Sunday, August 23, 2009

Record your phone calls

I had the best talk with my friend a few days back and it still lingers on! That is when I wanted to hear it back, all over again. Was there a way? I searched and found the answer to this question. One might be surprised to know that it is possible to record your own calls. There are three options that you could make use of. One is the most simplest one, that is to utilize your recording facility in the cell phone. The second technology is making use of a call recorder, which needs to be plugged into the cell phone while making the call. This can be opted if you do not have high end phone with the recording facility.

The third option is to utilize something called as call recorder card. It is the latest technology and one can record all calls without any physical device. It is a service provided by the operators and one can enroll for it. One can access the recorded call by dialing the toll free number and thus hearing it all over again.

So the next time you want to record a beautiful or important conversation, don't be too late like me.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Twitter Hacked

I couldn't believe what I read. I re-read the paper for it said Twitter as hacked. Now one could argue that it was done by the best brains on the earth and it is being planned for days! But would you believe if I said that anybody could have easily performed this act, just by using some common sense. I shall give an outline of how the attack took place and that would throw light on the entire issue. The hacker's name is Croll. He created a profile of a company and collected all details of twitter employees. Once he knew their Gmail address, he tried it and asked for the password to be reset. Gmail sends the new password to our initial e-mail address, which happened to be Hotmail. So when he went back and typed the Hotmail address, he found that it did not exist anymore. So he created the same account and thus again asked Gmail to redirect password. Once he got password, he opened the Gmail account and the old password in it. So he reset it back to prevent any doubts. He found that people used the same password for all their accounts and it happened to be the same even for their official Twitter e-mail address. So it was ! The human tendency to use the same passwords has been utilized in this attack. A simple issue was exploited to make a big story! One needs common sense to perform such an attack and the hacker possessed it!. Let's create custom silicone bracelets to create more awareness on this simple issue that can lead to account hacks especially banking accounts

Friday, August 14, 2009

Device Fingerprinting

I was just reading the web another day, when I came across this term. I thought it meant fingerprinting, but then I re-read it and understood that it was different one. So I set out to know what it meant and hence here is an article which will throe light on this issue.

A proper definition for device fingerprinting is to know all the details, i.e. both the hardware and software details of a remote computing device. This information can be collected without users consent and hence as been termed as breach into the user's privacy. But this can be used to provide breakthrough in cyber crimes.

There can be two types of device fingerprinting. Passive fingerprinting will result in the obvious querying of client as a transaction is made. But active fingerprinting, involves installing some executable code on the client’s system and then collecting the details. This is intruding the system directly.

There are two requirements for fingerprinting, but neither of them van be achieved. One is called diversity and the other stability. Diversity means that every device must have a unique fingerprint, which is not possible. One can achieve diversity by collecting a number of parameters about the device but then stability will be compromised. Stability means that the device's parameters must be stable over time.

Though this can be termed illegal, this methodology when used properly can be very helpful to combat cyber crimes!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

A simple logic goes a long way

Have you wondered how innovations happen? Every innovation is just an extension of a small curiosity and the determination to be different from others. Most innovations are not the result of great IQ levels or so. It is simple out of box thinking which creates a masterpiece. I shall quote an example, and then it would be easier to understand.

I have already spoken about card not present fraud activities. A lot of research has gone into the area and people have come up with different technologies. The technologies range from profiling human behavior using neural networks to developing EMUE cards. All this looked too complicated to me and so was trying to find if any other company has come up with a simpler methodology.

I was surprised when I read about Verify Smart, a company which has come out with a simple logic to combat fraud in Card Not Present (CNP) or Point of Sales(POS) domains. It is a simple authentication procedure. Once a transaction has been made via CNP or at POS domain, Verify Smart sends the transaction details to the customer’s mobile. The customer should authenticate it via his PIN number. Fraudsters can clone cards, but will they steal phones too? The chances are very less and hence this procedure can be termed simply superb!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Google is making the next big foray

Microsoft has stiff competition, and they must have been surprised when they heard the news that Google is planning to launch its Operating System. Google started with their search engine, and have come a long way from there. It is a known fact that Google dominates search engine market, and then it made foray into the e-mail market. After its success at e-mail market, it jumped into social networking! People wondered what could be the next move. Google made a jump into the browser market and has taken the browser environment by storm. Google Chrome has replaced the usual Internet Explorer and now they have announced that they would be coming up with Chrome OS.

It is felt that Chrome OS, will be out be next year. It is said that it will have simplicity, security and speed. It will be web centric since Google is always known for its web based capabilities. Chrome OS is being created with web users in the mind. In other words, web is predicted as the future, so an OS that is web based is termed as the new revolution! I am waiting for it, and I hope that you too are waiting for it too. I am willing to create unique trading pins with Chrome OS and promote this OS to my friends and family members. This is the least I can do for most great free products delivered by Google.