System Explorer 2.3.4.3171

System Explorer is free, awards winning software for exploration and management of System Internals.

 

This small software includes many usefull tools which help you Keep Your System Under Control. With System Explorer You get also fast access to File Database which help you to determine unwanted processes or threats. System Explorer is translated into 21 languages and is available for download in installer and portable version.

Result of comparation is displayed in tree view and text list. Can be used for analysation of product installers/uninstallers (like Total Uninstall). Performance graphs for monitoring usage of system resources in time. Easy check of suspicious files via VirusTotal. Easy search details about file/process via online databases. Easy access to System Utilities.


 Download Installer Version

Download Portable Version

System Explorer 2.3.4.3171

System Explorer is free, awards winning software for exploration and management of System Internals.

 

This small software includes many usefull tools which help you Keep Your System Under Control. With System Explorer You get also fast access to File Database which help you to determine unwanted processes or threats. System Explorer is translated into 21 languages and is available for download in installer and portable version.

Result of comparation is displayed in tree view and text list. Can be used for analysation of product installers/uninstallers (like Total Uninstall). Performance graphs for monitoring usage of system resources in time. Easy check of suspicious files via VirusTotal. Easy search details about file/process via online databases. Easy access to System Utilities.


 Download Installer Version

Download Portable Version

Driver Magician Lite 3.67

Driver Magician offers a professional solution for device drivers backup, restoration, update and removal in Windows operating system.

It identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the "saved" drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands. After one system reboot, your PC will be loaded and running with the required hardware drivers.
What's more, Driver Magician has a built in database of the latest drivers with the ability to go to the Internet to receive the driver updates. It saves lots of time to find the correct drivers and mature drivers will obviously increase the performance of hardware. If there are unknown devices in your PC, Driver Magician helps you detect them easily and quickly with its built in hardware identifier database.

Download

Driver Magician Lite 3.67

Driver Magician offers a professional solution for device drivers backup, restoration, update and removal in Windows operating system.

It identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the "saved" drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands. After one system reboot, your PC will be loaded and running with the required hardware drivers.
What's more, Driver Magician has a built in database of the latest drivers with the ability to go to the Internet to receive the driver updates. It saves lots of time to find the correct drivers and mature drivers will obviously increase the performance of hardware. If there are unknown devices in your PC, Driver Magician helps you detect them easily and quickly with its built in hardware identifier database.

Download

Child Lock 1.6

Lock the keyboard and mouse to stop those wandering little fingers.

Can be set to autolock after a period of inactivity - stops little fingers once you have left the PC.
Can block out windows control keys - switch out of the current application (provided the app is running fullscreen such as a game)

Can slow down the mouse, stop autorepeat - assists young ones just getting used to a mouse and keyboard.


Download

Child Lock 1.6

Lock the keyboard and mouse to stop those wandering little fingers.

Can be set to autolock after a period of inactivity - stops little fingers once you have left the PC.
Can block out windows control keys - switch out of the current application (provided the app is running fullscreen such as a game)

Can slow down the mouse, stop autorepeat - assists young ones just getting used to a mouse and keyboard.


Download

Nokia Ovi Suite 2.2.1.23

Nokia Ovi Suite is the next generation computer software that will replace Nokia PC Suite.

Nokia Ovi Suite connects your computer, phone, and ovi.com online services. Use Nokia Ovi Suite to sync your phone content, share your photos and videos, transfer music, download free maps to your phone, and more. Both Nokia PC Suite and Nokia Ovi Suite can be installed on the same computer, however they should not be used simultaneously. Note that latest Nokia phones are supported only by Nokia Ovi Suite.

To connect your phone and computer, first make sure the phone is switched on. Depending on what connection type you want to use and what your phone and computer support, you should connect the data cable to the computer first and then connect the other end of the cable to your phone, or activate the Bluetooth connection of your phone. If you use a USB cable, the connection is created automatically. If you use Bluetooth, pair your phone with the computer and set it as authorized. You only have to do this the first time you connect the phone via Bluetooth. When you connect your phone to a computer using a USB cable, the Operating system will update a number of support components drivers that are required for accessing the phone using your computer. Installing these drivers may take a while.


Download

Nokia Ovi Suite 2.2.1.23

Nokia Ovi Suite is the next generation computer software that will replace Nokia PC Suite.

Nokia Ovi Suite connects your computer, phone, and ovi.com online services. Use Nokia Ovi Suite to sync your phone content, share your photos and videos, transfer music, download free maps to your phone, and more. Both Nokia PC Suite and Nokia Ovi Suite can be installed on the same computer, however they should not be used simultaneously. Note that latest Nokia phones are supported only by Nokia Ovi Suite.

To connect your phone and computer, first make sure the phone is switched on. Depending on what connection type you want to use and what your phone and computer support, you should connect the data cable to the computer first and then connect the other end of the cable to your phone, or activate the Bluetooth connection of your phone. If you use a USB cable, the connection is created automatically. If you use Bluetooth, pair your phone with the computer and set it as authorized. You only have to do this the first time you connect the phone via Bluetooth. When you connect your phone to a computer using a USB cable, the Operating system will update a number of support components drivers that are required for accessing the phone using your computer. Installing these drivers may take a while.


Download

Gmail Growl 2.2.0.0

 Gmail Growl is a useful utility that was designed in order to bring you instant mail notifications from your Gmail account.

With Prowl support, Gmail Growl forwards alerts as push notifications to your iPhone. Gmail Growl uses IMAP IDLE for Gmail, which provides near-instantaneous alerts of new messages - meaning Prowl's push notifications via Gmail Growl should be about as close to true push as you can get with Gmail on the iPhone.


Download

Gmail Growl 2.2.0.0

 Gmail Growl is a useful utility that was designed in order to bring you instant mail notifications from your Gmail account.

With Prowl support, Gmail Growl forwards alerts as push notifications to your iPhone. Gmail Growl uses IMAP IDLE for Gmail, which provides near-instantaneous alerts of new messages - meaning Prowl's push notifications via Gmail Growl should be about as close to true push as you can get with Gmail on the iPhone.


Download

Google Earth 5.2.1.1588

Google Earth lets you do smooth sailing flybyes of the entire Earth.

maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.
 You can easily fly to any spot on the globe, by entering any associated data, like street addresses, place names or lat/long coordinates. There are overlays that put additional information on the map, like roads, international boundaries, terrain, 3D buildings, crime statistics, schools, stadiums, any number of interesting stuff. You can do Local searches in the program, with icons on the map and a display on the side showing your results.
 With Google Earth you can explore the earth from above! Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

With Google Earth you can explore the earth from above! Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

 
Download

Google Earth 5.2.1.1588

Google Earth lets you do smooth sailing flybyes of the entire Earth.

maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.
 You can easily fly to any spot on the globe, by entering any associated data, like street addresses, place names or lat/long coordinates. There are overlays that put additional information on the map, like roads, international boundaries, terrain, 3D buildings, crime statistics, schools, stadiums, any number of interesting stuff. You can do Local searches in the program, with icons on the map and a display on the side showing your results.
 With Google Earth you can explore the earth from above! Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

With Google Earth you can explore the earth from above! Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

 
Download

Acer Aspire One Temperature Monitor and Fan Control

 Acer Aspire One Temperature Monitor and Fan Control is a lightweight utility that was designed in order to help you check and control the internal fan temperature

.
The program checks the actual CPU temperature and if the fan management is active, it manages the fan accordingly to the fan value.
  Simply execute the program, full or mini version, and:
- act on the main window to change settings.
- right click over the tray icon to setup options
- left click on the tray icon to hide/show the main window



Download

Acer Aspire One Temperature Monitor and Fan Control

 Acer Aspire One Temperature Monitor and Fan Control is a lightweight utility that was designed in order to help you check and control the internal fan temperature

.
The program checks the actual CPU temperature and if the fan management is active, it manages the fan accordingly to the fan value.
  Simply execute the program, full or mini version, and:
- act on the main window to change settings.
- right click over the tray icon to setup options
- left click on the tray icon to hide/show the main window



Download

Ubuntu 10.10 Beta

Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 10.10 beta. 

Codenamed "Maverick Meerkat", 10.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition
of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition continue
the trend of ever-faster boot speeds, with improved startup times and a
smoother, streamlined boot experience.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition provides even better integration of the
Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, with its install-time cloud setup.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of
the Ubuntu Server Edition to cloud computing, whether you're using
Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.
The Ubuntu 10.10 family of Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio,
and Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today. 

See the release announcement and release notes for more details.

Download (SHA256): ubuntu-10.10-beta-desktop-i386.iso 

(694MB, torrent), ubuntu-10.10-beta-desktop-amd64.iso (695MB, torrent). 

*

Ubuntu 10.10 Beta

Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 10.10 beta. 

Codenamed "Maverick Meerkat", 10.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition
of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition continue
the trend of ever-faster boot speeds, with improved startup times and a
smoother, streamlined boot experience.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition provides even better integration of the
Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, with its install-time cloud setup.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of
the Ubuntu Server Edition to cloud computing, whether you're using
Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.
The Ubuntu 10.10 family of Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio,
and Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today. 

See the release announcement and release notes for more details.

Download (SHA256): ubuntu-10.10-beta-desktop-i386.iso 

(694MB, torrent), ubuntu-10.10-beta-desktop-amd64.iso (695MB, torrent). 

*

openSUSE 11.4 Milestone 1

 The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution. The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors.

The development of openSUSE 11.4, which is expected to ship in March next year, launches today with the first milestone build: "openSUSE 11.4 Milestone 1 is available today for developers, testers and community members to test and participate in the development of openSUSE 11.4. Milestone 1 starts off openSUSE 11.4 development at a cracking pace with performance improvements in the package management network layer and version updates to major components. This milestone contains libzypp version 8.1, which has a new backend for HTTP and FTP package downloads. MultiCurl replaces the old MediaAria backend, and brings support for zsync transfers and better Metalink download support. Other major components that have received updates include X.Org 1.9, KDE 4.5 and GNOME 2.32.0 Beta 1." Read the rest of the release announcement. Download (mirrors): openSUSE-KDE-LiveCD-Build0715-i686.iso (667MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-Build0715-i686.iso (665MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-KDE-LiveCD-Build0715-x86_64.iso (677MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-Build0715-x86_64.iso (664MB, MD5, torrent).

openSUSE 11.4 Milestone 1

 The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution. The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors.

The development of openSUSE 11.4, which is expected to ship in March next year, launches today with the first milestone build: "openSUSE 11.4 Milestone 1 is available today for developers, testers and community members to test and participate in the development of openSUSE 11.4. Milestone 1 starts off openSUSE 11.4 development at a cracking pace with performance improvements in the package management network layer and version updates to major components. This milestone contains libzypp version 8.1, which has a new backend for HTTP and FTP package downloads. MultiCurl replaces the old MediaAria backend, and brings support for zsync transfers and better Metalink download support. Other major components that have received updates include X.Org 1.9, KDE 4.5 and GNOME 2.32.0 Beta 1." Read the rest of the release announcement. Download (mirrors): openSUSE-KDE-LiveCD-Build0715-i686.iso (667MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-Build0715-i686.iso (665MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-KDE-LiveCD-Build0715-x86_64.iso (677MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-Build0715-x86_64.iso (664MB, MD5, torrent).

BitDefender QuickScan for Firefox 0.9.9.34

BitDefender QuickScan is a very fast antivirus scanner, able to determine in a matter of seconds (up to 1-2 minutes on first-time scans) if a system is infected with malware.
Whenever you need a quick check or a second opinion, such as before logging into your favorite game, when using your bank account or buying something online, use Quickscan, directly from your browser.

BitDefender QuickScan takes full advantage of the "in-the-cloud" scanning service and is capable to detect active malware in less than a minute, taking just a fraction of the system resources needed by a regular virus scan.

Please note that Quickscan does not provide a virus cleaning service. If quickscan detects a threat, it is advisable to use an antivirus service (such as the one provided at www.malwarecity.com/scan8/ie.html )

Privacy and safety information:
Quickscan does not modify or delete any file on your system and only uploads executable files for checking (i.e. NO documents or other data files are sent).

Add to FireFox

BitDefender QuickScan for Firefox 0.9.9.34

BitDefender QuickScan is a very fast antivirus scanner, able to determine in a matter of seconds (up to 1-2 minutes on first-time scans) if a system is infected with malware.
Whenever you need a quick check or a second opinion, such as before logging into your favorite game, when using your bank account or buying something online, use Quickscan, directly from your browser.

BitDefender QuickScan takes full advantage of the "in-the-cloud" scanning service and is capable to detect active malware in less than a minute, taking just a fraction of the system resources needed by a regular virus scan.

Please note that Quickscan does not provide a virus cleaning service. If quickscan detects a threat, it is advisable to use an antivirus service (such as the one provided at www.malwarecity.com/scan8/ie.html )

Privacy and safety information:
Quickscan does not modify or delete any file on your system and only uploads executable files for checking (i.e. NO documents or other data files are sent).

Add to FireFox

SpywareBlaster 4.4

 Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the most annoying and pervasive threats on the Internet today. By simply browsing a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!

The most important step you can take is to secure your system.
And SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.
Multi-Angle Protection

• Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other potentially unwanted programs.
• Block spying / tracking via cookies.
• Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted or dangerous web sites.

No-Nonsense Security SpywareBlaster can help keep your system secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web. And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background. It works alongside the programs you have to help secure your system.

Download

SpywareBlaster 4.4

 Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the most annoying and pervasive threats on the Internet today. By simply browsing a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!

The most important step you can take is to secure your system.
And SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.
Multi-Angle Protection

• Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other potentially unwanted programs.
• Block spying / tracking via cookies.
• Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted or dangerous web sites.

No-Nonsense Security SpywareBlaster can help keep your system secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web. And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background. It works alongside the programs you have to help secure your system.

Download

Simple Port Forwarding 3.0.8

 The Simple Port Forwarding application was designed to make forwarding ports on your router as easy as a few clicks.
Simple Port Forwarding works with WebPages and not directly with your router. Making it a safe program to use. Its no different than using Firefox, IE or any other browser to setup port forwarding yourself.
The program works by automating the process for you. So whether you don't understand how to forward ports, or your simply looking for an easier way to forward ports then this program is for you.
Its port forwarding made simple.
The main interface of the program is small and clean. Giving options of seeing what is going to be forwarded to the router and how many entries and ports it will use in the process. You have the ability to save your list and send it to another user of the program. An example would be, lets say you have a family member who lives far from you and doesn't really understand port forwarding, so instead of spending a lot of time over the phone walking them through it you can simply have them use the program and have them load the list and update their router, then your all done. Now that's a time saver.
The program has a large database of known ports for over 700+ games and programs, so finding the port you need is made a little easier.

 HomePage

 Download

Simple Port Forwarding 3.0.8

 The Simple Port Forwarding application was designed to make forwarding ports on your router as easy as a few clicks.
Simple Port Forwarding works with WebPages and not directly with your router. Making it a safe program to use. Its no different than using Firefox, IE or any other browser to setup port forwarding yourself.
The program works by automating the process for you. So whether you don't understand how to forward ports, or your simply looking for an easier way to forward ports then this program is for you.
Its port forwarding made simple.
The main interface of the program is small and clean. Giving options of seeing what is going to be forwarded to the router and how many entries and ports it will use in the process. You have the ability to save your list and send it to another user of the program. An example would be, lets say you have a family member who lives far from you and doesn't really understand port forwarding, so instead of spending a lot of time over the phone walking them through it you can simply have them use the program and have them load the list and update their router, then your all done. Now that's a time saver.
The program has a large database of known ports for over 700+ games and programs, so finding the port you need is made a little easier.

 HomePage

 Download

BitComet 1.23 Final

 BitComet is a BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP download management software, which is powerful, fast, very easy-to-use, and completely FREE. The advanced features it contains can accelerate your downloading speed up to 5 - 10 times faster, or even more.

What's New: Release Notes

 

MD5: 9ea15aacb1497ff64331f33698e3076d

 

Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

Language Support: 52 Languages [Help Translate]

 

PAD File: PAD xml file

 

License: Freeware for non-commercial use (at home).

 

ZIP/Old Versions: Zipped releases and old releases are available [Here]

Download

Self-protection from malware

Introduction

There are several levels where you can set up protection mechanisms in order to minimize the risk of falling victim to malware. Different protection mechanisms are needed depending on which danger situation we are discussing. One useful way to look at the protection situations is like this:

1. Personal awareness (actions prior to exposure)
2. Protection by software
3. Procedures when infected
   

In this two-part security article we will examine what you as a user can do to yourself against malicious software - the personal awareness protection scheme. These are actions that come into effect even before any security software are involved in any protection attempts.
Personal awareness may be the most important protection instrument to your disposal. And it is even free! However, it does require a particular mind-set in order to function properly.
The clue can be summarized in these three words:

Use common sense!

In the following we shall examine some of the dangers that you may be exposed to, and how common sense, a few simple procedures, and a critical mind-set, can protect you.

Social engineering

Almost all techniques that are used to try to trick you into performing an action that results in an infection of your computer, boil down to social engineering. A person or persons with criminal intent want to persuade you to do something that has a consequence that you did not expect (or want).
The social engineering schemes vary from the ridiculously simple (sending a message with nothing but a link, hoping that recipients will click the link), to the sophisticated (investigating the recipients before contact and designing specially crated personal messages) – and everything in between.
Since the different social engineering schemes are so varied, one cannot make a complete list of how they look. The ambition should rather be for each and every one of us to recognize typical patterns, and thus avoid being tricked.
At the end of article series we will identify some such patterns.

Examples and discussion

Here are some typical scenarios where your increased awareness may protect you from infection attempts.

Links in instant messaging programs

There are a lot of instant messaging (IM) programs in use in the Internet community. These may be used as spreading devices for malware by at least two different techniques:

1. An IM account is compromised and the person who has taken control over the account uses this to send messages to those who are in the owner’s contact list. These messages can be tailor-made and potentially quite convincing and thereby difficult to protect against.
    
2. A computer is infected by malware, which sends instant messages – usually links - to persons in the contact list. These messages will often be easy to spot as they may not be similar to the way you normally communicate with the person who sent you the message.

One message of type 2 may look like the one below received in Windows Live Messenger. Typical is that the message is in English and consist of a short text with a link. Even more common is a message with a link only. The sender’s status often appears as Away when the message is sent (and thereby not able to contact for verification of the message’s validity).
As we shall see later, clicking on such a link may turn out to be quite dangerous.

 Click image to enlarge

In order to protect yourself against this type of attacks, consider the following:

• Does your friend/colleague usually contact you without any introduction?
• Does your friend/colleague usually use the language that the message shows?
• Is the content of the message in line with your friend/colleagues usual behavior?

If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, you should not click on the link.
If you suspect that something smells fishy even if the answer is ‘yes’ to all questions, you might still take the extra precaution and verify with the person at the other end that the message is legitimate. This may take some extra seconds, but may turn out to be a smart use of your time.

Obfuscated links in email messages

One of the most used devices for social engineering is the good old email message.
One of the most famous, and successful examples of using email as a social engineering vehicle, happened ten years ago when millions of computer users around the world received an email with the subject ILOVEYOU and a body text with this sentence:

kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me.

The alleged love letter was the attachment LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs.
Vast numbers of people clicked and were subsequently infected with the Loveletter or I-Love-You malware.
The malware spreaders these days are usually a least a bit more sophisticated. A typical social engineering email nowadays might look like this:

Click image to enlarge

Characteristics are:

• a friendly subject line,
• a body text in html format aimed to pick the recipient’s interest,
• a link to a web page – this will often appear to be to a well-known and trusted web site.

Since this email is written in html format, the link that appears as seen in the email text may be completely different from what the link actually leads to when clicking on it. The real link will be displayed in the email client’s status bar at the bottom of the window when you hover the mouse pointer over the email link. As you can see from the image above, clicking the link does not take you to the www.cool.imagelibraryonline.net.woah-imgs/ address, rather to the more suspect-looking www.terribly-dangerous-web.com site.
Here is another example of a typical email designed to try to trick the recipient:

Click image to enlarge

Another social engineering attempt, aimed at users of the social network Facebook. The Facebook community has a huge number of members, and the probability is high that recipients of this email are Facebook members. However, none of the three links in this email (the Sign In button, the http://www.facebook.com/home.php URL and the “here” link do actually link to any Facebook resource.
An important lesson to learn from these examples is that links in messages are dangerous to click on. A more secure way is to copy and paste the text into the browser or tediously type it into the browser.

Manipulating search engine results

Big media events are loved by cyber criminals. They may be used to trigger social engineering schemes like those shown above, and they can be used in at least one totally different manner.
It is a fact that big media events like the swine flu pandemic, the volcano eruption in Iceland, the world’s championship in football and similar, inspire people to use search engines to search for new and updated information about the events.
By registering domain names (Internet names) that are associated with the event in question, and crafting web pages that are specially designed to satisfy search engines’ requirements, malicious web sites/pages may be “seeded” to appear near the top of results from search engines.
The events most suited for search engine manipulation are those that appear suddenly, like disasters. Specially crafted malicious web sites may then be created quickly and not compete with the real stuff about the event. Web sites about well-planned events will have had months to grow and already obtained good search engine results, are more difficult to compete with.
Such a malicious web site will unfortunately not offer particularly useful information about the searched-after event – it will rather only attempt to infect the customer with malicious program code.
You will find more information about manipulating search engines in this security article from last year.

Next part

In the next article in this series we shall examine more closely 

• infected web sites
• characteristics of social engineering attempts
• protection against unknown threats

Infected web sites

There are two different types of infected web sites/pages:

1. Those where the person with malicious intent herself has set up the web server and controls it. This type is normally the easiest ones to spot, even though some are quite clever and may replicate legitimate sites regarding look and feel, and have an address similar to the legitimate site. www.nicefeaturessite.com and www.nicefeatureesite.com look quite similar, but proof-reading will show that an ‘s’ in the former has been substituted by an ‘e’ in the latter.
    
2. Legitimate sites that have malicious elements. This may be because the site has been compromised and malicious elements have been inserted, or because the administrator of the legitimate web site has been tricked to add for example a malicious advertisement or another type of banner.

Recent studies indicate that the most malicious web sites are by far of type 2 above. Some studies show more than 90%.
A full examination of the different techniques used for inserting malicious elements on a web site is beyond the scope of these article. An Internet search will reveal lots of interesting information if you want more in-dept details. Suffice it to say in this context that some techniques used are:

• Cross Site Scripting (XXS),
• PDF files that exploit vulnerabilities in this file format,
• Malicious scripts (Javascripts or Active scripts),
• Malicious flash elements that exploit vulnerabilities in the flash player,
• Invisible IFRAMEs that loads malicious web elements,

Characteristics of social engineering attempts

It is close to impossible that you can be able to protect yourself against well-planned, targeted social engineering attempts. However, there are quite a few characteristics of the more mundane type, which are useful to remember.
Knowing these may save you from becoming a victim to scams of the kind each and every one of us are likely to be exposed to.
After all, few of us will ever experience a targeted attack directed at one person. Only particularly "interesting" persons merit such exceptional effort on an attacker’s side. Most of us are (unfortunately?) not that interesting.
A typical social engineering attack will often consist of some of the following or similar elements:

• Phrases that obviously intend to pick your curiosity.
• A link that turns out to be another one than the one displayed in the message.
• The displayed link is often to a well-known respectable organization.
• A message from an acquaintance of yours that is not in his or hers usual manner.
• A message from a completely unknown person.
• A message from yourself!

Protection against unknown threats

By increasing your awareness the way we have described in this and the previous article, you are better protected against typical, popular and traditional infection attempts.
More importantly, however, is that as a spin-off from your increased awareness, you are better equipped against infection attempts using completely new spreading mechanisms. It is a fact that whenever a new “device” is used for malware spreading, our previous, well-learned protection mechanisms tend to be completely forgotten. This issue has been discussed in several of our security articles the recent years - see for example this article from March this year.
By focusing on awareness rather than relying on previous knowledge and protection by software, you are less inclined to be infected.

Useful resources

Useful information about social engineering trends and examples can be found all over the Internet.
Some recommended resources with general information as well as information about the latest threats are:

• Norman’s Security center: http://www.norman.com/security_center/ (this section of our web)
• SANS’ Storm center: http://isc.sans.org/ 
• Different countries’ CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) web sites and mailing list. (Use a search engine to find your own local CERT.)
• Lots of other security organizations’ web sites and independent blogs.

Source

Self-protection from malware

Introduction

There are several levels where you can set up protection mechanisms in order to minimize the risk of falling victim to malware. Different protection mechanisms are needed depending on which danger situation we are discussing. One useful way to look at the protection situations is like this:

1. Personal awareness (actions prior to exposure)
2. Protection by software
3. Procedures when infected
   

In this two-part security article we will examine what you as a user can do to yourself against malicious software - the personal awareness protection scheme. These are actions that come into effect even before any security software are involved in any protection attempts.
Personal awareness may be the most important protection instrument to your disposal. And it is even free! However, it does require a particular mind-set in order to function properly.
The clue can be summarized in these three words:

Use common sense!

In the following we shall examine some of the dangers that you may be exposed to, and how common sense, a few simple procedures, and a critical mind-set, can protect you.

Social engineering

Almost all techniques that are used to try to trick you into performing an action that results in an infection of your computer, boil down to social engineering. A person or persons with criminal intent want to persuade you to do something that has a consequence that you did not expect (or want).
The social engineering schemes vary from the ridiculously simple (sending a message with nothing but a link, hoping that recipients will click the link), to the sophisticated (investigating the recipients before contact and designing specially crated personal messages) – and everything in between.
Since the different social engineering schemes are so varied, one cannot make a complete list of how they look. The ambition should rather be for each and every one of us to recognize typical patterns, and thus avoid being tricked.
At the end of article series we will identify some such patterns.

Examples and discussion

Here are some typical scenarios where your increased awareness may protect you from infection attempts.

Links in instant messaging programs

There are a lot of instant messaging (IM) programs in use in the Internet community. These may be used as spreading devices for malware by at least two different techniques:

1. An IM account is compromised and the person who has taken control over the account uses this to send messages to those who are in the owner’s contact list. These messages can be tailor-made and potentially quite convincing and thereby difficult to protect against.
    
2. A computer is infected by malware, which sends instant messages – usually links - to persons in the contact list. These messages will often be easy to spot as they may not be similar to the way you normally communicate with the person who sent you the message.

One message of type 2 may look like the one below received in Windows Live Messenger. Typical is that the message is in English and consist of a short text with a link. Even more common is a message with a link only. The sender’s status often appears as Away when the message is sent (and thereby not able to contact for verification of the message’s validity).
As we shall see later, clicking on such a link may turn out to be quite dangerous.

 Click image to enlarge

In order to protect yourself against this type of attacks, consider the following:

• Does your friend/colleague usually contact you without any introduction?
• Does your friend/colleague usually use the language that the message shows?
• Is the content of the message in line with your friend/colleagues usual behavior?

If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, you should not click on the link.
If you suspect that something smells fishy even if the answer is ‘yes’ to all questions, you might still take the extra precaution and verify with the person at the other end that the message is legitimate. This may take some extra seconds, but may turn out to be a smart use of your time.

Obfuscated links in email messages

One of the most used devices for social engineering is the good old email message.
One of the most famous, and successful examples of using email as a social engineering vehicle, happened ten years ago when millions of computer users around the world received an email with the subject ILOVEYOU and a body text with this sentence:

kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me.

The alleged love letter was the attachment LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs.
Vast numbers of people clicked and were subsequently infected with the Loveletter or I-Love-You malware.
The malware spreaders these days are usually a least a bit more sophisticated. A typical social engineering email nowadays might look like this:

Click image to enlarge

Characteristics are:

• a friendly subject line,
• a body text in html format aimed to pick the recipient’s interest,
• a link to a web page – this will often appear to be to a well-known and trusted web site.

Since this email is written in html format, the link that appears as seen in the email text may be completely different from what the link actually leads to when clicking on it. The real link will be displayed in the email client’s status bar at the bottom of the window when you hover the mouse pointer over the email link. As you can see from the image above, clicking the link does not take you to the www.cool.imagelibraryonline.net.woah-imgs/ address, rather to the more suspect-looking www.terribly-dangerous-web.com site.
Here is another example of a typical email designed to try to trick the recipient:

Click image to enlarge

Another social engineering attempt, aimed at users of the social network Facebook. The Facebook community has a huge number of members, and the probability is high that recipients of this email are Facebook members. However, none of the three links in this email (the Sign In button, the http://www.facebook.com/home.php URL and the “here” link do actually link to any Facebook resource.
An important lesson to learn from these examples is that links in messages are dangerous to click on. A more secure way is to copy and paste the text into the browser or tediously type it into the browser.

Manipulating search engine results

Big media events are loved by cyber criminals. They may be used to trigger social engineering schemes like those shown above, and they can be used in at least one totally different manner.
It is a fact that big media events like the swine flu pandemic, the volcano eruption in Iceland, the world’s championship in football and similar, inspire people to use search engines to search for new and updated information about the events.
By registering domain names (Internet names) that are associated with the event in question, and crafting web pages that are specially designed to satisfy search engines’ requirements, malicious web sites/pages may be “seeded” to appear near the top of results from search engines.
The events most suited for search engine manipulation are those that appear suddenly, like disasters. Specially crafted malicious web sites may then be created quickly and not compete with the real stuff about the event. Web sites about well-planned events will have had months to grow and already obtained good search engine results, are more difficult to compete with.
Such a malicious web site will unfortunately not offer particularly useful information about the searched-after event – it will rather only attempt to infect the customer with malicious program code.
You will find more information about manipulating search engines in this security article from last year.

Next part

In the next article in this series we shall examine more closely 

• infected web sites
• characteristics of social engineering attempts
• protection against unknown threats

Infected web sites

There are two different types of infected web sites/pages:

1. Those where the person with malicious intent herself has set up the web server and controls it. This type is normally the easiest ones to spot, even though some are quite clever and may replicate legitimate sites regarding look and feel, and have an address similar to the legitimate site. www.nicefeaturessite.com and www.nicefeatureesite.com look quite similar, but proof-reading will show that an ‘s’ in the former has been substituted by an ‘e’ in the latter.
    
2. Legitimate sites that have malicious elements. This may be because the site has been compromised and malicious elements have been inserted, or because the administrator of the legitimate web site has been tricked to add for example a malicious advertisement or another type of banner.

Recent studies indicate that the most malicious web sites are by far of type 2 above. Some studies show more than 90%.
A full examination of the different techniques used for inserting malicious elements on a web site is beyond the scope of these article. An Internet search will reveal lots of interesting information if you want more in-dept details. Suffice it to say in this context that some techniques used are:

• Cross Site Scripting (XXS),
• PDF files that exploit vulnerabilities in this file format,
• Malicious scripts (Javascripts or Active scripts),
• Malicious flash elements that exploit vulnerabilities in the flash player,
• Invisible IFRAMEs that loads malicious web elements,

Characteristics of social engineering attempts

It is close to impossible that you can be able to protect yourself against well-planned, targeted social engineering attempts. However, there are quite a few characteristics of the more mundane type, which are useful to remember.
Knowing these may save you from becoming a victim to scams of the kind each and every one of us are likely to be exposed to.
After all, few of us will ever experience a targeted attack directed at one person. Only particularly "interesting" persons merit such exceptional effort on an attacker’s side. Most of us are (unfortunately?) not that interesting.
A typical social engineering attack will often consist of some of the following or similar elements:

• Phrases that obviously intend to pick your curiosity.
• A link that turns out to be another one than the one displayed in the message.
• The displayed link is often to a well-known respectable organization.
• A message from an acquaintance of yours that is not in his or hers usual manner.
• A message from a completely unknown person.
• A message from yourself!

Protection against unknown threats

By increasing your awareness the way we have described in this and the previous article, you are better protected against typical, popular and traditional infection attempts.
More importantly, however, is that as a spin-off from your increased awareness, you are better equipped against infection attempts using completely new spreading mechanisms. It is a fact that whenever a new “device” is used for malware spreading, our previous, well-learned protection mechanisms tend to be completely forgotten. This issue has been discussed in several of our security articles the recent years - see for example this article from March this year.
By focusing on awareness rather than relying on previous knowledge and protection by software, you are less inclined to be infected.

Useful resources

Useful information about social engineering trends and examples can be found all over the Internet.
Some recommended resources with general information as well as information about the latest threats are:

• Norman’s Security center: http://www.norman.com/security_center/ (this section of our web)
• SANS’ Storm center: http://isc.sans.org/ 
• Different countries’ CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) web sites and mailing list. (Use a search engine to find your own local CERT.)
• Lots of other security organizations’ web sites and independent blogs.

Source