Complete List of Holiday Homes/Touring GuestHouses

List of Holiday Homes/Touring Guest Houses under the control of Directorate of Estates CPWD, their addresses and the name of the Allotting agency

SL.No.	Name of the Stations	No.of Suites	Location	Allotting Authority
Touring Officers Hostel
1	Kolkata	52	Nizam Palace,234/4 Acharya J.C., Bose Road,Calcutta-20 Tel: 033-2402473	Estate Manager, 5-Esplanade East, Kolkata-700069. Tel:033-22482747/ 22486333 Fax No.033-22482747
2	Mumbai	10	(1) Pratishta Bhavan,101, M.K. Road (Near Church Gate) Mumbai-20	Estate Manager, Pratishta Bhavan, 101- M.K. Road, Mumbai-400020 Tel: 022-22031276 Fax: 022-22031276
	Mumbai	17	(2) Central Government Multistoreyed Apartments Hyderabad Estate, Napean Sea Road (Opp. Priyadarshni Park, Mumbai) Tel: 022-23630316	--do--
3	Chennai	10	(1) Shastri Bhavan, 26- Haddows Road, Chennai-600006 Tel: 044-28277759	Asstt. Estate Manager, 1st floor, Shastri Bhavan, 26- Haddows Road, Chennai –600006 Tel: 044-28277759
	Chennai	21	(2) ‘G’ Wing, CGO Complex, Rajaji Bhavan, Basant Nagar, Chennai-600090	Chief Engineer (SZ)I, CPWD, Rajaji Bhavan, Basant Nagar, Chennai-600090
4	Bangalore	5	(1) Central Govt. Officers Accommodation, Enquiry Office (Civil), CPWD Qrs. Domlur, Bangalore-560071	Executive Engineer, BCD-II, CPWD, ‘C’ Wing, II nd Floor, Kendriya Sadan, Koramangala, Bangalore-560034. Tel: 080-25535363
	Bangalore	39	(2) Central Govt. Guest House 17th Main, II Block. Koramangala, Bangalore-560034 Tel: 080-25522042	--do--
5	Thiruvananthapuram	4	CGO Complex, Vellyani P.O., Poonkulam, Thiruvananthapuram-695522	Executive Engineer, Trivendrum Central Division, CPWD, Vellayani P.O., Poonkulam, Thiruvananthapuram- 695522 Tel: 0471-2481733
6	Lucknow	4	Kendrachal Colony, Sector-K, Aliganj, Lucknow-226020	Executive Engineer,Lucknow Centeral Division -I,CPWD,GSI Flats, Aliganj,Lucknow - 226 020 Tel: 0522-2329032 Fax No :2329032
7.	Delhi	35	‘F’ Block, Curzon Road Hostel, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-1 Tel: 011-23389775	Dy Director of Estates (Hostel Section), Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi Tel: 011-23062423
8.	Vijayawada(Adavance Form)	9	GPOA Building,Autonagar,Vijayawada , Andhra Pradesh.	Dy. Director (Regions), Dte of Estates, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi. Tele: 011-23061749
9	Cochin	9	Transit Accommodation near Homeo Dispensary,Pulleppady,Kathrikkadavu, Cochin. Phone No. of Guest House is 0484-2400226	Executive Engineer-cum-Estate Manager, Cochin Central Division, CPWD, Cochin-37. For any information, contact Tele No.: 0484-423412
Rates of Touring Offices Hostel at Cochin Types of Suites/ Rooms Central Govt. employees on duty. (in Rs.) Central Govt. employees on leave. (in Rs.) Private persons accompanying as guest of Govt. employees. (in Rs.) Double bedded suites 100 120 265 Double bedded rooms 75 85 185
Holiday Homes
1	Shimla	109	Grand Hotel, The Mall, Shimla-171001 Tel: 0177-2658121	Asstt. Estate Manager, Grand Hotel, Shimla-171001 Tel: 0177-2658121 (Office) 0177-2652587 (Reception)
2	Kanyakumari	22	Holiday Home for Central Government Employees Kovalam Road (near Light House), Kanyakumari	Executive Engineer, Madurai Central Divn-I, CPWD, Madurai-625020 Tel: 2535940
3.	Amarkantak	2	Central Govt. Holiday Home, Amarkantak (with Madhya Pradesh Tourism)	Dy Director of Estates (Regions Section), Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi Tel: 011-23061749
4	Ooty	26	Holiday Home for Central Government Employees, Good Shed Road, Near Railway Station,Udagamandalam, Nilgiris,Tamilnadu	Asstt. Estate Manager, Shastri Bhavan, 26- Haddows Road, Chennai –600006 Tel: 044-28277759
5	Mysore	12	Holiday Home, CPWD Office Campus, T. Narasipur Road, Sidhartha Nagar, Mysore-570011 Tel: 0821-2473661	Executive Engineer, Mysore Central Division, CPWD, Nirman Bhavan, T. Narasipur Road, Sidhartha Nagar. Mysore-570011. Tel: 0821-2473649
6	Mussorrie Advance Reservation Form	3	Southwood Cottage in the ITBP campus near the library Chowk (Mall Road), Mussoorie.	Dy. Director of Estates (Regions Section),Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi. Tel. 011-23061749

(While prescribed forms are available in the Directorate of Estates for booking of suites in the 5 Holiday Homes
mentioned above applications for reservation in the Touring Officers Hostel can be made on plain papers only).

Tariff for Touring Officer's Hostel/Holiday Homes

A Touring Officer's Hostel

(Charges per day)

Category of accommodation	Serving Central Government employees on duty	Central Government employees on leave	Private persons accompanying as guest of Government employees
Single Bed Suite	Rs.15	Rs.25	Rs.100
Double Bed Suite	Rs.30	Rs.50	Rs.195
Dormitory/PA's Room	Rs.10	Rs.15	Rs.65
B Holiday Homes (except Grand Hotel, Shimla)
Category of accommodation	Serving Central Government employees on duty	Central Government employees on leave	Private persons accompanying as guest of Government employees
Single Bed Suite	Rs.25	Rs.25	Rs.115
Double Bed Suite	Rs.40	Rs.40	Rs.165
Four Bed Suite	Rs.50	Rs.50	Rs.245

Note:

Additional licence fee of Rs.10 from Govt Servants, Rs.15 from State Govt employees/Public Sector Undertakingand Rs.25 from private persons, will be charged for each additional person adjusted over and above the specified capacity of a suite.

In addition, charges @Rs.3.00 per day per bed for gyser and Rs.15.00 per day per AC ,wherever available, will be charged. Also in Shimla, blankets will be provided @Rs.2.50 per blanket per day.

Retired Govt. employees are charged at the rates applicable to the private persons for the stay in the Touring Officers Guesthouses. For holiday homes, they are charged at par with the Central Govt. employees, subject to the condition that no advance booking will be done.

Holiday Home (Grand Hotel Shimla)

Types of suites	Central Govt. employees on duty	Central Govt. employees on holiday/ Retired Central Govt. employees	Private persons accompanying as guest of Govt. employees
	Rs.	Rs.	Rs.
Single	70	140	350
Married Suite (2 beds)	105	210	525
Family Suite (4 beds)	140	280	700
VIP Suite (4 bed suite) Mayo Block	300	600	1800
Dormitory (per bed)	50	100	Rs.150/-

The rates for Grand Hotel Shimla would stand reduced by 50% during 16^th July to 30^th September and 16^th January to 31^st March

Source : http://cgda.nic.in/

What is the Internet?

The internet is a system of interconnected networks of computers that communicate easily to one another and exchange large amount of documents written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). The internet helps you find and share information. You can communicate with people via e-mail. You can chatt to others, shop online, listen to music, play games. You can also create your own online store and sell products. You can learn and study online. It is almost impossible to list all what you can use the internet for. Internet advertising has become one of the most effective ways of marketing products and can reach various places all over the world.

A very well known internet service is the World Wide Web (WWW). It is based on HyperText which is a set of rules in writing web pages with links to other pages. In WWW, the interaction of the client (computer seeking information) and the server (computer that has the information) is made possible by two important features of the web and these are the HTML language and the HTTP protocol which is a set of rules used to communicate between server and client. A server contains pages with information written in HTML language.

Fig. 1 - Client Server Relationship

Browsers such as the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Crome and Safari are software applications that may be used to navigate and view internet resources such as text and graphics. Once HTML pages reach your computer, browsers translate HTML documents into text and images and display them on your screen.

In order to use the internet, you need to connect to it and for this you need the following:

1. A computer
2. A broadband modem ( cable and ADSL) or a modem with a phone line. Note that broadband is much faster than phone line.
3. An Internet connection
4. An Internet account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP)- (a company that provides Internet access.)
5. A browser software such as Internet Explorer, Google Crome, Safari, ...

Courtesy : http://www.newtechnologysite.com

Computer Security Basics

David Young
Cytoclonal Pharmaceutics Inc.

The cardinal rule of security is that

No one thing makes a computer secure.

Making a computer secure requires a list of different actions for different reasons.

There is a secondary rule that says security is an on going process. No matter how well a system is designed, if it is never changed that gives any potential infiltrator all the time in the world to examine the security for flaws.

The information described here is neither detailed nor comprehensive. This should, however, serve as a good overview of the types of security measures sometimes taken. What measures are appropriate are best determined on a case by case basis.

Physical security

Theft is the physical threat of most concern and rightfully so. Keeping rooms locked is a good idea, but not always feasible. Keeping computers locked to a wall or table is a good deterrent against a casual, shoplifting style, theft but it will not deter a professional with a shopping list. We have seen a thief use a crow bar to remove a computer along with a portion of the formica table top (they were then foolish enough to take it to a repair shop with the table top still attached). There are very loud alarms which sound when the power cable is unplugged. A combination of locks and alarms is an excellent theft prevention system for computer labs which must be publicly accessible, particularly at late hours.

Computer hardware is protected from fire damage by smoke detectors and sprinkler systems just like any other equipment. Computers are unique in that the most costly damage is the loss of data which can be prevented by storing back up tapes in remote locations.

Surge protectors and uninterruptable power supplies are a low cost investment that can save very costly equipment damage. These are particularly important if the computer must be used continuously or if your region is prone to severe thunder storms or frequent power outages. Some surge protectors have the ability to protect the phone line going to a modem also. The modem and mother board can be more readily damaged by lightning hitting a phone line than by lightning hitting the power lines because the computer power supply provides a minimal amount of protection.

Data integrity

Backing up data is the single most important step in preventing data loss. Entire companies have gone out of business due to losing valuable information. An enormous amount of man hours are spent every year reproducing information which was lost in some manner. Back ups can be on removable disks, tapes, paper printouts or other computer systems. It is important to periodically put copies of these back ups in remote physical locations to prevent loosing the orignal and back up data through fire, etc.

In today's world, virus protection is a necessity for any PC or Macintosh and viruses are starting to appear on UNIX systems also. No system is completely safe from viruses since manufacturers have inadvertantly shipped new computers with viruses on the hard drive and minted CDs with viruses.

For very important data, RAID systems are used. RAID stands for "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks". A raid system is a computer with eight or more hard drives and software for storing data on those drives. Every byte of data is spread accross all of these drives along with a parity bit that tells if it was an odd or even byte. In the event that a disk fails, it's contents can be completely reconstructed from the data on the other seven disks. This is a good way to store critical data which could not be reproduced, but the expense may not be justified otherwise.

Data security

The primary threat to data security is illegal computer hackers. Studies show that the largest percentage of hackers are young men motivated by status with other hackers, malicious intent or the excitement of a challenging game. There have also been even more harmful cases of corporate spying and embezzlement of funds.

Accounts on both multiuser machines and micro computers can be protected by passwords. Passwords can be very effective or not effective at all. Insecure password include ones that are easily guessed, never changed, shared or written down somewhere. Some systems, particularly UNIX, have password files which are encrypted but readable by all users. Hackers have developed automated programs, such as "crack", to break the passwords in these files by raw brute force, trial & error techniques. Since it could take months to crack well chosen passwords, some systems use a password aging system that requires all users to set new passwords periodically. There are also programs to prevent users from setting easily guessed passwords such as words in the dictionary, common names or permutations on the account name.

Systems holding data belonging to multiple users, such as UNIX or Windows NT, set an owner for each file and permissions defining who is allowed to read or write to it. Many hacker attacks are centered around finding flaws in the file permission system. There are ways to set default permissions and ways to control how much individual users can control their own file permissions.
Since most security attacks are now initiated from a remote location via the network, many organizations now separate their internal networks from the internet with a firewall. A firewall is a piece of software running on a dedicated machine with two network boards. The software can filter which network traffic is allowed to pass between the internal and external networks. This is a very effective security measure, but there is an unfortunate tendency for organizations to make the firewall their only security measure making any breach of security across the firewall a breach for every machine in the whole organization. An even higher level of security can be acheived by not having any connection between the internal network and the internet or not even having an internal network.
Data encryption provides a second layer of security. Once someone gains access to data, that data is useless if it has been scrambled by an encryption program which requires a second password to unscramble it. Passwords themselves should always be stored in an encrypted form. Today's encryption systems are similar to military code systems but not as sophisticated as the systems used by the armed forces. Almost all encrypted data can be unencrypted without the password by the use of a very large amount of time on very powerful computers. Security is provided by making the encryption complex enough that no one would be likely to have enough computer power to break say a message about the merger next month in less than six months, at which time the message is no longer valuable.
There must always be someone able to fix a computer system by using a second password protected account called "system", "administrator", "root" or "superuser" which bypasses the file permission system. One of the most serious security attacks is one which gains the password to this account. As well as particularily stringent security for this account, the encryption systems mentioned above ensure that there is a second layer of protection against this type of attack. This also provides for a segmented internal security system, if such is necessary.
Email is particularly insecure. Mail messages are simple ascii files that travel across the network where no password is necessary to get to them. Email is easily forged and can be altered. Of course, no one would have any particular reason for tampering with many personal messages, but people conducting sensitive business transactions over email would be wise to use some sort of email encryption system, such as PGP. These systems have several functions including encrypting the message itself, verifying who sent the message and verifying that it was not tampered with.
Audit trails are a means for the system administrators to find out if security has been breached and how much damage was done. Audit trails are records made by various pieces of software to log who logged into a system, from where and what files were accessed.

How Hackers get in

Here is the typical sequence of steps used to gain illegal entry into a computer system.

1. Learn about the system. Trying to connect to a system using networking utilities like telnet and ftp will be unsuccessful without a password, but even unsuccessful logins will often still display the machine manufacturer, and version of the operating system.
2. Look for openings. Try known security flaws on that particular machine and operating system. Unless the system administrator is very diligent about installing security patches, many machines have openings in the security just waiting to be found.
3. Try sniffing to get a password. Sniffing is when a machine has software to watch all of the network traffic and saves the messages corresponding to a valid user entering their password from a remote location.
4. Try spoofing. Many machines share disks with other machines that are classified as "trusted hosts". In order to share the data on these disks the two machines must communicate without a password. Spoofing is when someone configures a third machine to use the network address of one of the trusted hosts to impersonate that machine. If the spoofing machine responds faster than the true trusted host, communications will be carried out with it unnoticed. Spoofing requires that the infiltrator have physical access to the network in a location that falls close to the target machine in the network topology, which usually means being physically close to the target machine.
5. Get into the system and cover tracks. Once one of the above techniques is successful in gaining access to the system, the first order of business is to alter any records that would reveal the presence of an illegal entry to the system administrators.
6. Try to get superuser access. Just as there are many ways to get into a user account, there are many ways to get into the root level account or get equivalent access to the machine.
7. Make back doors. Once entry has been gained, that access can be used to intentionally install security breaches so that the hacker can still get back into the system if the original method of entry is cut off.
8. Use the system. At this point, the hacker can steal data, destroy information, alter files, use CPU time, lock everyone else out of the system, etc.

How to combat illegal entry

Here are a list of ways to make computers more secure and some minimal suggestions for when they should be used. For systems that are critical to operation, all of these and more may be warranted.

1. Physical security. Keep doors locked if feasible. Install locks on accessible but attended machines. Install locks and alarms on machines left unattended.
2. Back up files. This should be done on all computers.
3. Use a surge suppressor. All computers.
4. Use an uninterruptable power supply. Critical systems.
5. Periodic virus checking. All PC and Macintosh computers. High volume or critical multiuser machines.
6. Continual memory resident virus checking. PCs or Macs used by many people, such as in public labs. When data routinely comes from many sources.
7. Firewalls. For organizations that can conduct business with limits on the internet services accessible from inside the organization. Where outside access to company data could do significant harm to the business.
8. Having no internet connection or no internal network at all is done when data is particularly sensitive or reliability is of key importance. Bank record systems and air traffic control systems are some examples.
9. Programs to enforce the use of good passwords. Systems with a moderate to large number of users.
10. Password aging. Systems which have a large number of users or are a likely target for illegal entry.
11. Remove old accounts. Old, unused accounts are just that many more passwords for someone to find out. If it is not feasible to remove old accounts, the passwords can still be deleted. This is done by setting a null password for which no possible password will give acccess to the account.
12. Smart cards. There are various varieties of smart cards to act as passwords electronically. One example is a card with a number that changes every ten seconds and has its internal clock synchronized to one in the central computer. This way, even if someone get the password, it is only good for ten seconds. This expense is only warranted when someone would have a clear motive for trying to break into a system.
13. Install security patches to the operating system. Invisible security patches should be installed anytime systems are being upgraded. On systems with many users or that are likely targets for illegal entry, the system administrator should install new patches frequently or perhaps instantly when available. Many break ins occur within 24 hours of when a security flaw and patch is announced. This occurs when someone has targeted a particular machine and hopes to figure out how to take advantage of the flaw before the system administrators upgrade the system. For this reason, many flaws are not announced until a patch or temporary work around can be announced with them. Networking patches and network software uprgrades are particularily important.
14. Security checking software. There are programs, like Satan, which will test a system for many known security flaws. These programs were created so that administrators can test the integrity of the system, but they are also a favorite tool for the first step in infiltrating a system. It is a good idea to do this periodically. The software can be set to check many machines on a network without interrupting the people using those machines. There are programs to check the system from the inside as well as checking network vulnerabilities.
15. Break in detection software. There are also pieces of software to alert the system adminstrators when security is being tested by a known technique. This is a good way to know of an attack before they have gained entry.
16. Some level of audit trail should be kept on any multiuser system and any system with sensitive data. Some level of auditing is built into many multiuser operating systems. An audit trail has to be maintained before a break in occurs in order to do any good.
17. Use software to prevent sniffing, such as Kerberos or secure shell. These software packages allow remote logins to be authenticated, without sending an unencrypted password over the network. We have seen an increase in sites using these systems, particularily where many users login to machines remotely. The difficulty is setting up a system which is secure and reliable as well as not inconveniencing the users.
18. Encryption of disk files. Disk files should be kept encrypted when the data is particularly important. Passwords, social security numbers and credit card numbers should always be encrypted. Many accounting systems use encryption.
19. Do not use your credit card over the web unless your browser (not their web page) identifies it as a secure server. Even at that it is advisable only to do so with reputable companies that you are familiar with. You should never need a credit card number to get something that is free.
20. Encrypted email software should be used when someone would have a reason to want to see, forge or alter email messages.
21. Random manual monitoring. For a few businesses that deal with very sensitive information and must use networks, the security administrators will occasionally manually look at the information being passed over the network, particularly through the firewall. This probably is not warranted unless security is important enough to be paying someone solely as a security manager.
22. Hiring tiger teams. A tiger team is a group of honest expert hackers that are hired to break into your system in order to give you an analysis of your security. This is generally done by banks or others with extremely sensitive data.

Courtesy : http://www.ccl.net/

Computer Security Threats

This page provides basic information on computer security threats. The computer security threats covered here are: Viruses Macro Viruses Trojan Horses Worms Zombies Phishing Internet Based Attacks Viral Web Sites Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans Virus Hoaxes Unsecured Wireless Access Point Bluesnarfing Social Engineering Microsoft Office Document Metadata

Viruses A software virus is a parasitic program written intentionally to alter the way your computer operates without your permission or knowledge. A virus attaches copies of itself to other files such as program files or documents and is inactive until you run an infected program or open an infected document. When activated, a virus may damage or delete files, cause erratic system behaviour, display messages or even erase your hard disk. A virus may spread through email and instant messenger attachments, through infected files on floppy disks or CD-ROMs, or by exploiting a security flaw in Microsoft Windows.

Macro Viruses Macros are simple programs that can be written to automate repetitive tasks in a document or make calculations in a spreadsheet. Macros can be written in documents created by Microsoft Word, in spreadsheets created by Microsoft Excel and in many other kinds of documents. Macro viruses are malicious macro programs that are designed to replicate themselves from file to file and can cause damage to the files on your computer. They spread whenever you open an infected file.

Trojan Horses Trojan horses are programs that appear to serve some useful purpose or provide entertainment, which encourages you to run them. But these programs also serve a covert purpose, which may be to damage files, to place a virus on your computer or to allow a hacker to gain access to your machine. More commonly these days, you can be enticed into running a Trojan by clicking a link on a viral web site or in an email. Trojans that allow a hacker to gain access to your machine, called Remote Access Trojans (RATs), are particularly prevalent at the moment. Over 50% of all spam (unsolicited email) is sent from home or work computers that have been compromised by RATs. A Trojan horse is not a virus because it does not replicate and spread like a virus.

Worms Worms are programs that replicate and spread, often opening a back door to allow hackers to gain access to the computers that they infect. Worms can spread over the Internet by expoiting security flaws in the software of computers that are connected to the Internet. Worms can also spread by copying themselves from disk to disk or by email.

Zombies A Zombie is a dormant program that lies inactive on a computer. It can be activated remotely to aid a collective attack on another computer. Zombies don’t normally damage the computer on which they reside but can damage other computers. Zombies often arrive as email attachments and when the attachment is opened they install themselves secretly and then wait to be activated.

Phishing A Phishing attack is when you are are sent an email that asks you to click on a link and re-enter your bank or credit card details. These emails can pretend to be from banks, Internet service providers, on-line stores and so on, and both the email and the web site it links to appear genuine. When you enter your bank or credit card details they are then used fraudulently.

Internet Based Attacks While your computer is connected to the Internet it can be subject to attack through your network communications. Some of the most common attacks include: Bonk – An attack on the Microsoft TCP/IP stack that can crash the attacked computer. RDS_Shell – A method of exploiting the Remote Data Services component of the Microsoft Data Access Components that lets a remote attacker run commands with system privileges. WinNuke – An exploit that can use NetBIOS to crash older Windows computers.

Viral Web Sites Users can be enticed, often by email messages, to visit web sites that contain viruses or Trojans. These sites are known as viral web sites and are often made to look like well known web sites and can have similar web addresses to the sites they are imitating. Users who visit these sites often inadvertently download and run a virus or Trojan and can then become infected or the subject of hacker attacks.

Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans are often installed with other programs, usually without your knowledge. They record your behaviour on the Internet, display targeted ads to you and can even download other malicious software on to your computer. They are often included within programs that you can download free from the Internet or that are on CDs given away free by magazines. Spyware doesn’t usually carry viruses but it can use your system resources and slow down your Internet connection with the display of ads. If the Spyware contains bugs (faults) it can make your computer unstable but the main concern is your privacy. These programs record every step that you take on the Internet and forward it to an Ad Management Centre which reviews your searches and downloads to determine your shopping preferences. The Ad Management Centre will build up a detailed profile of you, without your knowledge, and can pass this on to third parties, again without your knowledge. Some Spyware can download more serious threats on to your computer, such as Trojan Horses.

Virus Hoaxes Virus hoaxes are messages, usually sent by email, that amount to little more than chain letters. They pretend to alert you to the latest "undetectable" virus and simply waste your time and Internet bandwidth. The best course of action is to delete these hoaxes - they can cause genuine fear and alarm in the disabled, elderly and other vulnerable groups.

Unsecured Wireless Access Points If a wireless access point, e.g. an ADSL (Broadband) Router, hasn't been secured then anyone with a wireless device (laptop, PDA, etc) will be able to connect to it and thereby access the Internet and all the other computers on the wireless network.

Bluesnarfing The act of stealing personal data, specifically calendar and contact information, from a Bluetooth enabled device.

Social Engineering Tricking computer users into revealing computer security or private information, e.g. passwords, email addresses, etc, by exploiting the natural tendency of a person to trust and/or by exploiting a person's emotional response. Example 1: Spammers send out an email about victims of child abuse and provide a link to click in the email for further information or to help the victims. When the link is clicked the spammers know the email address is "live" and add it to their live list which they then use to target their spam. Example 2: A company computer user is tricked into revealing the network password by someone on the telephone who is impersonating the voice of an employee in authority and who has a story of distress.

Microsoft Office Document Metadata The average Microsoft Word, Excel, etc document includes hidden metadata with details of who created it, who has worked on it, when it has been amended and quite possibly the text of all those changes as well. Viewing a Word document in a text editor can reveal the metadata in plain text at the start and finish of the document.

Computer Security Threats

This page provides basic information on computer security threats. The computer security threats covered here are: Viruses Macro Viruses Trojan Horses Worms Zombies Phishing Internet Based Attacks Viral Web Sites Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans Virus Hoaxes Unsecured Wireless Access Point Bluesnarfing Social Engineering Microsoft Office Document Metadata

Viruses A software virus is a parasitic program written intentionally to alter the way your computer operates without your permission or knowledge. A virus attaches copies of itself to other files such as program files or documents and is inactive until you run an infected program or open an infected document. When activated, a virus may damage or delete files, cause erratic system behaviour, display messages or even erase your hard disk. A virus may spread through email and instant messenger attachments, through infected files on floppy disks or CD-ROMs, or by exploiting a security flaw in Microsoft Windows.

Macro Viruses Macros are simple programs that can be written to automate repetitive tasks in a document or make calculations in a spreadsheet. Macros can be written in documents created by Microsoft Word, in spreadsheets created by Microsoft Excel and in many other kinds of documents. Macro viruses are malicious macro programs that are designed to replicate themselves from file to file and can cause damage to the files on your computer. They spread whenever you open an infected file.

Trojan Horses Trojan horses are programs that appear to serve some useful purpose or provide entertainment, which encourages you to run them. But these programs also serve a covert purpose, which may be to damage files, to place a virus on your computer or to allow a hacker to gain access to your machine. More commonly these days, you can be enticed into running a Trojan by clicking a link on a viral web site or in an email. Trojans that allow a hacker to gain access to your machine, called Remote Access Trojans (RATs), are particularly prevalent at the moment. Over 50% of all spam (unsolicited email) is sent from home or work computers that have been compromised by RATs. A Trojan horse is not a virus because it does not replicate and spread like a virus.

Worms Worms are programs that replicate and spread, often opening a back door to allow hackers to gain access to the computers that they infect. Worms can spread over the Internet by expoiting security flaws in the software of computers that are connected to the Internet. Worms can also spread by copying themselves from disk to disk or by email.

Zombies A Zombie is a dormant program that lies inactive on a computer. It can be activated remotely to aid a collective attack on another computer. Zombies don’t normally damage the computer on which they reside but can damage other computers. Zombies often arrive as email attachments and when the attachment is opened they install themselves secretly and then wait to be activated.

Phishing A Phishing attack is when you are are sent an email that asks you to click on a link and re-enter your bank or credit card details. These emails can pretend to be from banks, Internet service providers, on-line stores and so on, and both the email and the web site it links to appear genuine. When you enter your bank or credit card details they are then used fraudulently.

Internet Based Attacks While your computer is connected to the Internet it can be subject to attack through your network communications. Some of the most common attacks include: Bonk – An attack on the Microsoft TCP/IP stack that can crash the attacked computer. RDS_Shell – A method of exploiting the Remote Data Services component of the Microsoft Data Access Components that lets a remote attacker run commands with system privileges. WinNuke – An exploit that can use NetBIOS to crash older Windows computers.

Viral Web Sites Users can be enticed, often by email messages, to visit web sites that contain viruses or Trojans. These sites are known as viral web sites and are often made to look like well known web sites and can have similar web addresses to the sites they are imitating. Users who visit these sites often inadvertently download and run a virus or Trojan and can then become infected or the subject of hacker attacks.

Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans Spyware, Adware and Advertising Trojans are often installed with other programs, usually without your knowledge. They record your behaviour on the Internet, display targeted ads to you and can even download other malicious software on to your computer. They are often included within programs that you can download free from the Internet or that are on CDs given away free by magazines. Spyware doesn’t usually carry viruses but it can use your system resources and slow down your Internet connection with the display of ads. If the Spyware contains bugs (faults) it can make your computer unstable but the main concern is your privacy. These programs record every step that you take on the Internet and forward it to an Ad Management Centre which reviews your searches and downloads to determine your shopping preferences. The Ad Management Centre will build up a detailed profile of you, without your knowledge, and can pass this on to third parties, again without your knowledge. Some Spyware can download more serious threats on to your computer, such as Trojan Horses.

Virus Hoaxes Virus hoaxes are messages, usually sent by email, that amount to little more than chain letters. They pretend to alert you to the latest "undetectable" virus and simply waste your time and Internet bandwidth. The best course of action is to delete these hoaxes - they can cause genuine fear and alarm in the disabled, elderly and other vulnerable groups.

Unsecured Wireless Access Points If a wireless access point, e.g. an ADSL (Broadband) Router, hasn't been secured then anyone with a wireless device (laptop, PDA, etc) will be able to connect to it and thereby access the Internet and all the other computers on the wireless network.

Bluesnarfing The act of stealing personal data, specifically calendar and contact information, from a Bluetooth enabled device.

Social Engineering Tricking computer users into revealing computer security or private information, e.g. passwords, email addresses, etc, by exploiting the natural tendency of a person to trust and/or by exploiting a person's emotional response. Example 1: Spammers send out an email about victims of child abuse and provide a link to click in the email for further information or to help the victims. When the link is clicked the spammers know the email address is "live" and add it to their live list which they then use to target their spam. Example 2: A company computer user is tricked into revealing the network password by someone on the telephone who is impersonating the voice of an employee in authority and who has a story of distress.

Microsoft Office Document Metadata The average Microsoft Word, Excel, etc document includes hidden metadata with details of who created it, who has worked on it, when it has been amended and quite possibly the text of all those changes as well. Viewing a Word document in a text editor can reveal the metadata in plain text at the start and finish of the document.

Attention for Central Government Pensioners and Family Pensioners

NOTIFICATION GOVENMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE CENTRAL PENSION ACCOUNTING OFFICE Trikool-II Bhikjl Cama Place, New Delhi-110066 ATTENTION: Central Civil Pensioners/Family Pensioners and Authorised Pension Disbursing Banks 1. The Life Certificate has to be submitted by the pensioner/family pensioner lo any Branch Manager of Pension Paying Bank in the months of November each year. The scheme booklet (4th edition, 3 Dec 2004) detailing the "Scheme for Payment of Pensions to Central Government Civil Pensioners through Authorised Bank’s has been amended to include para 15.2 (i) which provides for an exemption from personal appearance of the pensioner in the bank. The same is quoted below for ready reference of all concerned. "A pensioner who produces a life certificate in the prescribed form in, Annexure-XVII (given below) signed by any person specified hereunder, however, is exempted from personal appearance: i. A person exercising the powers of a Magistrate under the Criminal Procedure code: ii. A Registrar or Sub-Registrar appointed under Indian Registration Act. iii. A Gazetted Government servant: iv. A Police Officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector in-charge of a Police Station: v. A Class-I Officer of the Reserve Bank of India an officer (including Grade II officer) of the State Bank of India or of its subsidiary: vi. A pensioned Officer who, before retirement, exercised the powers of a magistrate: vii. A Justice of Peace: viii. A Block Development Officer, Munsif, Tehsildar or Naib Tehsìldar: ix. A Head of Village Panchayat. Gram Panchayat Gaori Panchayat or an Executive Committee of a Village; x. A Member of Parliament, of State legislatures or of legislatures of Union Territory Governments/Administrations; xi. Treasury Officer. It is further stated that in the case of a pensioner drawing his pension through a Public Sector Bank the life certificate may be signed by an officer of a Public Sector Bank. In the case of a pensioner residing abroad and drawing his pension through any other bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act. 1934, the life certificate may be signed by an officer of the Bank. A pensioner not resident in India in respect of whom his duty authorised agent produces a life certificate signed by a Magistrate, a Notary, a Banker or a Diplomatic Representative of India is exempted from special appearance. It is requested that all banks may give the above wide publicity and circulate to all the branches for strict compliance and for information to pensioners. ANNEXURE-XVII LIFE CERTIFICATE (To be submitted by Pensioner once a year in November) Certified that I have seen________________________________________________________________________ the pensioner Shri./Smt./Ms.____________________________________________________________________ (Name of Pensioner) holder of Pension Payment Order No. ____________________________________________________ and that he/she is alive on this date. Name : ___________________________ Place : ___________________________ Designation of Authorised Officer Chief Controller (Pensions)

Success Begins in Your Mind - 7 Steps to a Positive Attitude and a Life You Love

Are you living the life you would like to be living? Are you enjoying the good things of life that you define as success? You hold the power to change the course of your life. You are in control of what happens to you and it begins in your mind with the attitude you have toward life. If your attitude is negative you will not live a life you love and success will elude you. When you begin living life with a positive attitude your life will become the life you love living.

1. Think positive. Your thoughts are your most important factor in creating the life you live. Discipline yourself to only allow positive thoughts to reside in your mind. Find ways to control your thinking.

2. Speak positive. Your words reflect your thoughts. Control your words - speak only positive words. Let your words reflect your new discipline - positive thinking.

3. Look for the good in others. As you focus on the positive qualities of others you begin to enjoy those people more and your life becomes more positive. Learn to always look for the things in other people that you admire. State those discoveries in your mind and to
those people you were thinking about.

4. Find something good to speak about. These words have been my guide in life: "Small minds talk about people. Average minds speak about things. Great minds speak about ideas." Learn to have a great mind by speaking of ideas, dreams, goals, plans, and the good things about life.

5. Do not worry. Worry steals the joy out of living. Worry is only borrowing trouble for yourself. Become a problem solver instead of worrying about those problems.

6. Focus on the future. Don't stay stuck in the past. Focus on a bright future and think on how much you will enjoy working towards and accomplishing your goals.

7. Gratitude. Learn to count the blessings in your life. Every day, find a minimum of 5 things you are thankful for. As you focus on the good things in life and train your mind and your mouth to be positive your life will take on new meaning and you will lead a life that is also positive.

Here's to the abundant success you were designed to achieve!

Author : Pat L Anderson

Article Source: http://EzineArticles..com/ thro satish24k.blogspot.com

Aadhaar: Lack of publicity, awareness slacken people's participation

Where does one go for availing of the Central Government's Aadhaar identity card is what Coimbatore residents want to know. For, most are not aware of the addresses where the enrolment centres function in the city.

The residents asked the question not after the project was first launched or when the District Collector M. Karunakaran launched the project in the district on September 15 this year but only after they read the Union Petroleum Ministry announcement in newspapers that the Aadhaar card was a necessary document to avail of LPG refills.

An officer associated with the Unique Identification Authority of India project admits to the failure to publicise the addresses. One of the reasons, he cites for the poor response, is the lack of suitable places within the city limits.

Only if the service providers have a suitable place will they be in a position to advertise the venue and the service offered. This has been the handicap. The service providers even tried hiring wedding halls but they could not get it for long periods because of wedding and other bookings.

To overcome the problem, the service providers have approached the Coimbatore Corporation, School Education Department and private education institutions for space.

Even as the service providers are grappling for space, they are now concentrating in rural parts of the district. In the coming days, they will take the help of school heads and village-level officers.

At present, the service providers are in about 50 places in the district. They will add another 40 in the coming days. And there will be more service providers too. India Post has joined the latest list of service providers.

It will launch its service for issue of Aadhaar card on November 21 at the Coimbatore Head Post Office and then extend the service to other post offices in the district. It has also made available online the enrolment form on www.tamilnadupost.nic.in.

Secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause K. Kathirmathiyon urged the district officials to increase the number of enrolment centres and the facilities therein as early as possible, as the public have now started making a beeline to these centres fearing disruption of LPG supply. City needs to have more enrolment centres and moreover they need to be publicised well. In addition, the publicity for the same should include the locations and also the procedures involved besides the documents required. Many applicants were being turned down for want of documents, resulting in poor compliance, despite the willingness.

Some of the centres in the city have limitations in terms of turning down the applications because of capacity constraints in handling more than 100 or 250 applicants a day.

In addition, Mr. Kathirmathiyon welcomed the decision to make Aadhaar or UID mandatory for availing of LPG services, as it would help eliminate bogus beneficiaries and misuse of subsidy. He found fault with the timing of the decision to make it mandatory. UID or the Aadhaar initiative has just begun and has not been completed. Government should increase the number of enrolment centres and make the process public- friendly.

If the public failed to enrol and comply with the initiative, then making it mandatory after a six to eight month period i.e., after June 2012 is understandable. Without taking the scheme to the people, making it mandatory will have counter-productive results and lead to the very collapse of the initiative, he cautioned.

The State Government/District Administration should be involved in the process, so that the enrolment process could be taken closer to people and the desired results could be achieved, say officials.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/ dtd 07/11/2011

TDS Software - Updated

Download the updated exe file and paste into installation path

C:\Program Files\Tax Deductions at Source\

TDS Software Setup : Download

Updates : Download


Pin Code Software : Download

Developed by

Anudeep Sharma, System Manager

SRM I Dn. Jalandhar,

Area-1 Chandigarh , Punjab

Mobile : 09417016663

email : managencypostoffice@gmail.com