Equipment loss equals security lost
Laptops, smart phones and PDAs get left in cabs. Computers disappear. But the real loss isn’t the money spent to replace a device, or the time spent getting the user back up and running. When unprotected data ends up with criminals or your competitors, that’s a loss you can’t afford.
You could be held liable for identity theft
We’ve seen it all too often – bank account numbers, Social Security numbers and medical records stolen from devices 1) that aren’t encrypted or 2) have encryption that a user has bypassed or disabled. And the cost of complying with privacy notification laws – not to mention lawsuits – is growing every day.
Your trade secrets are vulnerable
How many trade secrets are at rest right now on your laptops or computers? How much intellectual property? And how much damage could be done if a competitor got hold of confidential information about your products, production methods or pricing?
Classified information can’t be left unprotected
Now, more than ever, government secrets need to be kept secret. Leaving that data unprotected could compromise anything from personal privacy to national security.
Data Encryption; Need of the Time
Don't Let a Windows Update Bring You Down
Put yourself back in the driver's seat by disabling auto installs, updating Microft apps, fixing broken updates, and more.
Windows Update sounds like an excellent idea: Anytime Microsoft has a patch or other improvement for its ever-imperfect operating system, your computer lets you know, and even installs the fix for you. Privacy concerns raised by allowing Windows to make regular and unobtrusive phone calls home to Microsoft erupted into outrage, however, following the discovery that the updates included Windows Genuine Advantage, an antipiracy utility that many recipients deemed outright spyware
But acquiring an unwanted watchdog isn't the only risk associated with Windows updates. I don't have room to cover all of the problems that the many patches and add-ons Microsoft has released for the OS might cause. These tips will give you the upper hand on updates, and help you out when a patch goes bad.
The Fast Track to Your Favorite Files and Folders
Use Windows' Places Bar, My Recent Documents, or the 'File-name' dropdown menu to speed up your access to the file or folder you want.
There you are, rummaging in an 'Open' or 'Save As' dialog box, navigating furiously through a maze of files and folders in search of the one you need. Isn't there a 
better way? Glad you asked. These tips will get you where you're going faster.
Places Bar: Array the two or three folders that you access most often on the Places Bar on the left side of the dialog box. Lincoln Spector describes how at "Keep Your Secrets: A Safe, Easy Way to Encrypt Files." (Windows' Places Bar is separate from the Places Bar in Office apps, so changes to one won't affect the other.)
Another option: Put shortcuts to the folders and documents you frequently use in a separate folder, and then add a shortcut to this folder o' shortcuts on the Places Bar. You'll have to click at least once more to select the one you want, but it's still faster than digging through layers of folders.
Customize your favorite links in Vista dialog boxes instantly with a simple drag and drop.
In Vista, the Places Bar is called Favorite Links and is located both in Explorer and in most file dialog boxes (applications not designed for Vista being a notable exception). To customize this list, locate the folder you want in the Folders pane (below Favorite Links) on the left, or select a folder or file in the main file window in the center of the dialog box; then drag the item into Favorite Links until a line appears between two existing items (see ). Release the mouse button to create the new shortcut. For a bigger view, click the down arrow next to Folders to collapse the pane. Drag and drop to rearrange items. To eliminate or rename a link, right-click it and choose Remove Link or Rename Link (or simply Rename). Some links (including Desktop and Computer) aren't removable, but you can customize links in the file list by clicking Links in the Folders tree that appears below Favorite Links.
My Recent Documents: Most file dialog boxes have a History (Windows 2000), My Recent Documents (XP), or Recent Places (Vista) shortcut in the Places Bar. Click it to see a list of recently accessed files and folders. In Windows 2000 and XP, you can filter the types of files in this list via the 'Files of type' drop-down menu at the bottom. In Vista, you can remove the current batch of shortcuts in Recent Places by right-clicking the icon and choosing Clear Recent Items List.
'File name' drop-down: A shorter list of recently used files lies in the 'File name' drop-down menu near the bottom of the dialog box. Click the arrow to the right to see the path of recently accessed files. To filter this list by file type, select the type from the 'Files of type' drop-down list (2000 and XP) or from the pop-up menu located to the right of the 'File name' box (Vista).
To open a recently used folder rather than a file, in Windows 2000 and XP, use the 'File name' drop-down menu to select a file located in the folder you need, press the right arrow key once to deselect the text in the 'File name' box, and press
Yahoo!/ Hotmail Password Hacking
Can your hotmail or yahoo account be hacked? For tens of thousands of people around the world this nightmare has already happened. So yes your hotmail/yahoo account can be hacked into. Just because you have not lost control of your online email account, such as hotmail/yahoo, does not mean it has not been accessed without your permission. Because you have no way of knowing this.
8000 people in the UK found out in late Oct 2006 from a knock on the door from the Police that FBI in America had recovered their private files and data from a raid on a hackers den. The primary means of this loss of files/data by these unaware 8000 UK victims was through the use of hotmail/yahoo instant messengers and their email accounts attached to those messenger services. Therefore, if your hotmail/yahoo account has not been hacked does not mean it has not been accessed without your knowledge. The chances are your email account has been accessed and its email read, just the hacker was kind enough ( or for another reason ) not to change the password to lock you out. One reason why your hacker might have chosen not to change your account password is because that would be the equal of killing the hen that lays the golden eggs. By locking you out, also means that further flow of your personal and confidential information to the hacker will cease once your locked out. The hacker could also be your spouse, girl/boy friend, work colleague or boss. Why would any of them lock you out of your account when they are happy to keep an eye on everything you do ( able to read every email you receive and send).
We use hotmail/yahoo examples since these two services are used by millions of peoples around the World, however techniques used to hack hotmail/yahoo work just as well on other online email services as well as other online accounts. In some cases these techniques work much better on other email services because hotmail/yahoo victims and security experts have nudged improvements in the security of these two services. We can describe to you popular methods/techniques you can fall victim too and lose complete control of your hotmail/yahoo or other email/online accounts or have them accessed unauthorised without your knowledge. Therefore, if you have not already tasted the bitter pill of loss of your hotmail/yahoo or other online accounts we can place you in much better position to avoid it ever happening to you.
I do not endorse you using the information to hack other people's online email accounts. It is lawful for you to read this information to protect yourself. By knowing the tools and techniques you will be better placed to secure your own online communications, and the written explanation does give guidance on how to firm up your own defences. Our sole aim is to stop you from sleep walking into hacker traps and losing your confidential information, like 8000 other Brits did in late 2006.
Password Recovery/ Resetting/ Auditing
Ever curious how professionals and Hackers alike recover/crack/audit Passwords.? We can tell you how and what software they use and sources from the net where you can get it for free. This information will transform your outlook on the use of passwords for data protection in daily use. For example an eight letter alphanumeric password such as "spade938" takes only on average 3.7 seconds to crack. No unlawful activity is involved at any stage of learning to recover/audit/crack passwords.
What is password recovery/ cracking/ resetting/ auditing?
Password Cracking/Recovery: where a person has forgotten or lost his/password, software is used to automate the process of guessing the right "password".
Password Resetting - Where it is not necessary to recover the original forgotten/lost password, a person can chose to have the system disable the original password and ask for the new password to be set. This is what most commercially available Window's Administrator password resetting disks do.
Password Auditing. Auditing is checking the security of the password system (a computer network ) by running automated password guessing software. Essentially the software will reveal passwords in order of password strength. Password auditing is done with the same software used in cracking/recovery.
Password Cracking/ Recovering: the process starts with getting the password hashes. It is from password hashes that the password is recovered/cracked. What is a password hash?. Essentially password hash is 32 byte encrypted form of the password, stored by the system. When you set the password, the system takes your password and runs it through encryption algorithm to produce password hash which is then stored. Password recovery/cracking software essentially duplicates the original encryption process at lightening fast speed until it produces password hash that is identical to the password hash under examination for cracking/recovery. On a home computer up to 10 million tries per minute can be made to crack/recover a password. There are four automated password cracking/recovery techniques;
1.Dictionary attack: Password cracking software will run the entire dictionary through the password encryption algorithm to get the hashes to compare to the hashes of the "unknown" password. If the person has selected any word or slang found in the dictionary, it is not going to take an average home computer more than 10 minutes to crack/recover it. This is the thus the quickest of all techniques.
2.Hybrid attack: deals with passwords which are essentially words with numerals/symbols attached to either end of them i.e. hybrid of word and numbers, e.g. clever88, foolish01, pa$$word, 5ecurity etc. This too does not take more than 10 minutes or so to run through.
3.Brute force attack: if the password survived above two techniques, it will not survive the third i.e. brute force. Brute force will crack any password, if allowed sufficient time and computing power. Brute force essentially takes one character of the password at a time until it gets the whole password.
4.Brute force with precomputed hashes: As mentioned before, password cracking/recovery the software generates hashes to compare to the hashes of the unknown password. If you get the software to generate hashes in advance and then store them, you can make brute force technique lightening fast. For example an eight letter alphanumeric password such as "spade938" takes only on average 3.7 seconds to crack when subjected to brute force with precomputed hashes.
Instant Messenger
In many corporate networks, Instant Messengers like MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk and AIM are not allowed and ports are disabled. You also need to have these software applications installed in your computer. But in most cases, desktop users are not permitted to install any software, for security reasons.
Now, what is the solution for you to access messenger services and chat with your friends? even in the restricted environment? I am listing some options, which might work for you. If you are caught using these services, do not blame me, ok?
When you are at some internet cafes, you may not have your preferred messenger installed in the desktop! And you do not want to wait to get the software downloadd and installed. The options listed below are going to help you to chat faster.
MSN, Yahoo, Google, AOL and ICQ provides their own web messengers. There are other third party web messengers like Meebo, KoolIM, ILoveIM and eBuddy providing integration of various messengers in a single place.
MSN Web Messenger lets you chat online and in real-time with friends and family using just a web browser! Use it on any shared computer - at school, at work, at a friend's house or anywhere you can't install the MSN Messenger software. Popups neds to be enabled for this web site if you are using popup blocker software like the MSN Toolbar.
Yahoo Web Messenger works from any Java enabled browsers.
Google Talk - Web Messenger allows you to chat with your friends from any web broswer having Flash support.
AIM Express® service is convenient whenever you're away from your home computer: at school, the office, or a friend's house. Use it whenever you have to be discreet.
ICQ2Go! is a web-based installation-free ICQ version. With the essential communication tools, it offers a solution for connecting from Internet Cafes and other computers, where download and installation is not an option. There is a Flash based version as well as java based version.
Meebo.com is a website for instant messaging from absolutely anywhere. Whether you are at home, on campus, at work, or traveling foreign lands, hop over to meebo.com on any computer to access all of your buddies (on AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber) and chat with them, no downloads or installs required, for free!
KoolIM.com is a web messenger application that allows you to stay connected with your favorite Instant Messenger almost anywhere. You need a computer with just a browser only.
There is no need to download and install any software or Java plug-ins into your computer to use KoolIM.com Web Instant Messenger. KoolIM.com provides friendly, light and very easy to use web-based interface with almost all core features from the original Instant Messenger.
Another great benefit of our Web Messenger - it works behind a firewall or proxy servers. Use our Web Instant Messenger to chat with your friends everywhere! We support AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber and others on the consumer side. We also support Sametime, Simple, SIP, LCS, and Jabber.
ILoveIM.com is another Web Messenger like KoolIM and Meebo. It supports Yahoo, MSN, Google Talk and AOL.
eBuddy.com is a free web based messenger that enables you to chat with your MSN, Yahoo and AIM buddies.
What are Blog, RSS, Atom, OPML and Podcasting?
I am pretty sure that you know about Blogs, RSS & Atom feeds, etc.. Anyway, here is the summary, in case you want to forward to your friends.
Blog (Weblog)
A Web site that contains dated entries in reverse chronological order (most recent first) about a particular topic. Functioning as an online journal, blogs can be written by one person or a group of contributors. Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and images as well as a search facility may also be included.(from answers.com)
You are reading a blog now!
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
RSS is a Web content syndication XML format. (Syndication is a method of making content available to a range of outlets simultaneously). Most of the RSS feeds have a title, link and description.
RSS specification at RSS at Harvard Law
Atom
Atom is an XML-based document format that describes lists of related information known as "feeds". Feeds are composed of a number of items, known as "entries", each with an extensible set of attached metadata. For example, each entry has a title.
The primary use case that Atom addresses is the syndication of Web content such as Weblogs and news headlines to Web sites as well as directly to user agents.
The Atom Syndication Format Specification
OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language)
OPML is an XML format for outlines. The OPML specification defines an outline as a hierarchical, ordered list of arbitrary elements. The specification is fairly open which makes it suitable for many types of list data. It is most commonly used to exchange lists of RSS feeds between RSS aggregators or storing playlists.
OPML Spec
Podcasting
Podcasting is a method of publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet. It allows users to subscribe to a feed of new files, usually MP3s. The word "podcasting" combines the words "broadcasting" and "iPod."
The format used is RSS 2.0 with enclosures. Podcasting works like RSS, instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on an iPod or iPod-like device.
Like the enclosure of an email message, an RSS item enclosure is something big that may take a long time to download, or something binary that isn't text you read. You can read the text that describes the enclosure, or the enclosure may somehow be related to the item.
Google SMS to Send Free Text Messages to Cell Phones in the USA
Readers have been sending me queries on Mobile and SMS, especially for sending SMS for free. I am goign to write more about this in the coming days. Hope this helps many out there. Enjoy the free SMS, and do let me know what works and what does not work for you.
Google's Send To Phone provides free service to send SMS (text messages) to cell 
phones in the United States of America. It supports the following wireless careers in the USA.
Alaska Communications Systems
Alltel
AT&T/Cingular
Cellular South
CellularOne
Centennial Wireless
Cincinnati Bell
Helio
MetroPCS
Midwest Wireless
Nextel
Omnipoint
Qwest
Sprint
SunCom Wireless
T-Mobile
Unicel
US Cellular
Verizon
Virgin Mobile
Western Wireless
Only 95 character are allowed per message, without subject line. If you type in more characters, the message is divided and send as separate text messages.
If you are in the USA, you may also want to check out Google Mobile, which will come handly when yo are not in front of your computer. Enjoy the Google services and be one of the billions of people affected by Googlemania!
How to Identify the Indian State / Union Territory / Metro a BSNL cellphone belong to?
I came across this table below to identify the home state (Indian) to which a a BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) cellphone belong to. For example, if the cell phone number is 9447100100, its first 4 digits are 9447, which belong to Kerala state as per the lookup table given below.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N) 9479, 9432
Andhra Pradesh (AP) 9473 , 9440, 9441
Assam 9478
Bihar 9475, 9431
Chennai 9470, 9444
Kolkata 9481
Gujrat 9457,9426
Haryana 9450, 9416
Himachal Pradesh (HP) 9451,9418
Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) 9452,9419
Karnataka 9471, 9448
Kerala 9472, 9447
Madhya Pradesh (MP) 9458,9425
Maharastra 9456, 9422
North East (NE) states 9477
Orissa 9476, 9437
Punjab 9453, 9417
Rajasthan 9459, 9414
Tamil Nadu (TN) 9480, 9443
Utter Pradesh (UP) East 9455, 9415
Utter Pradesh (UP( West 9454, 9412
West Begnal (WB) 9474, 9434
As of now, I do not have the similar kind of information for other mobile providers in India. I will publish it as soon as I get the information.
Hope this helps. Please post more BSNL numbers if I am missing any in this list.
Indian Railway Ticket Reservation Through SMS
Indian Railway offers online railway reservation through www.irctc.co.in (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited) web site. IRCTC also offers rail reservation through mobiles using Speech recognition, GPRS and CDMA technologies available on various mobile Operators. IRCTC also introduced the simplest way to book your Railway ticket using just two SMS messages (Short Messaging Service). This service is introduced with the following mobile operators across the India.
1. IDEA Cellular - Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi & NCR
2. MTNL /Delhi - Delhi & NCR
3. Reliance Infocomm - All circles
4. Other operators like BSNL, Hutch,MTNL-Mumbai and Tata Indicom will soon integration with Indian Railway for SMS booking.
How to Book Tickets using SMS
In order to book rail tickets using SMS, the following are a must:
* The user needs to be registered with www.irctc.co.in and opted to use the mobile reservation services.
* User should have created at least one "Passenger List" in his profile registered with IRCTC. This list will be used for the SMS booking process.
* The customer has to be registered for the Mobile Banking services of ICICI Bank (Other banks will be integrated soon)
* The user must have a mobile connection with any one of the operators listed above (more operators are also being added.)
* The entire process of "book ticket" can be done through two SMS messages, using IRCTC’s short code 7245
How to Register?
You need to sign up in www.irctc.co.in in order to avail this service. The User has to select "mobile booking" option in the profile / registration page to avail all types of Mobile Booking facilities including SMS booking. The user needs to input mobile number, mobile operator, and preferred payment option (At present ICICI Bank only). ICICI Bank will be charging Rs 10 for this service for each booking. You will need to be registered to the "Mobile Shopping Service" provided by ICICI Bank and enter the 'mShop Name' through SMS.
For more details please visit IRCTC Mobile Booking web page.
Service Provided Operators
RELIANCE
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
* Ticket Reservation through R-World( Payment through Credit Cards)
* SMS Booking on 7245
IDEA
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
* Voice Based Ticket Reservation on 456( Payment through Credit Cards)
* SMS Booking on 7245
MTNL Delhi
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
* SMS Booking on 7245
MTNL Mumbai
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
HUTCH
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
* Voice Based Ticket Reservation on 123( Payment through Credit Cards)
* GPRS Based Ticket Reservation( Payment through Credit Cards)
TATA INDICOM
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
* Voice Based Ticket Reservation on 12900( Payment through Credit Cards)
AIRTEL
* PNR Alert Service on 7245
Already registered users of www.irctc.co.in can use their existing user id and password to log in and transact through Hutch / Idea/ Tata Indicom / Reliance handsets
First time users can avail the registration facility offered by the mobile operator or visit www.irctc.co.in and use the normal registration form.
* Booking through Voice Based Process- Hutch, Idea and Tata Indicom
* Booking through CDMA phones - Reliance
* IRCTC Mobile Booking web page
SMS Text Message Backup Service in Yahoo! India
Have you ever wanted an option to save your SMS text messages online for later recovery? Did you ever felt sad about having to delete some special SMS from your boy/ girl friend? Yahoo! India SMS Backup service is for you!
Yahoo! India now provides SMS backup in Yahoo!Mail. You don't need to delete special SMS. SMS Backup service stores virtually unlimited number of SMS text messages online in and retrieve them later from your Yahoo! Mail account. The messages are stored in a folder 'SMS Backup' created specifically for your backed-up SMS messages. Forward your special SMS to 82438243 to have it stored. This service helps you backup online all the important & critical SMS, SMS from your loved ones, funny SMS, Official SMS and other special SMS.
You need to register your mobile phone in order to backup text messages. You will be 
sent an activation code on the mobile number specified. Confirm your registration with your Yahoo account. Registering for this service is free. Normal Value Added Service rates apply for each backed-up SMS message. For each SMS Backup, it costs Rupees 3 for Airtel, Idea, Aircel, Spice and RIM (Reliance India Mobile), Rupees 2 for Hutch, BPL and Tata, and Rupees 1 for MTNL and BSNL. Yes, it is costly. When your mobile number changes, you need to de-register your old mobile number, and then register your new mobile number.
When a message is forwarded, information about the sender (such as mobile number and name) is lost. So this information is not included with backed-up messages. Also, 
after the message is backed up, it cannot be downloaded to your mobile phone. Yahoo SMS Backup does not support picture messages and MMS messages currently.
What is GMail?
Gmail is a free, search-based webmail service that combines the best features of traditional email with Google's search technology. Gmail makes locating messages so easy that you'll never need to shuffle mail in your inbox again. Besides offering an entirely new way of reading and tracking messages, Gmail includes more than 2,500 megabytes of storage space - that's over two gigabytes. And on top of that, we'll keep giving you more space as we're able. Best of all, it's free.
To learn more about the benefits of Gmail, visit http://www.gmail.com
PARAM - India's reply to Super Computer
PARAM is a series of supercomputers developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune, India. The latest machine in the series is the PARAM Padma, which reached no. 171 on the TOP500 in 2003. Others include PARAM 10000 and PARAM 9000/SS. The PARAM 10000 was India's first TFLOPS computer.
The success of PARAM can be seen as a great example as how restrictions of scientific knowledge turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The USA's supercomputing hardware embargo of India in the early 80s forced the Indian scientists to independently develop the components required for PARAM. The various components used in the PARAM series were Sun UltraSPARC II, later IBM POWER 4 processors , Ethernet , and AIX Operating System.
C-DAC has also developed a high performance System Area Network called the PARAMNet-II having transfer speeds of up to 2.5 Gbit/s and latencies as low as 10 microseconds.
The major applications of PARAM 10000 are in long-range weather forecasting, remote sensing, drug design and molecular modelling. PARAMs in the future may well be used for India's space programme. Plans to use it for oil and gas exploration are also on the line.
Hardware Resources:
Configuration : 54 Nos. of 4-Way SMP nodes and 1 No. of 32-Way SMP node.
No. of Processors : 248 (Power 4@1GHz).
Aggregate Memory : 0.5 TeraBytes (@ 8GB per node and 64GB per large SMP node).
Internal Storage : 4.5 TeraBytes (@ 72GB per node and 576GB per large SMP node).
Operating System : AIX 5L .
Aggregate Peak Computing Power : 1005 GFs (~1 TF).
