Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
frowningMember
I suggest doing the following:
1. Disconnect from the internet.
Make sure you disable all wireless/wired adapters in Network Connections
This will stop the malware from communicating from its host site2. Uninstall any other free AV (other than avast! Home Edition) that you have installed
I do not know of any free AV besides avast! that has Boot Time scanning
If you have paid for AV software (I’m sorry) disregard this step3. Download (from another computer) and Install avast! Home Edition
Download avast! Home Edition
Make sure to uncheck Skins Interface during the install — this “feature” is the most annoying part of avast!4. Schedule a Boot Time Scan
Right click on the spinning a in your system tray
click on “Start avast! Antivirus”
Wait for it to check memory and startup items
Once it has loaded Click “Tools” >> “Schedule boot time scan”
Make sure the “Scan all local disks” radio button is selected
Make sure that “Scan archive files” checkbox is selected
Check “Advanced Options”, select “Move infected files to Chest” in the first drop down box, select “Ignore delete or move for system files” in the second drop down box
Click Schedule
Reboot your computerOnce your computer starts up avast! should immediately start scanning all your local drives for many types of malware. This scan takes place before Windows starts so any malware cannot interfere with the scan while it is in progress.
Sometimes avast asks for input during the scan so sit close to the computer while its going on. It will most probably take a long time to finish but that depends on how many files are on your system.
frowningMemberashoniker wrote:…Im looking for an instant messenger for corperate use that is secure, not leaving an trails on the internet…There is nothing that leaves no trails. Everything you do can be potentially traced depending on the skill and power of your adversary. There are ways that will make it more difficult for an adversary to trace you/figure out what you are doing.
One of the easiest ways to increase security is by using encryption and you will want to choose messaging software that has this capability.
It will prevent someone from spying on your employees’ conversations while they are in transit on the untrusted internet.
Two free and open solutions that I can think of off the top of my head are IRC and SILC. Both support various forms of encryption. If you do not have any knowledge setting up servers you will most likely not want to use these solutions.
Assuming that you have a BES server installed on top of a Exchange, Groupwise, or Lotus Domino server you can just use the native messaging options of that particular software (I don’t know of Microsoft’s, Lotus Sametime, Novell GroupWise). To greatly increase security on those networks without any server-side upgrades use Off the Record Messaging. It will allow you to enable encryption client side through a third party messaging client like Pidgin. This is far more easy to setup but will require each employee to set it up on his/her own.
frowningMemberthis post on lifehacker Lifehacker – Five Best Free Data Recovery Tools – Data Recovery might be of help.
frowningMemberIf you’re using Pidgin on Linux to connect to AIM you can do this easily with the bash script i just wrote. Pidgin is able to store plain-text logs. Linux has a very easy to learn scripting language, bash, along with a wide variety of command line tools that make it easy to “play” with text files.
I must warn you that ftp is inherently insecure. Your username, password, and data will all be sent in plain text. The script also stores your username and password in plain text so if you cant trust your own machine don’t use it.
Also, unless you are using the OTR (Off the Record) Messaging plugin in Pidign your AIM (and all other protocols Pidgin supports except maybe SILC or IRC w/ SSL) conversations are unencrypted and can be spied on at various points in transit. Note: Since 2.5.5 Pidgin has support for AIM logins via SSL.
I’m using Pidgin 2.4.1 on Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS. These directions might vary depending on the version of Pidgin or the distribution you choose to use. Of course, you can try to run this on Windows with Cygwin but I cannot confirm that this works. You might also be able to run this on OS X but I’ve never used Adium (native Pidgin alternative based on libpurple for OS X) and have not provided info on how to enable logging in it.
Before we begin you must have Pidgin and gpg installed. gpg comes with the base install of many Linux distros including Debian and its derivatives (which use signed packaging). Of course, you will also need a few utilities like bash, tar, ftp, wget and a text editor of your choice (to create the script) among others but these should be installed by default.
Bugs:
* Scenario: You run this script _before_ you finish talking on Pidgin and then go to your other box. On the other box you run the script to get the logs and you start talking on Pidgin. After you finish talking you run the script again and send an updated archive to your site. When you return to your first box and unarchive, the logs that were created after you ran the script will be lost forever.
** Just make sure you only run the script ONLY AFTER you have finished talking on Pidgin or else you run the risk of loosing some of your logs.
* after running the script hundreds/thousands of times “/tmp/old_tty_setting” might get too big… just make sure to clean up /tmp once in a while. :/
* every once in a while you will need to delete old files named with the prefix logs_ from your ftp site.
* disregard the TODO: i forgot to remove it before i uploaded it… getting the archive is implemented!
** also pastebin.ca mistakenly makes half the script red — its syntax highlighting is broked, i guess
* Report any bugs/suggestions to [email protected] (remove SPAM and NO)
USE LAPSE.SH TO SEND PIDGIN LOGS TO A FTP SITE1. First, enable plain text logs in Pidgin.
* From the “Tools” menu select “Preferences”
* select the “Logging” tab
* check “Log all instant messages”This will enable logging of all instant messages.
2. create a gpg key
* generate a key by typing this in the command lineCode:gpg –gen-key* Answer the prompts presented. Usually the defaults are good enough. don’t forget your passphrase!
* find your key idCode:gpg –list-keys* remember this keyid, you will need it later
This will allow you to encrypt your conversations before sending them to an ftp server. If you don’t want to encrypt your logs skip this step.
3. Create a text file with the following contents
* Open your favorite graphical or CLI text editor
* paste this into it: pastebin – Someone – post number 1430227
* save the file as lapse.sh in your home directory ~/
* or use wget:Code:wget -O – http://pastebin.ca/raw/1430227 > ~/lapse.sh* or get it from the forum: i’ve attached it to this post
* make the file executable:Code:chmod +x lapse.sh3.1 Modify the file
* edit it to add your site name, type, user/pass, location of logs (if they’re in a non-default location,) keyid (if you’re encrypting,) and the remote directory where you want to store the archive.4. Run the file
* whenever you want to send your logs to the ftp site just run the file:Code:./lapse.shThis will archive the logs, encrypt (if you choose), and send those logs to your ftp site.
4.1 get the archive
* run the script with the following:Code:./lapse.sh getThis will get the archive from ftp only!
4.2 decrypt the archive
* run the script with the following: (notice the decrypt after the script name)Code:./lapse.sh decryptThis will get the archive from ftp and decrypt (if it is encrypted) it only!
4.3 unarchive and place your logs
* run the script with the following: notice the unarchive after the script name)Code:./lapse.sh unarchiveThis will get the archive from ftp unarchive, decrypt that archive (if it is encrypted), and potentially overwrite logs that already exist.
OTHER THOUGHTSIf you don’t have Pidgin installed or don’t want to fool around with the above script you can use a aim client on a remote site. But of course, you’ll have to trust that site to a certain degree.
I suggest getting a shell account at silenceisdefeat.com ($1 USD). They have access to naim which is a terminal AIM client capable of storing logs. If you use screen along with this client you can have your aim conversations automatically saved at a centralized place and you will always (as long as SD is up) remain logged in.
bshellz.net provides a similar service which is no cost for initial sign up but you must send text to a robot in their irc channel once a week. That is, unless you donate more than ~15$ USD/ 10 GBP. They have access to pidgin’s text client finch, unlike SD! 🙂
If you want to take it further you can try to implement Soashable http://github.com/harlanji/soashable OR http://soashable.sf.net/ — FLOSS meebo clone on your own box/server.
frowningMemberYes, there is a way to do that.
I’m assuming you are talking about the icon that comes up on the Buddy List. To do it click “Buddies” on the top menu >> click “Show” >> and uncheck “Buddy Details”.
May 19, 2009 at 6:30 pm in reply to: Transfer application date (profile and settings) from old computer to new #172213frowningMemberYes, there is a way to copy gaim/pidgin data from one computer/install to another.
Like most other Linux software Pidgin uses unix-like hidden directories in the home directory to store flat configuration files. In Linux, one way to hide folders from short listing is by prefixing the folder using a period (.). This idea, for Pidgin, carries into the Windows port and configuration is kept in “.purple” folder.
In Windows the closest thing to a home directory is the “My Documents” folder. This is inside an “Application Data” directory/folder which contains many of the user specific configuration files for various programs.
Anyway, the .purple folder’s location depends on which version of Windows you are using.
The Using Pidgin Section of the Pidgin FAQ lists
Code:* For Windows 2000/XP/Vista(?), entering %APPDATA% in your Windows Explorer address bar will take you to the right directory (probably something like C:Documents and SettingsusernameApplication Data).
* For Windows 98/ME it will be something like C:WindowsProfilesusername.Copying this folder to your new pidgin install should transfer your configuration (including stored passwords, usernames, away messages, etc) for Pidgin.
If you also customized your GTK installation you might need to also copy your gtkrc file which, according to the FAQ, might be located in a variety of places including a global, user-specific, and pidgin-user-specific.
-
AuthorPosts