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[Download] Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 Security Fix (KB2744842) – Critical Update

September 22, 2012 by dennis

We had issued and advisory earlier that the Internet Explorer 9 and lower versions are facing a security flaw where the attackers may exploit the bug, targeting hundreds of millions of computers, to infect the PC of somebody who visits a malicious website and then take control of the victim’s computer. Well this issue has been fixed.

Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft promised that the fix will be available by Friday, 21 September. Well they kept their promise but with some variations. Microsoft had said that this is an easy fix and it will not even require a reboot. Well that’s not true. The Critical update details say:

Security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a system that is running Microsoft Internet Explorer and gain control over it. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

windows-security-update

The Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 for Windows 7 (KB2744842) will be fixing the issue. This update is available in Windows Update. You can directly update it from your Windows PC.

If you don’t use Windows Update service. you can still download it from Microsoft. Choose the correct Windows Version while downloading.

Download from Microsoft

[Tip] Change Microsoft Security Essentials Update Frequency

February 1, 2011 by bharath

Microsoft Security Essentials is easily one of the top free antivirus / anti-malware products available for Windows. If you are already using Microsoft Security Essentials, you might be aware that the program regularly checks for updates at least once in 24 hours. No problems with this setting as long as you are connected to internet and your PC is on most of the time. But at times you miss out on updates when your computer or laptops is not switched on or in sleeping mode or experiencing some internet connections issues. If your computer is not able to download updates when the regular MSE update check happens, the next update check will only happen after 24 hours. In such cases, the best thing to do is to check for updates manually. But you might also want to tweak the settings so that the program checks for updates more often.

Follow the steps to learn how to do it using task scheduler:

1. Type “task scheduler” in the Start Menu and open the “Task Scheduler” from the results under the Programs section.

2. In the Task Scheduler, click on the “Create Task…” link on the right-hand side pane.

3. Give the task a name under the “General” tab, then click on the “Actions” tab. Click on the “New..” button under the Actions tab.

new-action-task-scheduler

Browse the MpCmdRun.exe (Microsoft Essentials command line client) file. Usually it sits inside the Microsoft Security Client > Antimalware folder. In my case this where I found it:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\Antimalware\MpCmdRun.exe

It may vary depending upon your Windows version and the location where you chose to install it. Now select the file and add a “-SignatureUpdate’ to the program path so that it looks like

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\Antimalware\MpCmdRun.exe -SignatureUpdate "

new action program path in task-scheduler

Tip: You may also specify the “-SignatureUpdate” in the arguments field instead of embedding it in the program path.

Click OK once you are done.

4. Then go to “Triggers” tab, under the settings tab, select “Daily” and then set the values for “Repeat task every” field (like 5 hours or 6 hours etc.) and click OK.

new trigger in task schedule

5. Now go back to the “General” tab and click on the “Change User or Group..” under the Security Options. Type “SYSTEM” as the object name and click OK.

system-user-task-scheduler

Now we have set the task to run on “System” user account

MSE update check task scheduler properties

That is it! You are done with configuring the update checks settings for the Microsoft Security Essentials.

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Track Stolen Laptops With Quick Heal Free Laptop Tracker Service

January 7, 2011 by bharath

Track stolen laptops with Quick Heal laptop tracker

Do you own a laptop? Do you worry about its security? Here is a good news for you! Quick Heal Technologies has launched a free laptop tracker service (available in India only). This is a very good initiative from the PC security software maker Quick Heal, I would say.

The good thing about this free service is that anyone can use this service free of cost irrespective of whether they use Quick Heal software or not. But if you are a Quick Heal user, it just gets better and much easier. The tracking service makes use of the MAC IDs of the laptops to locate them with IP address and it has also made it easier for law enforcement authorities to check if the laptops they found are on the reported stolen laptops list.

How To Use Laptop Tracker Service:

The prerequisite for using the service is you must have your MAC address for at least one of your various network cards. For starters, MAC address is [Quote from Wikipedia]:

A Media Access Control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment.

We had already covered a detailed guide to find the MAC address of your computer’s NIC(Network Interface Card). Please go through it and note down MAC addresses for all of your network cards (LAN, Wireless, Bluetooth etc.) and carefully note down and store them for future use.

1. Go to www.trackmylaptop.net

>> If you are already a user of Quick Heal anti-virus or Internet Security suites, just register yourself for the laptop tracker service by providing the Quick Heal product key and other details as required. The advantage for the Quick Heal users here is that they don’t need to provide the MAC ID manually. The MAC IDs will be automatically obtained and stored in the database during Quick Heal activation or update.

>> If you are a non Quick Heal user and have your MAC ID of your stolen or lost laptop with you, go to this page and fill-in the required details and click “Register Now”. Quick Heal will regularly search through its database and will notify you in case it finds a match.

If your laptop was stolen, and if you’ve got the MAC ID of it, you can register your MAC ID with this free tracker service and hope that the your stolen laptop gets connected to internet one day or the other. One more advantage of using this service is that you can also get to know whether a used laptop that you are planning to purchase is a stolen one.

[Alert] Orkut Affected By ‘Bom Sabado’ Worm, Stay Away For Now

September 25, 2010 by bharath

orkut logo

If you are an avid Orkut user, you might be aware of this new worm which has just been discovered. This XSS (cross-site scripting) attack was allegedly initiated in Brazil, where the social networking site has the most of users than any other country in the world.

The worm hijacks the user account and sends spam scraps to all those in the user’s friend list. The scraps just contain the words “Bom Sabado” with some links attacked to it, clicking on which the receiver’s profile will also get hacked. The worm adds some unrelated communities to the infected accounts and currently thousands of such attacks have been reported.

Bom Sabado virus Bom Sabado worm communities

The word “Bom Sabado” stands for “Good Saturday” in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.

Tip: If you notice that your account has been affected by this worm/virus, logout from your account, clear your browser cache and cookies and then sign back in, then change your password and secret question for the Orkut/Google account. If you account stands good and no traces of hijacking are found, just stay away from Orkut until the engineers fix the issue.

[Download] Lock Folders In Windows 7 With Secure Folder

April 17, 2011September 22, 2010 by bharath

Lock folder

Folder lock softwares are one of the most sought -after programs for many computer users to keep their personal folders safe and secure by adding a password protection to the folders. Many of my friends still keep asking me whether any such free folder lock software available on the internet. Of course there are too many available already, but the one I’m going to talk here about is a freeware called “Secure Folder” that works on Windows computers including Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Setting up a password for any folder is pretty much easy and straightforward With Secure Folder. Download the installer from the links added below this post and install it on your Windows PC.

When you launch the application for the first time, it’ll ask you to set a password for the program.

Set password for Secure Folder

Once you have done that, it’ll add a quick item to the right click context menu for any folder.

Lock/Unlock Menu With Secure Folder

You can also add folders to the Secure Folder program window and click “Lock” button to lock the folder.

Secure folder program

When you lock any folder, you need to right click on it and select “[Lock/unlock] with secure folder”. and then enter the program password that you had entered during the setup.

[Tip] Find Facebook Last Login Time & Location Details

September 21, 2010 by bharath

Facebook is undoubtedly the no#1 fastest growing websites in the world and no wonder it has made to the top 3 websites in terms of number of daily visits worldwide. It has evolved as such a nice platform for social networking, connecting with friends, sharing with friends and with those wonderful apps, the ease of using the site is just growing in a phenomenal manner. Popularity always brings envies too. The result: increasing number of phishing attacks on Facebook to get your login details. The only way you can save your account from being exploited is to never share Facebook account details on any where else. Even if you does this regularly, you would still be doubtful if someone else finds your login details without your knowledge and gain access to your profile. The only way you can sense a suspicious activity on your account is to monitor your account to see if there’s an unauthorised access from any where and from any device which might not have used by you. Here’s the tutorial on how to check your last login time and location on Facebook.

Find last accessed time & location of Facebook account:

1. Login to Facebook and click on “Account” dropdown menu on the top right corner of your screen. Click on “Account Settings”.

2. You will be taken to the Facebook “My account” page, where you will a number of tabs, each account for settings for different sections of Facebook. Click on Settings tab.

3. Find the “Account Security tab “under settings, you will have the account activity details listed under “Most Recent Activity”

You can find the last accessed time, location and the device from where your account has been accessed. You can even enable SMS or email notifications whenever your account is accessed from a new computer or mobile device, just select “On” radio button under “Login Notifications” and click Save button.

You might also want to read how to disable Facebook notification emails.

[Tip] Remove System Volume Information Folders

September 7, 2010 by bharath

System Volume Information: Is it really a virus?

Myth: System Volume Information is a virus and it suddenly appears in your Windows XP computer and it doesn’t let you open its contents. It may have virus or suspicious files within it.

System Volume Information in Windows XP

Fact: System Volume Information (and even “Recycler”) folder is a standard Windows folder. System Volume Information folder stores the restore points data and the Recycler folder belongs to the Recycle bin. So first up, you don’t need to delete them and treat them as virus. These files do exist in later versions of Windows too. Here’s the proof: (Windows 7 screenshot)

These are system folders and are hidden by default. They will show up once you change the settings under “Folder Options’ to show the hidden system files and folders.

Thankfully Windows (Vista, Windows 7) doesn’t give you access to this folder so that averts any probable mess up if at all you access them and change the files inside it. Having said that , a virus can work around this and gain access to this folder to corrupt the restore points and create some .exe files inside it.

So to remove (actually to hide) the folder, just change the settings back in the folder options to not to show hidden system files and folders. However if you still insist on removing the System Volume Information completely (highly not recommended), here’s what you have to do:

Windows XP:

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.

2. Click on the System Restore tab.

3. Click the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box and click OK.

Turn off System Restore

Windows 7 & Vista:

Read the How to disable System Restore in Windows 7 post written here at Techrena.

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer KB2183461

August 13, 2010 by bharath

Windows Update

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer KB2183461: [Released: August 10, 2010]

The security update KB2183461 fixes the issues addressed in the security bulletin MS10-053. This update applies to Internet Explorer with the operating systems Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Security update KB2183461 addresses issues that have been identified in Windows systems running Internet Explorer, that could allow an attacker to compromise the computer and gain control over it. Download and install the update to protect your system from this issue. If you have enabled automatic Windows Updates in your system, the computer should be able to download the updates by itself. If you haven’t enabled (not recommended) the Windows Updates on your Windows, you can download and install the update KB2183461 from the links given below . Choose the correct Operating system and the architecture of your OS (x86 or x64).

Download Links:

Windows 7	x86 (7.9 MB)	x64 (6.2 MB)
Windows Vista	x86 (9.2 MB)	x64 (17.8 MB)
Windows XP	x86 (3.4 MB)	x64 (36.6 MB)

Security Bulletin MS10-046 (Critical) & Update KB2286198

August 3, 2010 by bharath

Windows Update

Microsoft has released (on August 2, 2010) a new security bulletin MS10-046 (rated critical) addressing the vulnerability in Windows Shell that could allow remote code execution (RCE).

MS10-046 security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows Shell that could allow RCE through, through display of an icon of a specially crafted shortcut.

The affected operating systems include Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista (SP1 & SP2), Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows users can download Microsoft update KB2286198 as part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-046 that fixes the above said issue. United States and Canadian users can also get a free support via telephone by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY or by contacting local Microsoft subsidiary.

Find the KB2286198 update download links for your Windows operating system below:

KB2286198 Download Links:

Windows 7	x86 (4.4 MB)	x64 (6.7 MB)
Windows Vista	x86 (4.3 MB)	x64 (6.7 MB)
Windows XP	x86 (2.9 MB)	x64 (11.8 MB)