New Technology Reviews!.: Application

Galaxy Nexus ICS boot animation live wallpaper, get it here [Download]

Galaxy Nexus ICS boot animation live wallpaper, get it here [Download]

Who is ready for another awesome live wallpaper? Yes, you read the title right and that sweet boot animation from the Galaxy Nexus and A...

Google Wallet to support Visa, American Express, and Discover

Google Wallet to support Visa, American Express, and Discover

When Google launched Google Wallet two days ago, there were concerns on how Google had chosen to launch the NFC-based system. Today’s an...

Facebook Messenger App for Android Review [Hands-On]

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
 
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="158" mce_src="http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4758/f10240540x263.jpg" src="http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4758/f10240540x263.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="f-1024-0" width="324" />Today Facebook announced the new Messenger App for Android and iOS. This is a stand alone application that will allow users to send instant and private messages on the go from their mobile device. As of late, Facebook has combined your regular messages with the IM’s you receive on their site into the same category, so it makes complete sense to blend all your messages into a single app. Today we’ve installed it for Android and are giving it a little spin, see what we think after the break.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
First off I was a bit surprised the actual logo and icon doesn’t show or mention Facebook whatsoever, just a simple lightning bolt looking design with a similar color theme — I guess they are just expecting all the Facebook followers to know and download it anyways. Right away it seems very similar to Google+ Huddle although I must admit they both have an issue with being reliable in regards to notifications.</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46653 aligncenter" height="324" mce_src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8450/messageicon306x540.jpg" src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8450/messageicon306x540.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message icon" width="184" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Right away you are greeted with the sign in screen and things are neat, clean, and simple to understand so that gets a thumbs up from me.</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46656 aligncenter" height="324" mce_src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/3401/messengerlogin306x540.jpg" src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/3401/messengerlogin306x540.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger login" width="184" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The app isn’t just a messenger app either, you can have group conversations and even change the title of the conversation — you could easily change the title to show where everyone is meeting after work for drinks and all the users could just see the new title. They even have a location service but I’ll talk more on that shortly.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The next page shows all of your instant and private messages right on a easy to see and read screen and from there you can instantly decide who to chat with and get started with a conversation. Obviously I don’t send a ton of Facebook messages clearly shown in the next picture.</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46657 aligncenter" height="324" mce_src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5530/messagehomescreen306x54.jpg" src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5530/messagehomescreen306x54.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message home screen" width="184" /></div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46658 aligncenter" height="324" mce_src="http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/9066/messagehomescreen1324x5.jpg" src="http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/9066/messagehomescreen1324x5.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message home screen 1" width="194" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
My initial impressions are good and so far I like the app and for those that reply on Facebook for day to day communication with friends and family this could really come in handy. I’ve been using Google+ Huddles for a while and they have a very similar look and feel. After using both I still find myself going back to GroupMe as the entire system and notifications just put both of these social network messaging options to shame, still.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
I don’t know about everyone else but the Android app sure is having a hard time regarding notifications. I’ve got everything set to notify yet I’ve not heard a sound, got a vibrate from my phone or as much as a notification up top that I had new messages waiting. I had about 10 waiting to be read but didn’t get a single notification. Once the app was up and started I was able to refresh and see the messages and I got a notification alert sound from my Android phone, just a little late to be helpful.</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46663 aligncenter" height="286" mce_src="http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7396/messengermainsettings54.png" src="http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7396/messengermainsettings54.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger main settings" width="324" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
There is however plenty of settings and options to choose from, you can enable or disable notifications or even the time of day to be notified and more. The picture above shows both the overall settings tab, as well as individual conversation settings options. Clearly shown I had all notifications ENABLED yet I didn’t get so much of a peep regarding notifications, so far this is a fail for those that need anything in a timely manor.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
My next complaint would be the location services, if I wanted everyone I talk to on Facebook to have my exact location I’d tell them — but I don’t. Location services are enabled by default and the app seems to keep that in a cache setting because I immediately turned that OFF yet was still able to be seen on a map. Vincent from our conversation clearly had my location and could even zoom down to my street. Facebook knows enough about all of us already, we don’t need them sharing our location with the world.</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-46666 aligncenter" height="324" mce_src="http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8597/messengerlocation324x54.jpg" src="http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8597/messengerlocation324x54.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger location" width="194" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
When actually in a conversation the updates are instant and communication is extremely quick and easy, first thing Facebook needs to do is fix the notifications though as they aren’t working so great. Now I know this is only version 1.0 so most likely changes are coming soon, but for a first try I’m not as impressed as I thought I’d be. While the group options and easy conversations sure are nice and convenient I think I’ll still use GroupMe for my messaging services until they update to address a few of these large problems. Uploading photos was extremely easy and smooth though so that is good. One thing I like about photo uploading is they are an attachment with that convo rather than being uploaded into a public album for everyone on your Facebook to see, this makes a great way to share pictures with Facebook friends privately.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
This was just a quick mini review of the new Facebook Messenger app for Android, for now I’ll give it a pass but I do recommend you try it out for yourself. For not having to sign up for anything new, and having a simple and easy user interface it could be a real winner that people will actually use if things are consistent and sync works correct all the time. Feel free to check out all the pictures in the gallery below and share any thoughts you have in the comment section. Are you guys getting notifications in a timely manor?</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Facebook Messenger Download</div>
<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="f-1024-0" class="attachment-thumbnail aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7470/f10240150x150.jpg" src="http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7470/f10240150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="f-1024-0" width="150" /> <img alt="message icon" class="attachment-thumbnail aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3779/messageicon150x150.jpg" src="http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3779/messageicon150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message icon" width="150" /> <img alt="messenger login" class="attachment-thumbnail aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1931/messengerlogin150x150f.jpg" src="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1931/messengerlogin150x150f.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger login" width="150" /> <img alt="message home screen" class="attachment-thumbnail aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8152/messagehomescreen150x15.jpg" src="http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8152/messagehomescreen150x15.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message home screen" width="150" /> <img alt="message home screen 1" class="attachment-thumbnail aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3343/messagehomescreen1150x1.jpg" src="http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3343/messagehomescreen1150x1.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message home screen 1" width="150" /> <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/messenger-main-settings/" mce_href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/messenger-main-settings/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" title="messenger main settings"><img alt="messenger main settings" class="attachment-thumbnail" height="150" mce_src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5835/messengermainsettings15.png" src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5835/messengermainsettings15.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger main settings" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/messenger-location/" mce_href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/messenger-location/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" title="messenger location"><img alt="messenger location" class="attachment-thumbnail" height="150" mce_src="http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3500/messengerlocation150x15.jpg" src="http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3500/messengerlocation150x15.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="messenger location" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/message-new-photo/" mce_href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/message-new-photo/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" title="message new photo"><img alt="message new photo" class="attachment-thumbnail" height="150" mce_src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5514/messagenewphoto150x150.jpg" src="http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5514/messagenewphoto150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message new photo" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/message-new/" mce_href="http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-messenger-app-for-android-review-hands-on-20110809/message-new/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" title="message new"><img alt="message new" class="attachment-thumbnail" height="150" mce_src="http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4553/messagenew150x150.jpg" src="http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4553/messagenew150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="message new" width="150" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>

Facebook Messenger App for Android Review [Hands-On]

Today Facebook announced the new Messenger App for Android and iOS. This is a stand alone application that will allow users to send inst...

The True Nature of Web Application Security: The Role and Function of Black Box Scanners

Why Web Application Security Securing a company's web applications is today's most overlooked aspect of securing the enterprise. Hacking is on the rise with as many as 75% of cyber attacks done through the web and via web applications.   Most corporations have secured their data at the network level, but have overlooked the crucial step of checking whether their web applications are vulnerable to attack.   Web applications raise certain security concerns. 1. To deliver the service (intended by design) to customers, web applications must be online and available 24x7x365 2. This means that they are always publicly available and cannot discriminate between legitimate users and hackers 3. To function properly web applications must have direct access to backend databases that contain sensitive information. 4. Most web applications are custom-made and rarely pass through the rigorous quality assurance checks of off-the-shelf applications 5. Through a lack of awareness of the nature of hack attacks, organisations view the web application layer as part of the network layer when it comes to security issues.   The Jeffrey Rubin Story In a 2005 review published by Information Week, a prominent security expert called Jeffrey Rubin, narrates his experience with a successful hack attack. The following is a citation from his article (the full reference is given at the end of this article):   "We're like most Web developers who use the Microsoft platform ... Although we try to stay up to date with patches and service packs, we realize attackers often go after application, rather than network, vulnerabilities. A colleague suggested we install a hardware firewall to prevent future attacks. Not a bad suggestion, but hardly a cure-all given that we have Ports 21, 80 and 443 and our SQL server (on a nonstandard port) wide open for development purposes. After all, we're in the business of developing dynamic Web pages, and our clients are all over the country".   Jeff's story is striking simply because (a) developers, like all, are also prone to error despite all the precautions they take to sanitize their developed applications and (b) as an expert he was still lulled into a false sense of security by applying the latest patches and service packs. Jeff's story, sadly, is not unique and arises from misconceiving the security infrastructure of an organization and the solutions available to assist people in their fight to protect their data.   Since many organizations do not monitor online activity at the web application level, hackers have free reign and even with the tiniest of loop holes in a company's web application code, any experienced hacker can break in using only a web browser and a dose of creativity and determination. The slack security also means that attempted attacks will go unnoticed as companies react only to successful hacks. This means that companies will fix the situation AFTER the damage is done. Finally, most hack attacks are discovered months after the initial breach simply because attackers do not want and will not leave an audit trial.   Systems administrators, CTOs and business people alike conceive cyber intrusion as standard physical intrusion: a thief in your house leaves markers, e.g., a broken window or a forced lock. In web application attacks this physical evidence is inexistent.   The Security Infrastructure of an Organization It is convenient to think of the infrastructure of an organization as one with various layers. In the same way you would protect against rust by applying a variety of paints, chemicals and anti-oxidants in layers, a systems administrator puts in place several specialized security solutions each addressing specific problem areas.   These security layers represent a holistic outlook that looks at security as hardened measures taken to minimize intrusion risks and maximize the protection around the key asset of any organization, its data.   Standard security layers include:   The User layer containing software including personal firewalls, anti-root kits, registry cleaners, backup, anti-virus, anti-phishing and anti-spy/adware The Transport layer including SSL encryption, HTTPS and similar protocols The Access layer with access control, authentication, crypography, firewalls, VPNs, Web Application Firewalls The Network layer with firewalls, network scanners, VPNs, and intrusion detection. The Fifth layer is the Application layer and must include web siote and web vulnerability scanning. Source code analysis fits in here Web Vulnerability Scanners are not Network Scanners Web vulnerability scanners (e.g., Acunetix WVS, Spi Dynamics WebInspect) are not network scanners (e.g., Qualys, Nessus).   Whereas network security scanners analyze the security of assets on the network for possible vulnerabilities, Web Vulnerability Scanners (WVS) scan and analyse web applications (e.g., shopping carts, forms, login pages, dynamic content) for any gaps resulting from improper coding that may be manipulated by hackers.   For example, it may be possible to trick a login form to believe that you have administration rights by injecting specifically-crafted SQL (the language understood by databases) commands. This is only possible if the inputs (i.e., username and/or password fields) are not properly sanitized (i.e., made invulnerable) and sent directly with the SQL query to the database. This is SQL Injection!   Network security defense provides no protection against such web application attacks since these attacks are launched on port 80 (default for websites) which has to remain open to allow regular operation of the business.   What is needed is a web application scanner / web vulnerability scanner or a black-box testing tool.   Black box Testing Black box testing is simply a test design methodology.. In web application black box testing, the web application itself is treated as a whole without analyzing the internal logic and structure. Typically, web application scanners would see whether the web application as a whole could be manipulated to get access to the database. Modern technology allows for a great degree of automation, in effect, reducing the manual input required in testing web applications.   It is important to say reducing and not minimizing or doing away with. As any security consultant will tell you, automation will never replace the intelligence and creativity of human intervention.   In general, automated scanners first crawl an entire website, analyzing in-depth each file they would find and displaying the entire website structure. After this discovery stage, the scanner performs an automatic audit for vulnerabilities by launching a series of hacking attacks, in effect emulating a hacker. Scanners would analyze each page for places where data could be input and will subsequently attempt all the different input combinations. The scanners would check for vulnerabilities on web servers (on open ports), all web applications and in website content itself. The more robust products launch such attacks intelligently using varying degrees of heuristics.   Heuristic Web Scanning It is important to understand that web vulnerability scanning should not be limited to scanning known applications (e.g. off-the-shelf shopping carts) and/or module vulnerabilities (e.g. SQL injection in phpBB Login Form) against a pre-determined library of known issues. If it were to do so, custom applications would remain untested for their vulnerabilities. This is the main weakness of products that are based on matching vulnerability signatures.   Consider anti-virus software as an example. Standard antivirus products scan for thousands of known viruses including old and known viruses (even ones that were created for old Windows 95 systems). In this day and age you would rarely encounter this OS but in the minds of consumers what is most important is "how many viruses does this software detect?". In reality, having the latest AV will give you protection for all but the viruses running in the wild. And it is these viruses that create the greatest damage. Standard AV products without the right technologies will not detect a virus in the wild if these could only match for "known" viruses. Good antivirus technology will allow heuristic file checking or intelligent ways of trying to identify patterns of application behavior which can result in a virus.   Web vulnerability scanning works in a very similar way. It would be useless to detect the known vulnerabilities of known applications alone. A significant degree of heuristics is involved in detecting vulnerabilities since hackers are extremely creative and launch their attacks against bespoke web applications to create maximum impact.   Of course, such an approach does give out false positives but even here there lies misconception and confusion. False positives are caused because an automated scan will flag issues that may seem to be a vulnerability. Automation is an invaluable aid and the accuracy of a scan depends on (a) how well your site is crawled to establish its structure and various components and links, and (b) on the ability of the scanner to leverage intelligently the various hacking methods and techniques against web applications.   Automated scanning will lead to false positives. Of course, this level of technological complexity does not lead to zero false positives. That is impossible. An automated scan will always generate false positives whichever product you use.   We always recommend automated scans to be supplemented with manual scans - this is probably one of the points that all security experts emphasize. Sadly, companies do not recognize the importance of the manual input. If you want your web applications to be secure you must spend a considerable amount of time checking the automated side of things. This is not to say that automation is inaccurate - on the contrary, it is very accurate and has cut down on much of the work. The automated scan will help you flag the possible problems including the false positives and prompt further manual investigation.   In web application security, it is better to have false positives than nothing at all.   Source Code Analysis Another set of products related to web vulnerability scanning are source code analyzers but these work differently to web vulnerability scanners. Source code analyzers are white-box testing tools that assist developers in their work by automatically analyzing the internal structure and logic of source code directly for errors and security loopholes. The level of complexity of such products is based on the complexity of logic of certain applications and the variety of coding languages. This means that few stable products exist on the market even though the technology is moving very fast.

The True Nature of Web Application Security: The Role and Function of Black Box Scanners

Why Web Application Security Securing a company's web applications is today's most overlooked aspect of securing the enterprise. ...

Apple patent application reveals plans for external battery pack, spells further trouble for HyperMac

<img alt="" border="0" hspace="4" src="/applepatent-battpack-1301680985.jpg" vspace="4"> Way back in September of last year, Apple filed a patent-infringement suit against HyperMac, the folks behind these external batteries. At the time, it looked like Apple was protecting its patented MagSafe power connector, but a newly released USPTO application for a "Power Adapter with Internal Battery" might reveal a more accurate view of the company's litigious motivations. From the look of things, the outfit intends to make its mark on juicing solutions with what is basically a wall charger packing an internal battery. According to the patent filing, the contraption would include a processor for parceling energy to the host device as well as the adapter, and could also incorporate a supplemental energy source like a solar cell. Among other things, it would also communicate with the device being charged to allow users to monitor the juice stored in the extra battery. If the thing does end up making it to market, it looks like HyperMac could have a whole lot more trouble on its hands than a little patent-infringement suit.Apple patent application reveals plans for external battery pack, spells further trouble for HyperMac <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/apple-patent-application-reveals-plans-for-external-battery-pack/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">via</A>

Apple patent application reveals plans for external battery pack, spells further trouble for HyperMac

Way back in September of last year, Apple filed a patent-infringement suit against HyperMac, the folks behind these external batteries. At t...

Spiral training Android application turns anyone into Peyton Manning... in theory (video)

<img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" src="fhttp://img862.imageshack.us/img862/6010/nerfperfectspiral.jpg" vspace="4"> Ah, ingenuity. We've seen Google's Android platform used for a host of unorthodox applications over the years, but Ben Kokes' concoction deserves a round of golf claps to call its own. The so-called Replay Football system employs a Bluetooth-enabled Nerf football with a 9-axis inertial sensing motion processing module (MPU-6000 by InvenSense), and when linked to a visualization / throw analysis application, you're able to analyze the rotation of a football in real-time as it's thrown. From there, the app breaks down the nuts and bolts of the toss, and while it's not able to blurt out pointers on correcting things just yet, we're seeing endless potential for the next revision. Don't believe us? There's a video just below that'll make a believer out of you, yet. <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/spiral-training-android-application-turns-anyone-into-peyton-man/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">via</A>

Spiral training Android application turns anyone into Peyton Manning... in theory (video)

Ah, ingenuity. We've seen Google's Android platform used for a host of unorthodox applications over the years, but Ben Kokes' co...

RunKeeper Pro Free Until the End Of January

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21850" height="400" src="http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6316/thumb550downloadandroid.jpg" title="thumb_550_download-androidDevice" width="193" /></div>Another year has passed, and with a new year starting, we all have some resolutions. And by far the most popular New Year’s Resolution is, of course, getting in shape. Living in the technology age we do today, we have many options to help us with this ever popular goal. A great application to help us is Run Keeper, which is by far the best mobile fitness tracking app to date, and to make things even better, it’s now free through the end of January. 
 
 
 
 
<center></center> 
Originally $9.99, the feature-packed app allows users to track their runs, bike rides and other activities via GPS. It has been so popular across both iOS and Android platforms that it has been named one of the top-grossing apps of 2010. 
 
Have you used RunKeeper? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below! 
 
QR Code: 
 
 
 
<center> 
<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21849" height="150" src="http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/9263/chart75583343.png" title="chart-7" width="150" /></center> 
[<a href="http://runkeeper.com/">Via</a> RunKeeper]

RunKeeper Pro Free Until the End Of January

Another year has passed, and with a new year starting, we all have some resolutions. And by far the most popular New Year’s Resolution is, o...

PacMap Location-Based Game Updated

PacMap Location-Based Game Updated

PacMap is proving to be an interesting location-based game for the Android platform. Essentially it’s a real-time PacMan game that uses yo...

How do I Add Web Reference to a C# Windows Forms Application?

How do I Add Web Reference to a C# Windows Forms Application?

Right-click the "References" node in the "Solution Explorer" window, then click the "Add Web Reference" optio...

How Could Web Application (In)Security Affect Me?

Nearly 55 percent of all vulnerability disclosures in 2008 affected web applications. Web applications have become the major hunting grounds for cyber criminals who quite rightly view them as low hanging fruit. Just as building new motorways improves access for traditional burglars and car thieves, web applications' internet accessibility literally delivers them to the hackers' doors. For some time now, cyber crime has simply been another arm of organised crime. And organised crime is pouring a substantial portion of its vast resources into cyber crime... because the return on investment is very high. Organised crime goes to great lengths to get its hands on any information - and the more confidential it is, the better. Once they've hacked into an application, they can either make use of it themselves or sell it on to others. They can also take control of the various resources such as servers and databases that house that information and turn a profit from that as well. Having gained control of your computing power by exploiting vulnerabilities and adding code to your application, they add your power to their existing haul and create botnets - a global network of robots reporting to their master command-and-control node - which can be directed to attack other organisations, or sold to other criminals who, once they hold enough power, can orchestrate denial of service attacks. No longer is it enough for these criminals to boast of their hacking prowess; these days it's all about the money. Given that a properly engineered denial of service attack is powerful enough to bring down pretty much any global multi-national corporation or, in fact, any small country and take them off-line for the duration, this is not about bragging rights, it's extortion. It is money-motivated from start to finish. Because all information and all computing power is grist to the mill for the criminals, no company is too small and certainly no company is too big to be targeted. And as the security in large enterprises is often no better than small entities, size is truly no barrier to the criminals. And no business can afford the consequences of a security breach. At the very least, mismanaging confidential information almost always leads to reputational damage. Reputational damage leads to departure of existing clients as well as difficulty attracting new business - a situation that can go on for many years. There are obvious bottom line implications to those consequences; in the most extreme cases, businesses can go under. According to IBM's X-Force 2009 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report, the predominant risks to web applications are from cross-site scripting, SQL injection and file include vulnerabilities. Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities occur when web applications do not properly validate user input, thus allowing criminals to embed their own script into a page the user is visiting. This script can steal confidential information or exploit existing vulnerabilities in the users web browser. Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities are typically exploited in phishing attacks by sending users a malicious link to a page in a legitimate domain name via email. The criminals get high returns because users trust the familiar domain name they are visiting and thus trust the links (created by the criminals) therein. SQL injection vulnerabilities are also about improperly validated user input, but in this case that input includes SQL statements that are executed by a database, giving attackers access to that database to read, delete and modify sensitive information (like credit card data) as well as embedding code into the database allowing attacks against other visitors to the web site. File-include vulnerabilities occur when the application is forced to execute code from a non-validated remote source, allowing criminals to take over the web application remotely. This category includes some denial-of-service attacks as well as techniques that allow criminals direct access to files, directories, user information and other components of the web application. Facilitating all these kinds of attacks is the fact that many web sites contain some code to support various features and functions which inadvertently introduces vulnerabilities. Russian roulette, anyone? Sense of Security is Australia's premier provider of a range of IT security and risk management solutions. Its services include IT security reviews, <a href="">penetration testing</A>, audit and PCI compliance. Sense of Security provides PCI compliance services through its team of QSA's to many of the countries leading organisations.

How Could Web Application (In)Security Affect Me?

Nearly 55 percent of all vulnerability disclosures in 2008 affected web applications. Web applications have become the major hunting grounds...

The Rise of Web Application Development Industry

Emerging of Web Application Development industryThe web application development industry has undergone a transition ever since it began a many years ago. During the infancy stage, all that websites carried was just contents but today times have changed and so have the business priorities. With the constantly increasing business needs, there is a growing demand for attractive and eye catching web designs. That is precisely the reason why the entire web development industry has emerged. Nowadays, there are companies which offer web design development and application products as per clientele requirements. The company is one such reputed custom web design, application and development company that offers professional expertise to business owners to help them secure customized web solutions right from.net applications to PHP development according to their business needs.Growth of Web Development IndiaState-of-the-art web development and applications have evolved to cater to consumer wants. Intense research and development carried out by qualified and dedicated professionals has simply propelled the growth of web development and application industry.Web development India too has witnessed a drastic change in its operative styles which has made it a reckon able IT hub all over the world. Besides, today web application products offer a highly skilled integration of various processes that increase the overall functional capacity of the website designed through correct methodologies and right application of knowledge. This ensures creation of a good web design with a perfect layout which guarantees a creative output.As a result of advancement in custom asp web development technologies and services, it now possible to get even custom web or programming solutions for banks and online shopping companies along with security provisions to guard the website against virus attacks and hacking attempts. And web developers in India are on par with the world in extending the best in the industry.Our team of qualified engineers and programming professionals has the skills in developing and executing various projects to customer satisfaction. In addition, by availing our expert product development company services you could obtain custom-built web based application and development solutions with latest features that satisfy your business needs and requirements that could enable you to save a lot of money and maximize your profits at the most affordable prices.	 	 		 			 				 					 						With Webmyne, you can get various web application development india services from the <a href="http://www.webmyne.com/capabilities/custom-development/php-web-development/" target="_new">php development</a> company, <a href="http://www.webmyne.com/capabilities/custom-development/product-development/" target="_new">product development company</a>, asp.net development at an affordable rate.

The Rise of Web Application Development Industry

Emerging of Web Application Development industry The web application development industry has undergone a transition ever since it began ...

Web Application Development - The Underlying Reason For Online Success

There are many steps that are involved in the activity of creating a web application. Each and every one of these steps needs to be undertaken in the most perfect manner possible. The need for undertaking the above steps is clear from the fact that every successful creation has behind it, an effective implementation of all these steps.Web applications are essential parts of a website. This is due to the reason that they are created for the implementation of specific services that are given on the website.One of the examples that can be given in this regard is the presence of the e-mail facility on many websites. This facility is incorporated with the help of a web application. Furthermore, the games that one can play on gaming websites are actually web applications. These two examples elucidate the importance of web applications and, moreover, vest the need for web application development.Web applications form the pedestal tools that are responsible for the business of the website to flourish. Therefore, a proper creation of these applications includes many things like effective implementation of network security measures (that are necessary for deeming the website safe from virus, worm attacks and hacking attempts.) A proper web application would entail the capability of warding off the latest worms and viruses that have been created (they are programs too and, unfortunately are results of brilliant minds having wavered in the wrong direction).The virtual world today harbors entities known as hackers with their number being alarmingly large. Thus, viruses are being created with every passing moment and, therefore, this is all the more important for web applications to be vested with the proper security features that would enable them to fend off the viruses. Hence, the process of web application development has to take this aspect also into consideration.Web application development [http://www.rupizmedia.com/web-applications] is, therefore, a task which takes into account many different aspects at the same time. Therefore, developers have to keep in mind many other features apart from the essential satisfaction of the primary objective behind creating the applications.The world today is primarily dependent on information technology for the completion of many of its needs. Hence, websites are becoming global entities with their respective applications becoming all the more important.	 	 		 			 				 					 						About the AuthorNaman Jain is an Internet Marketing professional, presently working with Rupiz Media, one of the leading SEM company offering expert SEO services, PPC Advertising, Article marketing services,drupal development, UK web development solutions and website designing [http://www.epurplemedia.co.uk/web-designing-development.html] over the globe.

Web Application Development - The Underlying Reason For Online Success

There are many steps that are involved in the activity of creating a web application. Each and every one of these steps needs to be under...

The True Nature of Web Application Security: The Role and Function of Black Box Scanners

Why Web Application Security Securing a company's web applications is today's most overlooked aspect of securing the enterprise. Hacking is on the rise with as many as 75% of cyber attacks done through the web and via web applications.Most corporations have secured their data at the network level, but have overlooked the crucial step of checking whether their web applications are vulnerable to attack.Web applications raise certain security concerns. 1. To deliver the service (intended by design) to customers, web applications must be online and available 24x7x365 2. This means that they are always publicly available and cannot discriminate between legitimate users and hackers 3. To function properly web applications must have direct access to backend databases that contain sensitive information. 4. Most web applications are custom-made and rarely pass through the rigorous quality assurance checks of off-the-shelf applications 5. Through a lack of awareness of the nature of hack attacks, organisations view the web application layer as part of the network layer when it comes to security issues.The Jeffrey Rubin Story In a 2005 review published by Information Week, a prominent security expert called Jeffrey Rubin, narrates his experience with a successful hack attack. The following is a citation from his article (the full reference is given at the end of this article):"We're like most Web developers who use the Microsoft platform ... Although we try to stay up to date with patches and service packs, we realize attackers often go after application, rather than network, vulnerabilities. A colleague suggested we install a hardware firewall to prevent future attacks. Not a bad suggestion, but hardly a cure-all given that we have Ports 21, 80 and 443 and our SQL server (on a nonstandard port) wide open for development purposes. After all, we're in the business of developing dynamic Web pages, and our clients are all over the country".Jeff's story is striking simply because (a) developers, like all, are also prone to error despite all the precautions they take to sanitize their developed applications and (b) as an expert he was still lulled into a false sense of security by applying the latest patches and service packs. Jeff's story, sadly, is not unique and arises from misconceiving the security infrastructure of an organization and the solutions available to assist people in their fight to protect their data.Since many organizations do not monitor online activity at the web application level, hackers have free reign and even with the tiniest of loop holes in a company's web application code, any experienced hacker can break in using only a web browser and a dose of creativity and determination. The slack security also means that attempted attacks will go unnoticed as companies react only to successful hacks. This means that companies will fix the situation AFTER the damage is done. Finally, most hack attacks are discovered months after the initial breach simply because attackers do not want and will not leave an audit trial.Systems administrators, CTOs and business people alike conceive cyber intrusion as standard physical intrusion: a thief in your house leaves markers, e.g., a broken window or a forced lock. In web application attacks this physical evidence is inexistent.The Security Infrastructure of an Organization It is convenient to think of the infrastructure of an organization as one with various layers. In the same way you would protect against rust by applying a variety of paints, chemicals and anti-oxidants in layers, a systems administrator puts in place several specialized security solutions each addressing specific problem areas.These security layers represent a holistic outlook that looks at security as hardened measures taken to minimize intrusion risks and maximize the protection around the key asset of any organization, its data.Standard security layers include: The User layer containing software including personal firewalls, anti-root kits, registry cleaners, backup, anti-virus, anti-phishing and anti-spy/adware The Transport layer including SSL encryption, HTTPS and similar protocols The Access layer with access control, authentication, crypography, firewalls, VPNs, Web Application Firewalls The Network layer with firewalls, network scanners, VPNs, and intrusion detection. The Fifth layer is the Application layer and must include web siote and web vulnerability scanning. Source code analysis fits in here Web Vulnerability Scanners are not Network Scanners Web vulnerability scanners (e.g., Acunetix WVS, Spi Dynamics WebInspect) are not network scanners (e.g., Qualys, Nessus).Whereas network security scanners analyze the security of assets on the network for possible vulnerabilities, Web Vulnerability Scanners (WVS) scan and analyse web applications (e.g., shopping carts, forms, login pages, dynamic content) for any gaps resulting from improper coding that may be manipulated by hackers.For example, it may be possible to trick a login form to believe that you have administration rights by injecting specifically-crafted SQL (the language understood by databases) commands. This is only possible if the inputs (i.e., username and/or password fields) are not properly sanitized (i.e., made invulnerable) and sent directly with the SQL query to the database. This is SQL Injection!Network security defense provides no protection against such web application attacks since these attacks are launched on port 80 (default for websites) which has to remain open to allow regular operation of the business.What is needed is a web application scanner / web vulnerability scanner or a black-box testing tool.Black box Testing Black box testing is simply a test design methodology.. In web application black box testing, the web application itself is treated as a whole without analyzing the internal logic and structure. Typically, web application scanners would see whether the web application as a whole could be manipulated to get access to the database. Modern technology allows for a great degree of automation, in effect, reducing the manual input required in testing web applications.It is important to say reducing and not minimizing or doing away with. As any security consultant will tell you, automation will never replace the intelligence and creativity of human intervention.In general, automated scanners first crawl an entire website, analyzing in-depth each file they would find and displaying the entire website structure. After this discovery stage, the scanner performs an automatic audit for vulnerabilities by launching a series of hacking attacks, in effect emulating a hacker. Scanners would analyze each page for places where data could be input and will subsequently attempt all the different input combinations. The scanners would check for vulnerabilities on web servers (on open ports), all web applications and in website content itself. The more robust products launch such attacks intelligently using varying degrees of heuristics.Heuristic Web Scanning It is important to understand that web vulnerability scanning should not be limited to scanning known applications (e.g. off-the-shelf shopping carts) and/or module vulnerabilities (e.g. SQL injection in phpBB Login Form) against a pre-determined library of known issues. If it were to do so, custom applications would remain untested for their vulnerabilities. This is the main weakness of products that are based on matching vulnerability signatures.Consider anti-virus software as an example. Standard antivirus products scan for thousands of known viruses including old and known viruses (even ones that were created for old Windows 95 systems). In this day and age you would rarely encounter this OS but in the minds of consumers what is most important is "how many viruses does this software detect?". In reality, having the latest AV will give you protection for all but the viruses running in the wild. And it is these viruses that create the greatest damage. Standard AV products without the right technologies will not detect a virus in the wild if these could only match for "known" viruses. Good antivirus technology will allow heuristic file checking or intelligent ways of trying to identify patterns of application behavior which can result in a virus.Web vulnerability scanning works in a very similar way. It would be useless to detect the known vulnerabilities of known applications alone. A significant degree of heuristics is involved in detecting vulnerabilities since hackers are extremely creative and launch their attacks against bespoke web applications to create maximum impact.Of course, such an approach does give out false positives but even here there lies misconception and confusion. False positives are caused because an automated scan will flag issues that may seem to be a vulnerability. Automation is an invaluable aid and the accuracy of a scan depends on (a) how well your site is crawled to establish its structure and various components and links, and (b) on the ability of the scanner to leverage intelligently the various hacking methods and techniques against web applications.Automated scanning will lead to false positives. Of course, this level of technological complexity does not lead to zero false positives. That is impossible. An automated scan will always generate false positives whichever product you use.We always recommend automated scans to be supplemented with manual scans - this is probably one of the points that all security experts emphasize. Sadly, companies do not recognize the importance of the manual input. If you want your web applications to be secure you must spend a considerable amount of time checking the automated side of things. This is not to say that automation is inaccurate - on the contrary, it is very accurate and has cut down on much of the work. The automated scan will help you flag the possible problems including the false positives and prompt further manual investigation.In web application security, it is better to have false positives than nothing at all.Source Code Analysis Another set of products related to web vulnerability scanning are source code analyzers but these work differently to web vulnerability scanners. Source code analyzers are white-box testing tools that assist developers in their work by automatically analyzing the internal structure and logic of source code directly for errors and security loopholes. The level of complexity of such products is based on the complexity of logic of certain applications and the variety of coding languages. This means that few stable products exist on the market even though the technology is moving very fast.	 	 		 			 				 					 						Read more articles on web application security at the <a href="http://www.acunetix.com/websitesecurity/" target="_new">Acunetix Website Security Centre</a>.

The True Nature of Web Application Security: The Role and Function of Black Box Scanners

Why Web Application Security Securing a company's web applications is today's most overlooked aspect of securing the enterprise....

How to Write Script to Launch a Desktop Application From a Web Browser

How to Write Script to Launch a Desktop Application From a Web Browser

Right-click the HTML file you want to use to open the application. Select "Open With." Double-click the "Notepad" icon ...