Computer Security Threats--Backdoor Trojan

A backdoor Trojan(security threat) allows someone to take control of another user’s
computer via the internet without their permission.
A backdoor Trojan(security threat) may pose as legitimate software, just as other Trojan horse programs
do, so that users run it. Alternatively – as is now increasingly common – users may
allow Trojans onto their computer by following a link in spam mail.
Once the Trojan is run, it adds itself to the computer’s startup routine. It can then
monitor the computer until the user is connected to the internet. When the computer
goes online, the person who sent the Trojan can perform many actions – for example,
run programs on the infected computer, access personal files, modify and upload files,
track the user’s keystrokes, or send out spam mail.
Well-known backdoor Trojans include Subseven, BackOrifice and, more recently,
Graybird, which was disguised as a fix for the notorious Blaster worm.
To avoid backdoor Trojans, you should keep your computers up to date with the latest
patches (to close down vulnerabilities in the operating system), and run anti-spam
and anti-virus software. You should also run a firewall, which can prevent Trojans from
accessing the internet to make contact with the hacker.Backdoor trojan computer security threat is one of
danger security attack.so be aware about this security threat.

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Computer Security Threats

We are living in a digital world, were computers are not just an ordinary thing anymore but a “necessity” to our everyday lives. Most of us only knew a little about computer security threats, the most common were “virus” and “worm”. But did you know that there are 34 different types of Computer Security Threats? A lot huh? You’ll know more about them below, so keep reading and i hope that you’ll be more cautious and knowledgeable in using your computer.

1. Adware

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer.

Adware, or advertising-supported software, displays advertising banners or pop-ups on
your computer when you use the application. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Such
advertising can fund the development of useful software, which is then distributed free
(for example, the Opera web browser).

However, adware becomes a problem if it:

• installs itself on your computer without your consent
• installs itself in applications other than the one it came with and displays advertising
  when you use those applications
• hijacks your web browser in order to display more ads (see Browser hijackers)
• gathers data on your web browsing without your consent and sends it to others via
  the internet (see Spyware)
• is designed to be difficult to uninstall.

Adware can slow down your PC. It can also slow down your internet connection by
downloading advertisements. Sometimes programming flaws in the adware can make
your computer unstable.

Advertising pop-ups can also distract you and waste your time if they have to be closed
before you can continue using your PC.

Some anti-virus programs detect adware and report it as “potentially unwanted
applications”. You can then either authorize the adware program or remove it from the
computer. There are also dedicated programs for detecting adware.

THIS IS FIRST COMUTER SECURITY THREAT,I WILL POST ALL 34 COMUTER SECURITY THREAT ONE BY ONE,DUE TO CRISIS OF TIME I CANT POST ALL AT ONCE SO KEEP TOUCH WITH THIS BLOG,THIS IS MY PROMISE TO ALL OF YOU,I WILL COLLECT ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT COMPUTER SECURITY THREAT FOR YOU.

UP COMING POST ON--- Backdoor Trojans.SECURITY THREAT.WITH BEST WAY TO SAVE YOUR COMPUTER

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Types of Computer Viruses

Computer Virus is a kind of malicious software written intentionally to enter a computer without the user’s permission or knowledge, with an ability to replicate itself, thus continuing to spread. Some viruses do little but replicate others can cause severe harm or adversely effect program and performance of the system. A virus should never be assumed harmless and left on a system. Most common types of viruses are mentioned below:

Resident Viruses
This type of virus is a permanent which dwells in the RAM memory. From there it can overcome and interrupt all of the operations executed by the system: corrupting files and programs that are opened, closed, copied, renamed etc.

Examples include: Randex, CMJ, Meve, and MrKlunky.

Direct Action Viruses
The main purpose of this virus is to replicate and take action when it is executed. When a specific condition is met, the virus will go into action and infect files in the directory or folder that it is in and in directories that are specified in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file PATH. This batch file is always located in the root directory of the hard disk and carries out certain operations when the computer is booted.

Overwrite Viruses
Virus of this kind is characterized by the fact that it deletes the information contained in the files that it infects, rendering them partially or totally useless once they have been infected.

The only way to clean a file infected by an overwrite virus is to delete the file completely, thus losing the original content.

Examples of this virus include: Way, Trj.Reboot, Trivial.88.D.

Boot Virus
This type of virus affects the boot sector of a floppy or hard disk. This is a crucial part of a disk, in which information on the disk itself is stored together with a program that makes it possible to boot (start) the computer from the disk.

The best way of avoiding boot viruses is to ensure that floppy disks are write-protected and never start your computer with an unknown floppy disk in the disk drive.

Examples of boot viruses include: Polyboot.B, AntiEXE.

Macro Virus
Macro viruses infect files that are created using certain applications or programs that contain macros. These mini-programs make it possible to automate series of operations so that they are performed as a single action, thereby saving the user from having to carry them out one by one.

Examples of macro viruses: Relax, Melissa.A, Bablas, O97M/Y2K.

Directory Virus
Directory viruses change the paths that indicate the location of a file. By executing a program (file with the extension .EXE or .COM) which has been infected by a virus, you are unknowingly running the virus program, while the original file and program have been previously moved by the virus.

Once infected it becomes impossible to locate the original files.

Polymorphic Virus
Polymorphic viruses encrypt or encode themselves in a different way (using different algorithms and encryption keys) every time they infect a system.

This makes it impossible for anti-viruses to find them using string or signature searches (because they are different in each encryption) and also enables them to create a large number of copies of themselves.

Examples include: Elkern, Marburg, Satan Bug, and Tuareg.

File Infectors
This type of virus infects programs or executable files (files with an .EXE or .COM extension). When one of these programs is run, directly or indirectly, the virus is activated, producing the damaging effects it is programmed to carry out. The majority of existing viruses belong to this category, and can be classified depending on the actions that they carry out.

Companion Viruses
Companion viruses can be considered file infector viruses like resident or direct action types. They are known as companion viruses because once they get into the system they "accompany" the other files that already exist. In other words, in order to carry out their infection routines, companion viruses can wait in memory until a program is run (resident viruses) or act immediately by making copies of themselves (direct action viruses).

Some examples include: Stator, Asimov.1539, and Terrax.1069

FAT Virus
The file allocation table or FAT is the part of a disk used to connect information and is a vital part of the normal functioning of the computer.
This type of virus attack can be especially dangerous, by preventing access to certain sections of the disk where important files are stored. Damage caused can result in information losses from individual files or even entire directories.

Worms
A worm is a program very similar to a virus; it has the ability to self-replicate, and can lead to negative effects on your system and most importantly they are detected and eliminated by antiviruses.

Examples of worms include: PSWBugbear.B, Lovgate.F, Trile.C, Sobig.D, Mapson.

Trojans or Trojan Horses
Another unsavory breed of malicious code are Trojans or Trojan horses, which unlike viruses do not reproduce by infecting other files, nor do they self-replicate like worms.

Logic Bombs
They are not considered viruses because they do not replicate. They are not even programs in their own right but rather camouflaged segments of other programs.

Their objective is to destroy data on the computer once certain conditions have been met. Logic bombs go undetected until launched, and the results can be destructive.

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Best Antivirus Software----KBSMP CHOICE

3>>>>> Norton Antivirus 2009

Main Features:

• Advanced antivirus with anti-spyware
• Best proactive protection
• Rapid pulse updates every 5 to 15 minutes
• Rootkit detection, two way firewall
• Defends against Web-based attacks
• Automatic Virus Pattern Updates

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Hardware Security

Security should be intertwined with every part of system; the hardware is no exception. The interaction between hardware and software must be carefully planned. In doing so, the security of the entire system is strengthened.

Trusted Computing

Systems rely on Operating Systems and hardware. This collection of components comprises the core of the Trusted Computing Base (TCB). Systems fundamentally trust all actions that take place within the TCB. As Operating Systems become increasingly more complex, they are prone to faults and vulnerabilities. Hence, researchers seek to shrink the TCB.
Recently, a consortium gathered to create an open trusted framework. The Trusted Computing Group'sTrusted Platform Module (TPM) has received much attention. While vendors such as Dell have announced the deployment of TPMs, privacy concerns remain. Such concerns must be addressed before wide-spread acceptance occurs. (TCG)
Our current research efforts aim to discover novel uses for the TPM while maintaining the privacy of users.

Securing Non-Volatile Main Memory

We propose a Memory Encryption Control Unit (MECU) to address the vulnerabilities introduced by non-volatile memories. The MECU encrypts all memory transfers between the level 2 cache and main memory. The keys used to encrypt memory blocks are derived from secret information present on removable authentication tokens, e.g., smart card, or other similar secure storage devices. This provides protection against physical attacks in absence of the token.
We evaluated a MECU-enhanced architecture using the SimpleScalar hardware simulation framework on several hardware benchmarks. The performance analysis shows that we can secure non-volatile memories with minimal overhead---the majority of memory accesses are delayed by less than 1 ns, with limited degradation subsiding within 67 us of a system resume. In effect, we provide zero-cost steady state confidentiality for main memory

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uAndroid's Security Framework

                            uAndroid's Security Framework

The Google Android mobile phone platform is one of the most anticipated smartphone operating systems. Android defines a new component-based framework for developing mobile applications, where each application is comprised of different numbers and types of components. Activity components form the basis of the user interface; each screen presented to the user is a different Activity. Service components provide background processing that continues even after its application loses focus. Services also define arbitrary interfaces for communicating with other applications. Content Provider components share information in relational database form. For instance, the system includes an application with a Content Provider devoted to sharing the user's address book upon which other applications can query. Finally, Broadcast Receiver components act as an asynchronous mailbox for messages from the system and other applications. As a whole, this application framework supports a flexible degree of collaboration between applications, where dependencies can be as simple or complex as a situation requires.

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How to secure network

                      NETWORK SECURITY
1. Perform regular network security testing.
2. Don’t provide more or unwanted access to any network user.
3. Must have an updated antivirus program.
4. Operating system should be regularly updated. If you have windows based operating system you can update it from the Microsoft website.
5. Keep inventory of your network resources such as devices and software applications.
6. Regularly scan TCP/IP services
7. Turn off your computer when you are away and don’t leave your computer unattended.
8. Put a strong network and system administrator password.
9. Implement a strong security policy.
10. Use a switched network, so that you can identify the problem very quickly.

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Computer And Internet

Have you seen any coin without head or without tell----NO.Same situation in computer and internet.In 1940 computer came in picture and In 1969 internet came into picture and after this both them became most important part society.
     NOW The question come how computer and internet are related,how they work.before describing  these two i want to define some terminology related computer and internet
What is internet-----The Internet, sometime known as Net"  itis a worldwide system of computer networks -that is it is a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer.so when a computers connected to each other and when they allow to pass information or message to each other world wide known as internet.now a day internet spread in all section of world.computer and internet pool whole world in one field.
Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of the currently existing public telecommunication networks.
       The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web(WWW).NO doubt computer and internet made our easy,and gave us lot of opportunity to earn money.
But as we know every good effect has some bad effect.internet and computer arised on crime known as CYBER CRIME.One interesting thing i want to tell in this crime,in cyber crime computer and internet used as weapon as well as victim.In whole world lacks of hacker hacks the website ,credit card number by using computer and internet,so we should know some tips to secure own data.For this there is no need to go any where computer and internet makes available lot of information for you.search it read it.and apply it for secure your data.and use computer and internet to make life easy

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CBI website hacked by 'Pakistani Cyber Army'

In a major embarrassment, the website of premier investigating agency CBI was hacked on Friday night by programmers identifying themselves as "Pakistani Cyber Army". 
 
Intelligence agencies have been often warning the government that proper cyber security was not being ensured in government offices and that no security audit was being carried out.
The Pakistani Cyber Army has also warned that it would carry out "mass defacement" of other websites.
      "CBI is aware that its official website has beden hacked and defaced. An inquiry has been launched and necessary remedial measures are underway to restore it," CBI PRO RK Gaur said.

In addition to the CBI website, the self-proclaimed Pakistan Cyber army claims to have hacked another 270 websites.

I READ THIS NEWS  IN NEWSPAPER.AFTER THIS I SEARCH ED ON INTERNET AND I FOUND IT IS TRUE.WHAT THEY WANT TO SHOW AND WHAT PAKISTANI HACKER WANT .WHY THEY ARE DOING CHEAP TYPE BEHAVE,I THINK THEY ARE CONFUSE PEOPLE AND THEY DONT KNOW WHAT HE IS DOING.HACKING TO ANY WEBSITE  IS NOT TOUGH TASK.ALL RELEVANT CONTENT WHICH IS SUFFICIENT TO HACK ANY WEBSITE IS AVAILABLE ON INTERNET  IF YOU READ THESE MATERIAL AND HACK ANY SITE THIS IS NOT GREAT ACHIEVEMENT.SO I WANT TO TELL THEM YOU ARE NOT BEST,IF YOU WERE BEST THEN YOU MUST UTILIZE YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO SAVE THE CYBER WORLD AND TRY TO MAKE GOOD RELATION BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN.AND LAST I WANT TO TELL ALL MY READERS HATE AND IGNORE  THESE PEOPLE WHICH MISUSE HIS KNOWLEDGE.AND TRY TO DISTURB PEACE BETWEEN ANY COUNTRY.

  

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Internet Security

                        Tips for browsing internet safely
The concern for internet safety is a global phenomenon, mostly for those who are new-fangled to internet. While the prevalence of social networking websites, online communities and internet-enabled processes should be great news for individual, corporate and government users, the concern for safety remains a major source of concern. The 21st century is the age of computers and World Wide Web. Everyone starting from child to old is accustomed with web browsing. But the question arises how much we are safe on the internet? Hackers and malicious software is a great threat to our individual online privacy. So we need to protect our self from these dangerous aspects of internet. Following are some steps that can ensure a safe browsing practice. 
 1–Use Common Sense 
 To browse the internet safely, it’s best if you do so by using common sense. Do not click on advertisements that may harm your computer, and stay away from sites that promise “free” items, cash or other services simply by entering your personal information. Just because a website looks official, this does not mean that it can’t harm your computer.
2 – Use a Firewall 
 To improve the safety of your internet browsing, it’s highly recommended that you install some high-quality firewall software. Having a firewall can help prevent programs from infiltrating your computer, and may also protect against some hackers or internet criminals.
3- Use Strong Passwords
 Ensure data security by using strong passwords for your online accounts and your system files. Do not use your name or birth date as a password since they are easy to crack. Instead, use a password that contains alphanumeric characters and is at least eight characters long. Also, do not store passwords on your system. If remembering all your passwords is difficult, use a password manager program to organize and manage your passwords.
 4- Install Antivirus and Antispyware Tools 
 Use an antivirus and an antispyware tool to keep your system protected from malicious programs, such as viruses, worms, adware, and spyware. Configure these tools to perform regular full system scans on your computer.
5 – Be Aware 
When other people are using your computer, it’s best if you supervise their activities. Even if a friend asks to check their email, its best if you have them login under a other account that you have created for others to use. Having a Guest account on your computer enables you to allow others to use your computer without having to worry about them installing potentially malicious software. When creating a Guest account, disable sharing of important files on your computer. In addition to this, you should always make sure that any sensitive files are password-protected. Don’t load non-essential programs off the Internet, especially things like toolbars, screensavers, or video programs. These programs normally install extra, malicious software that causes problems and often requires a repair to remove effectively. Don’t click on anything in a pop-up and unsolicited links received in email, instant messages, or chat rooms, as it might install malware.
6- Do Not Open Attachments from Unsolicited Emails
Attachments that come with unwanted emails can contain malicious programs, such as viruses and worms. These malicious programs often cause severe damage to your system. Therefore, it is best that you straight away delete any unwanted emails you receive. You must also scan the attachments that you obtain from known sources before opening them.
7- Lock icon in the browser doesn’t means it’s secure
When the lock icon appears in the browser, many of us believe we are opening a secure site. This is because the lock icon indicates there is an SSL encrypted connection between the browser and the server to protect the personal sensitive information. However, it does not present any security from malware. In fact, it’s the reverse because most Web security products are totally blind to encrypted connections: it’s the perfect vehicle for malware to penetrate a machine. There have been many cases where hackers emulate bank, credit card sites complete with spoofed SSL certificates that are difficult for a user to identify as deceptive. So keep away from the unknown site which shows lock icon.
8- Keep your Operating System, Software, and Drivers Up-To-Date     

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