PHISHING - Never Danger Before

When you want to catch fish, you fool fish and hunt them easily by hooking, trapping etc. Like this you can 'fish'(fool) people on internet with help of 'Phishing'(fishing). The 'Phishing' word is based on 'fishing'. In fishing, you hunt fish and in Phishing you hunt people's mind, steal their important data through identity theft/social engineering.

Definition - Phishing:
(1) It is the act of tricking someone into giving them confidential information or tricking them into doing something that they normally wouldn't do.
(2) It is a form of fraud that aims to steal valuable information such as, Bank account details, Credit card details, User IDs and Passwords, etc.

How does it work - Phishing:
Suppose, I am an attacker and I need your Bank account details such as ID and Password for profit/benefits. So, I will try to use Phishing attack out of few more.
I will create fake login page which looks exact like your Bank's login screen. Then, I will upload it on a server and send its link to you via email. So, when you will open your inbox, you will get link of fake login page. You will click on that link and input your ID and Passwords as normally you always enter on your real Bank's login page. In this case, your details will come to me instead of your real Bank because of Phishing. Please check 2 different login pages of Google Mail. (Maybe one is fake!!)



Target - Phishing:
(1) Banks
(2) Online shopping sites
(3) Well-known Email sites

Medium - Phishing:
(1) Email
(2) Messenger

Countermeasure against Phishing:
(1) Never click the links provided in email messages.
(2) Always type Real URL (Unique Resource Locater) in address bar of your browser.
(3) To read emails in plain text prevents some Phishing attacks.
(4) Never click any link in any messenger window.
(5) If you find any doubtful link in your mailbox then instantly 'Delete' it to prevent accidental accessing that link.

Foolproof Countermeasure:
Few banks recently introduced small device named "Security Device". My favorite secured bank website is "HSBC Bank - The World's Local Bank". They introduce "The Security Device" (Shown in following image). This device has unique number, it registered and mapped with your ID and Password. It has a small button on it. When you press that button it will display 6 digit number and it wont remain same next time. So, when you enter HSBC account ID on its login page then they will ask Password along with 6 digit Security Device number which displays on its small screen. Suppose, anyone steal your ID and Password after then he/she will NOT able to login to your HSBC account without having this Security Device. Thus makes HSBC banking even more safer than other Banks.

Email Forging - Fun Mailer(Return)

I have posted an article on titled "Email Forging-Fun Mailer" on date September 30, 2007. It was great but bad trick so they removed it due to violation of T.O.S. But, it returns again. Just click on following link and send email to anyone with using anyone's email address.

-->> FUN MAILER <<--

Disclaimer: Remember it is just for fun and educational purpose. Please don't use anything for malicious purpose. Use this trick at your own risk only. I am not liable for anything.

Bootskin Trick

This is a good trick to fool your friend/colleague. It is regarding display a Boot Screen whick looks like 'Hard Disk Formating' alert. So, it will fool easily. You just need to install Bootskin software which is absolutely free from its site-> http://www.stardock.com/products/bootskin/ Please refer following real screen shot of this software.


Then you need to download 'Formating Boot Screen' from same site and install it with help of above said software-> http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=1292&libid=32 So, when your friend or colleague will restart his/her system then he/she will find that his/her computer's hard drive is being formatted. Only you know that it is a Trick/Prank. I am sure he/she will shocked and try to restart his/her machine again and again. But it won't stop display that Boot Screen until remove it. As per Boot Screen help, you will not stop previewing it until you click on its window anywhere. But, I have found that it doesn't work to click on its window and stop previewing it. So, I have used 'Safe Mode' and remove it. Please refer real screen shot of said 'Formating Boot Screen'.


Disclaimer: This is complicated trick so please be careful while using it. I am not liable for anything happen to your computer.

Recycle Bin - Windows XP

I have noticed that people don't really know more about Recycle Bin. Recycle Bin has few good facility. You can configure it as per your need. I have described them here. Make right click on Recycle Bin and reach to properties. You will get a window.

(1) From this option you can set space/size of deleted files on your Hard Disk. You can set up single settings for all Drives ( all partitions ) or you can set it up independent settings for each partition. (Check Arrow No:1)

(2) If you are skilled person in computer then you can enable this settings. It doesn't move files to Recycle Bin. It deletes them directly. It is harmful if you don't sure whether you want to delete or not. (Check Arrow No:2)

(3) When you delete file/s from your computer you will get delete confirmation dialog box. It is sometimes boring to always hit 'Yes' button on this dialog box. So, if you can set up this option it will never display delete confirmation box. It will delete and move your file/s quick to Recycle Bin. (Check Arrow No:3)

Please check following real screen shot of above explained options.

HIBERNATE

To spend the winter in a sleep like condition of partial or total inactive. Many insects, most reptiles and amphibians, and some mammals hibernate. In computer definition, Hibernate is a feature where the contents of RAM is written on Hard Disk before powering off the system. It is also known as sleep mode. To use Hibernation the hard disk needs to have at least as much free space as there is RAM on the system. It means if you have 256MB RAM then you need at least 256MB free space on Hard Disk for Hibernate. It is good inbuilt feature with many operating systems like Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. You can also enable this feature in Windows XP as per following simple steps.

• Go to Display properties of Windows XP through Control Panel or via right click on Desktop
  
• Then go to Screen Saver tab and click on Power options
  
• Now go to Hibernate tab on Power Options Properties window
  
• Then select Hibernate option and apply it
  

Please refer following screen shot of above steps so you can understand easily.


The Shut Down screen will be changed after enabling Hibernate. You will get Hibernate options on your Shut Down screen and your Shut Down screen looks like following.


Advantages:

• Fast power off than normal Shut Down
• You can Hibernate your computer any time and you really don't need to close any opened programs, you can leave them as it is
  
• Quick restart : it restarts so quicker than hard reboot, plus you will get all opened programs exact which you left open when you hibernated
  
• Password protection
• Save electricity

Hibernate Shortcut:

• Make right click on Desktop.
  
• Then choose New->Shortcut.
• Type rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState in location of command
• Click Next
• Give this shortcut name if you want
• Click finish
• So, next time when you want to Hibernate just double click on this shortcut
  

EXE File Transfer via Email

Sometimes we faced problem sending EXE files via Email. Mostly all Email clients have banned to send(transfer) EXE file via their mail server due to security reasons. I appreciate this banned because of no one send any harmful EXE via Email. But, it also prevents us to send important EXE files via Email. So, I used this trick to send EXE via Email. This is very easy trick to send an EXE via any Email clients. You can send any EXE file via Email just in following easy steps. You just need to change any EXE files extension ".exe" to ".ex" or anything as unknown in computing language. Please refer following picture.