What is Ransomware? How Does it Work?

All forms of ransomware share a common goal. To lock your hard drive or encrypt your files and demand money to access your data.
Ransomware is one of many types of malware or malicious software that uses encryption to hold your data for ransom.

It is a form of malware that often targets both human and technical weaknesses by attempting to deny an organization the availability of its most sensitive data and/or systems.

These attacks on cybersecurity can range from malware locking system to full encryption of files and resources until a ransom is paid.

A bad actor uses a phishing attack or other form of hacking to gain entry into a computer system. One way ransomware gets on your computer is in the form of email attachments that you accidentally download. Once infected with ransomware, the virus encrypts your files and prevents access.
The hacker then makes it clear that the information is stolen and offers to give that information back if the victim pays a ransom.
Victims are often asked to pay the ransom in the form of Bitcoins. If the ransom is paid, the cybercriminals may unlock the data or send a key to for the encrypted files. Or, they may not unlock anything after payment, as we discuss later.

More about : ransomware types

How to Create a Pound Sign in LaTeX

Depending upon the context in which it is used, the "#" symbol can have different meanings in a LaTeX document. The "#" symbol may represent a "pound" sign, hash mark or a sharp musical note. The LaTeX markup language also uses the "#" character to designate the parameters for macro commands you create. You can instruct LaTeX to print out a special keyboard character like "#" by combining it with the "" or backslash character. Other special characters like the British pound sterling symbol, however, have their own, unique LaTeX command.

Special Character Markup
To instruct LaTeX to print a keyboard symbol like "#" on paper or within a PDF file, place the "" or backslash symbol immediately before the typed symbol. For example, if "#expert" is your hash tag, type the follow line in your LaTeX document:


find more : lm hash generator

Best LAN Monitoring Software for your Managing Network & Traffic

some tools are best fit purely for troubleshooting, but in the case of monitoring your LAN, a little bit of awareness can go a long way towards preventing problems before they happen.

There's a variety of software for monitoring your Local Area Network, both in terms of the devices attached to it as well as the traffic traversing it!

It's invaluable when trouble stirs to quickly discover the root of the cause, but there's more to it than just that – software with predictive alerts and monitoring can help you spend less time actively monitoring and more time focusing on other technical problems without sacrificing precious up-time

On a broad scale, LAN Monitoring software is great for keeping track of all the physical aspects of your network – the various devices connected to it, the servers that rely on it, the routing equipment that makes it function, and the systems that utilize it all.

Knowing a machine or server suddenly dropped offline as soon as, or even having it predicted slightly before, it happens is invaluable.

The happiest users are those who almost never realize anything is wrong because you're using the right software to predict and prevent problems as much as possible.

Also find : lan management

How to Test LAN Speed

It's often useful to test the speed of your local area network to ensure you're getting the amount of bandwidth that you need for various tasks. A LAN speed test can be useful in conjunction with an internet throughput test measuring how fast you can upload and download content from the internet at large or on its own to see how fast you can transfer files and data on your local network. You can find a variety of free apps to test the speed on your LAN.

Internet and LAN Speed Test
A local area network is a set of computers and other devices like smart phones and printers connected within a relatively small space, such as an office, a university or a home. A LAN can include devices connected wirelessly, ones connected by wired connections or a mix of the two.

Today, many LANs are also connected to the internet, and some are primarily set up simply to send local traffic to the world at large. But it's often also useful to send data between computers on a LAN, whether you're connecting to a network-enabled monitor for a presentation, storing files on a local server or sending print jobs to a printer on your network.

find more : lan management

wireless Cat M1 network nationwide to juice IoT

Many IoT technologies have been slow to catch on, but Verizon's Cat M1 and similar networks will be game changers for IoT deployments, said Steve Hilton, an IoT analyst at Machnation.

Cat M1 is a low-power, wide area network (LPWAN) technology that competes most directly with other LPWAN networks like LoRa, Sigfox and Narrowband IoT, Hilton said. Cat M1 and Narrowband run on licensed spectrum, while the others run on unlicensed spectrum.


However, Verizon believes Cat M1 will also compete against Bluetooth, ZigBee and Z-Wave, wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies that connect to devices like thermostats and a wide array of appliances, such as washing machines and dryers.

"Cat M1 competes directly with Zigbee, Z-Wave and … Bluetooth," said Mike Lanman, Verizon senior vice president for IoT, in an interview. He added, however, "there will always be other connecting technologies, and some might make more sense economically."

know more : lanman server

A Guide to Open Source Support Providers

It was much easier for IT managers back in the days when proprietary software was the only game in town: After figuring out what software would do the job best, all that was necessary was to license and install. Support might be included in the license or it might be extra, but either way it'd most likely be coming from the same source as the license, whether that be directly from the company developing the software or from a licensed partner.

Aside from compliance issues, with each major vendor having the contractual right to show up in the data center to perform an audit to make sure that all running instances were fully paid and in accordance with the contract, it was pretty much an uncomplicated arrangement: Pay to license the software, pay again for the support and put the software into service.

While most data centers are still licensing at least some proprietary software, much of what's running in modern data centers is open source. On one hand, the IT manager’s job is easier if it includes balancing a budget: money no longer needs to be spent on software or operating system licenses. Compliance audits are also all but nonexistent.

find more : ms lan manager

The Parts of a Computer Network

Computer networks allow users to connect over distances. They also enable file sharing, hardware sharing and instant communication, making them a convenient tool for the home and a necessity for offices and organizations like universities. A computer network consists of several components, each of which is important to making the network function properly.

Computers
The purpose of a network is to join computers together. For this to work, the first step in setting up a network is to identify computers and users who may wish to participate in the network. The computers will also need to include software than enables them to connect to the network. Not every computer on the network needs to be running the same operating system. This is true even if users of different types of computers plan to share files, as long es each computer has the appropriate software for opening that file type.

Modems
Modems are devices that enable computers to interpret data they receive from a network, and also allow them to send information in the proper format to be read by other computers on the network. The term modem actually means modulator/demodulator, referring to the two jobs the device performs.

Routers
Routers, also known as hubs, are another link in the network chain. A router, as its name implies, routes the network signal from the modem to the computer. In some network designs, routers may be unnecessary. But in other instances, such as home and office networks with multiple computers, they are essential.

Also read : network security level

The Information Security Management Framework

andidates should note that even though most frameworks for information security show the development of an IS program as starting with risk assessment and identification of control objectives, this may change depending on organizational objectives, and may be tailored to achieve the desired outcome, as discussed in ISG.

Candidates will be tested on operational components of a security program. They should have a solid grasp of the various components, including standard operating procedures, business operations security practices and maintenance of security technologies.

Candidates will also be tested on their ability to manage operational components. Sometimes these components fall outside of the information security domain (for example, operating system patching procedures). As such, the ability to communicate with IT, business units and other organizational units will be a plus for candidates. Examples of operational components that candidates will be tested on include:

• Identity management and access control administration
• Security event monitoring and analysis
• System patching procedures and configuration management
• Change control and/or release management processes
• Security metrics collection and reporting
• Maintenance of supplemental control techniques and program support technologies
• Incident response, investigation and resolution.

know more : level 3 network

What Is Windows XP Pro Black Edition?

Maybe you've read about or heard someone mention an XP Black Edition but you've never seen it in stores--there's a good reason why: XP Black isn't an official Microsoft release, it's pirated. As a result, you're not going to find one standard Black Edition, nor are you guaranteed it will be free of malware.

A few years after Microsoft released its XP operating system, pirated "Black Editions" started popping up on bittorrent sites and other online forums. The nickname is derived from its black or very dark desktop theme and the fact that it's an illegal version of XP, usually XP Professional.

There is no standard version of Windows XP Black. Not only is the OS pirated, but so is the software that's crammed with it. XP Black comes loaded with programs that would cost you thousands of dollars if you bought them properly. Depending on who puts the package together, you can get multiple versions of: browsers, CD/DVD burning software, business software--even security programs, which is ironic since it's almost impossible to find a Black Edition without malware.

Read more : lm hash generator

NetServer Authentication and Security Considerations

If a client provides a LANMAN and an NTLM hash, only the NTLM hash is used unless the QZLSPWDANY$ share exists (or NetServer is configured to allow LANMAN authentication). This is because the NTLM hash is more secure. If only a LANMAN hash is provided (as was done by Windows 9x), that hash is used. NetServer does not support LMv2 hashes; therefore, LMV2 always fails. NTLM and NTLMv2 hashes are always accepted (with the restrictions in the table above) unless NetServer is configured for Kerberos-only authentication.

The QPWDLVL of the system does not affect the hashes that NetServer can accept. The thing that it does do is make the NTLM style hashes work with mixed-case Windows passwords. This is possible with QPWDLVL 2 and 3 because the system password can be mixed-case.

NetServer does not indicate to Windows to send a specific type of encryption. The only thing the server tells the client during the Negotiate is if extended security is supported by the server. The client will then try to negotiate whether to use Kerberos or password hashes. At no point does NetServer tell the client what form of password hash to use nor is there any way that NetServer could tell the client what form to use.

Also find : ms lan manager

Crossing Over to Juniper

From the 7-Layer OSI Model to the principles of TCP/IP networking, it’s more than likely that you already have the basic knowledge you need to wrestle with a Juniper switch or router.

After all, it’s not new technology we’re talking about. The internet works because the networks behind it share common communication protocols, several of which are decades old, like IPv4. And the same goes for enterprise or datacenter networking.

While it might sound scary to learn a new way of doing things in a hurry, learning “the Juniper way” will be a great opportunity to refresh your memory on networking principles you may have struggled with the first time around.

As long as you have a good grasp on vendor-neutral networking protocols and basics like IP addressing and subnetting, you can consider yourself halfway certified to work with Juniper!

What fun is learning without a lab? If you’re strapped for cash or can’t find a suitable second-hand switch to practice on, the network simulator GNS3 allows easy emulation of Juniper routers inside a virtual environment. If you’re coming from a Cisco point of view, GNS3 is similar to Cisco’s Packet Tracer simulation tool.

For instance, to pull off a Juniper GNS3 lab, you’ll first need to get your hands on a signed Junos OS image from Juniper’s support site, as well as a copy of FreeBSD since Junos runs on the FreeBSD kernel.

Read more : lan management

How to Get a Comcast Security Key

Wireless security is becoming more important in relation to easily available Wi-Fi. Securing your household wireless keeps you from being an easy target for hackers who could use your Internet for unsavory purposes. It's easy to get your security key through Comcast.

Step 1
Determine your router or gateway. Your manufacturer, model and number should be on the equipment. See Reference below for the list of Comcast supported equipment.

Step 2
Open your Internet browser.

Step 3
Enter the IP address in your browser's address bar. This will bring up a pop up asking for your "username" and "password." For the Linksys WCG200, for instance, the IP address

Step 4
Fill in the requested information. For a Linksys WCG200, the Comcast defaults are "username:" Comcast and "password:" 1234.

Step 5
Click on the tab marked "wireless" from your Gateway status page. This will take you to "basic wireless settings." On the toolbar, you will see a selection marked "wireless security." Click on the link.

know more : network security level

How to Password Protect Folders

Sharing a computer with other people can be a hassle, especially when you have files and folders that you don't want others to view. You can't use a password to protect files and folders in Windows. But you can keep files and folders private by setting up separate user accounts and restricting access on individual folders.

Step 1
Right-click on the folder that you want to make a password for. Select "Properties" from the pop-up menu that appears.

Step 2
Click on the "Sharing" tab at the top of window. Click the "Advanced Sharing" button. If you are requested to enter your administrator password, enter it. The Advanced Sharing dialog appears.

Step 3
Check the box next to "Share this folder" and then click "Apply." Then click the "Permissions" button. The Permissions dialog appears.

Step 4
Select the desired group or user name in the Group or user names section. If the name doesn't appear, click "Add" to add a group or user name. The Select Users or Groups dialog appears. Add a name in the appropriate field. Verify the name by clicking "Check Names." Click "OK" to store the added name and return to the Permissions dialog.

Step 5
Navigate to the Read line and check the box under "Deny." Click "Apply" and "OK" when done. The folder is now password protected.

Step 6
If your file is zipped, then the process is a lot simpler. Double-click on the zipped folder and then click "File" and "Add Password." After filling out the request information, click "Apply." Your zipped file will always ask for a password before it can be opened. Putting a password on folders and files is a quick and easy way to maintain privacy when your computer is shared with multiple users.

Also read : lm password cracker

How to Wake on LAN With Ping

To remotely boot a computer on a network, you'll need a "Wake-On-LAN" supported network adapter. Once the adapter is installed, the computer can be "pinged" from another computer on the network to initiate the boot sequence. A ping is a signal sent from one computer to another and can be sent directly from the Command Prompt in Windows.

Step 1
Open the "Start" menu on the computer that will be pinged, then type "CMD" into the Search box and press "Enter."

Step 2
Type "ipconfig/all" then press "Enter." Make note of the following items: Physical address, IP address and subnet mask.

Step 3
Open the Command Prompt on the computer from which you will be sending the wake-on-LAN command. Type "ping" followed by the computer that you will be sending the wake-on-LAN command's IP address. For example, if the IP address is "192.168.1.1," type "ping 192.168.1.1" and press the "Enter" key. Look at the results and make note of the port number, if one is listed. If no port is listed, then by default, the port number is "7."

Step 4
Turn off the computer that will be remotely booted.

Step 5
Type "wolcmd" followed by the physical address, the IP address, the subnet mask and finally the port number into the Command Prompt. For example:

Computer A Physical Address: 009027a324fe IP Address: 195.188.159.20 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 Port: 7

Enter "wolcmd 009027a324fe 195.188.159.20 255.255.255.0 7"

Step 6
Press the "Enter" key to send the command and boot the remote computer.

know more : lm authentication

Disabling LM Authentication

Requiring users to create complex passwords is of absolutely no use if those passwords can be easily extracted from a computer. By default, Windows 2000 and XP locally store the passwords hashes used during Lan Manager (LM) authentication. LM is an older technology and uses a very bad form of encryption that is easily cracked. In a network environment these passwords are transmitted to the primary domain controller for authentication purposes. This means that anybody with a network sniffer, LM cracking application, and a little bit of motivation can easily intercept and decode users passwords.

To disable transmission of LM hashes across the network on a single computer, complete these steps:


Open the registry editor and browse to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\control\LSA
Find the key named “LMCompatibilityLevel”
Change this value to “5” to completely disable the use of LM authentication.

After doing this, you will still need to configure the computer to remove its local copy of the LM hash:


Create a new policy in the Group Policy Management Console, and browse to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies.
Select Security Options.
Double-click “Network Security: Do Not Store LAN Manager Hash Value On Next Password Change”.
Select Enabled, and click OK.

As a final thought, remember, that if you still have legacy clients connecting to your domain, you will still have to allow for LM authentication as it is the only form of authentication they will support.

Read more : lm authentication

Recover Windows Passwords Using Rainbow Crack

Gone are the days when we have to wait for the days together to recover the Windows account password. Thanks to the rainbow crack technology, now we can crack the passwords in few seconds with 100% success rate.

This Rainbow cracking technology works on simple concept. Instead of computing the hashes for each password dynamically and comparing with the correct one during cracking, password hashes are computed in advance for all character sets. These hashes are then stored in datasets called rainbow tables.

So cracking involves just comparing the current password hash with the pre computed hashes within the rainbow tables and get the associated plain text password. Hence it takes very less time compared to the traditional method of brute force cracking. Setting up the rainbow table for various character sets is just one time activity and may take days or months based on the character set and speed of the machine. Once the rainbow tables are ready, you can feed the password hash to it and get your password cracked in seconds.

In order to recover your Windows user password, first you have to get the LM hash for the target user account. This can be done in many ways. You can use any of the tools such as pwdump, cain&abel or LC5. You need to have administrator privileges to dump the hashes using these tools. If you have lost administrator password itself, then you can boot the system using BackTrack live cd or Windows restore CD and then copy the SAM & SYSTEM hive files (which is located in c:\windows\system32\config folder. Note that your system drive may be different). Next feed these files to Cain & Abel tool to get the LM hashes for the target account.

Read more : lm password cracker

Best LAN Monitoring Software for your Managing Network & Traffic

ome tools are best fit purely for troubleshooting, but in the case of monitoring your LAN, a little bit of awareness can go a long way towards preventing problems before they happen.

There's a variety of software for monitoring your Local Area Network, both in terms of the devices attached to it as well as the traffic traversing it!

It's invaluable when trouble stirs to quickly discover the root of the cause, but there's more to it than just that – software with predictive alerts and monitoring can help you spend less time actively monitoring and more time focusing on other technical problems without sacrificing precious up-time

On a broad scale, LAN Monitoring software is great for keeping track of all the physical aspects of your network – the various devices connected to it, the servers that rely on it, the routing equipment that makes it function, and the systems that utilize it all.

Knowing a machine or server suddenly dropped offline as soon as, or even having it predicted slightly before, it happens is invaluable.

The happiest users are those who almost never realize anything is wrong because you're using the right software to predict and prevent problems as much as possible.

On smaller scale LAN monitoring also lets you keep a close eye on just what is going through your network in terms of traffic.

We all like to assume that our users are doing what they should be doing and give them the benefit of the doubt, but we still need to be able to check in on things if the situation calls for it.

Having at least a casual eye on traffic, and making sure it's coming and going to places it should, is imperative in keeping your network running smoothly and, most importantly, safely.

Access to the bandwidth usage and site URLs of your users is one of the best ways to achieve this – hijacked connections stand out like a sore thumb with proper monitoring!

find more information about : local area network manager