Who needs my SQL server?

VitalyKKaspersky Lab Expert
Posted August 25, 13:40  GMT

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We all know that cybercriminals will target anything and everything they can reach. And at Kaspersky, we also know that a lot of IT admins don’t look after their Internet resources. Sad but true – ask an admin if their servers are protected, and you’ll often get the answer, “Oh, come on, who needs my SQL server?”

A few months ago we set up a new honeypot (http://www.mwcollect.org) in our Japanese research centre in Tokyo. The honeypot is mainly used to collect malicious Windows executables, which it does pretty well by emulating shellcode when it finds network exploits. A side effect of using the honeypot to listen on all ports is that we get statistics (as well as unexpected data) coming in on various network ports of the host, which has a global IP address.

This graph shows the number of attacks and unwanted connections on specified ports of our server. It shows the ten ports most commonly used, but even the least commonly targeted port (in this case, port 1130) gets about 16 connections a day.

Here’s a table of the common services using each port:

Hopefully, this proves what seems to us to be obvious – there’s someone on the Internet who wants your SQL server! (And a few other things besides…) And the data above shows that there are a lot of bad guys looking for backdoored orphaned hosts on the internet. Some of them are trying to find Backdoor.Win32.Noknok, while others are trying to break in through legitimate services like Radmin and Windows Remote Desktop.

Maybe you’re wondering just who it is who is looking for badly protected resources? Here’s another graph with those details, showing how many connections different countries make to our honeypot every day:

Take a minute to compare it to the previous graph! You can see that the number of MSSQL attack attempts is mirrored by attacks coming from China. And recently, South Korean hosts have joined this massive attempt to exploit the service.

Running a honeypot helps us get valuable data; we’re kept busy analyzing it and crunching the numbers, and finally, it’s a cheap form of entertainment. Our honeypot is running on 500MHz Pentium III CPU with 384 Mb RAM, which nowadays probably costs less than $100. So if you’re thinking of throwing out some really old, slow hardware, consider setting up a honeypot! ;-)

Working with the Vista Index

The new search capabilities in Windows Vista are certainly a significant step up from those in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. For once, you can actually find what you're looking for in a reasonable amount of time. By default, however, the new Vista search feature only indexes the partition where the operating system is installed, which is usually the C: drive. That's fine, unless you have a second partition or second hard drive you use to store your data files. In that case, you have to manually add the second hard drive to the search index. Luckily, it's only a two step process!

 

Step 1: Turn On the Search Indexing for the Second Hard Drive/Partition

 

Double click on your My Computer icon, right click on the drive and choose Properties. Then check the box that says "Index this drive for faster searching." Finally, click OK.

For some strange reason, that doesn't actually add the drive to the index, so you have to perform one more step.

 

Step 2: Add the Drive to the Indexing Options

 

Go to Start, Control Panel and click on Indexing Options. In the dialogue box, you'll see a list of current locations that are indexed by the Indexing service. Click on the Modify button and check off the second partition or hard drive you want indexed (for example, D:, E:, etc).

 

If you don't see the drive you're looking for, make sure you press the "Show all locations" button at the bottom of the window. You should then see all of the possible choices:

That's it! Windows Vista will then begin indexing the new location and results from the extra drives will appear in your searches. Now, you can also add network drives to the Vista search index, as long as the drive is a mapped drive. Note that turning on the indexing in Vista is a great way to find files quickly and I would suggest keeping it on all the time. However, you may want to turn it off if your computer seems to be running slow.

Either way, this is an easy way to make your Vista searching even easier!

100 keyboard shortcuts

CTRL+C (Copy)  CTRL+X (Cut)  CTRL+V (Paste)  CTRL+Z (Undo)  DELETE (Delete)  SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)  CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)  CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)  F2 key (Rename the selected item)  CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)  CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)  CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)  CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)  CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)  SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)  CTRL+A (Select all)  F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)  ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)  ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)  ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)  ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)  CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)  ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)  ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)  F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)  F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)  SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)  ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)  CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)  ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)  Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)  F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)  RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)  LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)  F5 key (Update the active window)  BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)  ESC (Cancel the current task)  SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)  Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts  CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)  CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)  TAB (Move forward through the options)  SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)  ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)  ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button) SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)  Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)  F1 key (Display Help)  F4 key (Display the items in the active list)  BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)  m*cro$oft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts  Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)  Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)  Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)  Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)  Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)  Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)  Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)  CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)  Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)  Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)  Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)  Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)  Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts  Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)  Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)  Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)  SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)  NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)  Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)  Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts  END (Display the bottom of the active window)  HOME (Display the top of the active window)  NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)  NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)  NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)  LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)  RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)  Shortcut Keys for Character Map  After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:  RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)  LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)  UP ARROW (Move up one row)  DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)  PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)  PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)  HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)  END (Move to the end of the line)  CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)  CTRL+END (Move to the last character)  SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)  m*cro$oft Management Console (MMC) Main Window Keyboard Shortcuts  CTRL+O (Open a saved console)  CTRL+N (Open a new console)  CTRL+S (Save the open console)  CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)  CTRL+W (Open a new window)  F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)  ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)  ALT+F4 (Close the console)  ALT+A (Display the Action menu)  ALT+V (Display the View menu)  ALT+F (Display the File menu)  ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)  MMC Console Window Keyboard Shortcuts  CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)  ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)  SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)  F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)  F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)  CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)  CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)  ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)  F2 key (Rename the selected item)  CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)  Remote Desktop Connection Navigation  CTRL+ALT+END (Open the m*cro$oft Windows NT Security dialog box)  ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)  ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)  ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)  ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)  CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)  ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)  CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)  CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)  m*cro$oft Internet Explorer Navigation  CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)  CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)  CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)  CTRL+H (Open the History bar)  CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)  CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)  CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)  CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)  CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)  CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)  CTRL+W (Close the current window)

Digsby - The new legend in multiprotocol IM

IM has probably become the most sought after communication medium in today’s internet driven communication paradigm. There has been a monopoly of IMs among MSN, Yahoo and GTalk along with their own client applications. However, by now the trend has been to go for multi-protcol IMs rather than having different clients running on your desktop which can be extremely cumbersome with all the switching in between them. It is true that when each IM provider comes up with its own client, it can come up with a set of features that are optimized for the underlying protocols, security implementations, QoS etc. However, if you look at these hallmark IM clients, you'd see that most of the features are just gimmicks rather than actually useful features. For an example, the yahoo messenger has a load of additional features, which would at times overwhelm the resources and affect availability of the basic feature - the chat. MSN Messenger and GTalk client are simpler on comparative terms. However according to my experience the GTalk client consumes a lot of resources compared to the domain of functionality it addresses. I really admire all the technology that is used behind these IMs, but the extensive richness itself devalues the experience of a layman user at times.

So, multiprotocol IMs! What are the options we have? Recently, Meebohas come forward as the dominant web based multiprotocol IM, and it stands as the lone wolf in that arena. In addition, in the standalone application series, Pidgin and Digsby have become prominent. So, I thought of sharing my experience on Digsby which has caught up hype quite recently.

Pidgin, which was born as 'Gaim' is currently leading the race in the multiprotocol IMs. However, Digsby is giving a good fight to it, mainly through its gimmicky equation, IM + E-mail + Social Networking = Digsby. So, additional features on a chat client! If I start favouring Digsby, you might say that I am contradicting what I mentioned earlier about other feature rich chat clients. However, Digsby is different. It has ensured to offer only the features that cover a specific domain. Chat is obviously the key feature, and in today's context, e-mail goes very closely with it. Probably that's why we have chat modules integrated to the web-based e-mail portals. And social networking is supported big time in today's world, and it is also all about communication. Therefore, Digsby seems a very effective all in one package as an IM client. Even the latest Pidgin also has facebook chat integrated. But, Digsby takes it to another different level by having updates, notifications etc from the Social Networking applications such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter.

On the face of the Buddy List, Digsby is nearly identical to pidgin apart from the difference images used here and there. Therefore, this interface ends up in rather a tie among Pidgin and Digsby. The listing of different IM accounts in a sequential manner and the sorting methods available in both are the same. However, Digsby has more advance sorting mechanisms which allows to sort in a multilevel filtering process. Digsby's buddy list generally stabilizes faster than Pidgin, and the customizability seems greater.

However, what really swings for me in Digsby is its simplicity in configuration. Pidgin's interface is rather tech oriented, and a generic user would get confused seeing the protocol preferences, server choices etc. Digsby also has these. But they are quite hidden under the hood and during the creation of an account only the username password combo is expected in the UI, which can turn out to be rather comfortable to a layman user who consequently would not have to waste time trying to figure out whether to ignore certain settings or not. Even the preferences are really simplistic with a traditional left navigation menu and relevant components opening in the right.

Another cool feature is the pop-up that appears on the screen for chats, mail updates and various notifications if Digsby is out of focus. This is very noticeable, and the chances of missing out on something even for a short while are minimized. Apart from that, you can reply on the pop-up itself. This can be extremely convenient if you are multitasking. In addition, the snapshot view of mails becomes highly handy to get a quick idea. The chat window is simple and has all the basic operations visible. Pidgin follows the Firefox extensibility style and is extended using plug-ins. This is an important feature, and Digsby does it by widgets. Moreover, the ability for Audio/Video chat puts Digsby in front of Pidgin in that aspect.

However, with all the might, it has some shortcomings. The most obvious one is the memory consumption. It is understandable with the feature set. But, still with GTalk and Yahoo chats logged in while Gmail is active, 25MB seems pretty expensive in terms of memory. Although it did not matter me much with my 2GB memory, it can be an issue and Pidgin can easily handle the above two IM accounts well under 15MB or memory in the same kind of test scenario. In addition, Digsby requires an account to be created upfront, and this central account has access to all the credentials of our accounts. Therefore, a security threat can be a possibility unless extra care is taken by the Digsby community. In addition, it does not provide support for some protocols supported by Pidgin such as IRC, Gadu Gadu, GroupWise, SILC etc. Since I installed Digsby, Firefox has crashed few times without even having the ability to restore. I wonder whether this is a direct consequence of Digsby. However, if it is, a patch better come out soon :) Apart from all these, still it does not have a native Linux version out yet, although they've announced that a Linux and Mac version will be coming soon. So, Pidgin is still going to keep ruling the Linux domain.

Simply put, my conclusion is, for a person who values convenience over other techy things like performance, extensibility etc, Digsby is the ultimate choice. With all due respect to Pidgin as the leading multiprotocol IM client, I believe Digsby will start a legend of its own.

8.0 megapixel camera phone - Samsung Pixon

Alright that day was just pre-announced in Russia, today Samsung has officially announced its Samsung Pixon 8 megapixel camera phone. The pixon has been claimed as the slimmest full-touch 8.0-megapixel camera phone. Measuring 13.8mm slim, and the 8.0-megapixel camera boasts 16x.............

Nice Laptops

MacTab

Being portable, MacTab is the complement to My Book in the high-end. The thin wireless keyboard is used as a protection cover for transportation. On the back of the computer a hinge allows it to be put in a vertical position so you can use it on your desk.

Siafu


The Siafu concept notebook, designed for the blind by Jonathan Lucas, omits a display altogether. Images from applications and Web sites are converted into corresponding 3-D shapes on Siafu's surface." [ via PCWorld ]

Sungjut TangoX


Sungjut TangoX Nano UMPC has a DVI output and a detachable, integrated Skype phone. Weight: under 1kg. Unbelievable. [ via Gizmodo ]

Dialogue's Flybook V33
Dialogue is going to release the Flybook V33i series with a laptop screen which can be moved across its axis. A nice alternative to a static laptop screen we've seen over the last years.

Vaio Zoom
The Vaio Zoom notebook takes everything we know about holographic technology and squeezes it inside a thin glass form factor. When off, the screen is completely transparent and the keyboard goes opaque. Turn it on and the touchscreen holographic festivities begin. Even the mouse buttons are holographic! [via Gizmodo]

Music Stand Laptop
Use the pedal to turn digital sheet music or just touch the screen. It also throws in some computer functions by allowing on the fly scoring, note taking, and collaborative writing. When you need a real computer, a keyboard slides out from underneath the screen and use the foot pedal as a stereo to enjoy the music you just played. Designed by Sungho Lee.

LG e-Book Laptop Concept
LG introduced e-Book, an ecological laptop concept that uses fuel cell batteries and features organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology. This concept notebook received a Red Dot Award nomination for "Best Concept Design".

Compenion

Felix Schmidberger's Compenion laptop has a OLED touch screen. The computer itself has an OLED touchscreen, where you can directly work on, much like with a umpc or pda. The whole screen is a slider, as it can be moved forward to reveal a second OLED touchscreen underneath, where you can have a keyboard or working controls, similar to a setup with 2 monitors.

Purity Notebook


Right now the in thing with notebook computers are clean lines, and minimal design features. The Purity Notebook takes that to the extreme but manages to throw in a few of its own unique touches like the high lacquer finish .

MacBook 0801

MacBook 0801 is a laptop concept by Isamu Sanada. The keyboard is transparent and ultra-thin .

Wood Laptop


"Laptop Made Of Wood. Yes, that's right, wood. Nevermind the weight and horrible heat insulation characteristics of the material, it's supposed to look refined, at which it does."

DesCom
Sung-kyu Nam's DesCom laptop integrates into the desktop surface. And what do you have to do once the laptop is dead or should be repaired?
FM

ThinkPad Reserve Edition
Lenovo/IBM's Thinkpad is coming back, in a new outfit: Thinkpad reserve edition. The laptop's components are separated; dual-monitor can be placed on the surface allowing multiple people to observe what's happening on it.

Satellite Navigation Laptop


Satellite Navigation Laptop is Nikita Golovlev's concept for travelers. Using an e-ink display, the 'Traveller' is a GPS enabled navigation system for pedestrians. The design incorporates an internal drive for storing any photos you take along the way and will tag the with GPS data, so you know just where you took them.

Solar Notebook


Solar-power laptop is supposed to save you the trouble of charging batteries by plugging them in. The notebook is powered with the help of powerful batteries that are recharged by wide Solar Panel attached to the computer (currently offline).


Haier's Laptop/Tablet PC

Haier has announced a laptop/tablet PC which folds down into a tablet, replete with handwriting recognition and has a 8.6-inch widescreen tablet display. Price: $4,790.


Folding Multi-Display


This laptop has a folding multi display which is supposed to be used as a server. Expected to be available in 2008 .


Axiotron's Tablet Mac

Axiotron's Modbook, the MacBook-based, Wacom-modified laptop is the world's first OS X tablet. Price: $2,290.

Gelfrog

For its annual design issue, The New York Times wanted to include a futuristic laptop for teenagers. The project's main thrust was to re-think the future of education and then construct a laptop that would best deliver that vision. The end result is The Gelfrog, a dynamic, portable device concept that enables new educational experiences without sacrificing the need for individuality.


myBook


myBook might be the lightest portable Mac ever. Small, light and semi-rugged, It roots deeply in Alan Kay Dynabook's dream. The touch-sensitive screen is readable in bright daylight thanks to the use of a new transflective generation of LCD screen. The screen rotates 180°. In that position, keyboard and trackpad are inoperative and the screen goes in portrait mode.

Last Click


Handle-it for Black 13″ MacBook…
That's such a simple design, but so useful and nice. This Mac-handle is constructed of aircraft aluminum, so it will make sure the laptop doesn't fall down when you carry it around. Price: $49.99.

Facebook Chat on Pidgin

Fed up with keeping Facebook Home page open in your browser all the time just to chat with your Facebook buddeis??? You don't need to do that anymore. Yes, Pidgin community has done it again for you, just for you. Now plug-ins are available to enable Facebook chat on Pidgin, where you can use Facebook chat simply as you use your favorite instant messenger to KIT with your buddies. Here I'm mentioning the plugin I'm using to reach my buddies in Facebook. It's called

pidgin-facebookchat

. You can easily install it by downloading it into your local hard drive. It is available as a deb for Debian users, as an exe for Windows users and Red Hat users can check the future plans page to check whether the rpm is ready. The installation is really easy. Just double click on the exe or deb you downloaded and add a new account to chat with Facebook buddies by navigating to Accounts > Manage on Pidgin. Click on add tbutton there to add a new account for Facebook chat while selecting Facebook Chat as the protocol. Then you can enter your username (Your e-mail account you use to log in to Facebook) and password to enter facebook. That's all you need. Why wasting your computer resources on browser when you really don't need it? Use Pidgin.

To down load Facebook chat on Pidgin click here