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Monday 9 April 2012
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Monday 24 March 2008
Cybercops for Cybercrime
In an effort to regulate the investigation of digital crime in the US, some states are looking at limiting the practice to Private Investigators. North and South Carolina, Georgia, New York, Nevada, Texas, Virginia and Washington are just some of the states that are enacting mandatory licensing of all forensic investigators.
One of the main problems around the investigation of digital crime is the issue of jurisdiction. Digital crime is borderless. Someone in New York can perpetrate criminal activities in Los Angeles without moving from his of her desk. According to the new laws anyone investigating this crime would have to be licensed in both New York and LA for his or her findings to be admissible in a court of law. Should supporting digital evidence be found in any other states, the investigator would need valid PI licenses for them too. Evidence from unlicensed investigators will be excluded from court and could result in the criminal prosecution of the offenders.
IT professionals by and large don't have any problems with attempts to regulate their field. Their primary concern is that they are being forced into an existing and ill-fitting category rather than being given one of their own. They fear that by allowing anyone with a PI license to claim forensic investigative credibility, evidence will be unnecessarily compromised and the field's image will be irreparably tarnished. Their argument is that if they have to be licensed, then regular PIs should also be licensed to carry out the delicate and specialised work of data collection and recovery.
What is in fact needed is more education on all sides. Forensic investigators need to learn more about court procedures and what constitutes admissible evidence, for example, maintaining the chain of custody of evidence and the proper documentation of findings. Prosecutors should know more about what is and is not possible so that they'll recognise outlandish claims and know when to challenge the credibility of evidence.
If PIs want to engage in digital investigations they should be able to prove their competency in the field. There should be a standard exam that all aspirant digital investigators need to pass in order to qualify for a forensic investigator PI license. Standardised practices will make it easier for investigators to work across state boundaries. Standardisation will also contribute to transparency in a field whose specialised nature places it at risk of obfuscation.
Regulations are necessary in all industries. They help those within the industries work to the best of their abilities and create a sense of accountability and responsibility. It's undeniable that the field of digital investigation needs regulating, as without it evidence is open to compromise. But legislators should take care that the regulations serve the industries that they are designed to protect, and don't detract from their credibility. Stan King, from the Forensics and Investigative Response Practice of Verizon Business Services said, "Like a doctor who's gone to medical school, works in his field, takes continuing education and maintains his medical licenses-that's the level of accountability we need for digital forensics". I don't think that the courts of South Carolina would argue.
By Sandy Cosser
Friday 21 March 2008
7 Easy Steps to Secure Your Wireless Router
Accessing Your Wireless Router's Configuration
To gain access to your wireless router settings and configuration menu then connect to the router either wirelessly or via a Ethernet cable. Open a web browser and type either:
1) Change Admin password
Most wireless routers ship with a blank password. It is essential that this is changed else a potential hacker could get into your router configuration and lock you out of your own hardware.
2) Change The Network Name (otherwise known as the SSID)
The default network name is usually made up of the name/model of your wireless router. This information gives a head start for a hacker and makes it easier for them to break into your network. Don't rename it to something like your surname or house name as this unnecessarily exposes personal information. Rename it to an alpha-numeric string - this can be up to 32 characters long.
3) Turn off SSID broadcasting
By default, a wireless router's SSID is broadcast so anyone in the vicinity of your wireless router can see that it. SSID broadcasting can be turned off thus making your wireless router virtually invisible.
4) Enabling Encryption
This is switched off by default. There is a choice of WEP, WPA and WPA2. Currently the latest encryption method is WPA2 so use this where possible. Both your wireless router and wireless PC adaptor must be configured to use the same encryption.
5) Mac Address Control
All hardware has a unique MAC address associated with it, including your PC adaptor card. This MAC address can be added to access control list in the wireless router. Only devices added to the router's access control list are allowed to be connected.
6) Update router firmware
It is recommended that the latest router firmware is downloaded from the manufacturer's website and installed in the router. This will hopefully fix any bugs that have been found for your router and also help with any known security flaws in the router itself.
7) Backup settings
Finally, backup all router settings. If you reset the router back to its factory default settings for whatever reason, your configuration can later be easily and quickly restored back into the router.
By Andy J Jones
Thursday 20 March 2008
How to Find iPod Movies
With the thousands of video devices on the market place, many people don't realize that their choices for where to find movies for them is just about as broad. While the most popular portable video device is the iPod, many people believe that the only place to find movies for this device is at the iTunes store. This is simply not the case.
There are hundreds of sites popping up on the Internet now that allow you to download movies for your portable devices, including the iPod. While there are plenty of these sites that are not that great, there are some that are excellent. And not only are the movies excellent, but the price and download speeds are excellent as well. And some of these will even allow you unlimited downloading for a one time only price.
The trick is finding the excellent sites among the "junk" sites. Just doing a mere search will turn up hundreds of different sites to sort through, and many of them will end up being junk sites. Just wading through these sites will end up costing you more money than it's worth. What I would suggest is that you do a search, and when you find a site that you think looks like a possibility for good iPod movies, do a little bit of research on it. Many times if a site is a junk site, people will be complaining about it in the different ipod movies forums. And you should easily be able to find complaints, if there are any, by doing a few simple Google searches.
And the other trick to finding excellent iPod movie sites, is by letting someone else do it for you. What I'm talking about is a good iPod Movie comparison site. Many times these sites do the dirty work and come up with a list of good sites.
iPod-Movies.net We Do the dirty work of finding excellent iPod Movies for you to download!
By Gary Venrooy
What is Nanotube?
They were discovered in 1991 by the Japanese electron microscopist Simio Iijima who was studying the material deposited on the cathode during the arc-evaporation synthesis of fullerenes. Carbon nanotubes are fullerene-related structures which consist of graphene[1] cylinders closed at either end with caps containing pentagonal rings. Examples of Nanotubes are Single-layer nanotubes and nanotube "ropes" and nanohorns. Carbon nanotubes, therefore, are rolled-up sheets of graphite - i.e. the same material that is used in pencils. A sheet of graphite is composed of carbon atoms arranged in a flat hexagonal pattern similar to chicken wire mesh.
Nanoelectronic has witnessed a shift towards molecular systems in recent years. Though the term molecular electronic is rather an old one, it is only recently that single molecules have become the focus of interest, as nanoelectronic start to surface. This was triggered by research on carbon nanotubes. But before the carbon nanotubes entered the scene, molecular electronic was the science of organic polymers, their synthesis, processing and doping. With carbon nanotubes, we finally have a model system at hand that is equally of interest for chemists, material scientists and physicists. However, carbon nanotubes are supramolecular objects for a chemist; they are one-dimensional solids for a physicist. In the future, more of this supramolecular structure will be studied on a single molecule level.
Theorists have shown that nanotubes can be conducting or insulating depending on their structure. Therefore, this may lead to applications in nanoelectronic.
Wires are not possible for use in nanoelectronic, because they are susceptible to thinning and breakage. Despite recent interest in carbon nanotubes, they have variable electronic properties, depending on their orientation, reducing their functionality as electrical conductors.
One problem that plagues researchers looking to fashion circuit components from nanotubes is separating metallic tubes from the ones that are semi-conducting. Common synthesis procedures produce spaghetti-like mixtures of nanotube ropes that are unusable for semiconductor applications because they contain both types of tubes.
Nanotubes can be metals or semiconductors, and because of their strong chemical bonds and satisfied valences[2], the materials boast high thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability. In addition, carbon nanotubes can be efficient conductors as a result of their tiny diameters, long lengths, and defect-free structures that make them ideal one-dimensional systems.
Theoretical models have predicted that nanotubes could behave as ideal one-dimensional "quantum wires" with either semi conducting or metallic behaviours. Study of Transmission Electron Micrograph (TEM) images, however, has indicated that the nanotubes also incorporate kinks and defects into their walls
Progress in nanotubes synthesis has now yielded single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) with well-defined diameters, bringing the experimental situation much closer to that of the theoretical models. Recent measurements indicate that these materials do behave like one-dimensional wires. The SWNTs should also be more sensitive to defects, to the extent that defects may dominate the transport characteristics. In this work, an STM tip was used as a sliding electrical contact to probe the length-dependence of SWNT conductance. Although atomic defects were not directly imaged, sharp conductance transitions and hetero-junction behaviours in the nanotube conductance are suggestive of the signatures of nanotube defects.
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Can I Overclock My Video Card?
Video cards can be overclocked to make graphics run faster and smoother. With overclocking, you are pushing the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and/or the onboard memory way past their specified clock speeds. Overclocking video cards result in optimum performance. With overclocking, game play becomes more satisfactory.
Careful consideration is needed before beginning this process. You must completely know the full specifications of your hardware peripherals. For gaming computers, knowledge of the specific usage of the computer and the kinds of gaming processes it does (and allows for) is needed. Know if your card model can adjust to the modification and know how durable it is against extreme heating.
Not all video cards are capable of being overclocked. While most kinds of newly developed graphic cards can stand the process of overclocking, others may not last very long. Each peripheral is different, also, the older the card model gets, the lesser chances there will be in successfully overclocking it. It's always possible for the unit to give out prematurely since graphic cards consist of diverse components (capacitors, GPUs, voltage regulators, and others). Different companies use different kinds of peripherals which greatly affect the video card's quality and durability.
Many video card models in the past did not allow for overclocking but in recent years, manufacturers have started enabling this process. This means that older video card models may have slighter chances of being overclocked. If the video card you want to overclock is quite old, you might have problems overclocking it. Older models are generally at a disadvantage since they are old technology. Old technology normally does not easily adapt to changes or modification as it is limited in its features and capabilities.
Overclocking may not produce the same results in all video cards, even though they may be the same brand and year model. Each are not contained in the same hardware packaging and each are not used nor maintained in the same way. Overheating will greatly affect the performance and lifetime of your video card so you must ensure that your peripherals and boards get enough cooling from the fans. Else, they may just all fire up.
Each brand may require its own overclocking tool or program. You may need to download specific software for your video card. Also, the software will vary based on your operating system. It's best to gather enough information for you to know how to correctly go abut the overclocking process for video cards. Research the internet for tips, explanations, and software promotional offers for overclocking. After a thorough study and identification of the specs of your video card, you may install the overclocking software you downloaded. It is very important to proceed only if you are fully knowledgeable on what the overclocking process entails. If that is not the case then opt to have an experienced computer technician work on your pc.
Remember to increase your GPU clockspeeds and memory in small increments. Video cards are very delicate components. You must process the modification carefully else you might bust the board right there and then. There is no way to predict how the overclocking process will turn out. If you find your computer, your screen, and any part of your pc experiencing any problems, it might be best to revert to the orgininal performance level of your video card.
For successful video card clocking, carefully maintain the right temperature to prevent overheating. You may double your cooling fans or replace your old ones with new and bigger ones. This will help a lot to maintain cool temperatures inside your pc tower. Some employ the use of liquid coolants, which have the reputation for being effective. Learn first if your computer and hardware peripherals can accept these liquid coolants. Exercise caution since there are reported cases of liquid coolants busting the boards.
By Billy Zype
Photo Printing - Top Tips for Getting the Colour Right
If it is really that easy to produce prints at home at low cost, more people would do so. As it is, people all suffer from the not insignificant cost of consumables, and this is made worse by the amount of waste involved in trying several times to get a decent result.
What is the cause?
A very common reason for poor results is an incorrect colour-management setup - or the complete lack of one. Of course, this is in the realms of something "technical", and so many users will naturally avoid getting involved in ideas of "colour management" because it seems difficult to set up.
But sadly, without a colour management system the chances of creating acceptable colour prints are small. Fortunately these days, it is relatively simple to assign ICC profiles to a monitor and other devices in Windows XP and Vista, and what's more, an ever greater number of photo-editing applications have colour management suites included.
Here is some specific advice to create good quality prints with a minimum of waste.
Colour management
ICC profiles installed for at least the monitor and printer/paper combination. These profiles are supplied with the device, or they can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. Windows XP and Vista profiles are in Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color.
To install a monitor profile, open the Display Properties Control Panel, click the advanced button on the Settings tab and select the Colour Management tab.
Monitor calibration
Specific profiles are produced from an individual monitor, but individual monitors can and do vary in their colour characteristics. Such differences can be controlled by using the factory default settings for brightness, contrast, colour temperature and any other available adjustable settings.
However, if the monitor profile seems to be the source of colour problems, it is worth considering the purchase of a hardware profiler. These devices consist of a spectrophotometer, which attaches to the screen, and software which analyses the screen output to produce an ICC profile for your specific display. Some monitor calibration devices actually measure the ambient light in the room and adjust the monitor settings accordingly, as well as the monitor screen output.
Soft Proofing
There is no point in getting a printer to reproduce exactly what appears on the screen because this is a physical impossibility: the two devices use different systems to display colour - and what's more, a monitor can display many more colours than a printer can actually print.
The answer to this conundrum is soft proofing. This involves using colour management to make the monitor emulate the colour characteristics of the printer. Thus the monitor shows what the printer is able to do, not the other way around. The best photo-editing software, including Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, can show you a soft proof before you commit to ink and paper.
Ambient light
The presence of strong lighting or colours close to your monitor - room lighting, even clothing is called "ambient light". This affects the way on-screen colours look. The fact is, that due to ambient light, a print viewed under artificial room lighting will look very different from outside in the daylight.
Best therefore to choose a neutral desktop colour (white, black, or grey) for viewing photos. If you have a multi-coloured desktop, it is best to use the photo editor's full screen or sideshow mode.
Get the correct ink
Experimenting with unbranded third-party inks is all very well, but if consistent high quality results are needed from a printer, it really is best to use the manufacturer's ink cartridges unless these are substituted with bespoke high-quality specialist inks fit for purpose, rather than inks designed to save costs.
Choosing the correct paper
As with ink it is always best to use paper produced by the printer manufacturer for most purposes. It is really important to understand that there is no such thing as an "absolute" printer profile - the profile supplied any printer manufacturer is for a printer model using a specific paper and ink combination.
If any other paper is used, the profile won't be correct and the results will be unpredictable. It used to be difficult to get hold of profiles for anything other than the manufacturer's recommended ink/ paper combination but, as time goes on, paper manufacturers are beginning to provide profiles for their products on a variety of printers.
Keep the printer clean
A very common cause of inkjet printer problems is blocked jets. This is not really a problem if the printer is turned off after use. Some printers perform a cleaning cycle on power up. But if the printer is left on all the time, the waste is clearly not good for the environment on two fronts: wasted power and wasted paper when rejecting low quality prints.
By Jimi St. Pierre
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