Computer Firewall

A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
There are several types of firewall techniques:

Application gateway: Applies security mechanisms to specific applications, such as FTP and Telnet servers. This is very effective, but can impose a performance degradation.

Circuit-level gateway: Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established. Once the connection has been made, packets can flow between the hosts without further checking.

Proxy server: Intercepts all messages entering and leaving the network. The proxy server effectively hides the true network addresses.

In practice, many firewalls use two or more of these techniques in concert.
A firewall is considered a first line of defense in protecting private information. For greater security, data can be encrypted.

Microsoft security updates for September 2010

As part of Microsoft's routine, monthly security update cycle, we released 9 new security updates on September 14, 2010.

Latest Security Updates

• MS10-061 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2347290)
• MS10-062 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 975558)
• MS10-063 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office (KB 2320113)
• MS10-064 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Office (KB 2315011)
• MS10-065 - addresses vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Information Services (KB 2267960)
• MS10-066 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 982802)
• MS10-067 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2259922)
• MS10-068 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 983539)
• MS10-069 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2121546)

Get security updates automatically

You may already have the update if you have automatic updating turned on. To learn about automatic updating, see Update your PC automatically.
If you do not have automatic updating turned on, or to check whether you need the update, go to Microsoft Update. Microsoft Update is an online tool that will scan your computer and provide you a report about what updates your computer needs.

Download updates from the Microsoft Download Center

Security updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. Find them by doing a keyword search using the words security update and the name of the month the update was released.

Technical information about security updates

Read the Microsoft Security Response Center blog for updated information. IT professionals and systems administrators, go to Microsoft TechNet for detailed information about updates.

Other steps you can take to help protect your computer

• Make sure you have a firewall, and up-to-date antivirus and antispyware programs.
• Scan and clean your computer to remove malicious software.

What is a computer virus?

What is a computer virus?

A computer virus is a small software program that spreads from one computer to another computer and that interferes with computer operation. A computer virus may corrupt or delete data on a computer, use an e-mail program to spread the virus to other computers, or even delete everything on the hard disk.

Computer viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e-mail messages or by instant messaging messages. Therefore, you must never open an e-mail attachment unless you know who sent the message or unless you are expecting the e-mail attachment. Computer viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files. Computer viruses also spread by using downloads on the Internet. Computer viruses can be hidden in pirated software or in other files or programs that you may download.

Symptoms of a computer virus

If you suspect or confirm that your computer is infected with a computer virus, obtain the current antivirus software. The following are some primary indicators that a computer may be infected:

• The computer runs slower than usual.
• The computer stops responding, or it locks up frequently.
• The computer crashes, and then it restarts every few minutes.
• The computer restarts on its own. Additionally, the computer does not run as usual.
• Applications on the computer do not work correctly.
• Disks or disk drives are inaccessible.
• You cannot print items correctly.
• You see unusual error messages.
• You see distorted menus and dialog boxes.
• There is a double extension on an attachment that you recently opened, such as a .jpg, .vbs, .gif, or .exe. extension.
• An antivirus program is disabled for no reason. Additionally, the antivirus program cannot be restarted.
• An antivirus program cannot be installed on the computer, or the antivirus program will not run.
• New icons appear on the desktop that you did not put there, or the icons are not associated with any recently installed programs.
• Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers unexpectedly.
• A program disappears from the computer even though you did not intentionally remove the program.

Note These are common signs of infection. However, these signs may also be caused by hardware or software problems that have nothing to do with a computer virus. Unless you run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, and then you install industry-standard, up-to-date antivirus software on your computer, you cannot be certain whether a computer is infected with a computer virus or not.

Symptoms of worms and trojan horse viruses in e-mail messages

When a computer virus infects e-mail messages or infects other files on a computer, you may notice the following symptoms:

• The infected file may make copies of itself. This behavior may use up all the free space on the hard disk.
• A copy of the infected file may be sent to all the addresses in an e-mail address list.
• The computer virus may reformat the hard disk. This behavior will delete files and programs.
• The computer virus may install hidden programs, such as pirated software. This pirated software may then be distributed and sold from the computer.
• The computer virus may reduce security. This could enable intruders to remotely access the computer or the network.
• You receive an e-mail message that has a strange attachment. When you open the attachment, dialog boxes appear, or a sudden degradation in system performance occurs.
• Someone tells you that they have recently received e-mail messages from you that contained attached files that you did not send. The files that are attached to the e-mail messages have extensions such as .exe, .bat, .scr, and .vbs extensions.

Symptoms that may be the result of ordinary Windows functions

A computer virus infection may cause the following problems:

• Windows does not start even though you have not made any system changes or even though you have not installed or removed any programs.
• There is frequent modem activity. If you have an external modem, you may notice the lights blinking frequently when the modem is not being used. You may be unknowingly supplying pirated software.
• Windows does not start because certain important system files are missing. Additionally, you receive an error message that lists the missing files.
• The computer sometimes starts as expected. However, at other times, the computer stops responding before the desktop icons and the taskbar appear.
• The computer runs very slowly. Additionally, the computer takes longer than expected to start.
• You receive out-of-memory error messages even though the computer has sufficient RAM.
• New programs are installed incorrectly.
• Windows spontaneously restarts unexpectedly.
• Programs that used to run stop responding frequently. Even if you remove and reinstall the programs, the issue continues to occur.
• A disk utility such as Scandisk reports multiple serious disk errors.
• A partition disappears.
• The computer always stops responding when you try to use Microsoft Office products.
• You cannot start Windows Task Manager.
• Antivirus software indicates that a computer virus is present.

Note These problems may also occur because of ordinary Windows functions or problems in Windows that are not caused by a computer virus.

How to protect your computer against viruses

To protect your computer against viruses, follow these steps:

1. On the computer, turn on the firewall.
2. Keep the computer operating system up-to-date.
3. Use updated antivirus software on the computer.
4. Use updated antispyware software on the computer.

Perilous virus scanners

Perilous virus scanners

Hackers and web fraudsters make a killing with the help of spurious anti-virus programs. And distinguishing these from the real ones can be very tricky.

By CLAUDIO MÜLLER

 

The desktop suddenly becomes black, security warnings are flashed and an unknown virus scanner offers itself as a solution for the problem: often this is how the attacks of cyber gangsters appear. Most of the times the invader uses fake anti-virus programs (rogueware or fake antivirus), which tempts us with virus messages to purchase expensive full versions. And this trick has worked like magic for millions: This year alone, McAfee has valued total damages of over $300 million all over the world. We show how to trace rogueware and how to get rid of them. An updated Security Suite is of utmost importance, since every month thousands of new rogueware samples and millions of such websites appear over the Internet—a briskly increasing trend. Fake antivirus programs can be categorized into hundreds of families, out of which only a handful are known.

Identification: Obtrusive pop-ups

Rogueware spreads itself through primed websites. They use security loopholes in the browser or in plug-ins like Flash Player; and introduce malware over drive-by download or request the user to download fake video codecs, which contains malicious codes.

In case a fake scanner is installed on your PC, you can identify it from the symptoms. The most obvious are obtrusive pop-ups indicating  apparent virus attacks followed by requests to purchase the full version. Close this window from Task Manager, because even clicking on 'Cancel' can open a perilous website or download other malware. A few variants display messages using security risks warnings in the taskbar or firewall warnings and change the desktop wallpaper or screensaver. Moreover, rogueware scans the computer much faster than an authentic virus scanner and displays unrealistic results.

Very rarely do rogueware attack alone. Once the attacker gets access to the computer, they can then further add more malware. Mostly, these fake antiviruses are accompanied by trojans that spy on the computer and forward user data using a backdoor or install programs such as keylogger. A worm subsequently connects the infected computer into a botnet, so user unknowingly contributes to spreading the rogueware. Nowadays, extortionist tools (ransomware) have also started coming along with fake antiviruses.

The various symptoms bothers the user till he/she eventually visits the website of the fake antivirus. The attacker even spreads the links to these sites through spam mails as well as over social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Thus, the promoted programs are revealed often through cryptic web addresses in the mails. If you wish to install a new virus protection, you should always visit the website of the antivirus developer directly: even Google search is not secure.  It is the second most popular way to spread such programs. In the process, the hackers use latest topics, and also specific search queries related to virus protection, so as to list their sites right at top of the search results. Most of the times these sites do not contain any malicious codes but they automatically direct the user to a website which eventually infects the computer.

At first glance the professionally designed websites of rogueware developers appear impressively authentic, for instance the way they feature fictitious test results and high discounts. Some of them even feature a functional telephone and email helpline service. The promoted programs costs anything between Rs 1,845 and Rs 6,000, however, soon from the price everything seems suspicious. Generally, you should stay away from such programs that scan computer for free but require a full version for removing the viruses. And in any case you should never reveal your credit card details on such websites.

However, if you have installed an updated security suite, it should be able to prevent every rogueware attack. Even if an attacker manages to slip in, for instance while the virus scanner was not updated, it is very possible that the fake antivirus blocks your Security Suite. Subsequently you should never download anymore updates and in any case do not start your virus scanner. In such a case, you should try using a malware removal tool by another manufacturer (for instance Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool).

Removal: Often only with detours

In case none of the above tips help, you must remove the worm manually. First of all, check your PC with the online scanner of an antivirus developer. You will then be able to see which rogueware has affected the computer, thereafter with help of support sites such as removeIt.info, you can find out which process you should end and which registry entries are required to be deleted. This way you can restore the system to a state in which an updated virus scanner will be able to remove traces of the rogueware.

Online scanners:

housecall.trendmicro.com

security.symantec.com

Removal tips:

removeit.info

www.bleepingcomputer.com

www.removeonline.com 

TOP 5 PERILOUS ROGUEWARE

1. MS ANTIVIRUS

The popular 'MS Antivirus' family is characterized by special professional appearance and blocks the active virus scanner. The rougueware even trades under names like 'System Security' or 'WinPC Defender'.

2. SECURITY TOOL

The rogueware known as 'Total Security' imitates security warnings from Windows. It can delete desktop icons, display a black desktop background and slows down the system.

3. InTERNET SECURITY 2010

Internet Security 2010 not only annoys with warning messages. But using an infiltrated DLL file it blocks websites such as Facebook and YouTube so as to pursue the user to purchase the full fake version.

4. ANTIMALWARE DEFENDER

Different from the original 'Windows Defender' by Microsoft, this rogueware is difficult to identify by untrained eyes. Once it ends up on the computer, it takes control of the browser and frequently displays virus warnings.

5. USER PROTECTION

This variant spreads itself in form of fake video codecs that are offered over manipulated websites that offer videos for download. 'User Protection' affects the system performance and soon leads to system crash.

Nero Multimedia Suite 10

SPECIFICATIONS

$79.99 (approx Rs 3,700)

System Requirements

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7;

RAM: 1 GB;

Disk space: 1.4 GB.

Contact: Nero Inc

 

 

Verdict: An exhaustive suite for media playback, video editing, data backup and of course disc burning.

The developers of Nero Burning ROM, a popular disc burning application are out with the latest version of Multimedia Suite which offers a bunch of new and improved features. Nero Multimedia Suite 10 primarily comprises three components which can also be purchased individually—Nero Burning ROM, Nero Vision Xtra and Nero BackItUp & Burn. So in addition to the disc burning application you get a program for editing and authoring media files and a backup utility. Plus you get Nero Multimedia Tools which includes a host of tools for audio editing and designing disc labels and covers.

The applications in the suite have a similar user interface as those in the previous version, but they have a fresh look and feel. For example, Nero StartSmart has a similar layout but it looks visually appealing. Here, you can choose to burn a data disc, audio CD, rip an audio CD or a copy a disc. Plus there are functions organized across four categories in a tabbed interface—Music, Video-Photo, Data and Tools. Functions such as ‘Mix music and digitize LPs and tapes’ and ‘Create video and photo slide show’ with a brief explanation are very convenient for those who aren’t well-versed with the functions of the applications within the suite. Choosing a function will automatically launch the appropriate application. Let’s take a look at the various components of the suite.

 

Nero Burning ROM: This disc burning application supports burning CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray disc. In addition to this you can also create and burn disc images. A new feature added here is Nero DiscSpan which allows spanning a compilation of a huge amount of data across multiple discs—a very useful feature for backing up data.

Nero Vision Xtra: This component comprises two applications—Nero Vision and Nero MediaHub which is a new feature. Nero Vision is an advanced video editing and authoring tool with support for adding effects, text and transitions to videos and creating video/scene selection menus. You can create videos from photos and PowerPoint slide shows even import videos from capture devices and camcorders. Video codec, bit rate, aspect ratio and quality settings can be configured.

Nero MediaHub is somewhat like Windows Media Player. It has a library for organizing music, photos and videos on your PCs. On specifying the locations on your hard drive containing media files, the software automatically organizes them depending on the file type.You can create and manage playlists and run slideshows as well. Double-clicking photos displays them along with tools for red eye removal, cropping and basic enhancements. You can add a vignette, sepia tone or a frame at a click of a button. Sliders for brightness, straightening, color temperature and saturation are also present.

Nero BackItUp& Burn: This one’s a backup and data recovery utility that protects your data from corruption, viruses and accidental deletion. Data can be backed up to optical media, external storage devices, FTP, memory cards and online storage. The software is very versatile with options for selective, scheduled and incremental backup as well as data synchronization.

Nero Multimedia Tools: The Nero program group under ‘Start menu | Program’ lists 13 applications. Apart from the ones mentioned above, the rest are the Multimedia Tools. These include Nero DiscCopy Gadget, WaveEditor, SoundTrax, CoverDesigner and Recode. The most interesting tools here are Nero SoundTrax and Recode. SoundTrax is meant for digitizing music from LPs and cassette tapes and mix audio tracks. Recode is an application for importing, recompressing and burning DVD videos to optical media. You can choose to remove unwanted scenes, audio tracks and subtitles while retaining the menu navigation page to gain additional storage space which can be used to add other  data such as documents, photos, music, and so on.

 

The component that you’ll probably use the most is Nero Burning ROM which includes Nero Express with a simpler user interface and Nero CoverDesigner. The full suite is ideal for multimedia enthusiasts who need tools for editing audio and video files, organizing and playing media files and backing up data. A good thing is that you have the option to purchase individual components if you don’t need certain components.

The applications in the suite aren’t just basic tools but are quite extensive. So  mastering each tool would take a while. The suite includes detailed help files for all the applications which will be of immense  use to new users.

Windows 7: A First Look for IT Pros

Microsoft has just taken the wraps off the latest client operating system, Windows® 7.  The first point to note—this is a pre-beta release, and is still an early first-look. While most information out there will focus on how Windows 7 makes everyday tasks easier, with improved user experience and productivity scenarios for end users, we thought we’d focus on information specifically of interest to IT professionals.

Built on the foundation of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista

To begin with, the core architecture of Windows 7 remains the same, as it is built on same foundation as Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista®.  This ensures that almost all PCs, applications and devices that are compatible with Windows Vista will retain their compatibility with Windows 7. This is important if you are evaluating or deploying Windows Vista today; there is no reason to hold off and wait for Windows 7.  In fact, investments in adopting Windows Vista (testing piloting, deploying) will pay off in a smoother transition to Windows 7 when it becomes available.

So what’s new in Windows 7?

In designing Windows 7, the engineering team had a clear focus on what we call ‘the fundamentals'—performance, application compatibility, device compatibility, reliability, security and battery life.  This effort was aided by telemetry data on how PCs are being used and issues that resulted in poor performance or disruption.  The focus on fundamentals didn’t start with Windows 7; in fact it is the continuation of the work on Windows Vista that materialized in Service Pack 1.  While the first release of Windows Vista faced challenges with hardware and application compatibility, improvements introduced in SP1 and a maturing of the ecosystem has helped alleviate these issues.

Most important to IT pros will be enhancements to manageability and security—how it impacts your day-to-day work.  Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 is engineered to make managing a PC environment more automated, controllable and efficient.  Both client operating systems bring tools and monitoring capabilities that are not available in a Windows XP environment. 

Further, Windows 7 imaging builds on the fundamental improvements made in Windows Vista, adding enumeration and driver management features. Data migration is faster and more flexible with a new ‘Hardlink’ feature, along with Offline Migration support.

Manageability

When we speak with IT pros, we usually hear about the pains you face maintaining a standard configuration and preventing end users from adding unauthorized software and hardware.  In addition, for remote laptop PCs that spend most of their time off the corporate network, administering patches and updates is challenging and unreliable.

• In Windows Vista, the User Account Control (UAC) feature enabled more organizations to set their users to standard user mode, preventing unauthorized changes to the basic configuration.Windows Vista also added significantly more parameters that are manageable with Group Policy.
• In Windows 7, these two technologies advance further, with a customizable UAC that can be tuned to reduce the number of elevation prompts, if that is appropriate for the environment.
• Group Policy Preferences also extend the reach of what Group Policy can manage, and how settings are applied to specific users or computers, including non-GP aware components.
• Updating mobile PCs that spend most of their time off the network is a particularly challenging issue for IT organizations.Windows 7 will introduce DirectAccess, a capability that allows management and updating of internet-connected remote PCs, even when they are off the corporate network.
• For IT pros who are less than comfortable in a command-line scripting environment, the new Powershell v2 and its graphical editor help automate repetitive tasks with minimal development expertise.

Security and Compliance

Security is one of those evergreen issues in IT management, and Regulatory Compliance is becoming a greater challenge with regulation expansion around the world.  While significant advancements in PC security were made with Windows XP SP2, nefarious innovations in malware and social engineering means PCs are still prone to disruptive threats.  Additionally, implementing regulatory compliance policy—especially protecting confidential data on mobile PCs—is a particular challenge.

Windows Vista introduced an architecture model that improved security by limiting changes that could be made to the registry without administrative credentials, while providing more instances where users could be deployed in standard user mode.  UAC helped protect PCs, but in the short term it caused some disruption because applications needed to avoid performing certain tasks, such as writing to the registry or writing data to protected folders.  With SP1 a maturing ecosystem and in some cases the creative use of “shims,” most application compatibility issues have been resolved, while providing this added level of protection.

The introduction of BitLocker Drive Encryption in Windows Vista, and the extension of this protection to non-boot volumes in SP1 provided the higher degree of confidential data protection required in many industries. 

Windows 7 builds on these advancements with a customizable User Account Control that allows IT pros to “tune” the feature based on their environment; for those instances where more flexibility is granted to users, fewer elevation prompts will appear.  Conversely, in environments that require greater control over the IT infrastructure, UAC can be strengthened to minimize the changes a user can make.

For data protection, Windows 7 introduces  BitLocker ToGo™, extending encryption to removable drives.  This feature gives greater control over information leaving the corporation, as well as helping to protect lost or stolen USB drives.

Windows 7 also incorporates improvements to the Firewall Profiles and allows IT to control access to specific applications by specific users, but we’ll cover these in more detail in future articles.

Deployment

Windows Vista introduced Windows Imaging Format (WIM), allowing a hardware and language-independent image to be created and deployed.  In many instances, a single image could be deployed and maintained worldwide, providing a more predictable environment.  Several new tools, including the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, the Application Compatibility Toolkit, and Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit helped streamline the planning, testing and deployment of a large-scale deployment.

In Windows 7, image creation and deployment is enhanced with advances such as Dynamic Driver Provisioning, the Deployment Image Service and Management tool, Multicast Multiple Stream Transfer, and improvements to user state migration.  We’ll go into further detail in future Springboard Series articles, so check back frequently.

Summary

Windows 7 promises advancements in manageability, security, deployment and end user productivity. Does this mean you should wait or skip?  The fact is that you can get the many of the advantages today in Windows Vista. While the original release of Windows Vista ran into application and hardware compatibility issues, much progress has been made with Windows Vista SP1 and a maturing ecosystem, and this progress continues in Windows 7.

If your organization hasn’t begun looking seriously at Windows Vista, or you evaluated Windows Vista prior to SP1 and found too many challenges, it now makes sense to re-evaluate—both to benefit from more advanced PC environment, and to get ahead of the adoption curve for Windows 7.

Pursue PhD After B.Tech. CSIR JRF-GATE

CSIR’s GATE qualified Junior Research Fellowship for PhD for Engineering Graduates

INTRODUCTION

CSIR has introduced a new research fellowship in 2002 for the GATE qualified candidates with BE/ BTech/ BArch/ BPharm degree to pursue research leading to PhD. This will be known as the GATE qualified Junior Research Fellowship (JRF-GATE). JRF’s selected under this scheme will have excellent opportunity to work with the CSIR scientists with state-of-art R&D facility and obtain PhD degree. These fellowships are tenable only at CSIR laboratories.

WHO CAN APPLY ?

Candidates fulfilling any of the criteria given below are eligible to apply :

Fresh BE/ B Tech degree holders with valid GATE score. The selected candidates will have to pursue Ph.D. There can be two possibilities under this:

o Get direct admission to Ph.D programme of University/ IIT/ NIT/REC etc.

o After joining as JRF-GATE, the candidate may pursue MTech as a part of PhD programme, where their thesis semester (last semester) should be spent at the CSIR laboratory relating to lab specialization in order to keep the continuity for the PhD programme.

OR

Those who are starting the thesis semester of ME/ MTech programme and having valid GATE score and desirous of pursuing PhD.

It may be noted that these candidates have to work on their PhD problem and should not be employed in sponsored projects.

WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE

MTech candidates (either with BTech/ MTech or with MSc/ MTech) are not eligible for this fellowship. They have a separate opportunity for direct SRFship through interview . All those eligible for direct CSIR SRF cannot apply for this fellowship.

AGE LIMIT

The upper age limit for JRF shall be 28 yrs which is relaxable upto 5 years in case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, women, physically handicapped and OBC applicants.

STIPEND AND TENURE

The fellowship is to be given to a candidate for a total duration of five years within which the candidate is required to complete the PhD degree. This fellowship amount is Rs 12000/- plus HRA per month. In addition, contingency grant of Rs 20,000/- per annum (calculated on pro rata basis for fraction of a year) is available to each fellowship as per the CSIR guidelines.

Further on completion of two years as JRF-GATE, the fellowship may be upgraded to SRF-GATE and stipend may be increased to Rs 14000/- per month in the subsequent years on the basis of assessment as per normal CSIR rules. In exceptional cases where the fellow has completed MTech within one year of joining JRF-GATE, the Director may assess the performance of the fellow (through a three member assessment committee) and recommend upgradation of the fellowship to SRF-GATE. All other conditions of JRF-NET will apply.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

Selection of these GATE qualified JRF’s can be done by the Director of the CSIR laboratories and forwarded to Head, HRDG for the issue of requisite award letters. Director may permit the candidate to provisionally join JRF-GATE subject to meeting the eligibility criteria and issue of formal award letter from HRDG.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE NOTED

o JRF-GATE should register for PhD within two years of joining, otherwise the fellowship is deemed to be cancelled and withdrawn. Intimation about PhD registration is to be sent to HRDG.

o Aim of JRF-GATE is to attain academic excellence and to generate high level science and these fellows are expected to contribute to lab research through a suitable PhD program.

o JRF-GATE are not to be deployed in any sponsored project.