Sell Android Themes

If you know about mobile, you've heard about the android. On the android market you can whip up a theme for android phones in five minutes and put it on the Google app market for sale. This site shows you how to do this.

Check it out!

Turn Your Digital Content into Apps for Android within an Hour!

Within an hour you can have your own info app for Android ready for distribution and without writing a single line of programming code. The Mipp system is your fast track to create info apps and data oriented applications for Android.

Check it out!

Cool Computer Tricks

Looking cool computer tricks? Here is something that should pique your interest: Use Keyboard As Mouse, On Screen Keyboard and Transform your Windows XP in to Windows 7.

When mouse isn’t working properly , this trick can be very helpful. To activate mouse keys all you do is press Alt+Left shift key + NumLock and click OK or press enter .

Use the Numerical pad for controlling the mouse pointer.
5 is for click.
+ is for double click
- for right click.

On screen keyboard is one of the coolest windows features that displays a virtual keyboard on the computer screen that allows people with mobility impairments to type data by using a pointing device or joystick..

To use it go to start-> run and type osk

If you are using Windows XP and want to experience Windows 7 without installing then here is Seven Remix XP transformation pack to transform Windows XP to Windows 7.With this simple app you can make your XP look like Windows 7 in just few clicks. It supports Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Media Center Edition and some other flavors of XP. Will work with only 32 bit edition of Windows.
Just download it and install .
Download Seven Remix XP and transform your windows xp .

Free Webcam Software

Are you looking for the best free webcam software for having a video chat or to discuss business with someone in a different country? Here we have listed 5 free webcam software

Gmail is undoubtedly the best emailing service on the web. What makes it so popular is that it lets you do much more than sending emails. Everyone was amazed to see the in-built chat feature of Gmail. The in-built chat app has been developed so much that you can now perform voice and video chat with your contacts. All you need to do is download the plugin and install it and then you can connect your webcam and do video chat inside Gmail.

 

It lets you use your webcam on different applications on your system simultaneously. You can add text and exciting animations to the video. You can even add live CGI graphics. With effects, you can show as if you are underwater or show as if it is raining or snowing inside your house. It only works with Windows and Mac systems and is completely free from spyware and adware.
Download ManyCam

 

It is a very good webcam app if you are looking for an app that can do home and business monitoring. The application is also available for various platforms like Java, Android, iPhone, etc. It is a free application brings to you password security and private controls. The application can be used on desktop and laptops that run on Windows and Mac.
Download My Webcam Broadcaster

 

WebcamXP is also a good and free webcam software that allows you to connect up to six webcams. Not only this, it even lets you stream live webcam video over the internet. If your webcam supports features like Pan and Tilt, then Webcam XP will allow you to make the most of it. It constantly checks to find out whether anyone is trying to view your webcam without your consent and show up information such as IP address and location. Currently, it can only be used with Windows OS.
WebcamXP

 

The name may not make you feel like it is a webcam app, however it is one of most easy to use free webcam apps that come with good features. It can be used for surveillance purpose as it can easily detect humans in video and it can even distinguish humans from other objects. If anyone tries to view your webcam without your knowledge, you will receive a notification mail. It also lets you video scan lengthy videos within seconds.
Download Vitamin D

How to Share Files

Sharing is a human instinct. The moment we something good, we like to share it others. One of the easiest modes of sharing is through email. However, emailing does not allow you to send huge files to the recipients. If you are on a home or office network, you can share files easily using the networking feature of Windows but this technique want let you share huge files over the internet.

There are some amazing file sharing applications and online tools that let you share big files easily:

It provides you with an online storage space of 25GB that can be used for saving all kinds of files such as documents and media files. Since the online drive is protected by password, you can control who can access your files. A cool feature of Windows Live SkyDrive is that even lets you create, view and edit documents on MS Office.

 

Dropbox is an application that lets you synchronize your files on the internet. It works with various operating systems like Mac, Windows and Linux. It provides to 2GB online space for storing your files for free and for paid customers 100GB of space is provided. All the files are automatically synchronized when changes are detected. You can share files and let several people access them simultaneously. You can access your documents from anywhere through the web. You can make use of the free mobile device access app on devices like iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android.

 

Pando is a simple application that lets you send files of up to 1GB through any email. It also allows you to share photos, videos and documents through its dedicated instant messenger. After installing the app, you need to select the files and folders that you would like to share and immediately a copy of the files you want to share starts getting stored on the secure servers of Pando. The recipient will receive a email with a .pando attachment which when opened by the recipeient will allow him to download it from the files from the Pando server.

 

The moment you open the site, you will see the Browse button which let you browse the huge files you would like to send other users P2P through your internet browser. You are not required to signup to use it. You can share size files of unlimited size. There are no servers in between you and your recipient that will slow down the process. You will also be able to fully control who downloads your shared file.

 

YouSendIt provides you with a simple user interface to share your files. All you need to do is open their site and enter the email address of the recipient and yours and then browse for the file you want to send and then click on the Send button. The recipient will receive an email with a link to the shared file. Free account users can send files up to 100MB size.

 

Top 5 Antivirus For Android

Are you worried about losing your precious data from your phone because of virus attack? If yes, you need to install an antivirus on your Android phone.  When you frequently connect your Android phone or its memory card to computer to transfer data, or perform data transfer through Bluetooth, there is a high possibility of infecting the phone with a virus or malicious program. Hence, you should install an antivirus on your phone.

Here are top 5 antivirus recommendations for Android phone:

1. AVG Antivirus Free

It is a paid security software that offers data security and scans your device thoroughly to check for viruses and malware. It scans each and every file present on your phone memory as well as on memory card. By using GPS and cell tower, it can even help in finding stolen devices. It is available in two versions: free and paid. The paid version can be purchased for $4.99. The paid version is free of advertisements.

2. Lookout Mobile Security

It is a powerful malicious program scanning application that can be scheduled to scan your phone on weekly or daily basis. The ‘Find my Phone’ feature of this app lets you find your phone in case you misplaced it. It also takes the backup of files and programs stored on your phone which can be used to restore the data in case you lose it. It is a free Android antivirus program. It was listed among the Top 100 Tech Product of 2010 by PCWorld.

3. Super Security

It is a free antivirus application that brings to you cloud based antivirus engine. It effectively helps in getting rid of all kinds of malicious programs and protects the sensitive information that you have stored on the phone. It also helps in finding your phone when you misplace it. The task manager lets you manage all the programs on your phone.

4. SmrtGuard Mobile Security

It is a free antivirus for Android phones that will safeguard your phone from all kinds of virus. The ‘Find Phone’ feature lets you find your lost phone by means of the GPS.  The other features of this amazing this app include wireless migration and restoration of data, antispam, call blocker, remote lock, application lock, audio ping, remote listen, simCard guardian and many more.

5. Anti-Virus Laser

It is a creatively designed free antivirus program. On the interface of the application, you will see an action puzzle like a tetris that allows you to get rid of all the viruses from your phone. On the screen, you will see the viruses trying to reach out, before they do so you need to fry them up. At the end of it, you will be able to view your score. You can even upload score and see you compete with the world ranking. The free version of this antivirus allows you to play up to 10 levels of the game.

View the original article here

How To Download You-tube Videos

Hey guys. If you had been wondering how to download videos from You-tube. This tutorial may help you out. I used a bunch of softwares but none of them are like this one. I think that you-tube people have done something to refrain users for downloading videos. If that’s the case I am now pretty sure how to get around with that.

I’ll use a program called Miro. 100% free of charge. http://www.getmiro.com/

Press Download Install it and run.

Click ‘View’ in menu bar. Click ‘Download Item’ Choose the youtube video. And copy paste it in the text box.

Downloading…

Enjoy!

Top 10 Android Hacks

Android, the OS that is widely being used on latest smartphones and tablet PCs, is one platform that can be hacked to do various exciting which you never thought it could do. Here we have complied top 10 Android hacks that can be done by anyone:
1. Android on Your Old iPhone
Yes, this is possible if you have jailbroken your iPhone 2G or 3G device.  All you need to do is add a repository, download the Android version – Froyo and press the Go button. Here is the video on how to do it.
2. Replace the GPS System of Your Car
To do this hack, you need an Android phone with TV-out feature and a car. Rather than investing on a satnav for navigation, you can make use of Google’s online navigation. By doing this hack, you will be able to view your music collection, social networking feeds, latest news on the dashboard of your car. Watch the video tutorial to know how to do this hack:


3. Save Battery Life by Hacking the OLED Display
Here is a cool hack that will help you save your battery on Android phones like Google Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy that come with OLED display. Darker colors especially red colors on OLED displays consume less power. Here is a video to know how to perform this hack:
4. Get into Lock World of Angry Birds
Undoubtedly, Angry Birds is the most popular game when it comes to deciding on a game favored by many on Android. Here is a hack for Angry Birds lovers to get into the two locked worlds.
5. Run Ubuntu
This hack is only possible on latest Android phones. Rather than booting on to the Android OS, you can run Ubuntu seamlessly on your phone. Since Ubuntu was not developed for touch interfaces, you may find it difficult to run Ubuntu on phones that have small screens.
6. Change the Interface of Your Phone
Thanks to numerous customizations you can do on Android, it is considered to be the most versatile operating system. There are plenty of apps such as LauncherPro, Home++ and Helix Launcher. With these tools, you can add animated wallpapers, use attractive icons and add widgets and so on.
7. Turn Your Motorola Droid into a USB Host
By doing this hardware hack, you can turn your Motorola Droid into a USB host which can be connected to any device. It does not need you to open your device.
Visit this link to know how you can do it.

8. Gmote Control Your Media Collection on Your PC
Gmote is a cool application that lets you access your media collection through Wi-Fi connectivity on your phone. You need to download the Gmote client and install it on your phone and you also need to download and install Gmote Server app for your computer. Run the app on your phone and connect to the PC server and you will be access the media files easily on your phone.


9. Free Up Space by Moving Caches
This is yet another simple hack that will let you increase free space on your Android phone which will let you add more data on your phone. By doing this hack, you will be moving caches present on your phone to your SD card. Visit this link to understanding the steps to do this hack.


10. Overclocking Your Android
If your Android performing in sluggish manner, you need to try this hack to optimize your phone’s performance. This hack involves risk of damaging your phone. The hack will cause the processor to clock at a faster pace.

Internet & Hackers

Internet

The Internet was started in 1969. It started from local area network. Let me explain what is a local area network. Computers connected with each other in a house or company makes a local area network. On the other hand wide area network is the combination of countless LANs, wide area networks and individual machine around the world. All computers in the world when connected together make a network, which is known as Internet. These computers are connected through different ways via ISPs. Let me explain what is an ISP. Those companies who provide Internet service to computer users are called Internet service providers. These ISPs offer two types of connections. One is called slow speed or dialup and the other is known as high speed. Dialup gives a maximum speed of 56 kbps. High speed connections starts from 56kps and go behind 13mps (mega bit per second). ISPs provide different monthly packages for this service. Every package is priced according to the speed.

Suppose you have Internet service setup on your computer and you turn on it on, you are already on Internet. Just like in real world everybody has a name, on Internet every computer has a unique number, which is called IP (Internet Protocol) address. This number can be used to identify a computer. So if a computer in one part of the world wants to talk to another computer in the other part of the world, that machine will be using this number to talk to the other computer. That is how these computers and computer users can communicate with each other. If someone knows a computer number i.e. the IP address then he or she can connect to any computer (using the right tools) specially if that computer has a week security.

Hackers

Those computer users who gain unauthorized access to other people computers are called hackers. This is possible if the target computer is weak on security and the IP for the said computer is available. The question is how they get a computer's number, i.e. IP address. Here are different possible ways of stealing or gaining access to IP address of a machine. Generally talking if someone has access to a computer then they can easily get it by punching a few simple commands. The IP address can be found during a chatting session. That's why Internet security is the greatest challenge for IT professionals. Spamming is another way of hacking a computer. In the Spam emails users are instructed to click on fake links and as soon as they click, scripts and spyware are download into their computer resulting in hacking.

Hackers use different programs to scan other people computers to get the computer number. In that case they never know whose computer number they are getting. In such cases the target computers are used for advertisements or identity theft. Let me explain how identity theft happens. A computer is a powerful tool in our life. We use it for checking emails, buy or sell items online; do our banking, schoolwork and many other daily life activities. All these activities are done through user id and password and that is what hackers usually search for. After they get the unique IP number, they download programs in other people computers. One bad fact about hacking is, location, they can be local or they may be sitting in other part of the world. Hackers can be blocked through different types of technologies i.e. hardware and software. In both cases there is one main idea behind it and that idea is called firewall. A firewall is like a security guard on the entrance of a building. It stops all unauthorized access to computer. Rules are setup on fire walled computers to allow or deny access through local and wide area network.

Internet is a great tool. Let's hope everybody use it for a better life. To me Internet is power. Long live Internet.

Warning - Your Cell Phone is Probably Hacked and You Are Being Tapped, Tracked and Even Followed

Recessions like this bring out the worse in people, and if you are not aware of it, the hackers are multiplying and it is a full fledged exploding industry now. Do you realize that with a common software bug your cell phone can be hacked and anyone can listen in on your conversations. Did you also know that a hacker can listen to your conversations even when you are not on your cell phone. Yes, amazingly, hackers can turn your phones speaker on and transmit it hundreds of feet to a corporate spy, a child molester, or worse, a killer.

I know what you are saying, no, impossible, how can this be, well if the above is not enough, a hacker can even activate your cell phone camera and watch your every move. If your phone is also equipped with a GPS tracking chip, like most are in the last couple years, then hackers can even track your movements right to your home or business with pinpoint accuracy, just like the police use to track criminals. Are you feeling as safe as you did before you learned about this security hole in all cell phone systems.

My phone was hacked and tapped into last year without my knowledge, after all, most of us would not believe such technology is available and if you were like me, I felt my cell phone was more secure than my office phones. We have all heard of home and office phones being tapped, but not cell phones. Why, because it is the cellular industries dirty little secret, and they want to keep it that way.

Watch this investigative news TV video to see how easy it really is, and I assure you, no conversation is private any longer. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCyKcoDaofg

Once you realize how un-secure your current cellular phone is, if you are like me, you will want to research a way in which you can protect yourself and your children, if not your business where spying is common place in highly competitive industries like fashion, technology and marketing. And what about the spouse who suspects cheating going on, you never know what you can say without someone listening anymore now that this secret hackers spying software is disclosed finally, so be prepared.

The only mobile wireless system I was able to research which offers a secure wireless connection is a company which utilizes multiple GSM, WiFi and WiMax bandwidth and VOIP never before used for mobile wireless communications before. Not only do they offer a new level of security which is hack proof, but they also offer wireless internet which will replace DSL and cable broadband for true universal wireless connections for mobile and internet with hackers not able to access either one given the tri-band use and high speed encrypted data blocks used.

If you are concerned about your security, research and check out the highest quality connections with no dropped calls, no breaks like with cell tower dependent mobile carriers use, and best of all, you get unlimited voice, text, data and wireless internet all for up to 50% less with no additional taxes or fees. I have reviewed every plan in the industry from every carrier, but none offer true unlimited calling and date once you read the fine print, so beware. Do your due diligence and I am sure you too will want to switch to the new mobile wirless systems.

 

What to Do If Someone Has Hacked Into Your Email Account

There are a couple of ways that your email account can be compromised or hacked.

One way is through a virus. If this is the case, you should still have access to your email account. If you do, go to it immediately and change your password. This virus can act in a number of ways by spamming everyone in your address book and making it look like it comes from you.

If you are sure that you didn't send the emails out, then send an email blast to your contacts informing them that the spam didn't come from you but from a third party. You might want to tell them how viruses work and ensure that you and your contacts have a good antivirus program installed and running.

Your email being hacked used to be a bigger problem in previous years than it is today. This is because most email hosting services have programs included to protect your address book.

If someone has compromised your account, they have no doubt changed your password so you can no longer access it. This is bad news. You need to take immediate action by contacting your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Hopefully they have enough identifying information about you so they can issue you with another password on the spot. If the situation is beyond just changing a password, they may tell you to create a new email address. The latter is a last resort and doesn't happen frequently.

After you get a new account, you can let your contacts know and reassure them that the problem was not of your making. Again, be sure to let them know they should all have a good antivirus program installed and enabled.

What happens if you have an account with a free provider like Google?

Google presents a bit of an issue. If you have other accounts with them such as Adsense, Google Docs, and/or Blogger; they are all tied to the same account so this means all these accounts have been compromised.

? Reset your Google password by using this link: google.com/accounts/ForgotPasswd. You'll be able to ask to reset your password and Google will send instructions to your secondary email address that you have on file with Google. This will work if the hacker has not managed to change your secondary email address while in your account.

? If that didn't work, then there is a form you can fill out here: https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=acc_reco&ara=2&ctx=acc_reco&rd=1. This form is letting Google know that your account has been compromised.

? Should the above not work, then use the following link as your last resort: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=ara&rd=1

Having your email account compromised is not fun. We depend on them so much and this is why taking all the necessary steps to prevent this is much better than trying to fix it once it's happened.

Deb Marsden is an experienced Internet training customer support manager.

Deb and her good friend and equally experienced customer support gal,Lee Ann, have joined forces and offer their services to computer newbies and not so newbies, solve issues they may have in learning how to use their computer.

Also, for those Internet entrepreneurs who want help with their personal branding...this team has lots to offer.

Too much to do and too little time? OutMouseit! and let this dynamic duo work their magic with your personal online branding and more.

This short video will give you ideas for your own personal brand

Hacking, A History

Draper was one of the first well known phone hackers, and the first famous "phone phreak". He was honorably discharged from the US Air Force in 1968 after posting in Vietnam, and then became an engineer at the electronics company National Semiconductor.
Steve Worniak
Worniak is a computer engineer and the co-founder of Apple Inc. (with Steve Jobs.) Worniak is credited with greatly contributing to the personal computer revolution of the 1970s. The Apple II gained a sizable amount of popularity, eventually becoming one of the best selling personal computers of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Kevin Mitnick
Mitnick has been undeniably titled the greatest hacker of our time. He has forever changed the way we handle information security and trust both computer and social networks. He was on the run from the F.B.I. for 3 years using fake identities. Police Officials were scarred of Kevin locking him up for 4 years without a trial
Draper, Worniak and Mitnick laid the foundation of hacking through the 1970s. So you may ask, how was hacking started, and why? ? In the 1970s phone companies started relying on computers to track phone calls. Which saved a lot of time and money for the companies, but also created havoc as "phone phreaking" began. John Draper began "phone phreaking" by using a whistle he dug out of a Captain Crunch box.(earning him his nickname "Captain Crunch" or "Crunchman")

Draper was "phone phreaking" by calling some one blowing his whistle, after his whistle is blown the phone call is not tracked, thus giving him a 10 second charge for a phone call he can make to anywhere in the world.
Draper soon created the "blue box". The blue box was an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator's dialing console. It functioned by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. This box made "phone phreaking" a lot easier and understandable to do.
The phone companies were finding out how their computers were being tricked and investigated. Journalist Ron Rosenbaum smelt a big story and longed to be the author. Ron started to interview many "phone phreakers." Every interview led to one person, "Captain Crunch." The article explained Draper's blue box , how it worked, and even how it was built. The printing of this article brings in Steve Worniak. (Worniak was in his second year at the University Of Burkley majoring in Engineering)
Worniak read Ron's article and instating became hooked. He tried to reproduce Draper's "blue box" as described in Ron's article. Enthusiastic Worniak called Draper and asked if he could make a visit to his dorm at UC Burkley. Draper could not ignore his enthusiasm and agreed. Draper showed him how to manipulate the blue box to call anyone in the world. Worniak asked if he could call the Pope, Draper got the number and they called. The Pope was sleeping, it was four in the morning. That night Worniak absorbed all the codes he could from Draper and other attending guests.
Wile all this "phone phreaking" was going on computers were a rare commodity that only large Businesses had the Luxury to own. This all changed with the new altair 8800, the altair 8800 was the first minicomputer kit. The release of the altair was appealing to many people in the bay area. This appealment led to the beginning of the homebrew computer club, (Steve Worniak was one of the hundreds of members) they had built their atair's but what was next, what does it do? The homebrew meetings were a place to learn and share new tips and ideas to other members. The homebrew members soon began building their own computers. When you finish building your computer you would bring it to the next meeting and share your experience making it.
After Worniak built his first computer is was obvious he was above the other members. Worniak's college roommate Steve Jobs talked him into inventing computers to sell for a profit. Jobs was the marketer, Worniak the designer. Their company, Apple Inc introduced the Apple I in the 1970s. Apple Inc. stayed ahead of the competition with the release of the Top Selling Apple II. The Apple II was made based on the idea of making a computer home ready straight out of the box. By 1982 Apple was worth half a billion dollars. With Worniak's business' thriving he soon found his love for the homebrew club dieing. He found he could not tell his secrets to other members of the homebrew club. In 1986 the homebrew club disbanded, leaving behind 23 computer companies founded by its members.
The Hackers who had built the computers and created the software where now being looked at as convicts. This revolution started with Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick brought to the table of hacking, social engineering. Social engineering is a collection of techniques used to manipulate people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. For example Mitnick would call phone companies and pretend he was with a different office to retrieve useful information. At age 17 Mitnick broke into the phone companies data base and stole millions of dollars worth of information. (being underage he spent 7 months in juvenile hall)
The movie "War Games" over night changed the term hacker. Steve Worniak who transformed the computer world was a hacker. And now teenagers who had nothing better to do then crack into data bases, were being described as the same term, "hacker."
Mitnick found his teenage hobby sticking with him. Mitnick, now choosing bigger companies to hack, in 1988 hacked into the network of computer giant DEC, and copied details of top secret software. Later in 1988 the police caught up with Mitnick and arrested him. He was charged to have copied four million dollars worth of software. Mitnick was held in isolation for a year based on the idea he could start a war through the pay phone the inmates used to make collect calls.
Once released Mitnick tapped his investigation officers at Pac Bell. Soon he was issued a warrant for his arrest in 1992. Kevin mad at the injustice of his arrest, ran. Mitnick settled in Denver and worked for a law firm under the name Eric Wies. Kevin was now hacking into the phone companies to get useful information to stay a step ahead of the police.
In 1994 the police caught up with Mitnick in North Carolina under the name Tom Case. Mitnick spent four and half years in jail without trial. Finally going to trial Mitnick was sentenced to five years in prison. After his release Mitnick was not allowed to touch a computer..
Draper,Worniak, and Mitnick established hacking through different methods, "phone phreaking", hacking to improve computers, and crack into phone files. Although they all used different methods they all contributed to the hacking history
Draper,Worniak, and Mitnick established hacking through differnt methods, "phone phreaking", hacking to inprove computers, and crack into phone files. Although they all used different methods they all contributed to the hacking history.

How to Pursue a Career in Ethical Hacking

Ethical hacking is the process of penetrating or intruding in a computer system for the purpose of security testing. Hackers who conduct ethical hacking are hired by companies to conduct penetration testing. These hackers are experts in computer security, as they play a crucial part in ensuring a company's IT system security. If you want to pursue a career in ethical hacking, you have to be knowledgeable in social engineering techniques and you must be able to properly identify the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of IT systems so that necessary measures may be taken to properly secure them.

Ethical hackers must explore different hacking methods to check if a company's IT system can be penetrated using any of these methods. Their job is basically to mimic the actions of a hacker and exhaust all possible hacking options to prevent illegal hacking. Pursuing a career in ethical hacking can be a very rewarding and profitable venture, as ethical hackers are usually paid a lot. However, before you can become an ethical hacker, you need to have adequate experience and knowledge in networking and programming. You should also have a good grasp of all available operating systems so that you can properly anticipate hacking methods.

If you want to become a licensed ethical hacker, then a course that is related to cyber security and IT is a prerequisite. You should also be knowledgeable about both the software and hardware involved in illegal hacking. Hacking is a serious Internet crime that can be done by anyone who has enough knowledge about how to penetrate a computer system. This knowledge is often always abused to get access to confidential information such as personal information, financial information and other such confidentialities. Illegal hacking is oftentimes used as a tool for theft. Increasing security measures have to be employed to protect computer systems from this heinous crime. A career in ethical hacking is highly profitable because there is an increasing demand for ethical hackers.

Since ethical hacking takes a lot of skill, necessary training is important before you can become licensed as an ethical hacker. You will also have to be trained in the ethical aspect of hacking. As a hacker, you will be able to enter confidential systems that contain hundreds of vital information. Before you can pursue a career in ethical hacking, you will have to be briefed when it comes to the ethical aspect of the business. It takes a certain degree of trust before you can be hired as an ethical hacker so aside from having all the necessary skills, you will also need to earn this trust.

Want to learn more? To discover more about all-things ethical hacking related, including a career in ethical hacking then visit the EthicalHackingBlog.com

How Do the Hackers Hack

The methods hackers use to attack your machine or network are fairly simple. A hacker scans for vulnerable systems by using a demon dialer (which will redial a number repeatedly until a connection is made) or a wardialer (an application that uses a modem to dial thousands of random phone numbers to find another modem connected to a computer).

Another approach used to target computers with persistent connections, such as DSL or cable connections, employs a scanner program that sequentially "pings" IP addresses of networked systems to see if the system is up and running. If you have any firewall software, you can see these repeated pings in your log.

Hackers find all these tools, ironically, in Internet. Sites containing dozens of free, relatively easy-to-use hacking tools available for download are easy to find on the Net. While understanding how these tools work is not always easy, many files include homegrown documentation written in hacker shoptalk.

Among the programs available are scanning utilities that reveal the vulnerabilities on a computer or network and sniffing programs that let hackers spy on data passing between machines.

Hackers also use the Net to share lists of vulnerable IP addresses--the unique location of Internet-connected computers with unpatched security holes. Addresses of computers that have already been loaded with a Trojan horse are available for anyone to exploit (in many cases without the owner of the computer knowing).

Once the hacker finds a machine, he uses a hacker tool such as Whisker to identify in less than a second what operating system the machine is using and whether any unpatched holes exist in it. Whisker, one of a handful of legitimate tools used by system administrators to test the security of their systems, also provides a list of exploits the hacker can use to take advantage of these holes.

There are so many conditions that make the life easier for hackers. it easier for them to hack into a system. Lax security is one of them--such as when a company uses no passwords on its system or fails to change Windows' default passwords.

In October 2000 hackers broke into Microsoft's system and viewed source code for the latest versions of Windows and Office after discovering a default password that an employee never bothered to change.

Other common mistakes: When system administrators don't update software with security patches, they leave vulnerable ports open to attack. Or when they install expensive intrusion detection systems, some fail to monitor the alarms that warn them when an intruder is breaking in.

Still another boon to hackers is a firewall or router that is misconfigured, allowing hackers to "sniff" pieces of data--passwords, e-mail, or files--that pass through the network.

Once a hacker cracks into a system, his next goal is to get root, or give himself the highest level of access on the machine. The hacker can use little-known commands to get root, or can search the documents in the system's hard drive for a file or e-mail message that contains the system administrator's password.

Armed with root access, he can create legitimate-looking user accounts and log in whenever he wants without attracting attention. He can also alter or delete system logs to erase any evidence (such as command lines) that he gained access to the system.

This is what happened in TJX's case. Hackers hacked into TJX customer accounts and stole customers' credit card information. TJX found out about the breach 5 months later, you can read more details about this in http://digitalbhoomi.in/blog/2007/03/30/46-million-card-numbers-are-hacked-biggest-hack-so-far/

Ram is the author many articles that cover Personal Finance and Business. You can read his articles at http://www.digitalbhoomi.in/blog

Tips to Avoid Getting Hacked!

I own and operate my own website, and I have to admit that at times it is no picnic. My website is over two years old now. It is what I consider to be an on line market place, some would refer to it as an auction site; but it is so much more than that. I have also opened up my site to members from all over the world, which may have been a mistake. Whether it was or not I am not about to let some people ruin it for others. During the time my site has been in operation it has been hacked numerous times. My site has nothing to offer in the way of financial gain and yet these people continue to feel the need to hack my site. For the safety of my site I am not mentioning the name of it in this article. No reason to provide more incentive to someone else to hack it.

And that is the sad truth behind why people are hacking my site. No credit card information or other financial information is stored here. My site and its members use pay pal and other forms of on line payment services. Those independent companies handle the financial information. So, they are not coming onto my site for those purposes. It is hard to understand for me why anyone would want to hack a site with no means of financial gain. They could be hacking my site to try and steal someones identity, but I do not see why they would want to do this either. Members do not have to sign up using their real names. The only useful information stored on my site by members is their mailing address. What good does that do a hacker? You certainly cannot do much in the way of identity theft with just their mailing address. So, I don't think my site is being hacked for that reason either.

No the sad truth is that my site is either good practice for a hacker in training, or they just have nothing better to do. Keep this in mind when you are trying to figure out why someone has hacked your site. Sometimes they are after nothing at all. Their only goal is to cause you trouble, and they draw some amount of satisfaction from this. I am reminded of the line from Batman The Dark Knight which goes; "Some men just want to watch the world burn". The basic meaning is that some people just do stuff to be mean. That is the only conclusion I could come to as to why people seem to enjoy hacking my site. So, if you own your own website like me there are some things you can do to make their lives more difficult.

1) The most important thing you can do is to make sure you are using a top notch program. This does no good to me, because my site is already up and running. If I had it to do all over again though, I would have picked a better program for my website. The better the program the better the measures to prevent people form hacking that program.

2) Use a web hosting service that will handle the security for you. I am going it alone, because fortunately I have access to my own server. I have a relative who is in the IT business and we own a server. So, my site is on this server, but we lack the man power and resources to monitor our servers like the bigger companies do. So, if you are going to have your own website, host it with a good company. The bigger the company, the better the security, and the safer your website is.

3) Make sure your Admin panel user name and password is more complicated and less predictable. Many of us like to choose passwords that are easy for us to remember. The problem with that is that we usually choose names, dates, and locations in some combination to form those user names and passwords. This makes it easier for a hacker to gain access to your account, if you used familiar information when you created your user name and passwords. Try to pick something not so obvious for user name, although it is no where near as important as your password. Be sure to make sure your password is long, and contains numbers and letters. Make sure to use both lower and upper case letters.

4) This is probably the most important one of all. Do not store your information on your computer! If someone gains access to your computer and you have all of the information written down than the whole point of user names and password secrecy is out the window. I know it seems like a good idea to write this information down and save it in case you forget the information. If someone hacks your computer than they will have the keys to your website. They won't need to hack, all they have to do is go to your website and use the information they took from your computer. I would recommend writing down all of the important information that has to do with your website in a notebook. I have one of those daily planner books to keep all of my information in. At least if someone steals this information, they are close by. Someone you can call the police on. Not some guy sitting in front of his computer in Nigeria or someplace else.

I have reported the people that have hacked my site over the years to the FBI. The reality is that there isn't much they can do about it if the hacker is sitting in the middle east somewhere. That was the region the last hacker of my site was from. Somewhere in Pakistan I believe. I reported it simply so that the FBI has a record of the incident. If this hacker does it enough to my site and other people's sites, than perhaps something will be done about it. I am not holding my breath though. I would recommend that you do the same though. The FBI handles computer fraud and they have a section on their website for reporting Internet crimes. If someone hacks your site than report it to them. That is how they build cases and come to deal with these people.

In the end no website is 100% secure. The sad truth is that as long as web sites exist, hackers will exist. Using smaller websites like mine as practice until they feel they are ready to move on to bigger and better fish. The only thing that website owners like us can do is try our best to make our sites as secure as possible. Continue to undue the damage done to our sites when we do get hacked. Giving up is too easy. I can imagine that any one of the hackers that hacked my site are disappointed every time they log on to see that my site is still there. I could simply shut the whole thing down, and let them win, but I can't do that. I will not stop doing business on line simply, because someone felt the need to create more work for me. So, I will keep on repairing the damage done. A word of advice. Anything you have written up about your website you should back up and save on your computer. I am talking about stuff like your Terms & Agreement, Legal Policies, Help text, etc. Save this stuff once you have written it up and posted it on your website. I learned this the hard way. When my site got hacked this last time the hacker felt the need to delete all of this text from my site. I had to rewrite all of it. So, be sure to save any part of your web text that you do not wish to have to re-write. So that if your website is hacked one day, you will at least have what you need handy to undo the damage.

Dennis James Huff

Wireless Security: 6 Ways to Stop and Catch Hackers and War Drivers

War drivers are in the business of finding wireless access points, documenting them and uploading their locations to the web. Why would someone do this, well for several reasons:

First they want free internet access. Next they could just be war driving as a hobby; finally they could be targeting your network for financial gain.

One of the most asked questions is how do you stop hackers from trying to hack your wireless lan and how to catch them in the act.

Stopping Wardrivers:

1. Use directional antennas: One of the most under stated uses of directional antennas are how they keep your wireless signal within your area of operation. If you are using a Omni directional antenna that is causing half the signal to travel outside your building, you have a major security problem. Also while using your wireless directional antenna turndown transmit power to reduce your signal strength if you can.

2. Blend your wireless antennas into your buildings architecture or keep them low profile. This is not expensive, the whole point is not letting your antennas stick out like a sore thumb so anyone driving by doesn't say, wow they have a wireless network. Once again the best way to stop people from trying to hack your wireless network is to keep it hidden.

3. Use Kismet or Airsnort - Make a cheap wireless Intrusion detection system. Use an older desktop computer install Linux, install a USB wireless adapter or PCI wireless adapter and boom you have your wireless war driver stopper. Both Kismet and airsnort will alert you when wireless clients are probing your network. If a wireless client is using netstumber and not joining networks they will be found by Kismet. Their wireless adapters MAC address will be logged and other details of the operating system. Most of the time these could be false hits but if you notice a pattern of the same MAC address probing networks you could have hacker issues.

4. Security Cameras - No matter how hard you try not to have your signal bleed outside your operations area it will...to a point. Probe your own network as if you were a wardriver. Don't just use a standard wireless adapter to find out where you still can detect your network. You will want to use a highly directional antenna to see how far away you can detect your own network. Once you know your weak points setup some cheap security cameras to monitor those areas.

5. Setup a Honey Pot - Give the Wardriver what they want, a network to hack. Take an access point connect it to a standalone switch with another junk computer connected to that switch. Name the SSID something sounding important like server WLAN and name the computer Database. Finally use a weak password or just leave the access point without any security. Script kiddies who say they "hack networks" really are only connecting to open wireless lans with no security. If you give them a "Important sounding SSID with a "database to hack" this will keep them occupied until you can track them down. There are many honeypot programs free and commercial that will simulate networks or servers but are really just recording all the hackers' information and types of attacks.

6. Use a RADIUS Server - RADIUS servers require Wireless clients to authenticate with a username and password not just with a PSK (Pre- Shared Key). With out a RADIUS server you really don't know who is on your WLAN. With a RADIUS server you know who is accessing your WLAN and when they accessed it. Also a RADIUS server gives you the ability of creating policies for times your WLAN can be accessed and other required security features the wireless clients must have enabled their computers.

Now let's put this all together to catch our hacker. First you are going through your daily routine of checking logs on your Kismet IDS server and you notice the same MAC address probing networks but not joining. Next you check your help tickets and notice that in one area of the building clients were having trouble connecting to the wireless network or they had trouble staying connected.

Flags go up in your head, so you go over to your honeypot server and check that . You notice it was accessed around the same time of the Kismet logs showed a client probing the network. The honey pot recorded the MAC address of the WAR driver and the operating system and the computer name.

Next you check your security cameras for that time but don't really notice anything. So for the next couple days you keep monitoring your honey pot server and watch the hacker try and crack the WLAN and the database server. The whole process of cracking wireless encryption is actually two steps. The first step is gathering enough packets for your cracking program to crack. This whole process of gathering enough packets can takes days or weeks not five minutes. Now once you do have enough packets 64 bit WEP encryption can be cracked in less that five minutes. 128 bit encryption can take many times longer, WPA with TKIP and AES encryption can takes months to crack.

My whole point is that you have some time to catch your hacker because he will be back many times, assuming that you already have at least the basic security features in place.

Now once you have all your logs compiled and your honey pot data you should have a good idea how the hacker behaves. Check your security cameras and you probably notice the same car or person in the area around that time. Take that information to your in house security and tell them to watch for that vehicle or person and call the police.

If you are lucky security or police will spot him and apprehend him. Convicting him or her will be tough but with your compiled logs and video you should have a lot of evidence to help your case.

Simple and secure wireless solutions. Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet at http://www.wirelessninja.com Keep your home and family safe with Ninja certified wireless hidden cameras [http://www.wirelessninja.com/wireless_hidden_cameras.htm]

Best and Worst Computer Hacking Movies

BEST:

Wargames (1983): The top of the list! What can you say about this movie other than marvel at it's greatness. What's that you say? You're not convinced it's the best... well then your probably under 40. For those of us that were around during that time, the accuracy of the equipment and methods used were 100% spot on. I'll forgive a little poetic license with the voicebox (even though they did exist at a more primitive level), but if you had to read what was on the screen the movie would get tiresome real fast. It added to the creepiness of the emotionally void WOPR when the voice says, "To win the game." The voice, BTW, was provided by the director who recorded the lines by speaking them in reverse, then played back in the opposite reverse forward direction...??? You know what I mean. It completely represented the aura of the time. If you buy the DVD that has the director's comments, you'll find that they purposely used a hodgepodge of older computer equipment so it would accurately represent what a teenager would be able to afford or scrounge up during that time. Incredible accuracy, especially the part showing how to jack a pay telephone with a soda can pull tab. What's a pull tab? Go away kid, ya bother me!

Tron (1982): Even though this film came out in the 80's, it feels like a late 70's film. I don't know why. Basically it's about a hacker that is transported into the digital universe inside a computer, and must survive combat as a cyber gladiator in order to stop the villainous Master Control. It wanes a little in places, but make no mistake this was a groundbreaking adventure at the time. The graphics, while dated now, were extremely cutting edge at the time and wowed movie audiences lucky enough to see it on the big screen.

Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999): Not so much a hacking film as a corporate espionage film... involving computer companies. Fantastic tale from start to finish. My only gripe is that it does leave out some key information. For instance, the only reason Bill Gates got in to see the higher up's at IBM was that his mother served on the same board of directors for a charity that the IBM chairman served on. She got the wheels rolling on the meeting. It also makes Bill Gates out to be some rebellious drop out who risked everything to start his company. Truth is, Bill was a multi millionaire by the time he went to college thanks to a generous trust fund from his grandparents and parents, who were also very wealthy. So was Paul Allen, who knew Bill from their grade school days at one the most exclusive and expensive private schools in Seattle. They weren't hurting for anything... unlike Jobs and Wozniak. Still the historical bend of this movie makes it one of the best biopic films for computer nostalgia nerds.

WORST:

Sneakers (1992): Some of the hacking was OK, but the social commentary peppered throughout by Robert Redford made this film unwatchable. If you want to blame Republicans for everything, watch a Michael Moore movie. If you want to make a hacking movie, leave your left wing garbage out and just make a damn hacking film. Is that too much to ask there, Bobby? The story revolves around two college buddies who take different paths in life. One becomes an "ethical" hacker, and the other...well, he is not quite so noble, although rich. The underlying message is that capitalist greed is bad but being broke, running from the FBI, and working in a run down, abandoned warehouse is morally superior. Some great plot twists and comic scenes ruined by over the top political grandstanding make this a movie I would only watch if it were free... and beer was free.

The Net (1995): Ugh. The only saving grace of this movie is Sandra Bullock. Technology at that time was emerging at a great pace. This thing called 'Internet' was finally taking off and the filmmakers and writers took a lot of poetic justice to portray what computers might be able to do in the 2 months between shooting the movie and releasing it. It had it's moments but the whininess of Bullock and the whole portrayal of the security software hack made it almost unwatchable. A good MST3K candidate.

Swordfish (2001): This movie's tagline should tell you just how unrealistic the hacking is: "Log on. Hack in. Go anywhere. Steal everything." Yeah, it's that easy. If you watch the movie, you'll realize that's exactly what the filmmakers believe. John Travolta is a villain who's grand scheme is to steal billions from the U.S. government through yes, you guessed it... hacking. The entire premise of the plot is that in the vast, computerized world of modern finance, $9.5 billion could slip through the cracks so that a clever hacker could, with hacking, transfer it to his own account unnoticed. Heck, I could use a new car... I'm gonna hack a few grand right now using my Hollywood generated CGI screens with 3d hacking tools where the mouse moves even though your hands are busy typing! It might have fooled the unwashed masses, but we know better.

David Ryder is an Internet Marketing Professional that has been helping individuals, corporations, and promotional companies achieve success through various methods and campaign styles.