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Here’s What You Missed About The Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Here's What You Missed About The Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Networking is surely a best form of information transfer among the connected devices, that too, without compromising security. When it comes to big businesses, with growth, they may have to spread beyond one roof into several branches. So a good networking model means that, such growth should not hamper the information transfer between the organization and employees. To facilitate this expansion, the latest technology being employed is the Virtual Private Network (VPN).

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What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)?

A Virtual Private Network is a popular technology which uses a public network, like internet to connect between private networks. The private network of a business is accessed by the people working in that organization, using the internet, but through a secured connection. Though it’s on the internet, for everyone else it is encrypted data which almost makes no sense.

Before the adoption of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology, the interconnection between branch offices was done with leased lines. As the name suggests, these lines are leased by a telecommunication company to businesses, and the entire business forms one single WAN. With these leased lines, security wasn’t the issue but something else was; scalability and cost. For a business to spread to some new geographical location, the entire hardware was to be updated and improved to extend this WAN, a little further. This only means more money just for data sharing and it gets much more with further increase.

Anyways, thanks to the Internet, modern day businesses don’t have to go through all that. This migration from leased lines, led to the transformation to the Virtual Private Network technology.

 

Understanding VPN in Detail

For people who are new to networking and stuff, everything discussed till now must have been like Greek and Latin. Don’t worry at times we struggle too to get stuff into our minds. So, here’s breaking It up for you.

Consider you are on island with lots of islands around you, but nothing too close to walk. Now imagine there are a small boat and a submarine by the shore. Now, if you choose to travel from an island A to B through the boat, you are visible to everyone. Your identity is out there in the open and people can even see what you’re wearing, if you are wearing a hat or not and all of it.

If you chose to travel in a submarine, anyway you will reach the destination, plus without being identified. All this is just to create a better understanding about how a VPN actually works. Here, Internet is the ocean, the boat is any normal browsing session and the submarine is a secured route.

Just to show you the link between the considered example and the real world scenario, we take a step further and list the advantages the VPN carries with it.

  • Security
  • Scalability
  • Reliability

In either cases, i.e in our island example and the VPN technology, these attributes are all there. Both are very secure, can easily switch between islands, and certainly reliable.

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PC Guides Tech News Technologies Web Guides

These Online Programming Competitions Are The Best

programming competitions

Internet in more than one ways has fast become the best tool for all class of people. Today, the web is a collection of almost everything; Entertainment, News, Study Resources you name it and it’s there online. This situation has almost developed a win-win situation for both companies and the masses.

Companies have already started taking advantage of online competitions to pick out the best among the crowd. There actually are a lot of websites these days where you can compete with pioneers in different fields, given you are eligible. This article highlights the best online programming competitions across the internet. So, if you are a programmer here’s where you get to check how good a programmer you are.

These Online Programming Competitions Are The Best

The Best Programming Competitions

 

  • ACM ICPC

The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is the most prestigious programming competition for college students, sponsored by IBM. After years from when it actually started, the ICPC has developed into the best contest that helps programmers showcase their potential in computer science.

It is known as one of the toughest programming contests on earth. You can check out a lot more information on this contest in its official website:

http://icpc.baylor.edu/

Initially you start in the regional level and once you clear them, you get to participate in world finals held in different continents each year.

 

  • Top Coder

Top Coder is another such competitions which tests your mettle to the core. Considered to be a most sought out programming competition, Top Coder is one of the largest communities in itself. All the members of these communities work on industry related problems and win cash prizes and fame. There are a variety of fields you can compete in Top Coder, and win cool gift hampers and cash prizes.

The best and somewhat unique part about Top Coder is their rating system. Its members are constantly rated based on their success and the one best rated programmer is awarded as the best coder over time. So, simply with Top Coder the more you compete, the better placed you will be.

Check out more about Top Coder on its official website:

http://www.topcoder.com/

 

  • Google Code Jam

Of the many contests Google conducts every now and then, Google Code Jam is one prominent programming competition among them. It is a multi round competition and is open for all internationally. Google uses this competition to filter the most talented programmers and place them within its organization.

This competition is time based and the participants are expected to solve algorithmic puzzles and problems. Anyways, participants can use any programming languages, text editors and development software for their solutions. Most part of the competition is online but the finals is an onsite event, similar to the ACM ICPC.

The official website of this programming competition is:

https://code.google.com/codejam/

 

  • Microsoft Imagine Cup

Microsoft is not far beyond Google in picking out its employees through an international competition. This competition brings together programming minds from all corners of the world to find solutions for the toughest of problems. This competition is further divided based on fields and Software Design is one of the five major technology competitions.

This competition is a once-per-year event, while there are also monthly challenges, where participants are to write a given snippet of code using as less lines as possible.

Find out more about this competition on the official website:

http:// www.imaginecup.com/

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Tech News Web Guides

Beamforming: This Simplest Approach Makes Your Wi-Fi Connection Faster

netgear beamforming+ wireless routers work on beamforming technology

The Netgear R6300 AC1750 dual band gigabit 802.11ac router after one and half years from its launch, is now equipped with the latest firmware update (v1.0.2.68). This latest update means that this model (and the R6200, R6250 models) will now have improved wireless performance and a wider coverage area. Based on the Beamforming Technology, this update is capable of providing a 60% improved performance at a distance of 50feet (As per Netgear’s tests).

Beamforming: This Simplest Approach Makes Your Wi-Fi Much Faster

What Is Beamforming Technology?

Beamforming, is one of the most simplest approach where in which the router instead of broadcasting signals in all directions, does it in one specific direction. This means that there will no longer be any broadcasting hoping it would reach the target, but instead there will only be aiming the signal to a specific targeted device. Looks quite simple isn’t it?

Actually in the retail point of view it wasn’t. Due to this reason, the market was stuck with routers only capable of broadcasting in all directions, in spite of suffering several disadvantages like the RF interference and dead spots. Anyways, thanks to NETGEAR for already making it a reality. But let’s see how actually this Beamforming Technology could be implemented.

How Beamforming Works?

Firstly, take for instance a bulb which radiates light in all directions equally. And obviously as you move away from the bulb the intensity keeps on decreasing where at a point there is no light at all. This is the case every other router which doesn’t support Beamforming.

Now consider the light radiated is forced to travel along a particular channel, now a fixed point along the channel there is increased intensity than in the earlier case. This is basically how a device supporting Beamforming is expected to work.

To elaborate, the beamformer (the device that transmits) focuses the entire signal towards a beamformee (a client receiving device) thus enabling less interference thus establishing a stronger, faster and more reliable wireless communication.

What’s NETGEAR Beamforming+ About?

NETGAR has developed a full range of wireless routers and adapters based on the 802.11ac standard which come with the integrated BeamForming Technology. In the earlier routers Beamforming was offered as an optional feature but not much emphasis was given until all benefits surfaced.

This option could only be utilized when both the router and the client device supported beamforming. This anyway isn’t the case with the NEATGEAR Beamforming+ wireless routers, where the client device need not necessarily support Beamforming.

In a nutshell, Beamforming+ refers to the various products of NETGEAR which have implemented the Beamforming Technique; hence obtaining improved Wi-Fi performance across all the Wi-Fi devices specially designed to work in the 5Ghz band.

Netgear isn’t the only manufacturer which is implementing the Beamforming technique. It is now fast becoming a common feature being employed in almost all high-end routers.

Also See: Why your Wi-Fi is not as fast as expected.

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PC Hacks Security Web Guides

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

Today Internet is a tool that is almost mandatory. It also presents an opportunity to hackers for taking advantage of the ignorance of users. Due to which large sums of computers are effected simply by launching virus into a network in order to steal information. To prevent this, we have many software that help us to protect our information known as antivirus and firewall, but this time we are going to use the Google translation tool to browse anonymously and avoid being tracked.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

Google Translate is a tool with two uses. One is well known that is for which it was created, to translate between different languages ( both words and / or phrases ). The second use is for safe navigation , it is a useful tool for when you don’t want to be reached and ensures a safe browsing session. It may also be useful in accessing the pages that are restricted by location. Now as we are going to use Google translate as our Proxy server, we need to know what actually a proxy is ? , Roughly we can say that proxy server acts as a mediator between the server that hosts the web and the thing we are searching. A quick example is given below :

Connecting without a web proxy  : Computer > Server that hosts the web

Connection web proxy                   : Computer > Proxy Server > Server that hosts the web

Does Really Using The Google Translate As Your Proxy Server Hides Your Navigation ?

 

To show its operation, we are going to consider a website that is used for getting our public IP address. Now we are going to perform this operation with and without proxy.

To begin just move on to Google Translate and paste or write the website that you want to access via proxy.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

Then click on the link displayed in the translated section , which is the link to the website in a hidden mode ( Hidden navigation ). Now you can see in the below image that it shows the IP address of the Google, as we just used the google server for our navigation.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

In this below image you can see that the IP address had been changed as we are navigating without any proxy. This is the actual  public IP address of the computer.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

Now let’s try the IP localization, proceed the same way to explore IP, this website also gives the information related to the ISP ( internet service provider ) and the present location of the IP address.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

As you see in the above image, it is giving the location and the ISP that are not ours. As  we are using Google proxy ( That is the location of google server ). Now in the below image we can see that its showing the actual location and ISP of ours this is because in the above case we have hidden our navigation by using proxy.

How To Use Google As Your Proxy Server For Secure Navigation

In short, we have a free tool that offers the possibility of anonymity on the Internet . It is also an easy fast to use tool. It also has the advantage that we can use it from any device, browser and / or computer and the navigation is totally safe.

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PC Guides Security Web Guides

What Is A Firewall And How It Works

what is firewall and how it works, web application firewall

Firewalls are that extra layer of security which helps in restricting intruders. It can either be a software firewall or a hardware firewall. They have this unique ability of protecting entire network from the external environment. In this article you will understand what is a firewall and how exactly their implementation will protect the security and integrity of a given network.

what is firewall and how it works

 

Firewall – A Security System

Firewall is a network security system that can be implemented as a hardware device or a software program. A firewall once it is setup effectively filters out all the traffic that flows into a given network (or even a single computer) from some other network, like the Internet. This filtration is done based on the set of rules given to the Firewall.

It means that the resources present in a particular network can now be accessed only by the traffic that is allowed in the policy. And all the other traffic is denied access.

This security system has become more and more necessary with the increasing attacks of intruders, malicious codes and hackers. And if this network is the size of the internet, these unprotected computers become easy prey to hackers. So, one needs to understand the importance of a firewall and select that type of firewall which perfectly suits them. But that’s another lesson for another day.

 

Rule–Set (or) Firewall Policy:

The functioning of a Firewall is completely dependent on its rule-set. Based on this rule-set the firewall either accepts or denies external traffic. Actually a rule-set is that technical coding a Firewall Administrator does so as to tell the Firewall how he wants it to function. Basically, any firewall has a default setting to reject all traffic and to this policy few modifications are done so as to allow only a defined group of traffic.

The Firewall Administrator hence should have the perfect idea of what all the traffic he wants to allow into the network. If you are using Windows you can modify the firewall rule-set using the firewall setting in your control panel. But we recommend you do so only after understanding all the consequences.

 

Firewall Rules:

Each of the technical statements of the rule-set can address two types of traffic i.e. inbound and outbound. The rules governing these are the inbound rule and outbound rule.

Inbound Rule:

Inbound rules are those which are used by the Firewall to filter the incoming traffic. Generally, each computer when on the internet gets assigned with an IP address. So a computer on the network can be converted as a web server by defining an inbound rule and made to accept traffic. The aforementioned is one application and the other being the ability to hold video conferences.

Outbound Rule:

Outbound rule blocks or explicitly allows all the traffic that is originating from the host network. For example, you can block traffic from the network from going to a particular IP Address, or the time of day and so on using the firewall. For example, you can block the messages going out from your instant messenger using the outbound rule.

 

The Bottom Line:

For every computer that goes online, firewall is a must. Like mentioned Windows by default blocks all inbound traffic and allows all outbound traffic but all of that can be changed as per your requirements.

Also See: The Blooming Of Web Application Firewalls

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PC Hacks Security Web Guides

How To Protect Yourself From Phishing And Internet Frauds

How To Protect Yourself From Phishing And Internet Frauds

One of the major concerns of any user accessing the Internet is the security of their data , both when it comes to documents stored in the cloud, and also the unauthorized access to email accounts. Particularly most of them are concerned about the security and integrity of their personal data.

We often hear or read news related to phishing , but really not everyone knows what this technique is , what consequences it can lead to and especially what to do in order to protect ourselves.

What is Phishing ?

Phishing is a method used by hackers around the world to impersonate any person or entity. In this method they try to earn your trust and thus ensure that you provide the data they need to make use of your bank cards and accounts.

It is important to understand that using this system, the scammer doesn’t directly steal your data, instead you will be the one who will deliver all data requested by the hacker, of course with absolute ignorance of the fact that you are being tricked.

How you may be victim of Phishing ?

One of the most common technique is to request your details via email; they pretend to be officers from some bank and thereby extract the required information from you. For instance, you may get an email which looks like it has been sent from an official source stating that your account will be canceled if you fail to submit the required information. This email will generally be full of colors and corporate logos everywhere in order to make you believe in their trickery. The arguments used may be different.

How To Protect Yourself From Phishing And Internet Frauds , How To Protect Yourself From Phishing And Internet Frauds

Another main methods in obtaining your data is by supplanting the official website of your bank and thereby insisting you to fill in your details and tries to earn your trust.

How can you protect yourselves from these scams?

The best method of protecting your bank details from falling into the wrong hands is to use common sense and especially distrust. No bank will ask your bank account details ( like account number and pin number ) in any case, there are no exceptions, they never ask in any form, whether by email, web browser or whatever. In case you have doubts about how to respond to a received email, then directly call to your bank’s help line center and get yours doubts cleared there and then, that too before providing any such details.

Our recommendations to prevent Internet fraud are :

=>If in doubt, ask your bank.

=>Remember that fraudulent emails you receive can be properly written without any spelling mistakes, with all the official logos but keep a note that no bank will request you for data by an email.

=>You may not only receive a fraudulent email from a bank, it is possible that we may receive them from other platforms such as Ebay or even Facebook .

=>Check your bank accounts regularly and if in doubt about any concept contact your bank.

=>Enter your details only on pages that are marked as safe . You can identify a secure web page if it starts with https instead of http.

=>Protect your computer with a good antivirus that offers anti-spam and anti-phishing filters.

=>Never access any website through the links that are provided by an email , it is always recommended to type the web address directly into the browser as you may be taken to a page that has been supplanted.

Finally, we recommend that if you have already been a victim of such a scam, do not hesitate to notify the police. If you hold the tips explained to you, you can browse and carry out online shopping without any problems , through public and secure pages.

 

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PC Hacks Security Web Guides

Hide your IP Address And Stay One Step More Secure On The Internet

Hide your IP Address And Stay One Step More Secure On The Internet

Online privacy is one of the most important aspect that you should consider. If you don’t then things could end up disastrous. Usually IP addresses are like your footprints, and often should not be known by the websites you visited or other users. So there are a number of methods to hide your IP address and thus making your online life a bit more secure.

Also See: How To Find The IP Address Of Your Computer

What Is An IP Address? It is your identity on the internet, which identifies your computer, smartphone, tablet, or anything else with which you are connected. As we always say ” If it’s on the internet, it isn’t private ” , Any server which you connect to, or any internet user can easily obtain your IP address.

By using IP address they can obtain the data such as the country you live in, what browser you use, even know your Internet habits and also have a chance to know your computer’s IP address. If someone else knows all such details about you and your computer, then your security is truly under question.

 

Hide your IP Address And Stay One Step More Secure On The Internet

 

How to Hide your IP Address ?

There are several methods to hide your IP address in order to protect your privacy , but neither method is 100% effective only hinder your crawl. Here are the three methods to hide your IP address:

 

#1 Web-Proxies:

This is the fastest and simplest method. No need to install anything on your computer or on your web browser. All you need to do is, just move on to any web-proxy website and enter the address that you want to access anonymously in the search bar. Now you will be redirected to your requested website by hiding your IP address.

Many of these proxies allow additional settings, such as advertising, cookies or applications running on the website and many more. There are now many web proxies, both free and paid versions, some of them are:

 

#2 Configure the proxy settings in the browser :

Another method is to configure the proxy settings in your web browser. So by using this method you can directly use your web browser itself so as to hide your IP address. To do this you must access the settings of your browser and establish a web proxy of your choice.

Another possibility to hide your IP using the browser is to install extensions that help us to maintain our privacy and security.

 

#3 Proxy software :

These proxies have to be installed on your computer , and work the same way as any normal program. One of the best known software proxies is the ” TOR Project “, which besides being free, it is one of the most reliable and safe to hide in the network methods. TOR browser is also pretty popular and is being used by thousands of people worldwide.

It is composed of a network of computers called nodes. When you connect to TOR, it follows a path through the various nodes and finally connect to the server, making it quite difficult to find the source as you can seamlessly connect to the network from a node located in any other country. Besides this, communications through the TOR network are encrypted , making it even more difficult.

We don’t say its unchangeable but surely it isn’t going to give way to intruders so easily.

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Security Web Guides

How to Avoid Malicious Softwares Using Google Chrome

How to Avoid Malicious Softwares Using Google Chrome

Internet is full of all kinds of software , and also a part of it are the malicious software. These software could be used against us and can help hackers steal our data, monitor our tasks, infect our devices, for the economic benefit of the creator, and many more.

It is impossible to find a method that works 100% to avoid this malware infection, but we always have some kind of protection if we have adequate security. Although as I have always said the best antivirus is common sense. Still, not everyone is ready to surf the Internet without any kind of ” shield ” .

How to Avoid Malicious Softwares Using Google Chrome , Avoid Malicious Softwares , Avoid Malicious Softwares

In recent years, Google has been developing a type of protection system that can notify us when potential threats are detected by the Google Chrome. It is useful for people who don’t use any protection. It is not foolproof, because no antivirus is 100% accurate but can definitely save us from some unexpected frights.

The project takes a long time in development by Google and the system is already well advanced. It warns you when the Google Chrome note that some malware can affect your computer . It is available for Windows, Android, Linux, and Mac OS. Probably we will see this option in the official versions of Google Chrome in 2016.

Steps To Activate The ” Avoid Malicious Software ” option :

To activate this option we should access the hidden browser options of Google Chrome. This page contains information about all the on  going projects which Chrome is undertaking and are not 100% completed. Now, just copy and paste the below Line to the address url bar of your Google Chrome and hit enter .

chrome://flags#malware-interstitial-version

Now the hidden browser feature page of Google chrome will be displayed.

In malware interstitial version select the ” New version ” option from the scroll down menu. After this you need to restart the browser and then it will automatically start its work.

It may not provide complete and highly efficient protection, but fine for people living idly surfing the Internet. In addition, it will help Google Chrome in testing one of their new projects which have good sense, which then lets you go faster.

Note :  1.) Don’t Try to change any other options in the hidden browser feature section as they are not yet tested and the consequences could be severe .

2.) If at all by the time you are trying this, if you can’t find this option on that page, it is to be understood that the feature is already added to your Chrome as an update.

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