Software Security for you

WARNING - TrueCrypt has stopped development and issued security warning. Please don't use TrueCrpt. Maintaining this blog for historical purposes. Updated 29th May 2014.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You got personal data or photos that you don't want anyone to see ? Got confidential files in your external-HDD/Pendrive and want to share it with your friends?  Or want to create a secure vault to store sensitive data ?  Answer is TrueCrypt TrueCrypt is Open-Source, free disk encryption software available for Windows/Mac & Linux. http://www.truecrypt.org/ Main features - Create virtual disk within the real hard drive - You can create a vault and lock it using a password. You can then see all files within it with password Encrypts entire hard-disk or pen-drive. If your laptop is stolen or you lose pendrive with data then no one can read the content and see your files   Enc...

How does Wi-Fi works ?  Wi-Fi is preferred wireless way of internet connectivity on mobile devices. We connect to Wi-Fi at home/office/cafe/Hotels and public places to get fast internet connectivity and do all stuff using it. Usage of Wi-Fi has spread fast with smartphones/tablets as compared to laptops couple of years back. Wi-Fi uses network name (SSID) and shared-password to connect and that makes it easy for users to get internet without much hassle. Once you connect to a network, your mobile device remembers the network and tries to auto-connect to it whenever its available. Mobile devices store all this Wi-Fi network info and use to auto-connect on periodic basis so as to provide preferred connectivity; and all that happens behind the scene. May be its your android/iphone/blackberry/windows phone/tablet all work same way. Your phone tries to connect to Wi-Fi automatically. You can see list of Wi-Fi networks connected by your device going to settings > WiFi Wh...

What is Online Privacy and why anyone should care about it  online?  Online Privacy is about you and personal privacy concerning your data the way its stored and used by third-parties, and displaying that via internet. With internet age, your data is captured every moment with what you do online and is available for companies to use and share with others without you noticing it and that's the reason why you should care. Your identity and data is not only yours anymore. Google the web king:   Every google search you do after login to google is stored. Google exactly know what kind of info you are looking for and what was your search history which it can relate and then show new results. Search done on webpage/tablet will also show up on phone and vice-versa. If you have android then you can also see that "Google Now" will show related blogs/articles around your search. E.g. if you search for a name of place then few minutes later you will see a short map w...

Internet Explorer has been there for good long time now and each version has exposed security vulnerabilities.  What that mean to user is that any website that you visit can take control of your computer remotely and can do anything without you noticing it. Microsoft has recently (26th April 2014)  notified users about flaw in Internet Explorer  https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/security/2963983  . Here is why its time to switch to better options for free. As internet has matured new web technologies have immersed. Modern browser has been developed to meet those needs and keep users safe. Google Chrome and Firefox has grabbed market share from IE with due its appealing functionality over IE . Today FireFox has released their new version 29 which has refreshing looks, boost privacy and provides new customization.  Try it!  https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ Why Google Chrome: Google Chrome has became popular since it launched in ...

Microsoft has stopped supporting its 14 year old Operating system - Windows XP this month(April 2014). No new updates or fixes and security updates will be released to XP machines (Unless you are in government and ready to pay heavy charges). Here are is Microsoft announcement on XP http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows/end-support-help While XP was great for personal use, it is one of the least secure Operating System(OS) today.  The most vulnerable OS by Microsoft and this is due to its single-user architecture.  Microsoft has surely moved ahead with lessons learned and improved with Windows7 and Win8+ . Its still is most exploited OS on planet due to its design. Time to switch to Ubuntu Linux: With no updates on XP from Microsoft, its time for you to switch to better OS. Either upgrade to Win7/Win8 if your machine supports and ready to throw away some cash, OR try out new Ubuntu Linux 14.04. Ubuntu ( http://www.ubuntu.com /) is Linux distribution which is FRE...

Android has been successful due to huge array of apps available and ease of download for users.  Open nature of android helps app developers do develop various kinds of apps and do magic. Installing an app shows permissions required for an app and that gives us a hint what this app can do/access from you smartphone/tablet App permissions are access that an app is requesting before you download and install it. If you grant the access, app downloads and has all required permissions to run. No permissions are asked thereafter unless additional permissions are required to update newer version from Google play. Android platform provide granular permission set for apps. Based on what an app does, it defines which permissions are required and does let android-platform know about those.  As a user you get to know these permissions when you opt to install the app and before you download it. It depends on app what permissions it needs. If you are just installing a game, then it ma...

Online banking is preferred way for bank transactions and we hardly visit bank building. Most banks do provide android/iphone apps  to take it further. Bank websites are here to stay and do provide rich set of services for customers; and here lies the security issue. You need to protect you identity while logging in and prevent using your credentials on any other fake websites. Use browser bookmarks to open bank website: Always visit your bank using a bookmark on your browser. Simple practice can save your money Never search for bank URL in google or any search engine. You may land up in fake website Never search bank website URL in emails, you might open fraudulent email with URL pointing to site that looks similar to your bank. You may end up entering credentials and give away access to hackers Do NOT bookmark 'Sign in' page as it can change, always bookmark main website of bank e.g. https://www.hsbc.co.in, you can then follow the 'Sign in' page from there. Jus...