Virtual Private Servers – The Basics

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A virtual private server can be described as the next step from shared web-hosting on the way to your own dedicated server. With server hardware becoming increasingly powerful (and affordable) in terms of CPU performance and memory, virtualisation is now playing a key role in the web-hosting industry. As a website owner, a virtual private server gives you many of the advantages a dedicated server offers, but at a fraction of the latter's cost.

What are the key benchmarks of a virtual private server:

  • physical memory;
  • disk space;
  • CPU allocation;
  • bandwidth;
  • operating system;

Physical memory

Physical memory (RAM) determines how many applications you can run on your VPS at the same time, and how many users can access these applications at the same time. This usually translates into "how many users can I have on my website without the site slowing down?". Naturally, the more memory, the better. Keep in mind, however, that most virtual private server plans offer memory in the 512MB to 4096MB range. Anything below that range will not really let you do much except maybe run a proxy or a domain name server. Anything above, and you are well advised to consider moving to a dedicated server, not only because 4GB of memory will be rather expensive when allocated to a VPS, but also because a dedicated server still offers more performance than a VPS given the same specifications, and if your VPS already consumes 4GB of memory, the scales might begin to tip in favour of a dedicated server.

Disk space

Most VPS deals offer anything between 5 to 40GB of disk space. Unless you plan to host a lot of large files (such as high resolution images, or media files), this space allocation should be sufficient. Keep in mind that more space will eventually become more expensive on a VPS plan than with a dedicated server, just like with memory.

CPU allocation

Another key factor is the way CPU time is being allocated to your VPS. There are many different models, but all of them have one important caveat in common: make sure you enquire about the actual CPU being used in your VPS node. It makes a big difference whether your node is running an E3-1230 or an old P4! Below is a quick summary of the most common CPU allocation plans:

  1. A guaranteed cores plan gives you full control over the specified number of cores of the host's CPU. While this method gives you the most in terms of CPU performance compared to other allocations, it is also the most expensive one since a large portion of a physical CPU's computing time is reserved for you alone, whether you actually need it or not.
  2. MHz / GHz allocation guarantees you a certain amount of permanent CPU performance in terms of the CPU's clock rate.
  3. Number of cores / fair share: this method gives you a certain number of cores of the physical CPU of your VPS node. If your VPS plan says "2 cores fair share" it means that you will be able to use 2 cores of the physical CPU for your VPS, and that you are allowed to use these two in such a way that you do not pose a problem for other clients on the same node also making use of these 2 cores. The exact definition of "fair share" depends on the provider you are with, so do make sure you read the small print.
  4. vCPU: this allocation is a mix of (2.) and (3.) – it might feature allocations such as "4 cores at 800MHz", etc. Again, keep in mind to ask which kind of CPU is being used in your VPS node.

Bandwidth

Most VPS offer less bandwidth or traffic than dedicated servers and are on a (sometimes shared) 100mbit / s connection, with some providers offering gbit / s as well, either by default or via an upgrade. It is tempting to get as much as bandwidth allocation as possible, but remember that anything too extreme is most likely just sales tactics. If you know how much traffic you will be using, purchase just as much as you need plus your growth estimate to avoid unnecessary costs.

Operating system

Most VPS will be running any of the typical flavours of Linux, such as CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. You are not limited to using Linux, however. Most providers will offer Windows based virtual private servers as well. These will, however, often come with additional licence costs.

Summary

The advantage of a VPS is its compactness – you can pretty much do whatever you could also do with a dedicated physical machine, but nevertheless enjoy the much lower cost of a VPS compared to paying for an entire server. The disadvantages of virtual private servers lie in their contention ratio and scalability.

The more customers hosted on a single physical machine, the more you will face increasing rivalry for a machine's resources between the guest systems, such as I / O, memory, or CPU power. Scalability is another issue – you can not scale up a VPS without ends. The current hardware of everyday's high performing Intel or AMD architecture can not be scaled ad infinitum, and a site requiring resources that were usually only served by dedicated servers a few years ago might even benefit from the additional performance (albeit at higher cost) from a dedicated machine with the same general specs such as CPU, memory, and disk space.

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Source by Bernhard Lorenz

RFID For Armory Weapons Tracking Systems ARMS

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The ARMS Armory Management System Executive Overview

The ARMS Armory Management system is optimized for Weapons / Gear Accountability, by tracking weapons, gear and defensive equipment using software screens, bar codes and / or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies. The software is fully developed, COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) software, and is typically further customized according to each customer's specific requirements.

The ARMS rapid-application-development toolkit enables the software to be rapidly configured according to each customer's preferred terminology (data fields), and to automate workflow and generate reports consistent with current or preferred operational practices.

In addition to tracking weapons and gear, ARMS provides software components to track weapons cleanings, inspections, maintenance, test firings and similar functions. ARMS also includes functionality to track and look-up weapons certifications, 'Do Not Arm' status, items-required-for-a-post, and similar database lookups during transfer and return processing.

A single database 'instance' of ARMS can be further configured to model and track a wide range of additional items, such as records, evidence, assets, people, vehicles or similar entities. The software is available hosted, or can be installed on local server (s), with cross-platform support for Windows and Linux environments. ARMS is scalable to unlimited item types, locations, users and records.

Software and Bar Code Tracking

ARMS includes a 'Weapon / Gear Tracking Screen' that enables staff to enter an item # by keyboard, or scan a bar code or RFID tag on an item (using a USB connected bar code or RFID scanner), to indicate an item that is being issued to personnel or returned to the armory. The armory, or the person to whom item (s) are being issued, can be entered by keyboard, selected from a drop-down list on the Tracking Screen, can be captured by scanning a bar code on an ID card / badge, or by scanning bar codes printed on sheet (s) of paper (each person / place is printed as a text field and is represented by a bar code on the sheets). As such, ARMS provides robust performance and tracking capabilities, with minimal investment, using software screens and / or USB-connected scanning devices.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) Tracking

RFID Radio Frequency technology is the state-of-the-art in weapons tracking, and is achieved by placing special RFID tags within or on weapons and gear. The RFID tag # is linked to the Weapon or Item Serial # within the database. Staff can also be RFID-identified, by using RFID name badges issued to each authorized person (or RFID labels can be placed on existing name badges or name badge lanyards).

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Source by Michael Carrington

Tryton: A to Z

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What is Tryton?

Generally speaking, Tryton is a high level computer application platform. It is a three-tiered system over which an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is built. This business solution acts through sets of Tryton Modules.

The three levels in Tryton's architecture include :

  • Tryton – The tryton Client
  • Trytond – The tryton server
  • Database Management System

The platform and the official modules are licensed under GPLv3. These are open sourced solutions and exist as free software.

Basically, Tryton provides some essential modules which can be directly imported into a business and can be extended for enhanced functionality.

The origin of Tryton can be traced back to the fork of TinyERP version 4.2, later renamed as Odoo. Tryton was first released to the public in November, 2008.

Official Modules

The official modules offer coverage for the following functional fields:

  • Accounting
  • Project Management
  • Invoicing
  • Sales Management
  • Inventory Management
  • Purchase Management
  • Analytic Accounting
  • Lead and Opportunity Management
  • Manufacturing Resource Planning

Technical Specifications of Tryton

Apart from the database management system, all the Tryton applications including Client and Server are written in Python, a popular open source programming language. The Tryton client uses GTK + as its graphical toolkit. The framework is available for all major operating systems including Linux, Windows and OS X. Apart from this, a standalone version for Tryton Server and Client exists and is referred to as Neso.

The Tryton Core provides the quintessential requirements of most business applications. However, the framework is fairly general purpose and is not linked to any specific functional fields.

The general framework comprises of:

1. Data Persistence

Data persistence means that information is accessed infrequently and is not usually modified. Tryton ensures persistence of data such as customer information by using accessor objects which are known as Models. Models allow easy access, migration as well as creation of records.

2. User Management

The Tryton kernel has in-built functionality of base features which handles user management including user group handling, access rules of models and records and so on.

3. Workflow Engine

A workflow engine is a software framework which can automate a single or multiple processes. These processes are usually business related. While some of the automation steps may need human intervention, but most functions are handled by the application. In Tryton's case, the default workflow engine allows the application to activate a workflow on either an existing business model or setting up a new one.

4. Report Engine

The report engine of Tryton is based on Python- Relatorio, a templating library which outputs different file formats easily including.odt, .ods, .png etc. It also used these files as templates and in turn, generates reports in ODT or PDF formats.

5. Internationalization

Tryton is easily accessible in all major languages ​​of the world including English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Catalan. Moreover, the new translations can be imported directly from the client interface.

6. Data Historization

Extending its functionality as a business application platform, Tryton allows enabling historical data for any business model. This helps in accessing dynamic historized records for any time period, making reports and generating leads easily.

7. Protocol Support

Tryton has in-built support for Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV). It supports CalDAV, WebDAV And CardDAV, thereby allowing out-of-the-box management of documents and calendar and contacts sync.

Apart from this, Tryton also features:

  • Database Independence
  • Support for JSON-RPC and XML-RPC protocols
  • Automatic Migration Mechanism which allows updating the database scheme without any human intervention.
  • Advanced Modularity

Tryton or not to Tryton

While there are a number of factors which make using Tryton advantageous.

Let's shed some light on the pros and cons of using Tryton.

So Tryton

a. Stability and Quality

  • Unittest
  • PEP 8 compliance
  • Development branch is always runnable
  • Separate package modules which can be updated independently
  • Improved constraints like right access on delete cascade, dynamic required state validation and decimal digits validation.

b. Automatic Migration Mechanism

c. Independent Modularity

d. Security

  • SSL support on NetRPC
  • Footprint and Certificate Validation

e. Single report engine

f. Open discussions before new developments from the team.

g. Single translation format.

Not So Tryton

a. No production module and the OpenERP is not highly functional.

b. Lack of more CRM features.

c. No webclient support except use with Django.

d. Custom development required on some modules of Tryton As of now, there are only sources available, and no packages.

e. Lack of proper documentation

Essentially a Business Solution Platform, Tryton can be extended as a platform for other solutions than simply ERPs as well. Some prominent examples of Tryton Users include GNU Health, a Hospital Information Platform based over Tryton.

The goal behind Tryton is not to create a direct competitor but to provide a new way to tackle the problem of programming a business software. The idea is to favor a solid and consistent solution over more cutting edge features

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Source by Shaambhavi Pathak

10 Reasons Why C is the Best Programming Language For Beginners

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With the plethora of programming languages ​​these days, and the massive programming information available in the Internet, it can be difficult for a beginner like you to know where to start. When it comes to programming language for beginners, C is an excellent choice. Not only will it educate you of programming fundamentals, this language is also powerful and is widely used in the industry today.

Here are the reasons why C is a great programming language to begin with:

1. You can not learn Java or C directly.

For you to learn and master C and Java languages, you should have a rock-solid concept of the elements of programming like classes, polymorphism, inheritance, and others. Come to think about it, how will you learn complicated concepts like these if you are not even familiar with the basic elements of computer programming? The language that starts from scratch is C and its foundational concepts are the basis of any other programming concepts we have these days.

2. It is the basis of C, C #, and Java.

C and C # are programming languages ​​based on C. Java also derives its syntax and programming concept from C. This is known as the world's most dominant programming language and it is also derived from C language.

3. Programs that need Object Oriented Programming (OOP) are written in C.

Java, C #, and C employ OOP. Despite being powerful, not all programs use it and those utilizing it are still written in C.

4. C boasts unbeatable performance.

When it comes to speed of execution, C is still unmatched.

5. Most parts of Linux, Windows, and Unix are written in C.

So if you want to program these OS, or if you wish to have your programs run in the said operating systems, better be familiar with C.

6. Drivers of modern gadgets are written in C.

Why is this so? Well simply because C gives users access to the computer's basic elements. It also provides you with direct access to your CPU's memory by means of pointers. You can also use C to control bits and bytes.

7. Mobile phones, PDAs, palmtops and other handheld devices as well as appliance are becoming more popular than ever.

You may not be aware of it, but your handheld devices and home appliances may contain CPU that requires programming and has software dubbed as embedded system programs.

8. Most PC games employ C as their foundation.

No one will be interested in games if it takes too much time for commands to be done. C is used to make things fast and prompt.

9. C is considered as mid-level language.

Programming languages ​​are categorized into three – Low Level, Middle Level, and High Level. Aside from being user-oriented, high level languages ​​also make development of programs fast enough. Machine oriented, low level languages ​​execute programs faster. Middle level languages ​​like C combines the best attributes of the high and low level languages.

10. C is a block-structured language.

This means every code is written in separate block and is not connected with the code in the next block. With this, you can make programming easier and you can minimize the possibilities of unnecessary side effects.

With the above-mentioned reasons, do you still have doubts why C is the best computer programming language for beginners?

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Source by Steven Winters

Basics Of A Pen Drive

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A Pen Drive is a compact, removable storage device just like a floppy disk or a CD. Instead of the floppy device or the CD ROM that are used for reading a floppy disk and CD respectively, a pen drive can be plugged into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) Port of a computer. The USB connectivity makes the pen drive easier to use and data can be transferred faster to and from the pen drive.

Different Manufacturers have named Pen Drives they manufacture differently. Today, a pen dive goes by the names of thumb drive, USB flash drive, Jump Drive, Traveler`s Drive, USB key drive, USB memory stick and many others!

These pen drives are small, inexpensive, almost ubiquitous and extremely handy. They are available largely in the range of 1 to 8 GB which makes them of great use and has made floppy disks and CDs look like useless storage mediums.

The credit of inventing the pen drives goes to IBM. It was invented in 1988 to replace the floppy disks, IBM but never patented it. IBM contracted in M-Systems to manufacture the Pen Drive and the patent is now owned by them.

The pen drive is a modern floppy disk. The main difference is that a floppy disk has moving parts which makes the data stored on the drive vulnerable to loss. A pen drive, on the other hand is a solid state device ie it has no moving parts. This makes it possible to almost completely seal the pen drive making it dust-proof and the common magnetic fields. Hence, a pen drive is a much safer option for storing important data.

The latest operating systems like (Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS 2) can recognize these pen drives and mount them automatically. Once it is connected, recognized and mounted by the operating system, it appears just like any other partition of the hard disk except it is named as removable storage.

The pen drive can be removed any time after it is un-mounted (safely remove hardware in case of Windows) and can be re-plugged into the same or a different machine to be used again. A pen drive`s most important use is to transport data and files from one machine to another. For eg one can simply copy all the word processing documents, images and spreadsheets to the pen drive, carry it along and copy the files on his / her home computer and work on it at home.

Some users have found the pen drive useful in moving their internet browser History, Cache, Cookies, and other transient data. This improves their privacy and security as no traces of the work done on the machine is left on the PC. Once copied to the drive, the files can be made more secured by encryption or any other method of security.

The pen drives can also be used to store operating systems to boot the computer. This makes them popular for repair and diagnostic work. Instead of carrying tools and maintenance software applications on CDs, a pen drive can be used which is faster and can be manipulated easily in case the software is upgraded or is no more useful.

A pen drive is one of the most economical mobile medium for data storage in terms of cost per unit storage space. They are really light-weight and robust in nature which has made it a big hit and a very important and indispensable tool for a large number of users.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author's name and all the URLs (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.

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Source by Roberto Sedycias

The Speed ​​Advantage of USB Printer Cables Over Serial or Parallel Wires

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USB printer cables are those that have a USB Standard A-type of connector on one end and a Standard B-type of connector on the other end. This type of USB cable is often used by printers, scanners, as well as other large peripheral devices to interface with your computer or other compliant host devices. A USB cable for printers can deliver data in a swifter way compared to older cords like the parallel or serial cables. This is due to the data transfer rate capability of the USB cable, which can, theoretically, run up to 480 Mbps compared to the 2 Mbps maximum transfer rate of serial or parallel cables.

Most of the printers sold in the market today are equipped with USB Standard-A receptacle and cable. In fact, it can even be said that for peripheral devices such as printers, USB has become the standard method of connection. This development ushered in better, reliable and fast printers that can print several pages of documents in about a quarter of the time it takes for older printer to do the same task.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of USB printer cables is that they can work across multiple platforms. They can function well in a Windows environment in the same way that they would in operating systems running on a Macintosh computer, as well as Linux / UNIX systems. This cross platform compatibility of USB cables allows devices, for as long as they have appropriate drivers, to work on different operating systems.

Another great thing about this particular cable is they allow peripheral devices to become hot swappable. This means that you can unplug the device from the system and plug it back again without the need to restart the computer or host system. Try doing this with a PS2 or ADB interface cables any you will certainly discover that there is a need to restart the system in order to get the peripheral device to work again.

This feature became a boon for plug and play devices as they were instantly recognized by the system for as long as their drivers are already included in the operating system's list. The cable also facilitates an easy installation process should the drivers are nowhere to be found in the operating system's list.

Although USB printer cables have many advantages, it is not entirely devoid of any disadvantage. One of the glaring disadvantages of these types of cables is their length limitation. This is due to the manner by which USB cables transmit and receive data. However, this can be resolved by using a USB extender or extension cord. The streamline effect is another known weakness of this type of cable. Many devices, such as a mouse and keyboard, need to have their own dedicated USB port in order for them to function without a hitch. This can be a potential problem if you have limited USB ports on your system. Nevertheless, using a USB hub can help solve this issue.

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Source by Suzie Sanchez

Expert Witness: Games Console Forensics

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Introduction:

In today's average home there exist many potential sources of digital evidence, from the obvious home PCs and mobile phones to the less common 'pen-drives' and PDA's. All have been subject to comprehensive scrutiny from people involved in the legal process and academics since their properties have been shown to have forensic value. So far comparatively little evidence of investigation into the forensic properties of modern gaming consoles exists, if we consider how they can be utilised in an increasingly 'PC-like' manner, this is an area capable of proffering considerable amounts of data with evidentiary value in criminal or civil court proceedings.

Computer forensics is a relatively new discipline combining elements of law and computer science to collect and analyse data from computer systems, networks, wireless communications and storage devices in a way that is admissible as evidence in a courtroom. Gaming consoles now provide the kind of data which can undergo forensic analysis because of the addition of memory (both internal and external) capable of 'storing' data beyond mere computer game information.

With the addition of storage capabilities beyond simple game data (ie hard drives capable of storing music, video, pictures etc.) gaming consoles are able to utilise 'web' functionality and therefore will likely generate both 'persistent' and 'volatile data' with forensic value. With an increasing amount of media functionality gaming consoles are becoming 'entertainment hubs' within the average household.

The machines most likely to provide usable forensic data are the Xbox360 and PS3 and due to their prevalence in homes (combined sales figures for the UK are around six million units) these are the machines where a pattern of use would be similar to more readily accepted sources of forensic data (ie home computers).

Microsoft Xbox 360:

This gaming console can support external memory cards for game data and media storage, however these are infrequently utilised because of small size (both physically and in terms of data capacity). The most commonly used memory for the Xbox360 comes in the form of a detachable hard-drive ranging in size from twenty gigabytes to two-hundred and fifty gigabytes (allowing vast amounts of saved music, videos, photos etc.) and is essential in allowing online functionality on the machine. On an unmodified machine this online functionality refers to 'Xbox live', the online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service operated by Microsoft. This service allows users to:

• Download content from Xbox live
• Log onto and update social networking and media services such as Facebook, Twitter, Zune and Last.fm
• Add people to 'friends lists' for gaming and / or communication
• Send (unsolicited) text / picture / voice messages to other users

Many of the functions performed on the console have a time and date attributed to when the function was performed (or at least when it was last accessed or altered); this could potentially provide corroboration of a defendant's location at a specified time. The communication possible through use of the Xbox live messaging system can provide evidence of illegal activity as messages are automatically stored for up to 30 days before deletion from the system, however all messages sent via Xbox live are retained on Microsoft servers and recoverable on any console the user profile is signed into, therefore any mention of a crime in a text or audio message would potentially be retrievable by a skilled investigator.

The functionality of the Xbox360 can be extended by modifying the internals to allow the playing of illegally downloaded software (piracy) or an operating system such as Linux could be installed and allow an Xbox360 to have almost all the functions of a PC (and associated data records of activity)

• Full access to the Internet (beyond mere Xbox live)
• E-mail
• Chat logs
• Pirated games

One important detail to note is that, at least from the outside, a modified console and an unmodified console can look exactly the same. While it is true that some members of the 'modding' community opt to apply various case modifications to their consoles, many do not, and therefore the console could be mistaken for a standard device.

Sony Playstation 3:

The PS3 is similar to the Xbox360 in terms of potential forensic viability. Large amounts of digital media can be stored on its hard drive, and the PlayStation Network (similar to Xbox live) allows users to send messages much in the same way as with the Xbox360.

There are two key differences between these consoles, firstly, the PS3 has full internet browsing capability 'straight out of the box', even an unmodified PS3 would contain more usable data in terms of Internet search history, downloads etc. on both the hard drive and the system 'data cache'. Secondly, it was possible to install third party operating systems on the PS3 without any modification to the system to enable it; this is currently in dispute in the US courts as this feature was removed by Sony to help prevent software piracy on the machine. Regardless, installing a second operating system (for whatever purpose) is still possible, now requiring some hard drive modification to enable this function, allowing the PS3 almost all the functionality of a PC.

Motion Control – Move & Kinect:

In the final months of 2010 new functionality was added to the PS3 (Move) and the Xbox360 (Kinect), 'Motion Control'. Using cameras and motion tracking software the console is able to interpret user body movement and replicate it 'in game'. From an evidential point of view, this provides another type of data to be collected from a gaming console, practically this expands the scope of what data stored on these machines can be used for. The cameras are actually used to record the user of the motion control software at certain points of game activity this can be stored, this could be abused and used to send videos of underage children or obscene videos via Xbox live. The videos could also be used to capture suspects involved in criminal activity, with the videos having a date and time attached, analysis could determine a location, thereby corroborating or disproving the validity of a defendants claim as to their location at the time of an offence .

Nintendo Wii:

The Nintendo Wii currently boasts higher sales numbers than the Xbox360 and PS3 combined. It is seen as a gaming console for 'non-gamers' and has lower technical specifications than both of its competitors, as such it is less of target for modification, although data with forensic properties can still be extracted from it. The Nintendo Wii can utilize a first-party Opera-based web browser; bookmarks are retained, and may be worth noting. The Wii also retains a basic, daily log of system usage, and also keeps a contact list of added friends, as well as the messages those friends have sent. Also worth noting is that images may be sent over the player messaging system, which are then saved to the system flash storage or to an external SD (memory) card. As is true of most modern consoles, various distributions of Linux have been ported to the system (Wii Linux), meaning that it could be utilized in the same way as any desktop PC and should be treated as such.

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP):

A portable game device can be defined as a gaming system that is small enough to be carried outside of the home and runs on batteries. While not as powerful as a console, portable game devices have made significant advances in power since their early days, and may now incorporate functions similar to PDAs. The PlayStation Portable may be used to access the Internet, store images and movies, and can be modified to run 3rd party operating systems, therefore forensic data is recoverable from the memory and 'data cache'.

Nintendo DS / DSi / 3DS:

All Nintendo DS units can establish ad-hoc wireless connections to other units to utilize a player to player chat program called Pictochat. Pictochat has been used in the past by predators to lure children to them. The DSi incorporates an SD card reader, which may be used to hide illicit materials. The DSi also incorporates a 0.3 megapixel camera which can store images on its internal flash RAM or SD card.

Games Console Forensics in the Real World:

For illustration purposes here are a few real world instances of crimes involving gaming consoles, hopefully illustrating the need to investigate gaming consoles just as thoroughly as more traditional computer forensic targets.

An example of gaming consoles being used in the same manner as a PC and providing usable forensic data would be an incident that occurred in August 2010 in the USA whereby an Xbox live user based in Florida was discovered to have been soliciting naked pictures of a 10 year old boy also using the Xbox live messaging service. Officers recovered the defendants Xbox 360, two computers and a flash drive and discovered sixteen child-pornography images of various boys.

Folsom Police Detective Andrew Bates stated that "parents should realize gaming systems like Xbox and PlayStation, when connected to the internet, can be used as other technology, such as a computer or telephone; users can speak to one another, text, or send photos , thus making these systems another potential threat. "

Useful data recoverable from Xbox live was found in a case where a man surrendered himself to police after threatening a witness against him in an on-going criminal investigation, he was charged with tampering with a witness, intimidating a witness and two counts of second- degree harassment.

There are documented instances of unsolicited indecent images being sent via Xbox live and PlayStation Network, here a couple were sent a message from an unknown user account, upon opening it discovered it contained an indecent image of a young boy and immediately contacted the police. An investigation would be able to determine the time and date this image was received and whether or not it was solicited by the user receiving the image by retrieving previous communications.

N another incident a PS3 user persuaded an 11 year old girl to email him nude pictures of herself (which he subsequently forwarded on to contacts in other US states). No other devices were used to commit these offences and would potentially go undiscovered in an ordinary investigation.

On another occasion a man is accused of grooming several young girls over Xbox live; this was uncovered by the discovery of a mobile phone and recovery of Xbox360 data.

Of the myriad , Considering ways in Which gaming consoles can now Provide Investigators with usable forensic data it is Crucial That the Potential or rewards of forensic investigation of gaming machines are On fully comprehended, and Furthermore, lawyers That -whether Prosecution or defense – the find an expert the witness with the necessary skills to support their case. It is possible to commit the types of offences typically associated with a PC on a gaming machine and it possible to retrieve data of equal significance from a gaming machine. Therefore correct seizure and investigation into of these devices should have equal priority alongside other digital storage and communication devices.

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Source by Simon Lang

What Is Wardriving And How Can You Prevent It

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Imagine a car equipped with nothing more than a laptop computer, a portable GPS receiver, and a wireless network card slowly strolls through your neighborhood. Unknown to any onlookers, this is no ordinary vehicle; rather, it is a wardriving machine. As the car strolls past homes and businesses, a wireless network card (available at any electronics store for as low as $ 25) scans for any wireless access points. Anyone with a wireless network (and there are many out there) is vulnerable. The computer is looking for what is called an SSID. An SSID is your wireless network name and it is being constantly transmitted by your access point, letting computers know of its presence. The wardriver uses software such as Netstumbler (for windows) or Cismet (for linux) to scan the airwaves for SSIDs. The program can track various access points at once and monitor the signal strength. These programs can also check to see if the network is encrypted. The wardriver will generally configure his or her software to log any strong unencrypted signals. Using the GPS receiver, the coordinates of the strong signal will be recorded. After this preliminary drive, the wardriver can return to the locations that were recorded, and connect to the access point. Once connected to an unencrypted network, the wardriver can use the victim's internet access, and can also explore computers on the network. If files are being shared within someone's private network, all of that information is susceptible to a wardriver. Furthermore, once in the network, a wardriver can sniff network traffic and can view any information such as passwords and credit card numbers you send out to the internet – even SSL secured data. Wireless network vulnerability is a major problem, and as more and more households purchase wireless technology, the problem of insecure networks increases. Sound scary? Well this happens every day, and it does not take an expert to pull off. It does not take an expert to protect against either, however.

Steps you can take to protect against wardrivers:

There are a number of very simple steps you can take to protect your wireless network. For many of these, you will have to access your router configuration utility (check your manual on how to do this, you will generally need to type an IP address into your browser such as 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).

Do not broadcast your SSID. If you are broadcasting your SSID, this is the first thing a program will pickup and recognize. If you configure your router to not broadcast your SSID, it will be difficult to detect (but not impossible, for some software can sniff wireless communication, so if you are using your wireless network, the SSID can be revealed). If you are not broadcasting your SSID, but it can be guessed (such as if you are using a default SSID), cloaking is pointless. Due to this, remember to change your SSID from the factory default. This is not a 100 percent effective method to secure your network, but it is a good first line of defense.

Change the default password. When you buy a router, a factory password is stored. People experienced in working with routers know the default passwords for different routers (and the make of the router can be seen by wardriver software such as netstumbler). It is important that you secure your router with a good password.

Encrypt your wireless communication. I can not stress the importance of encrypting your wireless communication enough. Enable encryption and enter a key. Most routers are only capable of WEP encryption, but if they permit, use EAP encryption, it's more secure than WEP. Like cloaking your SSID, encryption is not 100 percent secure. Given enough time and determination, if someone wants to target you and access your network, WEP encryption can be bypassed using software such as AirSnort.

Filter the MAC addresses that are allowed to connect to your router. This would require that you enter your router configuration and input the MAC address of each wireless card you have. This will restrict access so that only your computers can connect to the router. You will need to obtain the MAC address (which is the individual identification address of a network card in the form a 12 digit hexadecimal number). If someone sniffs traffic and detects the MAC address of a computer wirelessly using your network, the wardriver could emulate that address and connect to the router, but this takes time.

If you configure file sharing on your computers, make sure it is password protected. You should not share files on your networked computers unless it requires an authenticated user to access. Set up the same user accounts on your machines so that your computers can share files.

With these relatively simple steps, wireless network users can secure their networks from wardrivers. Wireless networks are inherently insecure, and these tips will merely help you greater secure your network. If someone is really determined to gain access to your network, given enough time, a good hacker can get access. These tips will deter the average wardriver from gaining access to your network, however. Although these methods are not definite security measures, they will change your network from being something that can be hacked in a matter of seconds, to something that will take a determined hacker days if not weeks of work, all of which will have to be done while in close proximity to your network.

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The Elements of an Operating System

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This article is aimed at giving you an overview of the various elements which make up an operating system. Now as you are probably aware, an Operating System, whether it be Windows, Linux Or Mac, serves the purpose of giving us, the human user, a means to interact with the computer in a meaningful way.

Imagine, if you can, that an operating system is broken down into five layers. in the following list I'll start at the bottom most layer and work my way up to the very top.

Layer 1: The Kernel.

The kernel is the heart of the operating system. Amongst it's responsibilities are ensuring that each running process is given a fair amount of time to execute while a controlling the amount of resources each process can use.

Layer 2: Memory Management.

The name of this layer gives you a good idea what it is all about. It is the responsibility of this layer to share your computers physical memory among the processes which want to use it. It also has to manage such situations where there may not be enough physical memory to share out.

Layer 3: Input / Output.

On this layer all the physical communication between your computers hardware, such as disk drives, keyboards, mouses, screens and so on, takes place.

Layer 4: File Management.

Again the name of this layer may give you a clue as to what it does. It is the job of this layer to control how the files on your computers hard drive are stored and accessed by any application seeking to use them.

Layer 5: The User Interface.

The last element, or layer as we have been calling them, of an operating system is the User Interface. This layer is probably the easiest of all to understand since it is the first thing you see when your operating system has logged you in. It is the job of this layer to provide a means for the user to actually interact with the rest of the layers and as such the system as a whole.

Keep in mind there are two different types of User interfaces. The first one is probably the one you are most familiar with, the graphical user interface, which is where you see windows and icons for each of your files and so on.

The second is a command line interface, or text based interface where a user would interact with the system using text based commands.

Well that is it for this article, if your an experienced IT pro or tech guru, before you go placing comments that I've skimmed on certain details please keep in mind that i have deliberately kept this article simple so the people new to computing in general fin dit easier to understand. With that said I hope you enjoyed this article.

– David

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Source by David Gallie

3 Things You Should Know About DVJU Files

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The average computer may come across files on his computer with various file extensions. These are the three and four letters that come at the end of a file name. For example, something named myfile.pdf is something in PDF format. Users and a computer's operating system can identify the type of file by its extension. You may come across some that have the file extension DJVU. Here are three things that you should know about these types of files.

What Does DJVU Mean?

The file extension DJVU indicates that you have a DJVU file. It is an image which may be a photograph or some sort of document. The document could be digital or it could have been scanned. DJVU is a form of image compression technology that was developed by AT & T. It allows for the distribution of very clear, high-resolution images on the Internet. Images of all sorts can be placed online and will be of the highest quality.

Programs That Will Open These Files

There are a variety of programs that are able to open these types of images. For Windows, there is WinDjView, DjVuLibre DjView, ACD Systems Canvas 14, and ACD Systems ACDSee 15. For those using the Mac operating system, MacDjView will open these as will DjVuLibre DjView, and SST DjVuReader. Linux users can use DjVuLibre DjView and KDE Okular to open DJVU images.

What If They Will Not Open?

From time to time, you may come across a DJVU image that will not open. Sometimes it is because it is corrupted and will not open. No matter how many adjustments you make or what tricks you try, it will not open. In that case, the most likely problem is a corruption. When that happens, you will need to find a different version and download it.

Another common problem is not having the right version of the application to open the file. While it appears that you may be able to open it, it will not. In that case, you need to download any updates to make sure the version of your application is correct. If you have downloaded the latest version and it still does not work, you may have a different problem. The problem would be with your operating system. It may not know which program to use to open the DJVU file. The problem can be rectified rather easily. You will manually tell the computer which program to use.

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Source by Viktoria Carella