Your software

...what are your plans?

Software is sometimes called the soul of a computer as it is the main way for hardware to run programs and applications. Several types of software exists for you to download and try, Read more...

The digital revolution

...an introduction

Since 1977 ,when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak marketed their first Apple I, to today’s netbook revolution, computers have become increasingly sophisticated , now even making it possible for immense pieces of software to be Read more...

What is a virus?

...and how do I avoid them?

Viruses are miniature bits of software intentionally aiming to distort or destroy your PC or hard-drive. Formerly widening their reach via floppy disks, and later favoring instant messaging and emails, viruses Read more...

ATM fraud heading west

Online attacks are continuously seeping through into the rest of our digital presence with confidence in computing hitting a new low. John Hillman browses through the most current causes of concern.

Previously a concern for Eastern Europe and Russia, infected cash points, or ATMs, have now reached Britain in the hope of scamming users for their credit and debit card details. These machines can now be controlled by the attackers through control cards.

Losses of up to $1000 were seen at the recent DefCon meeting at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, which removed a faulty machine after several reports of $200 and $400 losses were reported. The hotel disconnected the machine and contacted the operator.

A loss of confidence in ATMs, and banks in general, would be a very unwelcome symptom of the recession, possibly leading to actions which may deepen the recession. Attacks on basic ATMs will lower the credibility of the banks to safeguard their customer’s money and may result in a wide-spread urge to remove all cash from accounts until better devices are in place.

Eastern European ATM distortion software snaps up information saved on the magnetic field of strip cards according to a report made by Trustwave. After collecting the information, the program saves the data for later when a hacker can return to retrieve it with a collector card. The review noted that the captured information is probably not remotely accessible but that this is where the technology is headed.

Online calls unsafe locally

Office confidentiality is a top priority in any business, but should security checks include spy sessions? Pavla Tolonen thinks they might as well.

Now flaunted as a customized spy tool, the UCSniff is not quite the free spy gear it is made out to be. It was initially meant for safety checks to secure voice over internet protocol (VoIP), which included video and audio calls, but later became denounced as a spy tool capable of intercepting executive level calls. Its level of sophisticating, however, did not match this eager review.

Eager hackers will be disappointed to know that VoIP jacking with the UCSniff only works within the same building if you have access to a central network. Once you are in, however, intercepting calls and video should work swiftly with a name search, without the need of an extension number.

Capable of redirecting the phone signal from an online conversation, the tool was created by two researchers at the Viper Lab by Sipera Systems. An enhanced video version called VideoJak can also hijack an image, however, additionally; it can feed another alternative one into the receivers screen. This could be used to stretch footage during a robbery.

Windows and Linux compatible, UCSniff captures an entire conversation on audio or video and stores it as an avi.file, which can be viewed in most media players. Thankfully most offices have realized the potential of self-spying to discover security loopholes and now can deter external spy devices.

Interception has always been a tool for enterprise; however UCSniff has hit a successful nerve in making it a click-to-capture venture. Now spying is slightly easier and detection of spying methods even easier. There is, however, one persisting level of barriers surrounding this action – the ever-needed local area network connection, which may soon be removed in the face of more sophisticated spying equipment.

To use the tool, the device scrambles a computer’s address resolution protocol (ARP), which, if not reconfigured, can turn an entire network into DOS mode blowing the hacker’s cover and ruining any future surveillance attempts. Therefore the tool may not be completely welcomed by hackers.