Saturday, April 2, 2011

What is a boot sector? All disks and hard drives are divided into small sectors. The first sector is called the boot sector and contains the Master Boot Record (MBR). The MBR contains the information concerning the location of partitions on the drive and reading of the bootable operating system partition. During the bootup sequence on a DOS-based PC, the BIOS searches for certain system files, IO.SYS and MS-DOS.SYS. When those files have been located, the BIOS then searches for the first sector on that disk or drive and loads the needed Master Boot Record information into memory. The BIOS passes control to a program in the MBR which in turn loads IO.SYS. This latter file is responsible for loading the remainder of the operating system. 

What is a boot sector virus? A boot sector virus is one that infects the first sector, i.e. the boot sector, of a floppy disk or hard drive. Boot sector viruses can also infect the MBR. The first PC virus in the wild was Brain, a boot sector virus that exhibited stealth techniques to avoid detection. Brain also changed the volume label of the disk drive. 

How to avoid boot sector viruses. Commonly, infected floppies and subsequent boot sector infections result from "shared" diskettes and pirated software applications. It is relatively easy to avoid boot sector viruses. Most are spread when users inadvertently leave floppy disks in the drive - which happen to be infected with a boot sector virus. The next time they boot up their PC, the virus infects the local drive. Most systems allow users to change the boot sequence so that the system always attempts to boot first from the local hard drive (C:\) or CD-ROM drive. 

Disinfecting boot sector viruses. Boot sector repair is best accomplished by the use of antivirus software. Because some boot sector viruses encrypt the MBR, improper removal can result in a drive that is inaccessible. However, if you are certain the virus has only affected the boot sector and is not an encrypting virus, the DOS SYS command can be used to restore the first sector. Additionally, the DOS LABEL command can be used to restore a damaged volume label and FDISK /MBR will replace the MBR. None of these methods is recommended, however. Antivirus software remains the best tool for cleanly and accuarately removing boot sector viruses with minimal threat to data and files. 

Creating a system disk. When disinfecting a boot sector virus, the system should always be booted from a known clean system disk. On a DOS-based PC, a bootable system disk can be created on a clean system running the exact same version of DOS as the infected PC. From a DOS prompt, type: SYS C:\ A:\ 

and press enter. This will copy the system files from the local hard drive (C:\) to the floppy drive (A:\).
If the disk has not been formatted, the use of FORMAT /S will format the disk and transfer the necessary system files. On Windows 3.1x systems, the disk should be created as described above for DOS-based PC's. On Windows 95/98/NT systems, click Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs and choose the Startup Disk tab. Then click on "Create Disk". Windows 2000 users should insert the Windows 2000 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, click Start | Run and type the name of the drive followed by bootdisk\makeboot a: and then click OK. For example:


Follow the screen prompts to finish creating the bootable system disk. In all cases, after the creation of the bootable system disk, the disk should be write protected to avoid infection.
The internet is an exciting place to shop. From the comfort of your own armchair you can browse for literally anything, from a new camera, to a holiday or flight. You are not restricted to the stores in your local town, or even country and you can pick up deals at great prices on a whole range of products.
Shopping online isn’t just as safe as handing over your credit card in a store or restaurant. However, if you take care of few things it can be a safe deal. Following are the things you should take care of:
  1. Never respond to an email request for credit card details. All reputable companies will conduct transactions with you over a secure website connection.
  2. Remember to never respond to any email advertisement, and only visit sites you know or have book marked, and verify the address before browsing further.
  3. Only buy from trusted brands and websites.
  4. To ensure that you only do business with legitimate companies check to see if they have a contact number, an actual retail store and a printed catalogue to browse.
  5. Check a website’s returns and privacy policy before going ahead with a purchase.
  6. Check that you are entering your details through a secure payment connection. You should notice when you click through to the transaction page of a company’s website that the URL in the address bar begins https:// (instead of the normal http://). This is the standard encrypted communication mechanism on the internet and means that your credit card details are being sent securely.
  7. Beware of deals that seem too good to be true.
  8. Beware of the limitations of the internet. The internet may not the best place to buy clothes or other products you need to see, touch or try on.
  9. All reputable websites use secure payment systems. These are either a company’s own system or a 3rd party system such as Worldpay or Paypal.
  10. When conducting a transaction over the internet, look for the yellow padlock in the grey status bar at the bottom of your browser page. This is an indication that the transaction is being conducted over a secure connection.
  11. As an extra precaution check to see if there’s a gold lock at the bottom of the right hand corner of the browser. If they don’t include any of these reliable indicators, you might want to think twice before handing over your credit card number.
  12. To be on the safe side, and avoid Internet fraudsters, it’s also a good idea to install and use security software such as Kaspersky Internet Security. It can provide you with industry-leading security services that will provide you more protection against the latest threats.
A Trojan, sometimes referred to as a Trojan horse, is non-self-replicating malware that appears to perform a desirable function for the user but instead facilitates unauthorized access to the user's computer system. 



Is trojan virus Dangerous?
The short answer is yes, and the long answer is sometimes No, because there are near a thousand different trojan horse viruses and they all will most likely alter your computer in some way or another.

working of trojans




Types of Trojans:

1.Remote Access Trojans

2.Password Sending Trojans

3.Keyloggers

4.Destructive Trojans

5.Denial of Service (DoS) Attack Trojans

6.Proxy/Wingate Trojans

7.FTP Trojans

8.Software Detection Killers
 
How to Get Rid of Trojans:
Here are some practical tips to avoid getting infected (again). For more general security information, please see our main security help page.
  1. NEVER download blindly from people or sites which you aren't 100% sure about. In other words, as the old saying goes, don't accept candy from strangers. If you do a lot of file downloading, it's often just a matter of time before you fall victim to a trojan.
  2. Even if the file comes from a friend, you still must be sure what the file is before opening it, because many trojans will automatically try to spread themselves to friends in an email address book or on an IRC channel. There is seldom reason for a friend to send you a file that you didn't ask for. When in doubt, ask them first, and scan the attachment with a fully updated anti-virus program.
  3. Beware of hidden file extensions! Windows by default hides the last extension of a file, so that innocuous-looking "susie.jpg" might really be "susie.jpg.exe" - an executable trojan! To reduce the chances of being tricked, unhide those pesky extensions.
  4. NEVER use features in your programs that automatically get or preview files. Those features may seem convenient, but they let anybody send you anything which is extremely reckless. For example, never turn on "auto DCC get" in mIRC, instead ALWAYS screen every single file you get manually. Likewise, disable the preview mode in Outlook and other email programs.
  5. Never blindly type commands that others tell you to type, or go to web addresses mentioned by strangers, or run pre-fabricated programs or scripts (not even popular ones). If you do so, you are potentially trusting a stranger with control over your computer, which can lead to trojan infection or other serious harm.
  6. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because you run anti-virus programs. Those do not protect perfectly against many viruses and trojans, even when fully up to date. Anti-virus programs should not be your front line of security, but instead they serve as a backup in case something sneaks onto your computer.
  7. Finally, don't download an executable program just to "check it out" - if it's a trojan, the first time you run it, you're already infected!

 Hope you liked the post ! Kindly give your feedback by comenting!

If you are a business owner, then you must know how important it is for you to have your own website. You can use it to be able to reach as many target customers as possible. After all, they are located in almost many parts of the world. You can display all your products and services in your website. But do you know that they can be a great area for hackers to play on? So how can you protect your website against hacking?

1. Protect your files with passwords. Surely, your website will contain scripts, database, and files that are not meant to be shared publicly but for perhaps the search engine bots. To avoid having anyone getting hold of them, it may be ideal to protect them with password. However, you have to make sure that these are very hard to decipher. This is because they can simply make use of a password-deciphering software. You can combine alphanumeric characters and exhaust all the character limits as much as possible.

2. Secure your e-mail address. There may be times when you will be receiving an e-mail address courtesy of your online business form. There are even others who will send a message directly into your mailbox. This may mean that spammers have got hold of your contact information perhaps in the Web or from someone else. To prevent this, you can make use of software that will split your e-mail address. It will then very hard for spamming software to read. You can also just add an E-mail Us link into your website or an image which can be clicked and allow your customers to send an e-mail right away. There�s no need to reveal the e-mail address.

3. Don�t leave e-mail addresses anywhere. Perhaps you�re thinking of marketing your website in forums and other public online networks. This is okay; however, you have to be very cautious. Hackers and spammers are very much interested of your e-mail address. You can make use of a bogus one, and simply add a link of your website in the signature.

4. Secure your source code. There are hackers who are interested in getting your source code to either destroy it or to build a website clone. That�s why it is very important that you can protect it against such individuals. You can make use of scripts that will allow your source code to remain hidden to Internet users. Or you can simply make use of external CSS sheets as well as files for Javascript.

5. Check for software patches. If you have been using some software in building or maintaining your website, make sure that you constantly update all of your files. This may be because the older ones can no longer protect your website from hackers and spammers.

6. Sign up for updates. Majority of the product and software updates may only be announced in their respective websites. This is to encourage their customers to continuously be up-to-date too of any new products that they are currently introducing into the market. To avoid the hassle, sign up using one secure e-mail address in all of their newsletters. If you receive any updates, make sure you take time in reading them.

7. Add a robot.txt. This is a special instruction you will give to search engines who may be visiting your webpages. You can instruct them to only index those files that are meant for users. You can also direct them to not index any that are only meant for webmasters. These may include files and images.

8. Check the permissions you may have set for your uploaded files. This is to prevent any hacker from getting access into your important and confidential files. You can confirm it by selecting CHMOD for your files located in the web hosting server. Otherwise, if you aren�t sure, then you can simply verify it from your webmaster.

9. Take away old or unnecessary files. It�s normal for search engines to keep files from your website, especially if they are being indexed. However, if you remove them from the server, then no one can access them anymore. It will not be obtainable for hackers and spammers.

10. Know your server. Your server is very essential as you basically keep all of your files there, and it will cause your website to run smoothly. Intruders, on the other hand, can add virus or malware into your system, thereby causing damage into your website. If you are running it on your own, you must know your server properly. This way, you can set the right security and permission level for your site.


Now a days everybody uses Email accounts and social networking like Facebook , Twitter etc . . Lots of personal Information is associated with such social networking sites .. So this is important to protect such data from Hackers . . Because Hackers ( Black Hat Hackers ) always try to get others important data , information and use it for wrong purpose . . So please always try to be safe from hackers . .

Below i am telling u simple steps which you should follow :-


Never share your password to anyone.

1) Don't use password as your nick name, phone no. or pet names.
2) Use the combination of lower case, uper case, numbers and special characters for passwords.
3) Never click on any suspected link comes in a mail from unknown sender
4) Never give your passwords to any 3rd party websites for any service.
5) Use different passwords for different accounts.
6) Check the website url every time before login. EX: check url to be



before login to face account. Never login to website such as


( Most Important )
7) Use secondary email address and mobile phone numbers with secret questions for account recovery.
8) Never use any javascript code in url while login to any of your email or any other website account. It may be a cookie stealer script.
9) use latest antivirus and antimalware softwares with firewall on.

These are some things which you should follow for safe surfing on Internet

I hope you like it . . Any queries just contact me anytime !!

Thanks . .
 
Posted By Sumit Ojha....
 
follow this article and secure your wireless network! It is imperative for everyone who has their own wireless network in a home or small business setting to take the following steps to ensure the well being of the network.
  1. Give your router an admin password - Learn how to change the admin password for your router by reading the manual or checking the manufacturer's support website.
  2. Change your routers SSID - Your router's SSID is like its name. If you set this to default, your neighbour might be accidentally using your wireless connection or you might accidentally use your neighbour's connection (which is a crime). You want to be sure that you can distinctly identify your router and prevent others from accidentally connecting to it, which will make your Internet slower.
  3. Use at least WPA2 Encryption - Not using encryption is like yelling your credit card number out loud. Anyone paying attention and snooping in on your wireless network can intercept all data that goes between the wireless router and the computer. Make sure you use at least WPA2 encryption. If your router doesn't have a WPA2 option then you might want to upgrade to a newer router or check for a firmware update.
  4. Use a hard to break pre-shared key - Make sure it is 63 characters long and make up of random letters, number and characters. Since you don't have to remember anything (you only need to set this on your router and computer/console once) A great way to generate good passwords is to use the GRC Passwords Page. It generates a key for you automatically. I recommend you use WPA2 and use a 63 character random ASCII string. Remember, once you use the key on your router, you'll need it for your computer too, so making a text file of the key might be helpful.
  5. Disable SSID Broadcast - Once your set up your router and initiate the wireless network, it is a good idea to turn off the SSID so people might not get tempted to try and use your network.
  6. Enable MAC Address Filtering - MAC in this case means Media Access Control, not a Mac. It allows you to specify the machines (i.e. only your machine) that can connect to your network.
  7. Try to broadcast only in Wireless G - If possible try and broadcast only on a 802.11 G band so that people with 802.11 B hardware will not be able to connect. If you have a laptop or device that needs 802.11 B, then obviously this isn't an option.
  8. Make sure to turn off any extended range functionality if living in a small house. Extended range mode will only make your router send out more powerful signals and make your network susceptible to attacks.
  9. Change Miscellaneous settings - Disable features such as gaming mode, and enable features such as discard PING from WAN side. This will prevent an attacker from compromising your network by repeatedly pinging your router to death.
  10. Update Update Update - If you haven't ever updated your router's firmware, then it's high time you do so. Make sure you stay informed about the latest developments in the wireless world too.
Posted By Sumit Ojha.....



Every one wants to create a virus but virus creation is not a child's play. It needs a good skill in programming and knowledge about system resources. Today i am going to post about a virus creating tool. This tool is Virus Matic 2010 or in short V-Maker. You don't need to know any thing. Only select the option you want and it will create a virus for you.

Main Feature of V-Maker

You can create your own prank files/viruses with ease by V-Maker.
  1. Disable Mouse and Keyboard
  2. Disable Regedit
  3. Delete System32
  4. Block Site
  5. Disable Task Manager
  6. Take Screen Shot Of Victim  PC
  7. Message Box (When User Click on Virus)
  8. Automatically Download Start (When User click on virus download start automatic)
  9. USB Spread
Download Here: