Distributed Denial of Service

This is by far the most deadly of all denial of service attacks, since an easy fix is hard to come by. Instead of just installing the latest hardware and software, network administrators will usually need extra help with these types of attacks.A distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS, is much like the ping flood method, only multiple computers are being used. In this instance, the computers that are being used may or may not be aware of the fact that they are attacking a website or network. Trojans and viruses commonly give the hacker control of a computer, and thus, the ability to use them for attack. In this case the victim computers are called zombies.A DDoS attack is very tough to overcome. The first thing to do is to contact your...

Read more »

SYN flood attack

The SYN flood attack takes advantage of the TCP three-way handshake. This method operates two separate ways. Both methods attempt to start a three-way handshake, but not complete it. You can view the proper three-way handshake below.The first attack method can be achieved when the attacker sends a synchronize request, or SYN, with a spoofed IP address. When the server tries to send back a SYN-ACK request, or synchronize-acknowledge request, it will obviously not get a response. This means that the server never obtains the client’s ACK request, and resources are left half-open. Alternatively, the attacker can just choose to not send the acknowledgement request. Both of these methods stall the server, who is patiently waiting for the ACK request....

Read more »

Fedora 9 on a USB Drive

This week's release of the Fedora 9 Linux distribution makes putting a full-fledged desktop on a portable USB thumb drive a three-click affair. Even better, you don't need Linux installed to create it, you can leave the data on your thumb drive untouched, and any files you create or settings you tweak remain in place the next time you boot up. After the jump, let's create a fully-functional desktop-to-go using a simple Windows program and a 1GB or larger thumb drive.Why Fedora? Turning a live CD ISO into a bootable USB image has been possible for some time now, but it usually involves some heavy lifting with the command line, and almost always in Linux. Fedora's liveusb-creator program makes USB imaging dead simple, and the Fedora distribution...

Read more »

Mandrake 9.2 Installation

With the release of Mandrake 9.2 a few months ago, many are now trying there hands out on this new distros. In this article we are going to take a look at the installation and configuration of Mandrake 9.2 from the Windows user's perspective. For those of you who want to get hands-on facts on working with Mandrake 9.2, you can take a look at our multimedia training on this month at If you are a graphical interface fan like me, you will be glad to know that the installation of Mandrake 9.2 can be done entirely through the graphical user interface similar to that found in Windows. For anyone who has installed an operating system before in will be a walk in the park. Mandrake 9.2 comes on three CD's. With CD 1 and 2 housing...

Read more »

Suse Linux operating system

SUSE linux operating system is another company with desktop focus, although a range of less visible enterprise class products are also available. The distribution has received positive reviews for its installer and YaST configuration tools, developed by SUSE's own developers. The documentation, which comes with the boxed product, has repeatedly been labelled as the most complete, thorough and usable by far. The distribution has achieved substantial market share in Europe and North America, but it is not marketed in Asia and other parts of the world. SUSE was acquired by Novell in late 2003.SUSE's linux operating system development takes place completely behind closed doors and no public betas are provided for testing. The company has a policy...

Read more »

Fedora core Linux operating system

For many, the linux operating system name Red Hat epitomises Linux, as it is probably the best-known Linux company in the world. Founded in 1995 by Bob Young and Marc Ewing, Red Hat, Inc. has only recently started showing signs of profitability, due to services and its Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system product line. However, Red Hat Linux 9 was the last version in the Red Hat Linux product line, which was replaced by Fedora Core in late 2003. While Fedora is officially sponsored by Red Hat, it is developed with community participation, has a short life-span and serves mainly as a testing base for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.What is so special about Red Hat linux operating system and Fedora Core? It is a curious mix of conservative and...

Read more »

Slackware Linux operating system

Slackware linux operating system, created by Patrick Volkerding in 1992, is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. It offers no bells and whistles, sticking with a text-based installer and no graphical configuration tools. Where other distributions tried hard to develop easy-to-use front ends for many common utilities, Slackware offers no hand-holding and everything is still done through configuration files. Because of this, Slackware is only recommended to those novice users who intend to spend some time on learning about Linux.Nevertheless, Slackware has a magic appeal to many users. It is extremely stable and secure - very suitable for server deployment. Experienced linux operating system administrators find that the distribution is less...

Read more »

Mandriva Linux operating system

The Mandriva Linux Operating system (formerly Mandrakelinux), started by Gaël Duval, is a distribution that has experienced enormous rise in popularity since its first release in July 1998. The developers took the Red Hat distribution, changed the default desktop to KDE and added an easy-to-use installer, breaking the myth that Linux operating systems are hard to install. Mandrake's hardware detection features and disk partitioning utilities are considered by many to be the best in the industry and many users found themselves running Mandrake where other distributions failed to provide the required usability. Mandriva Linux has since matured to become a popular distribution among those new to Linux and among home users looking for...

Read more »

GeexBox Linux operating system

GeeXboX linux operating system is a full operating system, running under Linux and based on the excellent MPlayer. No need of hard drive, you just have to put the GeeXboX bootable CD into the CD-Drive of any pentium-class computer to boot it. Moreover, GeeXboX linux operating system is a free software, created thanks to many open-source software. This means that everyone can modify it and build his own release of the GeeXboX. You may wonder why you could have to boot on another operating system to play your media files, but just think about the Mini-ITX plateforms like VIA Epia/Eden or Shuttle barebones. It's now affordable to bring DivX to your home cinema, pluging this kind of computers directly to your TV....

Read more »

Windows Gaming under Linux, game with WineX

The growing popularity of the Linux game depends for an important part on the gaming possibilities. Of course lots of people only use their computers for serous productive work, but the majority wants to have some fun as well. Gaming under Linux was always a weakness. There were limited Linux games available and Windows games did not play on Linux. The last half year has seen some change in this. With the outcome of the latest version of Wine 2x and WineX 3.x, Windows gaming under Linux is taken a step further. In this issue we concentrate on the commercial version of Wine especially for playing Windows games under Linux, WineX. Next month we will discus Wine itself in a separate article. What is WineX Simply said, WineX...

Read more »

ASUS Eee PC

The ASUS Eee PC (pronounced as the letter e, IPA /iː/) is a subnotebook computer designed by ASUS. At the time of its introduction, it was noted for its combination of a light weight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive and relatively low cost. Newer models have added the option of Windows XP operating system, traditional hard disk drives. Newer models have also increased in price, though they remain relatively inexpensive as laptops, and remarkably inexpensive for an ultra-small laptop. According to ASUS, the name Eee derives from "the three Es," an abbreviation of its advertising slogan for the device: "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play". The device may fall into a newly defined category of netbooks. According to DigiTimes,...

Read more »

History of cryptography

The history of cryptography begins thousands of years ago. Until recent decades, it has been the story of what might be called classic cryptography — that is, of methods of encryption that use pen and paper, or perhaps simple mechanical aids. In the early 20th century, the invention of complex mechanical and electromechanical machines, such as the Enigma rotor machine, provided more sophisticated and efficient means of encryption; and the subsequent introduction of electronics and computing has allowed elaborate schemes of still greater complexity, most of which are entirely unsuited to pen and paper.The development of cryptography has been paralleled by the development of cryptanalysis — of the "breaking" of codes and ciphers. The discovery...

Read more »