Software Security for you

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 2008 and is the fastest growi

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 FREE for use

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 may ideally

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

You got a brand new Android mobile ? Great. Got lots of app pre-installed ? Yeah.  Mobile manufactures (Samsung/LG/Asus/HTC/Nokia and others) pre-install loads of apps by default. They partner with other app developers to promote apps and make money in turn. Great business sense to pre-install and get people use those apps with ease. There are apps that are common and people do install it eventually (e.g. Gmail/facebook/Whatsapp). It make sense to install it by default and make it available for people to start using right away on their new phone.  However there are ton of other apps  that mobile manufactures pre-install and that is annoying to users. As a user you may never use these pre-loaded apps. Just an example, I got Samsung S4 (from phone service provider) and it came with 80 odd apps, out of that I never ever used 40 apps!  That's huge set of apps pre-loaded. It may vary based on which phone you buy, however its obvious that new mobiles does comes with good number

If you are using Windows/Linux/Mac then you would have installed an Anti-Virus(AV). If not then better get one and setup. Its too easy for a machine to get infected and it has been reported that malware and viruses are on their all-time high. Here are some reasons why you need Anti-Virus You connect to internet and download/install files  You exchange data with your colleagues or friends via pen-drives   You connect you machine to different Wi-Fi networks  You use shared folders or use torrent for file sharing    How to know if your Anti-Virus is working ?  Any Anti-Virus product generally operates in three modes to give you full protection.  Here is gist that you need to know before you proceed Real time scanning (RTS) - In this more Anti-Virus product is active under the hood and constantly monitoring files that are open/written/closed/downloaded. AV product will scan them immediately and flag an alert if there is any virus detected On-Demand scanning - User initi

Security is not one-stop shop and you get everything. It’s not about you install a product and forget everything about keeping every things secure. Here are numerous topics around security that you should be aware of to keep up to security. Anti-Virus and Firewall: This is the most common term people think of security. It’s still valid, however it’s not everything. All of us now do things on internet and there has many more things to take care. You still need to worry about what you download/install or connect your friends pen-drive to your machine. Security products does great job here. Web security: Internet is full of good and bad sites. You need to ensure either not to land on those or be careful about those. Good browser plugins do help in to give us rating and categorization. You need to keep an eye and ensure not land-up into unwanted sites.  Security products does great job here. Here is good read on it. Social networking: This has become part of our lives now. You