Article

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/11/10/fbis-operation-ghost-click-takes-out-operators-of-dnschanger-malware-network/

FBI guidance document on checking your computer’s DNS settings (PDF) – mainly applies to most regular-computer operating systems

My Comments and explanation

What are DNS servers?

The DNS is the Internet’s phone book

Domain Name Servers – the Internet’s phone book

The Domain Name Servers are effectively the Internet’s “telephone directories”. In this analogy, you may be thinking of calling a particular person or business in a particular area, but you don’t know their phone number. So you would have looked up the White Pages telephone book and searched this book by name and location till you found their number which you would dial to make that call. If you couldn’t find it in that directory, you would proceed to call a published “Directory Assistance” number like 411 in the USA, 192 in the UK or 1223 in Australia to ask for that number.

With the Internet, each computer is addressed by a particular IP address which effectively is the computer’s or network’s “phone number”. But it would be hard to remember these addresses for the Web sites we visit or the email servers we send the emails to. The Domain Name Servers take up the role of the telephone directories of the Internet by mapping the human-understandable Web addresses and domain names like homenetworking01.info to the IP addresses that are these sites and resources’ actual locations on the Internet.

How are these determined in your computer or network?

In most cases, the details about what DNS servers to use are passed on to your computer or other device through your home network by the router every time each piece of equipment on that network uses the DHCP protocol to get information from that device about where it stands in your network like its IP address. The router typically gets these details from your Internet provider’s servers every time it sets up the Internet connection with your Internet provider as part of asking the servers where it stands in the wider world of the Internet.

It is feasible to configure a DNS server list for a particular computer, device  or network using the operating system’s network-settings interface or the Web-based management interface in the case of your router. This is a practice that is commonly done by corporations with their private networks to create human-readable identities to particular servers or networks that host particular resources.

Why does the DNS appeal to computing’s “bad actors”?

The DNS appeals to computing’s “bad actors” because it allows one to redirect a particular domain name to a different IP address that what it is supposed to go to. This can be to a Web server that is loaded with malware, existing as one of many different traps for users to supply information that is confidential to them or their organisation; or to keep them away from sites that provide proper information like security updates for your computer in order to make it easier for the network to be used by the Internet’s “bad actors”.

For email, it can also be about creating “honeypot” addresses that take advantage of domain-name typos in order to catch confidential email that is mistakenly addressed.

It can also be used as part of a concerted attempt against Websites by setting up “click-fraud” or “malvertisement” activities against advertising networks or their stakeholders i.e. the advertisers and publishers by sending users to or through dodgy Websites instead of to the advertiser’s campaign landing page.

This modification can be caused by malware that modifies the computer’s DNS settings or gets at these settings on a home-network router that hasn’t been properly set up with a password to affect the settings that everyone on the network knows.

Keeping the DNS settings safe

DNS settings in Windows ipconfig / all screen

The first step is to know what the DNS settings are to be for your computer and network. Here, this should be found out from your Internet service provider or the IT support staff at your workplace.

Check the DNS settings on your equipment to make sure they reflect what these settings are meant to be. Most platforms will show these details in a “Network Connections” option like the “Control Panel – Network And Internet – Network And Sharing Center” in Windows 8 and 8.1, or “[Apple] – System Preferences – Networking” on the Macintosh OS X. Windows users can use the Command Prompt to obtain these details by typing “ipconfig /all” to obtain the full details about their network connection. Most other network-enabled devices like Smart TVs and network printers have these details as part of the “Network” or similar settings, typically as part of a “troubleshooting” or “settings” menu.

DNS settings on network setup screen on Brother network printer

Infact, if you suspect that malware has got at your computer because it appears to go to different Websites than what you asked for, make a “spot check” on your network’s DNS settings using your games console’s, smart TV’s or network printer’s user interface to see if your router has been “got at” by the malware.

As for your router, check the DNS settings in your WAN, Internet, Network or DHCP settings menu in its Web-based management page. The router’s management password should also be set to a password other than the default password so that any DNS-changing malware can’t change these settings for the home network and is something you need to do as part of commissioning a new router. Most of these routers also allow you to export the settiings to your computer’s secondary storage and import them back to the router. This is a practice that is worth doing once you have all the settings in place so that if you reset the router to “ground zero”, you can keep your configuration.

As well, practicing good computer housekeeping like “think before you click” on email and Website links and keeping your desktop security software and operating system up-to-date with the latest security patches is a prudent step towards keeping away from malware that can change your network’s DNS addresses. For mobile and other “platform” computing environments like iOS, Android or your smart-TV environment, researching on apps provided by that app store is also a prudent way to go about keeping the DNS information safe.

Articles

Telstra’s new Wi-Fi 4G modem first to work with LTE-Advanced | PC World Australia

Telstra introduces its next-generation LTE-Advanced 4G hotspot | CNet

My Comments

Telstra have released the latest iteration of their premium “Mi-Fi” device for the 4G mobile-broadband network. This device seems to have “all the fruit” when it comes to the design of these devices such as a colour touchscreen as its on-device interface as well as the use of the dual-band Wi-Fi technology for its LAN side.

But it is also the first to exploit the newer “LTE-Advanced” technology which Telstra are trialling up in the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. This implements the use of both the 900MHz and 1800MHz wavebands and bonds the output of two “cells” together to create a “fatter” WAN pipe this increasing the bandwidth available, much in a similar way to how the MIMO functionality on the 802.11n Wi-Fi networks and HomePlug AV powerline networks work.

This device has been built by Netgear since it took over Sierra Wireless who made most of the previous USB wireless-broadband modems and “Mi-Fi” hotspots that are in circulation like the currently-issued device that Telstra is running as their premium “Mi-Fi” option.

As for battery runtime, the supplied 2500mAh battery can run for 10 hours. But I am not sure if this device will offer more than the typical “Mi-Fi” functionality like mobile NAS functionality. Telstra are intending to run it at a similar cost to the existing premium Mi-Fi device i.e. for AUD$6 per month on a AUD$50 per month 24-month contract with 8Gb data allowance. I am not sure if they will offer this as a shared plan where many mobile-broadband devices like a smartphone and a “Mi-Fi” can share the same allowance pool.

Articles – French language

B&You : une box Internet à 15,99€/mois, mais pas pour tout le monde | DegroupNews

B&You lance la Box Internet à 15,99 €/mois | Ere Numérique.fr

From the horse’s mouth

B&You (Bouygues Télécom)

Product Page

My Comments

A EUR€16 per month double-play Internet service is now offered by Bouygues Télécom’s “B&You” low-cost brand for the French market.

This service, which is capable of being operated “by the month” without a a minimum contract, offers 20Mb/s Internet bandwidth via an ADSL setup along with inclusive fixed and mobile calls to France (including the Départements Outres Mer as well as Mayotte) and most of the popular international destinations. Being the “double-play” service, there isn’t the IPTV service with the many pay-TV channels but this would work well with people who use”over-the-air TV or Internet-hosted “over-the-top” services like YouTube or Apple TV.

Here, you purchase the “box” that is part of the service for EUR€35 and have to have your premises with a regular telephone line in place. This has to be connected to an exchange that is dégroupé (unconditional local loop access) for Bouygues Télécom. The equipment available for this service is an older generation unit which works as a basic Wi-Fi-equipped home-network edge.

But where would this plan drop in to place? It is one of a few “by-the-month” plans that I would see as courting the “holiday-home” / “occasionally-occupied” market. Think of that chic Parisian apartment that simply serves as a “bolt-hole” or that holiday house used in the Aquitaine on the summer weekends.

This is yet another sign of a highly-competitive Internet-service market in France that is also encompassing mobile telephony and Internet service.

Articles

Netflix starts testing 4K content with batch of public videos | Digital Trends

Netflix begins testing 4K video with goal of 2014 launch | Slashgear

Netflix posts 4K test video to streaming service as it prepares for planned 2014 launch | Gigaom

Netflix testing Ultra High Definition video ready for launch next year | Engadget

My Comments

As the price for 4K UHDTV sets becomes cheaper, it may hit the point were you may be considering buying one of these as the main-lounge-area TV. But the question that will be asked is what content will be available that is natively in this resolution rather than having the set upscale 1080p content?

At the moment, Sony is offering a media player and “download-to-own” content from some of their movie catalogue but this is focused towards those of us who purchased Sony 4K sets. Similarly, there is a European trial for broadcasting 4K content using satellite TV. But the reality is that most of this content will be streamed or downloaded via next-generation broadband and a sufficiently-fast home network.

This has been underscored with Netflix offering a trial service where they provide some test and demonstration footage in 4K UHDTV resolution. This company, known as a “gold standard” for providing “over-the-top” on-demand movie and TV content, are planning to have a full commercial service with real content up and running by 2014.

Netflix’s top brass want to become a key supplier of 4K content as the technology matures and these sets become commonplace. But customers will need to implement next-generation broadband or a premium broadband package with high bandwidth along with a home network that runs with Gigabit Ethernet, HomePlug AV2 or 802.11ac Wi-Fi in order for this service to work properly. For them, any shows that they commission like “House Of Cards” or “Lilyhammer” could be mastered in 4K UHDTV and then delivered as 4K UHDTV content as an option.

Of course, people who use computers with 1080p Full HD monitors or “Retina” displays will benefit from the high resolution, which could be a way to taste the ultra-high-resolution content offered in the demo footage.

Article

FinnCode introduces NFC tracking for musical instruments | NFC World

From the horse’s mouth

Re-Ad (FinnCode)

Re-Ad Info product page

My Comments

Previously, when the horse-meat crisis hit Europe where cheaper meat cuts and meat-based “heat and eat” foods were adulterated with horse meat or other substandard meats that weren’t reflected in the label, a group of French beef farmers, a French supermarket and others put QR codes to work to track the provenance of the meat they sell. This allowed one to use their smartphone to bring up on its screen the details about that tray of beef they were to buy.

Now FinnCode have worked with Giuletti Accordions to build up an NFC / QR-code labelling system for each of their currently-made accordions in order to make it easier for a musician or potential musician to track the provenance of that instrument. It also includes not just what has come about of the instrument on the factory floor but a way of knowing who previously owned that squeezebox along with the support for a “memoirs” file so musicians can record their gig experiences with that instrument.

It also includes a stolen-instruments register so it becomes easy to know if someone is trying to pass off an instrument that was pinched from its rightful owner. I would also see this as coming in to its own when dealing with insurance claims for those instruments that were damaged in transit or to assist with inventory systems that bands, orchestras and other ensembles may use for managing their instruments.

The same data, especially the diary functionality, can be used to justify the accordion’s resale value which I see as being important with those instruments that either were played by a well-known musician or used in a well-known recording. This is a way of assuring whether one is dealing with a collectable piece.

But there are plans in place to bring it across all newer instruments of all kinds. My question with this is if there are plans in place for a person to use this registration scheme with musical instruments they already own. If this is so, it could be useful to verify that a Stratocaster that someone who is selling was played by that rock god who they claim it was used by or that a Stradivarius was used by a famous violinist to perform in that monumental recording of that symphony.

Article

Cyrus Lyric Launches Down Under | Australian Hi-Fi

My Comments

Cyrus’s latest CD receiver

Previously I had reviewed the Rotel RCX-1000 as a network-capable CD receiver capable of high-quality sound from CDs, FM radio, DAB+ digital radio, Internet radio along with access to content held on one or more DLNA media servers. This, along with the Naim Uniti and a few others, was the kind of CD receiver you could pair off with a set of high-quality speakers of your choice, be a pair of new small bookshelf types that are on sale at the hi-fi store or that pair of good bookshelf or furniture-piece speakers that you had dusted off after finding them in your Dad’s garage.

This follows on from the music centres and casseivers of the 1970s and early 80s along with the steady run of high-grade integrated audio systems that Bang & Olufsen turned out i.e. the Beocenter 7000 series LP/cassette systems, the Beocenter 9000 series CD/cassette systems along with the Beosound 9000 6-CD system. This was also augmented with the Proton AI-3000 CD/cassette music system which came on the scene in 1988 and the arrival of the Bose Lifestyle music systems in 1990 and followed on with the Onkyo FR-435 CD/MiniDisc music system of the late 1990s.

Now Cyrus have launched the Lyric “full-width” CD-receiver range to the Australian market. This system which was premiered at the Australian Audio And AV Show which was held at the Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto hotel, is one that follows from this lineage of integrated audio equipment that is about top-quality sound. Here, this unit can play CDs or tune in to FM, DAB+ or Internet radio broadcasts or stream in content from your NAS or PC-based network media server. It also uses Bluetooth with aptX to stream through content held on your smartphone or effectively work as your laptop’s sound-card. Here, I had seen the advance-preview sample in full-flight playing content from a smartphone via Bluetooth and driving a pair of newer “furniture piece” speakers that were being demoed at the show.

Even the way the product was styled eschewed various conventions like the classic “box with knobs and buttons” approach. Rather this used a touch-panel with a colour LCD screen for local control across the top half of the front panel along with a neatly-disguised CD-loading slot. This is similar to how the Bang & Olufsen Beocenter 9000 series was styled with a dynamically-lit-up touch panel below a large aluminium panel that had the CD and cassette bays hidden under doors that slid away.

There are two variants of this music system – the Lyric 5 with a a 100-watts/channel amplifier going for $4000 and the Lyric 9 with a 200-watts/channel amplifier going for $6000. I asked the demonstrator men about how much a decent music system for a small apartment which is based around the Lyric 5 CD receiver and he could call the Lyric 5 with commensurate-standard bookshelf speakers for around $6000.

This is definitely a sign of things to come for “integrated” lifestyle audio solutions that can work with any regular speaker, yet lead the way to a neat sound system that puts up some high-quality music.

Articles

Motorola unveils Project Ara, customizable smartphone effort | CNET

Motorola’s ‘Project Ara’ modular smartphone setup switches out hardware like apps  | Engadget

Project Ara: Motorola Wants to Make Your Smartphone Modular | Mashable

My Comments

The IBM PC of 1981 had not just become the standard for a business-class desktop computer as far as software was concerned but epitonised the concept of a highly-modular hardware design. This was highly evident in the way the computer’s system unit was designed where there were user-upgradeable parts, a concept that was so heavily underscored with the PC/AT “second-generation” design.

Here these computers had a continuous update and upgrade lifecycle where one could install faster microprocessors, highly-capable graphics cards, hard disks of increasing capacity, increased RAM, newer secondary-storage media like backup tapes, 3.5” disks and CD-ROMs  along with various communications devices like modems and network cards. This capability evolved with the ATX form factor along with newer smaller form-factors such as microITX.

In my experience with desktop computers since the early 1990s, I kept “dragging through”components from a previous chassis to a newer chassis to keep them useful and valid while being able to, in some cases, junk dud components like power supplies with nearly-worn-out fans and replace them myself. This has allowed me to maintain a longer service life for my desktop computing experience.and achieve this goal with minimal expense.

Similarly, I have seen most offices equipped with computers that have the “right mix” of software and hardware but where most of the componentry is affordable and the only expensive aspects of the system are components that suit a particular job. For that matter, this modularity opened up the business desktop-computing boom in the late 1980s.

Now Google’s Motorola smartphone arm is bringing this concept to the smartphone in the form of “click-together” components that snap on to a “skeleton” which is similar to a PC’s motherboard. Google wanted to achieve a platform for the hardware like what Android has done for the software. The goal with the Ara platform would be to have user-replaceable processors, displays, keyboards and the like that also allow these phones to work to newer technologies or work to specific needs.

For example, a higher-capacity flash storage could be planted in these phones or a Bluetooth module compliant to the latest Bluetooth specification could come in to play here. Similarly, the cracked screen could be easily replaced with something newer and brighter or an extra switch array could come in to place for one-touch access to functions. A newer sensor could come in to place to allow the phone to measure newer quantities as a dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi radio links the phone to the networks.

Of course this will lead to the longer service life for these phones as people “spin them out” further to their ever-changing needs and as technology marches onwards.