Doorstep-Info

INFORMATION AT YOUR DOORSTEP-DOORSTEP-INFO

2005-11-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

Flaw in Antivirus Software Allows Unwanted Files...
A flaw in several virus scanners could let a malicious file evade detection, a security researcher has warned. But some in the industry dispute that it's a security bug. By adding some data to a file, an attacker could trick virus scanners into letting a malicious executable file pass through, security researcher Andrey Bayora wrote in an advisory last week. The problem lies in the scanning engine, which won't detect files that have the extra data. Bayora refers to that extra data as the "Magic Byte." The problem affects numerous antivirus products, including software from Trend Micro, McAfee, Computer Associates and Kaspersky Lab, said Bayora, who works as a computer security consultant in Israel. His advisory also lists several products that are not affected, including software from Symantec, F-Secure and BitDefender. "This is one of the most significant antivirus vulnerabilities of recent times, as it affects the majority of scanner software," Bayora wrote in an article on his Web site that details the issue. Bayora originally disclosed details of the flaw on Oct. 24. Since then, the topic has been the topic of lively discussions on the popular Full Disclosure security mailing list. The issue is further evidence that researchers are increasingly looking for holes in security products. Protective technology is commonly installed on PCs, servers, network gateways and mobile devices. As security software becomes more widespread, it becomes a more attractive target to cybercriminals, experts have said. But in this case, what Bayora calls out as a vulnerability in virus-scanning engines, some in the industry see as inherent to signature-based protection of antivirus software. "It's not a real security vulnerability, as this is the way antivirus scanners work: If someone creates a new malware, the antivirus industry will create a new signature for it," said Andreas Marx, an antivirus software expert at the University of Magdeburg in Germany. "This way always leaves a detection and protection gap." The signature lists used in antivirus software are like a dictionary of descriptions of known viruses. The virus-scanning process looks for matches against that dictionary. If a new threat is found, a signature is added. Previous Next Bayora actually created a variant of a virus, said Ken Williams, a representative of Computer Associates. "Modifying a virus to the point where it is no longer detectable does not qualify as a vulnerability. Most viruses are modified in this way over time on a regular basis, and CA treats this as a new virus variant," he said in a statement. But Kaspersky and Trend Micro do see the Magic Byte issue as a software flaw and are offering updates to fix it. "A patch for affected products is currently being tested and should be available within a week," Kaspersky said in a notice on its Web site. Trend Micro has addressed the "potential vulnerability" in the latest version of its virus pattern files, a representative said in an e-mailed statement. According to Trend Micro, the problem in its product is limited to one specific type of potential virus file that typically would be blocked in most enterprise e-mail systems and would need to be executed manually. In a posting to a security mailing list, Bayora identified that file type as a batch, or .bat, file. McAfee did not respond to requests seeking comment for this story. Allows Unwanted Files...

THE GUIDE TO BLOGGING

2005-11-16T23:05:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years, Weblogs (or blogs) have taken the Web by storm. According to the Wikipedia definition, a Weblog is "a Web application which contains periodic posts on a common Webpage. These posts are often but not necessarily in reverse chronological order." Basically, if you publish content on a periodic basis, a blogging package may simplify your publishing workflow.
This article assumes that you're familiar with the basics of blogging and would like to start your own Weblog; for more information on what blogging's all about, see Aaron Brazell's article, The Blogger's Primer.
Why Have a Blog?
Part of the Web professional's job is to keep abreast of current trends in technology. Even if you never choose to run a Weblog yourself, it's good to understand the functionality blogs offer in case a client or your employer has an idea or business need that could be supported by a blogging software package. Some of the uses for blogs include:
Personal: an individual may want a blog to help keep family and friends informed of what's going on in their lives.
Topical: some blogs are devoted to a specific topic, such as politics or computer hardware. These often read more like magazines than blogs.
Marketing: corporations are getting into blogging; when well-executed, this type of blog can be a great tool for corporate communications, creating excitement about products and services, or used as an internal tool to keep employees up-to-date on company news.
Why Use Someone Else's Software?
Many Web developers will scoff at the idea of using somebody else's software. This is especially true when the software differs greatly from the specific needs a client has. However, when it comes to Weblog software, there's little reason to fear using a pre-written package. Many of these packages have years of development work behind them; they were not thrown together over a weekend and are consistently stable.
Another good reason to use a pre-written package is the feature set. It would take any developer months to write from scratch every feature in today's top Weblog software packages. For most of us, this is simply not a good use of our time. Besides, if you're choosing to publish your writings on the Web, you'll probably want to spend more time writing and less time coding.
What's on Offer?
So, you're considering using a pre-written package for your blog. You may still be confused about what exactly is out there, though. In short, there are two types of packages you can use: the hosted service, and self-hosted packages.
Hosted Services
If you would like to start publishing on the Web, but you don't have any Web hosting, you may want to look into a hosted service for your needs. These services include TypePad, Blogger, LiveJournal, and more.
All of these services are managed for you, so you never have to worry about technical maintenance of your Weblog: instead, you can focus on your blog's content and appearance. You can get up and running with these services within minutes of signing up for an account, which is great if you need to publish in short order. Many of these services, like Blogger, are free, but some, including TypePad, may charge a nominal monthly fee. Since these services are well-known and their Websites explain their offerings in great detail, the hosted services will not be the main focus of this article.
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Self-Hosted
If you have Web hosting available (or are willing to purchase hosting) and feel that the benefits will outweigh the drawbacks of maintaining your own blog installation, you'll want to consider a self-hosted package. These include Movable Type, WordPress, and Textpattern, all of which I'll review in this article.
As I said earlier, these packages will require you to perform installation and maintenance tasks. Some hosting companies have made the installation process a little easier, allowing one-click installation from a browser-based control panel. Check with your hosting company to see if this functionality is available to you. Like hosted services, these packages may be offered free of charge, or for a fee, depending on the package you select and the reason why you're using it. Let's look at some of the market's major offerings now.
Movable Type
Movable Type is the brainchild of Ben and Mena Trott of Six Apart. In 2001, Mena was maintaining a Weblog by creating and editing HTML pages manually. Movable Type was created to make publishing and managing her Weblog a much simpler process. Version 1.0 was released in October of 2001; the current version as of this writing is 3.17.
Features
Movable Type was the first major package available for Weblogs, and is arguably the most popular package in use today. It is written in Perl, a popular scripting language that runs on nearly every operating system, and can use a variety of databases to store blog content, including MySQL, SQLite, Berkeley DB, or even PostgreSQL. A wealth of plugins that can bring new functionality to your basic installation are available for Movable Type.
Movable Type is quite easy to manage. It features a template editor that allows you to alter the look and feel of your Weblog, and offers an intuitive template tag language to provide greater control over the type of content that's displayed on your templates. Movable Type has the simplest administration interface of the three packages reviewed, offering easy access to commonly-used features, and in-depth documentation. And, of the packages reviewed, this is the only one that can run multiple blogs from the same installation. This means that you can run many blogs simultaneously (for example, on a group site at which each member has his or her own blog), yet you can manage them all from one location. Six Apart also offers paid support for Movable Type, which is great for those who use blogs in a corporate setting. Below is a screenshot of the Moveable Type admin interface.

Relaxation in guidelines

2005-09-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

the indian govt announced relaxation for the guidelines which were decided for eligibility for indian institute of technologies.nothing will b changed for the coming acadamic year. so older boys are going to get yet another chance this year.bt fot the final time...

Guidelines Changed

2005-09-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

recently the indian government changed the guidelines for admissions in prestigiuos indian institute of technologies popularily known as IIT's.The new constraints emphasises on tradition of schooling.It has hammered the emerging culture of taking tutions..The new guidelines are as follows...

1:u shld hav atleast 60% marks in +2 or equivalent.

2:u can attemp just twice for entrance tests.

3:1st attemp when u r going to write ur +2 exam.

4:2nd the following year.

more in next post..

thanx

some more on engineering in india

2005-08-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

hi..last post we talked about schedule of entrance tests...this post i'll focus on some more on the topic..

the 3 major entrance tests held in india are
1: JEE::Joint Entrance Examination
2: AIEEE :: All India Engineering Entrance Examination
3: SLEEE :: State Level Engineering Entrance Examination

1st lets see JEE..this exam is meant for admissions in indian institute of techonolgy which are 6 in number and some more like institute for marine sciences under directorate general of shipping....
AIEEE is meant for admissions in national institute of technology and some deemmed universities...
the 3rd one is SLEEE through which you can get admitted to state level engineering colleges..

we will discuss more in next post

Piyush

something for engineering aspirants

2005-08-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

hi friends...

this post is dedicated to all the students who r trying hard to get admitted to some engineering coureses in india....
as we all know engg is considered among one of the most prestigious streams of education in india..hence getting admiteed into it is not an easy deal.. u must b efficient enough to clear the written tests held for various colleges spread across india..
these entrance tests are usually held in first half of every year starting from february till july..dates n schedule of all the tests are usually provided on every leading newspaper and websites of the respective colleges......we will also tyr hard to provide you all such information whenever available....we will talk more about engineering in india in our next post..till the ba bye.... take care...

hi to all

2005-08-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

hi frns.......
i hav just created this blog...the sole intention behind creating this blog is to provide all the day to day information you people want ..and that too easily.....my plans r to make this site interactive ..so hope to get all ur support...
thanx.....
Piyush