Batten down those web hatches

[spindr]

Looks like it's time to batten down those web "hatches" and apply all those nasty patches, etc. -- one of the local jive websites (and forums) is now "0wn3d" by hackerz and has been defaced, supposedly due to the recent middle-east situation (can't work out the connection with dance myself).

SpinDr

[under par]

Looks like it's time to batten down those web "hatches" and apply all those nasty patches, etc. -- one of the local jive websites (and forums) is now "0wn3d" by hackerz and has been defaced, supposedly due to the recent middle-east situation (can't work out the connection with dance myself).

SpinDr

for the non-geeks can you elaborate please

[under par]

for the non-geeks can you elaborate please


Helpful PM received thanks Spindr

[WittyBird]

Helpful PM received thanks Spindr

Did Spindr tell you about the packet loss problem also?

[under par]

Did Spindr tell you about the packet loss problem also?:confused: :confused:

sorry no comprendo:confused: :confused:

[straycat]

:confused: :confused:

sorry no comprendo:confused: :confused:

Packet loss occurs when one or more packets of data traveling across a computer networking fail to reach their destination. Packet loss can be caused by a number of factors, including signal degradation over the network medium, oversaturated network links, corrupted packets rejected in-transit or faulty networking hardware.

Lost or dropped packets can result in highly noticeable performance issues or jitter with Streaming Technologies, Voice Over IP, Online Gaming and Videoconferencing, and will affect all other network applications to a degree.

Does that help? :whistle:

[El Salsero Gringo]

Packet loss occurs when one or more packets of data traveling across a computer networking fail to reach their destination. Packet loss can be caused by a number of factors, including signal degradation over the network medium, oversaturated network links, corrupted packets rejected in-transit or faulty networking hardware.

Lost or dropped packets can result in highly noticeable performance issues or jitter with Streaming Technologies, Voice Over IP, Online Gaming and Videoconferencing, and will affect all other network applications to a degree.

Does that help? :whistle:But note also that packet loss is a regular and necessary part of Internet communications, particularly for the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) that is used as a bearer for web access, email, downloads and almost every other kind of traffic (excepting VoIP and videoconferencing, both of which make up a small proportion of total Internet traffic.) Packet loss is required because TCP quickly increases its sending rate until loss occurs. It then uses the fact that some information did not reach its destination to judge the optimium sending rate taking into consideration network conditions all the way to the destination as well as the processing and buffer capacity at both ends of the connection.

Needless to say, the lost information is retransmitted so that overall, packet loss does not affect the reliability of the connection between the two end points.

For VoIP and similar real-time data, packet loss may cause small glitches in the service being offered. Rertransmission of the lost data is generally unnecessary, since (for instance) if the lost data represents part of a syllable of a word in a telephone conversation, by the time the retransmitted data was recieved the conversation would have moved on. The option of delaying the audio output until via a retransmission the gap in the sound can be correctly filled would cause greater interruption and annoyance to the end users than simply "glitching" the audio, interpolating the gap, or filling it with white noise.

It is only when packet loss rates rise above a certain level (and that level depends on the nature of the traffic being carried) that network service can be considered to be degraded.

Long live packet loss, and TCP flow control, one of the smartest inventions of the 20th Century.

[Dreadful Scathe]

The web "hatch" is not very well documented but its where all those lost packets go. A guy in Canada built an eco-house from just lost packets and string.

[ToeTrampler]

The web "hatch" is not very well documented but its where all those lost packets go. A guy in Canada built an eco-house from just lost packets and string.
Was that string or strings?

[robd]

It then uses the fact that some information did not reach its destination to judge the optimium sending rate taking into consideration network conditions all the way to the destination as well as the processing and buffer capacity at both ends of the connection.

Is this anything to do with the MTU setting in AIX (and probably the network configs of other OS)?

MTU and AIX - 2 TLAs that combined to give me more grief and hair pulling moments than ever before in my work last year :angry:

Robert

[under par]

Thankyou all for the explanations I have read them and really tried to make something from your efforts.

Sadly I am now a confirmed non-geek.

Could not really make head nor tails of it all.

I ask myself whether I should be concerned with this lack of aptitude??

I came to the conclusion there are enough of you geeks out there to make sure the world will be run properly without my participation.

Just please keep me informed of any earth/life threatening problems.

thankyou again in anticpation. Under Par

[LMC]

I'm not just a muppet when it comes to PCs, I'm a blonde muppet :eek:

However, I am still amazed at the number of otherwise sensible and intelligent people who seem to have a toggle switch for their brain and modem so the former turns off when the latter switches on...

As I don't have my own website, I don't need to worry about hackerz. So, as "just another user", the way I figure it, all I need to do is:

1) Make sure passwords are 'secure' - i.e. obscure. Use a real word, or two, it makes it easier to remember - dead pets are good - but customise it: use a capital letter in there somewhere, change letters to numbers (e.g. i can become 1). For bank accounts and other "vital" things, my passwords are always 12 characters long and unguessable - but I can remember them because they are one or two real words mixed with numbers.

If you're bad at remembering passwords, then record them in an Excel spreadsheet or Word document and save to your desktop. Password protect the file (File, Save As, then either Options or Tools/options, depending on which version you have). Then you only have to remember one password.

2) Keep virus, spyware and firewall software up-to-date. Scan regularly.

3) Do not open unknown attachments. Same goes for most links - do a google on the website address if you think you might be interested, should give you a clue on content from the first couple of lines. The "associated" links will also give you a clue. If it's from someone you don't know, or even if it is from someone you know but is one of those bloody pictures/jokes that looks like it's been six times round the world, then restrain your curiosity. If it's important, someone will chase you. In 12 years of using the internet, I have never ever had a friend ask me what I thought of some random crap e-mail that they thought was funny and forwarded to everyone in their address book :rolleyes:

4) Set up a free webmail account - there are thousands of providers - for "junk" - e.g. online shops which you may never visit ever again, forums you don't use that often, etc etc. You can usually change the e-mail address in your user profile if the website turns into one you do use on a regular basis. This way, most spam will only end up in one e-mail account.

Set up your main e-mail account to only accept e-mail from "contacts" - and put everything else in the junk folder. It might take time to set up, but worth the effort. You can do this on hotmail. Junk folder empties automatically every seven days, so I just check it every 3-4 days to make sure there isn't anything in there I actually want. I get very little rubbish on that account, because I'm careful what I sign up for.

5) No bank or other organisation which takes your money will ever send you an e-mail asking you for full ID information. Hell, even when you phone them up, they usually ask for "letters 2 and 6" of your password, not the whole thing. And check the sender's e-mail address for goodness sake - is it really likely that Barclays bank will be using a free webmail address?

6) If an e-mail offer looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

[Dreadful Scathe]

:yeah: couldnt have put it better myself :grin:

[David Franklin]

5) No bank or other organisation which takes your money will ever send you an e-mail asking you for full ID information. Hell, even when you phone them up, they usually ask for "letters 2 and 6" of your password, not the whole thing. And check the sender's e-mail address for goodness sake - is it really likely that Barclays bank will be using a free webmail address?Just to add, it's not only e-mail; there are phone scammers who call claiming to be from your bank as well.

The rule-of-thumb is: "unless you have contacted the bank, do not give out any security information". If the bank calls you, they should already know who you are.

Also, if you get an email or other communication that makes you think "maybe I should check with my bank", don't use that communication to get the contact details for the bank. E.g. call the number on the back of your bank statement instead. And don't ever click on links in emails - they may not go where you think they do.

[DavidY]

Just to add, it's not only e-mail; there are phone scammers who call claiming to be from your bank as well.

The rule-of-thumb is: "unless you have contacted the bank, do not give out any security information". If the bank calls you, they should already know who you are. Some real banks have in the past phoned me up and then asked for personal details to confirm who I am.

I guess there are reasons why they need to do this (eg. it gives some protection if they've dialled the wrong number perhaps?).

The only thing to do seems to be to find out what they want and (as David said) phone back using the number from the bank statement.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Some real banks have in the past phoned me up and then asked for personal details to confirm who I am.Me too, although I hate it.
I guess there are reasons why they need to do this (eg. it gives some protection if they've dialled the wrong number perhaps?).or in case someone else answers the phone at your house. Or picks up your mobile.

The last time it happened the lady asked for my date of birth, to verify my identity. So I asked her for hers first, to check her identity. That threw her a bit.

[LMC]

Yeah, my bank phones me too and always seem surprised when I tell them firmly that I will call them back. Obviously most people aren't that security conscious :sick:

:devil: I might try making some stuff up next time they call me, just to check whether their security is working...

[El Salsero Gringo]

Yeah, my bank phones me too and always seem surprised when I tell them firmly that I will call them back. Obviously most people aren't that security conscious :sick:

:devil: I might try making some stuff up next time they call me, just to check whether their security is working...The other way is to give them the choice of 10 different dates (or names, or whatever they ask for), and have them tell you which one is correct.

Then things start to work like some digital security protocols.

[LMC]

"The significant owl hoots in the night" ...

[killingtime]

, my passwords are always 12 characters long and unguessable - but I can remember them because they are one or two real words mixed with numbers.

Ooh, ooh can I guess?

Err...

80C3rocRule5
1L0veC3roc23

You are quite right not to pick just words (that someone guessing your password can throw a dictionary at) or something that can be social engineered by someone that knows things about you.

[Cruella]

Is this anything to do with the MTU setting in AIX (and probably the network configs of other OS)?

MTU and AIX - 2 TLAs that combined to give me more grief and hair pulling moments than ever before in my work last year :angry:

Robert
The only bit of that i could understand (or found interesting) was the hair pulling! :D

[robd]

The only bit of that i could understand (or found interesting) was the hair pulling! :D

Di

If you're so bored that you're resorting to reading Geek's Corner then you deserve all you get.

:love:

[DavidY]

"The significant owl hoots in the night" ..."...but the constipated heron continues to dream of summer."

[LMC]

Ah, you're out of date there - that response was for the Money Grabbing B*st*ards Bank account which I closed 12 years ago, not my current account with Greedy Overcharging Gits.