Apple's not-so-secret Branding Advantage

Apple's not-so-secret branding advantage There are many reasons for Apple's recent success in the technologymarket. They build great hardware. Their software is meticulouslymaintained and simplified. They have a fantastic retail experience from the showroom floor to the unboxing of their products.

They have a totaluser experience that no one can touch. To view the rest of the blog post, click the following link.http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/2418698/118620310/89196/2/

Strongest SSL Encryption

How to Offer the Strongest SSL Encryption.
Learn how to guarantee maximum SSL strength to every Web site visitor, regardless of browser type or operating system when you read the technical white paper.

Full Reviews on http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/2418698/118620310/89180/0/

In this issue: * Microsoft takes steps to prevent another WGA meltdown * Editorial: Apple vs. IBM * Windows Mobile users complain to Google about Gmail glitch * States slam Google, Firefox as no match for Microsoft * Gartner: x86 servers gain as Unix shipments fall * Q&A: Microsoft's new multicore-computing guru speaks out * Microsoft adds iPhone, iPod sync to Office 2008 * Q&A: BMC's William Hurley talks up open source * Hackers will feed on Vista in 2008, says McAfee * Update: Mac version of QuickTime buggy too * Even Microsoft was confused over 'Vista Capable' marketing, say lawyers * Windows, Linux grow while Unix stays flat (but undefeated) * Apple: Boot Camp beta expires Dec. 31 * Sun Jumps Into Virtualization Fray

Confusing on Vista Marketing

Even Microsoft was confused over 'Vista Capable' marketing, say lawyersA Microsoft product manager had trouble explaining his company's "VistaCapable" marketing slogan during a deposition related to a lawsuitthat claims consumers were misled by a prerelease Vista campaign lastyear.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/2418698/118620310/89191/2/

Hacker on Vista in 2008

Hackers will feed on Vista in 2008, says McAfee. Security researchers expect Windows Vista to be hit harder by hackersnext year as more people migrate to the OS, making it a bigger targetthan it has been to date.
http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/2418698/118620310/89189/2/

Microsoft takes steps to prevent another WGA meltdownAlthough Microsoft now says the WGA meltdown it suffered in August wasan outage, it hasn't changed the way it treats customers trying tovalidate software during such incidents, according to an analyst.

Full Article: http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/2418698/118620310/89181/2/

Memory Diagnostic

Memory Diagnostic: Test with Microsoft's Windows

The worst kind of computer problems are the random, inexplicable ones that defy prediction or analysis. One minute everything's fine, then--bam!--you're stunned as you watch a Blue Screen of Death pop up and write out a crash dump file. When things like this start happening often, it's time to break out some basic diagnostic tools and get to work isolating the problem.
Bad memory is one of the three main reasons for random system failures; the other two are heat (usually caused by fans or heat-sinks being blocked with dust) and bad power. I've written before about a number of different memory test suites (e.g., Memtest86), but now Microsoft has one of its own, called, simply, Windows Memory Diagnostic.
The diagnostic works like other memory test programs in that it does not run from within Windows itself. It installs onto a floppy disk (the installation program creates the disk) or runs as an ISO 9660 image burned to a CD-ROM. When booted, it provides you with the options to run either standard or extended memory tests, the latter being more exhaustive (and taking far longer to run) than the former. Usually, if there is an error, the system will be able to pinpoint which memory module the error is in.
Windows Memory Diagnostic also lets you toggle the use of the processor's cache; testing with the cache off is more thorough and precise but takes longer. This option can also be used to determine if a memory problem exists with the on-chip cache memory rather than the system memory. The user can also opt for whether to use the standard or extended memory map when testing (as you might surmise, the latter takes longer but is more thorough).
One caveat: Currently, Windows Memory Diagnostic cannot test a system with more than 4GB of RAM. If it's run on a system with more than 4GB, only the first 4GB will be tested. It also cannot test memory for systems with 64-bit processors.

About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows Power Users Newsletter. Check it out for the latest advice and musings on the world of Windows network administrators -- and please share your thoughts as well!

From: http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1148540,00.html
WINDOWS HARDWARE

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS (Domain Name System)

DNS (Domain Name System) - is a system of names officially assigned to individual networks and servers on the Internet as an easier method of remembering those names than a string of IP numbers. For example: www.agnitum.com is easier to remember than the IP address 207.44.236.84. The DNS service automatically translates the name to its corresponding IP address. The DNS system requires a static configuration of its tables, which define the one to one correspondence of computer names and IP addresses.
The DNS protocol is an auxiliary service protocol at the application level. This protocol is an asymmetric one - DNS servers and DNS clients are defined in it. DNS servers store a part of the distributed database that contains the correspondence of names and IP addresses. This database is distributed according to administrative domains on the Internet. Clients of the DNS server know the IP address of the server of their administrative domain and they transfer a request with the DNS name according to the IP protocol, and then wait for the IP address that corresponds to this name. If the requested information is stored in the DNS server’s database, the server immediately transfers the answer to the browser. Otherwise, the server transfers a request to the DNS server of another domain, which can either process the request itself or transfer it to another DNS server. All the DNS servers are integrated in the hierarchical structure according to the domain hierarchy of the Internet. A client (browser) interrogates these name servers until it finds the necessary correspondence. The DNS database has a tree structure called a domain area of names, in which each domain (a node of the tree) has a name and can contain sub-domains. The name of a domain identifies its position in this database in relation to the parent domain, and points in the name separate parts corresponding to the domain nodes

Comments on Vista Security

The Pluses and Minuses of 64-bit Vista Security
November 14th, 2007 by kozhemyak

Microsoft’s Windows Vista was released almost a year ago. In the run-up to the launch, Bill Gates pledged to make Vista security the number one priority for the company. By writing code that was secure by design and implementation, the intention was to render the OS impermeable to the sophisticated malware and remote intrusion attacks that dogged its predecessor, Windows XP. Microsoft spent five full years creating the new OS from scratch and, by the time it hit the market in late January 2007, it was already two years later than originally planned.
During that two-year period, hardware manufacturers began rolling out devices that enabled computers to run 64-bit code on compatible operating systems. Recognizing the growing demand for 64-bit computing power, Microsoft split its Vista development process and subsequent releases into two subtypes: 32-bit (x-86) and 64-bit (x-64) versions.
The 64-bit systems provide a number of performance and expandability benefits over the x-86 models which also impact the way security is handled, and that’s the focus of this article. The next issue of Security Insight will take a broader look at all the security improvements incorporated in Vista.
Benefit # 1: Full Data Execution Prevention (DEP)
DEP uses modern processors’ functionality to map certain regions of memory as containing non-executable data bits, thereby preventing code from being executed from those locations. DEP helps prevent malicious code from exploiting buffer overflow situations that arise when a process has reached its allocated memory boundaries and attempts to write to the adjacent regions that are in use by other processes.
The x-64 DEP enables native hardware protection for all running programs and services. In comparison, DEP in 32-bit systems is enabled for only essential and opt-in programs and services.
Benefit # 2: Kernel Patch Protection (KPP)
Also referred to as Patch Guard, KPP is a measure that restricts any program from directly modifying the memory of the Windows kernel – the core part of the OS. Microsoft has long insisted that no kernel modifications should be permitted by third-party software, and in fact completely removed kernel access support for later versions of 64-bit Windows (XP and Vista). This move was designed to minimize the potential impact of sophisticated malware such as kernel-mode rootkits that act by patching the kernel (modifying the kernel structures in such a way that the new data being embedded can no longer be registered or recognized by the system) in order to become and remain hidden.
While the move was genuinely intended to help security by sealing the kernel against outside tampering, it proved costly for third-party security developers who relied on modifying the kernel in order to enforce protection that was not enforced by the OS itself. As it turned out, the way KPP works actually provides little deterrent to tenacious malware –KPP is designed to check the kernel integrity only occasionally, which allows illegal modifications to take place during idle intervals. Once this kernel modification is detected, the system initiates emergency shutdown, causing users to lose unsaved data.
Hackers and security researchers have, naturally, found ways to get around KPP. As Microsoft continues to patch KPP, examples emerge of how people have succeeded in bypassing the last KPP patch, confirming KPP’s limitations in resisting serious kernel-level intrusions.
In response to security vendors’ calls to provide a viable way to access the kernel to protect their users, Microsoft has now agreed to provide an API (Application Programming Interface) to qualifying security developers (including Agnitum). This API will be available in SP1 for Vista, currently in beta and slated for release in the first quarter of 2008.
Benefit # 3: Driver signing
Driver signing, another controversial but significant change from Microsoft, requires all kernel-mode drivers to be digitally signed; unfortunately, this also provides little help in combating sophisticated malware. The problem is that a trusted and certified software developer who turns rogue (or a disgruntled employee or former employee in possession of a digital certificate issued in the name of the employer’s company) can self-authenticate the driver with his/her personal signature and release malware into the wild. As soon as this happens, the driver can load unrestrictedly on users’ systems and go to work on 64-bit Vista as designed. The issuing authority or Microsoft (as was the case in a recent example) can of course revoke the certificate and thus disable the driver, but this takes time and users remain at risk while the driver is active.
Another weakness of this approach is that a simple command-line parameter can disable signing in Vista 64 altogether, something that would be pretty easy for malware to do.
Benefit # 4: Boot-time code integrity verification
When a computer loads the OS, every binary (executables, drivers and other program code) used in the process is verified to be authentic and original. This procedure ensures that the binary has not been modified and the system is clean. The binaries are verified by looking up their signatures in the system catalogs. At startup, the Vista boot loader checks the integrity of the kernel, the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and the boot-start drivers, reliably shielding a system from embedding of malicious, unauthorized or defective code.
Summary
Despite Microsoft’s progress in hardening their Vista 64-bit version, vulnerabilities that affect x-86 systems still apply to x-64 systems, and the experts believe this situation is here to stay. A glance at the history of documented vulnerabilities for Vista reveals that both systems are almost equally susceptible (for example, see this report from Microsoft) to malicious code programmed to take advantage of any given Vista vulnerability.
Conclusion
So what do these 64-bit improvements mean for users of Vista-based computers? For the most part, the changes are for the good and are well-designed, albeit sometimes poorly implemented. SP1 and the API will go a long way towards leveling the playing field between Microsoft and third-party security companies. But in the meantime, keep following good security practices and use third-party antivirus/antispyware, firewall and other protection, because these are generally more robust and flexible than the built-in Vista equivalents.

Pickup from: http://www.securityteacher.com/