information technology

LINKEDIN PASSWORDS LEAKED

2012-06-06T14:40:00.002-07:00

LinkedIn passwords 'leaked by hackers'

social networking site linkedln is investigating claims that over six million of its users' passwords have been leaked onto the internet.

Hackers posted a file containing encrypted passwords onto a Russian web forum.
They have invited the hacking community to help with decryption.
LinkedIn, which has over 150 million users, has not released a formal statement, but tweeted: "Our team is currently looking into reports."
Later, it added: "Our team continues to investigate, but at this time we are still unable to confirm that any security breach has taken place."
Security researcher Graham Cluley told the BBC he believed the breach was genuine.
"We've confirmed there are LinkedIn passwords in the data.
"We did this by searching through the data for (hashed) passwords that we at Sophos use only on LinkedIn. We found those passwords in the data. We also saw that hundreds of the passwords contain the word 'Linkedin'.
"Our advice is to change your LinkedIn password. And if you use the same password on other accounts, change it there too."
Privacy concern The news comes as LinkedIn was forced to update its mobile app after a privacy flaw was uncovered by security researchers.

What to do

Security experts have advised users to change their passwords on LinkedIn. Here's how:

Visit www.linkedin.com, and log-in with your details
Once logged-in, hover over your name in the top right-hand corner of the screen, and select 'Settings' from the menu
You may be asked to log-in again at this point
On the next screen, click the 'Account' button which is near the bottom of the page
Under the 'Email & Password' heading, you will find a link to change your password

If you use the same password on other sites, be sure to change those too.

Skycure Security said the the mobile app was sending unencrypted calendar entries to LinkedIn servers without users' knowledge.

The information included meeting notes, which often contain information such as dialling numbers and passcodes for conference calls.
In response LinkedIn said it would "no longer send data from the meeting notes section of your calendar".
The company stressed that the calendar function was an opt-in feature.

LOAN FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ABROAD

2012-06-06T11:34:00.001-07:00

FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT LOAN APPLICATIONS

There are many kinds of student loans with varying rates of interest, conditions and repayment schedules we'll have a look at a few of these below.
There are two major sources for student loans, the Federal Government and private lending institutions. A Federal loan is the cheapest way to fund your college degree but these loans generally only provide enough to pay for your basic college expenses. There are a few different types of Government loans and the school where you are attending should be able to help you find a loan that suits you. Some loans will require interest payments to be made immediately while others are interest free until you complete your college degree.
Make sure you are aware of all of these details before signing up for a loan. You need to be confident that you can make the repayments if and when they are due. While Government loans generally make things easier for students they only provide for the bare necessities; that's why many students turn to private lending institutions for addition funds. This is where things get a little bit complicated and some students find themselves in difficult situations with loans they just can't repay.
Private institutions, such as banks and other lending companies do not give charity, they are out for a profit. This means before giving a loan they will check your credit score and most likely will require a co-signer to verify that the loan will be repaid. Interest rates will vary depending on your credit score and the credit rating of your co-signer. If you have no-one to act as a co-signer it may be very difficult to get a loan. If you do bear in mind that the interest rates will be much higher to take into account the perceived additional risk.
Before applying for a student loan make sure you look at reviews from other students to see if they have any bad dealings with the company. You can also look up the company at the Better Business Bureau to see if they have any information. Lastly, don't forget to consult with your school as they should have a wealth of information about finding the best student loans for your situation.

PAY PAL CASH

2012-06-06T11:25:00.002-07:00

PAYPAL CASH

I often run into people who are looking for a way to make some quick cash online. And while there are many options, the problem is that people don't want to do the work. So before I tell you how to put cash in your PayPal account in the next 7 days, let me first say this. This method will work. It has been proven to work. However, if you don't do nothing you will get nothing. That's just the way it goes. But if you are willing to put in a little time and effort you could easily have an extra $50 to $200 in your PayPal account in the next 7 days.
The method I want to tell you about involves writing 500 word articles. This is probably one of the quickest ways you can earn cash fast. Quality content is and will always be in high demand. Anyone who owns a website needs content. And that's where you come in. If you don't mind doing a little research and putting a quality article together, you can make some quick cash.
The site you will use is iWriter.com. iWriter is basically a marketplace where website owners can come to get articles written. All you have to do is browse around to find articles you want to write. They have requests in just about every category you can imagine so you should have no problem finding something you are comfortable writing about.
When you first join iWriter you will be a novice writer. You basically have to write enough articles to prove that you deserve to move up to a premium and elite writer. Once you reach premium and elite you will be able to make more money. Even as a novice writer you will be able to make at least $100 extra dollar in 7 days.
The amount of money you make is a direct reflection of how much time and effort you put in. The more articles you write the more money you will make. And the great thing is that there is no limit to the number of articles you can write. So you can literally make as much as you want. And since you have the option to get paid every Tuesday you can have extra money coming in within the next week.
While I know this isn't the most glamorous option, it is one that works. You could easily use this method to make an extra $1000 a month. It is totally up to you and the amount of work you want to put in.

MONEY LAUNDERING ACRONYMS

2012-06-06T11:20:00.001-07:00

MONEY LAUNDERING ACRONYMS

The world of regulations can seem like a bowl of alphabet soup at times. US money laundering regulations are no exception. We have compiled a list of the top ten money laundering acronyms and their definitions.
AML - Anti money laundering is the term for activities aimed at curbing the practice of money laundering. Money laundering is an area of focus for regulators, and a major tool in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorist financing.
BSA - The Bank Secrecy Act was the original US regulation targeting money laundering. In the beginning the regulation was primarily focused on tax evasion and organized crime. BSA focused on establishing a paper trail for cash transactions over $10,000. Many people refer to the entire collection of anti money laundering regulations as the BSA.
KYC - Know your customer is the concept of understanding who your customer is. Various aspects of the law require financial institutions to verify the identity of customers. Banks must also understand what normal activity is for given customers. Without knowing what behavior to expect it is difficult to identify what activity is suspicious.
CIP - Part of KYC, the Customer Identification Program was introduced in the USA PATRIOT Act. CIP requires financial institutions to gather five pieces of information on new customers. They must collect name, date of birth, a physical address, social security number (or tax id number), and proof of identity. CIP programs make it more difficult for criminals to open accounts without attracting attention.
CTR - A Currency Transaction Report is filed for any cash transaction greater than $10,000. CTRs will also be filed for multiple transactions by the same person that total $10,000 in a given period. People who break transactions up to avoid the reporting threshold raise suspicion. So long as the source of funds is legitimate, there are no negative consequences to a CTR filing. For example a cash intensive business such as a bar that deposits business receipts will not be suspicious.
SAR - When a financial institution (very broadly defined) suspects that a transaction may be the proceeds of illegal activity, they are required to file a Suspicious Activity Report. An individual will not be notified if a SAR is filed against them, so as to avoid tipping off potential criminals. SAR filings are sent to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, who determine if further investigation is warranted.
FinCEN - The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is the US Government entity tasked with fighting financial crimes including money laundering. SAR reports are filed with FinCEN. Periodically FinCEN provides analysis based on the information provided in SAR reports.
USA PATRIOT Act - The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act was enacted shortly after 9/11/2001. As the name implies, the law provided extensive tools for law enforcement in the fight against terrorism. The law also made significant enhancements to money laundering laws. Notably it required the creation of CIP programs.
PEP - Politically Exposed Persons are very high-ranking foreign government officials and their associates. Because of their high-ranking the logic follows that they are a higher risk for corruption. There is no standard list of PEPs like there is for OFAC specific designated nationals. Financial institutions must take a risk based approach to dealing with PEPs and are not expressly forbidden from having them as customers. At a minimum, financial institutions must perform enhanced due diligence on PEPs.
OFAC - The Office of Foreign Asset Control is not directly related to money laundering. OFAC enforces economic sanctions against foreign countries. Under OFAC rules, banks are prohibited from conducting monetary transactions with certain foreign countries. Assets of specific individuals and organizations may also be frozen. As OFAC rules deal with the transmission of money in relation to terrorist financing, many institutions combine these functional departments. OFAC also maintains a list of specific designated nationals which financial institutions are prohibited from doing business with.

TMP Risk is consulting firm focused on protecting financial services by reducing risk, fraud and losses. We have big bank experience in operational and regulatory risk. We have a strong background in program management, regulatory and operational risk as well as Lean Six Sigma and Business Process Outsourcing.

HANDLING ONLINE FRAUD

2012-06-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

HANDLING FRAUD ONLINE

The balancing act of providing an excellent customer experience and committing to the duties of fraud mitigation has become a daily struggle for many companies, which only appears to deepen over the last decade considering the growth of online payment methods and internet shopping. A difficult assessment for a company to make is determining whether or not a certain transaction has been approved or is simply an act of fraud, though should an incorrect evaluation made and a legitimate customer be investigated, the damage the ends up resulting from this can damage the company's reputation, thus costing the company more than just money.
Companies that handle a high volume of online transaction payment face this risk, as where blocking the payments and prospective source of fraud can rebound on the company.Many companies have been forced to bring a new focus and drive to their fraud risk management strategies in an attempt to avoid falling victim while at the same time trying to avoid incurring any undue consequences in response to these difficulties.
A certain level of trust exists in any such business activity in regards to payment legitimacy between the customer and vendor. But still, the seller runs some degree of risk that a check will turn out fake, a deposit will be empty, or, in the very worst of cases, can find that their own account information has been compromised in every transaction. Nearly three quarters of all businesses have faced some degree of payment fraud performed in the last two years, whether the person pulled it off or not.
Alienating customers is one of the risks that these methods have through the use of over cautionary measures, to combat this there are certain software programs which can be applied to help cut down on this sort of activity. One technique that can be an excellent fraud deterrent, especially in cases of high cost purchases, is one where the customer must provide a password that has to be verified by the credit card company, but when levied on the people making smaller purchases can become a nuisance which will result in an abandonment of this system.
Developing and implementing their own anti-fraud program sand techniques, which many companies have started to do, have proven highly effective in systemizing fraud prevention efforts, though these are not a guaranteed solution to the problem.
To begin with, through training and leadership, turning each and every one of a company's employees into a fraud risk management tool, these strategies attempt to create a risk management oriented culture for the company which extends beyond those concerns listed above, into every aspect of the business. To track and monitor the activity of all accounts as cases of electronic fraud and theft cases increase so too must the efforts on the part of a companies accounting departments. Lastly, to show that they have taken a serious stand on this issue, companies will have to publicly display that they are able to react. Finally, companies will need to be able to publicly display that they have taken a serious stand on this issue and are able to react rapidly and effectively to handle the matter if they want to deter future attempts.

VIDEO CONFERENCING

2012-06-06T11:04:00.002-07:00

VIDEO TELECONFERENCING

Board meetings are no longer done on a face to face basis. Life has become much faster today and entrepreneurs do not have the time to attend all meetings. Business owners, as is known, spend a whole lot of time travelling and managing their global businesses. Thus, it becomes impossible to be present at all meetings. At times, business owners on their tours would not have time to make it to the conference, due to the distance. Business mobile video solutions can be of great use on such occasions.
For video conferencing, there are several tools and online applications which make the task easier. There are apps like ViewMe, which are available on the Apple and Android platforms. There are also links on the internet that can be directly downloaded. The ViewMe app enables better online video sharing and communication across geographical distances. Many of these services have a multiple login functionality, and are compatible with many operating systems. Most of the services offer single logins, preventing security threats to the account.
There are other applications offering free access to the use of cloud based video conferencing technology and other mediums of communication online. Some of the versions of the application are equipped with global IP and video mail.
The internet offers substantial information on many video teleconferencing facilities for customers to choose from. With the development of technology, HD video conferencing has become a preferred choice for many customers.
In addition, there are services like the video exchange hub that have simplified the task for professional businessmen. The system is completely cloud based and reduces the worry of infrastructure for business enterprises. This allows better connectivity during video events and helps smooth communication. The use of this medium of communication has grown exceedingly popular among people.
Communication also demands a change in the lack of linguistic similarity between the communicators. This has led to the need for interpreting services. On Demand Interpreting services are provided by a lot of companies to help communication between individuals of different countries. These services seek to help each communicator understand the other and reach a consensus. For doctors and professionals in the medical industry, special services such as medical interpreter solutions are available.
Many video solution providers also use ODI technology to produce the high quality videos for online use. The ODI technology i.e. the On Demand Interpreting services, is used to provide video remote interpreting services for a number of applications. This technology is very useful, especially in the medical field.
Clear video communication on multiple platforms is now very much a possibility. This video technology is compatible with all kinds of browsers and operating systems. It can also connect innumerable devices with separate operating systems and browsers to each other simultaneously.
Video teleconferencing is not only for the business class, but also for the hearing impaired. The invention of the deaf videophone has made it possible for the hearing impaired community to utilize this technology efficiently.

RESET WINDOWS PASSWORDS

2012-06-05T16:52:00.002-07:00

Resetting Windows password is a useful task if you have forgotten your login detail. It could happen easily. If you have another administrator user on that computer this task will be simplified for you. Otherwise you will have to do little extra work to achieve your goal. This article is for education purposes and to be used in the case you forgot your password.
Using a different User
You can use any administrator user to reset password for other users (even other administrators). First you should make sure your user is administrator. Therefore click on start -> type "CMD" -> right click on CMD and press "a" on your keyboard. This will try to run the program as an administrator. If the Windows opened up a new Window with "yes" or "no" options, click on "yes". If you were denied access to this task please follow the second option.
Now type the following:
· "Net user": Shows you the list of users.
· "Net user [targeted username] *": This command will allow you to change the targeted username password. Remember that the capitalization of the usernames matter. In addition do not include the brackets.
· Now type your password. Remember everything you type will be inputted but noting is visible. Do not worry about it.
· Retype password and then you are done. You can login into the targeted user with new password.
Using Rescue Disk Trinity
In this method you will be using third party software to crack the Windows password and change it. You can download this software from this website. You should burn this program onto a CD or put it on a bootable USB. Restart the Windows and boot this program up. In the first you will be given options to change administrator password however you might need to change the password of a specific user.
Enter the command line and follow these steps:
· Type "winpass -u [targeted username]". Again brackets are not required.
· Type "1" and hit [ENTER]
· Now you can either enter a new password for that user or leave a blank password. Therefore type "*" and hit [ENTER] to remove the password.
· If it asked you "Do you really wish to change the password?" Type "Y" and press [ENTER].
· Type "init 0" to shut down the trinity rescue disk and boot up the Windows again.
You can use this program to perform more advanced tasks however they are beyond the scope of this article. If you wish to know more about this program read the documentation. In addition this software is free; therefore never make payments to anyone trying to sell it unless they wanted to charge for the CD. Furthermore more you can also perform more tasks using CMD to restrict users. For example you can put time limit for users therefore they can only login within a specific time period of the week.

2012-06-05T16:38:00.001-07:00

MTN SAYS AUTOMATIC UPDATES.....

2012-06-03T14:03:00.001-07:00

MTN says automatic updates on computer systems can reduce data bundle..MB..

AUTOMATIC UPDATES….WHAT IS IT?

Enabling Automatic updates enables Microsoft Windows to automatically install updates on your PC. How does Automatic Updates work?

When you turn on Automatic Updates, Windows routinely checks the Windows Update Web site for high-priority updates that can help protect your computer from the latest viruses and other security threats. These updates can include security updates, critical updates, and service packs. Depending on the setting you choose, Windows automatically downloads and installs any high-priority updates that your computer needs, or notifies you as these updates become available.

HOW IS THIS ACHIEVED…….

During windows installation, once the welcome screen is shown, click NEXT to CONTINUE

CHOOSE HELP PROTECT MY PC BY TURNING ON AUTOMATIC UPDATE….. yes here you are. Once you choose this option then AUTOMATIC UPDATES is turned on.

THIS IS HOW IT WORKS…..

Whenever the computer is connected to the internet either

DIRECTLY VIA DIAL UP MODEM……..(MB OF DATA BUNDLE)

NETWORK VIA ROUTER OR LAN ….NETWORK could be one of local area network or home network

How are updates downloaded?

When you connect to the Internet, Windows sends data to the Windows Update Web site about the way your computer is set up so the service can determine which updates your computer needs. Windows does not use your name, address, e-mail address, or any information that can be used to identify you or contact you. For details, see the Windows Update privacy statement.
It makes no difference whether you use a dial-up or broadband connection; important updates are downloaded behind the scenes and do not interfere with other downloads. If you disconnect from the Internet before updates are fully downloaded, nothing is lost. The download process will continue the next time you connect to the Internet.

How are updates installed?

You do not have to be connected to the Internet for Windows to install new updates. But updates must be installed, not just downloaded, before they can help protect your computer. If you use the Automatic (recommended) setting, new updates are installed at 3 A.M. However, you can change the time or frequency of scheduled updates to best suit your needs.
If your computer is turned off during a scheduled update, updates are installed the next time you start your computer. You can also choose to have Windows notify you when new updates are available, and then install them yourself.
You might be asked to accept an End User License Agreement (EULA) before certain updates can be installed. Other updates might require you to restart your computer before the installation process can be completed. If you are an administrator for your computer, you can delay the restart. Otherwise, Windows notifies you and then restarts your computer for you so the updates can begin to help protect your computer. It is always a good idea to save your work frequently, and to remind other users of your computer to save their work, especially before scheduled installation times.

TURN IT OFF

1. GOTO START

2. SELECT CONTROL PANEL
3. SELECT TURN OFF AUTOMATIC UPDATES
4. CLICK OK

KISSING BUGS THE NEW AIDS

2012-05-31T13:33:00.002-07:00

THE KISSING BUG, THE NEW AIDS.........

Chagas, a tropical disease spread by insects, is causing some fresh concern following an editorial—published earlier this week in a medical journal—that called it "the new AIDS of the Americas."

More than 8 million people have been infected by Chagas, most of them in Latin and Central America. But more than 300,000 live in the United States. "There are a number of striking similarities between people living with Chagas disease and people living with HIV/AIDS

Both diseases disproportionately affect people living in poverty, both are chronic conditions requiring prolonged, expensive treatment, and as with patients in the first two decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, "most patients with Chagas disease do not have access to health care facilities."

Unlike HIV, Chagas is not a sexually-transmitted disease: it's "caused by parasites transmitted to humans by blood-sucking insects," as the New York Times put it.

"It likes to bite you on the face," CNN reported. "It's called the kissing bug. When it ingests your blood, it excretes the parasite at the same time. When you wake up and scratch the itch, the parasite moves into the wound and you're infected."

COMPUTER HOPE

2012-05-31T13:03:00.002-07:00

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