Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security

Many computer users, especially those who travel for business, rely on laptops and PDAs because they are small and easily transported. But while these characteristics make them popular and convenient, they also make them an ideal target for thieves. Make sure to secure your portable devices to protect both the machine and the information it contains.

What is at risk?

Only you can determine what is actually at risk. If a thief steals your laptop or PDA, the most obvious loss is the machine itself. However, if the thief is able to access the information on the computer or PDA, all of the information stored on the device is at risk, as well as any additional information that could be accessed as a result of the data stored on the device itself.

Sensitive corporate information or customer account information should not be accessed by unauthorized people. You've probably heard news stories about organizations panicking because laptops with confidential information on them have been lost or stolen. But even if there isn't any sensitive corporate information on your laptop or PDA, think of the other information at risk: information about appointments, passwords, email addresses and other contact information, personal information for online accounts, etc.

How can you protect your laptop or PDA?

* Password-protect your computer - Make sure that you have to enter a password to log in to your computer (see Choosing and Protecting Passwords for more information).
* Keep your laptop or PDA with you at all times - When traveling, keep your laptop with you. Meal times are optimum times for thieves to check hotel rooms for unattended laptops. If you are attending a conference or trade show, be especially wary--these venues offer thieves a wider selection of devices that are likely to contain sensitive information, and the conference sessions offer more opportunities for thieves to access guest rooms.
* Downplay your laptop or PDA - There is no need to advertise to thieves that you have a laptop or PDA. Avoid using your portable device in public areas, and consider non-traditional bags for carrying your laptop.
* Consider an alarm or lock - Many companies sell alarms or locks that you can use to protect or secure your laptop. If you travel often or will be in a heavily populated area, you may want to consider investing in an alarm for your laptop bag or a lock to secure your laptop to a piece of furniture.
* Back up your files - If your portable device is stolen, it's bad enough that someone else may be able to access your information. To avoid losing all of the information, make backups of important information and store the backups in a separate location (see Good Security Habits for more information). Not only will you still be able to access the information, but you'll be able to identify and report exactly what information is at risk.

What can you do if your laptop or PDA is lost or stolen?

Report the loss or theft to the appropriate authorities. These parties may include representatives from law enforcement agencies, as well as hotel or conference staff. If your device contained sensitive corporate or customer account information, immediately report the loss or theft to your organization so that they can act quickly.
______________________________

Author: Mindi McDowell

U.Z.A. O/S - do not format your system to remove it...

Have you heard of "U.Z.A. O/S"? Maybe you have seen this screen?



This is caused by a malware. It hurts you by running a simple program or two and using few wallpapers and modifying the registry so that you cannot change the desktop wallpaper and end process with Windows Task Manager.

The following hacks are for advanced users.
For you to be able to reverse the process you need to be able to view hidden files, system files and edit registry. [You may want to disable system restore to prevent restoring of files you modify.]

If you are able to view Hidden Files and System Files:
1. Delete %windir%\system\uos.exe ["%windir% = C:\windows", most of the time]
2. Delete %windir%\system32\VisLoader.exe
3. Edit C:\boot.ini to remove extra parameters after multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

If you are able to edit registry copy the following to a text document and save with the extension .reg and double click the .reg file to update the registry or edit the following entries in the hive:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"DisableTaskMgr"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"NoDispAppearancePage"=dword:00000000
"NoDispBackgroundPage"=dword:00000000
"NoDispScrSavPage"=dword:00000000
"NoDispSettingsPage"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International]
"sTimeFormat"="HH:mm:ss"



Other resources to follow:

Enabling Task Manager from Group Policy Editor
1. Run -> gpedit.msc
2. User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Ctrl+Alt+Del Options
3. Set "Remove Task Manager" to "Disabled" or "Not Configured".
4. Close gpedit.msc
5. Run -> gpupdate /force

ReverseCool - Fan-less and noiseless cooling technology

Yes, ASUS' site says that its Extreme AX700 display card is powered by a fan-less, noiseless heat sink.




And the best part is we just do not think it will be silent... Lets read their statement here:

ReverseCool positioned the VPU (Video Processing Unit) and heatsink on the backside of the graphics card, placing them directly in the airflow path of the CPU fan to leverage the CPU fan's cooling capability. And the result is no fan on the card, meaning no noisy fan rotation. Besides providing larger heat exchange area, the extended heatsink takes on a calmshell design, which opens up the heatsink, like a flip phone, for enhanced ventilation.

Read more

A real shooting star - Presidential or Parliamentary system?

I was about to start campaigning for a system of government. The country needed my help in deciding so I had to stop and while getting ready for the voting we have "a real shooting star" discovered.





And they leave a comparison:



So, have you decided now which system is the best?

[The above is the debate I have presented so that you can decide which system is best. Do you not agree that the above debate is better than what they have been doing on public media?]

Magnetic avalanches (Go Wireless - Avoid Data Loss)

Magnetic avalanches occur when the polarity of a molecular nanomagnet is changed suddenly and sufficient energy is released to cause a chain reaction that changes the polarity of the other molecular nanomagnets in a crystal.

I first read the title from a syllabus written down for some diploma students I was to teach "data structures". I had no idea what it meant in relation with Data Structures for Software Engineers.

New research brings models of magnetic avalanches much closer to reality, helping physicists understand both why they happen and why they don't run out of control, wiping disk drives clean.

Correcting even a single typo in an e-mail means changing dozens of bits of information. For each bit, a magnetic head grazes a tiny patch of your disk drive, forcing its polarity, or "spin," to align up or down--the magnetic equivalent of a one or a zero. The patch's polarity in many magnetic materials changes in a haphazard series of large and small jumps that physicists liken to an avalanche--though Deutsch's research shows it often behaves more like an explosion or runaway fire.

So, the scientists know how to stop avalanches on the disks. But still we lose data due to magnetic avalanches.

Now this is one of the better reasons for us to go for inventions which store bits in digital format with an electricity supply like that of a wireless charger. Obviously it will be faster than a spinning disk and moving armature to access the sectors of the storage media.


References:
Magnetic Avalanche - Dynamic Combustion
http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/120196/magnetic-wobbles-cause-disk-failure.html
Wobbly Polarity Is Key To Preventing Magnetic Avalanches On Disk Drives

Slim G4 - World’s Thinnest Mouse ?

I do not have one of these yet.

But the pictures are good.

Do you not agree?

---

OMG! Techonology... brilliant and cheap

It was last week we read about the wireless chargers.

There are three basic technologies for wireless charging: radio, resonance and induction.

Radio charging is well suited for charging low-power devices at long distances -- some 30 feet away. This technology is ideal for trickle-charging advance RFID chips affixed to, say, palettes loaded with products in a warehouse.

Resonance charging makes sense for robots, cars, vacuum cleaners and other applications that require massive power over minute distances -- essentially making contact with plastic, but not metal.

Toothbrushes now, and random gadgets will very soon, use inductive charging. This technology uses a coil to create an electromagnetic field across a charging station surface. The device then converts power from the field back into usable electricity, which is put to work charging the battery.

(Meanwhile, researchers at MIT said this week they have come up with a way to wirelessly supply power that could lead to the development of gadgets that don't require batteries at all.)

Read more

And now there are affordable laptops and other tech gear so cheap...

You've no doubt heard that Dell plans to sell PCs at Wal-Mart. It turns out that the prices of these systems will be extremely low. A Dell Dimension E521 with a dual-core Athlon chip, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Vista Home Premium and a 19-in. monitor will cost less than $700. (Note that Vista Home Premium by itself would cost you $200.)

Meanwhile, Asus announced at Intel's Computex a $189, full-size, solid-state Linux laptop that boots in just 15 seconds from its 2GB flash hard disk. Called the 3ePC, the low-cost PC isn't a humanitarian effort for third-world kids, but a consumer product that will be sold in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.

A tiny Windows XP laptop called the Via Mobile ITX made another price breakthrough at Computex. The laptop sports a 7-in. touch screen, plays DVDs and does other things similarly sized Ultra-Mobile PCs don't do. You can buy "modules" that give it cellular data, WiMax, Bluetooth or other capabilities. The price? Just $699.

Read more here

Eee PC 701


So, if I want to by an Asus 3ePC, is it going to really cost me only US$190? Wow! A real laptop that boots in 15 seconds!!!

Why Surface Computing matters

Is this the next best thing we were looking for?

Computers that can take dimensions of our clothes when we just walk into the shop and robots to hand in the shopped items... What is next?

Three things are surprising about Ballmer's announcement. First, Microsoft was able to keep the project a secret. Second, the first product will ship as early as this year. Third, Microsoft adds to the existing research on third-generation user interfaces the concept of recognizing objects.

Pundits, the press and users -- including me -- have been hard on Microsoft lately. And for good reason. Flaccid Vista sales and confusing Vista versions, high prices, lame initiatives like the Ultra Mobile PC and a general lack of innovation have given the company an increasingly bad reputation.

But Surface is a spectacular home run. The secrecy, the implementation, the rollout plan, the early marketing all impress.

Surface appears to give Microsoft an early lead in the next generation computing platform, and, significantly, it thrills partners like Intel and others. Surface craves massive computing power. It guarantees another decade -- or two -- of global demand for ever-newer, bleeding-edge hardware. And even though Microsoft will build the initial hardware itself (using partner components, of course), it's likely that the company will extend the platform to PC makers like Dell and HP.

Read more

Professional Studies Academy with Unprofessional Management?

Being a student is the best way to really see what the world does not see of an academic organization. They make sure always that the media sees what the well dressed highly fluent qualified people represent. But when once inside you see something totally different in every organization. You are able to see lecturers, instructors, office staff and other management representatives of different heights physically and mentally.

I have been to few different academic organizations and have seen differences but never so far have seen such misrepresentation of the management.

You could be the next victim!

08^th August 2006

I walked into the class to find my instructor leaning to a wall and the classmates looked worried and distressed. From the first looks I realized that they were discussing about something not related to the lessons. They were for sure discussing something and the moment the door was opened they stopped talking. When I took a seat I was told the most unfortunate news, "Our classes are rescheduled, would you be able to come?" It was such a shock. They changed our timing because we were unable to finish the course according to a schedule they had already issued. It was the last day of our course according to their schedule and they gave extra 5 days, extra five days for special classes.

"Where have I just walked into?"

The management just told our classmates that the students were not up to the mark and did not complete work the students should have done to the date. Does it make any sense? Is it the students who make sure that the course content is covered on time? Or is it the management which should make sure that the content is covered?

The picture became clearer.

The manager walked out just before I walked in. The manager told our classmates that the classes are rescheduled and will be held from 1700 to 1900. Our "regular" classes are over because the course was scheduled to be over by 8^th August 2006.

"Were we given any choice?"

The "principal" came in and instructed "the students" to come at 1700. We were not given a chance to even talk. I was "not happy" with the timings. We are not slaves to PSA, after all we are getting a service from them after paying a lot of money. The class agreed to invite the manager in and have a conversation with him.

"Please, could you join us?"

The manager came into our class and took a seat. There were 6 candidates, a lecturer and the manager himself. The lecturer was still away from us, not taking part in any of the conversations. The manager was right in front of the six of us. I myself wanted to say really less if at all possible, just wanted to be the silent one in the meeting. Different candidates started to express their thoughts of inconveniences and the manager did not accept that the management failed. According to him, there were five special classes arranged because of the candidates' to failure to complete the course according to his proposed schedule. Candidates' failure it is, because one night the class was not conducted as the promised books were not supplied to the candidates by PSA and the candidates went on a strike, the other night it was raining cats and dogs and only 3 out of 10 candidates turned out and the class was cancelled.

"… the bloody management…"

"Are you saying that the course was not finished in time because of us? It was the bloody managements' problem. Not ours!" I just could not be the silent one I wanted to be in the meeting, I shouted out. The manager got furious and started to shout out louder than I did, he took it more personal this time. He pointed at my eyes. He tried to teach me English. He tried to teach me professionalism. He wanted me to take back 'the bloody', I denied aloud!

06^th November 2005

I walked into PSA at about 08:55 the second time ever after about 20 days from the first visit. In the first visit to the PSA I met the PSA's sales representative and the instructor for the course and discussed about the holiday I had already planned. This time I did not go alone to attend the class but accompanied another candidate for the course. When we went in, we were told that the classes were rescheduled to be held in the evening from 20:00 to 22:00. It was my second visit to the organization and the person who I accompanied with had no idea that the class was rescheduled. Though this was my first time to attend to the already ongoing class, the candidate I was going with was attending the classes during the month of Ramazan while I was on holidays. Disappointed we went back to our respective offices hoping that the management will improve.

"Which atoll are you from?"

I went to PSA to attend the class at about 19:55. I was new to the premise and was looking for where I belonged. Before I went to PSA I called the sales representative and talked to him. When once I was there I asked the help desk for help. I explained why I was there and I was redirected to the manager after a while. I explained again why I was there to the manager. He was very concerned. He asked me which atoll I am from. I asked him if it matters and he insisted that it matters, the office I work for was not any he was concerned about. He clearly told me that the people who come from "islands" are incompetent for the course which is only intended for professionals of the field and I was not very willing to accept it. To summarize, I did not make a very good impression in my first meeting with him.

25^th June 2006

It was a second program I was joining at PSA, another professional course after about 4 months from the first course. The candidates were put in a classroom where familiar faces greeted us. The introduction was humble: "This course is very tough! So far only 2 students have passed. We are successfully running this program here at PSA." Now that is a summary of what was said. This time of course we had no manager to greet us but it was the sales representative and the instructor for the program.

08^th July 2006

The manager insulted the students of the recent two batches of the program. He did take it personally and attacked me verbally in everyway he could. He insulted our intelligence and he stated that we are incompetent. He specifically stated that I was incompetent and to prove his point he pointed out that I had not taken the online examination for the previous program because I was not self-confident. He also stated that I was not qualified to be in the class. He finalized that the class schedule cannot be changed because there was a program arranged for some Dhiraagu personnel at our "regular" time. After all the damage was done, satisfied with his completed successful work he left the class saying that he will think about arranging extra classes during the weekend. Extra classes for the incompetent?

"… I mentioned to him that the management is bloody, because that is how I have seen it."

While we were in the class beaten to it, we noticed the presence of one of the directors in the office. We invited him into our class and had a conversation. Was the management misrepresented? Or is Professional Studies Academy with an Unprofessional Management?

Maldives, you know her. But why Maldives as a name?

My home country, I call "Dhivehi Rajje", what do you call her? Most in the modern time know it by Maldives. Why Maldives?

"In ancient South Indian Pallava Dynasty inscriptions of the 7th century AD, Maldives were called Dvipa Laksham (a hundred thousand islands)", obviously now we know that it is an exaggeration to the number.

"Hsuan Tsang, a Buddhist monk who travelled in India for religious studies in the years 629 to 645 AD, was the first Chinese writer to mention Maldives. He called the islands Na-lo-ki-lo-chou (coconut islands)", this must be too long a name for us, right?

How about this one? "Munnir Palantivu Pannirayiram (twelve thousand islands and the ocean where three waters meet)". Too difficult to understand the concept, right?

In Arabia it is known by Mahaldib but why not "Dyvah Kouzah (cowrie islands)". This is not too difficult I guess.

But this one sounds far better, " Palpalamtivu (many old islands)". Oh, too difficult to pronounce but I love the fact that it is not that young unlike many media people call her.

Liu Shan Tieh-kan (the countries of the island mountains), never saw any of the mountains except the theoretical belief that the islands are on mountain peaks.

The official name of Al Daulat min al-Mahaldibiyat after another 500 years may be "Male' Dive" since Male' is being so much spent on to develop it and made famous and the country is so famous for its underwater beauty, the two together could be the next modern name for the " old coconut islands".

Thanks to Naseema Mohamed, Special Advisor, NCLHR for her valuable article here.

http://www.nclhr.gov.mv/docs/whitepapers/history/Names%20of%20Maldives.pdf

Intel 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptops hit shelves

"The new version adds longer battery life and faster computing to the technology bundle of a processor, chip set and wireless card. Intel will keep the name Centrino Duo for the consumer version, although changes include a faster Core 2 Duo processor, support for the draft version of 802.11n wireless networking and a Turbo Memory feature that supplements the standard hard drive with NAND flash for faster booting." Read here



Of course we love the fact that it is saving the power and extending the usage up to 9 odd hours. But still we are waiting for the Quad Core processors with FSB 1100+.

Intel said earlier this year that it was to launch Penryn or was it just rumours? Later of course they have a new name for it, "Quad Core" with a performance increase of about 40% to the existing "Intel Core 2 Duo".

Lets wait some more to find out what else they have up their sleeve.

Internet and Organizational policies

It is interesting that some people do not care much about data security in most organizations in Maldives. But would it be true to say that they do not care?

I know a system administrator who had the administrative account's password to the email server set with just 3 characters and he was using it at public locations. Almost all organizations allow internet access from the users' desktop machine and they are allowed to use instant messaging and also web-based email most of which allow up to 10MB to be uploaded.

The staff are highly trusted and they could use thumb drives and CDs and most are allowed to install software on their systems. This would go on probably for another five years before it is put to a stop. Already most are realizing the mistakes they make. We have in the past seen photocopies of documents and scanned images of documents on the net "leaked" by some loyal staff and it is quite common that others hear about the news before we inside the organization hear of it.

May time heal all the DATA which is lost due to carelessness of people who are responsible.

Google 'is greater than' Microsoft (and cats talking ur pidgin)

I'm in ur Thurzdayz, IT-ing ur Blogwatch: in which Google overtakes Microsoft in terms of traffic and brand value. Not to mention more memeriffic pictures of cats verbin ur nounz...

It's official: Google rules the world. The Mountain View search engine has outstripped Microsoft on two fronts, becoming both the most visited Web site and the most valuable global brand. The events are major milestones for Google, which has grown into a business juggernaut.

Read more

Ideas were good, but the marketing was poor!

From April 19th to 21 The Youth Challenge organised by the youth ministry was a smashing event. It was a success story for those who had good advertisers bought by their money and a punch on the nasal bone for those who were not willing to advertise.

The organisation I work for participated too. Time was not in in my favour for this event and I had to say a 'NO' for the proposal of me being in charge to manage the event. Of course the right people were assigned the task and I was to go too to see it. I was in fact invited to go there.

Shafee: xaahir mire annahche youth challenge ah 2c da works v did, n giv yur comment inge
me: you want comments you got it!
Shafee: u know this time v did a perfect job, so ru cumin2youth challenge 2nite th

So, I was invited and I had to go. I really wanted to go, not only to see and comment but also to represent our organisation if possible. I went to the youth centre at about 22:30 and visited different stalls and completed the one complete round but I did not find our organisation's stall. I went back to the Help Desk and asked them, they did not even know that our organisation was listed. I went through the list of participants and found it and matched the stall number from a site map by myself and went to the stall which was located in the second building at a corner with no visible ads from a distance. Even when I was at about 10m I did not see the stall. The lighting for was dull, the stall looked empty, there were some four to five visitors and there were no banners of invitation. That was when one of the staff saw me and mentioned it to the head in charge of my presence and I was ignored. There were another senior staff and three secretaries. Since I was ignored by the head the rest also chose to ignore me too. They had some excuses; to start with the stall was remarkably not upto the standard of the fair, then of course it was one that does not even meet the image of our organisation and how things are done in our organisation. What I noticed most was that the head was talking to a some stall visitors refering to a photograph or a printed image of one of the historic scripts which was in bold terms really very interesting to the current generations. The poster or the picture was printed on an A3 paper so, the length of an A3 paper but a width of about 4 inches. It was an insult to the great artifact itself. I am sure that no stall visitor could try to read what was written on that script.

Now, let me show few picture of the stall if it had been this:

Say, I wanted to do a show, a fair open show. I chose to make a label for my daughter's music book. So, the label is going to be the show and it had to show that the book is for Music lessons.

I wanted to include some great images as demos of what music can be. So I chose Google Images to search the great internet archive of images related to music and out of first few hundreds I chose these images.



This image I thought I will include since it is the music note. Most people see this symbol as music.
















This image I chose since if any theory goes in and writing of music is required then obviously it gotta be this.














This image I included as I had to include one at least out of so many musical instruments Google gave results of.


















With the great collection in my possession all I had to do was add "MUSIC BOOK" to it and I had this as the final show:









I showed this to a cousin and she said, "It has no creativity and it looks DULL."

I felt insulted. I did my research on the internet. I know the basics of what I wanted to do, not to mention the music and the theory I learned from one of my best friends I listen to music and use software to create tunes which are never good to listen to. Oh well, I should not be insulted, she did not mean to. She only wanted to tell me the truth.

I had to do something about the label. All I had to do was show that I had good ideas there and I had to sell them, advertise and market the ideas I put together, my research only needed good marketing.

A mail I received from a friend.

GEOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN

Between 18 and 20
a woman is like Africa, half discovered, half wild, naturally beautiful with
fertile deltas.

Between 21 and 30
a woman is like America, well developed and open to trade especially for
someone with cash.

Between 31 and 35
she is like India, very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40
a woman is like France, Gently aging but still a warm and desirable place to
visit.

Between 41 and 50
she is like Yugoslavia, lost the war - haunted by past mistakes. Massive
reconstruction is now necessary.

Between 51 and 60
she is like Russia, very wide and borders are un-patrolled. The frigid
climate keeps people away.

Between 61 and 70
a woman is like Mongolia, with a glorious and all conquering past but alas,
no future.

After 70
they become Afghanistan. Almost everyone knows where it is, but no one wants
to go there.



THE GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN

Between 15 and 70
a man is like Iraq - ruled by a dick.

---

Get news, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Check it out!

PREASURE - a simple technique used to find how authentic your boss or colleague is

Amazing how people who others think are great at what they do just get up and say, "if you don't, I leave".

Wow! People who are leaders, samples for us just crave for more attention despite the fact that they are no longer suitable for their jobs. I do not want to include any names here but sure they, the great leaders are no greater leaders.

What if the management changes all of a sudden and I get to work under these super generals? OMG! Would I be able to work with him? If ever it happens would I go, "I quit, too"?

Lets hope not. I ain't a quitter! The last time I had a clash with one such a leader, I had the guts to tell the others seniors that the office is mine as much as his! I felt good, of course it is good to face the truth.

back to blogging

I have stayed away for a while, just for too long. But this time I am going to keep this updated.