What is new in kernel 2.6.38
A quite minor change in the process scheduler makes systems with 2.6.38 feel much faster, and more far-reaching changes to the VFS (virtual file system) make some tasks much faster. Some of the changes to driver code that deserve mention include Wireless LAN (WLAN) drivers and expanded support for current graphics chips from AMD and Nvidia.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Red Hat Releases Beta of First Update to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 takes another step forward with the availability of the beta for the first update to the platform.
Red Hat delivered its latest major operating platform release Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. in November 2010, A new standard of flexibility, efficiency
and control for customers’ commercial open source environments. The
release included features applicable to all computing environments —
from physical to virtual to the cloud – with improvements in
performance, scalability and reliability. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 takes another step forward with the availability of the beta for the first update to the platform. The beta includes new features, bug fixes and support for new hardware from our key partners
Nagwin - Nagios for Windows
Nagios for windows is now available for those users who want to run Nagios on their windows environment. Tevfik Karagulle produced a distribution package of Nagios Core for Windows systems using Cygwin.
You can download the package at sourceforge :
Download here Nagwin
Download NagwinDown
Download NagwinDown
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Open source : the electronic equivalent of generic drugs
Open source: the electronic equivalent of generic
drugs
Like the generic drugs that have
transformed health care provision in the South, open source software is royalty
and license free, and is therefore substantially cheaper to acquire than branded
alternatives. The reason for this is that open source software is developed by
volunteer collectives who are not seeking to profit from its
sale.
In addition, just as the recipe for generic drugs is made
public, so the source code or inner workings of open source software is
accessible to the user. Any qualified person can see exactly how the software
works and can easily make changes to the functionality.
- IICD
Open Source in Africa Briefii
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The MeeGo Lifebook Fujitsu MH330 has landed
MeeGo is an emerging open source operating system for Web-centric
mobile devices that now cover netbooks, slates and smartphones.
Similar to the iPhone OS and Android OS, the Linux-based MeeGo is a
light and fast operating system that enables rich user experience via
graphics enhanced widgets or apps that hook users instantly to social
networking sites and multimedia content online.
Recently, Fujitsu launched its Lifebook MH330—the first MeeGo netbook based on the Intel Atom processor.
The installed MeeGo OS on Lifebook MH330 isn’t the stock, or the pure,
version that can be downloaded on the MeeGo website. Fujitsu has made a
lot of customization on the platform to make it feature Fujitsu’s
trademark.
hping
hping is a command-line oriented TCP/IP packet assembler/analyzer.The interface is inspired to the ping(8) unix command, but hping isn't
only able to send ICMP echo requests. It supports TCP, UDP, ICMP and
RAW-IP protocols, has a traceroute mode, the ability to send files
between a covered channel, and many other features.
Friday, March 18, 2011
WhisperCore brings device-level encryption to Android
Whisper Systems, the developers of the RedPhone voice encryption and TextSecure SMS encryption systems for Android phones, has now released WhisperCore. The software is a device-level encryption system that is intended to protect all the data on a user's Android phone.
Whisper Systems CTO and co-founder, Moxie Marlinspike, told CNET
that WhisperCore "uses AES with 256-bit keys in XTS mode, the same disk
encryption protocol that's proven itself in the PC space with tools
like TrueCrypt or LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup)".
This first release is an early beta labelled version 0.1 and is
described as a tech-demo. This release is only currently available for Nexus S
phones but is expected to expand to other devices soon. WhisperCore
will be available for free for individual use with pricing for
commercial use dependent on deployment size.
The web site currently available states that the system integrates
with the Android operating system and protects all the data and programs
on the phone. It includes full-disk encryption and can be set so as to
also protect data held on the phone's SD card.
The WhisperCore Beta is available to download
on the Whisper Systems web site. Three installers are available, for
64-bit Linux, Mac OS X and 64-bit Windows. As a beta it should not be
used where security or stability is important.
PHP 5.3.6 Released!
The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate
availability of PHP 5.3.6. This release focuses on improving the
stability of the PHP 5.3.x branch with over 60 bug fixes, some of which
are security related.
All PHP users should note that the PHP 5.2 series is NOT supported anymore. All users
are strongly encouraged to upgrade to PHP 5.3.6.
Controversy surrounds Red Hat's "obfuscated" source code release
Red Hat has changed the way it ships the source code for the Linux
kernel. Previously, it was released as a standard kernel with a
collection of patches which could be applied to create the source code
of the kernel Red Hat used. Now though, the company ships a tarball of
the source code with the patches already applied. This change, noted by Maxillian Attems and LWN.net,
appears to be aimed at Oracle, who like others, repackage Red Hat's
source as the basis for its Unbreakable Linux. Removing the visibility
of information about which patches have, or have not, been applied will
be difficult for companies like Oracle who use the patch information so
they know what state the Red Hat kernel is in before applying their own
patches.
The changes do not appear to violate the GPL version 2
which requires redistribution of source code where the "source code for
a work" is defined as the "preferred form of the work for making
modifications to it". The term applies to the entirety of the work, in
this case the Linux kernel and Red Hat is shipping that work in its
entirety.
When queried about the change, officially Red Hat had no comment,
but sources with an intimate knowledge of Red Hat's operations
confirmed to The H that the obfuscation was taking place and it was a
deliberate move to make business harder for downstream consumers of Red
Hat's Enterprise Linux source code, specifically Oracle.
Reports suggest that Red Hat's own engineers are also upset by the
move. Others outside the company are more blunt; Attems, for example,
said "Red Hat should really step back and not make such stupid
management moves". Although targeted at Oracle, the changes will make
work harder for distributions such as CentOS,
the community built Linux distribution also based on Red Hat's sources.
CentOS is built from the RHEL source by a limited number of volunteers
and Red Hat's change in policy will mean more work for them unless more
volunteers or other companies step in and provide them with assistanceRead the article
Thursday, March 17, 2011
New Linux kernel goes faster
The newest update to the Linux operating-system kernel features a number
of enhancements that should offer a performance boost, particularly for
running databases and other programs that require maximum resources
from the server.
Linux
2.6.38 comes with a number of significant changes that should speed
performance, including the addition of new technologies such as
automatic process grouping and transparent huge pages. It also includes
significant improvements in the VFS (virtual file system).
With
automatic process grouping, the process scheduler groups all processes
with the same session ID as a single entity. A single program can spawn
multiple processes on a computer, which may then take up more resources
than necessary. Advocates say
that the process-grouping approach will allow programs to divide the
processor time more equitably, resulting in improved performance
overall.
Transparent huge pages increases the cache size for
storing frequently consulted memory addresses, called pages.
Traditionally, page sizes have been limited to 4KB, though modern
processors support larger sizes. With larger page sizes, heavier
workloads such as database work can use the cache more often, reducing their execution times.
VFS
has been made more scalable. Its directory cache and path lookup
mechanisms have been revamped, which should make multithreaded workloads
more scalable and single-threaded workloads execute faster. Torvalds
noted that of all the updates in this release, "my personal favorite
remains the VFS name lookup changes."
Beyond performance enhancements, the updated kernel features a number of other new features as well.
Read the article
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
PinguyOS is now out!
Pinguy OS is an optimise build of Ubuntu 10.10 Minimal CD
with added repositories, tweaks and enhancements that can run as a Live
DVD or be installed. It has all the added packages needed for video,
music and web content e.g. flash and java, plus a few fixes as well. Like fixing the wireless problems, gwibber’s Facebook problem and flash videos in full-screen.
PinguyOS can be downloaded here :
PinguyOS 32 bit
PinguyOS 64 bit
Security: Fortifying Android Market Application Security: 11 Ways to Do It
Google faced one of its more serious attacks when developers laced
58 applications in the Android Market with malicious code. The
programs, which Google quickly removed March 1, were intended to grab
codes that identify mobile devices and determine the OS version running
on a device. Google not only notified police of the attacks and
suspended the developer accounts responsible for the suspicious
"DroidDream" malware, but took the unusual step of engaging
its kill switch. That is, the search engine remotely removed the
offending applications from users' devices. It’s only the second time
Google has taken such a step. As an open-source platform where Google
lets developers write code with great freedom and flexibility, Android
is an ideal target for malicious developers and hackers attempting to
dupe people or simply mess around with the Android Market applications.
Security experts weighed in with their thoughts on the matter. For this
slide show, eWEEK talked to some of those experts, including software
developers from security firms and analysts, to learn how Google can
improve security in its Android Market for mobile phone and tablet
users.
Reference
Reference
Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream,' says free software movement founder
Nearly three decades into his quest to rid the world of
proprietary software, Richard Stallman sees a new threat to user
freedom:
smartphones.
"I don't have a cell phone. I won't carry a cell phone," says
Stallman, founder of the free software movement and creator
of the GNU operating system. "It's Stalin's dream. Cell phones are
tools of Big Brother. I'm not going to carry a tracking
device that records where I go all the time, and I'm not going to
carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop."
Stallman firmly believes that only free software can save us from our technology, whether it be in cell phones, PCs, tablets
or any other device. And when he talks about "free," he's not talking about the price of the software -- he's talking about
the ability to use, modify and distribute software however you wish.
Stallman founded the free software movement in the early- to mid-1980s with the creation of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation, of which he is still president.
59 Open Source Tools That Can Replace Popular Security Software
It's been about a year since we last updated our list of open source
tools that can replace popular security software. This year's list
includes many old favorites, but we also found some that we had
previously overlooked.
In addition, we added a new category -- data loss prevention apps. With
all the attention generated by the WikiLeaks scandal, more companies are
investing in this type of software, and we found a couple of good open
source options.
Thanks to Datamation readers for their past suggestions of great open
source security apps. Feel free to suggest more in the comments section
below.
Anti-Spam
1. ASSP Replaces: Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, SpamHero, Abaca Email Protection Gateway
ASSP (short for "Anti-Spam SMTP Proxy") humbly calls itself "the
absolute best SPAM fighting weapon that the world has ever known!" It
works with most SMTP servers to stop spam and scan for viruses (using
ClamAV). Operating System: OS Independent.
2. MailScanner
Replaces: Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, SpamHero, Abaca Email Protection Gateway
Used by more than 100,000 sites, MailScanner leverages Apache's
SpamAssassin project and ClamAV to provide anti-spam and anti-virus
capabilities. It's designed to sit on corporate mail gateways or ISP
servers to protect end users from threats. Operating System: OS
Independent.
3. SpamAssassin
Replaces: Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, SpamHero, Abaca Email Protection Gateway
This Apache project declares itself "the powerful #1 open-source spam
filter." It uses a variety of different techniques, including header and
text analysis, Bayesian filtering, DNS blocklists, and collaborative
filtering databases, to filter out bulk e-mail at the mail server level.
Operating System: primarily Linux and OS X, although Windows versions
are available.
This group of tools uses Bayesian filters to identify spam based on
keywords contained in the messages. It includes an Outlook plug-in for
Windows users as well as a number of different versions that work for
other e-mail clients and operating systems. Operating System: OS
Independent.
Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware
5. ClamAV Replaces Avast! Linux Edition, VirusScan Enterprise for Linux
Undoubtedly the most widely used open-source anti-virus solution, ClamAV
quickly and effectively blocks Trojans, viruses, and other kinds
malware. The site now also offers paid Windows software called
"Immunet," which is powered by the same engine. Operating System: Linux.
If you're looking for a free version of Clam for Windows, this is the
way to go. It's used by more than 600,000 people on a daily basis and
integrates with Outlook and Windows Explorer. Note however, that it
doesn't have an automatic real-time scanner—you have to click on
individual files in order to scan them. Operating System: Windows.
Anti-Spyware
7. Nixory Replaces Webroot Spy Sweeper, SpyBot Search and Destroy, AdAware
Nixory removes malicious cookies that you might have picked up while
browsing the Web with Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome. The latest
release includes a lightweight real-time scanner that deletes cookies
while you surf. Operating System: OS Independent.
Application Firewall
8. AppArmor Replaces: Barracuda Web Application Firewall, Citrix NetScaler Application Firewall,
Included in both openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise, Novell's
application firewall aims to secure Linux-based applications while
lowering IT costs. Key features include reports, alerts, sub-process
confinement, and more. Operating System: Linux.
The "most widely deployed WAF (Web Application Firewall) in existence,"
ModSecurity protects applications running on the Apache Web server. It
also monitors, logs, and provides real-time analysis of Web traffic.
Operating System: Windows, Linux.
Backup
10. Areca Backup Replaces: NovaBackup
Designed to be both simple and versatile, Areca lets you choose which
files to back up, set up a schedule and determine what type of backup to
perform (incremental, differential, full or delta). Notable features
include compression, encryption, as-of-date recovery and more. Operating
System: Windows, Linux.
11. Bacula
Replaces: Simpana Backup and Recovery , NetVault, HP StorageWorks EBS
Enterprise-ready Bacula backs up multiple systems connected to a
network. Users often say that it is easier to set up than similar
commercial programs, and it can write to many different types of storage
media. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
12. Amanda
Replaces: Simpana Backup and Recovery, NetVault, HP StorageWorks EBS
The "most popular open source backup and recovery software in the
world," Amanda backs up the data from more than half a million desktops
and servers. In addition to the free community version, it's also
available in a supported enterprise version, as an appliance or in the
cloud through Zmanda. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
13. Partimage
Replaces: Norton Ghost, NovaBackup, McAfee Online Backup, Carbonite.com
Partimage is particularly useful if you need to recover from a complete
system crash or if you need to install multiple images across a network.
It's very fast and can restore to a partition on a different system.
Operating System: Linux.
Browser Add-Ons
14. Web of Trust (WOT) Replaces: McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus
Web of Trust describes itself as "the world's leading community-based,
free safe surfing tool." It's very similar to SiteAdvisor, providing a
traffic light-like symbol that shows you the trustworthiness of a site
before you click. It works with all major browsers, including Firefox,
Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Opera. Operating System: Windows,
Linux, OS X.
15. PasswordMaker
Replaces Kaspersky Password Manager,
Roboform
If you struggle to create and remember unique passwords for all the
sites and services you use, PasswordMaker can help. With this tool, you
only need to remember one master password. And unlike other password
management systems, this plug-in doesn't save your passwords in a
database anywhere, so it's even more difficult for someone to figure out
your login credentials. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
Data Removal
16. BleachBit Replaces Easy System Cleaner
BleachBit frees up extra space on your hard drive while protecting your
privacy by erasing your cookies, temporary files, history, logs and
other junk. It also includes a "shredder" that completely erases all
traces of files you have deleted. Operating System: Windows, Linux.
17. Eraser
Replaces BCWipe Enterprise
Just because you've deleted a file doesn't mean it's actually gone from
your system. Eraser thoroughly eliminates data you don't want by writing
over it several times with random information. Operating System:
Windows
18. Wipe
Replaces BCWipe Enterprise
Very similar to Eraser, Wipe provides the same functionality for Linux
users. This site also provides a little bit more technical detail about
the process in case you're curious about how it works and want to drill
down into the geeky details. Operating System: Linux.
19. Darik's Boot and Nuke
Replaces Kill Disk, BCWipe Total WipeOut
Before you recycle or donate old systems, it's a good idea to delete all
the data on your drives. Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN for short) shreds
all data on any drives it can detect. Operating System: OS Independent.
Data Loss Prevention
20. OpenDLP Replaces RSA Data Loss Prevention Suite, CheckPoint DLP Software Blade, Symantec Data Loss Prevention Product Family
OpenDLP scans your network and identifies sensitive data at rest on your
Windows systems. In includes both a Web app, which lets system
administrators or compliance officers deploy the tool and view reports,
and a client, which runs inconspicuously on end users' systems.
Operating System: Windows.
21. MyDLP
Replaces RSA Data Loss Prevention Suite, CheckPoint DLP Software Blade, Symantec Data Loss Prevention Product Family
The creators of MyDLP strongly imply that if the U.S. government had
installed their software, it could have prevented the WikiLeaks scandal.
It detects and protects sensitive data from being transmitted, and it
installs in just 30 minutes. Operating System: Windows, Linux, VMware.
Encryption
22. AxCrypt Replaces McAfee Anti-Theft, CryptoForge
The "leading open source file encryption software for Windows," AxCrypt
has been registered by more than 2.1 million users. It's particularly
easy to use—simply right-click to encrypt and double-click to de-crypt.
Operating System: Windows.
23. Gnu Privacy Guard
Replaces PGP Universal Gateway Email Encryption, Cypherus
Based on OpenPGP, "GPG" allows users to encrypt and sign digital
communication. This is a command-line version, but several other
projects offer graphical implementations of the same engine (see below).
Operating System: Linux.
24. GPGTools
Replaces , Cypherus
This is a nice version of GPG for Mac users. Operating System: OS X.
And, as you probably guessed, this is a version of GPG for Windows. This
one comes with excellent documentation. Operating System: Windows.
Technically, PeaZip isn't an encryption tool; instead, like WinZip it's a
compression and archiving tool. However, like WinZip, PeaZip includes
encryption capability, and PeaZip reads and writes more formats than its
commercial counterpart. Operating System: Windows, Linux.
27. Crypt
Replaces McAfee Anti-Theft, CryptoForge
Lightweight and ultra-fast, Cyrpt encrypts and decrypts Windows files
with minimal fuss. In fact, you don't even have to install it on your
system in order to use it. Operating System: Windows.
28. NeoCrypt
Replaces McAfee Anti-Theft, CryptoForge
Like AxCrypt, NeoCrypt supports right-click encryption directly from
Windows Explorer (however, it does not support Windows 7). It offers
users a choice of 10 different encryption algorithms and includes batch
encryption capabilities. Operating System: Windows.
29. LUKS/cryptsetup
Replaces PGP Whole Disk Encryption
"Linux Unified Key Setup" or "LUKS" provides a standard format for hard
disk encryption that works on all Linux distributions. The cryptsetup
project makes LUKS usable on the desktop. Operating System: Linux.
30. FreeOTFE
Replaces PGP Whole Disk Encryption
This tool creates virtual disks on your system that encrypt all data
stored there. It's easy to use, and can even be run from a thumb drive.
Operating System: Windows.
31. TrueCrypt
Replaces PGP Whole Disk Encryption
If you want to encrypt your entire drive or a partition of a drive (not
just a few files or folders), TrueCrypt does the job for you. Its
popularity continues to grow, and it has now been downloaded more than
17 million times, up from around 14 million downloads a year ago.
Operating System: Windows.
Secure File Transfer
32. WinSCP Replaces CuteFTP, FTP Commander
Downloaded more than 40 million times as of last November, WinSCP is a
very popular SFTP, FTP, and SCH client. Note that it offers a file
transfer client only (no server version). Operating System: Windows.
33. FileZilla
Replaces CuteFTP, FTP Commander
If you'd like to set up your own SFTP, FTP or FTPS file server,
FileZilla makes it easy. It also offers a client version of the software
. Note that while the client version works on all operating systems,
the server is for Windows only. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
Forensics
34. ODESSA Replaces EnCase Forensics, X-ways Forensics, AccessData Forensic Toolkit
Although it hasn't been updated in several years, the Open Digital
Evidence Search and Seizure Architecture, aka "ODESSA," offers several
different tools that can be useful in analyzing digital evidence and
reporting on findings. The site also offers several white papers related
to the topic. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
35. The Sleuth Kit/Autopsy Browser
Replaces EnCase Forensics, X-ways Forensics, AccessData Forensic Toolkit
The Sleuth Kit includes a set of digital investigation tools that run
from the command line. For those that prefer a graphical interface, the
Autopsy Browser provides a front-end to the tools. Operating System:
Windows, Linux, OS X.
Gateway/Unified Threat Management Appliances
36. Endian Firewall Community Replaces: Check Point Security Gateways, SonicWall, Symantec Web Gateway
With Endian Firewall Community, you can turn any PC into a Unified
Threat Management appliance. It includes firewall, antivirus, anti-spam,
content filtering and a VPN. The company also sells pre-configured
appliances and supported versions of the software. Operating System:
Linux.
37. Untangle Lite
Replaces: Check Point Security Gateways, SonicWall, Symantec Web Gateway
Like Endian, Untangle offers free software that you can use to create
your own multi-function Unified Threat Management appliance. Untangle
also offers preconfigured appliances, as well as paid versions of the
software with support and additional features. Operating System: Linux.
38. ClearOS
Replaces: Check Point Security Gateways, SonicWall, Symantec Web Gateway
Designed for smaller organizations, ClearOS combines network server
functionality with a gateway appliance. In addition to anti-spam,
anti-virus and the other usual assortment of security software, it
includes multi-WAN, groupware, database, Web server software and more.
Support and additional services are available for a fee. Operating
System: Linux.
39. NetCop UTM
Replaces: Check Point Security Gateways, SonicWall, Symantec Web Gateway
NetCop describes itself as "an identity-based UTM with stateful
inspection firewall, antivirus, web cache, content filter, IPS/IDS,
WANLink load balancer, bandwidth limiter, anonymous proxy blocker, WiFi
hotspot manager, SSL VPN manager, and much more!" It's free for up to
five concurrent users or available in paid SME or Enterprise versions.
Operating System: Linux.
Intrusion Detection
40. Open Source Tripwire Replaces Tripwire
Tripwire alerts IT when changes have been made to specific files
connected to the network, helping them to detect intrusions. The
standard version of Tripwire is no longer an open source project, but
the community-developed version is based on the original project code.
Operating System: Windows, Linux.
Another File Integrity Checker, or AFICK, offers very similar
functionality to Tripwire. It was designed to be portable and
easy-to-install. Operating System: Windows, Linux.
Network Firewalls
42. IPCop Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall, Check Point Appliances
Designed for home or home office users, IPCop turns any basic PC into a
Linux-based firewall to protect your network. It can be accessed and
maintained via a Web interface and includes some good documentation, so
it's fairly easy to use. Operating System: Linux.
43. Devil-Linux
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall, Check Point Appliances
Originally designed as another Linux-based network firewall, Devil-Linux
can now also serve as an application server. It can boot and run from a
CD-ROM or a USB thumb drive. Operating System: Linux.
44. Turtle Firewall
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall, Check Point Appliances
This IPtables firewall also lets you create your own network firewall
from an existing PC. To set it up, you can either edit an XML document
directly or use an easy Web-based interface. Operating System: Linux.
45. Shorewall
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall, Check Point Appliances
Also known as "Shoreline Firewall," Shorewall provides a tool for
configuring Netfilter. You can use it to create your own network
firewall or gateway appliance or to protect a standalone Linux system.
Operating System: Linux.
46. Vuurmuur
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall
This iptables-based firewall can be used to create simple or very
complex firewall configurations. Key features include remote
administration via SSH, traffic shaping and powerful monitoring
capabilities. Operating System: Linux.
47. m0n0wall
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall
Like most of the other apps in this category, m0n0wall allows you to
create your own firewall, but unlike most of the other firewalls here,
this one runs on FreeBSD, not Linux. It occupies just 12MB and can be
loaded from a compact flash card or a CD. Operating System: FreeBSD.
48. pfSense
Replaces Barricuda NG Firewall
This project is a fork of m0n0wall. While m0n0wall was created to be
used on embedded hardware, pfSense was designed to make it easier to use
on a full PC. It's been downloaded more than 1 million times and
protects networks of all sizes from home users to large corporations.
Operating System: FreeBSD.
49. Vyatta
Replaces Cisco products
Vyatta actively markets its products as an alternative to Cisco, and even offers a comparison chart
on its site. The "core" open source software can be used to create your
own firewall/networking appliances, or you can purchase supported
versions of the software or pre-built hardware appliances. Operating
System: Linux.
Network Monitoring
50. Wireshark Replaces: OmniPeek, CommView
The self-proclaimed "world's foremost network protocol analyzer,"
Wireshark has won quite a few awards and become a standard in the
industry. It allows users to capture and view the traffic on their
networks. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
51. tcpdump/libpcap
Replaces: OmniPeek, CommView,
These command line tools provide packet capture (libpcap) and analysis
(tcpdump) capabilities. It's a powerful tool, but not particularly
user-friendly. Operating System: Linux.
WinDump ports the tcpdump tools so they can be used on Windows systems.
The project is managed by the same company that owns Wireshark.
Operating System: Windows.
Password Crackers
53. Ophcrack Replaces Access Data Password Recovery Toolkit, Passware
For those occasions when passwords can't be recovered any other way,
Ophcrack can help systems administrators figure out lost passwords. It
uses the rainbow tables method to crack passwords, and it can run
directly from a CD. Operating System: Windows.
John the Ripper excels at cracking weak Unix passwords. To use it,
you'll need a list of commonly used passwords. You can buy password
lists or enhanced versions of the software from the site. Operating
System: Windows, Linux, OS X.
Password Management
55. KeePass Password Safe Replaces Kaspersky Password Manager
Instead of struggling to remember dozens of different passwords or, even
worse, using the same password all the time, you can remember just one
master password while KeePass stores the rest in a secure database. It's
lightweight and easy-to-use, so it won't slow you down. Operating
System: Windows.
56. KeePassX
Replaces Kaspersky Password Manager
Originally, this project ported KeePass so that it could be used with
Linux. Now, it supports multiple operating systems and adds a few
features not in the original KeePass. Operating System: Windows, Linux,
OS X.
57. Password Safe
Replaces Kaspersky Password Manager
Password Safe offers the same functionality as KeePass, plus you can
create multiple databases for different types of passwords or different
people who use the same system. It's also available in a thumb-drive
version for a fee. Operating System: Windows.
User Authentication
58. WiKID Replaces Entrust IdentityGuard, Vasco Digipass, RSA's SecurID
Designed to be less-expensive than solutions that require hardware
tokens, WiKID uses software tokens to provide two-factor authentication.
In addition to the free community version, it's also available in an
enterprise version that's priced per user. Operating System: OS
Independent.
Web Filtering
59. DansGuardian Replaces McAfee Family Protection NetNanny, CyberPatrol DansGuardian runs on a Linux or OS X server to block objectionable content from any PC connected to the network (including Windows PCs). It uses URL and domain filtering, content phrase filtering, PICS filtering, MIME filtering, file extension filtering and POST limiting to block pornography and other content that you don't want your children or employees accessing. Operating System: Linux, OS X.First release of LibreOffice arrives with improvements over OOo
The Document Foundation (TDF) has announced the availability of
LibreOffice 3.3, the first official stable release of the open source
office suite. It introduces a number of noteworthy new features and
there are improvements throughout the included applications. More
significantly, the release reflects the growing strength of the nascent
LibreOffice project.
TDF was founded last year
when a key group of OpenOffice.org (OOo) contributors decided to form
an independent organization to develop a community-driven fork of OOo.
The move was necessitated by Oracle's failure to address the governance
problems that had plagued OOo under Sun's leadership, particularly the
project's controversial copyright assignment policies. Oracle's
acquisition of Sun and subsequent mismanagement of Sun's open source
assets have created further uncertainty about the future of OOo and the
sustainability of its community under Oracle's stewardship.
TDF got off to a good start and has attracted
a lot of enthusiasm from former OOo contributors; Google, Red Hat,
Canonical, and Novell are among its corporate supporters. The
development effort so far has been reasonably productive. Contributors
have been able to enhance LibreOffice with features that Sun had
resisted accepting upstream, including parts of Novell's popular Go-OOo
patch set. The LibreOffice developers have also incorporated significant
improvements taken from the OpenOffice.org 3.3, which hasn't yet been
officially released.
The new features included in LibreOffice 3.3 improve the office
suite's feature set, usability, and interoperability with other formats.
For example, it has improved support for importing documents from Lotus
Word Pro and Microsoft Works. Another key new feature is the ability to
import SVG content and edit SVG images in LibreOffice Draw.
Navigation features in Writer have been improved, the thesaurus got
an overhaul, and the dialogs for printing and managing title pages got
major updates. LibreOffice Calc touts better Excel interoperability and
faster Excel file importing. The maximum size of a Calc spreadsheet has
increased to 1 million rows.
In addition to delivering feature improvements, the LibreOffice
developers have also focused heavily on code clean-up efforts with the
hope of reducing legacy cruft, thus making the code easier to maintain
and extend. Progress has been made, but the effort is still ongoing.
Due to the strong backing by the Linux community, the LibreOffice
fork will likely be bundled in upcoming versions of several major Linux
distributions. It's already planned for inclusion in Ubuntu 11.04, which
is coming in April.
LibreOffice 3.3 is available to download from the project's official website, with support for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. The source code can be found in the official LibreOffice version control repository, which is hosted on FreeDesktop.org.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Japan: New radiation leaks harmful to health
SOMA, Japan – Radiation is spewing from damaged reactors at a
crippled nuclear power plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan in a
dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The prime minister has
warned residents to stay inside or risk getting radiation sickness.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Tuesday that
a fourth reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex was on fire and that
more radiation was released
Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned that there are
dangers of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles (30
kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex stay indoors.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear safety agency said an
explosion Tuesday at an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant may have
damaged a reactor's containment vessel and that a radiation leak is
feared.
The nuclear core of Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi
nuclear plant in northeast Japan was undamaged, said a spokesman for the
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Shigekazu Omukai.
The agency suspects the explosion early Tuesday may
have damaged the reactor's suppression chamber, a water-filled tube at
the bottom of the container that surrounds the nuclear core, said
another agency spokesman, Shinji Kinjo. He said that chamber is part of
the container wall, so damage to it could allow radiation to escape.
"A leak of nuclear material is feared," said another
agency spokesman, Shinji Kinjo. He said the agency had no details of
possible damage to the chamber.
Radiation levels measured at the front gate of the Dai-ichi plant spiked following Tuesday's explosion, Kinjo said.
Detectors showed 11,900 microsieverts of radiation
three hours after the blast, up from just 73 microsieverts beforehand,
Kinjo said. He said there was no immediate health risk because the
higher measurement was less radiation that a person receives from an
X-ray. He said experts would worry about health risks if levels exceed
100,000 microsievertsReference:
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