Hide in Plain Sight with BoxCryptor

BoxCryptor is a FREE for non commercial use, cross platform, cloud encryption utility.

https://www.boxcryptor.com/

BoxCryptor secures your data in the cloud – no matter if you use Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive or any other cloud storage provider.
   
Access your encrypted files on all devices. BoxCryptor is available for Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad. Also compatible with EncFS-Linux.
   
Secure your files the quick and easy way. And what is best: BoxCryptor is free for non-commercial use. Download and try it now!

https://www.boxcryptor.com/

This is encryption end to end for your most important data. You may want to share your password with a trusted friend or family member if the data stored needs to be accessed in the event you can't.

Say Hello to Freedom

If you IE is locked down simply delete:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

You can back up this Key before deleting by selecting Internet Settings and choose Export from the menu.

What is that on the horizon?

Cool tip for safer browsing

Google looks at web sites and maintains a 90 history of a site's security profile.

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=sitename

example:

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=bitgravity.com

gives us:

Safe Browsing

Diagnostic page for bitgravity.com

What is the current listing status for bitgravity.com?

This site is not currently listed as suspicious.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 197 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 0 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-12-15, and suspicious content was never found on this site within the past 90 days.

This site was hosted on 2 network(s) including AS40009 (BITGRAVITY), AS33070 (RMH).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, bitgravity.com did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

Next steps:

• Return to the previous page.
• If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.

The only virus and anti malware solution

Stop paying protection money to those anti virus thugs. Microsoft has finally decided to do the right thing and get these bullies off the streets and out of our wallets. More importantly off our machines. Anti-virus programs have had a long history of loading down our machines with bloatware and providing consumers with a false sense of security. I would have more respect for these companies if they spent some time educating PC users while stealing their money.


http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Microsoft security essentials is free.

About Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

All is Quiet, or is it?

http://www.wireshark.org/
The bad guys want to use your PC for there illegal activity so they won't get caught. Have you ever had that feeling that your being watched? How about being used? This much I can tell you, everyone is being watched and more people than you can imagine are being used. I hear the numbers are as high as 40% of all windows based PC may be hijacked.

Wireshark is a network sniffer that will capture everything off your local LAN. I wouldn't use this at work or anywhere you invade the privacy of others. You need to get your ip address of your machine and monitor activity or capture activity when the machine is idle and not in use.

If nothing is happening you can generate some activity such as web browsing to get a feel for what you should expect to see. If you leave it running during times when you are suspect you can confirm your suspicions one way or another.

http://www.wireshark.org/

You can install a firewall to help give you an idea of what is leaving you PC but these guys are good at turning these tools off without your knowledge.

So you have to fight these guys from the trenches.

This is what they say about the program:

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer, and is the de facto (and often de jure) standard across many industries and educational institutions.

Wireshark development thrives thanks to the contributions of networking experts across the globe. It is the continuation of a project that started in 1998.

Features:
Wireshark has a rich feature set which includes the following:
Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the time
Live capture and offline analysis
--Standard three-pane packet browser
--Multi-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many others
--Captured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utility
--The most powerful display filters in the industry
--Rich VoIP analysis
--Read/write many different capture file formats: tcpdump (libpcap), Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer® (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer® Pro, and NetXray®, Network Instruments Observer, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets EtherPeek/TokenPeek/AiroPeek, and many others
--Capture files compressed with gzip can be decompressed on the fly
--Live data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, ---Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others (depending on your platfrom)
--Decryption support for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2
--Coloring rules can be applied to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysis
--Output can be exported to XML, PostScript®, CSV, or plain text

Don't get caught with your pants down!!!

I did an article on routers from old PC junk.

This is no Clark Kent but some might say is sexier than Lana Lang. Lets face it if your on my sight your too much a Geek and too poor to ever have a shot at her anyways so we might as well get excited about something we can have at my favorite price, FREE.



The monowall concept has evolved into a commercial product that is available free for home use. This is slightly different than the monowall approach in that is sits in front of your NAT home router. It is runs right out of a Red Hat linux distribution which brings you more features with a more power set of networking tools. How do you like the sound of virus scanning before the virus even reaches your machine.

Lets say your kids are on the internet and have infected a computer from the latest game hacker site. Now your internet traffic slows down and you internet connections and bandwidth are being used to commit crimes without your knowledge.

Maybe your just paranoid and would like to know why your connection just slowed down or why your application just locked up. The first step is to ensure your system is clean from virus and rootkit activity. And if they are smarter than you and the experts you need to know whats coming and going on the network. Maybe you just want to pinch off that Bit Torrent traffic that they say is uploading at 6kbps but you can now see is really moving at 300kbps.

	Provides core server applications - mail, web, VPN, backup, file and print services...
	Protects network and data - antivirus, antispam, firewall, intrusion prevention...
	Enforces Internet usage policies - content filter, peer-to-peer filter, bandwidth manager...
	Simplifies management and monitoring - system monitoring, software updates, mail backup.

Clarkconnect provides several very useful networking tools. Along with several daemons, you have the ability to limit bandwidth, filter traffic, etc. Listed below are some popular network services:

• Samba
• Apache
• SSH
• Squid
• mySQL
• ProFTP
• Squirrel Mail
• Snort

SAMPLE SYSTEM SPECS:
Keep is simple to save power and money.

• AMD Athlon 750 MHz
• 512 MB PC133 SDRAM
• 20 GB IDE Hard Drive
• 10/100 On-board NIC
• Intel Pro 100+ NIC <- Very compatible - since this faces the DSL 100mbs is many times more bandwidth than you DSL provider will allow up and down stream.

Download a ISO and install it to a fresh hard drive on that old junk PC.
http://www.clarkconnect.com/downloads/

How did he get in here?

Windows Password Reset Utility


http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/

• This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system.
• You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
• It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD.
• Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
• It is also an almost fully functional registry editor!

Is your computer part of an organized crime ring?

Trend Micro™ RUBotted (Beta)

http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/rubotted

Overview
Malicious software called Bots can secretly take control of computers and make them participate in networks called “Botnets.” These networks can harness massive computing power and Internet bandwidth to relay spam, attack web servers, infect more computers, and perform other illicit activities.

Security experts believe that millions of computers have already joined Botnets without the knowledge of their owners. By using remotely-controlled computers, the criminals in charge of the Botnets try to remain anonymous and elude authorities seeking to prosecute them.
RUBotted monitors your computer for suspicious activities and regularly checks with an online service to identify behavior associated with Bots. Upon discovering a potential infection, RUBotted prompts you to scan and clean your computer.

Red Alert, Let your browser warn you of danger

TrendProtect

Trendmicro is a great company providing us with yet another free tool. If you Google a site they can warn you of malware before you click. You can't always run everything through Google. This is a extension that attaches to your browser and warns you of danger as you surf.

TrendProtect adds a new button to your browser's toolbar area. The icon and color of the button changes to indicate whether the current page you are viewing is safe, dangerous, trusted, or suspicious, or whether it contains unwanted content.

TrendProtect also uses the same icon and color combination to rate the Web pages listed in your Google, MSN, and Yahoo search results. In the search results, moving your mouse over an advisory icon displays a page advisory, which has additional information about the rated Web page.

Click the TrendProtect button and select Options to customize the view, trusted pages, content categories, and connection settings. Select Check Your Computer's Security from the menu or click Scan computer for viruses in the page advisory to access free scanning and cleanup services from HouseCall.

Make sure the patient is dead before the autopsy.

Force an XP Crash to get a Memory Dump

I'm going to do a little security experiment. I will post my results once completed but for starters I need to see what is loaded in memory. I'm going to manually generate a memory dump. Since I'm not a security expert ot hacker I don't have the tools that can do a system memory scan. If anyone has a free solution please let me know.

Microsoft KB article for activating a feature called 'Crash on Control Scroll'. This feature allows a user to manually crash the system, thus triggering the BSoD and memory dump.

To enable that feature on a USB keyboard:

Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)

Locate the following key if you have a USB keyboard: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\kbdhid\Parameters
Locate the following key if you have a PS2 keyboard: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
In the Edit menu, click Add Value and add the following registry entry: Name: CrashOnCtrlScrollData Type: REG_DWORDValue: 1
Exit the registry editor, then reboot.

Reboot, so you can now trigger a crash by pressing the SCROLL keyboard key twice while pressing the right CTRL key.

Drop My Rights - Border control for the PC

Lower the rights for internet facing applications.

When setting up a PC for my Father or Kids I always set up a limited user account. I finally got my father on Gmail after his system was infected multiple times with a virus. I can only assume this was through a email or bad web site. If he had been running as a limited user there wouldn't be a problem. When I set up a limited user account he complained about not being able to operate as he was use to.

A Microsoft developer generated a short code snippet the you can assign short cuts run trough that limit the rights for those specific applications. Setting this up is simple and requires no programing skills. Follow the direction on the link provided or set up the shortcut as shown below.

The download:
Download the DropMyRights.msi file

The link for instructions:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972827.aspx

Setup

Simply copy DropMyRights.exe to a folder. Then for each application you want to run in lower privilege, follow the steps in the next three sections.

Create a Shortcut

Create a shortcut and enter DropMyRights.exe as the target executable, followed by the path to the application you want to execute in lower privilege.

For example:

C:\warez\dropmyrights.exe "c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe"

The article from microsoft explains in greater detail.

************* Here is the Code ********************
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DWORD wmain(int argc, wchar_t **argv) {

DWORD fStatus = ERROR_SUCCESS;

if (2 != argc && 3 != argc) {
Usage();
return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
}

// get the SAFER level
DWORD hSaferLevel = SAFER_LEVELID_NORMALUSER;
if (3 == argc && argv[2]) {
switch(argv[2][0]) {
case 'C' :
case 'c' : hSaferLevel = SAFER_LEVELID_CONSTRAINED;
break;
case 'U' :
case 'u' : hSaferLevel = SAFER_LEVELID_UNTRUSTED;
break;

default : hSaferLevel = SAFER_LEVELID_NORMALUSER;
break;
}
}

// get the command line, and make sure it's not bogus
wchar_t *wszPath = argv[1];
size_t cchLen = 0;
if (FAILED(StringCchLength(wszPath,MAX_PATH,&cchLen)))
return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;

SAFER_LEVEL_HANDLE hAuthzLevel = NULL;
if (SaferCreateLevel(SAFER_SCOPEID_USER,
hSaferLevel,
0,
&hAuthzLevel, NULL)) {

// Generate the restricted token we will use.
HANDLE hToken = NULL;
if (SaferComputeTokenFromLevel(
hAuthzLevel, // SAFER Level handle
NULL, // NULL is current thread token.
&hToken, // Target token
0, // No flags
NULL)) { // Reserved

STARTUPINFO si;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
si.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
si.lpDesktop = NULL;

// Spin up the new process
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
if (CreateProcessAsUser(
hToken,
wszPath, NULL,
NULL, NULL,
FALSE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE,
NULL, NULL,
&si, &pi)) {

CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);

} else {
fStatus = GetLastError();
fwprintf(stderr,L"CreateProcessAsUser failed (%lu)\n",fStatus);
}
} else {
fStatus = GetLastError();
}

SaferCloseLevel(hAuthzLevel);

} else {
fStatus = GetLastError();
}

return fStatus;
}
**************************

When your bad your bad, when your good your good

...... FREE
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/benefits.html?currency=USD&region=North%20America&country=US

COMODO Firewall PRO - security from the inside out
For all practical purposes you don't need a 3rd party firewall to protect yourself from outside threats. The problem is if you do run into a security problem you likely invited them in.

If you downloaded or installed software or possibly loaded that new codex to a media player from a less than reputable site you could be compromised.

COMODO can help (lets just say, can be the bearer of bad news).

Clean PC Mode takes a snap shot of your installation and alerts you we something new is installed.

Host Intrusion Prevention System does exactly that, prevents modifications of key operating files and prevents access to key systems. This is nice in that when you install new applications if they try to run astray you are aware of what it is trying to modify.

Application Behavior Analysis alerts you when something is trying to call home.

The program even has a very large application recognition database to help minimize the fatigue caused by other firewalls when you have to respond to false alarms.

For a complete list of features please see the web site.



Smart Pop-up Alerts – Tell you what you need to know, fast!!

Smell something bad. It's not from this onion.

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.

It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.
http://www.torproject.org/overview.html.en

Tor allows clients and relays to offer hidden services. That is, you can offer a web server, SSH server, etc., without revealing your IP address to its users. In fact, because you don't use any public address, you can run a hidden service from behind your firewall.
http://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-hidden-service.html.en




Staying anonymous
Tor can't solve all anonymity problems. It focuses only on protecting the transport of data. You need to use protocol-specific support software if you don't want the sites you visit to see your identifying information. For example, you can use web proxies such as Privoxy while web browsing to block cookies and withhold information about your browser type.

Also, to protect your anonymity, be smart. Don't provide your name or other revealing information in web forms. Be aware that, like all anonymizing networks that are fast enough for web browsing, Tor does not provide protection against end-to-end timing attacks: If your attacker can watch the traffic coming out of your computer, and also the traffic arriving at your chosen destination, he can use statistical analysis to discover that they are part of the same circuit.

I am far from a security expert. My understanding of TOR is that it creates a tunnel where the data is encrypted once it hits the first router and is passed to multiple routers and handed back off to the destination unencrypted of course. The TOR web site shows you are encypted leaving your browser. I need to run some tests to see if this is true and I will update the blog later with the results. Read the link below for more details. I will include a article later on testing your TOR as well.

Warning: Want Tor to really work?

Basically this ensures your privacy from the far end web site. Your data and URL history (Destination IPaddress and or DNSname) still passes through your corprate network and DNS servers or local internet service provider unencrypted. You aren't hiding anything,this is simply securing your privacy from the far end. Privoxy will also help to ensure your privacy by blocking browser info and cookies.

The bad thing is that all of your internet traffic will use the TOR network and you don't know who the owners of the TOR routers are. In the work environment this is a serious problem because you could be compromising your companys security and your own. I take pride in my work and who I work for.

How serious are you about security?

http://www.astaro.com/our_products/astaro_security_gateway/network_protection


You may be serious about security but knowing what you are doing is another story. This is more than a plug and play application and require some networking and PC skill to implement correctly. There is nothing worse than to think you are safe when you left you keys in the locked door. This product is focused at small and medium business and the home version is free. There is a question whether you need another layer of security. For the business its not only important to secure your network from the outside but its just as important to keep confidential files secure on the inside of your network. Just because your business is small doesn't mean you are one big happy family. This will go in my really Geeky category.

Astaro Security Gateway Software Appliance – Turns any PC into a security appliance within minutes, offering maximum deployment flexibility. Download your trial version of the Astaro Security Gateway Software Appliance here.
These links bring you to a page to get a login. Once you get a login you can follow my link at the bottom of this post to jump to the free software.

Astaro Security Gateway Virtual Appliance – Ready-to-go virtual machines for VMware environments, helping you to consolidate your IT infrastructure. Download your trial version of the Astaro Security Gateway Virtual Appliance here.




What does it do?
With Astaro Security Gateway Network Protection, network administrators gain a simple and effective way to:

Control network access. Use the latest stateful deep inspection firewall techniques to control user access in regard to specific information and access times, access times and usage of IM and P2P applications.
Stop intruders. Implement state of the art intrusion prevention technology for in-depth filtering, protecting against more than 6,000 attacks as well as zero day attacks.
Secure remote access. Use SSL, IPSec, L2TP or PPTP protocols to create secure virtual private networks, connecting branch offices and granting remote access to workers.
Optimize performance. Leverage our patent-pending content inspection framework to scan traffic with little or no latency and reserve bandwidth for time-sensitive applications such as VoIP.


Astaro Network Protection
Why should you use it?
Astaro Security Gateway provides complete protection for your network through a single, easy-to-manage solution, featuring a Firewall, Intrusion Prevention and VPN application.
Eliminating the administrative burden and integration issues associated with separate point products, Astaro Security Gateway delivers a fully integrated state-of-the art network protection solution.

The software is free for home use. The link is a little hard to find. They offer a ISO CD download and a VMware version.
https://my.astaro.com/license/home/

Sysinternals - The MRI for the PC

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx

From the FOX TV show "House", Hugh Laurie plays genius Dr. Gregory House. He is the guy in the middle of course. You can watch these and other FOX TV shows online.

House will order a MRI at the costs of thousands of dollars to diagnose an ingrown toe nail. The one time a patient comes in looking like she got run over by a Bus. House says she doesn't have any internal injuries and doesn't order a MRI. As it turns out, she did get run over by a bus and needed the MRI.

Unlike the extremely expensive tests Dr. House runs to diagnose a patients problems, Sysnternals is free. Like the MRI, SysInternals can tell you everything you ever needed to know and more. For this reason I recommend you use the link to Microsoft at the top of this page to find what you need. I watched the process evolve after Microsoft bought SysInternals. I would like to give Microsoft a "DIGITAL HIGH FIVE" not only offering these tools for free but for the great job they did on their web site presenting them to the customer.

Featured Resources
File and Disk Utilities - Utilities for viewing and monitoring file and disk access and usage.
Networking Utilities - Networking tools that range from connection monitors to resource security analyzers.
Process Utilities -Utilities for looking under the hood to see what processes are doing and the resources they are consuming.
Security Utilities - Security configuration and management utilities, including rootkit and spyware hunting programs.
System Information - Utilities for looking at system resource usage and configuration.
Miscellaneous Utilities -A collection of diverse utilities that includes a screen saver, presentation aid, and debugging tool.

Feeling greedy?

The entire sysinternals suite in one download:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/sysinternalssuite.mspx

In your case I hope the patient lives.

I feel sick - A quick guide to Anti Virus on a budget

This is the only solution in my opinion.

FreeAV

http://www.free-av.com/

There is the right way and the wrong way to do things. Norton and McAfee make things worse in my opinion by loading down your PC with bloatware. Another problem is because they have grown so big they can be a target of the attack.

FreeAV is light and simple. Besides I have had it scan and find viruses that both McAfee and Norton never saw. Both of these were free from work so I used them until they became more trouble than good. It wasn't a matter of staying up to date with the virus definitions. I get alerts via email when new viruses are discovered. I usually am days ahead of my IT and security people.

I don't want this to be a guide to security. I want to point out some options.

A new comer with a innovative approach may be your best bet. If your interested in any of this you should read about how they deal with these threats.

eEye Digital Security - Blink personal edition

Here is a link to the free software - its a bit hard to find. http://www.eeye.com/html/consumer/products/blink/download/index.html?id=feature2

I haven't tested this but since the approach is different than the standard VIRUS definition method I wouldn't know where to start.

Trend Micro - my personal favorite, many viruses start in Asia, they seem to see them first.

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - (English) - works well

CA - computer associates - great site, bad software suite for the home user. I'm not sure why but I have had to clean up a few machines that were trashed beyond recognition with the CA security suite loaded. If I reload it they get trashed again. I end up right back to FreeAV.

Panda ActiveScan
Kaspersky lab - I've heard good things about them
bitdefender
RAV
SYGATE

Symantec Security CheckMcAfee FreeScan

AuditMyPc
GRC.com Shields UP!! - This will test your firewall

Check out Vincent's site for expert help and options.
VIRUS SCANNERS ON-LINE
Free Antivirus Removal Tools

When you wish you had it, its too late

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source Disk Encryption Software

http://www.truecrypt.org/


You might ask me what do I have that is so important. Sometimes its a matter of security and sometimes its a matter of privacy. Let's forget for a minute that anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. I'm sure most of you think you can't be that guy. So how many of you have been divorced? So how about those Hollywood stars home video. I'm sure none of you have ever done that. Maybe you have a MP3 collection you want to safeguard on one of these free backup services but they don't allow you to store copyright content. Maybe you would like to be able to share your PC with your nosy brother-in-law but are concerned about your financial records.

Maybe the nerd herd needs to restore data from that lost hard drive that you can no longer access. In my case I was horrified to know I lost my USB key with my rampart-ssh source code and 4 other future products.

Life is simple until it gets complicated. Like data backup, securing you data can be just as important.



I don't recommend using Microsoft's encryption for 2 reason.

1.) Its not truly secure. If you think Microsoft doesn't have a back door then you likely think Paris Hilton is a virgin.

2.) When things go bad they go real bad. Your data is tied to your user. When your user account gets attacked your data goes bye bye. This can be restored by having a disk sitting around that is like leaving your house key in the door when you lock it.

So how do you get started.

1.) Download the program
2.) Start encrypting what you don't want prying eyes to see.

In a future post I will talk about these password storage applications and why they don't work and how they can do more harm than good. I will then recommend applications that are secure.

I will also post a few methods to generate strong passwords that you will never forget.

















Main Features:

Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.

Encrypts an entire hard disk partition or a storage device such as USB flash drive.

Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:1) Hidden volume (steganography – more information may be found here).2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).

Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: LRW.

Spring Cleaning on that Hard Drive

Ok if you are a Geek you have likely seen NBCs new series CHUCK.

Hot spy action.

Hot guest stars.

Girls in bar maid outfits with pigtails.

It even has Jane from FireFly. Its a bit awkward at first seeing him in this role but he gets much better as the show progresses.












Hot sister.

Car chases, Buy More - Best Buy spoof, The nerd herd and all those embarrassingly awkward moments.

As much as I'm into equality this is one show that you hope the person operating the camera is a man. Either way: THANK YOU for a job well done.

What's not to like?




So what's the point? Ok you are not that international man of mystery whos data is sought out by foreign governments and if it were to get into the wrong hands could change the balance of power on the planet. But if your data got into the wrong hands it could change the balance on your bank account. When you use your PC you are saving and deleting data. Your PC as a part of normal operation is also saving and deleting data in the swap file, internet cache, and random .tmp files.

Hackers can look at both the free space and the slack space on your hard drive and read data.

Slack space or file slack is the area between the end of a file and the end of the last cluster or sector used by that file. Also if you sell a PC, reformatting isn't enough. I bought a PC recently from Craigslist with XP loaded and found some fun stuff. These weren't deleted files, they were simply left behind. (Let's just say the guys girlfriend was quite nice looking). Unfortunately, I had to do a wipe of the drive to protect his privacy before selling the PC. He was Russian, just maybe?

Ok now that we have established that you don't have to be a Spook or on the FBI's most wanted list, or should I say RIAA, to need to clean house: This is how its done.

____________________


Selling that machine?

Before you run any of the following 2 hard drive erasers remember to disconnect the data cable from any drives you don't want to accidentally erase.

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Darik's Boot and Nuke
Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spy ware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis.

Editors comment: "Floppy" - what's that - I haven't seen one of those since when?
He has a CD / DVD version as well.

alternative:

Secure Erase, a free download:
http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml

I also saw a note with a caution on drives 2001 and older:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2049910_really-erase-hard-drive.html#submitcomment
He recommends destroying the old drive.
_____________________

For periodic and everyday use:


CCleaner


http://www.ccleaner.com/



CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)


BCWipe software
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/bcwipe.htm




The BCWipe utility is a shell extender for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP, intended to secure delete your files.


It supports correspondent U.S. Department of Defense recommendations (DoD 5200.28-STD).



The BCWipe utility provides several ways to shred file's contents from the disk:

a. Delete with wiping. Using 'Delete with wiping' command you can delete and wipe your files and folders using pop-up context menus in Windows Shell (Explorer program).

b. Wipe free disk space. If you have previously deleted sensitive files using a standard operating system command, you may wipe free space on the disk where these files were stored - all previously deleted files' contents will be erased.


c. Swap file wiping. BCWipe utility automatically wipes Windows Swap file contents when you run 'Wipe free disk space' command.

d. Recycle Bin wiping. You can wipe contents of Windows Recycle Bin by pointing on the Bin icon by mouse and running the 'Wipe Recycle Bin' command from context pop-up men