Unwiped devices and drives

Always wipe your devices/drives before selling them. The McCain campaign found this out the hardway.

Some people may never find out what they've released.

Implications of the Myspace Suicide case

Robert Graham raises some interesting points about the Myspace bullying/suicide case. He suggests that sometimes our personal views can cloud our judgment, leading to a bending of the law. Consider if he might be right. Accounts of jury reactions are noted elsewhere.

When reading about this case, try to think if the punishment achieves one of the four goals and consider the aftermath and what it might mean for you in the future.

Doppleganger (again)

Related to a previous post on this subject, some might suggest that you're nobody unless someone is faking you

Young people as a security threat?

Apparently the younger generation is seen as a threat:

Generation Y user behavior could endanger security of enteprise systems, studies say

Agent.btz visits the Pentagon

The Pentagon banned USB devices due to Agent.btz. While speculations run high, I particularly enjoyed this idea about how Agent.btz got on the network.

Your face is easy to fake

A Vietnamese security firm has demonstrated that facial recognition software can be spoofed. Enhanced pictures are used to bypass the software. Perhaps you should remove that Facebook photo now?

Perhaps we should move on to a more robust biometric system.

Windows DOS Commands

In the last two classes we have been playing around with command line on windows. We learned a few useful commands:

dir	list out files
cd	show current working directory
cd [path]	change to [path] directory
cls	clear screen
copy [old] [new]	copies the old file to new
del [file]	deletes the file
move [old] [new]	moves the old file to new
tree	shows the tree of the current directory
md	creates new directory
mkdir	creates new directory
rmdir [dir]	deletes directory dir
help	lists help information
type [file]	outputs file contents to screen
date /t	outputs date to screen
time /t	outputs time to screen
netstat	gives us network connection information
netstat -an	-a: all connections -n: IP addresses
netstat -rn	-r: routing information
ipconfig /all	gives us network information

Cygwin Installation

For class we used Cygwin which is a Linux-like environment for windows. Since most of you have Windows machines, this will allow you run tools that normally run under Linux/Unix environments.

The setup file is here.

When you download setup, double click it. You should see the following:




Press ``Next'' and choose ``Install from the Internet'' :



Choose where to install Cygwin (by default it is in C:\Cygwin):



Cygwin will create a directory in which it will store the its files during installation. After installation you can delete the folder. The default location is the desktop:



Select your internet connection. The default is OK:



Select a mirror (mirrorservice.org is good):



Press ``Next'' You should see the following:



Next you will see a list of packages you can download. By default these are organized by category:



If you press the plus signs on the left hand side, it will open up the category and you can select specific packages:




Here is a list of packages you need organized by category:

From the Base category
1. Everything

From the Devel category
1. Gcc: C, C++, Fortran compilers
2. gcc-mingw: Mingw32 support headers and libraries for GCC
3. gcc2: Version X.XX.X [whatever is latest] of C, C++, Fortran compilers
4. gdb: The GNU Debugger
5. make: The GNU version of the `make' utility
6. mingw-runtime: MinGW Runtime
7. openssl-devel: The OpenSSL development environment

From the Editors category
1. Nano: A pico clone text editor with extensions [works like pico]
2. vim: Vi Improved – enhanced vi editor

From the Interpreters category
1. Perl
2. Python

From the Utils category
1. until-linux: Random collection of Linux utilities
2. file
3. ELFIO

From the Text category
1. less: A file pager program, similar to more(1)

After you have made your selections, press next for installation to begin. This part is the actual installation, and may take some time. Just let it finish. After it finishes you will be asked if you want to create shortcuts on the desktop. Make sure to click Finish.

Running Cygwin

When you run Cygwin for the first time, it might take a little longer to start up. This is because it is configuring
a few more files for your environment. Then you should get a command line prompt that looks like:

You are now able to work on your programs at home on your windows machines.

Tools

Here is a (short) list of free tools:

Memory dumpers:

win32dd

mdd


Network Connections:

Fport


Various other resource information:

PsTools

Userdump


Analysis:

Cygwin Linux emulator for windows

Volatility (XP only)

PtFinder (2000/XP/Vista)


Additional (not needed if Cygwin is installed):

Python

Perl

Security Breaches

We've come to this topic in our class. So here are some links that should be useful for your notes:

What To Do if Compromised - Visa (pdf)

The Breach Blog (information about recent incidents)

IR Preparedness

Changing the Face of IR

Let the Class Action Suit Begin

MIT Boston Transit Talk

Last week we had discussed this talk and I said I would post a link. Make sure to check out the slides.

Article about this talk's cancellation

Enjoy!

A Sixty-Eight Year Old Code

Since we were talking about cyphers and such, I thought you might like this blogpost about WWII German espionage code (with pics).

Improvised RFID blocking

I thought you guys might like this blogpost.

Cryptography

An Overview of Cryptography

How Stuff Works

Encryption

Cold Boot Attack

Hashing Links

Cryptographic Hash Function

MD5

SHA

Illustrated Guide to Cryptographic Hashes

National Software Reference Library (NSRL)

Tripwire

Birthday Paradox

Birthday Attack

Rootkit links

Sorry for the late post! Here are the links discussed in the last class:

rootkit.com

packetstorm

Renderlab

Sorry, I almost forgot to post Renderman's website. Don't forget to scroll all the way down for content. Enjoy!

Google

Related to an earlier post, here is an interesting article questioning Google's data mining capabilities:

Does Google Know Too Much?

Google's gathering of information and making it available online is provoking outrage in Germany, triggered by such things as its Street View service to capture and post images of streets all over the world using car-mounted cameras. "These pictures, which are available for retrieval worldwide over the Internet, could easily be linked to satellite photos, address databanks, and other personal data," says Germany's federal commissioner for data protection Peter Schaar, who suggests that such information could be tapped for shady activities. The aggregate data Google has compiled makes many intelligence agencies seem "like child protection services" in comparison, says Hendrik Speck of the applied sciences university in Kaiserslautern. Peter Fleischer, whose job as Google's head of data protection is to defuse such concerns by shielding users' information, insists that nothing Google collects identifies any particular individual. Opponents such as author Gerald Reischl counter that Google cannot validate such assurances, and he warns that the free Google Analytics program that Web site owners use to keep tabs on usage patterns can be used for surveillance. Thilo Weichert, who heads Schleswig-Holstein's Independent State Agency for Data Protection, writes that most Google Analytics users do not realize that the service routes data to the United States. "This violates the data privacy laws protecting those who use the Web sites," he says. Weichert also complains of Google's non-transparent operation, and its refusal to disclose anything about its data management strategy except "what is absolutely necessary ... and then only under pressure."

CBS Early Show

This might be interesting to some of you:

Daniel Sieberg explains how millions of people are socializing via internet and mobile sites without meeting each other, sometimes with life-altering consequences.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Data loss in the age of information

Information is power. This is so true in today's society. We had a great discussion today about ways of obtaining information. Here are a few articles/links that were mentioned:

Bugtraq

Partial Disclosure

The Web Hacking Incidents Database

Privacy Rights Clearing House

Data Loss Database (more information here)

How Can Government Improve Cyber-Security? (I)

How Government Can Improve Cyber-Security (II)

Laptop/Border Control

FISA and Border Searches of Laptops

Laptop searches at the border: No reason? No problem

When Will Social Networking Cripple Corporate Network Security

Videos

CNBC "Big Brother, Big Business"

Privacy is Dead Get Over It (I)

Privacy is Dead Get Over It (II)