Internet Security Blog

Testing, Validating Your Backups – 13 Reasons Why You Should Do It

Silki — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:36:42 +0000

Today, most individuals and businesses have developed healthy backup habits.

But despite this, we’re still seeing a steady increase in the number of serious data loss incidents. And what’s really surprising is that there seems to be a new trend of critical data loss amongst people and companies that already back up their data on a regular basis.

Amongst this new breed of data loss incident, the most common variable is a reluctance to test backups. Although most leading backup experts advise their clients to test backups on – at least – an annual basis, people are still neglecting to perform these regular tests.

And because of this, we’re now seeing an alarming trend where organizations have many years worth of backups on file, but have no idea if these backups can actually be restored.

Outlined below, are a number of key reasons why people and companies should test their backups at least once per year.

New computers are constantly being added to networks. And often, we forget to back up these new computers. (This is particularly true in the case of virtual servers).
New applications may be added to your computers, which save data in unusual parts of the hard drive. If you’re only backing up your desktop and “My Documents” folders, you may be leaving some important files unprotected.
There may be some new internal processes within your company which dictate how certain types of data should be handled. Failure to follow these policies could land you in trouble. (Either for privacy, security or performance reasons).
Likewise, there may be new laws or regulations that dictate what you can and cannot do with private customer information. Failure to adhere to these rules could lead to heavy penalties. (Ex: HIPAA, SOX404, PIPEDA, etc…).
Storage is now growing at an alarming rate. Many people are reporting that their file storage doubles in size every year. This rapid data growth means longer backup times, slower recovery, more difficulty finding specific files, and more chances for error.
Now that we’re living in the Web 2.0/Cloud Computing age, we’re seeing a rapid change in the network topology of most organizations. Employees are increasingly moving outside of the internal network, while the datacenter is being reshaped in order to leverage the benefits of public, private and hybrid clouds. If a backup administrator loses track of where these servers fit within the network architecture, they can be accidentally left out of the backup process.
Now that employees are increasingly working from laptops and mobile devices, extra care must be taken to track, administer and secure the backups of these remote travelling devices.
Because organizations are increasingly working in a global 24/7 marketplace, there is less tolerance for downtime. You need to ensure that your backups can be recovered quickly in order to minimize downtime.
Some programs – like word processing or spreadsheets – can tolerate up to a day’s worth of data loss without causing too many problems. And other systems – such as e-commerce databases – have almost zero tolerance for data loss. It’s important to know what your backup priorities are in order to design an efficient and cost-effective backup process that still covers all of your data protection needs.
Often, backup storage can become damaged without anyone realizing it. It’s important to test your backups to ensure that your data can – in fact – be retrieved.
Sometimes you need to recover only a few files, and sometimes you need to recover an entire system. “Bare metal recovery” is one of the trickiest areas of backup. You need practice to ensure that you’re properly prepared… and that you’re able to recover when needed.
The IT industry is known for its high turnover. Would your company be able to restore its servers if you – or another key person – were unavailable?
Too often, we assume that backups can be recovered to the same systems on which it was created. But what would happen if your entire datacenter was destroyed by a natural disaster? How certain are you about your ability to recover in a timely manner?

Of course, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. If you can think of any other reasons why backups need to be tested regularly, please leave them in the comments below.

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SpyShelter 5.1 Review

Silki — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:38:42 +0000

Most people are usually unaware of just how many paths of attack spyware creators are taking. When you think virus, you may think of a PC-slowing, pop-up-laden program that simply wreaks havoc on your system. But that’s only the half. Keyloggers and other rouge files can crawl in through the back door and record and steal personal information, potentially leaving you financially crippled.

SpyShelter has long been one of the more noted antispyware/anti-keylogging systems on the market, and version 5.1 was recently released only last week – a beefier system with a much larger signature base, an improved interface, and a greatly enhanced experience for users.

The reason SpyShelter is popular is unfortunately due to the strength of keyloggers. A keylogger is an incredibly dangerous threat because it resides totally in the background of your computer and is nearly impossible to detect unless your antispyware program carries its signature.

You can log in to your e-wallet or internet casino account without any issues, but the keylogger can be recording your every stroke or even capturing your entire screen image.

Keyloggers aren’t designed to give you problems, so you will not notice any performance drop or anything out of the ordinary. All the while, though, your personal information is being recorded remotely. Anti-virus and anti-malware systems sometimes aren’t enough.

SpyShelter’s new version offers users 64-bit protection for its AntiNetworkSpy feature, which protects great against threats like Zeus or Torpig and uses protocols like HTTPS, HTML, FTP, POP, SMTP and SSL.

Some of the key features in the new-look SpyShelter include:

A tough Anti-Kernel Mode Logger for 32-bit (the worst of keyloggers)
Protection against SSL loggers via an AntiNetwork Spy Module offering 32 and 64-bit protection
A smaller footprint with a lighter look and cleaner interface, giving you more power without using more performance
Fuller-featured version now available in freeware

If you like to play real money blackjack, enjoy doing a little bit of shopping, or simply want your privacy protected like it deserves to be, an anti-keylogger is essential. These malicious pieces of software can easily sneak through, and specifically protecting against them is a must.

SpyShelter has long earned rave reviews for being able to offer protection against the threat.

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PCRisk.com – Malware and Spyware Removal

Silki — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:30:08 +0000

By each passing days, the potency and diversity of online threats is increasing and Internet Security is becoming more and more important. Howsoever smart, intelligent and updated security software you are using on your system, you can never be assured that your computer is totally safe and protected.

There are a lot of sites including Internet Security Blog, which try to impart awareness about these online threats and the ways and means to protect your system from them.

PCRisk.com is one such site, which has recently been launched and gaining popularity very fast. They have compiled a good database of some of the recent spyware and malware traces. You can click each link to open a new page, where you can find more details about the threat and also simple instructions to remove that malware from your computer in case your computer is infected from that malware. The database is alphabetic order, although I wished that the same could have been categorized in different sections for easy grasp and understanding.

They have a section dedicated to the review of some of the best antispyware and anti-malware suites. You can read the reviews before deciding about your favorite security suite. However, I must say that these reviews only portray the basic features and functionalities of the security suites and miss about the advanced details and features of the software. I was expecting a more rigorous reviews.

In the Internet Security News section of their website, you can find some well written articles on the hot topics of Internet Security. They will provide you some good understanding of the topic and help increasing the awareness about these issues.

If you like the site, I would request you to help the site by clicking some advertising and affiliate links, because I know how painful and costly it is to run a website like that.

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Review – BullGuard Internet Security 9.0

Silki — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:05:15 +0000

The 2011 series of Internet Security Software will be about to be launched by most of the security software vendors. It has become tradition to launch the yearly edition of security suites like clockwork. I am not sure how many functional changes are incorporated in these yearly editions.

At least one vendor has ensured to buck this trend. Bullguard has recently come up with the latest edition of their Internet Security named as Bullguard Internet Security 9.0. It has come after around two years of last major version 8.0 being released. Although in-between, they had also released the minor revision 8.5.

BullGuard Internet Security 9.0 has an impressively simple to use interface. It presents you a simple interface studded with a few icons, which allows you to perform common security tasks like scan, backup and other things with a single click of a mouse button.

Yet another feature, which I liked about BullGuard Internet Security 9.0 is silent-to-perform approach. Many Internet Security Software suites create lot of noise while performing, asking for user intervention at every step. Most of these tasks are trivial, and the user goes by the recommendations provided by the security suite. It feels annoying being asked every time to instruct the software to do the task, when it can apply its own discretion and wisdom.

BullGuard Internet Security 9.0 has also done away with the usual approach of different levels of customized scans; quick scan, complete scan and deep scan. Instead it allows you to customize your scan, which some users may or may not like.

Overall a nice update.

[Visit Bullgauard Antivirus]

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Best Free Internet Security for New Malware – Microsoft Security Essentials

Silki — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:55:46 +0000

Security Essentials – The Free Internet Security Tool from Microsoft

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) (previously codenamed Morro) is a free antivirus software created by Microsoft that provides protection against viruses, malware, spyware, adware, scareware, rogue security software, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers, worms and trojans for Windows XP (x86), Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (both x86 and x64).

MSE replaces Windows Live OneCare, a commercial subscription-based antivirus service and the free Windows Defender, which only protected users from adware and spyware. It is geared for consumer use, unlike Microsoft’s upcoming enterprise-oriented product Microsoft Forefront.

(Source: Wiki)

Fine, But Which is the Best Free Internet Security Tool

Independent Security Researcher Team at http://www.av-comparatives.org has been testing and comparing popular Internet Security Software for long. This time they have published a report based upon the testing of popular security suites against new malware and viruses.

They had updated the virus definitions of these software suites with the database updated till February 2010 and tested their efficacy in detecting the malware, which were developed after that. This essentially meant that the definitions didn’t contained the signatures of these malware and these software suites were expected to detect them based upon their heuristic and analytic powers.

The test results show that Microsoft’s Security Essential is rated the best FREE Internet Security Tool in detecting the new malware threats. It is not the absolute best, but Best among the Free Suites.

There are lots of other interesting observations as well.

Read the complete report here (pdf).

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Komodo Dragon Browser Review

Silki — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:53:36 +0000

If you have reached this page through search engines, chances are that you are searching for a more detailed review of the famous browser from Comodo. But the fact is that it is known as Comodo and not Komodo web browser.

Many people get confused with the name because of its similarity with the name of a huge species of lizards, that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang in Indonesia. You can have more information about the Komodo Lizards on the Wiki page here.

But if you are looking for the a review of the Comodo Browser, then I would suggest you to check out the Comodo Browser Review from the PC Security Blog.

It gives a nice review but suggests to prefer the popular and regularly updated web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome saying that…

Despite these useful features and security enhancements, I would still believe that security update is a very important factor behind the security of a web browser. With a vast pool of resources and information available, browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox, are in a much better position to detect and counter a potential vulnerability as soon as it is exposed. Howsoever efficient Comodo is, they cannot match the huge resources and efforts, Google can put in to immediately detect and plug-in a security hole in its browser through security update..

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Delete, Remove Virus, Malware with Norton Power Eraser Free

Silki — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:23:41 +0000

Today’s security applications are signature based. The mechanism is such that they are always lagging behind a malware attack in reaching the ultimate users. The result is that howsoever smart and effective your security software is, there are always chances that your computer may get infected from the circulating malware and viruses.

Norton Power Eraser, NPE, is a freeware tool, which can attempt to find and remove such deep rooted, hidden and tough-to-detect malware and virus infections. Unlike other security applications, it does not provide you a real time protection, but is developed to be used for cleaning an already infected computer.

NPE is a portable antivirus, meaning that it does not need any installation to run. You can even run it through a USB or CD Drive. At present NPE is in Public beta, you can download it and use it for fee.

Caution: Please note that NPE is meant to be used as aggressive malware removal tool. What this means is that you should use it when most other applications and attempts to clean computer have failed. NPE is designed in such a way that you may get a few false positives while cleaning attempts.

You should use Norton Power Eraser tool when nothing else will remove an annoying program and you are willing to accept a higher risk that the scanner may quarantine a legitimate program. Because the Norton Power Eraser uses aggressive methods to detect these threats, there is a risk that it can select some legitimate programs for removal. You should use this tool very carefully, and only after you have exhausted other options.

[Download Norton Power Eraser]

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Malware Infection Economy – Top Selling Products and Services in Malware Business

Silki — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:19:01 +0000

Today’s Malware and Virus infections are not created for fun. They are operated by organized groups of people with a definite purpose and established orders.

In a recent report, top security vendor Symantec had studied this underground economy and listed the top selling and advertised products. The report has some very interesting observations and it is surprising to know that sensitive data like Credit Card information is available for as low as $0.85.

The underground economy is an evolving and self-sustaining black market where underground economy servers, or black market forums, are used for the promotion and trade of stolen information and services. This information can include government-issued identification numbers such as Social Security numbers (SSNs), credit card numbers, debit card information, user accounts, email address lists, and bank accounts. Services include cashiers, scam page hosting, and job advertisements such as for scam developers or phishing partners.

Following are the top selling products and services in malware infection economy.

Bank account credentials—may consist of name, bank account number (including transit andbranch number), address, and phone number. Online banking logins and passwords are often soldas a separate item.• Cash out—a withdrawal service where purchases are converted into true currency. This could be in theform of online currency accounts or through money transfer systems and typically, the requester ischarged a percentage of the cashout value as a fee.

Cash out—a withdrawal service where purchases are converted into true currency. This could be in the form of online currency accounts or through money transfer systems and typically, the requester is charged a percentage of the cashout value as a fee.

Credit card information—includes credit card number and expiry date. It may also contain the cardholder name, Credit Verification Value 2 (CVV2) number, PIN, billing address, phone number, and company name (for a corporate card). CVV2 is a three or four-digit number on the credit card and used for card-not-present transactions such as Internet or phone purchases. This was created to add an extra layer of security for credit cards and to verify that the person completing the transaction was in fact, in possession of the card.

Email accounts—includes user ID, email address, password. In addition, the account may contain personal information such as addresses, other account information, and email addresses in the contact list.

Email addresses—consists of lists of email addresses used for spam or phishing activities. The email addresses can be harvested from hacking databases, public sites on the Internet, or from stolen email accounts. The sizes of lists sold can range from 1 MB to 150 MB.

Full identities—may consist of name, address, date of birth, phone number, and government-issued number. It may also include extras such as driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name, email address, or “secret” questions/answers for password recovery.

Mailers—an application that is used to send out mass emails (spam) for phishing attacks. Examples of this are worms and viruses.

Proxies—Proxy services provide access to a software agent, often a firewall mechanism, which performs a function or operation on behalf of another application or system while hiding the details involved, allowing attackers to obscure their path and make tracing back to the source difficult or impossible. This can involve sending email from the proxy, or connecting to the proxy and then out to an underground IRC server to sell credit cards or other stolen goods.

Shell scripts—used to perform operations such as file manipulation and program execution. They can also be used as a command line interface for various operating systems.

Complete Report-pdf, 4MB]

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Cannot Delete Print Jobs Queue in Spooler – Use Stalled Printer Repair

Silki — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:31:29 +0000

Every Windows user must have encountered the problem of stuck Print Jobs at one point of time or the other. Howsoever hard you try to cancel the print Job from the Printer Jon Queue, but it simply refuses to cancel the job and you are stuck up waiting endlessly to get the next print job executed.

Repeated Switching ON / OFF the printer is of no use and the only option looks to reboot the computer and do it again.

How to Forcefully Cancel the Print Jobs

Luckily, there is a freeware software, which can do the job easily. Stalled Printer Repair, from Fantastic Software can detect the stuck up print jobs and allows you to cancel them easily.

The features of this useful utility are as follows.

Detect the existence of Stalled Print Jobs.
Purge all Stalled Print Jobs on the Printer.
Portable Application: does not need to be installed and does not write to the registry.
Replaces the Manual Process and even dos batch scripts, which cannot be emailed through most email service providers.

[Download Stalled Printer Repair]

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Protect Your Privacy from Data Stored in Photocopier Hard Drives and Memory

Silki — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:44:13 +0000

Nowadays companies all over the world have started taking more and more measures to protect their privacy and data. They are now using firewalls, security software, anti-theft components, network protectors and things like that.

But there is one important device, which often gets overlooked. This is your photocopier.

Yes, that innocent dumb looking machine, which contains often enough intelligence to store the images of whatever has been copied and stored through them. Many people do not know that most of the photocopiers sold in the last 5-6 years have a built in hard disk, which gradually collects lots of private data about you and your company. The purpose of using a hard disk is clear, when you think how a photocopier would be making say 100 copies of a document after scanning the same for one a single time.

Yes, the document is scanned and the image is stored in the hard disk to make the multiple copies.

And here lies the problem.

Over a period of time, this dumb looking machine collects enough data, which can potentially tell your competitors a lot about your secrets. So next time, when you are trying to sell your old photocopier, just remember this aspect and take action accordingly.

CBSNews recently carried an interesting story on this issue. Worth reading.

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