Cyberspace Samurai's Art Of Hacking

If you acknowledge the foe and recognize yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you recognise yourself merely not the foeman, for every victory gained you volition also suffer a defeat. If you cognize neither the opposition nor yourself, you testament succumb in every battle." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Take the immortal words of Sun Tzu, cognise yourself. Or here, experience your computer code. Do you live however your codification wish react to an tone-beginning. Do you roll in the hay if your diligence or data is guarantee, or if at that place ar huge security measures holes. If your coating were under attempt, would you even love it. And what approximately make out the . Do you make love a hack bequeath approach your covering.

Do you sleep with what early warning signs to looking for, to detect once your applications being hacked. Have you ever looked at your lotion as a drudge would, and thought close to you would plan of attack it. As a professional cyber-terrorist, in this article, I leave guide you through the process hackers take to exploit applications and systems. I'm often asked, "What should I concern just about in my encode that hackers could exploit?" This is easy enough to answer for risks we get laid some nowadays, simply it doesn't address the real problem.

I tin Tell you roughly the most popular onslaught vectors for now's applications, just that only aid you . To truly assist you become more ensure, I need to Teach you what to expression for. I wish to enable you to do the analysis. This follows the old proverb, "Give a man a fish and he be able-bodied to eat ; Edward Teach a man to fish and he never go hungry." This is true for security system and your applications — well, not the whole fishing part, only the teaching part.

You get the idea. Trying to track a on the Internet is like nerve-racking to track the wild Abominable snowman in Nepal (I'm not sure in that location any tamed ...). But in any case, if the left no tracks, was silent, and hid where you weren't looking or in a place you didn't have existed. would you find him. If hackers tin can poke and prod your and potentially get access to sections of your encipher or data that you weren't expecting them to, you do it they thither.

Are you nerve-wracking to William Tell me that I toilet dodge bullets?" Morpheus: "No Neo, I'm stressful to distinguish you that you're ready, you won't have to." I could separate you more or less entirely the latest exploits and exactly what to facial expression for to fix your specific and make sure it's insure. We would talk around buffer-overflows, SQL injection, Cross-Site Script hacking, the list goes on and on. We would be essentially attempting to dodge the bullets; to headache or so each and every little incoming onset. Once you ready, one time you start thinking almost your applications and the environment in a holistic manner, and in one case you controller your applications to react the way you wishing them to or log the activity they don't, then you be to protect against attacks that haven't even been dreamt up yet. I'm not saying your be 100% assure, just that your ever be under your restraint.

You e'er be aware of what's going on and what your threats . That is the true nature of surety. It's totally most command. You need to be in mastery. Logs, coupled with a strong understanding of you may be attacked, is a huge step in the right direction.

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The Importance of Context in Content Filtering

Launching a search for “Breast Cancer Awareness” should not result in a flood of pornographic URLs, but if your filtering solution isn’t capable of analyzing context as well as words, that might be what happens. Filtering pornographic texts may focus only on the word “breast” and not on the context in which it is presented. It is important that your company’s Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) includes the specific definition of what constitutes Web sites that need to be blocked. Visiting the Breast Cancer Society’s home page would probably be allowed by most company AUPs. However, making sure that authorized sites get through and inappropriate sites get blocked, can be a very tricky business, especially if your filtering solution looks only at words and not context.

The Hardware Filtering Option

One way to ensure that your AUP is accurately enforced is to implement a hardware filtering solution that is able to handle both words and context. In addition, an appliance offers other advantages that make it the ideal choice to perform complex filtering processes that are fast, accurate and flexible.

One advantage is that an appliance-based filtering solution fits easily into your network’s topology while at the same time giving the company the flexibility of outstanding features. A hardware appliance is a dedicated and features pass by architecture that allows it to remain stable regardless of the load.

If load increases, the hardware appliance is infinitely scalable by simply adding another machine. Software filters are limited in both their performance, scalability and single points of failure.

Comprehensive Reporting

One of the most important components of successful Web filtering for any organization is the ability to generate relevant reports. You can get an instant snapshot of activity at your organization or produce management or compliance reports required by your organization. There is no better way to ensure that accuracy and reliability goals are being met. If you can find an appliance-based Web filtering solution that offers on-box reporting, you found the best product. With total on-box reporting you won’t have to purchase additional hardware or software that drives up your costs. In addition, you will be able to prove that inappropriate content is not reaching your employees and that appropriate content is allowed to get through. Also, reporting allows you to fulfill the requirements of your organization’s Acceptable Use and Security Policies and document your compliance.

The Importance of Human Review

Automatic URL database updates are essential for providing secure and timely content filtering. It is particularly critical that these database updates are vetted by more than just name identification. By employing 100% human-review coupled with weekly, daily or hourly updates, your company is protected from dangerous sites and objectionable content around the clock.. Using human-review, sites with questionable content are reviewed daily and added to the database. Conversely, if a site such as the Breast Cancer Society or a site handling fertility treatment information comes up for review,a human interface can approve the content for the database.

Medical Mistakes and Business Operations

The accurate and secure filtering of Web content has serious implications for many different organizations. In the case of Medical facilities it is important to know that hospitals and doctors’ offices are now governed by the HIPPA policy. This policy requires that no private medical data be distributed to anyone other than those precisely identified by the patient. If the internal or network security of a medical facility should be compromised, that facility would be in violation of HIPPA and subject to serious fines as well as the loss of patient confidence.

Pornography, phishing, spy ware, violent or racist websites may share similar words with valid websites, but they are negative and dangerous to the internal security of a company’s network and to their public reputation. By using an appliance based Web filtering solutions, companies can implement the necessary tools and resources required to protect their best interests no matter what the nature of their business. There are inherent limitations associated with software solutions especially when a firewall is involved. A software solution combined with a firewall means that eventually the general purpose CPU of the firewall will become bogged down with the double duty it will be forced to perform. In the worst-case scenario, the network is slowed down by the software filter and the firewall device, leading to compromised performance and network security.

Cyberspace can be treacherous, but it shouldn’t be frustrating and arbitrary. Software-based solutions that are inherently more complex and which employ heuristics rather than 100% human -review can only do so much. To ensure success, human interface is needed in order to judge context for content. The best solution for network security is a solution that is dedicated to providing the best service possible so that your organization can fulfill its interests and satisfaction.

While the danger of lost intellectual property and high-profile lawsuits float around in cyberspace, a hardware filtering solution keeps the dangers locked out while protecting access to vital content.

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Phishing And Fraud – What Is It?

Phishing is a very sneaky type of fraud conducted over the Internet. Its name is a throw back to the early days of hacking and identity theft and the practice of phone phreaking. While there can be very complicated schemes devised, they are all based on a very simple concept.

Phishers try to persuade you, or trick you into giving them sensitive information which they can then use to make money out of the system. For example, one very attractive target for phishers would be your paypal account. Paypal is an online payment system that allows you to put money in your account with your credit or debit card, and then basically email the money to other people’s paypal accounts. It is very simple, cheap and fast and very popular for online shoppers as they do not have to give their credit card details away over the internet.

If you wanted to take money out of other people’s paypal accounts, all you would really need is their email address and password. Then you sign in to their account, and send the money to an account you have set up.

What phishers will do is email paypal customers with an email that looks like an official email from paypal. It will have the paypal logo and format and will look exactly like official paypal emails to customers. It may even come from an address that looks like paypal’s official website. It will go on to say it is a random security check or some other technical procedure and that you are required to type in your user name and password. It will then thank you and say the check or whatever other scheme it claims to be is complete. In the meantime, the phisher will have your password and can clear out your account.

While this is a basic example, there are countless variations of increasing complexity that will be used to try and entice customers to give out bank account details, credit card details or other sensitive information. It can often be next to impossible for the average customer to detect that the email or website is not the official one of the company it is supposed to be from and they are therefore very dangerous.

If you do suspect that an email you receive is a phishing attempt then notify the appropriate company immediately. The other thing to remember is that most banks, credit card companies and other institutions now inform their customers that they will never ask their customers for their passwords in an email, nor will any of their employees ever ask for a password and therefore never give it to anyone who asks you for it.

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Identity Theft – Who is ‘phishing’ for your information?

There’s a new type of internet piracy called ‘phishing’ (pronounced ‘fishing’). Internet thieves are ‘fishing’ for your personal information. They’re looking for ways to trick you into giving out your Social Security Number, credit card number and other personal information that they can use to their advantage. You could become a victim of identity theft that could take years to clear your financial history and personal reputation. But understanding how these internet thieves work, will help you to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

How do these thieves get your information?
Typically, you might receive an email from a company that you are familiar with that looks ‘real’. It has the company logo, they may call you by name, and the tone of the email is that they are looking out for your best interests. This email will warn you of some imminent danger to your account or credit card and that you need to take action immediately or you will suffer dire consequences. There will be a link (underlined writing usually in blue) for you to click on that will take you to their website. And guess what? The website they take you to will look like the real thing with the company logo and all.

Next, you will be asked to ‘verify’ your account, password, or credit card information. If you ever find yourself here, STOP! Do nothing. Do not fill in any personal information. Immediately exit from this website and delete the phony email that you received.

How to know that this is a ‘phishing’ email.
If you did not email this company asking for information about your account or for help with a problem, be suspicious. If you are still not sure because it looks so ‘real’, call the company yourself and ask. You can find these phone numbers on your monthly statement. If it is after hours and no one is there to take your call, wait until the next day when you can reach someone. Don’t fall for the ‘imminent danger’ message and feel that you have to take action immediately. ‘Phishers’ are hoping that you will take immediate action – don’t panic and let them trick you into clicking on their link.

What can you do?
Never give someone your password over the internet or phone when it is an unsolicited request. Your credit card company knows what your password and credit card number is. They don’t need to ask you for it.
Likewise, your bank knows what your account number and social security number, they won’t ask you to repeat it verbally over the phone.

Review all of your monthly statements every month as soon as they arrive. Check for charges that you never made. If your statement is ever late in arriving in the mail, call and ask why. Protect yourself from these would-be thieves. Don’t let them take your identity! Please remember to Bookmark www.wheatgrass-fountain-of-youth.info now! Thanks for visiting.

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Top 5 Reasons to Choose An Internet Filtering Appliance Over Software

The need for organizations to monitor and control Internet usage in the workplace should be an accepted fact of doing business in a cyber-connected world. Statistics indicating that 30 to 40 percent of Internet use in the workplace is unrelated to work issues should come as no surprise. Neither should the report that 90 percent of employee computers harbor as many as 30 spyware programs. In fact, studies indicate that companies may be incurring average costs of $5,000 per year per employee in lost productivity due to Internet abuse. Other data suggest that as much as 72% of employees are downloading music and video clips, eroding bandwidth and leaving networks open to spyware and other malicious agents.

As these dramatic statistics show, the need for organizations to manage their Internet access should be a baseline requirement. But how do organizations choose from the wide range of filters available to them? Perhaps one of the first decisions they will to make is between a software-based filtering solution and dedicated filtering appliance.

Both appliance and software-based options offer standard functionality -- they monitor Internet activity, block site access, automatically enforce corporate Acceptable Usage Policy guidelines and report inappropriate behavior. However, upon closer examination, there are some important and compelling reasons to choose an appliance-based solution.

An overview of the advantages of an appliance over software when it comes to handling your organization’s Internet access include these basic five categories:

• Security
• Stability
• Accuracy & Reliability
• Maintenance
• TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)


Because software-based filtering solutions must integrate with your OS, you cannot be assured that the complexity will not cause security and stability problems. Filters that are software–based can degrade performance because they share resources with their hosts and performance degradation can increase in conjunction with load. It’s hard to scale a software-based filter because more users create increased loads on the host systems. A dedicated Internet filtering appliance uses pass-by technology to check website and IM requests against a list that is updated automatically. If the request matches a name on the list that is not allowed, a denial is sent back to the requester and no bandwidth is utilized.

The dedicated resource of an appliance and its pass-by technology will prevent network slowdowns as well as single-points of failure on the system. The accuracy and reliability of an appliance-based Internet filter is maintained through fluid updates to the system. Software has to ‘check’ every single request, creating a bottleneck that it is a single point of failure. If the bottleneck becomes overwhelmed or crashes, no Internet traffic will be able to pass into or out of the company.

In terms of time and cost, a dedicated Internet filtering appliance requires less maintenance than a software-based filtering system. The database is maintained on the appliance filtering device, where it can be updated automatically with new sites, protocols and even port activities in order to block port-hopping servers. Software filters require manual updates and again, require all traffic to travel through that one single point of failure.

The cost of maintaining both is measured by what each type of service provides. While investing in an Internet filtering appliance may not be feasible for a very small company with only a handful of employees, software based programs are not scaled for handling large loads. The costs of failing software filters are more likely to impact a company’s revenues than the investment in an Internet filtering appliance.

The ultimate task of a Web filter is to filter both incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. The Web filtering solution you choose must be able to protect employees from visiting sites that do not match the Acceptable Usage Policy while also protecting the company from the financial, legal and security ramifications of employee Internet activity. An appliance-based Internet filter protects a company’s assets, reputation, employees and their bandwidth in one package.

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Cyber Bingo Security

Let's look at why websites place a high priority on maintaining the best cyber bingo security and privacy policies for their players.

Playing cyber bingo is really fun and many players are logging onto bingo websites to gain access to their favorite online game. The reason this game is so popular is because the game is readily available to anyone around the world. To begin playing online bingo all you need to do is deposit money into your bingo account and purchase a few bingo cards.

Becoming a member of an online bingo hall like http:www.bingodrome.com takes less than 2 minutes. You simply need to enter some of your personal details, deposit money into your account and you're ready to play.

Online bingo sites need to safely store the personal information about all their members and therefore every online bingo site places a high priority on developing or maintaining the best cyber bingo security systems.

If someone were to break into a database containing details of every member they would have access to thousands of different credit card details and other important information.

Most online bingo halls employ a number of security levels into their cyber bingo security systems to ensure that no one can gain unauthorized access to their databases.

1) A completely separate server is used to store the personal details of the bingo sites' members.

2) Every online bingo site employs secure socket layer (SSL) encryption software. SSL uses 128-bit encryption to protect all data sent between the casino and the player and to protect the data sent between the bingo site and credit card companies.

3) To further protect your details, most online casinos do not store your full credit card number. Only the first and last four numbers are stored in their database.

4) The casino tracks the IP addresses of all it members and will be able to trace anyone who accesses your account.

In many ways online bingo gaming is a lot safer than playing at a live bingo hall. You can enjoy your online bingo experience safe in the knowledge that your personal details are kept 100% secure.

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What You Have Been Dying To Know About Fraud

Since the inception of the information technology and the technological advancement of the marketing industry, many people are engaging into fraudulent activities. This is because they are able to gain financial gains and advantages to people through easier and faster means.

For this reason, authorities had been trying to suppress the growing trend of various frauds that are currently affecting thousands, if not millions of people.

Basically, fraud is a kind of trickery that is used for the individual’s benefits, mostly on the financial aspect. These kinds of frauds are absolutely punishable by law, though, its implementation and intensity may vary from one place to another.

In Criminal Law

In the context of criminal law, a fraud is absolutely punishable under certain circumstances that will constitute the deception of a certain individual from which personal gain of the fraudulent person is achieved.

Some of the common frauds that are abhorred by the law are:

1. False advertising

This refers to the achievement of some personal gains of the person concerned by give the wrong impression about a particular service, product, or a business. This can be executed by providing deceptive information projected in unreliable forms of advertisements.

2. Identity theft

In the credit card industry, identity theft is the common type of fraud. This is when the identity of the credit card user is stolen for the personal benefit of the person who wants to gain some financial access to the user’s finances.

There are instances that the criminal may use the identity of the credit card user to make some purchases, in which, the victim’s credit card is used. In turn, the victim will receive billing statements containing such purchases that he or she did not personally created.

There are also some cases wherein the identity of the victim is used to create some crimes, in which, after establishing such acts, they contact the person and blackmail him by asking some money in exchange of eliminating any criminal acts that were constituted through his name.

3. Forgery

This is also one type of frauds where the documents are obtained and processed with the purpose of using them to deceive other people or institution.

In this process, the person who ant to deceive other people will obtain documents that are fake, reproduced, replicas, or explicit reproductions of the original material. There are also some documents that may be originally done but the signatures that should have signified the authenticity of the document is forged.

The very concept of this kind of fraud is to modify an object to suit the personal gains of the offender.

4. False billing

This refers to the fraudulent undertaking of charging or creating billing statements to a particular person or an institution. Here, the criminals will extract money from these people, in which, the concerned person will think that it is part of his or her subscription on a certain company.

In this way, people may be deceived that they have been issued some renewal of their subscriptions, for example, but in reality, the true owner of such establishment that issues subscriptions are not aware of it.

5. Insurance claims

These refers to the act of deceiving the insurance provider under the guise of claiming the due claims and benefits.

For instance, there are some people who create “fake deaths” in order to claim the insurance benefits provided by the individual’s insurance provider.

These are just some of the many examples of frauds. All of which are punishable under the law.

Hence, if you think that you have been victimized based on the examples given, it is best to take some actions properly, otherwise, you will be left hanging on the brink of disaster.

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Paypal Fraud, Paypal Email Scams and Avoiding Paypal Phishing

To access a Paypal account you need to have the username and password of the account. The username of a Paypal account is the main email address (primary email address) used to register the account. The owner of the account would also set up a password to be used along with the username to access the account. The security system is quite secure as long as the username and password of the Paypal account are known only to the actual owner of the account. If these details are available to anyone else it would mean that the security of that Paypal account has been compromised. Anyone acquiring the username and password of any Paypal account can access and perform all functions that the actual owner of the account could do.

In this article we will try to explain in simple terms how confidential login information of an actual Paypal account owner can be robbed and misused. We will then provide important and simple suggestions that would reduce the chances of such a fraud being committed on your Paypal account.


(a) Being careless with your information: This type of Paypal fraud can be committed very easily and does not require too much effort on the part of the fraudster. Users very often write down their login details for various websites with the fear of forgetting them. Anyone having access to these written details can login to the Paypal account and treat the account as if it was his own. Another possibility that could easily open a Paypal account to fraud is when the user selects a very simple or easy password that can be easily guessed. People with bad intentions need to make a few guesses before they arrive at the correct password to enter the Paypal account. These are the simplest ways in which a Paypal fraud can be committed and they do not require any email scam to be done.


(b) Identity theft through a Paypal email scam: Paypal phishing or identity theft as it is commonly known, involves an attempt by a fraudster to extract the login details of a Paypal account from the actual owner of the account. Armed with these detais, the fraudster can be very dangerous as full control of the Paypal account can be excercised. In this case, emails will be randomly sent to many email addresses informing the receiver of a certain activity in their Paypal account. For these Paypal email scams to work, the receiver of the email will need to login to his Paypal account by clicking a link on the email. The exact contents of each Paypal email scam might differ but the objective remains the same. Once the user clicks the link in the email, he is taken to a web page that closely resembles a regular Paypal login page. This page is infact a fake and is hosted by the fraudster (not Paypal) with the sole purpose of collecting confidential login details from the actual owner of the Paypal account. If the owner of the Paypal account falls for this trick, his account will soon be operated by the fraudster and this could lead to heavy losses. Attempts to phish Paypal accounts have become quite common and each time a fraudster unleashes his cruel trick a number of innocent Paypal accounts become victims.

The above two methods account for a major share of Paypal frauds and Paypal email scams being committed in recent times. It is not very difficult to stay clear from these frauds and we provide some useful suggestions to help you. You really do not have to give up using your Paypal account with the fear of it being misused or phished by someone else. The internet provides numerous advantages when it comes to selling and buying online and to surrender these benefits to a pack of fradusters would be sad.


Avoiding Paypal fraud and Paypal email scams.
(1) About your Paypal password: Choose a password that is not very easy to guess. Using your first or last name for your Paypal password is not a very good idea. Paypal frauds can be committed easily if you note your pass word in places that are accessible to others. Change your password periodically and whenever you suspect that you have become a victim of a Paypal email scam or other type of Paypal fraud.

(2) Clicking links to login: Never click links on emails to access your Paypal account. Always use your web browser and type in the complete name of the Paypal website to login. Paypal email scams urge you to click a link on the email and access your website. The login information is then saved to a website that is not a Paypal website. This allows fraudsters to login to your Paypal account and make transactions on your account.

(3) Periodic account check: Login to your account periodically and look for any strange or unexpected transactions. The transactions could relate to a receipt or payment of money. If you notice any abnormal movement in your Paypal account, consider it to be a Paypal fraud and inform Paypal immediately. Also change the password immediately to reduce the chances of further damage.

(4) Logging out of your account: If you are in the habit of logging into your Paypal account and then leaving the active account minimized on your browser, you could be helping someone commit frauds on your Paypal account very easily. Such security lapses do not require email scams or other methods. Always logout of your Paypal account once you have finished working on it or when you will not be using it for a couple of minutes.



Follow the above suggestions and you will be pleased with the results. Your Paypal account will be a lot safer and you will at the same time, reap the benefits of transacting online. The contents of this article have been compiled by the network team at Kaisilver. We request you to forward this link to all your friends and acquaintences, they will be grateful that you let them know about a safe way to work with their Paypal account.

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Phishing, Fraudulent and Malicious Websites

Whether we like it or not, we are all living in the Information Age. We have nothing left but adapt to rapidly developing information technology, no matter who we are and what we do for living.

The Internet, in particular, means for us boundless opportunities in life and business – but also lots of dangers unheard of just a decade ago. We should be aware of these dangers if we want to use the huge potential of the Internet and to avoid the hazards it brings us.

Warning: There are Websites You'd Better Not Visit

Phishing websites

Thanks to authors of numerous articles on this topic, "classic" phishing technique is relatively well known. This scam involves setting bogus websites and luring people to visit them, as a rule, by links in emails. Phishing website is disguised to look like a legitimate one -- of a bank or a credit card company, and users are invited to provide their identifying information. Sites of this kind are used solely to steal users' passwords, PIN numbers, SSNs and other confidential information.

At first phishing consisted only of a social engineering scam in which phishers spammed consumer e-mail accounts with letters ostensibly from banks. The more people got aware of the scam, the less spelling mistakes these messages contained, and the more these fraudulent websites resembled legitimate ones. Phishers are getting smarter. They eagerly learn; there is enough money involved here to turn criminals into earnest students.

Since about November 2004 there has been a lot of publications of a scheme which at first was seen as a new kind of phishing. This technique includes contaminating a PC with a Trojan horse program. The problem is that this Trojan contains a keylogger which lurks at the background until the user of the infected PC visits one of the specified websites. Then the keylogger comes to life to do what it was created for -- to steal information.

It seems that this technique is actually a separate scam aimed at stealing personal information and such attacks are on the rise. Security experts warn about commercialisation of malware -- cybercriminals prefer cash to fun, so various kinds of information-stealing software are used more actively.

Fraudulent websites are on the rise

Websense Security Labs -- a well-known authority in information security -- noticed a dramatic rise in the number of fraudulent websites as far back as in the second half of 2004. These sites pose as ones for e-commerce; they encourage users to apply for a reward or purchase something, of course never delivering the product or paying money. The most popular areas for such fraud are online pharmacies, lottery scams, and loan / mortgage sites. Experts predict there will be more fake merchants in future and their scams will become more sophisticated.

Malicious websites are especially dangerous. Cybercriminals create them exclusively to execute malicious code on the visitors' computers. Sometimes hackers infect legitimate sites with malicious code.

Bad news for blog readers: blogs can be contaminated, too. Since January, Websense Security Labs has discovered hundreds of these "toxic" blogs set by hackers.

When unsuspecting users visit malicious sites, various nasty applications are downloaded and executed on their computers. Unfortunately, more and more often these applications contain keyloggers--software programs for intercepting data.

Keyloggers, as it is clear from the name of the program, log keystrokes --but that's not all. They capture everything the user is doing -- keystrokes, mouse clicks, files opened and closed, sites visited. A little more sophisticated programs of this kind also capture text from windows and make screenshots (record everything displayed on the screen) – so the information is captured even if the user doesn't type anything, just opens the views the file.

In February and March 2005, Websense Security Labs researched and identified about 8-10 new keylogger variants and more than 100 malicious websites which are hosting these keyloggers EACH WEEK. From November of 2004 through December 2004 these figures were much smaller: 1-2 new keylogger variants and 10-15 new malicious websites per week. There is by all means a disturbing tendency--the number of brand-new keyloggers and malicious website is growing, and growing rapidly.

What a user can do to avoid these sites?

As for phishing, the best advice is not to click any links in any email, especially if it claims to be from a bank.

Opening an attachment of a spam message can also trigger the execution of malicious program, for example a keylogger-containing Trojan horse.

As for fraudulent websites, maybe buying goods only from trusted vendors will help -- even if it is a bit more expensive.

As for malicious websites… "Malicious websites that host adult entertainment and shopping content can exploit Internet Explorer vulnerabilities to run code remotely without user interaction."(a quote from Websense's report). What can a user do about it? Not much, but avoiding adult sites and buying only from known and trusted online stores will reduce the risk.

Hackers also attract traffic to malicious websites by sending a link through spam or spim (the analog of spam for instant messaging (IM). So a good advice never follow links in spam is worth remembering once more.

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Detect Spyware and Adware and Remove It Without Spending a Dime

Adware and spyware have become a world-wide computer problem from using the World Wide Web. They have turned into malware because of their viral and extremely hostile behavior. Along with the hazards of identity theft and deceit at hand on the Internet, adware and spyware can be other than merely irritating. Here are some methods to detect spyware and adware and remove or merely avoid the adware and spyware and not outlay a dime on the most recent "anti-virus" software, such as Spyware Nuker.

1. USE Firefox. If you don't use the Internet very much, then maybe you don't understand a good deal concerning Firefox. All you need to comprehend is that it is a browser that performs VERY nicely and has excellent security protection.

2. DO NOT USE Microsoft Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is similar to Swiss cheese. It seems to have an endless supply of security holes. Microsoft is ceaselessly sending out patches to fix all the flaws in the Internet Explorer 6.X and prior versions of the browser. Even though it can be "secured" by adding to thesecurity it may give away much of its functionality when set to highest security when specific exploitable features are turned off.

3. Use a software or hardware firewall (not only Windows XP Service Pack 2's firewall). This may be thought to be expensive and difficult to do but it is not. If you use a DSL or broadband cable connection your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have issued you a DSL/Cable router that has a a firewall included with it. All you need to do is switch it on. This may force you to spend a few minutes to read the instructions.

If your ISP did not deliver you a DSL or Cable broadband router that includes a firewall you can shell out anywhere from $20 -$60 (or occasionally even cheaper when it includes a mail-in rebate) to get a router. If you use DSL you would require a DSL router. If you use Cable broadband ISP you would need a Cable Router. Brands such as Linksys have already built in firewalls and a feature known as NAT, Network Address Translation, which is extremely effective because it hides your actual IP address from the Internet. All routers are sold with directions on how to hook them up. If you desire to maintain you computer security free, merely use a free software firewall.

4. Detect Spyware and Adware using free Anti-spyware, anti-adware software. Lavasoft's Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy are two superb methods of restoring your system for free. Majorgeeks.com is a favorite and trustworthy freeware website that has these and several additional outstanding spyware/adware cleaning and malware preventing software (including free downloadable firewalls).

The best approach is to use ALL of the options. Remaining proactive by surfing using a suitable browser and obtaining a firewall is critical, but it likewise helps to beware of other good anti-adware/spyware applications. If you get hit with a genuinely foul bit of malware that can not be cleaned using Adaware or Spybot, dig up yourself a geek. There are numerous big forums on the Internet committed to accomplishing nothing but to detect spyware and adware and remove them and other malware. In all likelihood if your computer is contaminated with it, hundreds of others prior to you have been contaminated and have previously figured out how to get rid of the malware.

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