Permanently ‘Kill’ the Computer Hard Drive

Are you worried & losing sleep at night over the super secret contents you have on your hard drive & don’t know how to permanently delete them? Well you can’t use any software to delete the sensitive data on your hard drive nor can you do something decently physical to destroy your computer hard drive. The solutions that I will point out to you from the Screen Savers video, hosted by Patrick & Norton are not recommended to be tried at home.

The featured hard drive ‘killing’ methods are destructively efficient. One method to ‘Kill’ involves attempting to melt the entire hard drive in powerful industry grade acid. The other method in the video involves using military issued Thermite to burn the hard drive (along with many parts of the computer) in a 3000 degree heat (not sure whether it is in Celsius or Fahrenheit but anyway sure sounds like a lot of heat). Alarming stuff but effective; confirming that the secrets in your computer hard drive will forever remain a secret.

German-English Language Compromise as Official Language for European Union (EU)

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that the English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as 'Euro-English'.

In the first year, 's' will replace the soft 'c'. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be dropped in favour of 'k'. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome 'ph' will be replaced with 'f'. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent 'e' in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing 'th' with 'z' and 'w'with 'v'. During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining 'ou' and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi TU understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Buy in Dips for Long Term Gold Price

Price of gold in recent months had been reported to have increased by roughly 8%. This few weeks we can see that the gold price is dipping down nicely after that upward price surge. Now, as you may have heard before from many experienced investors, it is good to “Buy in Dips”. Today “Buy in Dips” is the way to go. Nobody really knows whether the price is going to go further down or maintain where it is nowadays.

The question is, "Do you really care where the gold price goes from here?" Going up is the normalcy seen for decades past and why should the gold price stop becoming any higher, anyway? Now, you don’t have an answer for that, do you? I sure don’t. You probably don’t have the answer for the other way round too, just like me. So, perhaps you have a lot of cash and you don’t know what exactly to invest in right now. Here’s what you can do; buy gold bullion. Investing in gold bullion might just be the perfect investment for you.

The Art of Intrusion by Kevin D. Mitnick & William L. Simon (2005)

Save time and effort trying to gather good reads about hacker exploits circa 2005 on your own and grab this book instead. 'The Art of Intrusion' brings the reader on engaging trips, gaining the mind set of hackers as they go about on their hacking projects. The hackers in this book include those that made news headlines for their exploits and also hackers whose exploits were not published by the mainstream media but nonetheless executed profound computer network compromises. Be forewarned that 'The Art of Intrusion' is not a book to find detailed hacking methods being disclosed. Instead, the reader can gain knowledge of an entire hacking process in a more conceptual and architectural sense.

Title: The Art of Intrusion

Author / s: Kevin D. Mitnick & William L. Simon

Year published: 2005

Pages: 291

Chapters: 11, each with its own story / stories

Format: Third party story-telling with first party experience inserts

Estimated reading completion [part-time]: 2 weeks

Target niche: hacker wannabes, information security professionals, computer enthusiasts concerned of hacker intrusions

'The Art of Intrusion' Content Glimpses

1. Alex Mayfield and his team’s 1990s Las Vegas casino slot machine hacking exploit
• Countermeasures: difficult firmware access, hashing, checksum routine
2. Comrade & ne0h hacks into Boeing and tries for the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNET) of the US military for Khalid Ibrahim (suspected Pakistani militant / FBI double agent)
• Countermeasures: operating system updates, DMZ (defense in depth model), second-level authentication
3. Prison inmates William and Danny sets up a computer and web network inside a Texas prison
• Countermeasures: insider threat awareness & mitigation, password management, “Dead” cubicles and other access points, prevent installation of unauthorized hardware, audit systems for software integrity, no excessive user privileges
4. Don Boelling, a Boeings security spokesman catches Matt and Costa red-handed hacking into the US District Court in Seattle and into Boeing
• Countermeasures: employee computer security awareness training, no default / static passwords, good password practice
5. Pieter Zatko aka “Mudge”, a highly respected computer security outfit; l0pht Heavy Industries, the software package called l0phtCrack, and the penetration test done on “Newton” consultant firm
• Countermeasures: source port & firewall issue, using programs based on cryptographic protocols like ssh, network jacks placement, control physical entry
6. Gabriel the Canadian hacker breaks into a bank in Dixie (a state in the southern United States), gaining capability to initiate an unauthorized wire transfer
• Countermeasures: web page source code flaw, limit the amount of user input that is passed to a server-side script, network monitoring
7. Whurley, a security consultant hired by a Vegas resort group executes social engineering approach to perform a variety of security audits
• Countermeasures: mitigate social engineering attacks - establishing appropriate security protocols and then motivating employees to adhere to the protocols

*Note: You can probably find this book ‘on the cheap’ over the internet by using your favorite search engine.

Standby to Use that Magnificent Machine

You must be excited thinking about the new computer that you are planning to buy. Put that excitement to good use and start thinking about optimizing the space where you will be using the computer. Find a space where there is no direct sunlight at times when you will be using the computer most shining into that space.

Take a look at the power outlets available at the space where you will be using your new computer. Is there enough power available or are you going to be sharing one power outlet with a myriad of home equipment. Overloading a power outlet can be dangerous. A dedicated outlet for your computer is ideal.

You would not want your new computer to be fried when there is a power surge in your home wiring. Investing about $30 in a good power surge suppressor / protector can save you the cost of repairing or even buying another new computer. You can plug your computer, printer, scanner, audio system, etc that’s related to your computer together onto the power surge protector and control them with a single switch. Good power surge protectors can even handle a phone line and cable connections.

Talking about phone connections, it is a good idea to have a phone line outlet close-by your work space. This is because in the event that you encounter a problem with your computer, you can easily pick up the phone and call the technical support who will guide you step by step through the diagnosis or solution to the problem.

Ensure that on your workspace you have ample storage areas for your printer paper, computer books, storage discs, printer cartridges, warranty slips, etc. Maintain this space to be free from dust and easily reachable to you when you work with your computer.

Another essential item to take care of is your working chair. Since you will be spending hours working on your computer at that desk, it is very important to maintain good posture and feel comfortable while working. Find one that is capable of supporting your back and offers adjustable height change to reduce eye and wrist strain.

That large box that came with the computer you bought should be kept in the store. You never know when you might have to bring your computer for servicing or repair. With the original storage box available, you have a safe way for transporting your computer.

Now that you have your new computer inside your home, you must ensure that there is a strong enough support beneath it to take on the weight of the computer. Be especially cautious when using a pop-up table and ensure that the braces are locked in place before placing the computer on the table.

Allow the computer to adapt to your home environment before you turn it on. Extreme change of temperature can be the cause of equipment malfunction. Two hours allocated for your spanking new computer to sit on your desktop is ample time for it to adapt to the change of temperature. Thereafter you new computer will be ready to help you be more productive.

Lastly, don’t be ashamed about using some old fashioned tools to help you maintain good productivity. It is common for someone to forget a few things that were supposed to be done before switching off the computer. Use post-it notes and stick them on the side of your computer monitor so that you are reminded easily on your next computer session.