Pharming is a hacker’s attack aiming to redirect a website’s traffic to another, bogus website without the web site user’s knowledge or consent. Most times this is possible by exploiting a weakness in a web site’s domain name system. The aim of pharming is primarily to attempt to obtain a user’s personal information. Therefore it is not uncommon for users who reach these bogus websites to be presented with pages that ask for their credit card or bank account information.

Pharming is almost closely associated with another term, phishing, which involves the receipt of an e-mail message that appears to come from a legitimate source but attempts to also obtain personal information.

Pharming is explained in more detail in the video below:

Any Examples of Past Pharming Attempts?

In the past there have been many pharming attempts:

• In January 2005, the Domain Name for a large New York ISP, Panix, was hijacked to point users to a site in Australia.
• In 2004 a German teenager hijacked the eBay.de Domain Name.
• Hushmail, a provider of secure email services, was also attacked with pharming in April 2005 when it compromised to redirect users to a defaced webpage.

Any Interesting Facts?

• Drive-by pharming is another term derived from pharming where a hacker can drive hijack an unsecure home wireless router and change its default DNS settings to point to a rogue website.

What is an Avatar?

The term Avatar, when used in computing, is a representation of one’s self on the Internet or on a computer. An avatar can be either a three-dimensional model which is used in online gaming or two-dimensional icons used on chat forums and newsgroups.

Any Examples of Avatar use?

• Popular gaming system, Xbox 360, allows its users of the Xbox Live service to create a digital avatar representation of his or herself which is fully customizable. Users can change hairstyles, clothes, accessories, backgrounds and even create their own unique persona.
• Digg, a well-known news and content sharing website, provides avatar use through icon representation. Users can upload a photo or icon to represent themselves and when comments are made on submitted content that person’s avatar is displayed.

Any Interesting Facts?

• The term avatar has multiple meanings especially in film, television, gaming and even music.

What is a Podcast?

A podcast is a music or talk program that is recorded and made available in digital format to remote audiences via the internet. The word podcast is derived from the terms “iPod” and “broadcast”. It is attributed to the original creators of podcasting who used iPods to listen to their RSS broadcasts. It should be noted that the word podcast also stands for “Personal On Demand broadCAST”.

Podcasts are played on a computer or a mobile device and are often distributed in “episodes,” meaning new podcasts are made available on a regular basis. Users can subscribe to these podcasts using RSS capability, which can automate the download process for the user.

Any Examples of Podcast usage?

• Popular ESPN sports-talk radio show, Mike and Mike in the Morning have their show recorded and available daily in podcast format. These podcasts downloaded either on ESPN or iTunes.
• NPR, a privately and publicly funded non-profit news media organization, has various news and documentaries available for daily download podcast format on their website.

Any Interesting Facts?

• Podcasting started around the early 2000s
• Anyone can create a podcast using a microphone or digital video camera and a computer with recording software.

What is Cybersquatting?

Cybersquatting is the practice of registering, or using a domain name with the intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademarkbelonging to someone else. Most times this is done with the intention of reselling that domain name back to the legal trademark owner.

Sometimes not only trademarks can fall victim to cybersquatting but also well-known people. In the past many celebrities have been surprised when they realized that someone else registered a domain name containing their name.

Cybersquatting has been a common practice for a long time especially during the earlier Internet years. Became of this, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) was a law enacted in 1999 in an attempt to prevent such activities.

Are There Any Examples of Cybersquatting?

In February 2001, American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, realized that someone had registered the domain name BruceSpringsteen.com and immediately sought legal action. Unfortunately Bruce Springsteen lost his legal dispute even though it was a clear act of cybersquatting.

Similarly, In 2007 Microsoft  filed lawsuits against fifteen domain name registrants who registered various domain names including microsoftsystem.com and hotmajil.com. The content of many of these domain names was various types of money-making advertising schemes that deceived users who may have typed various legitimate Microsoft-related web addresses incorrectly.

Any Interesting Facts?

• Cybersquatting is reminiscent of the United States Gold rush of the 1800s where persons traveled west and claimed federal land as their own.

What is Captcha?

Captcha is the acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It is a set of technologies used to verify that humans are performing various online transactions as opposed to a computer. Utilized as a means to prevent online fraud and spam, a captcha is normally presented as a distorted image of letters and numbers that may either be black and white or color.

Are There Any Examples of Captcha Use?

Captcha use is implemented on many web forms users complete online. A typical scenario is where a user may wish to register for online email service from Gmail. On the sign-up page the user will see an image similar to the one shown below. The user then has to type the characters seen in the image and would not be able to process the sign-up until the characters are entered correctly. 

Any Interesting Facts?

• Some of the words that may be occasionally generated for Captcha use have been known to create quite a stir due to its offensive and derogatory nature.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing is the use of various applications and services over the Internet to perform functions that were traditionally done with software installed on an individual computer. The name cloud is an alternate word used to describe the Internet inspired by the cloud symbol used in diagrams and flowcharts to represent the Internet.

Cloud Computing environments, which can be either public or private, are typically owned and operated by a third-party provider from a remote location. A public cloud provides services to anyone on the Internet while a private cloud can be a proprietary network owned to a typical enterprise business available to limited persons.

Are There Any Examples?

Cloud computing use is very popular in today’s online computing environment. Many of the online services and applications we may use on a daily basis already use cloud computing technology. Some of these include:

• Google Docs: Create and edit web-based documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
• Dropbox: Store, sync, and, share files online
• Flickr: Online photo management and sharing
• Adobe Photoshop online : An online version of the most popular photo editing software

Any Interesting Facts?

• Late last year Google announced the development of its operating system, Google Chrome OS which will be 100% based on cloud computing. Therefore, only a device is needed to access the Internet with all resources and applications available remotely.

What is RSS?

RSS, which is the acronym for Really Simple Syndication, is a popular method for distributing Web content that changes frequently. Such web content includes news headlines, sports or general web announcements. Using RSS, Web content providers can easily create and deliver feeds of data such as news links, headlines, and summaries.

In order the better understand RSS including examples of its usage, please view the video below:

Any interesting facts?

• RSS is a web 2.0 technology
• RSS feeds are free

Be sure to subscribe to our blog RSS feed to remain updated on future blog posts.

What is Tethering?

Tethering refers to using your cell phone as a medium for Internet access by connecting it to a computer or laptop. Over the years this has become a fairly common practice and has become extremely popular especially with later model mobile phones. Tethering can be extremely useful as there is no need to have an additional component for Internet access thereby saving money and providing that convenience .

Are there any examples?

There are many situations where Tethering can prove to be useful. One such example is that of a business traveler who has just landed at an airport and needs to obtain hotel information or directions. He or she may decide to tether a mobile phone to a computer in order to obtain Internet access thereby avoiding the cost of purchasing a Wi-Fi guest pass which can sometimes be costly.

How do I perform Tethering?

In order to better explain how to perform tethering I have provided a YouTube video below. While viewing the video, it should be noted that tethering varies by phone model and carrier. Therefore, it is always best to ask your mobile carrier prior to attempting this practice:

Any interesting facts?

• Although some mobile phone carriers have blocked tethering, it is well documented of ways that persons have “hacked” their phones to allow this functionality.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is a term used to describe a new generation of Web services and applications with an increasing emphasis on human collaboration. Initially gaining popularity from 2004, web 2.0 related content provides a level of user interaction that was not readily available online.

Are there any examples?

There are many examples of web 2.0 that are currently in use of which many of us are familiar with. Some of these include:

• Blogs: This is a journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Readers have the ability to make comments thereby engaging in online conversation.
• Wikis: A type of website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove and otherwise edit and change some available content.
• Video-Sharing sites: Online Sites that allow for one to upload video files for others to view and have commenting capabilities.
• Social-networking sites: Allows users to build on-line profiles, share information, pictures, blog entries, music clips, etc.

How do I use Web 2.0?

As previously mentioned, most persons may already be familiar with and use many web 2.0 applications. Some of the well known applications include:

• Facebook,Myspace, Linkedin
• Youtube,Vimeo
• Wikipedia

Facebook,  a very popular social-networking service, heavily utilizes web 2.0 technology. I can spend an entire blog post elaborating on the capabilities and features of Facebook. However, to summarize,  Facebook service allows one to create an online account and accompanying profile which is the basis for meeting other people who utilize the service . These persons can be added to a listing of friends who can be used to collaborate with on various activities including photo-sharing, file-sharing, games, comments or rants.

Any interesting facts?

• As popular as it is, Web 2.0 is already beginning to be phased out in favor or web 3.0 which features the semantic web (the meaning of data), personalization (e.g. iGoogle), intelligent search and behavioral advertising

What is Private Browsing?

Private browsing is the ability to navigate to any website without having any information about that website being saved. This is specifically cookies, address URL history and downloaded temporary website content.

Are there any examples?

An ideal situation where private browsing may be warranted is when one wishes to browse the Internet on a shared or public computer at an Internet Cafe. Because of the high traffic levels at such establishments it is not uncommon for one to feel uncomfortable browsing the Internet due to privacy and security concerns. Private browsing can readily be utilized which would assist in creating a more safer browsing environment.

How do I use Private  Browsing?

The latest web browser versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome all have built-in private browsing options. Opera browser’s latest version, 10.10 has no private browsing support. Below find instructions to use private browsing mode on these web browsers:

Internet Explorer

One can start private browsing by going to the Safety menu. Also, by opening a new tab, there is an link to enable private browsing

Firefox

To enable private browsing, click on the Tools menu and select Start Private Browsing. The first time you turn on Private Browsing, Firefox will alert you that it will save your current windows and tabs for after you finish using Private Browsing. Click on Start Private Browsing to continue.

Chrome

To enable private browsing mode, click on the file menu and select New Incognito Window or simply use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+N.

Safari

Select Private Browsing from the Safari menu to enable private browsing. Once selected, a dialog box appears explaining this mode and prompts you to press OK or Cancel.

Opera

Until Opera 10.5 is released, one can download OperaTor, a browser extension which will enable private browsing.

Any interesting facts?

• Private browsing is sometimes termed “porn mode”.