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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In every office, you have to have some policies when it comes to sharing of files and downloading of files. Why? For one thing, those computers are the company’s resources. And it should be that during work hours, people ought to limit their downloads except for materials that are necessary for their work to get done.

How do you formulate your policies when it comes to these matters?

If you are working in a creative environment, anything could be used as your inspiration. That is why there are companies who allow surfing within office hours and it does not really matter what sites you visit. Although some of them do block some sites that are mainly of the personal nature like Friendster, My Space and other similar sites. There are also some that ban blogging services like Blogger. They would even issue memos regarding the matter.

If you work in a strictly confidential project, it would be difficult to try to make sure that nothing leaks out. If you are connected via the Internet, chances are your works could be intercepted in one way or another by hackers. So you have to be careful that you have firewall activated. As others would say, just block off everything except interoffice email.

Employees must be briefed carefully so that they will not be surprised in case they were surfing the ‘net one time and they find out that there are blocked sites. Also, you have to make sure you observe how the employees work. Those in the financial business would have to guard a lot of information. They would have to ensure that the employees understand the policies and that they would follow them in order to ensure that everything will be secure. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. You would not want to lose your valuable clients.

Tags: internet, office, Real-World Issues, security, Security Policies, work

Categories: Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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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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To date, Facebook is perhaps the most successful and widespread social networking site. It has transcended age and race, and practically everyone I know has an account. It has so much to offer, hence the amount of time that the average person spends on Facebook has skyrocketed in the past months. Even businesses and employers use Facebook to make their presence felt online!

But in spite of the allure and usefulness of Facebook, it does have some security issues. All the information that one enters can be accessed by the site AND its third party partners. With each application a user “allows,” his information is accessed, probably even shared with others. Unless a user changes the default privacy settings, practically anyone can access his information. This is something that not everyone really thinks about.

But the Canadian government found these issues important. In fact, the pressured Facebook to create some changes with regard to security. Thanks to them, several tweaks have been enacted. PCWorld featured this move and outlined the fixes.

One, Facebook had to fix the way applications access users data:

Apps will have to tell the user what information it wants and get express consent from the user beforehand. Information will be split into categories, which the user can check off before installing. Developers will also have to explain how that personal data will be used.

Two, what happens to a user’s information if he deactivates his account?

Users will be given an option to either deactivate or delete their accounts. Upon deactivation, they’ll be notified of the option to delete, and can elect to do so should they want all their data gone for good.

Three, what will happen to your account if you die?

Facebook will explain in its privacy policy what happens to an account after its owner passes away.

My thoughts – one and two are quite valid. Three, I am not so sure. You’ll be dead, why would you care? In any case, I wonder if Facebook will apply these fixes to the whole system or just for their Canadian users?

Tags: facebook, privacy settings, security, Social Networking, web sites

Categories: News, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues

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If you are apprehensive regarding the competence of your current anti-virus software, do not fret. You can replace it with another one as long as you want but eventually you will grow tired of choosing which is really reliable. With that said, what would be a good alternative?

Online scanning has been around and while many don’t trust them, at least there is a separate device that can thoroughly check your computer and see if there are issues as far as viruses and malware is concerned. For sure, you will be getting reports on which files may need scrutiny. There will be definitely some high risk files, normally found in the cookies or temporary Internet folder, that can be detected.

Now comes the hard part. When they detect these malicious files, they can clean it as well. But before that happens, you have to pay them a hefty sum to do it. The scanning part is the freebie, it is the cleaning that will really cost you.

It is a familiar site we see from trialware software. Before you can enjoy the full protection, you have to register and pay for it. The same is the concept of online scanning services. Panda Software, McAfee and so on have been offering this service and they are surely better and safer.

Accuracy is not a problem. You can even see for yourself by basing the performance after it has been cleaned. You may be surprised to find that your computer operates faster than before. Perhaps because the malicious files are gone which are slowing your computer? You Bet!

Tags: online scanning, panda, security

Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Security Policies, Tips

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Perhaps the leading software companies of Kaspersky and AVG have finally gotten sick of being ripped off. If you will notice today, they have tightened their main flagship carrier, the virus definition updates and unless you have a truly certified copy, you will be blocked from enjoying the actual usefulness of the software for full-protection against viruses and Trojans online.

Apparently, some online users have used other mediums to be able to download and wisely crack full versions of anti-virus software. But while the program is easily downloadable, unless you have proper virus definitions, you are not really that protected. In fact, they are just additions to your system to which you may eventually be better off without them due to the load that they carry.

Download agents like file-sharing online has become a good source for most. Torrents are famous for this but this includes being susceptible to malware and Trojans, files familiar if you are fond of getting them free. These said files come complete with cracks and serial code generators, initially making users believe that they saved a lot of money from the official and licensed versions.

But today, you may see that certain updates are monitored and while you may have more than one serial for full version capability, you will be eventually blocked by their network, showing you that your serial has been blacklisted and place you in the trial version state.

Anti-virus protection is important. But to get supreme protection, you have to pay for it. So if you want to worry free protection, it would be best to get the licensed version. Say goodbye to the freebies and of course the Trojans.

Tags: anti-virus, security, software, updates, virus definition files

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, Spyware

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Here is another loophole for all iPhone enthusiasts and it has something to do with a security hole that has been categorized as a minor glitch by apple. Apparently the immediate resolution for this security hole is to reset the settings but the real issue has to do with potential openings given to attackers that can exploit the security holes and get access to files or maybe even do some mischief as most hackers are known to do.

Apple spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock said, “The minor iPhone security issue which surfaced this week is fixed in a software update which will be released in September.”

There is a simple workaround, Bowcock said: iPhone owners can simply change the settings so double-clicking the emergency button returns a user to the home screen, which will present a password login field if password protection is turned on.

Source

So a patch will be released by September and hopefully this issue will die down. But expect new problems to crop up once this has been settled. Being in the limelight and open for criticism is bound to result in a lot of things that should be considered and apparently iPhone has to be ready for them.

For a gadget that costs a lot, the iPhone is in for a lot of rougher sailing from the users and the critics. But before we advance a bit, it would be best to see first if this security glitch will be resolved with their so-called patch software due for release.

Tags: access, Apple, iphone, passcode, security

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, News, Operating Systems, Real-World Issues

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For many people, adding technology is not always like a bed of roses. In fact, heightened security measures like eye scanners and thumb print access do not sit that well with them. Apparently there are people who want to be on time for appointments or simply by their desk at record time. With these new gadgets, they have to consider some time constraints since verification must be done before they are granted entry.

But much of this is not really to make lives hard. It is meant for sectional security. Any part of an office today is really important. These measures were normally restricted to the computer rooms where servers have to be heavily safeguarded. These days, it goes as far as the main entrance of a building.

While many consider them as discomforts, there are for safety measures not only for the company but for personal interests as well. When something goes wrong these days, suspects and culprits are enumerated. Through this added security, the list goes down and may even exclude innocent people who were not even around during occurrence.

A little bit of consideration is in order though. Personal access also includes the diligence to ensure that you don’t go out sharing the same with other people your access codes or passwords. That is a cardinal sin. If through this effort an authorized user is unable to safeguard his access, then it can only lead to trouble and perhaps put him in a deeper hole.

Tags: eye scanners, passwords, security, thumbprint

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, Physical Security, Tips

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As far as security when it comes to computer or network access is concerned, does the real beef in being safe and secure really lie in passwords? There are about billions of potential combinations before a hacker can be able to find out your password but just the same, there are other ways to get it like phishing or probably common passwords that some take for granted these days.

Unless you have been among the many victims of being hacked for access on certain programs or events, chances are you may not even care if and when another person would suddenly gather interest in hacking your account. Surely, not all people may have something interesting to go all through the trouble of but just the same, the bragging rights and distinction of being able to crack the access granted to a certain program, site or email is still vulnerable.

Passwords are slowly losing their use. They are indeed security precautions but perhaps the best person to make sure that they still serve their purpose would be the person who is given access. It is not all about making it hard to guess but making sure that you are the only one who knows it by heart and mind.

Also, do not be content with being assigned one. You should have the freedom to set your own password without anyone knowing it. This is one thing about security administration these days. Administrators should not be the only one to set passwords but the actual users themselves.

Tags: access, hackers, passwords, phishing, security

Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Tips

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Facebook and other popular social networking sites today have another thing to consider and this is concerned with the security risks that they may become susceptible with. Bear in mind, one thing that hackers and malicious-minded geeks want to do is to test the mettle of successful sites and Facebook happens to be one of them today.

Such a task is something that has to be addressed by successful developing companies such as Facebook. With a growing network and rising popularity, hackers and scammers pry on their success to be popular as well. But knowing how much developers have invested in these sites, you can almost be assured that they have thought of that. But considering the level of security is another thing since it only takes one minor flaw to make life a living hell for online and social networking sites.

We have seen sites in the past encounter such problems. While it would be best to avoid waiting to be another victim, Facebook and other social networking sites would do well to make sure they don’t limit their investment in this aspect. After earning millions from successful sponsorships and adsense earnings, the least they can do is put a portion of these earnings into site security.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are fast emerging as some of the most fertile grounds for malicious software, identity thieves and online mischief-makers. And while some of the talks given here at Black Hat, one of the larger hacker conferences in the country, would probably make most people want to avoid the sites altogether, it turns out that staying off these networks may not be the safest option, either.

Source

Tags: facebook, internet, Scams, security

Categories: IT Security Basics, News, Programming

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