Threats to your Internet usage - what, why, and how

[Guest MEB]

Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

they are protected from malicious attacks.

These people apparently fail to understand the WHAT, HOW, WHY some of these

attack activities occur. Others believe that the protections offered by the

OSs somehow keeps these malicious activities from occurring.

Hackers LOVE these people, they are the "meat and potatoes" of the hacker

world.

 

I've posted things like "clickjacking", linked sites, SSI {server-side

includes}, embedded code, and other methods in this group, however, there

still seems to be a lack of comprehension of certain points.

 

Here's a link to one site which deals with some parts of the hacker world

and its effect, perhaps we should discuss more:

http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/

 

 

--

MEB

http://peoplescounsel.org

a Peoples' counsel

_ _

~~

[Guest Dan]

RE: Threats to your Internet usage - what, why, and how

 

Sure. Here are a few web sites that I enjoy browsing through for web threats:

 

http://www.doxpara.com/

 

http://isc.sans.org/

 

http://secunia.com/

 

http://www.us-cert.gov/

 

There are more but I think this would be a good start for most people. Did,

you, MEB, want to discuss any aspects in particular about keeping computers

safe and secure like the importance of reading in plain text, blocking third

party cookies, disabling services that are not used, the importance of

firewalls, etc.

Hopefully, other people will put their input and insight into this

discussion as well.

 

"MEB" wrote:

>

> Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

> they are protected from malicious attacks.

> These people apparently fail to understand the WHAT, HOW, WHY some of these

> attack activities occur. Others believe that the protections offered by the

> OSs somehow keeps these malicious activities from occurring.

> Hackers LOVE these people, they are the "meat and potatoes" of the hacker

> world.

>

> I've posted things like "clickjacking", linked sites, SSI {server-side

> includes}, embedded code, and other methods in this group, however, there

> still seems to be a lack of comprehension of certain points.

>

> Here's a link to one site which deals with some parts of the hacker world

> and its effect, perhaps we should discuss more:

> http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/

>

>

> --

> MEB

> http://peoplescounsel.org

> a Peoples' counsel

> _ _

> ~~

>

>

>

[Guest Curt Christianson]

Re: Threats to your Internet usage - what, why, and how

 

Interesting link Maurice--thank you. And...

 

<quote>

Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

they are protected from malicious attacks.

<end quote>

....I believe that is *precisely* why we *are* so vulnerable.

 

--

HTH,

 

Curt

 

http://dundats.mvps.org/

http://www.aumha.org/

http://dundats.mvps.org/AutoIt/default.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

"MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:um2Zn5GNJHA.740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>

> Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

> they are protected from malicious attacks.

> These people apparently fail to understand the WHAT, HOW, WHY some of

> these

> attack activities occur. Others believe that the protections offered by

> the

> OSs somehow keeps these malicious activities from occurring.

> Hackers LOVE these people, they are the "meat and potatoes" of the hacker

> world.

>

> I've posted things like "clickjacking", linked sites, SSI {server-side

> includes}, embedded code, and other methods in this group, however, there

> still seems to be a lack of comprehension of certain points.

>

> Here's a link to one site which deals with some parts of the hacker world

> and its effect, perhaps we should discuss more:

> http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/

>

>

> --

> MEB

> http://peoplescounsel.org

> a Peoples' counsel

> _ _

> ~~

>

>

[Guest MEB]

Re: Threats to your Internet usage - what, why, and how

 

 

"Curt Christianson" <curtchristnsn@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message

news:uuBS7WGOJHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

| Interesting link Maurice--thank you. And...

|

| <quote>

| Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

| they are protected from malicious attacks.

| <end quote>

| ...I believe that is *precisely* why we *are* so vulnerable.

|

| --

| HTH,

|

| Curt

|

| http://dundats.mvps.org/

| http://www.aumha.org/

| http://dundats.mvps.org/AutoIt/default.aspx

|

|

 

Right, it only takes a few to become infected and it spreads like wildfire.

The reliance on products which give the impression of security when they may

not actually provide much protection is rampant.

Secunia just tested several suites:

http://secunia.com/gfx/Secunia_Exploit-vs-AV_test-Oct-2008.pdf

and found most did not perform as one might expect. IN FACT, there was a

*dismal* showing for protection. As usual one product had to be better than

the others, but even that product really provides little protection.

http://secunia.com/blog/29/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2030&tag=nl.e589

 

Coupled with user failure to apply updates and use of other security

measures in addition, such as monitoring, firewalls, and other; and this

Internet becomes a vast playground for hackers and malicious sites, while

supposed "security experts" appear to provide misleading ideas on just what

works and how to protect oneself.

 

The same basic techniques used years ago to infect people are still being

used, but now we have server coding, page: PHP, JAVA, PERL, and dozens of

others, that can be used to inject and invade. Root kit revealers can only

show what they know how to detect; anti-virus programs can only find what

they know even if they use heuristics; SpyWare detectors can or might show

something or they might not;; the level of infection has gone DEEP into the

flawed OS structures. And let's not forget those who think a NAT or the

lowly router is a firewall and all they need.... even CISCO hasn't figured

out how hardware can actually protect someone. One breach or hacked device

and the protection collapses.

 

The last *EMERGENCY* update from Microsoft for its servers {and OSs} went

mostly unnoticed by the regular users, and yet what it attempted to address

was major security issues.... yet still just a PATCH, a bandaid applied to a

gushing wound...

 

--

MEB

http://peoplescounsel.org

a Peoples' counsel

_ _

~~

| "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

| news:um2Zn5GNJHA.740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

| >

| > Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of

users,

| > they are protected from malicious attacks.

| > These people apparently fail to understand the WHAT, HOW, WHY some of

| > these

| > attack activities occur. Others believe that the protections offered by

| > the

| > OSs somehow keeps these malicious activities from occurring.

| > Hackers LOVE these people, they are the "meat and potatoes" of the

hacker

| > world.

| >

| > I've posted things like "clickjacking", linked sites, SSI {server-side

| > includes}, embedded code, and other methods in this group, however,

there

| > still seems to be a lack of comprehension of certain points.

| >

| > Here's a link to one site which deals with some parts of the hacker

world

| > and its effect, perhaps we should discuss more:

| > http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/

| >

| >

| > --

| > MEB

| > http://peoplescounsel.org

| > a Peoples' counsel

| > _ _

| > ~~

| >

| >

|

|

[Guest Hari Hari Mau]

Re: Threats to your Internet usage - what, why, and how

 

On Oct 23, 4:32 pm, Dan <D...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Sure. Here are a few web sites that I enjoy browsing through for web threats:

>

> http://www.doxpara.com/

>

> http://isc.sans.org/

>

> http://secunia.com/

>

> http://www.us-cert.gov/

>

> There are more but I think this would be a good start for most people. Did,

> you, MEB, want to discuss any aspects in particular about keeping computers

> safe and secure like the importance of reading in plain text, blocking third

> party cookies, disabling services that are not used, the importance of

> firewalls, etc.

> Hopefully, other people will put their input and insight into this

> discussion as well.

>

> "MEB" wrote:

>

> > Many users of the Internet believe that because of the billions of users,

> > they are protected from malicious attacks.

> > These people apparently fail to understand the WHAT, HOW, WHY some of these

> > attack activities occur. Others believe that the protections offered by the

> > OSs somehow keeps these malicious activities from occurring.

> > Hackers LOVE these people, they are the "meat and potatoes" of the hacker

> > world.

>

> > I've posted things like "clickjacking", linked sites, SSI {server-side

> > includes}, embedded code, and other methods in this group, however, there

> > still seems to be a lack of comprehension of certain points.

>

> > Here's a link to one site which deals with some parts of the hacker world

> > and its effect, perhaps we should discuss more:

> >http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/

>

> > --

> > MEB

> >http://peoplescounsel.org

> > a Peoples' counsel

> > _ _

> > ~~

 

Thank you both for the valuable pointers !

 

Hoping that more can contribute into this thread.

 

Thank you again !