Monday 31 December 2012

What Is Internet Security?

Lots of people ask the same question:


What is Internet Security?


New Astronomy Page - Which telescope ?


Click the moon for a new page to this blog that is all about Astronomy and the types of available telescopes for beginners. 

It includes descriptions of my own two telescopes - A small quick and easy to use SkyWatcher and a much bigger 8 inch Celestron 8SE

How to get more visitors to your blog.




The holy grail of writing blogs is finding out how to increase visitor numbers to your blog and this post raises a short but interesting idea.


Facebook page!

Hello,

Hopefully this should appear on the new facebook page via RSSGraffiti


Sunday 30 December 2012

Which are more dangerous? Adult or Religious websites


A woman


In 2011, Symantec found that despite the public "image",  sexually explicit websites that host "adult films" were less likely to pose a security threat from malware compared to religious and ideological websites.    


Friday 28 December 2012

MS08-067 As used by Conficker and Stuxnet


How do Worms travel?
Strictly speaking, a computer virus doesn't spread across a network whereas a computer worm can travel from machine to machine. But how do worms move between machines?

A vulnerability with the catchy name of MS08-067 was used by Stuxnet and Conficker to worm themselves across Local Area Networks but how did it work?  I spent a reasonable amount of time reverse engineering the vulnerability to discover how it was exploited. 


Saturday 22 December 2012

Implications of using BitTorrent and other peer2peer software



Programs such as BitTorrent are popular for sharing and downloading files.

However, apart from the legalilty of sharing copyright material,  there are serious security concerns that whilst someone might be downloading the latest James Bond film, "adult entertainment" or Dr Who episode...  the P2P(Peer-2-Peer) software could also be used as an easy access tunnel into the user's computer.


Thursday 20 December 2012

Dangers of Open Wi-fi Hot Spots


Open and free Wi-Fi spots sound great - internet anywhere!  But what are the IT security dangers?

Monday 17 December 2012

The Importance of Passwords


Imagine what the world would be like if all the keys and locks were the same?

It would mean that you wouldn't need to remember which key goes where - you just pick up one key and can use it to lock-up your own house, visit granny without waking her up, surprise a few friends by calling in unannounced and look after the neighbour's cat while their on holiday. But there is a problem!


Is email secure?




In one word “No” email is not secure!

If it is used to transmit personal details, especially things like bank account details - even to a trusted friend or organisation - it is comparable to posting the same details on the side of a bus with a message saying "FREE MONEY HERE!"



Saturday 15 December 2012

Hello!

Hello and welcome to my new blog on computer security and cyber research!