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

Revision or Norms for Opening of Post Offices in Rural and Urban Areas

View Original Order

Validity of cheques, drafts cut to 3 months

NEW DELHI: Come April 1, 2012, your cheques and bank drafts will have a life of just three months instead of the earlier six.

In a notification on Friday evening, the Reserve Bank of India said these instruments will have to be presented within three months from the date of issue as it has been brought to its notice by the government that some persons were taking undue advantage of the sixmonth validity of cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker's cheques by circulating them like cash for this period.

For customer awareness, banks have been asked to print the change on cheques and drafts that will be issued from April 1, 2012.

Over the last few years, a system had evolved in which a cheque issued in favour of person A would be transferred to person B, on receipt of a commission, as banks were willing to credit them into someone else's account. With the new norms, RBI hopes to reduce such misuse . RBI also asked banks to ensure that account payee cheques and drafts are only credited to accounts of the person named in the instrument.

Although the break up was unavailable , bankers said the move would affect individuals more as companies usually deposit cheques and drafts within hours of receiving them as they do not want to lose out on any interest income.

Source: Economic times

Payment of Cheques/Drafts/Pay Orders/Banker’s Cheques ( by RBI)

RBI/2011-12/251

DBOD.AML BC.No.47/14.01.001/2011-12

November 4, 2011

The Chairmen/Chief Executive Officers
All Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs)/Local Area Banks

Dear Sir,

Payment of Cheques/Drafts/Pay Orders/Banker’s Cheques

In India, it has been the usual practice among bankers to make payment of only such cheques and drafts as are presented for payment within a period of six months from the date of the instrument.

2. It has been brought to the notice of Reserve Bank by Government of India that some persons are taking undue advantage of the said practice of banks of making payment of cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker’s cheques presented within a period of six months from the date of the instrument as these instruments are being circulated in the market like cash for six months. Reserve Bank is satisfied that in public interest and in the interest of banking policy it is necessary to reduce the period within which cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker’s cheques are presented for payment from six months to three months from the date of such instrument. Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Reserve Bank hereby directs that with effect from April 1, 2012, banks should not make payment of cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker’s cheques bearing that date or any subsequent date, if they are presented beyond the period of three months from the date of such instrument.

3. Banks should ensure strict compliance of these directions and notify the holders of such instruments of the change in practice by printing or stamping on the cheque leaves, drafts, pay orders and banker’s cheques issued on or after April 1, 2012, by issuing suitable instruction for presentment within the period of three months from the date of the instrument.

4. Please acknowledge receipt

Yours faithfully,

(Deepak Singhal)

Chief General Manager in-Charge

Source : RBI

USB Disks Access Manager

USB Disks Access Manager is a free Windows utility that allows you to manage access to USB disks. There are three options to choose, access to read and write, read only and does not detect the USB disks. A freeware tool for user or administrator who wants to control access to their computer trough USB removable disks.

Read & Write Access to USB Disks
This is the default setting that allow computer to read and write to USB disks.

Read Only Access From USB Disk
This option allows the computer can only read it from USB disks. In certain cases you may not want the files on your computer are copied to the USB disks that plugged into your computer.

Disable USB Disks Detection
When this option is selected then all USB disks plugged into the computer will not be detected. In certain circumstances you may not want arbitrary file transfer to or from your computer. This option allows you to do it.

After applying your options with this program, all of USB disks that currently plugged into your computer should be unplugged and re-plugged to get the effect of selected setting. USB Disks Access Manager can not be run from USB/removable disks.

Get The Free Windows Files or Disks Utility
Download USB Disks Access Manager

Source : www.wenovo.com