Pro Web Marketing » Security News

Useful Trick: Recover Saved Passwords

Pro Web — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:22:01 +0000

If you’re like me, you often register for a website, hit the “Remember My Password” button in the browser, and totally forget what the password was to begin with. Normally this isn’t an issue – as you’ll always have that password saved.

But what if you need to tell someone else that password, or perhaps log in on another computer?

Raymond.cc has a great solution to this problem. He has written a piece of JavaScript code that you can simply copy and paste into your browser’s address bar to reveal any hidden passwords on the page that may be saved.

Here’s the code!

javascript:(function(){var s,F,j,f,i; s = ""; F = document.forms; for(j=0; j

Check out his blog at Raymond.cc for more info and instructions on usage.

Collaborating Files & Projects Safely & Securely

Pro Web — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:10:09 +0000

Today, communication goes way beyond the telephone and “snail mail.” Businesses have changed the way they conduct transactions both with their staff and clients. E-mail has now surpassed all other conventional communications and with that comes security issues that arise when the email is being transferred from the sender to the recipient. Hackers love emails with attachments. They are able to break into secure hubs and snatch your files.

There are two secure programs that enable you to securily share your files and documents with staff and clients.

Microsoft Groove is by far the best collaboration program. It allows you to collaborate calendars, documents, meetings, and much more. If you have Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, you already have Groove available.

If you do not have Groove, Dropbox is a great little collaboration program that allows you to share and transfer up to 2 gig of space for free.

Social Media Crimes

Pro Web — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:43:16 +0000

Now that more and more people and also businesses are signing up with Social Media networks such as Linkedin, Facebook and Myspace, these sites are starting to get hit by cyber criminals. In 2006 nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases have been reported at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Ok so here is how this is now happening and how you can be aware of this and protect yourself from harm.With Facebook it starts within your wall or your news feed. Hackers are updating feeds with bogus text and video links to sites that get you reveal personal information such as passwords and addresses. Once the criminals have account access they will can then go into your account to send out more links with your friends and family. All the time your account is compromised they are acting as you in your account. They will have access to all of your friends to infiltrate.

Typically these thieves are exploiting the distress factor to lure in their potential victims. “Please help me out”, “I am stranded in Germany and someone stole my money”. “click here to help me out”. Exploiting the trust you have between your friends is how their doing this.

Also now that Twitter is becoming more and more popular I see this site getting hit the most. It is so easy to shorten links to any site with out even having the name of the link in it. So even though Facebook and other sites have specialized software to detect malicious activity in your account it doesn’t always work that great. So please be careful with what links you open and do not fill out any of your account information on site that link out of social networking websites.

Importance of Shopping Cart Security

Pro Web — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:03:14 +0000

One of the major concerns while dealing in financial transactions on Internet is the security of such transactions. The main reason why e-commerce was not as widely accepted, as it should have been, was due to lack of security. Even today, there are many who shy away from transacting on the Internet with an unknown trader.

This problem has been solved to a great extent by digital shopping cart software.
In addition to facilitating hurdle free shopping online, this software offers security in the transactions to the online buyers. Hence, it is advisable to purchase the e-commerce software, if you are an online merchant.

Online shopping carts protect the financial and personal data of the customers through Secured Socket Layer or SSL in short. This software ensures that when the payment is made to your gateway, the transaction remains secured.

If you observe closely, you will find that when you travel from a normal web page to a secured one, the URL changes to https instead of http. This change in URL is brought about by SSL.
Thus, if you that the URL starts with https, it means that you are transacting safely and when the payment is made to the gateway, the financial details are completely secured.

SSL is not the only method of securing a financial transaction. There are several other methods by which the shopping cart can ensure security of the transaction. However, most of the customers trust SSL more than any other security mode.

It is important that your customers are aware of the security precautions taken by you. Provide your customers with an assurance on your website as to how you take care of the safety measures. Let your customers have a secure page preview before they enter in to the transaction, and enter the button ‘buy now’. This will assure your customers.
The security measures and policy maintained by you should be explained to the customers in simple and easily understandable language. Instead of mentioning legalities and marketing tactics, provide clear information to the customers. You will win their trust, if you are transparent.

Several digital shopping cart systems will help you to achieve secure transactions. Each step of the process will be secured by adding a security badge. Moreover, you can enhance the system by accepting payments through popular systems such as PayPal.

Thus, when you have a shopping cart system in place, it will facilitate your online business and you will win the trust of your customers, thereby resulting in increased sales.

How To Protect Your PC

Pro Web — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

To ensure that your PC works fine and is secured, you need to follow the following steps:

1) Using Anti-Virus Software: Install an anti virus software on your computer and check that the program is running smoothly. Ensure that you have the latest anti virus and scan your computer at least once in a week. Some of the free anti virus programs are Avast, Avira, Microsoft Security Beta and AVG.

2) Free Downloads: Your computer can catch a virus from free download sites. If you want to download something from the Internet, it is a better idea to pay for the download, as free download sites may contain virus that would harm your PC. Some of the free reputed download sites are PCWorld.com Downloads, Download.com and Sourceforge.net

3) Update Operating System by going through windows update. This will locate if there are security lapses in your PC. Hackers may use this as an opportunity to misuse your identity, install virus on your PC etc. Update your windows by:
Start > Programs > Windows Update

4) Backup Your Computer: You may have taken all the necessary precautions for your PC, yet you cannot be 100% sure that your PC is secured. Hence, it is advisable to take a backup of files containing important data. You can take backup on either USB or use the facilities provided by file storage sites, email and FTP.

5) Change your Passwords: Having a weak password makes it easy for hackers to crack your account. Protect your password by changing it frequently; make use of combination of upper and lower cases, special characters etc, to protect your password. Another point to remember is hackers use phishing websites to steal your personal information such as credit card number and your identity.

6) How to detect Phishing Emails: Never login through the links provided in the mail. Always open a new window. Enter the address manually. Genuine companies will address you by your name. If you get a mail addressing as ‘Dear Customer’, this is your first indication. Figure out the origin of the mail. If it is from @PayPal or @yourbank, the mail is genuine.

7) Physical Protection: Protect your PC with laptop lock, as laptops can be stolen in minutes. Protect your desktop with surge protector. Get yourself an equipment with joules rating to protect your PC from power surges.

8 ) Firewall. Use firewall to block unwanted and unknown connections. ZoneAlarm is one of better choices, as it is user friendly.

9) Reboot Your PC occasionally to have security updates. This will also improve your PC performance.

10) Set your wireless router properly: Having unencrypted network enables a person located in close proximity to view the signal and read the information that is being sent. Hence, read the manual accompanying the router before installing it.