When you erase a file on your computer, the actual data in the file is not overwritten. The space utilized by that file is simply marked as “free” for use by other data. Once other data is written in that space, the original data becomes unrecoverable — by most people. Those little bits of magnetic media that store 0’s and 1’s are a bit more complex, however. With sensitive and sophisticated equipment, it is theoretically possible to recover data even after it has been written over. The method to securely Read More

Plaintext Plaintext, also known as cleartext, is usable data. It is data either before encryption or after successful decryption. Ciphertext Ciphertext is encrypted data. Plaintext can not be deduced from properly encrypted ciphertext. Here is a brief message in ciphertext: pgAAADP1wJU8OtQgiOPV9b+EyS6Iz6acuGAKrm1 GEcI4eJJolT68cOb1H/o/PxZ8 nYIs0UupT+0= =7mu0 Encryption and Decryption Encryption is the process of turning plaintext into ciphertext. Decryption is the process of turning ciphertext into plaintext. Cryptographic Attacks Using Plaintext and Ciphertext A cryptanalyst in possession of a piece of plaintext and the resulting ciphertext can attempt to mount a known Read More

For many different reasons, people want to delete their search engine history. To delete history using either Internet Explorer or FireFox requires going into the options and erasing them manually. However, if you have the Google Toolbar installed on your site, you are able to erase your search history with just two clicks. Regardless, the process of erasing history takes about thirty seconds. Erasing History on Internet Explorer and FireFox To erase history on Internet Explorer and FireFox is easy. Go to the top and click tools. Then scroll to Read More

A smart card is a mini computer which requires programming to run. A smart card doesn’t contain an interface-like display or keyboard, so smart card readers are used to read or update the data tofrom smart cards. Smart cards contain an operating system which provides a platform to run applications. Smart card operating systems can be divided into two categories. The first kind of operating system is based on the Disk Drive approach. This operating system contains an active memory manager which can load any file or application in the Read More

A logic bomb is a program, or portion of a program, which lies dormant until a specific piece of program logic is activated. In this way, a logic bomb is very analagous to a real-world land mine. The most common activator for a logic bomb is a date. The logic bomb checks the system date and does nothing until a pre-programmed date and time is reached. At that point, the logic bomb activates and executes it’s code. A logic bomb could also be programmed to wait for a certain message Read More

Social engineering is a fancy name for manipulating a person into giving you access to which you are not normally entitled.    This almost always involves lying about your identity or your intent. Here is a transcript of a class social engineering trick used to convice a user to divulge his password: [user] Hello? [hacker] Hi, this is Bob from IT Security. We’ve had a security breach on the system and we need every user to verify their username and password. [user] What do I need to do? [hacker] Let’s walk Read More

Computers have provided modern society with many different luxuries that were never available before. Users are able to download new files in a matter of minutes, access the Internet, and store many different files on their computers. With this ability to store information, however, comes the responsibility of guarding it. As computers are widely accessible to anyone who sits down in front of one, the primary user of that computer may need to protect certain information that he/she does not want others to see. This article will list a number Read More

A MySQL password can be reset in 5 easy steps: Stop the mysqld daemon process. Start the mysqld daemon process with the –skip-grant-tables option. Start the mysql client with the -u root option. Execute the UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD(‘password’) WHERE User=’root’; Execute the FLUSH PRIVILEGES; command. These steps reset the password for the “root” account to “password.” To change the password for a different account or to set a different password, just edit the variables in single quotes in step 4. If the user knows his/her existing MySQL root password, Read More

Erasing browser history clears the record of what web sites the user visited over a period of time. This can help to protect privacy by preventing others from monitoring what web sites the user has been visiting. Erasing Internet Explorer’s Browser History By default, Internet Explorer keeps browser history for 20 days. To erase browser history in Internet Explorer, follow these steps: Open the Tools menu from the toolbar. Select Internet Options from the Tools Menu. Click the Clear History button. Click the Yes button on confirmation.   Erasing Firefox’s Read More

Bluejacking is a relatively new term that describes the act of sending an anonymous message to other Bluetooth equipped devices such as mobile phones, laptops, printers, cars, and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs). To date, mobile users have primarily Bluejacked others in their general proximity for friendly purposes. Bluejacking is possible because Bluetooth technology is open to receiving communications within the device’s effective range in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. How does Bluejacking Work? If a device is Bluetooth enabled, it can send or receive Bluejacking messages. The message is sent Read More