If you are using Linux and you have been wondering what you can use to make your system secure via a firewall, you could try out tools with graphical user interface and all those other stuff. In any case, there’s also another method: using iptables.

What are iptables?

iptables are used by system administrators in creating rules for packet filtering, as well as NAT modules. It might seem a little too weird for those who have not much experience on the command line but this is essential so that people would be able to make sure that they are secure, especially if they are connected. Sometimes you never know what’s going on in the background, right? But with tools like this, you’d manage.

There are different states of connection and the nice thing about iptables is that it monitors the state of the connection. It could do redirects and modify or stop data packets. Because of its ability to detect the state of the connection, it is considered as better compared to ipchains.

Making rules

The system administrator makes the rules for the iptables. These rules determine how to deal with network packets. They are grouped into chains.

a. filter table – For filtering packets, obviously.
b. nat table – This sets up how rewriting ports and packets.
c. mangle table – Does it sound terrible? Mangle? But as the name implies, there is some mangling involved because it adjusts packet options.

The thing about these chains, these rules is that the packets that go through these chains would be evaluated according to the rules.

As one of the people I know have told me, you must make sure that you check out the settings of your computer first. Before you even think about downloading anything, make sure you are not vulnerable to some attacks that could happen. Make sure that the important ports are closed and that you’re in stealth. Stay tuned for more IT security tips and news to help you in your everyday life.

Tags: computers, IT Security Basics, Network Security, networking, security

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security

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There are different ways of creating passwords for your computer and online accounts. It seems like these days, the usual six characters as length of passwords is not enough. There are sites that when you sign up and you give your desired password, they will let you know whether or not your password is strong. Most of the sites that have it even point out that it is better to have characters that are more than six characters long. For another, they usually recommend that you have numbers and letters in your password. Mixing up uppercase characters along with it is also recommended. Sounds tough, right? Because the the passwords would seem random or something like it.

Here are some tips from different people so that you could have more secure passwords that you could easily remember:
1. Use two words with six characters each.
If you have two words, you have a twelve character long password. But here’s the clincher. You have to make some funky code that you would be replacing some of the letters with numbers. So it could be that every two letter you could replace the letters with numbers that have some signifance or maybe some random numbers.
There are people would use the names of their pets and something else that is totally random and those are combined by mixing the letters, alternating each letter.
2. Use some other language and make a phrase. Then turn it into leet speak.
It is similar to the first suggestion. However this takes it a step further because it will involve other countries’ languages. It is as if you are writing code indeed.
3. Have around three sets of passwords.
Rotate among these three passwords that you have. And change your passwords every so often. At least this makes it more difficult for others to find you your passwords.

Tags: IT Security Basics, Tips

Categories: IT Security Basics, Tips

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Blogs are popularly being read on RSS aggregators these days. That or via Atom feeds and recently, it has been said that attackers could use Javascript to take advantage of this. According to an article on USA Today, this could be any kind of information as long as it is in this format. In the said article, you could also find out the list of vulnerable readers: Bloglines, RSS Reader, RSS Owl, Feed Demon, and Sharp Reader.

This kind of news is actually not so new. Mark Pilgrim was one of the bloggers who has written about this before. He even set up an experiment of sorts, wherein subscribers to his blog feed saw a screen full of platypi. He has mentioned in his blog entry that the difficulty with RSS is that there is a lot of arbitrary HTML and it could include Javascript — it could be malicious Javascript as designed by some attackers. Mark Pilgrim even listen down the elements that should be stripped off by RSS readers, just to be safe:
script tags, embed tags, object tags, frameset tags, iframe tags, meta tags, link tags, style tags, style attributes from every tag.

If you are always subscribing to different blogs, forums and mailing lists through RSS, you should be careful about it. If there are comments RSS, you could also take precautionary measures by not subscribing to it. It is possible to get attacked through the RSS of comments. Aside from that, if you have set up your own personal aggregator, make sure that you have a ’smart’ aggregator which strips off the said tags. If you have an aggregator on your computer, check if it is vulnerable. Maybe you could install something else that isn’t prone to attacks via RSS. It is better to be secure after all.

Tags: IT Security Basics, Malware, News, Tips

Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, News, Tips

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Harmful objects can be obtained from the web. We are all aware that Malware and Trojans are rampant objects that have been wandering of anywhere on the Internet, especially websites that are often visited by people for reference and information. Such sites would get hijacked and also contaminate visiting users as well, something that can be done through Internet cookies stored on the web folder in the machines.

While developers and security administrators have religiously searched for ways to find such solutions, the ever changing development of new threats coming from the Internet has been far from over. To date, even the well-protected workstations can still be penetrated by objects that are not immediately visible.

Internet fences in the form of firewalls and software protection templates have tried to stop such intrusions but need to be updated frequently to answer the related threats. Without such temporary fences that are up, workstations are sitting ducks waiting to be shot, and if web administrators are not up to date with the new threats, the fences used are good as gone once they occur.

Tags: firewall, Malware, Spyware, trojans

Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Physical Security, Security Policies, Spyware

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Phishing over the web can be typified with that of trying to get personal information for mischievous use. Receiving unsolicited emails coming from unknown origins which would make you believe that you have won something in a lottery or a sweepstakes contest are the common forms of phishing.

The people who send you these emails are merely after your personal information. They would get information such as credit card numbers, bank accounts, and other useful information to which they can use over the web, an open space of being able to transact with a lot of security breaches that most people know today.

Some would even provide links to certain pages which are professionally done, all the more deceiving a person that the offer is for real. But the next time you get such e-mails from an unknown source, all you have to do is just think about it for a second. How can you get such mails from someone or something that you don’t even remember joining? The rest is history.

Tags: deception, e-mails, phishing, spam, web-extortion, web-swindling

Categories: IT Security Basics, Privacy & Anonymity, Tips

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Among the features that most mobile phones have today is that of features that include the Bluetooth and Infrared connectivity as a means of wireless connections. While such advancements has made it easier for people to transfer files such as images and sounds from one phone to another, it also becomes a loophole to allow viruses to infect the operating system of mobile phones today.

Worms such as Cabir, have become the onslaught of rampant mobile phone intrusions, something that uses the Bluetooth connectivity as a means of infecting mobile phones of today. Once they get through, malfunctions and error messages are sure to ensue, making it a need for the software systems of mobile phones of today to be either formatted or disinfected with available anti-virus and worm removers such as Panda Software.

Inconvenient as it may seem, it is advisable for mobile phone owners to refrain from activating their Bluetooth connections to avoid such infections and untoward intrusions at any time.

Tags: bluetooth, cabir, connectivity, viruses, worms

Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, Operating Systems, Real-World Issues, Spyware, Tips, Wireless Security

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Trojans hacks and worms can easily enter a person’s computer by a mere click of a link. Instant messaging, the new trend in adhering towards faster and easier communication anywhere in the world has been enhanced thoroughly, going to the extent of allowing links to be followed, sometimes generated automatically from infected computers. Such are done even when offline messages are left, such as in Yahoo Messenger issues.

The best way to avoid such links is to refrain from clicking on links without prior notice from the actual user. While most people would rely heavily on the level of relationship that they would have with their online buddy, it is still best to double check and verify before proceeding on the site link.

Being infected is quite painful that it leads to even formatting the entire system. This holds true for people who are not aware or have the time to clean it manually and methodically. Hence, the best way is to be more cautious, especially when peculiar links are met.

Tags: hijack, Instant Messaging, trojans, worms, yahoo-messenger

Categories: IM, IT Security Basics, Instant Messaging, Malware, Spyware, Wireless Security

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Living at home means that you have to share your computer with other people. In some companies, people also share workstations in case that they have different work shifts. In any case, it is important for you to make sure that your files are safe. Especially those that you use for work and those that contain confidential information.

Here are some tips for you:

• Make sure you are using a password that is not easy to guess.
  If people know you well enough, they could probably figure out what password you will use. People tend to use passwords based on words, names and dates that important to them. Examples are pets‘ names and anniversaries. If you do this, chances are those who know you will be able to log in your computer using your account. Try changing your passwords every so often and make sure that they will be easy for you to remember but difficult to guess. Think of some cipher for it.
• Set permissions on your files and directories.
  You could set that your files and directories will only be accessible to you. Do a chmod on them. Then again, whoever has root access will be able to get through. Maybe it would be easy for you to do this if you are the one with root access.
• Protect your files with passwords.
  Although not everyone agrees with this, some people do this for their own sake. They feel better to have password protected files. A drawback, of course, is that if it has a difficult password to remember, you might as well have deleted your files.
• Log out of your account or profile.
  If you have set your file permissions that you are the only one who can view, edit and execute the files, it will be pointless if you don’t log out. When you are the one who is still logged on, you leave your entire session open for intrusion.

Hopefully these tips have helped you deal with some of your dilemmas with regards to sharing your computer with other users.

Tags: computers, General, IT Security Basics, omputers, people, Privacy-&-Anonymity, Real-World Issues, security, Tips

Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues, Tips

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Viruses and malware issues are far from being a thing of the past. On the contrary, they seem to grow large by numbers as each day passes. Thus the works of security software companies have their work cut out for them. There is not definite date to which such threats and intrusions would wholly be resolved.

For the time being, it would be advisable for people to scan third party storage devices such as diskettes, USB drives and mobile storages to be safe and sound. These wandering viruses can attack at any time and this is a fact anywhere computer related materials are concerned.

Files can go as far as infecting the executable files, hence document, excel and compiled scripts are baits for immediate infection and malicious intrusions. Software applications also have their limits as their development teams cater only to a specific genre for known harmful files. But it is better to lower the risk of intrusion than not having protection at all.

[tags]scan, spyware, virus, infections, spyware, malware, trojans[/tags]

Tags: infections, Malware, scan, Spyware, trojans, virus

Categories: Backups, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Operating Systems, Programming, Real-World Issues, Security Policies, Spyware, Storage, Tips, Wireless Security

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The world of cyber-crime has grown so much in these past few years due to the explosion of growth with respect to the number of internet users the world over. It has not only expanded on the side of normal people but on the side of cyber-criminals who now operate on their own networks, spanning the globe and ready to spread their products, malicious code that first scans the globe for weak points in the security net that we all put up to somewhat give us a sense of security from the ever-growing threat which is actually futile to some extent. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, News, Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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