Preview IMO IMO X3 & X5: Android Tablet $ 700 thousand, 800 MHz Processor

IMO the more aggressive local vendors release tablets cheap in Indonesia market. This time IMO IMO X3 and X5 are ready to fight. In terms of both appearance hardly much different from its predecessor the tab X7 IMO. However, about the offer, IMO X3 and X5 certainly has something new that is not less lucrative.
IMO X3 preview:The tablet is targeting middle to lower consumer. But IMO the X3 is very interesting, because the selling price is really tempting that is in the range of USD 799 thousand. Is, very rarely tablets are marketed under sejutaan.
But please note, as a tablet PC with a minimum price tag of course treats its facilities is relatively limited. Take for example, Tab X3 IMO not equipped with a SIM card slot so users can not telephone ria. But to enjoy the Internet, the tablet is already crowded with WiFi 802.11 b / g.
IMO tablet X3 comes with enhanced Android OS 2.2 with 400 MHz processor. For the size of the tablet PC is still questionable performance, but for the layman who wants to taste the experience of a tablet is still pretty decent.
Problem features, IMO X3 provides multimedia facilities adequate. For example cameras, audio / video player, YouTube and a memory expansion slot with a maximum capacity of 32GB. Another feature of embedded ranging from E-book, Documents to Go (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, pdf), Gmail, Google Search, App Market, Clock and G-sensor. Problem durability, imo X3 was injected with lithium ion 1450 mAh battery.
IMO X5 preview:IMO X5 tablet is actually not much different from his brother IMO X3 in terms of form and features are embedded. There are some differences such as the price is more expensive in the range of USD 1.3 to 1.5 millions because IMO X3 processors are supported by the more powerful 800 MHz speed.
7-inch tablet has also been supported with Android OS 2.2 Froyo. IMO type of processor used is actually the same as the X5 X3 IMO. The difference in clock speed just like the sector is written over the difference of 400 MHz. In addition, the IMO X5 already supported internal storage 256MB RAM, 2GB ROM and a microSD expansion slot types can reach 32GB capacity.
Just like the X3 IMO, these tablets did not support the GSM network (no SIM card slot) so it can not be used to call. Luckily, this tablet can still be used surf via Wi-Fi connection. And, this tablet has also been supported by the modem via a special port for external connectors + USB modem stick.
The rest, you can find an innate feature Android on this tablet. Starting from Google Search, Gmail, AppMarket, Flash Player 10.1, G-sensor, Video Player: MPEG1/2/4, MJPG, H263, H264 MP3 Player Player: MP2, MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA Audio Record Player, YouTube, clock, modem, E-book reader, Document to Go (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, pdf).
X3 IMO specification:Screen: 7 inch, WVGA Touchscreen TFT wide-screen (800 × 480 pixels), 16:9; OS: Android 2.2 Froyo; Processor: WM8650, 400 MHz Camera: There; Internal Memory: 256MB RAM, 2GB of storage; External Memory : microSD up to 32GB Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b / g, data cable Browser: HTML Other Features: Web Video with YouTube Icon, Stereo speakers, audio / video player, e-books, Documents to Go (Word, Excel, powerpoint, pdf), Gmail, Google Search, App Market, Clock, G-sensor; Battery: Lithium ion 1450 mAh; Standby: 10 hours; Video player: 3 hours
IMO X5 Specifications:Dimensions: 198.5x127x16.8mm; Screen: 7 inches, TFT capacitive touchscreen WVGA wide screen (800 × 480 pixels), 16:9; OS: Android 2.2 Froyo; Processor: WM8650 high performance 800 MHz, 400 MHz DSP CPU; Internal Memory : 256MB RAM, 2GB ROM: External Memory: microSD up to 32GB; Camera: VGA; Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b / g / n, a data cable Browser: HTML Other Features: GPS / A-GPS, Google Search, Gmail, AppMarket, Flash Player 10.1, G-sensor, Video Player: MPEG1/2/4, MJPG, H263, H264 MP3 Player Player: MP2, MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA Audio Record Player, YouTube, Clock, Modem, E-book Reader, Documents to Go (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF); Battery: Lithium ion 1450 mAh; Modem support: X060S/X200 Alcatel, Huawei E220/E230/E160X/E169G/E1750

HTC Radar price is Rp 4.5juta

HTC officially released Windows Phone Mangonya phones. Taiwanese companies were bringing HTC Mango Radar which became the first mobile phone in Indonesia. According to Manager of HTC, Agus Sugiharto ...

Radar will create new limits to the ability of photography, multimedia, social and sophisticated, allowing you to take full advantage of the latest innovations Windows Phone. This is known because the camera is equipped with radar super-bright f/2.2 lens and back-illuminated sensor that allows capturing images on the night of the liver where low light conditions, other than that Radar is also able to overcome and reduce noise up to 50%.

As a reminder these are the specs of the HTC Radar:
* Processor 1GHz Qualcomm
* HTC Radar Dimensions 120.5 mm x 61.5 mm x 10.9 mm
* Weight 137 grams (with battery)
* Screen size 3.8 inches with a WVGA resolution of 480 x800
* Connectivity Bluetooth, HSPA/GSM/3G/WiFi 802.11 b / g / n
* GPS
* Rear 5 MP Camera with f2.2 lens, the front camera VGA quality
* Battery capacity of 1520 mAh

At the launch is present also representatives from Microsoft that informs about the new features brought by Mango. HTC radar itself will present mid-November and priced at Rp 4.5juta

X-info, Giant 52 Inch Tablet PCs

Tablet PC measuring 7, 8, or 10 inches may be used, but if the size of 52 inches is just remarkable. This was successfully realized by one of the vendors of computer equipment from Japan, NEC.


The tablet is given the name X-info. The plan of this product is not marketed like most other tablet PCs, but only to specific agencies that require a large touch screen media such as government offices, universities or research institutes.



X-info processor using Intel Core i7, the memory of 6 GB DDR3 RAM, Wi-Fi, 3 USB ports, a resolution of 1920 X 1080, and uses the operating system Windows 7. This product is also equipped with a camera and document scanner is already integrated in it.

The size and shape of the tablet PC itself does not pick the gold standard, but with a screen measuring 52 inches and weighing up to 160 kg, was it proper X-info is called as a tablet PC?

Compete with Apple, Sony TV Prepare the Future

The technology vendors are thinking hard to revolutionize the television. Sony for example, promised to introduce a revolutionary television device to compete with other vendors, like Apple.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer as the major television manufacturing states such as his company was busy projecting what would the future of television. Sony feels the need to act quickly because they kept losing television division.

"There are a number of unusually large expenses in research and development to develop a different television sets," said Stringer.

"We can not keep selling television sets as we do now. Therefore, all making us lose money," he continued, Monday (14/11/2011).

Stringer also believes they will be competing with Apple. Because Steve Jobs, before he died, also thought hard about how to revolutionize the world of television.

In his official biography written by Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs is currently working on state television device can be connected easily to a variety of devices and cloud computing services.

"It will have the most simple user interface you can imagine, I was finally able to solve it," said Jobs. There are rumors also that television sets can be ordered through voice over features Siri.

Be Careful When Following the Crazy Yellow Brick Link Trail

Links, what are they? When you go to a web site, links are the little bits of information that when clicked on will take you to another website of similar context. The thing is, with these strange and mysterious human minds of ours that we know so little about, these links if navigated subconsciously can take one to places of information you normally would never travel to. You could start out in the light and end up in a black hole. Let me give you an example of a trail I recently traveled without really thinking.

The other day I decided to search for a web site about one of my all time favorite musicians, Arlo Guthrie. Arlo Guthrie is a folk musician, son of another famous musician Woody Guthrie. When I was a little kid, one of the coolest things to do was to listen to his story/song entitled 'The Motorcycle Song'. So, I found his personal website through a Google search and it was pretty cool, and very positive. Guthrie runs a charity organization and a multi-religious church center where money is raised to help people with illnesses as well as giving less fortunate people a place to pray, meditate or just get off the streets.

So, I'm reading all about Arlo in his biography and there's a link to his court statement at the famous Chicago Seven court case. Well, as I'm a young guy I had never heard of this case, my curiosity was piqued and I clicked on the link. Next I was reading Arlo's funny comments about the time he was arrested for disposing of garbage in an illegal area on Thanksgiving because the dump was closed. Of course if you know about Guthrie you'd know that his famous song 'Alice's Restaurant' was based on this story. I get to the finish of the court transcript and there's a link for the 'Famous Trials' web site that the Chicago Seven trial was a page of.

Not thinking, I click on the site and start to absent-mindedly scan through all the famous court cases listed. Remember, I was originally looking up my old buddy Arlo, now I'm in a world of laws and crime. Well, I come across this crazy looking face: Charles Manson, and for some unknown unconscious reason I click on his court case. I didn't know much about the guy, but maybe because both my parents are x-hippies and he was from their era...

Now I'm spending an hour of my time (and nothing is more valuable than time, except love and peace) reading about the gruesome murders of Manson's Family as his group of devoted followers was called. I didn't consider myself interested in this sort of evil stuff, and still don't, as my feeling after the experience was one of distaste, sadness and plain wonder as to how people can do these sorts of negative actions.

In the end, following the absent-minded link trail led me to a place so much darker than where I started. I don't know if I ever would have spent an hour of my life reading about Charles Manson otherwise. It's not my cup of tea you know. I'm into peaceful music, humorous novels, Tai Chi and foreign films. This can be taken as a sign that we must be careful, conscious and alert when we are searching the Internet. It is such a huge mass of information, and like all things in existence has its dark side as well as its light. Be careful Dorothy, the yellow brick link trail can lead to the wicked witch as well as the wonderful world of Oz.

Jesse S. Somer, M6.Net
http://www.m6.net Jesse S. Somer is a believer in the infinite Universe, which includes the infinite Internet. Like all things in life we must be careful when we make choices, click on links…

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Benefits of Portal Content Management

Organizations need to provide timely, relevant information to customers, partners, and employees anywhere in the world, to meet today's business requirements. Some of the hurdles that the organizations face in achieving this are IT bottlenecks, information getting lost, irrelevant and outdated information. If these problems are not looked at properly, then this will lead to escalating costs and erode customer satisfaction which will be a great loss for the organization. One good solution for all these problems is to create and deliver highly relevant content on a portal.

Companies can deploy a unified content and portal infrastructure to meet its business goals. This infrastructure should have tools that can unify content and infrastructure between portals to provide a consistent user experience and tools that can empower non-technical users within the organization to create, manage, and publish their own information to enterprise portals. In addition, the tools enable distribution of trusted, up-to-date, and accurate information to support multiple portal initiatives including partner extranets, and employee intranets and add content intelligence to increase the relevance and targeting of information for end users.

Problems that arise due to IT bottlenecks in the content contribution process and problems due to administrative overhead in the portal publishing process can be solved by empowering non-technical business users to contribute content to the portal. When you need to provide a unique infrastructure for the portals of partners, employers, and customers, you can unify the content and content infrastructure between portals to provide a consistent user experience. When end users need to access multiple applications and repositories for all of their content, content across enterprise applications can be integrated and delivered to accessed portals. Portal content management solutions not only empower non-technical users to within your organization to create and publish their own portal content but also ensures that the information published is relevant and personalized to serve multiple portal audiences

Some of the key benefits of portal content management include the ability to manage more content assets at lower cost, publish portal content faster and improves the reach of relevant content to the appropriate audiences. In addition, portal content management also empowers non-technical users to easily publish content on their own, increase online collaboration with partners or customers, and achieves better, faster integration of content via integrations with enterprise applications.

Portal content management software provide a simple, web-based user interface for creating and publishing content to portals, to empower non-technical, line-of-business users to create, manage, and publish their own content. The Portal content management software also provides a powerful navigation system for editing and updating content within the portal. Portal content management solutions ensure that only relevant content is delivered to each audience based on an enterprise taxonomy that drives content tagging and categorization for creation and powerful attribute search within the portal. This ensures that the content and metadata published are mapped to personalization rules created and deployed in the enterprise portal.

Powerful attribute finders of Portal content management software enable end users to easily locate content within the enterprise taxonomy that is exposed as intuitive, browseable categories in the enterprise portal. The enterprise content management platform of Portal content management software provide robust enterprise content management services such as workflow, versioning, lifecycle management, and security. Enterprise integration services provided by Portal content management solutions enable easy integration of transactional data from enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM, etc.

To access online version of the above article, go to http://www.content-management-junction.com/portal-cm.html

To learn how to create, manage and publish content using different types of content management systems, solutions & softwares visit http://www.content-management-junction.com

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How IP-based Video Surveillance Works -- Way Beyond Analog

When you're shopping around for an IP-based video surveillance system, you will need to be particularly cautious about what exactly you're looking at and what the individual terms mean. How IP-based video surveillance works is open to interpretation as far as some video surveillance and security salespeople are concerned -- not because they are trying to confuse the issues, but because there is no genuine consensus on what the term "IP-based" or related ones such as "networked" or "web-based" means.

Originally video surveillance was done based on analog technology -- closed
circuit television (CCTV) and recording on video tapes. This was fine for
recording what was going on, but it didn't broadcast actual live information, so
it wasn't practical for monitoring stores, for instance, from a remote location.
It simply provided what happened after the fact. The picture quality wasn't
great and it relied on human reliability as well -- someone had to remember to
change the tapes regularly, etc.

Digital revolutionizes video surveillance

With the Internet revolution and the ever-increasing presence of Local Area
Networks, technology took great strides in video surveillance in the 1990's.
Analog camera tubes were replaced with CCD (Charged Coupled Devices) and digital
cameras became affordable for most people.

This combination meant that video surveillance could do two things: go live
over the Internet or a closed network for surveillance and provide clearer,
crisper images that could be tracked and manipulated easily. For law
enforcement, digital surveillance meant it was much easier to zoom in on images,
track particular scenes and enhance features.

The basics of IP-based surveillance

A digital camera "views" the scene in front of it, broadcasts the video
images as a digitized signal over a LAN line (Local Area Network) where it's
then transmitted to a computer or server. The server in turn manages all of this
information. Depending upon the software used to manage the digital images, it
can record, display or retransmit the images to anywhere in the world.

The software package can easily be upgraded to allow for analyzing data,
selecting specific "flagged" items to watch for and a host of other functions,
making it a truly customizable security tool.

True IP-based digital surveillance uses CCD cameras that use signal
processing that send packetized video streams over the LAN through a Cat 5 cable
rather than a coax cable network, utilizing greater bandwidth and standard
TCP/IP communication.

It also provides more intelligent data mining and information retrieval. If
security is an issue, full digital surveillance also offers the added advantage
of data encryption opportunities to protect against image tampering -- something
not possible with analog recording.

Recently, a few companies such as D-Link and Linksys have also developed fully
digital cameras that actually have completely integrated, built-in web servers
so that no external computers are needed for operating them. The signal is
transmitted directly to the terminal location for storage or play-back.

Halfway there...

The "middle of the road" of video surveillance is upgrading video
surveillance by utilizing a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). A DVR system is not
really fully IP-based, but is step toward the more advanced IP technology. In
actuality, a DVR system uses the same camera and structures for cabling as the
older CCTV analog systems, but the old VCRs have been replaced with DVR for
storage of the data. The data is converted to digital so that it can be stored
on hard disks, but the quality of the images captured remains analog since this
is how it originated.

When shopping for a system, be sure to ask if the system is digital based on
the recording (DVR) or on the camera, since many manufacturers consider a system
digital by virtue of the DVR storage system even if the camera recording the
images is still analog.

Going all the way

Some people will move to the hybrid models of a CCTV/DVR system when they
first move beyond an analog system because it seems like the next practical
evolutionary step in video surveillance. However, shifting to this method
largely ignores how IP-based video surveillance works.

With CCTV/DVR surveillance you have actually simply delayed the inevitable by
adding on a relatively new technology (hard disk, digital storage) to an old
technology (analog video over coaxial transmission lines). Rather than moving
forward into something new, you have prolonged the demise of the old.

Advantages of IP-based video surveillance

The leap into completely IP-based technology is the best bang for your buck
both monetarily and in terms of security by far. Digital surveillance can be
done over a LAN network, of course, but TCP/IP transmittal of surveillance makes
sense for remote monitoring of multiple locations and for remote recording of
data onto back-up servers and hard disks for long-term storage.

With IP-based video surveillance, you can connect your surveillance camera or
cameras to any network or wireless adapter, and you are extremely flexible in
your placement of the camera itself. A typical PC-attached video camera, while
providing digital picture image quality, still has to be within approximately
ten feet of the computer itself.

Set-up of an IP-based video system is easy -- once you've set up an IP
address, you're up and running and it's extremely stable and reliable. Because
this is the technology of the future, it is also upgradeable. You won't be
outgrowing an IP-based video surveillance system any time soon because new
developments are based on improving this market. Therefore, you will be able to
add on and improve this system for years to come while older, CCTV+DVR hybrids
will dead-end and become obsolete.

Comparing analog and IP-based video surveillance

A better way to understand the differences between analog and IP-based video
surveillance may be to compare the two and how they work:

Analog or CCTV+DVR video surveillance


o Easy to use -- operates like a VCR

o Changing cassettes and rewinding regularly means human error frequently interferes with effectiveness

o Image quality is poor

o Storage tapes wear out over time

o Broadcasting images live isn't practical

o Storage is bulky

o Uses analog recording, recording in low-grade picture quality and inability to search and track easily

o Adding DVR systems must be done in 'blocks' of 16 channels

IP-based video surveillance


o IP-based recording means instant transmittal of images anywhere in the world

o Can monitor multiple cameras from one remote location

o No decrease in recording quality over time or with repeated replays

o Digital picture quality far superior to analog

o IP-base recording is highly compressed for easier storage and can be transported over a variety of media

o Digital images can be encrypted for security purposes

o Updates and add-ons are relatively inexpensive through software packages and Internet computer networking

o Adjustable frame rates

o Remote or shared viewing may be done over the Internet or a wireless connection

o Standard IP video compression techniques are used

o IP surveillance cameras may be added individually or in groups according to your needs

If you are contemplating increased or upgrading video surveillance for your
company or home, understanding how IP-based video surveillance works will make
your decision easier. It is the future of video surveillance and, although in
the short term may be a bit more expensive, is obviously an investment in
superior quality and flexibility.

This article on "How IP-based Video Surveillance Works" reprinted with
permission.

Copyright © 2004-2005 Evaluseek Publishing.

About the Author
Lucy P. Roberts is a successful freelance writer providing practical information and advice about everything related to digital video surveillance and related topics. Her numerous articles include tips for saving both time and money when shopping for video security products; equipment reviews and reports; and other valuable insights. Find important information about how to use a night vision security camera or infrared camera when you visit Video-Surveillance-Guide.com today!

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How DATA is LOST

Over 95% of the people and businesses that I speak with have experienced data loss. However the sad fact is that the majority of businesses are woefully unprepared and do not understand the serious risk of data loss.
Do you have a disaster recovery plan?

The data that you store on your computer can be lost in many ways. Many people are not aware of the various ways that their data can be placed in jeopardy.

First, there are the obvious ways:

Physical damage to the computer, such as fire or water damage, is one surefire way to lose all the data on your computer. Although insurance may cover the physical damage to your machine(s), and you may be able to replace the actual hardware, no insurance policy can resurrect your data.

Another common way that individuals lose the data they have worked so hard to build up is THEFT. Much like damage done to your computer via various natural disasters, insurance may cover the physical hardware, but no policy will be able to save the information stored on your hard drive and other physical media.

Without some form of backup solution, your data is at risk every day.

There are many other things that can happen that can cause partial or full data loss. Other common occurrences are:

Data corruption (failed CRC or MD5 checks),

Hard drive failure (the older a hard disk gets the closer you are getting to the MTBF, or "mean time between failure" that every disk is rated for at the factory),

OS failure (it is not uncommon for a machine to fail to reboot after having critical system files replaced, such as during the application of a Windows Service Pack or driver update).

Human error - simply accidentally deleting a file or directory happens more often than you would think. Not to mention the "not so accidental" deletion by a disgruntled employee.

Viruses and worms - even though protection for these digital pests is readily available and in general use, loss of data associated with them is still widespread.

These are just a few of the pitfalls that can plague the computer that has not had backups done in a timely manner.

Right about now, you may be asking yourself: "What can I do?" Actually, there is one simple solution to all your data integrity needs: offsite data backup.

Unlike backups you may be used to doing with tape drives or other removable media, offsite data backup provides a much more transparent, easy to use solution, as well as having the added security of storing your files in a secure location that is guaranteed to keep them safe (remember, if your office building catches fire, not only does your workstation lose it's data, but your tape backups will most likely be destroyed as well, barring the use of expensive fireproof storage.

Offsite data backup is easy to set up and protects your data in the most secure, economical way possible. If you are considering implementing a data backup for your company or personal computers do yourself a favor and consider using an offsite secure backup service. This is the simplest and most effective form of disaster recovery.

Your DATA is your LIFE. Protect it.

Harald Anderson is a freelance writer and webmaster for http://www.online-remote-data-backup.com an online backup service. Experience the Digital Peace of Mind that safe, secure, encrypted online data backups can offer. Online Backups

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Pop-ups - 5 Ways to Stop

5 Ways to Block Pop Ups...

Advertisers are constantly looking for any way to draw attention to their products. Although typical banner ads are still used heavily, they now seem to be almost invisible to the average web surfer. Pop ups and other intrusive types of advertising are now used to thrust an ad in your face that you have no choice but to at least acknowledge. Regardless of the nature of the ad, pop ups are a nuisance, and there are now many options available for keeping them off of your computer screen all together.

1. Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2
This summer's release of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP brought about a few significant changes to the operating system. One of the most noticeable was the addition of a pop up blocker to Internet Explorer.

The pop up blocker is integrated into the browser and can be customized by browsing to the "Tools" tab at the top of the program. Like many pop up blocker applications, personal preferences can be set to allow/block pop ups from certain sites, as well as providing customization for how the user is alerted to the fact that a pop up has been blocked.

For those using Windows XP, upgrading to Service Pack 2 is an excellent idea for your system's security as a whole, but specifically for the additional convenience of an integrated pop up blocker. For those with a Microsoft operating system other than XP, sorry, this is not available for you.

2. Alternative Web Browsers

There are other choices for web browsers available, and many have included a pop up blocker long before Microsoft decided to include one with Internet Explorer.

The Mozilla Firefox browser version 1.0 was officially released on November 9th. This browser has already received a great deal of acclaim and has become quite popular as an alternative to Internet Explorer.
Firefox is a highly customizable web browsing application that includes an effective pop up blocker, tabbed browsing, and many other features not found in Internet Explorer.

Crazy Browser is another option that was released in 2002, which is not as much an alternative browser, as it is a skin for Internet Explorer. In order for Crazy Browser to run, a system must have Internet Explorer 5 (or greater) installed, as well as Windows 95 (or greater) installed as the operating system. The Crazy Browser application then takes the base functionality of Internet Explorer and adds features similar to Firefox, such as the pop up blocker and tabbed browsing.

3. Browser Tool Bars

A growing trend is for websites to offer a downloadable toolbar for use with Internet Explorer. Many of these toolbars offer unique features intended to enhance the user's web browsing experience in different ways, but they generally also include a pop up blocker. Although there are toolbars available from dozens of websites, Google, MSN, and Yahoo are some of the more reputable names with one available.

The installation of these toolbars is quick and easy, and the most difficult part may be reading the fine print in the license agreements.

Although these toolbars may do an excellent job blocking pop ups, they may also be retrieving data on your web surfing / search habits. If you feel a toolbar may be the right solution for you, stick with one from a trusted name, and just be sure to read the fine print.

4. Pop Up Blocker Software

Stand alone pop up blocking software is available from dozens, if not hundreds, of different sources. With various interfaces, and prices ranging from free to $30 (and higher), choosing one can be a difficult task. Many of the programs that are not available for free do come with a free trial download, so you can at least get a sense of whether the program is right for you before committing. Some of the options in this category include STOPzilla, Secure IE, Zero Popup and Pop Swatter, to name a few.

The main drawback to this type of pop up blocking solution is that you now have another independent application running on your computer. Although they
are generally not resource intensive, why run a program
to do something that can be handled by one that is already running anyway? Additionally, with so many reliable solutions available to eliminate pop ups for free,
spending money on one is hard to justify.

Along with a dedicated pop up blocker, another recommended tact for eliminating pop-ups is eliminating spyware on your computer system. Some pop-up programs use accompanying spyware to target pop ups specifically to you and your web surfing habits. An excellent, free program for eliminating spyware of all type is Spybot Search & Destroy.

5. Internet Access Software from Select ISPs

Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) now incorporate a pop up blocker with the software they provide to subscribers for accessing the internet. Earthlink, Optimum Online, and AOL are just a few of the larger providers that add value to their packages by adding a pop up blocker. Bundling this functionality with the ISPs base software definitely makes things easy for the subscriber, as there may be no need to find one elsewhere.

In general, these blockers are effective, but are not the most feature rich and may have limited options for customization by the end user. One draw back with ISP provided pop up blockers is that some only work with their service. So, if you ever switch to a new provider, you'll need to be prepared to switch to a new pop up blocker
as well.

Final Words

Pop ups are a fact of life on the internet, but that does not mean you need to put up with them. Among the five general solutions presented above, there are literally hundreds of options available for eliminating the clutter of pop up ads, allowing you
to enjoy only the content you intended to see.

Jason Kohrs
Computer Geeks tech tips and computer advice

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Legitimate Information Online - How Can We Find the Truth?

Recently I was on the Internet looking up some books that I've read to see what other people had to say about them. I came across one book and a lot of people had said it was very fraudulent and that actually the author was not the kind of person you'd want to associate with. This got me to thinking. There is so much information in our world today circulating by word of mouth, literature, media and now the Internet, which is a combination of all these and more. Anyone can write anything they want to, I mean look at me I'm doing it right now. Who's to say if what I'm writing is credible? How do we discern between the legitimate honest writer and the words of a fool twisting meanings to trap gullible knaves like myself? With the advent of the Internet we also have to take a new approach to gaining knowledge and accessing information from others.

In life, the best way to know anything is through one's own experience right? The next best thing is to go to a trusted source of knowledge and wisdom, friend, family or professional. Still we always must be aware that human beings are perfectly flawed creatures, each one with areas of ignorance, fear and suffering. Sometimes we really have to go with our 'gut' feeling about something others have said. What about when you want to find out about something that no one you know has experience with?

On the Internet when researching topics of interest you can do a few things to try and decipher if a site is credible. When looking up something you know a little bit about, look for sites where the creator gives evidence of credentials. Of course these can be faked as well, but then you can make further searches about that person's site and see what others have to say about it. If you don't know anything about the subject in question, do a Google search. If a site is well regarded it will usually have a lot of links relating to it from people who have accessed the information and found it to be helpful.

The main idea is to be aware of the possibilities out there in this overabundance of mouths spouting so-called wisdom. The nature of humanity is to be curious and to want to understand the existence that we are part of. Charlatans will take this into account when constructing their stories and concepts. There are so many scams on the Internet not including the people whose opinions aren't based in fact that believe they are sharing the 'truth'.

In this age of exaggerated fear, sensationalist terror and melodramatic theater, we must be very careful not to be sucked into believing what we are being told. If the massive media corporations are giving us a subjective view of reality based on their personal interests and beliefs on what News is, then of course individuals can also express distorted perceptions of reality on the Web.

Do your research well. Don't cut corners. Question everything you read. You don't necessarily have to be a cynic or even a skeptic. Just realize that it is very easy to open a mouth and speak, and speaking is probably one action that our society could do a lot less of. Maybe if we listened a little bit more instead of speaking so much, we wouldn't need to search as often for the information that we need in life. Be awake and aware my friends. Keep those thinking caps on!

Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net, http://www.m6.net Jesse S. Somer is a student of life searching for the truth out there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jesse_Somer

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Have You Ever Crashed Your Computer?

If you have been using computers for almost any amount of time, you most likely have experienced a computer crash. Computer crashes can range from the benign little GPF (general protection fault) error that forces you to reboot your machine, to complete and utter hardware meltdown that cannot be recovered from at all. Crashes caused by electrical surges or water damage can render a machine unusable and its data unrecoverable. These are just a few of the reasons that computers crash with the potential loss of your important personal or company data.

Viruses and Internet worms are more than just nuisances that eat up your precious bandwidth and system resources. Some of the more insidious of these vermin can also deliver a dangerous digital payload that packs quite a destructive punch. Gigabytes of your data can be rendered unrecoverable in one swift execution of arbitrary malicious code. Months, even years of data can accumulate on modern large capacity hard drives, and without the help of an offsite backup service, your most critical information is in jeopardy every time you turn on your computer.

If you use an online data backup solution you can rest assured that no matter what happens to the computers in your network, your data is always backed up safely and securely with immediate access for those most critical of times and under the worst of circumstances.

No other method of data backup and retrieval is as thorough and easy to use as a well-equipped secure online backup service. Your files are backed up at intervals you decide, in subsets that you choose ahead of time. In the event of a computer crash that renders your documents inaccessible, you can log onto the backup service and restore your entire dataset, or just the documents you need to keep you up and running, even if your computer has crashed. When you use your online backup service to archive your computer's system files it can even play a role in diagnosing or repairing your expensive computer hardware.

For minimal cost to you, you can set up a secure data backup solution that ensures the integrity of your most critical files, and helps keep your business or personal files safe and secure.

Your Data is Your Life. Protect it!

Harald Anderson is an online marketer and advocate of Press Release Marketing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harald_Anderson

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7170

Computer's Data Security: Necessity and Myth

Once I was chatting with my colleagues about the security issues and the ways the information can be protected. Our main goal was to understand if the Dekart family products can be used for assuring data access protection. We were talking about existing software, about the devices available for buyers and about the percentage of an assurance we can get from these tools available on the modern market so far. We also touched the other side of protection: it's vulnerability. We came to the conclusion that it is not simple to get the information protected, as there are many well-established strategies and methods developers (to say nicely), whose target is to get to know what is valuable for you.

But anyway there are the directions we can work on in order to minimize the risks for unauthorized access to our data. Here are they.

1. If you want to protect your data it is important to assure the building (office, home), security access and protection. There are many security agencies available on the market, which can be of real help. They have different protection strategies and tools. But as this is not directly related to your computer we will let the specialists in the area to let us know about it and we will move forward.

2. Hardware protection. There are many tools available for computer protection, like physical computers locks, which may be locked through a hole in the desk/object, or can be locked to a mounting bracket affixed to the vertical surface. There are different kits, mostly consisting of security cables and locks. These anti-theft devices are designed for Notebook laptops and PCs, with special requirements adjusted for different models.

3. Computer data access limiting. There are tolls and software, which may be used for home and business computer access protection. The multifactor authentification (with password, pin code and biometric data) can be used with Dekart Logon software, which can be of real help for storing all passwords to Windows machines on one removable storage device and add the strong authentication and convenience to the standard Windows logon procedure.

4. Information encryption. While we were talking about these issues, we were able to note that there is a tool which can protect data, even if it is stolen, even if there will be the most brilliant software hackers working on getting to know it. It is amazing! We were surprised to get to know that any important data can be stored and encrypted with Dekart Private Disk, which an easy-to-use, reliable, user-friendly and smart program. It is of real help in creating encrypted disk partitions (drive letters) to keep private and confidential data secure. It uses 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard. So, here is a no risk solution to protect data!

5. E-mail protection.

6. And the last important thing to note is don't forget to assure that you have the same plans for the part of the world, as God has in terms of earth cracks, tsunami, etc.

Together with our colleagues we came to conclusion that there is no perfect security environment, although it is not wise at all to stay unaware of the risks existed and to minimize the solutions to this issue available. At least we were satisfied with Dekart Products we were testing, so we decided to get Dekart Private Disk and Dekart Logon.

This is not so difficult topic to understand. We just wanted to encourage you to think of solutions existed. Just look for the information and act!

(More on Dekart Logon http://www.dekart.com/products/authentication_access/logon/)
(More on Dekart Private Disk http://www.dekart.com/products/file_disk_encryption/private_disk/)

Ceban Liuba
Born in 1974 in Ukraine (former USSR)
Now lives in Moldova
Since 1998 works on Internet
Since 2004 works in the IT security Software Company as a Technical Writer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liuba_Ceban

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6749

Information Protection Technologies For Doctors

If earlier mostly all information was kept on the papers, the recent informational technologies expanding growth gives medical staff the opportunity to use them in their job. We can not deny the advantages which are coming to every job with using computer and specialized software. But together with this the old, as Hyppoctates outh, there is a problem of information protection.

At first look the health information became more vulnerable with this technologies using, as there are dangers of it's stealing while the information is stored on the computer, as well as when it is transmitted through the Internet. This may lead uninitiated people to say that there is no solution to this issue. Is it really so?

If you are a medical worker, you may face different situations, when the information, you work with, is vulnerable. Sometimes you may wonder where the problem may come from or to feel stressed by the reasons for your electronic information storage and transmitting and the ways you can you do it.

In this article I will try to point the reasons why should we do it and to suggest some practical answers to these sometimes challenging situations.
Reasons for protecting medical information

1. Laws

Every country is protecting the patients with different laws. There are different official documents which underline the importance of protecting the confidentiality of people's health information and as a consequence, their privacy. And this is not an option, this is a obligation of each medical worker. Medical staff should not allow private information misuse

2. Etiquette rules and Hypocrates oath

Etiquette rules require us to be able to protect the information we get from our neighbors. Hypocrates oath requires a doctor to protect the information, he get from the patients. It says: "Whatever in connection with my professional practice or not in connection with it I may see or hear in the lives of my patients which ought not be spoken abroad I will not divulge, reckoning that all such should be kept secret." And these requirements, philosophically saying, are designed to protect our safety as well as our patients. Thinking only of our well-being is a limited way to treat this issue.

3. Marketing issues

Looking for medical services, patients may fear, reasonably or not, that their personal health information will be exposed. So, it is of real advantage for you to use strong information protection tools, as one of the key point in developing marketing positioning for your services. If you want your services to develop a brand and are really interested to have competitive status, you may not neglect the information protection issue. When you present your services with high information protection opportunities, it gives you higher lever of trust and will bring you more patients.

4. Staff and leaders protection from the frauds

Sometimes there are situations, when the information is stolen because of stuff neglection. This also is caused by the lack of serious protection policy for medical services in the company. This may happen because the services managers do not know about safe and easy-to-use computer information protection tools existence and about the places where to look for them. Information technologies availability for the info thefts makes this issue more difficult to be understood at first look.

What you need to know about information security?

The most important thing is to remember that there is no unique solution to this complex, but not unsolvable issue. One important thing here is to overcome the fear of using informational technologies, which offer information protection tools.

1. First, you need to work on physical building and hardware protection.

It is possible to look for the businesses, which provide solutions for the building access security. Nowadays we have many products and services in this area. What can be done is just find out which are the security companies in your city and just find out what products and services they have. There are businesses which can offer you hardware protection tools, like locks and wires which are designed specially for the computer type you have . these physical protection tools can help you minimize the risk for your physical computer access.

2. Get a professional advice from the security experts.

Deciding on physical protection is only a part of your task. If you are really aware of information protection, you should think of computer access protection and of data protection inside of it.
As I am literate in computer access software and utilities, as well as security software, I can give you some suggestions here about using Dekart Family Security products.

I suggest you an easy-to-use Dekart Private Disk, which will allow you to encrypt any of your information. You can create a virtual disk with this simple and secure tool, compatible with all medical software, which can be securely installed and encrypted on it. More about it you may read on http://www.dekart.com/products/file_disk_encryption/private_disk/ [http://www.dekart.com/products/file_disk_encryption/private_disk/%20]

Another product is Dekart Logon, which may be used for computer access protection, as well as for passwords management. This product will help you avoid forever a passwords forgetting issue. The computer access passwords can be stored on different devices and keys. More on this on http://www.dekart.com/products/authentication_access/logon/

Ceban Liuba
Born in 1974 in Ukraine (former USSR)
Now lives in Moldova
Since 1998 works on Internet
Since 2004 works in the IT security Software Company as a Technical Writer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liuba_Ceban

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6754

How to Backup Your Computer Files

As I write this, it's early December, and try as I might, I can't remember what my new year's resolution was last time around. One thing I can say with near hundred percent certainty is that whatever it was, I failed to keep it. Maybe you're the same. Maybe you resolved to quit smoking, lose weight, or read more. We all make promises with ourselves, then fail to keep those promises. Worst of all, those promises might be exactly what we need most. Consider this: When was the last time you backed up your computer files? Last month? Last year? Never?

Let's make a new year's resolution together, you and I. Let's promise to back up our computers. It's important, I promise. Just yesterday the automatic backup feature in MS Word saved me about an hour's work when my computer froze up. Given that I haven't backed up my computer in almost a year, I can't even imagine how much data I'd lose if I suffered a power surge or hard drive failure. It can happen to the best of us, and often does. Even high end hard drive manufacturers report an average failure rate of between five and eight per thousand every year. That may not sound like much, but let's face it, somebody has to be those five to eight people. Feeling lucky? There are about 185 million household PCs in the U.S., according to Computer Industry Almanac, so that means about 150,000 hard drives fail each year. But even if your drive stays intact, about a tenth of all computers suffer minor data loss in any given year. A power surge, the magnets in your home stereo speakers, or even an accidental nudge can affect data storage. According to a report from the ONTRACK data recovery service, data loss can be caused by natural disasters (3% of cases), computer viruses (7%), software problems (14%), and plain old user error (a whopping 32%). Now, I'm sure you never hit a wrong keyboard button, but do you have a button on your computer that prevents a bolt of lightning? I didn't think so.

WHEREAS our data is important, and disaster can befall even the most noble and undeserving of us, BE IT RESOLVED that you and I shall back up our computer files forthwith.

Amen, brothers and sisters. Now, where and how do we start?

STEP ONE: Choosing Favorites

Not all files are important enough to preserve for posterity. The most critical files on a computer are its operating system files. If you're a good little consumer, you bought the operating system and kept those CDs handy and secure from data loss. If you're not, then remind yourself to go stand in the corner later. The drones at Microsoft did not work for years just to watch you steal their work. It's people like you that keep Bill Gates from buying his second planet. Now that you've been suitably chastised, either go buy a legal copy of the operating system, or include the necessary files in your "must back up" list.

The same principle goes for software applications. Maybe you bought an ad and spyware blocker you really like, but the company that coded it has since gone out of business (perhaps because other consumers weren't as scrupulous as you). If so, include the files you need to run the app in your must list.
Now it's time to look at the remaining files on your computer and prioritize. If you're not a digital packrat like me, it may be possible to save everything. If so, congratulations. I don't have ten gigabytes of portable media at my disposal, so when I back up my computer, I'll be leaving a few gigs of MP3s and questionable Windows Media files at risk. One of the first things I will save is the folder I use to save my writing assignments, because that data represents money in my pocket. I'll back up my email address book, plus my digital photography and fiction writing efforts. I can live without "Milkshake" (what was I thinking?), but the guitar piece my friend recorded and sent to me is going on the list. Your results may vary.

STEP TWO: In Which I Tell You Where You Can Put It

That's right, this is the section in which I'll tell you where to store your data. It's not a good idea to put backup files on another drive on the same computer. That defeats the whole purpose. Duplicating your files on another computer in the same LAN is almost as risky, because computer viruses can spread as fast as an imaginary Anna Kournikova JPEG. You need to find a portable storage medium that can hold all the files on your must list. Your options include floppy diskettes, portable hard drives, optical drives, tape drives, and remote servers. We'll look at each in turn.

Hard diskettes, the old familiar 3.5" squares, hold up to 1.44 megabytes of data. They're cheap, but 1.44 MB is less than two percent of the ten gigs of data on my hard drive. Even if each of those files were smaller than 1.44 MB (and each weren't), I'm not keen on the idea of buying, labeling, and storing fifty diskettes. Next idea, please.

Most computer experts rely on removable hard drives for memory backups. The most popular of these drives are the Zip drive from Iomega and the ORB drive from Castlewood. They're relatively inexpensive and hold up to two gigs of data. Basically, you'll save your data on a Zip disk, then transfer it from the disk to the portable drive. The catch is that removable drives fail about as often as regular hard drives. They may even be more susceptible to damage from dust and rough handling. A sub-option here is to use a permanent hard drive as a removable drive. At up to two hundred gigs, conventional hard drives are bigger than removable drives, and prices have dropped enough in recent years to make this idea practical. Whatever kind of hard drive you decide to use, make sure to keep it isolated from dust, magnetic charges, and static electricity.

Optical drives use a laser to store information, rather than a magnet. Even if you're not a tech junkie, that's probably enough information to give you a clearer idea what we're talking about: namely, CDs and DVDs. Less common are EO (erasable optical) and WORM (write once, read many) media; they're less common because they cost over $1000 per drive. CDs, on the other hand, cost less than a buck and can hold up to 650 megabytes. DVDs hold up to five gigs and cost about fifteen dollars apiece. Most computers nowadays have either a CD or DVD writer (or both), but write times can be slow. My CD writer, for example, works best on the 300 kilobyte per second setting--if then. I'll be using the remote server option. At $250 and up, tape drives are more expensive and slower than hard drives or optical media, hence less common, but also extremely reliable.

Remote servers are third party companies that store data online for a fee. This is a great option for broadband Internet users, especially people like me who don't own a reliable data writer. SkyDesk runs http://www.Backup.com , Back-Up Solutions maintains http://www.BackUpHelp.com , and Iomega hosts iServer ( http://www.Iomega.com ). XDrive ( http://www.xdrive.com ), once a free service, now charges ten bucks a month for up to five gigs of storage. Promotions and other rates change, so it's a good idea to shop around before selecting a remote storage service.

STEP THREE: Git 'er Done

Now it's time to put the files you want to save on the storage medium you've chosen. There are several ways to do this. Your CD writer, for example, may come with proprietary disk writing software. That application may even include a backup option. If it does, and you're more familiar with that software than Windows features, then that's the way to go. Otherwise, backup is still relatively easy on all MS operating systems since Windows 98. Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows XP Professional include a built-in Backup utility. To run it, just click on Start, then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, then Backup. How easy was that? If you're using the XP Home edition, you may need to add the utility manually. If so, insert the Windows XP CD into your disk drive and wait for the "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" screen. (You may need to double-click the CD icon in My Computer.) Then click on Perform Additional Tasks and Browse This CD. In Windows Explorer, double-click the ValueAdd folder, then Msft, then Ntbackup. Double-clicking on Ntbackup.msi will install the utility. Once it's installed, you can also run the program by clicking Start and Run, then typing msbackup.exe (Windows 98 and Windows ME) or ntbackup.exe (Windows XP) in the Open field. Click OK, and you'll be off to the races.

Incidentally, the Windows XP Backup utility also includes a bonus application called the Automated Recovery Wizard. This creates a bootable floppy that initiates backup if the hard drive must be replaced. Other options for "disaster recovery" include BackUp MyPC from Stomp ( http://www.StompInc.com , $79) and Norton Ghost 9.0 from Symantec ( http://www.Norton.com , $69.95). Ghost actually allows users to duplicate the contents of their computer over the Internet. Both have earned stellar reviews from top PC magazines.

Don't let another month go by without protecting the files you value most. My girlfriend justifies her messy car by saying she "lives out of it." Well, I live out of my computer. It's not just my office; it's the home of cherished memories in the form of pictures, MP3, and other data files. I'm resolved to keep it safe.

Christian Carvajal is a contributing writer to http://www.all-cheap-laptops.com, a site providing tips and tutorials to individuals interested in buying and upgrading laptop computers.

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I Know What You Did Last Session: Basic Applied Cryptography

While Janet was sitting in a cyber café sending emails to friends and surfing the web, there was a person sitting three tables away reading each email she sent before they ever got to the email server. During this period of time, the thief was able to get access to her bank account, passwords to several business websites, and her credit card number. Now imagine that you were the on sitting in the café. This scenario is not far from reality and is the main reason that using cryptography is so important in today's technological world. Identity theft is a growing problem and there are ways you can help protect yourself frombecoming the victim.

Most people think that cryptography is an island in the magical land of make believe. However, cryptography is very real and not as complex as most would believe. If you use the Internet, you are likely to use applied cryptography in your day-to-day functions. This can be accessing you bank account to retrieve your monthly balance to purchasing automotive parts from a warehouse or manufacturer. Companies use cryptography to make sure sensitive data stays confidential between the intended parties and the data stays intact. Cryptography is the art of converting messages into a secret code or cipher. This process alters a plaintext message using an algorithm to create a ciphertext/encrypted message.

History of Ciphers

Cryptography has been in use for thousands of years. In fact, it was in use before 2000 B.C. Egypt in the form of hieroglyphs. The Greeks even used encryption referred to as the Scytale cipher and was worn as a belt by couriers. The Scytale was designed a combination of a long strip of leather with writing on it and a specific sized staff. This leather strip would be wrapped around the staff to decrypt the ciphertext. Julius Caesar also used a cryptographic algorithm referred to as ROT-3. This encryption shifts the alphabet three spaces to the right and was very effective at the time.

Applied Cryptography

Ok, but how does it affect you? The basic uses of cryptography are to provide confidentially (secrecy of the data), integrity (protection from intentional or unintentional alteration), and authentication (prove you are who you say you are). Some forms even allow for Nonrepudiation services that prove that the message was written, sent, or received. We will briefly discuss the most commonly used cryptographic schemes that you may use every day while leaving the trivial details out.

You will hear the terms X.509 and digital certificates (used in digital signatures) throughout this paper. Digital certificates are used in the same way a real signature is used as a verification of endorsement. The most well know companies that sell these certificates are:

o Verisign - http://www.verisign.com/

o Thwarte - http://www.thawte.com/

(Offers free personal email digital certificates)

Internet traffic (Securing website traffic and email)

HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secured Socket Layer. Do not mistake HTTPS with SSL. This is a common misnomer that is spread by those that do not understand SSL. HTTPS uses SSL to create an encrypted tunnel between a client and a server. This tunnel lasts the entire connection and is the most common website security feature on the Internet. This form of encryption is established by the use of a server side X.509 certificate that digitally signs the message.

S/MIME: Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Exchange. S/MIME uses two X.509 certificates (also called digital signature) and both signs and encrypts the email. The author digitally signs the email with their private key. Once this happens, the message is then encrypted with the recipient's public key and sent. When the message reaches the recipient the message is decrypted with the recipient's private key, and then verified using the author's public key. This ensures that people using a packet sniffer (a program that allows a person to view traffic crossing the network) do not see your account information. Email clients like Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Outlook can use S/MIME with little setup required.

S-HTTP: Secured HTTP. The benefit of S-HTTP over HTTPS is the fact that each message is encrypted rather then using a tunnel that is vulnerable to both a man-in-the-middle and a session hijack attack. Another advantage of S-HTTP is that it allows for two-way client/server authentication

Tunneling encryption (Securing network traffic)

IPSec: IP Security Protocol is the most commonly used network encryption for the corporate world. When most people in the computer industry think about Virtual Private Networks (VPN)s, they immediately think of IPSec. Companies that use IPSec need an encrypted tunnel that allows all network traffic to flow through. Unlike SSL, IPSec is not limited to a port. Once the IPSec tunnel has been established, the system should have the same network access that it would have at the physical location. This offers far more power, but also requires far more overhead. Another issue is security. The more open the network, the more vulnerable it is. This is another reason why VPNs are usually on the outside of a firewall. Vulnerabilities to IPSec include session hijacking, and replay attacks.

SSH: Secure Shell provides a terminal like tunnel that protects the data crossing the network and should replace clear text protocols like Telnet and FTP. This allows you to connect to a server over the Internet securely over the Internet and administer remote systems without allowing the rest of the world to see everything you are doing. One of the most popular windows SSH clients is Putty.

SSL: Secured Socket Layer can be used to create a single port/socket Virtual Private Network (VPN) using a server side X.509 certificate. The most common use of SSL is webpage traffic over HTTP or HTTPS. SSL is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. Anyone can create a CA to distribute certificates, but keep in mind that a digital certificate is only as trustworthy as the CA that controls the certificate.

WEP: Wired Equivalent Privacy. This algorithm uses either a 40-bit key or a 128-bit (24 of the bits is used for the initialization vector) key. Most devices also allow for a wireless access point to filter MAC addresses to increase access controls onto the device. WEP is vulnerable and has been exploited by criminal hackers (crackers) while wardriving since WEP has hit the market. Some of the more popular tools used for wardriving are: Airopeek - a WiFi packet sniffer Airsnort - a WEP encryption key recovery tool Kismet - an 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector Netstumbler - an 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector

WPA: Wi-Fi Protected Access is a new standard that will overtake the old WEP technology in the near future. WPA uses a Pre-Shared Key (PSK) for SOHO networks, and Extensible Authentication Protocol for other wired/wireless networks for authentication. Some cryptoanalysts claimPSK is a weakness due to the fact that a cracker can access the key and brute force the key until it is known. The encryption scheme that is used is Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). TKIP ensures more confidentiality and integrity of the data by using a temporal key instead ofthe traditional static key. Most people welcome this technology over the less secure WEP.

File access (Securing individual files)

Stenography: Stenography is the art of concealing files or messages in other media such as a .JPG image or .MPG video. You can add this data in the unused bits of the file that can be seen by using a common hex editor. Stenography is the easiest way to hide a message, but is by far the least secure. Security by obscurity is like a lock on a car door. It is only intended to keep the honest people honest.

PGP: Pretty Good Privacy is a free program that was created by Philip Zimmerman in 1991 and was the first widely accepted public key system. PGP is suite of encryption tools used for encrypting various types of data and traffic. PGP can be used for S/MIME and digitally signing a message. PGP uses a web of trust that allows the community to trust a certificate rather than a hierarchy Certification Authority (CA) to verifythe user's identification. More information can be found at http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html

Personal/Freeware: This can be downloaded from MIT for free.

o Diffie-Hellman key exchange

o CAST 128 bit encryption

o SHA-1 hashing function

Commercial: PGP® Software Developer Kit (SDK) 3.0.3 has received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 1 validation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

o RSA key exchange

o IDEA encryption

o MD5 hashing function

CryptoAPI: Microsoft's cryptography component that allows developers to encrypt data. Microsoft has also developed an ActiveX control called CAPICOM that will even allow script access to the CryptoAPI.

Each encryption model is vulnerable to one attack or another. Below is a list of attack techniques that are used by cryptoanalysts to break the keys used to protect the messages

Ciphertext-Only: This is the easiest to instigate, but hardest to succeed. The attacker retrieves the ciphertext data through listening to the network traffic. Once the key is has been salvaged, the cracker can attempt to brute force the message until it resembles something legible.

Known-Plaintext: This covers the scenario of the cracker having both the plaintext and corresponding ciphertext of one or more messages. In WWII, the Japanese relied on cryptography, but had a weakness of sending formal messages. These messages were able to be broken because the ciphertext started and ended with the same message. Part of the plaintext was known and cryptoanalysts were able to decipher the message using the known-plaintext method.

Chosen-Plaintext: Similar to the know-plaintext attack, but the attacker can choose the plaintext to be encrypted. An attacker can assume someone else identity and send a message to target that needs to be encrypted. Since the plaintext is chosen and the target sends the encrypted message, the chosen-plaintext attack is successful.

Chosen-Ciphertext: The cryptoanalyst is chooses the ciphertext and has access to the decrypted plaintext.

Birthday Paradox: This attack is successful when a hash value of a plaintext matches the hash value of a completely different plaintext. This anomaly is proven mathematically among 23 people, there are 23*22/2 = 253 pairs, each of which being a potential candidate for a match.

Brute-Force: This form of attack is implemented by passing through every possible solution or combination until the answer is found. This is the most resource and time intensive method of attack

Dictionary: The attacker compares the target hash values with hash values of commonly used passwords. Dictionary files can be downloaded from hundreds of Internet sites.

Man-in-the-Middle: The attacker intercepts messages between two parties without either target knowing that the link between them has been compromised. This allows the attacker to modify the message at will.

Replay: Replay attacks are simply the replay of captured data in an attempt to trick the target into allowing the unauthorized access.

Back at the cyber café, if Janet connected to a secured web server using SSL to do her online banking and used S/MIME to send private email, the cyber thief would have never had a chance of seeing her unmentionables.

About the author: Jeremy Martin CISSP, ISSMP, ISSAP, CEI, CEH, CCNA, Network+, A+ Sr. Information Systems Security Consultant PLUSS Corporation - http://www.pluss.net Information Security - http://www.infosecwriter.com (requires flash)
(800) 835-9609 / (406) 892-8600

Member of:
BECCA – Business Espionage Controls & Countermeasures Association
ISACA® Information Systems Audit and Control Association
(ISC)² - International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium
ISSA - Information Systems Security Association
OISSG - Open Information Systems Security Group
YEN NTEA - Young Executives Network

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Choosing Your New Digital Reader

There are so many ebook readers available now that choosing the right model can be confusing for anybody. Wouldn't it be easier if you could just buy any model and be done with it? However, we all have different wants and needs so it's difficult, if not impossible for just one digital reader to address everybody's needs. That is why, when you are looking to buy a digital reader you should take your time with your selection.

To help you here are some of the things that you need to think about before buying:

Screen Size - the normal screen size for most models is 6 inches. Many of us find this size fine but some of us and especially the elderly who can't see as well as they used to need larger print when reading normal books therefore they need or feel more comfortable with a larger screen. There are some available up to 11 inches in size. Obviously a larger screen size will mean that the digital reader is more expensive so if you are working to a budget you may have to compromise.

Battery Life - just like any other rechargeable gadget you will want a model that with regular use will last for days rather than hours. As e-book readers are designed for you to be able to have easy access to books while on the go it's pointless buying one that gets easily drained and especially when you are out and about and not able to charge one up.Battery life should be measured in days so it's a good idea to go for one that gives you the most juice with a single charge if you know that you are going to need that juice.

Capacity - most of us just read one book at a time but that was before this useful gadget was invented. Nowadays you can have hundreds of books available to read never mind just one or two hard copies. How many books you can have entirely depends upon the capacity of the digital reader of your choice. It's really a matter of the higher the capacity the more books that you can store. But be warned, as with screen size, a higher capacity e-book reader will be more expensive than one with a lower capacity.

Other Functions - a digital reader is mainly intended to be for reading books, but it is very handy to get one that lets you do various other tasks as well. For example you can get models that connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi so you can still browse or do some work while on the go. Answering emails might be a simple task but being able to do so while out and about is very convenient for a lot of people.

If you have found this article useful you can learn more about choosing a digital reader if you click on the link. You can even find details of some of the ebooks available and of course the excellent Kindle wireless reading device.

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What You Need to Know About the ePub Document Format

If you're not familiar with ePub, it stands for electronic publication. It has been widely used in the eBook world and is helping to change the hold the Amazon Kindle has on the market. ePub is simply an open eBook that allows content to be downloaded on several different devices. Since Amazon keeps their eBooks secluded to the Kindle, this will allow users plenty of other options.

Amazon holds a closed standard. This means (like we mentioned earlier) you can only download their books on their platform. Electronic publication (ePub) makes it so you can download the content to your phone or another electronic device that allows it. Once you start looking at the big picture, it's easy to see how beneficial this is going to be for consumers.

We wouldn't consider ePub to be a household term just yet, but it is gaining in popularity at a rapid rate. Oddly enough, it will work for most of the e-readers out there, except for Amazon Kindle. It also provides a more advanced approach to reading a book in this type of format. One of best examples is being able to support CSS style sheets with ease. However, this is not the only benefit available.

The ePub standard also supports XHTML devices. This is a perfect solution for someone that wants to download an eBook and read it on their cell phone. Granted, the phone you own will play a major role in the quality and viewability. Androids, iPhones, and other similar choices would be the best mobile devices to use when taking advantage of ePub.

Another way of looking at the benefits of ePub is the future cost for devices like the Amazon Kindle. When the Kindle was first released it didn't have any type of competition. The price of a Kindle was in the hundreds. Over time, the ePub will allow newcomers to compete, which will reduce the prices of these devices dramatically.

In fact, we've already seen a huge swing in the overall price of the Kindle. Amazon has been selling it for a little over $100 in 2011.

One thing to understand is that ePub didn't just surface overnight. It got its start all the way back in 1998. Over the years it has been tested, tweaked, and tested again. It was the only way the International Digital Publishing Forum would be able to build a piece of software that would provide a one-size-fits-all concept.

Throughout all the potential benefits, there has been a widespread debate about ePub not being as "open" as they claim. According to consumers using a Sony device, the DRM that is used keeps any book downloaded to the device from being downloaded and used properly on other devices.

While this is true, you have to be realistic about what ePub has to offer. The issue with Sony isn't something you see with a lot of the e-readers, but it is possible. Somewhere down the line we will most likely see this change, but until now it has to be expected.

If you're tired of one option when it comes to eBook reading, consider utilizing ePub from here on out.

Create and publish professional looking ePub documents. Spread your work to a larger audience with ePub. Sign up for one of our ePub workshops. Learn more about the ePub doc format.

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How to Remedy a Slow Running Computer

There is no better computer experience than the experience of a shiny new computer and the quick run of the computer. Unfortunately, over time, the computer does begin to slow, and there are many reason why. For those that are not computer savvy, it is not necessarily caused by downloading the wrong program like many of us think. It happens with time, and not knowing how to care for your computer. There are steps that you can take to help your computer run faster. You will want to familiarize yourself with the reasons why it may be running slow and how to correct the issue.

What are some of the causes that may slow down your computer?

Bad hardware

Corrupt OS

Computer is overheating Missing windows update / outdated driver Data corruption

Left over programs and bad files Lack of hard drive space

A lot of the explanations immediately create anxiety. Do not worry. Although they may sound technical, each is easily remedied. A slow computer can be fixed in a few easy steps.

1. Reboot. First on the list is to reboot your computer.

2. Lack of hard drive space: If your computer is suffering from insufficient hard drive space then it will slow down. Computers should have at least 200 - 500 MB. If your operating system is Windows Vista or 7 users, you want to open the computer Icon. There you will see a bar which shows the percentage of disk space that is being used. If your operating Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you're my Computer will display the total size and free space for each of the drives.

3. Hard drive fragmented or corrupted: If you hard drive is fragmented or corrupted then you will need to run your ScanDisk. If there is something wrong, your ScanDisk will verify it. Next run your Defrag. This will help to arrange the data properly.

4. Background programs: Disable or remove any startup programs and TSRs that automatically start each time the computer boots.

5. Scan for malware: Malware is a enormous problem with computer and often the reason for a slow computer. Scan the computer for malware.

6. Hardware conflicts: For hardware conflicts, it will be necessary to to determine if there are any conflicts with the Disk Management. This may be the reason for a slow running computer.

7. Update Windows: Having the latest update is important and will help to make your computer run faster. Also, make sure all plugins are up-to-date.

8. Update your drivers. Make certain that you have the latest drivers for your computer.

9. Computer or processor overheating: When your computer or processor is overheating, it certainly could be cause for a slow running computer. Dirt, hair, and dust, can also constrict the flow of air in your computer, which can make it overheat. Make sure the case and fans are clean and not obstructed.

10. Memory upgrade: If your computer is more than a year old, you may not have the proper memory requirement. Make sure that your computer has at leas 1 GB of memory.

PCmatic to discover how to make your computer run faster.

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Video Converter - A Helpful Tool For Your Online Business And Personal Use

Video converter is a very important tool that can greatly help you in your online business and can be very handy for your personal use. Here is a low down on you can make the most of it:

For Your Online Business

Videoclip marketing is one of the most powerful SEO strategies for your online business. For this marketing type, you should not upload commercials to promote your business but make informative videos such as honest reviews that can be helpful to the reader. Your clip should also contain the URL of your site so that users can not only watch it but also know about the site to which that move belongs. It can be simply uploaded on popular sharing sites like YouTube, Facebook, MetCafe, etc so that it can be viewed by wider audience. The more exposure it gets the higher traffic your site will get.

On your website, you can host special videos exclusive to your site visitors such as tutorials, how-to's and DIY's. Make sure you do not upload a very high resolution move on your site or video-sharing site. Low resolution can be viewed without buffering and can be downloaded quickly. Most of the site visitors may not have a very high speed internet connection and watching high resolution videos can be painful as it can take a lot of time to buffer. To create low resolution clips, you can use a converter. Such software will help you convert videos into desirable size and format. If you want your site visitors to view HD videos, you can use it to create HD quality moves.

For Your Personal Use

If you have got a cool smartphone or portable video player, you may want to copy some clips on to it so that you can enjoy watching them whenever you travel or in your free time. However, when you transfer a video file to your phone or portable media player and play move, it may not play it. It may either say unsupported format or just play the audio without the video or it may not show anything on the screen.

The reason you are not able to view movie files on your phone properly is that the resolution of those moves is higher than the screen resolution of your phone. Hence, you need to use software to reduce the screen resolution to the resolution that can be played on your phone. This will allow you to watch any move seamlessly on your phone. Another reason, your phone may not play the video is because your phone may not support certain formats. For instance, if your phone can only play video formats like 3gp and mp4, your phone may not play other formats like avi, wmv, xvid and divx. By using video conversion software, you will be able to convert in desirable formats and play it on your phone. Some video converter allows you to create universal video format that can be played on all kinds of portable media devices and phones.

If you love watching videos on YouTube, you may want to download your favorite moves. A video converter can also help you download online videos not only from Facebook but also from other sites with best resolution.

Create videos with universal video format by using a free video converter that even doubles up as a free YouTube downloader

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