Website of the Week #5

Website of the week: Tiny URL

Firefox also has a need little add-on which allows you to create a "tiny URL" after a few simple clicks on your toolbar.

http://tinyurl.com/

Did you know?...of the week:

12 myths on how the internet works.

http://tinyurl.com/65agj3

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/112008-ietf-internet-myths.html?hpg1=bn

Gadget of the week:

Specially made for the Star Wars fan in all of us.

http://tinyurl.com/5w5jeg

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/han-solo-carbon.html

Geek History:

Hail to the Chief...err, I mean Geek. Here are the top 10 Geeks of all time.

http://tinyurl.com/6y228x

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2230107/top-ten-greatest-geeks

Security news of the week:

Webhosting firm McColo was recently forced offline over a week ago. McColo was said to be responsible for anywhere between 50-75% of the worlds spam messages. Will they rise again? Probably...look for them to setup camp somewhere in Russia (which has been a haven for cyber criminals). Here's one of the many articles surrounding this story.

http://tinyurl.com/6xpqv3

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9120538&source=rss_topic17

Security Stats of the Week:

-The highest priced attack tool, on average, between July 2007 - June 2008 was botnets, which sold for an average of $225.

-Phishing scam hosting services were offered for an average price of $10 with prices ranging from $2 to $80.

-The average price of a keystroke logger advertised on the underground economy was $23.

-The highest ranked exploit during this reporting period was site-specific vulnerabilities in financial sites, which were advertised for an average price of $740, with prices ranging from $100 to $2,999.

Website of the Week #4

Website of the week: (Thanks Annie)

Includes a variety of news ranging from the environment, to science/technology, to politics (just to name a few). So check it out...

http://www.good.is/

You can also sign up for a yearly subscription of the magazine and choose how much you want to pay for it (yes, it's true!). 100% of the subscription costs goes to a nonprofit agency of your choice. We need more of this in the world.

I found the "First 100 days pledge sheet" quite interesting also... http://www.good.is/?p=13184

Photos of the week:

Tree house engineering feats that are quite impressive. (where were these when we were kids???)

Photos

Security News of the week:

Wireless Protected Access (WPA) encryption cracked by researchers:

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/wpa-cracked.ars

This will now undoubtedly begin to lead to future exploits of this wireless security protocol.

Although there are different flavors of each (and the details can get quite extensive), here is a quick and dirty list of the wireless security protocols. Since most of us use wireless networks at home, I thought it might be useful to outline this at a high level.

WEP - [Wireless Encryption Protocol] This wireless protocol has been obsolete for a few years (but it's better than broadcasting an open unsecured wireless network). FYI - This encryption can be cracked in about 1 minute using free software available over the internet.

WPA - [Wireless Protected Access] Sufficient protection. Future vulnerabilities will continue to be probed now that a minor vulnerability has been discovered.

WPA2 - Recommended. Uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) used by many government agencies... and at my house.

In order to leverage the WPA2 wireless encryption you need to check a few things:

1) Router must be WPA2 compatible. You can check the manufacturers website or go into your router settings console via the IP, i.e. http://192.168.1.1 (this will vary by manufacturer)

2) The Wireless network card (in your computer) must be WPA2 compatible. If you are not sure go to http://certifications.wi-fi.org/wbcs_certified_products.php?search=1&lang=en&filter_category_id=2&listmode=1 and scroll down to find your wireless adaptor/card. Click the "View Wi-Fi certifications" link to the right of your wireless card to get the details.

There are a few ways to find your card type:

A) Start, Run, Cmd, IPConfig/all. Look to the right of "Description" under the title "Ethernet wireless network adapter" (title may vary).

OR

B) Right click My computer, Manage, Device Manager, Network Adapters.

3) Microsoft users can download the WPA2 hotfix (this is not a part of the Windows updates) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357

4) Before doing any of this save a restoration point to backup your current state/settings just in case you have any problems.

Also, there are always options to potentially upgrade your router's firmware or system device drivers if necessary. If you have any questions feel free to send me a note.