Prevention is much better than curing it

Internet & Network security have always been a matter of great concern and will continue to be, there is no doubt. Content theft, network intrusion, phishing, password cracking, key logging e.t.c are some of the most common types of attacks that take place everyday all around the world. If a “hacker/attacker” is intending to hack into something, no matter how secure the target is, he’ll do anything to get his job done.

This doesn’t mean it’s easy to hack into anything and everything. Hacking is only possible if a security system allows a hacker intrude in, whether through a loop hole or by breaking in forcefully. Again, loop holes can only be exploited if they are successfully found.

If the security system is smart enough or the loop holes are timely identified and blocked, it’s always better. Earlier i had written a similar article on “How To Achieve Better Security” which explains an unconventional way to keep away malware from your system . To add more, there are two great freeware applications called, Harden It and Secure It by Sniff’em that block many of the ignored security flaws, in Microsoft Windows. You just install these tiny apps(only few KBs in size), run them and secure your PC from the all the security adjustments they offer. Also, their list is updated frequently, so you can protect your system from newly discovered flaws.

What is Secure-It™ ?
Secure-It™ is a local Windows security hardening tool developed by Thierry Zoller, it proactively secures your PC by either disabling the intrusion and propagation vectors proactively or reduce the attack surface by disabling underlying functionality malware uses to execure itself.

It secures Windows desktop PCs against new dangers by blocking the root cause of the vulnerabilities exploited by malware, worms and spy ware . In some cases Secure-it is even able to protect your PC against threats prior to a patch release of the vendor.

What is Harden-It™ ?
Harden-It™ is a Network and System hardening tool for Windows, by hardening the IP stack your Network can sustain or completely thwart various sophisticated network attacks. Harden-It is intended for advanced or professional user.

Being infected with a malware or/and a spyware is one of the most common issues that every internet-enabled computer encounters, not to forget the annoyances if such infections. No Anti-malware or any Internet Security package is always up-to-date. There always is a fluctuation of performance of the Security software from time to time. This is something that might never change, you can’t control it!

There is a way where you can brick your security to level that it blocks any connection with the harmful websites, thus reducing the threat level in your computer. This can be achieved by adding the ip address followed by the web address of the harmful website (explained ahead) in the HOSTS file (Windowssystem32driversetcHOSTS).

If you do not wish to waste your time on manually adding each crappy website then install the Host File Updater.

What it does … (from mvps.org)

The HOSTS file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local (your) machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists.

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems.

Example – the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? … because in certain cases “Ad Servers” like Doubleclick (and many others) will try to open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing.

For XP SP2 users you should see a Security Center prompt about allowing this connection. [screenshot]
Simply click No and continue. Yes the prompts can be annoying but at least you’ll know, however you should not see these prompts if these entries are included in the HOSTS file.

Note: this prompt only occurs if (example) *.doubleclick.net is included in the “Restricted Zone“.

The downside of this great tweak is that after installing the new HOSTS file with the installer program it adds thousands of harmful websites to be blocked which even includes projectwonderful.com and some others that you might find important! That means, if you are a publisher or advertiser on projectwonderful.com, make sure you remove the website from the blocked section in the HOSTS file.

To unblock a useful website:

1. Disconnect the LAN and the internet.
2. Open up the HOSTS file in the notepad program, Ctrl + F and type projectwonderful, after you find it, remove the entry and save it so that you can easily access your projectwonderful.com account!
3. Restart you computer, if you do not see any changes.

Way to get around DNS Propagation:

1. Also, if you wish to access a website that is a victim of the Delayed DNS Propagation or any restricted website,
2. Again, loose all the connections with the LAN and the internet and open the HOSTS file in the notepad
3. Look for an entry that says ‘127.0.0.1  localhost’ in the very beginning of the list
4. Go to the next line after the ‘127.0.0.1  localhost’ add the ip-address of the website to be un-restricted, leave a space and the web-address of the website without the ‘www’. Again, in the next line, add the same IP and the web address with the ‘www’  It should look like:

127.0.0.1 localhost
11.22.33.44 example.com
11.22.33.44 www.example.com