All posts by remotehelpexpert

Microsoft Releases Security Update for Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability

Computer Security

Hopefully you read my last article. If not, read it first and then continue with this one.

Microsoft has just released an update to patch the Internet Explorer vulnerability that affects all versions from 6 to 11 in all Windows operating systems, from XP to 8.1. Surprisingly, even though support for Windows XP has just ended, Microsoft decided to make an exception and include XP in the list of operating systems covered by this update.

If you have automatic updates enabled there should be no action needed on your part. If you don’t, it is highly recommended you turn on Automatic Updates or manually download and install the update.  If you need help with this, let me know.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability Being Actively Exploited

Computer Security

In case you’re wondering what the hell does “use-after-free” means, it’s when a program is no longer using previously used computer memory which then can be used for malicious purposes. Thus, use-after-free.

So, a vulnerability exploiting this type of scenario has been uncovered for all versions of Internet Explorer, and is currently being exploited in the wild by hackers. There is no current patch or remedy for it, other than, as I’ve advised before, stopping the use of Internet Explorer altogether by installing an alternate web browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari, Opera, etc.

Interestingly, every now and then somebody will ask me if it’s possible to infect a computer simply be opening (displaying) the wrong email. This is one of the cases where, given the right circumstances and with a properly crafted email, the vulnerability could be exploited by just opening that email, especially if you’re using an older version of Microsoft Outlook (2003 or older).

Similarly, this can be exploited by luring a user into the wrong page of a website, and displaying it using Internet Explorer.

I’ll advise once a patch is available for this vulnerability.

HeartBleed, All You Need To Know

Computer Security

I have seen so many people write about this that I was purposely not writing about it… I should know better – every time there’s a major issue in the field of computer security, if I don’t write about it I get a ton of emails asking me for my viewpoint on the issue or my viewpoint on what others write about the issue… It’s all good though. It’s my fault for being lazy and not writing about it in the first place. So here it is. I’m staying away from any technobable and keeping it simple.

The first thing you need to know is that HeartBleed is a vulnerability that, when exploited, can be used to steal information from websites. This is accomplished by accessing the memory of the computers where the websites’ data  is stored (ALL websites are stored in computers, “servers”, although not all websites are vulnerable to this “bug” ). What does that mean to you? If you deal with a particular website that is vulnerable,  let’s say your bank’s website, or your email’s website, and so forth, the information you provide to that website on a regular basis,  such as your username and password and potentially more, could be compromised (stolen).

I read somebody writing about the fact that the vulnerability was discovered by “good guys” and therefore has not been exploited by hackers. I laugh at that statement. The people attributed to discovering the vulnerability might be good guys, but I bet anything the bad guys know about it too.

And because of where the vulnerability is being exploited, i.e. not in your computer, it doesn’t matter what kind of security measures you have in place in your computer(s), the vulnerability is still a threat because it’s been exploited “server side”, meaning at the computers where the websites are stored.

So what do you do? The first thing that comes to mind to most users will be, since we’re talking about a potential information leak of your data, to change your passwords for all the websites that you use (that require a username and password). And that’s not a bad idea but let’s not rush into that. The reason for not doing that as a first immediate step is that there is an ongoing global evolution to fix the cause of the vulnerability so you want to make sure a particular website has been fixed before you change your password for it, otherwise your information could be stolen again and you’d be in the same spot.

Therefore the thing to do is to check every particular website you plan to change your password for, and make sure it has been fixed before proceeding to change your password for it, and so forth. How do you do that?

There are many websites that have been provided where you can enter a particular website address and it will tell you whether or not the website is vulnerable, or has been patched or is not affected to begin with. https://lastpass.com/heartbleed/ is one that comes to mind that you can use. Also, here’s a list of the top 100 websites people normally use, and their status as to whether they have been fixed or not (scroll down when you click on this link to see the list): http://www.cnet.com/how-to/which-sites-have-patched-the-heartbleed-bug/

It is always a good idea to change your passwords periodically anyways, so go ahead and change them once you know a particular website you deal with has been fixed. And, don’t forget. If you’re the typical user that only has 1, 2 or 3 passwords for everything, change your passwords for the websites that are labeled as “were never affected” if you have used the same password in a website that was vulnerable.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions on the subject.

 

It Can Happen to Anyone

Computer Security

A cautionary tale. Yesterday a client forwarded me an email that he considered fishy, and asked for my opinion. The email contained an attachment, and so I set out to find out what opening the attachment did.

Now normally I take extra precautions when doing something like that, so that any bad “jujus” contained in suspicious files are not allowed to damage my computer. But I guess I had gotten overconfident with time and so I opened the attachment, with just the normal defenses I have in place, as per my own security model. Nothing seemed to happen, which made me suspicious. Anyways, I analyzed the attachment with a service that scans it against 49 different antivirus programs, and it did turn out to be a malicious file. I got rid of it but missed the fact that it had already delivered its payload and that in turn was now waiting to hack my computer. Ha.

Long story short, when I came to the computer this morning I found evidence that a hack attempt had been performed on my computer, emphasis on attempt. AppGuard had blocked the execution of a password stealer that was going to be used to attempt to steal the passwords stored in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc. (not that there are any, I have a standalone password manager and never use the browser’s capability to store passwords for that very reason).

With a chuckle at the clever attempt to hack my computer, I proceeded to scan and clean up any infected files. This was no doubt the closest I had come in years to an actual computer security breach. Mind you, the attempt failed, but only because the last layer in my security model, AppGuard, had stopped the unauthorized run of the password stealer that had been placed in an obscure location in my computer. Which brings me to the point of the story.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. Except the classic, usual outcome in most cases, if you open the wrong attachment or click on the wrong link, is an infected computer, passwords or other information stolen, and so forth. So when it comes to online related activities, always be alert, always be careful, never let your guard down. Oh, and implement my security model 🙂

Monthly Windows Updates for April, and a Special Note on Windows XP and Office 2003

Computer Security, Technical Tips

This coming April 8th the monthly scheduled Windows updates will be released for Windows XP, 7, 8, and the different versions of Office. But it’s worth mentioning they will be the last ones for Windows XP and Office 2003. On that date the official support for Windows XP and Office 2003 ends, so there will be no more updates after that. For those users still using Windows XP and Office 2003, what does that mean?

Don’t worry, your computer won’t explode, or stop working. BUT, in the never ending fight between good and evil, how does this translate? The bad guys (hackers) are always looking for vulnerabilities in Microsoft products in order to subvert computers. And Microsoft is always playing catch by devising and implementing updates to remedy the vulnerabilities found by the hackers. So what do you think it’s going to happen when Microsoft stops updating Windows XP and Office 2003?

Well, it’s predictable that there will be an invigorated effort to find and exploit new vulnerabilities in these programs, thus making users of it more likely to get infected with malware that will successfully exploit said vulnerabilities. And while there are actions that can be taken to mitigate that possibility (such as implementing my security model) the truth is, the security level will be lower for system running on Windows XP or with Office 2003 installed, after April.

Once again, I recommend upgrading to Windows 7 (not 8, 8.1 or 8.1 Update 1). And chances are, if your computer is as old as Windows XP, that it means a new computer as well. In any case, if you were playing with the idea of doing this, now it’s the time to do it.

Flash Player Alternative

Technical Tips

Every now and then a user will complain that there are problems when trying to play videos on, let’s say, youtube.com. Now there are many different reasons why a video playback might be problematic, one way or another. But, one thing you can try is changing the player the computer uses to play videos in your web browser.

How, do you ask? Well, before we get to that, let’s make sure we all know what we’re talking about.

You might have heard of “Flash Player”. In a nutshell, Flash player has been the video player that youtube.com and many other video sites use as the default player that can play videos. Do a test, go to your favorite video on youtube and right click on the video with your mouse. It will display several menu options, and the last one might mention Adobe Flash Player (Adobe is the name of the company that currently makes that player).

There is, however. another option that might be available to be used as the player for youtube and other videos: the HTML5 player. If you want to know what HTML5 means, it’s simply the 5th revision of HTML. I have seen, some times, that changing from using the Flash player to the HTML5 player can sometimes improve the playback quality or handle certain problems. So you can try doing that if you’re having troubles with Flash Player. To change it in youtube.com, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/html5  and then click on the button that says Request the HTML5 player. Once that’s done close the browser and open it again, and then try playing a youtube video.

To confirm you are now indeed using the HTML5 player, right click on the video again, and you should see menu items that mention  the HTML5 player instead of the Adobe Flash Player. If you want to revert, click on the above link again and click on the button that says Use the default player and you should be back to using Flash if that is what your browser was using before.

Hope this helps.

Not for Beginners – SQL 2005 Database Error Handling

Not for beginners

SQL 2005 database created and used by default by Outlook 2007 with BCM. Recently ran into the infamous error message “Could not allocate space for object … in database … because the ‘PRIMARY’ filegroup is full. Create disk space by deleting unneeded files, dropping objects in the filegroup, adding additional files to the filegroup, or setting autogrowth on for existing files in the filegroup.”

Yet the database was less than 3 GB, plenty of space and autogrowth was set to true. But for some reason the autogrowth setting was set to 50% (by default, I never changed that setting) and when I changed that to increase by 10 MB instead, magically the error disappeared.

My best guess is that growing a 3 GB database by 50% would put it over the 4 GB limit for a SQL 2005 database. But it’s just a guess. 

I Downloaded a Program – Why is it not Running?

Glossary, Technical Tips

Every now and then I hear this question. It stems from not understanding the difference between two different actions: “download” and “install”. Well, we’ll get rid of that confusion today.

Download: Making a copy of a file that is on another computer (often in the Internet) onto your computer.

Install: Opening a file that contain the necessary steps to make a new program work on your computer.

I think the confusion stems mainly from the fact that, nowadays, often the file that contains the necessary steps to make a new program work, is a file that is downloaded from the Internet (surprisingly, that file is often called an “installer”). So as far as sequence, these 2 actions are typically right next to each other, but they are not interchangeable. So the sequence would be:

1. Download the installer (“Save it” to a location in your computer).

2. Open it to install the new program.

That should answer the question posed in the title of this article. “Downloading a program” doesn’t install it, that’s why it’s not running. Hopefully this will dissipate any confusions on this. If not, feel free to ask any questions about it.

Software

Glossary

Computer software is, simply put, a program. And what is a program? A sequence of commands for the computer to execute (carry out), normally contained in a file. That’s all it is. So whether it’s a word processing program, a video player, or an operating system, it all falls under the category of software.