tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86864778281226463872024-03-13T04:31:09.326+05:00Iru Veli“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-3752563505984160932012-11-07T01:54:00.000+05:002012-11-07T01:57:10.085+05:00DhivehiFonts Add-on: Fix display of Dhivehi in all websites<p>In the previous post <a href="http://iruveli.blogspot.com/2012/11/dhivehi-fonts-for-firefox-android_4.html">Dhivehi Fonts for Firefox Android</a>, I introduced a simple add-on for Firefox Android and Desktop which could fix the display of Dhivehi on some Maldivian websites. However, one user asked if it could be fixed for other websites such as Facebook.</p>
<p>So here is my answer to that question. The next version of DhivehiFonts add-on which will allow you to view Dhivehi on Firefox for Android on any website including Google and Facebook in-sha-Allah.</p>
<p><a href="https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ska7bav9u2m4fjb/DhivehiFonts-1.1.xpi">Download/Install DhivehiFonts add-on (version 1.1)</a></p>
As an added bonus, you can install this add-on on Firefox Desktop and it will in-sha-Allah fix your MV Boli issues on Firefox for Windows.
<br />
<p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYHafNdxa4qr1vGrLfdQ2am40NpOFp6OIq6xxG_9zrCZHVMfW157gJQ2S5rawZVXDyIAP9wphgpUMNksuo95lC26bws8eyyHYYDH17-xS5z_3AkF6AoZ9MSKFzTAby9cE7LAwgrLnIyE/s1600/GoogleSearchWithoutAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: "><img border="0" height="320" width="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYHafNdxa4qr1vGrLfdQ2am40NpOFp6OIq6xxG_9zrCZHVMfW157gJQ2S5rawZVXDyIAP9wphgpUMNksuo95lC26bws8eyyHYYDH17-xS5z_3AkF6AoZ9MSKFzTAby9cE7LAwgrLnIyE/s320/GoogleSearchWithoutAddon.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QqezckoDwN1Jbo9wBWD9cAyvlIfyJavFnfpxmSWxzoydxSVi_2UigG9_nFhU4810uLZhmthG7oOYaoG66kFP1i6pBfn23yv_W6ibmUePpnUFgELHQUFlXd171lxSSQws4d7dWz2bY20/s1600/GoogleSearchWithAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" width="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QqezckoDwN1Jbo9wBWD9cAyvlIfyJavFnfpxmSWxzoydxSVi_2UigG9_nFhU4810uLZhmthG7oOYaoG66kFP1i6pBfn23yv_W6ibmUePpnUFgELHQUFlXd171lxSSQws4d7dWz2bY20/s320/GoogleSearchWithAddon.jpg" /></a>
</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-24316940850995756672012-11-04T07:11:00.001+05:002012-11-07T02:00:40.189+05:00Dhivehi Fonts for Firefox Android<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFRB8cGbQ6WNb8e7ILTp-hnIdYXQUVSgbWFwxFX0rqVOCW6pFhuaTS8_gPsJ_h9RLGdE7z1ngeJNBegBA4TTS01kzkpYYV0-W69Cz89SKdsoO3WUF7JgHvRvnPpymfOnKuVZiNkq18qc/s1600/WithAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTJ6rlhpaHg83pD4eOxgeCfIFbNfqCA9heK5ba0QLJOiIGxV02OEX8ZXhnc-PGZHN4VEAEQXxeXFZGQzuCIInRbeUPvIqFaYbuByBkxnXo-kVwKen48OmQMv7u0M06RhUpukaabOx9I/s1600/WithoutAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>This a simple add-on to fix the display of most Dhivehi websites in Firefox for Android without having to root to install alternate system fonts.<br />
Most websites like <a href="http://haveeru.com.mv/dhivehi">haveeru.com.mv/dhivehi</a> and <a href="http://sun.mv/">sun.mv</a> use the @font-face CSS tag and display just fine on Firefox for Android and the latest versions of the default Android browser. However, not all Dhivehi websites use this and as such the Dhivehi text is not rendered at all for such sites. This add-on attempts to fix the rendering of such sites on Firefox for Android. For example:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.miadhu.com/dv/">www.miadhu.com/dv/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://islamicaffairs.gov.mv/dh/">islamicaffairs.gov.mv/dh/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://pension.gov.mv/">pension.gov.mv</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTJ6rlhpaHg83pD4eOxgeCfIFbNfqCA9heK5ba0QLJOiIGxV02OEX8ZXhnc-PGZHN4VEAEQXxeXFZGQzuCIInRbeUPvIqFaYbuByBkxnXo-kVwKen48OmQMv7u0M06RhUpukaabOx9I/s1600/WithoutAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFRB8cGbQ6WNb8e7ILTp-hnIdYXQUVSgbWFwxFX0rqVOCW6pFhuaTS8_gPsJ_h9RLGdE7z1ngeJNBegBA4TTS01kzkpYYV0-W69Cz89SKdsoO3WUF7JgHvRvnPpymfOnKuVZiNkq18qc/s1600/WithAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
Download/Install add-on: <a href="http://iruveli.blogspot.com/2012/11/dhivehifonts-add-on-fix-display-of.html">DhivehiFonts for Firefox Android</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTJ6rlhpaHg83pD4eOxgeCfIFbNfqCA9heK5ba0QLJOiIGxV02OEX8ZXhnc-PGZHN4VEAEQXxeXFZGQzuCIInRbeUPvIqFaYbuByBkxnXo-kVwKen48OmQMv7u0M06RhUpukaabOx9I/s1600/WithoutAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTJ6rlhpaHg83pD4eOxgeCfIFbNfqCA9heK5ba0QLJOiIGxV02OEX8ZXhnc-PGZHN4VEAEQXxeXFZGQzuCIInRbeUPvIqFaYbuByBkxnXo-kVwKen48OmQMv7u0M06RhUpukaabOx9I/s1600/WithoutAddon.jpg" width="180" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFRB8cGbQ6WNb8e7ILTp-hnIdYXQUVSgbWFwxFX0rqVOCW6pFhuaTS8_gPsJ_h9RLGdE7z1ngeJNBegBA4TTS01kzkpYYV0-W69Cz89SKdsoO3WUF7JgHvRvnPpymfOnKuVZiNkq18qc/s1600/WithAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFRB8cGbQ6WNb8e7ILTp-hnIdYXQUVSgbWFwxFX0rqVOCW6pFhuaTS8_gPsJ_h9RLGdE7z1ngeJNBegBA4TTS01kzkpYYV0-W69Cz89SKdsoO3WUF7JgHvRvnPpymfOnKuVZiNkq18qc/s1600/WithAddon.jpg" width="180" /></a>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTJ6rlhpaHg83pD4eOxgeCfIFbNfqCA9heK5ba0QLJOiIGxV02OEX8ZXhnc-PGZHN4VEAEQXxeXFZGQzuCIInRbeUPvIqFaYbuByBkxnXo-kVwKen48OmQMv7u0M06RhUpukaabOx9I/s1600/WithoutAddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-1481276211487837922011-06-18T23:37:00.000+05:002011-06-18T23:37:57.522+05:00Need for a Privacy Act in the Maldives<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Leaks over last week</b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
Last week ended with news of a serious breach in privacy of over 234,000 Maldivians. Individual(s) from Fuvahmulah had created a website (DNS records show that the domain has been active from 08-Apr-2011) which allowed anyone to view personal details of Maldivians over the age of 17 (which makes it highly likely this data was leaked from Elections Commission). These details included the National ID, Name, Date of Birth, Address, Atoll, Island etc, with blank fields for the name of parents indicating that whoever behind this was hoping to add that information as well. The website was taken down after news sites reported it (and google has also cleared the cached pages of the website).<br />
<br />
Not long after this (and on the same day), newspapers also reported another serious breach in privacy of Civil Servants in the Maldives. However, this time the breach was a deliberate action by the body responsible for the Civil Servants. Their excuse being that they needed to clear the <a href="http://sun.mv/8304">confusion</a> that other government bodies had about the salary of Civil Servants and also to allow Civil Servants themselves to view their salaries themselves. Unfortunately none of the Maldivian newspapers grasped the seriousness of this issue and reported it as just any other ordinary news.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Potential Consequences</b><br />
Personal details such as National ID, date of birth and address are used by the Banks when activating debit, credit and EFTPOS cards (though this may not be a very good security policy). Now just imagine the consequences if a rogue person or organisation had the details of over 234,000 people. Also, what about the dangers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft">identity theft</a>?<br />
<br />
Though not as private as National IDs and date of births, salaries too are private information that most individuals would like to remain hidden from the rest of the world. Public availability of an individual's salary can affect the social standing of the individual and can also affect how they are perceived by their peers. Also, it would make difficult for people to save money when everyone knows how much they really earn. Just imagine how life would be if every shopkeeper/sales assistant knew how much you earned.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Protecting Privacy</b><br />
Therefore, before much more sensitive data such as health and criminal records are leaked we need a strong mechanism to prevent such violations of privacy and prosecute such violations. Violations of privacy should not be taken lightly and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law">Privacy Act</a> should be implemented as soon as possible.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-85392641466053797612010-10-13T19:57:00.001+05:002010-10-13T19:58:28.676+05:00DhiFix - Dhivehi Dictionary & Affix file creation for HunspellDhiFix is an open source application to simplify the creation and editing of Dhivehi dictionary and affix files for Hunspell. DhiFix uses the GTK+ run time and is created in C. The current version of DhiFix has the following features:<br />
<ul><li>Add/Remove words from the dictionary.</li>
<li>Add/Remove affixed forms of words. <i>This removes the affix flag for the word and not the actual affix.</i></li>
<li>Automatically create new affix rules if the word cannot be converted to suggested affixed form using existing affix rules.</li>
<li>Suggest new affixed forms of a word based on existing affix rules and the pattern observed at the beginning or end of the word.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrVH3LC0TeiqBzn2uQdJP-F1AaWHL-7pSmzi2NYSF94kXuN_rQgNl22X9FlMXGPb1LeDUFRDl25S_7A0CBfjIY0IsVgJMWjWr4wSxDYcUQIeu05hkFOXmR-_2e1dMlhZNVSmVZbPXjEg/s1600/DhiFix_ScreenShot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrVH3LC0TeiqBzn2uQdJP-F1AaWHL-7pSmzi2NYSF94kXuN_rQgNl22X9FlMXGPb1LeDUFRDl25S_7A0CBfjIY0IsVgJMWjWr4wSxDYcUQIeu05hkFOXmR-_2e1dMlhZNVSmVZbPXjEg/s320/DhiFix_ScreenShot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>DhiFix source and windows binaries are available from <a href="http://code.google.com/p/dhifix/">http://code.google.com/p/dhifix/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-40837854113324378322010-09-06T22:24:00.001+05:002010-09-06T22:24:56.743+05:00Unhiding files hidden by viruses and malwareA common and annoying trick (for most) used by malware is to hide files and folders and replace them with copies of the malware executable file with common windows folder or file icons. By the time one figures out their system has been infected half the stuff on the hard disks and USBs seems to have vanished and cleaning the malware does not seem to do anything for the "missing" files. Some clueless Windows users assume that the malware had deleted all their personal files while the more fortunate ones do find out that changing two settings in Folder Options is all that is needed to get Windows to show them their precious files. Those two settings are:<br />
<ul><li>Show Hidden Files (enable this)</li>
<li>Hide protected operating system files (disable this)<br />
<i>For some odd reason Windows thinks that any files marked as System and Hidden should be a protected operating system file.</i></li>
</ul>So here's a simple way to let you unhide the files hidden by malware:<br />
<ul><li>Download <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iruveli/downloads/unhide.zip" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">unhide.zip</a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">MD5: 3A1961622326EB09EDE9EAAE43C2A728<br />
SHA-1: 86F89724525753D3473504D989168668780E9554</span></li>
<li>Extract <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">unhide.bat</span></li>
<li>Copy <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">unhide.bat</span> to the folder whose contents disappeared after the malware unfection</li>
<li>Double-click <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">unhide.bat</span> to run it and all your missing files and folders would automagically appear (unless the malware did actually delete it).</li>
</ul>Those familiar with <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Command Prompt</span> can just use the following command instead of downloading the batch file:<br />
<ul><li> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">attrib /d /s -h -s</span></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-54043499276889729632010-07-08T02:29:00.001+05:002010-07-08T02:36:38.254+05:00Changing MAC Address in Windows 7 & VistaThe MAC Address of Network Devices in Windows 7 & Vista can be changed by making a simple change to the registry. A possible step-wise approach to accomplish this is presented below. <br />
<ul><li>Open Windows Registry Editor.</li>
<li>Navigate to <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class</span> from the tree view on the left hand side.</li>
<li>Open <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Command Prompt</span>.</li>
<li>Type <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">getmac</span> in <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Command Prompt</span> and press enter to get the MAC Address of Network Interfaces on your computer. You will see the MAC Addresses of all Network Interfaces you have on your computer including virtual ones.</li>
<li>Copy the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">GUID </span>in Transport Name part of the device whose MAC Address you wish to change. The transport name is like <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">\Device\Tcip_<span style="background-color: yellow;">{</span><b style="background-color: yellow;">XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX</b><span style="background-color: yellow;">}</span></span> where the GUID is the part highlighted in yellow.<br />
<i><b>Note:</b> The transport name will not be displayed for network devices which are disabled. So if you have a wireless network device and have it switched off you then will not be able to see the transport name of the wireless network device.</i></li>
<li>Go back to the registry editor and press <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ctrl+F</span> to display the search window.</li>
<li>Paste the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">GUID </span>you found into the text box in the search window.</li>
<li>Next untick both <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Keys </span>and <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Values </span>under <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">LookAt </span>and tick <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Data</span>.</li>
<li>Click <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Find Next</span> to search the registry.</li>
<li>The <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Registry Editor</span> will automatically take you to a Key similar to <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXX\00## </span>and a String Value with the name NetCfgInstanceId would be highlighted on the right hand side. This String Value would contain your GUID.<br />
<i><b>Note:</b> </i><i>You may have to search a couple of times before you are able to find this key.</i></li>
<li>Right click on an empty space on the right hand pane in the Registry Editor windows and select <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">New -> String Value</span>. </li>
<li>Type <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">NetworkAddress</span> for the name of this new String Value.</li>
<li>Double Click the new String Value you just created i.e. <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">NetworkAddress</span> and enter the new MAC Address you want for the interface. The MAC address should be in hexadecimal without any hyphens and should be exactly 12 characters long. Example: <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">00AA22BB44CC</span></li>
<li>Close the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Registry Editor</span> and restart your network device for the change to take affect.</li>
<li>To restart you network device you can either restart your computer or disable and re-enable your network device (using the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center</span>).</li>
<li>To check whether the MAC Address of the device has changed you can open <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Command Prompt</span> and enter <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">getmac</span>.</li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-25545794015921507922010-05-25T19:50:00.002+05:002010-05-25T19:53:05.802+05:00Hacking or Phishing?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/phishing-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/phishing-1.jpg" width="188" /></a></div><span id="goog_1111755286"></span><span id="goog_1111755287"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
During the past few weeks, some Maldivian blogs got hacked according to the blog authors or those close to them. How did all these blogs get hacked? Is GMail security that low that any script kiddie could take over your blog? Or is there something else to it? Was the bloggers phished?<br />
<br />
As far as I know GMail is pretty secure and there is no known way of hacking into someone's GMail account unless you know their password or secret question answers. Therefore, the only reasonable explanation for the recent "hacking" of several Maldivian blogs can only be attributed to phishing (this seems to be what is suggested by a recent article on the dhiislam website).<br />
<br />
If you want to learn more about phishing and <a href="http://iruveli.blogspot.com/2010/03/protecting-yourself-from-phishing.html">how to protect yourself from phishing attacks please read my previous post on phishing attacks</a>. You can also read more about phishing on<a href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/phishing.htm/printable"> howstuffworks.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-63792226297664888202010-05-23T19:50:00.000+05:002010-05-23T19:50:35.301+05:00Windows 7 & the freezing Windows Live MessengerSymptoms:<br />
<ul><li>Windows Live Messenger freezes randomly from a few seconds to a few minutes on a Windows 7 system. The problem occurs while you chat and gets worse when you try to select an emoticon or wink from the menu.</li>
</ul>Cause:<br />
<ul><li>Windows 7 has a service called <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service</span> which gets called by Windows Live Messenger each time it wants an internet connection. This service fails to perform as expected under some circumstances.</li>
</ul>Solution:<br />
<ul><li>Windows Live Messenger uses Internet Explorer settings to determine the type of internet connection the user has.</li>
<li>Disabling <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Automatically detect settings</span> under <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">LAN Settings</span> in Internet Explorer would prevent Windows Live Messenger from using the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service</span>. To do this:<br />
<ul><li>Open <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Internet Explorer</span>.</li>
<li>Go to <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Tools => Internet Options</span>.</li>
<li>Select <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Connections </span>tab.</li>
<li>Click <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">LAN Settings</span>.</li>
<li>Uncheck <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Automatically detect settings</span>.</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-56865064137938294532010-05-17T13:54:00.003+05:002010-05-17T13:56:36.451+05:00Disable Automatic Virus Scanning in Firefox 3By default, Firefox 3 runs anti-virus scans on downloaded files in Windows systems with anti-virus software installed. Depending on the type and size of the files downloaded Firefox can stop responding for a significant amount of time while the virus scan is being performed. Follow the steps below to disable automatic virus scanning in Firefox 3:<br />
<ul><li>Type <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">about:config</span> in the Firefox location bar</li>
<li>Click the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"I'll be careful, I promise!"</span> button if the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"This might void your warranty!"</span> message is displayed.</li>
<li>Type <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone</span> as the Filter. Alternatively you can just navigate to the setting <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone</span> in the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">about:config</span> page.</li>
<li>Change the value of <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone</span> to <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">false</span>.</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: Do not disable automatic virus scanning in Firefox if your anti-virus software does not support real-time protection.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-80456245363421246712010-05-10T13:20:00.000+05:002010-05-10T13:20:25.274+05:00Show close button on the last tab in Firefox 3.5+In Firefox versions 3.5 and later the close button is not displayed on the last tab. If you try to close the last tab by pressing Ctrl+W then Firefox closes with the tab. Sometimes, this can be annoying, so here is a simple fix for the problem.<br />
<ul><li>Open a new tab in Firefox and enter about:config as the URL.</li>
<li>Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" button to get to the config page.</li>
<li>Make the following changes in the config page:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>browser.tabs.closeButtons = 1</li>
<li>browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab = false </li>
</ul></li>
<li>Close Firefox. </li>
<li>Goto folder <span class="filename">%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\chrome</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="filename"> %APPDATA% == </span><span class="filename">C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\</username></span> folder in Windows XP</li>
<li>%APPDATA% == <span class="filename">C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\</username></span> folder in Windows Vista and 7</li>
<li>More details on where the Firefox Profiles folder is located in different Operating Systems can be found at <a href="http://support.mozilla.com/en-us/kb/Profiles">http://support.mozilla.com/en-us/kb/Profiles</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Open userChrome.css in a text editor such as <a href="http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/">Notepad++</a> or Windows Notepad.</li>
<li>Add the following code to userChrome.css<br />
<br />
<pre class="codelisting" dir="ltr" style="overflow: auto;">/* Add tab-close-button to last tab*/
.tabbrowser-tabs[closebuttons="alltabs"] >
.tabbrowser-tab > .tab-close-button {
display: -moz-box !important;
}
.tabbrowser-tabs:not([closebuttons="noclose"]):not([closebuttons="closeatend"]) >
.tabbrowser-tab[selected="true"] > .tab-close-button {
display: -moz-box !important;
}</pre></li>
<li>Save userChrome.css</li>
<li>Open Firefox and you should have a close button displayed on the last tab.</li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-49468124357376235862010-04-02T17:41:00.003+05:002010-04-02T18:56:41.576+05:00Windows 7 & Vista Canonical Folder NamesIn Windows Vista Microsoft introduced a feature which allowed file system folders to be used as junction points. By appending a <b>GUID</b> (<b>G</b>lobally <b>U</b>nique <b>ID</b>entifier) as an extension to a folder name that folder can act as a junction point to another folder or control panel item.<br />
<br />
For example, appending <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}</span> as an extension to the folder "trash" (<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">trash.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}</span>) will change the folder "trash" to a junction point for the Recycle Bin.<br />
<br />
A list of available GUIDs is available on <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330741%28VS.85%29.aspx">MSDN</a>. However, this list does not contain all the possible GUIDs available in Windows 7 & Vista. Also, not all of these GUIDs will work in Windows 7 & Vista. Some GUIDs may work in both, some may be specific to Vista or 7 and some may work depending on the hardware and software installed on the system.<br />
<br />
The following batch file will create a folder called "Canonical". In this folder, it will then create sub-folders using the GUIDs available from MSDN plus some others found from the internet. These include the infamous "All Tasks" folder, Computer, Recycle Bin etc.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sites.google.com/site/iruveli/downloads/canonical.zip">Canonical</a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">MD5: 1DFC67F49E50DE23B500C095C43E2AB0</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SHA1: F535E660FD130369CEBE46DB5C97410C912A2964</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-31329466809255377922010-03-18T19:26:00.012+05:002010-03-18T20:12:35.321+05:00Protecting yourself from Phishing attacks<h3 style="color: black;">What is Phishing?</h3><b>Phishing</b> (<i>pronounced as fishing</i>) refers to the act of trying to fool someone into disclosing sensitive personal information (such as username, password, credit card number) by posing as a legitimate entity known to the person.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: black;">How it works?</h3>There are several ways in which phishing attacks are carried out. Here are some sample scenarios.<br />
<br />
<h4>Scenario 1</h4><ul><li>victim is sent an email claiming to be be from their email provider (gmail, hotmail, yahoo etc)</li>
<li>the email header is sometimes spoofed so that it appears to be coming from the email provider</li>
<li>victim is told that the email provider has had some technical difficulties (such as data loss)</li>
<li>victim is asked to reply to the email with username, password or other sensitive information (such as secret answer)</li>
</ul><h4>Scenario 2:</h4><ul><li> victim is sent an email claiming to be from their bank or financial institution</li>
<li>victim is told to update their personal details (or do something similar which encourages the victim to click the link provided)</li>
<li>victim is provided with a link to do the update (or whatever)</li>
<li>the link usually takes the form "<span style="color: blue;">http://bankname.<b><span style="color: red;">something</span></b>.com" <span style="color: black;">in order</span></span> to fool the victim</li>
<li>the link takes the victim to a page that is similar to the login page of their bank</li>
<li>once victim enters their username and password they are stored and the victim is presented with an error page or redirected to the correct website (i.e. the victim's bank's website)</li>
</ul><h4>Scenario 3:</h4><ul><li> victim receives an instant message on their messenger client or through facebook (or social network)</li>
<li>the message contains a link</li>
<li>the message is worded such that the victim is tempted to click the link</li>
<li>when the victim clicks the link they are taken to a site which looks similar to the login page of their email provider (hotmail, gmail, yahoo etc.) or facebook (or social network)</li>
<li>when the victim supplies their username and password they are given an error message or redirected to the site they thought they were visiting</li>
</ul><h3 style="color: black;">How to protect yourself from Phishing attacks?</h3>There are several tools targeted at protecting internet users from Phishing attacks. However, the best way to protect oneself would be to be aware of how phishing attacks are conducted instead of solely relying on security tools for protection. Here are some key things to remember:<br />
<ul><li>Your email provider, bank, financial institution or any other respectable entity will NEVER ask you for your username or password via email</li>
<li>ALWAYS check the address of the website in your address bar before you type your username and password to login (<span style="color: blue;">http://facebook.com</span> is not the same as <span style="color: blue;">http://facebook</span>.<b style="color: red;">evilsite</b>.<span style="color: blue;">com)<br />
<i style="color: black;">The important thing to note here is what appears before the dot com (or dot whatever). That is the domain name. If the domain name (in this case <b>evilsite</b>) is different from the site you think you were visiting (i.e. <b>facebook</b>) then you are being scammed (or phished in this case).</i></span></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-47910934743752764332010-02-23T02:23:00.012+05:002010-02-23T02:35:53.520+05:00Useful Firefox Addons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are two of the most useful addons for <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/download.html?product=firefox-3.6&os=win&lang=en-US">Firefox</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<ol><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/addon_icon/1865/1265714315" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 6em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/addon_icon/1865/1265714315" width="80" /></a><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/t/820/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 0em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/t/820/" width="80" /></a>
<li><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865">AdBlock Plus</a><br />
This addon helps you get rid of those annoying advertisements and banners on most websites. Using this addon can also help reduce the time taken for most web pages to be displayed since advertisements and banners would no longer be downloaded.<br />
</li>
<li> <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722">NoScript</a><br />
This addon improves the security of Firefox by preventing the automatic execution of javascript for non-trusted sites, protection against clickjacking, xss attacks and more. This addon might be a bit annoying for first time users since most websites might appear broken without javascript. However, the security offered by this addon is worth the initial learning curve.</li>
</ol>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-26915030033546281812010-02-14T23:36:00.002+05:002010-02-19T16:59:46.484+05:00Change Windows password using Command Prompt<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In Windows XP, Vista and 7 the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">net user</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">command can be used to change the password of users, assign random passwords to users or change the password of the current user without knowing the users current password.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Assign a new password to local user <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">guest</span>.</b><b> </b></div><ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><li>Open Command Prompt</li>
<li>In Command Prompt type <b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">net user guest password</span></b> where <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">password </span>is the password you wish to assign the user with.</li>
<li>If you want to assign a new password to another user replace <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">guest </span>in the above command with the name of the respective user. </li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Assign a random password of length 14 to local user guest </b></div><ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><li>Open Command Prompt</li>
<li>In Command Prompt type <b style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">net user guest /random:14</span></b></li>
<li>Replacing <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">14</span> with the length of the password you require will generate a password of the required length.</li>
<li>The shortest password you can generate is 0 characters long and the longest is 256 characters.</li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Note: Administrative privilege would be required to change the passwords of users other than the user under which the net user command is executed.<br />
<ul><li>Typing <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">cmd.exe</span> in the start menu search box in Vista & 7 and pressing <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ctrl+Shift+Enter</span> will launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges.</li>
<li>Alternatively, you can right-click the Command Prompt entry in the start menu and select <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Run As Administrator</span></li>
</ul></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8686477828122646387.post-27579402381582158852010-01-31T23:31:00.004+05:002010-02-19T17:00:35.099+05:00Reducing risk of Autorun virusesOne of the most common and rather annoying way in which malware (viruses, trojans, worms) spreads is via the Autorun feature of most Windows Operating Systems. These viruses silently copy themselves to removable USB storage devices once the devices are plugged into an infected system. The Autorun feature of Windows OSs causes the malware to be launched automatically when the infected USB device is plugged into another computer (or when the user clicks on the drive icon on My Computer). Most of the time these malwares would be stopped by anti-virus software.<br />
<br />
However, since the Autorun feature is seldom used (do not confuse Autoplay with Autorun) disabling Windows from parsing the Autorun.inf in the first place is the best way to reduce infection via Autorun viruses. To disable Autorun in windows:<br />
<ul><li>Open Regedit (Windows+R, then type "Regedit" and click ok)</li>
<li>Navigate to the following key <tt>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping</tt></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right-click and create new key </span><tt>Autorun.inf</tt></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Set the default value of the created key to </span><tt>@SYS:DoesNotExist</tt></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alternatively you can download the following file and import into the Windows Registry.</span><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/iruveli/downloads/Disable_Autorun.reg?attredirects=0&d=1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Disable Autorun</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Double click the file.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Click "Yes" on the message box displayed (but make sure you read it first)</span></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2