compare them with your monthly bills.
12. Never write your credit card account number in a public place (such as on a postcard or so that it shows through the envelope payment window).
13. Never lend a credit card to anyone else.
14. If you change your residence, notify your credit card issuers in advance of your change of address.
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