The announcement on their blog states:

The goal of Google Public DNS is to benefit users worldwide while also helping the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone.

Google has already started working with website owners offering them another free service called Google page speed.

They want webmasters to make more efficient websites that will speed up the overall browsing experience for internet users.

Time to take off the tin foil hat

Over the years Google has been slammed about how they handle privacy of their users but what makes them any different from any other company? Is it because of the sheer amount of data they hold about us or is it we have no idea exactly what they are doing with that data?

Personally for me though I trust Google a lot more than I can trust my ISP or even bank. Heck banks are notorious for data breaches which are occurring on a daily, if not weekly, basis and my savings is more important than what I do online.

How will other Open DNS services pan out?

I’m a big fan of OpenDNS and I hope Google Public DNS won’t swallow them up and leave them long forgotten. From the looks of it Google is only providing a basic DNS service with no filtering or extra features, something that OpenDNS is great for and plus, Google does aim to assist other DNS providers with making their service also faster.

If there is one company that can make this happen, it’s Google.

So far the only fix available is to block port TCP ports 139 and 445 on your firewall but there is a catch. Blocking port 139 & 445 will disable browsers as well as a host of critical services, including network file-sharing and IT group policies as posted on NetworkWorld.com

I previously posted some tips on using Windows 7 for the first time that will help with security but now you should probably start looking at Blocking port 139 & 445 on your firewall. Windows 7 comes with a firewall installed that can be used to block these ports.

Microsoft has not yet confirmed a patch for the issue.

Facebook is awarded $711m in its case against Sanford Wallace who spammed the popular social website by breaking into users accounts.

Elsewhere in the world Kiwi pill spammers are also hit with a hefty fine for breaking New Zealand’s anti-spam laws, the first of its kind in New Zealand. Shane Atkinson and Roland Smits were touted to have been the largest pharmaceutical spamming operation in the history of the internet.

An IT expert in Scotland has landed himself in hot water and is now being accused of sending out a computer virus that allowed him to spy on his victims via their web cam. He denies it of course.

It must suck to be a member of the IT team at the BBC or maybe not. Apparently the IT staff is paid “well below” the commercial sector but yet have the honour for working in the BBC, it’s not all that bad then.

UK receives criticism from Brussels about privacy matters. The UK government has been accused of failing to protect citizens’ privacy by the European Commission.

To round off such as quick post here is nice amusing video, the website is down!

All in a days work!

When dealing with unwanted files on your computer it’s important to remember these files can provide information to what a user has been doing on the PC. From installing software to browsing website the temporary files on a computer can provide a wealth of information about someone.

I have already posted about the free software called ATF Cleaner. This is a great tool to help remove temporary files but today I want to post about another free utility called CCleaner by Piriform Ltd.

CCleaner is a light program with some very basic but yet powerful features.  It removes unused and temporary files from your computer and also has a registry cleaner.

The Windows components that it can clean include: Temporary File Cache, URL History, Cookies, Hidden Index.dat files, Last download file location, Recycle Bin, Clipboard, Windows Temporary files, Windows Log files, Recent Documents (on the Start Menu), Run history (on the Start Menu), Windows XP Search Assistant history, Windows XP old Prefetch data, Windows memory dumps after crashes and Chkdsk file fragments.

By simply clicking on the Analyze button the software will scan these locations for files to delete. You can then proceed to select the location you wish to delete. Exclusions can also be added to certain locations can be left untouched.

It also has a registry cleaner and although I have been in IT for over 10 years the registry is one location that can be delicate to work with. CCleaner makes dealing with the registry easier.

The registry cleaner in CCleaner will check: File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help File references, Application Paths, Icons, and Invalid Shortcuts.

Note: Before deleting anything in the registry its good practice to back it up first or even create a System Restore point, something else that CCleaner can do.

I have been using CCleaner for a while now and it can be surprising how many unwanted files you gather within a couple of days so run it often or even set it as an automated task.

Click here to download CCleaner for free

Many people have given negative views about the native firewall built into Microsoft Windows. The native firewall within Windows 7 is similar to the one found in Windows Vista and users have two choices, either keep the configuration basic or go  in-depth and configure the computer for a total lock down, personal I prefer to lock down the computer as much as possible.

If you have just installed Microsoft Windows 7 for the first time I recommend you enable the Windows Firewall before you connect your computer to the internet and start browsing the web.

To open the Windows Firewall click on Start > Click on Control Panel and click on Windows Firewall.  The below screen should now be displayed.

Windows Firewall will have default options already selected such as blocking all incoming connections to programs that are not on the list of allowed programs. What about outbound connections though? Maybe you should read through this and discover why incoming connections are a bigger concern.

If this is your first time using Windows 7 and the native Firewall then its likely you will not need to go much further with the configuration. Just ensure the Windows Firewall is enabled before you hit the web.

If you would like to add a program to have access to the internet locate and click on the link for Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall and you will be able to view and change what programs do have access to the internet.

When you see the above screen the programs and services listed are greyed out. To change their settings locate and click on the Change Settings buttons at the top of the screen. If you are unable to find your program on the list click on the Allow another program button to view or browse for more programs.

If you find your program on this list click on it and click Add. For example, if you connect your PC to a Microsoft XBox360 you may need to add the Windows Media Center to the firewall rules.

You can also change the notification settings for Windows Firewall and have it display specific warnings such as when  the firewall blocks a new program. To do this go back to the main Windows Firewall configuration screen and click on Change notification settings.

In here ensure both your private & public are enabled and it is probably advisable to use the alerts the firewall provides.

You can also view more advance firewall features that allows you to restrict specific programs or services to specific ports on the computer. For example HTTP uses port 80 so its best restricted to that port and that port only.

To get into the advanced settings go back to the main Windows Firewall screen and click on Advanced settings. If you do make a change in here though be careful not to knock your computer off-line, very easy to do by blocking something that’s required for internet access.

The fake Facebook Password Reset Confirmation email states,

Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.
You can find your new password in attached document.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

If you receive this email ignore it, in fact delete it for good. The attachment contacts a virus, a Trojan that will install onto your PC if opened.

Mxlab.eu has some technical info about the virus and according to M86 Security labs if the attachment is opened a malicious downloader will install onto the computer and send out the fake email to other people.

Ensure that you have the latest version of anti-virus software installed on your computer. With some free anti-virus programs and such as Microsoft Security Essentials software or even some of the free online anti-virus scanners there really is no excuse for running a PC without some sort of anti-virus software.

Most users will continue to use their computer logged in with the Administrator account and why wouldn’t they? It can actually be a very bad idea to use the Administrator account for normal every day use when logged into the computer more so on servers. Its highly recommend to create a new user account with less access privileges than a administrator account to lower the risk of a computer virus accessing everything on your hard drive.

How to create a new user account in Windows 7

Like Windows XP and Vista creating a new user account in Windows 7 is very simple and like previous editions there is more than one way to create a new user account.

In this post I will discuss how to use the User Accounts option in the control panel and will cover the computer management console under Administrative Tools at a later date.

To get started open the control panel in Windows 7 by clicking on Start > Control Panel and locate the User Accounts option, double click to open it.

When you open the User Accounts screen you will be faced with the options for your current account, more than likely the Administrator account. You don’t want to make any changes to your Admin account just yet so locate the link for Manage another account and click on it.

You will now be faced with user accounts available to manage. If you are setting up Windows 7 for the first time you should see the Administrator account and the Guest account (disabled by default).

Underneath the main window locate the link for Create a new account and click on it.

You will now be prompted to enter a name for the new account and the type of account you wish to create. Enter a name you think is appropriate for the new user, either by name or some other reference for the user.

Make sure that Standard User is selected and click on Create Account to set-up the new account.

Once you create a new account you will be brought back to the main account management screen. You should now be able to view the newly created account.

You might not have noticed when creating the new account you were not prompted to create a new password during the set-up, this is next.

Click on the new account to change its password.

When you are in the main management screen for the new user account you will see a number of options (as shown above). For now we are only interested in changing its password so locate and click on the link for Change your password.

You will be prompted to enter a new password twice , as always its recommended that you create a strong password. You can always use a password manager to keep track of any new passwords you create.

Once you have entered the new password twice and created a password hint (if you really need it) click on Create password to change the password of the newly created account.

And that is it!

This one of the first configuration steps to take with Microsoft Windows 7 when you load up the Windows 7 Desktop for the first time. These steps only take a few minutes to complete but can help prevent a virus from spreading on your computer and destroying everything.

It should be noted: A Standard User Account has more restrictions than the Administrator account, using security policies and groups you can restrict the Standard User account even more  depending on who will be using the account.

Basic security configurations for Windows 7

When you do get Windows 7 installed for the first it’s advisable to perform some basic configuration steps for better security. These are steps I take when first installing Microsoft Windows for clients and although they are very basic then can help reduce the risk of an attack on your computer.

Create a Standard User Account

When you first install Windows 7 you are prompted to create a user account, this is the main Administrator account. You should never use the Administrator account unless it’s completely essential. Set-up a new Standard User Account and use that instead, it’s has less privileges than an Administrator account so if you ever get struck with a computer virus it will have less access privileges needed to spread.

Enable Windows Firewall

Switched off by default the Windows Firewall should be enabled before you start browsing the web with your newly installed Windows 7. Unless of course you already have a firewall installed, either way protect your PC with a firewall from the start.

The native Windows Firewall can be configured to block or allow programs and ports from accessing the internet. I’ll cover this in more details later.

Run Windows Update

Microsoft have already released a number of updates for Windows 7 and its essential that you download them when you first install the new O/S and connect to the web. I would also recommend having Windows Update enabled and set it to download and install automatically, it’s surprising how many people keep this disabled and never bother installing the latest patches from Microsoft which are essential for keeping your installation of Windows 7 up to date.

Install Anti-virus Software

You may already have an anti-virus program that is compatible with Windows 7 and if you have the install disc then I suggest installing the anti-virus as soon as possible. You can also download and try the Microsoft Security Essentials software or get software from one of the official Windows 7 partners.

Upgrade your browser

It’s easy to browse onto an innocent website that maybe distributing malicious software without the owner’s knowledge. It’s essential you use the latest edition of your Internet browser and download any updates when they are made available.

When using Windows Vista for the first time its likely you will be using Internet Explorer to get started, make sure you download all the latest updates before you start the browsing the web. There is alternative to using Internet Explorer which is FireFox, a free open source browser.

The majority of internet users, who simply don’t know any better, use the most obvious of passwords that are popular dictionary words. Whilst this leaves theirs account at risk from being accessed by someone unknown those who use the same password for multiple accounts leave themselves at bigger risk.

How can you remember so many usernames and passwords?

I’d probably be right to say that anyone reading this has more than one user account and password that they would use regularly, whether it be for an email service or a social website such as twitter. When you end up owning a couple of hundred passwords, which is easy, it can become more difficult to keep track of every single password. Managing your passwords better will help tighten security as I’ve previously posted and using some sort of password manager can help.

12 Password Managers to try

Here is 12 different password managers that you could try, some are free and others have a cost.

• My Password Manager – www.www.mypasswordmanager.com
• Free Online Password Manager – www.passpack.com
• Quest Password Manager – www.quest.com
• Citrix Password Manager 4.6 – www.citrix.com
• Password Safe – www.passwordsafe.sourceforge.net (Free & recommended)
• Password Manager XP – www.cp-lab.com
• KeePass Password Safe – www.keepass.info
• Sticky Password – www.stickypassword.com
• Easy Password Manager – www.passwordmanager.co.uk
• Efficient Password Manager – www.efficientpasswordmanager.com
• AES Password Manager – www.aespasswordmanager.com
• Password Manager Pro – www.manageengine.com

Like with any new Operating System that has Microsoft has launched a lot of good and bad hype has followed and with the failure of previous releases, such as Windows ME or Vista, some people have been left weary of newest O/S, Windows 7.

Personally I like using Windows XP and will probably continue to do so until it is time to move on. I will still be using Windows 7 as part of my job and will probably get to like it, more so than what I thought of Windows Vista. Now that I have it installed on my laptop let’s see how it works.