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Important Security Tips for Online Banking

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:26:18 +0000

Now a days almost all Banks provide us with Online Banking (Net Banking) Facility. Net Banking can be very Useful in Paying various types of Bills Online, for Online Shopping etc.

A week ago one of my Friend’s Online Bank Account got Hacked (Accessed by some unknown person)! Her Bank Account was compromised because she entered her Confidential Bank Related Details to some Fraud Website! So, it’s very essential that you maintain security of your Net Banking Account.

Following are some very Important Security Tips for you, if you are also maintaining an Online Bank Account or are going to maintain in near future:

Be careful when responding to Emails:

You may get Emails which seems like they are coming from your Bank. The main purpose of such Emails is to seek Confidential Information. This activity is commonly known as Phishing. Through such messages, you may get directed to websites which appears to be genuine and will ask you to enter your Confidential Details – Simply Discard/Delete Such Emails.

Always Bear in Mind That:

Bank will never ask for any Confidential Information such as Passwords, Customer ID, Credit Card number, PIN, CVV, Date Of Birth and so on over an Email!
A Phishing Email will normally have a Tone of Urgency like Your account will be temporarily suspended and therefore please Login to keep your account active. Remember: No Bank will send such emails to its customers!
If you are doubtful about the credibility of an Email, NEVER click on any link in the email. This may trigger Malicious Code being installed on your PC.
Before you share any information on a website in response to an Email, always assure that the URL shown in the email matches the URL of the Bank’s Website. If it doesn’t, discard such Emails
Check for the Security Pad Lock Icon at the bottom right side of the Webpage in your Browser, when you are connected to your Net Banking Website.

Ensure your Personal Computer is protected:

Fraudsters send Genuine Looking Emails that contain Viruses and Trojans. These viruses/Trojans, install a malicious code on Computer without user knowledge and then they extract Confidential Information which can be used to access Bank Accounts!

Here are few Important Action Points that you should always remember:

Keep your PC updated with the latest Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software. There are many great Free Security Tools available for your PC
Install a Personal Firewall on your PC to protect your account
Keep your Operating System updated with the latest security patches
Do not click on links or open attachments in Unknown or Unsolicited (SPAM) Emails
Do not to make purchases on Unknown Sites or Sites whose Credentials are doubtful

Never Transfer Funds OR Share your Bank Account details with Unknown /Non-Validated sources:

Many phishing fraudsters are located overseas. They need a Money Mule to route the money into their country of origin. This can be easy money, but is completely illegal. Such requests may come to you through Emails, Advertisements, Instant Messaging/SMS, even in NEWS Paper Advertisements and on Social Networking Sites like Orkut, Facebook etc.

Simply discard such Doubtful Messages if they are coming from some other country.

Additional Tips:

If your Bank provides you with a Virtual Keyboard on it’s Net Banking Login Page, than make use of it, especially for Typing Passwords.
Make sure your are using Strong Password which is uneasy to guess
Check if your Computer is Running any Harmful Processes – In case it’s behaving strangely
You can also try Browser Sandboxing and Browser Encryption – Only if you don’t have or don’t update your Security Softwares!

If ever, you feel any problem Contact your Bank Immediately. Remember maintaining your Bank Account Security is in your Hands only!

This Post: Important Security Tips for Online Banking was originally made on MrinTech

Best Free Portable Apps Suite with 280+ Apps

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:31:36 +0000

Portable Apps are those softwares which can run on any system without the need of any installation.

As the name implies, these applications are generally used on a Removable Storage Device like CD, DVD, Pen Drive etc.

If you are looking for a Best Free Portable Apps suite which:

Consists of tons of Free Portable Apps
Updates Automatically
Synchronizes with Online Apps Catalog
Easily fits into Removable Storage Devices like USB Pen Drive, CD, DVD etc.

Than LiberKey is the Best Portable Apps Suite for you! LiberKey comes in 3 different suites which you can download:

The main difference between them is the Total Number of Applications Integrated within each suite. You can always add Additional Apps to any of the above Suites using Online Apps Catalog

How to Add Additional Apps to LiberKey?

Let’s say you downloaded LiberKey Basic and successfully installed it on your PC. Now you want to add more apps to your Portable Apps Suite. For this follow these very simple steps:

1. Run LiberKey on your computer. Expand the Menu LiberKey Tools and Look for Enable Files Associations:

Double Click on Enable Files Associations. You will see following Balloon Tip:

Do remember to Enable by Double Clicking the File Association option, as otherwise your Browser won’t recognize and add Apps to the LiberKey Installation.

2. Now go to LiberKey Online Apps Catalog and Select the Application you want to add to LiberKey. Now Click Install on my LiberKey:

Even you can download an Offline Setup file so that you can add apps to another PC without Internet Connection.

3. After some prompts the Installation will proceed and it’s all done!

The whole LiberKey Setup as well as the Apps in the Online Catalog are Completely Virus Free, so there’s No Need to worry. Also feel free to Browse the History, Statistics and Forum Pages of LiberKey.

Indeed a very useful Portable Application Suite!

This Post: Best Free Portable Apps Suite with 280+ Apps was originally made on MrinTech

View Previously Featured Bing Wallpapers & Download Them!

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:29:07 +0000

No Doubt Bing (Search Engine from Microsoft Corporation) features awesome Wallpapers on it’s Home Page Everyday!

Recently Bing has incorporated a Small Navigation Button with which you can view Bing Wallpapers which were featured on it’s Home Page in earlier days!

This Button is located at the Bottom Right Corner of your Browser:

Just Browse through various Beautiful Bing Wallpapers using the Previous and Next Button! You can Download them either using Bing Downloader or via Simple Firefox Tricks!

Bing Wallpapers will definitely increase your Wallpaper collection and will also make your Desktop look more better!

This Post: View Previously Featured Bing Wallpapers & Download Them! was originally made on MrinTech

View your Website before DNS Propagation

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:51:05 +0000

If you have recently bought a New Domain and Web Hosting or you have switched your Web Hosting, than you will have to wait for some Hours before you can actually view your Website over the World Wide Web.

This happens because DNS (Domain Name System) Propagation is going on with every ISP (Internet Service Provider) located around the World. People residing at some specific location or using some specific ISP will be able to view your Website much earlier than others. In this Post we’ll see How to view your own Website before actual DNS Propagation?

Please Note that DNS Propagation depends on the following 2 Main Factors:

Location
ISP (Internet Service Provider)

Based on the above 2 Main Factors, it may take 24 Hours to 72 Hours for the DNS Propagation to get completely resolved throughout the World.

How to View your own Website much before the Actual DNS Propagation?:

In order to View your Website before the actual DNS Propagation, you will need your Web Server IP Address.

Web Server IP Address is generally provided you in the Email which you get after Signing up with your Web Hosting Provider.

If you have any sort of problem in finding your Web Server IP Address, it’s recommended that you contact your Web Hosting Service Provider and ask them to provide you your Website IP Address.

Now you have to Temporarily Alter your Windows Hosts File. Following lines gives you details where the Hosts File resides in Windows Operating System:

For Windows 95 / 98 / ME:

Windows Hosts File in Windows 95 / Windows 98 / Windows ME is located at: c:\windows\hosts - Here considering C: is your Primary Operating System Partition.

For Windows NT/2000:

Windows Hosts File in Windows NT & Windows 2000 is located at: c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts – Here considering C: is your Primary Operating System Partition.

For Windows XP (Both Home & Pro)

Windows Hosts File in Windows XP (Home & Pro Edition) is located at: c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts – Here considering C: is your Primary Operating System Partition.

For Windows Vista (Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate)

Windows Hosts file in Windows Vista (All Editions) is located at: c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts – Here considering C: is your Primary Operating System Partition.

Altering your Windows Hosts File:

For Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT / 2000 / XP (Both Home & Pro):

Depending on What Operating System you are using, Copy the Address of Windows Hosts File as stated above
Now Open Notepad (Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Notepad or Start>> Run >> Type Notepad)
Click File Menu and Select Open… (CTRL + O) and Paste the Location of Windows Hosts File you copied earlier and Press Open Button:

Now you will see something like following at the end of Windows Hosts File:

Now just after the End Line of Windows Hosts File, Enter Your Web Server IP Address >> Hit Tab Button Once >> Enter your Domain Name ( and Sub-Domains; if you wish) each separated by Space:

Save Windows Hosts File from File Menu. Now Exit Notepad and all Browser. If possible, clear Browser Cache.

For Windows Vista (Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate):

All the above steps remains same. Whenever you get a UAC Prompt click Continue or if you get an Error while modifying Windows Hosts File read THIS Article from Microsoft

Now Open your Browser and Check out your Website. You’ll be getting it from the Web Server whose IP Address you entered!

Important:

For Mac OS X and other Operating System, you can contact your Web Hosting Provider for necessary details.
As soon as DNS has been resolved for your Location/ISP, Undo All Changes which you have done to your Windows Hosts File.
Some Security Softwares may not allow you to change/alter Windows Hosts File. So either Follow their prompts or temporarily disable them.
This Works only on those Computers on which Windows Hosts File has been modified with Proper Web Server IP Address

This Post: View your Website before DNS Propagation was originally made on MrinTech

Pingtest: Check the Quality of your Broadband Internet

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:19:04 +0000

If you are interested in checking the overall quality of your Broadband Internet, than a very nifty service known as Pingtest is there for you.

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As soon as you perform Braodband Quality Test over Pingtest Website, it will give your connection an overall grade which is based on Specific Packet Loss, Ping and Jitter values.

Pingtest.net is launched by Speedtest.net – One of the widely used service for measuring your Internet Connection’s/iPhone’s Upload and Download Speed. Pingtest gives your connection an overall grading which ranges from A to F: A for the best and F for the Poor.

Let’s See in Brief What are Packet Loss, Ping and Jitter?

Packet Loss

Packet here means Data Packets. Whatever data you download/upload, travels through the World Wide Web in the form of Data Packets. When one or more packets of data traveling across a computer network fails to reach it’s destination, then this is known as Packet Loss. Packet loss is a metric where anything greater than 0% should be a cause of concern. You can read more about Packet Loss here

Ping

This measurement tells how long it takes a Data Packet to travel from your computer to a server on the Internet and back. Whenever you experience delayed responses in Internet applications – this would be due to a higher than desired ping. Similar to packet loss, lower value is better when it comes to ping. A result below 100 ms should be expected from any decent broadband connection. You can read more about Ping here

Jitter

Jitter is the variance in measuring successive ping tests. Zero jitter means the results were exactly the same every time, and anything above zero is the amount by which they are varied. A lower jitter value is always better. You can read more about Jitter here

As soon as you carry out your Broadband Quality Test over Pingtest Homepage, you can check what your grade means right here

This service will give you a better idea How good is your Internet Connection. Happy Testing!

Images via Official Pingtest Learn Page

This Post: Pingtest: Check the Quality of your Broadband Internet was originally made on MrinTech

Download Bing Wallpapers using Firefox!

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:26:20 +0000

No Doubt, Bing (Search Engine from Microsoft Corporation) features awesome Background Images on it’s Homepage everyday!

This Post tells you How you can download Bing Wallpapers onto your Hard Drive using Firefox?

Apart from using Bing Downloader, you can also make use of Firefox for downloading Bing Background Images. There are 2 very easy ways to do so:

First

Open Bing Home Page
Now Right Click anywhere on the Image and Select View Background Image:

Save the Image onto your Computer Hard Drive

Second

Open Bing Home Page
Go to Tools >> Page Info in Firefox Toolbar

Select Media Tab and Look for the Homepage Image Using Mouse Clicks or Up & Down Arrows:

As soon as you find the Homepage Image, click Save As

Enjoy Awesome Bing Wallpapers!

Also See: Windows 7 awesome Wallpaper Pack and Best Firefox Wallpapers for you all!

This Post: Download Bing Wallpapers using Firefox! was originally made on MrinTech

Encrypt your Keystrokes while typing in a Browser!

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:48:50 +0000

When Keystroke Logging Software (also known as Keyloggers) gets installed on a Computer, than they can record anything you type!

Once they are installed, no matter whatever you type (Numbers/Alphabets/Symbols), they will record each and every keystroke of your’s and will send this information to person who developed these malicious software!

The information these software send to their original Author includes your Important Web/Bank Account Username, Passwords and almost everything you type! The best way to remain safe from these Key Stroke Logging Software is to use Virtual Keyboard or Encrypting your Keystrokes in the Browser itself!

In this post we will see How we can encrypt our keystrokes within the Browser? So that these malicious softwares never gets what actually you are typing!

After the above description some of you might be feeling: This whole Encryption thing is going to be very hard. But believe me it’s really very easy!

Follow these very simple steps to Encrypt your Keystrokes with the Browser:

Just Download and Install Key Scrambler Personal from here
It’s all done!

Now whatever you type, this software will encrypt your keystrokes and you are completely safe from Keystroke Logging Software (if still they are present on your system!)

Now Question may arise How to Remove these Keyloggers, if they are present in my system? The Answer is to install best Security Softwares that will scan your entire Hard Drive for malicious programs, you can check some best security freewares here. You can also make use of Free Online Scanner!

Also See: How to Sandbox your Web Browser! & Remain Safe from Internet Threats: The WOT Way!

[Thanks]

This Post: Encrypt your Keystrokes while typing in a Browser! was originally made on MrinTech

Why Use a Virtual Keyboard for Net Banking?

Mrinmay Bhattacharjee — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:36:33 +0000

What actually a Virtual Keyboard is?

As per Wikipedia:

A virtual keyboard is a software and/or hardware component that allows a user to enter characters. A virtual keyboard can usually be operated with multiple input devices, which may include an actual keyboard, a computer mouse, a headmouse, and an eyemouse.

Almost all of us are slowly switching towards Net Banking for Handling Transactions and Getting all Necessary Account related Information. As soon as we open a New Bank Account or Request for Net Banking Facility, all Banks provide us with necessary Username and Password. Now after this a part of maintaining all Account and Transaction related Security lies in our Hands. Let’s see in brief: How we can remain on the safer side with the use of Virtual Keyboard?

Virtual Keyboard is present over the Net Banking Login Page of almost all Banking Website. This keyboard protect us from Keystroke Logging Applications! Keystroke Logging Applications are developed for recording Whatever you type on your Computer Keyboard!

For Example: If you type abcd1234**/? or if you type ABCD1234**/? (After pressing SHIFT/CAPS LOCK Keys), everything/every keystroke will be recorded by these softwares!

These Keystroke Logging Softwares/Keyloggers gets installed on ones Computer without User knowledge at all, silently monitors and record each keystroke and then pass them to the Person who developed these Applications! Now this developer may easily extract your Net Banking Password! These softwares are generally installed over various Cyber Cafe/Internet Cafe Computers and in cases, they are present in ones Personal Computer if he/she don’t care for or update his/her various Security Softwares!

But with a Virtual Keyboard, you type your Password by means of Mouse Clicks. And your Mouse Clicks on the Virtual Keyboard are certainly very hard to record/Monitor.

So next time you go to your Net Banking Login Page, don’t forget to make use of Virtual Keyboard for enhanced security.

Must Read Security Related Posts

This Post: Why Use a Virtual Keyboard for Net Banking? was originally made on MrinTech