Secure yourself by identifying shortened URLs

URL shortening:

URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) can be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page.

The URL shortening service was first launched by TinyURL. Later on many websites like google are also providing this service.

Why do we need it?

URL shortening is to disguise the underlying address. This can be used by some business services.
But This URL shortening service is open to abuse. Hackers can easily use it for malicious purposes. So Short URLs can also unexpectedly redirect a user to scam pages or pages containing malware or XSS attacks.

Some people use it to access blocked sites.

So it is needed to be able to identify the original form of suspected URL.

How to shorten your long URL:


You can simply go to www.tinyurl.com and enter your long URL. And click on "make tiny url"

you can also use google's service from here.


How to find out the real link of shortened URL?

Sucuri is nice little web based tool to let you see the destination of a shortened URL. The tool will also check the destination URL in two different ways to find out if it’s safe for you to go to the site.

Hope you liked it. Be the first to make a comment.

where to begin with hacking ? [how-to]

"where to begin with hacking".
So here is my opinion about how they should get around starting.

There are three types of hackers:

White Hats:

The White Hat hacker has dedicated himself to fight malware and help others with their computer problems. He is a person you can trust, and he will most likely end up in a good paying job as a computer programmer or a security consultant. He will most certainly not end up in jail.

Grey Hats:

The Grey Hat hacker are in between white Hats and Black Hats. He will most likely commit pranks at people that he thinks is harmless, but it can also be illegal. He can at one time be helpful and help you with a computer problem, but at the same time infect you with his own virus. There is a chance that the grey hat will end up in prison.

Black Hats:

The Black hat hacker also known as a cracker is the one who deface websites, steal private information and such illegal activity. It is very time consuming to become a black hat. It can be very hard for them to get a job because of the illegal activity. If law enforcements gets you, you can expect jail time.

So where to start?

You should know the answer to these questions before you start your hacking career.


Which type of hacker do you want to be (white hat, grey hat or black hat)?
Which type of hacking do you want to work with (website hacking, system exploits, pen testing etc.)?
What is your end-goal?

You should meet these requirements to become a successful hacker.

You shall be patient.
You shall dedicate a lot of time to hacking. You will never stop learning, since hacking is a lifestyle.
You should have a computer (I expect you to have one since you are reading this).
You shall be interested in how the different computer systems works, and how to control them.


Now that you have an idea of what kind of hacker, you want to be we will look closer into the different topics you can work with as a hacker.


Website Hacking:

You properly already guessed it, but website hacking is about hacking websites. You use your skills to find exploits and vulnerabilities in websites and web applications. Almost all major hacking stories in the news are about websites and databases that have been hacked. Once you have enough experience in website security you will be amazed about how easy it is to find vulnerabilities in websites. However, it will take a lot of effort and time to reach that level of skills. You will need to know a large amount of server-side languages and website construction languages like PHP, HTML, JavaScript, SQL, ASP, ASP.NET and Perl. This was just some of the languages you should know about. I will recommend you to take JavaScript, SQL and PHP very serious since it is in those languages you will find the most vulnerabilities.


Pen testing and Forensics:

Pen testing and forensics can earn you big money. It is these guys the company’s call when they have been hacked. They are experts in operating systems, wireless connections and exploiting computers. This way will take A LOT of time and effort since there is so much you should know about. You shall know about how the different operating systems works, which exploit there is to them, how to exploit them, routers, encryption, malware etc. the list is almost endless.


Code exploiting:

Not many people know about this. This will require you to be a complete expert at programming. You shall be at least as good at these programming languages as your main language like English. This kind of hacking is taking a lot of time, and will require you to be patient. Do not get me wrong, every company that releases software like Symantec, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle have hackers with these skills employed to check their software for vulnerabilities. Sadly, they cannot find every security hole and therefore some very smart black hat hackers are able to find them, and exploit them before the companies get the vulnerability patched. You should know the most popular languages like C++, Java and C etc.

Computer security:

The work these people do looks a lot like the pentesters. These people is able to detect and analyze new viruses and malware. They are working for companies like Symantec, KasperSky and Avira etc. Some of them are also working on labs that tests AV’s and new viruses. They are experts in how viruses works and how they infect systems.

You should now have an idea on where to start and in which direction you want to go. If you found any errors or typos feel free to contact me, and I will look into it. I will be updating this thread recently and add more details. I will soon add a dictionary, which explains the most basic hacking terms. I have putted a lot of effort in this tutorial and my goal with this tutorial is to give computer-interested people an idea of where they should start.

To the so-called “noobs”, who reads this:

I hope I have inspired you to begin at hacking. I hope that I have cleared things up a little bit, so it does not seem so messy anymore. If you have any questions or something you did not understand, I would gladly explain it to you again. Welcome to the hacker’s world, a new world will open up for you and you will never regret that you chose to become a hacker.

Nmap (Network Mapper) - introduction

Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network exploration or security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. 

Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. 

It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, but works fine against single hosts. Nmap runs on all major computer operating systems, and official binary packages are avalable for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. In addition to the classic command-line Nmap executable, the Nmap suite includes an advanced GUI and results viewer (Zenmap), a flexible data transfer, redirection, and debugging tool (Ncat), and a utility for comparing scan results (Ndiff).

Nmap is ...

* Flexible: Supports dozens of advanced techniques for mapping out networks filled with IP filters, firewalls, routers, and other obstacles. This includes many port scanning mechanisms (both TCP & UDP), OS 

detection, version detection, ping sweeps, and more.
 
* Powerful: Nmap has been used to scan huge networks of literally hundreds of thousands of machines.
 
* Portable: Most operating systems are supported, including Linux, Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Mac OS X, HP-UX, NetBSD, Sun OS, Amiga, and more.
 
* Easy: While Nmap offers a rich set of advanced features for power users, you can start out as simply as "nmap -v -A targethost". Both traditional command line and graphical (GUI) versions are available to suit your preference. Binaries are available for those who do not wish to compile Nmap from source.
 
* Free: The primary goals of the Nmap Project is to help make the Internet a little more secure and to provide administrators/auditors/hackers with an advanced tool for exploring their networks. Nmap is available for free download, and also comes with full source code that you may modify and redistribute under the terms of the license.
 
* Well Documented: Significant effort has been put into comprehensive and up-to-date man pages, whitepapers, tutorials, and even a whole book!
 
* Supported: While Nmap comes with no warranty, it is well supported by a vibrant community of developers and users. Most of this interaction occurs on the Nmap mailing lists. Most bug reports and questions should be sent to the nmap-dev list, but only after you read the guidelines. We recommend that all users subscribe to the low-traffic nmap-hackers announcement list. You can also find Nmap on Facebook and Twitter. For real-time chat, join the #nmap channel on Freenode or EFNet.
 
* Acclaimed: Nmap has won numerous awards, including "Information Security Product of the Year" by Linux Journal, Info World and Codetalker Digest. It has been featured in hundreds of magazine articles, several movies, dozens of books, and one comic book series.
 
* Popular: Thousands of people download Nmap every day, and it is included with many operating systems (Redhat Linux, Debian Linux, Gentoo, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc). It is among the top ten (out of 30,000) programs at the Freshmeat.Net repository. This is important because it lends Nmap its vibrant development and user support communities.

Installing nMap:
http://nmap.org/book/install.html

Changelog:
http://nmap.org/changelog.html

How To Use:
http://nmap.org/book/man.html

Download
http://nmap.org/download.html

Best Android Apps Free Download

Many People are using the Android mobiles only due to its unique and attractive features than other mobile devices at a Reasonable price.The main thing that attracted the Mobile customers are the Apps which was really in thousands for the users of Android.

So we are interested to give some Top rated Android Apps for free to you, i given about 6 apps here, Please download and enjoy

1) Facebook Messenger

 Facebook is regarding the king of Social networking, even for the kids also Facebook is an Mouth-watering word.So people are trying to get always in touch with the Facebook,Regarding their Needs we are giving the Facebook Messenger which has this unique features

• Get Started Quick with your friends , just log in with single app
• Instant chat and Receive Messages
• Tell your Location that where you are
• Group chat and Send voice messages

Please download this app from here

 

 

2) SMS , GPS , and CALL Tracker

Yes the name says it all, The app will track the users SMS and Call details Remotely for the Android Phones, It is Absolutely free of Cost, the features are

• The Call logging includes Missed calls, Received Calls and Phone Number all details 
• GPS tracking of their Location update for every 30 Minutes
• SMS Tracking like Their inbox, Outbox and their Phone Numbers
• It is very useful when your Mobile Phone was lost or Theft
• Install the app on your mobile using an Email and Password,then log into the site Mobitrack

Note- It is illegal to Install this software on the Phone that you don't own it, So use the software on the Phone which you have all the Rights

You can Download this app from here

 

3) Gmail

The Biggest Email Service Provider was Gmail, So all of them are in very much of need in the Mail Checking regularly, the Gmail app will satisfy all your Needs and it has some cool Features

• One Touch Checking of Mails
• Save the attachments 
• Managing the Multiple Accounts

You can download this app from here

 

4) Dictionary

 

The Dictionary is very useful for the people who are willing to Speak the English Fluently, and it will be Helpful for the Phrases you need when in need for the check, Some features are given below

• More than 2.5 Lakhs words, Phrases
• More than 50,000 usage examples
• The Intelligent Word entry will correct eh Spelling Mistakes as you type if any error was found
• Search results which filters in categories like Noun, verb etc
• Good Spelling Suggestions

Please download this app from here

5) Galaxy S4 Live Wallpaper

 

The Wallpapers are very cool and attractive if it suits our phone, so i am presenting an Awesome Live wallpaper for your Android phone , the features are

• Water Drop ripple Effect type with the Light particles in Floating
• Tested on Lot of Devices, it works fine

If the wallpaper came to reset after reboot mode, change your live wallpaper location from phone to SD card, If the app does not work on your phone feel free to contact me

Please download this app from here

6) Battery Left Widget

The Battery is soul of the Phone, so there is a more care on the battery of the phones, for this the app called Battery Left widget is presented, it is an Notification app having Features

• Estimated battery of the Phone
• Top Status Bar icon shows the battery remaining
• Temperature 
• Clock time of the Battery that when it will die

.Please download this app from here

 

How to: Play Android Games on Computer/PC/laptop [software]

 It is not very tough to Run Android games on your Computer, but not that much easy too, The Android is releasing several applications day by day, it is very difficult to test each and everyone in your mobile. It costs lot of battery and time.

There is a Solution for this, you can test your applications in your Computer by following my tips, the windows environment was user friendly to the Android platform

It is not easy regarding all application testing as each app differs in their usage, some needs Camera, some Needs Bluetooth and some WiFi, i am giving this mainly for the apps that is available on the Outside of Android Market

Let us know how to play android games on your Computer

1) BlueStacks

The best user friendly software that runs your android games on your computer is BlueStacks, which is yet Beta version.

Download the Bluestacks officially from here

Features

• You can download any game in your market by single click
• View all the apps and games in full HD Screen
• Option for installing external .apk android files directly and testing in bluestacks
• Very user friendly for the beginners in android testing 

2) Android SDK

The SDK refer to the Software Development kit which says it is an tool for the Android Developers, Users also use this for Testing their apps and games, but set up is not easy, and there are lot of to do for running this app on this kit

Download this Android SDK software here

3) Android live

The android live is similar to the first one mentioned above, it is for X86 Windows based systems.

For downloading Android live click here

How to Hide files inside a picture using Command Prompt - video

How to Hide files inside a picture using Command Prompt in windows easy way to hide files inside an image file (without any software)

First create a new folder in C:\ drive and name it anything i'm gonna name it "Hide"

Now move the files you want to hide and the picture in which you want to hide to the folder.

Select the files you want to hide and right click select "Add to archive..." and give the compressed file a name for example: Compressed.rar

Now open command prompt.
type cd\ to go to your root directory


Then type
copy /b yourimage.jpg+Compressed Files.rar xyz.jpg

your files will be hidden inside the image. To get your files back right click
on the image(xyz.jpg) and open it with Winrar you will see your files
you can extract the files anywhere you want on your computer.

SSH Tunneling Explained

Recently I wanted to set up a remote desktop sharing session from home pc to my laptop. While going through the set up guide I came across ssh tunneling. Even though there are many articles on the subject still it took me a considerable amount of googling, some experimenting and couple of Wireshark sessions to grasp what’s going under the hood. Most of the guides were incomplete in terms of explaining the concept which left me desiring for a good article on the subject with some explanatory illustrations. So I decided to write it my self. So here goes…

Introduction

A SSH tunnel consists of an encrypted tunnel created through a SSH protocol
connection. A SSH tunnel can be used to transfer unencrypted traffic over a
network through an encrypted channel. For example we can use a ssh tunnel to
securely transfer files between a FTP server and a client even though the FTP
protocol itself is not encrypted. SSH tunnels also provide a means to bypass firewalls that prohibits or filter certain internet services. For example an organization will block certain sites using their proxy filter. But users may not wish to have their web traffic
monitored or blocked by the organization proxy filter. If users can connect to
an external SSH server, they can create a SSH tunnel to forward a given port on
their local machine to port 80 on remote web-server via the external SSH
server. I will describe this scenario in detail in a little while.

To set up a SSH tunnel a given port of one machine needs to be forwarded (of
which I am going to talk about in a little while) to a port in the other
machine which will be the other end of the tunnel. Once the SSH tunnel has been
established, the user can connect to earlier specified port at first machine to
access the network service.

Port Forwarding

SSH tunnels can be created in several ways using different kinds of port forwarding
mechanisms. Ports can be forwarded in three ways.

1. Local port forwarding
2. Remote port forwarding
3. Dynamic port forwarding

I didn’t explain what port forwarding is. I found Wikipedia’s definition more explanatory.

Port forwarding or port mapping is a name given to the combined technique of

1. translating the address and/or port number of a packet to a new destination
2. possibly accepting such packet(s) in a packet filter(firewall)
3. forwarding the packet according to the routing table.

Here the first technique will be used in creating an SSH tunnel. When a client application connects to the local port (local endpoint) of the SSH tunnel and transfer data these data will be forwarded to the remote end by translating the host and port values to that of the remote end of the channel.

So with that let’s see how SSH tunnels can be created using forwarded ports with an examples.

Tunnelling with Local port forwarding

Let’s say that yahoo.com is being blocked using a proxy filter in the University.
(For the sake of this example. :d   . Cannot think any valid reason why yahoo would be blocked). A SSH tunnel can be used to bypass this restriction. Let’s name my machine at the university as ‘work’ and my home machine as ‘home’. ‘home’ needs to have a public IP for this to work. And I am running a SSH server on my home machine. Following diagram illustrates the scenario.

 

To create the SSH tunnel execute following from ‘work’ machine.

ssh -L 9001:yahoo.com:80 home

The ‘L’ switch indicates that a local port forward is need to be created. The switch syntax is as follows.

-L <local-port-to-listen>:<remote-host>:<remote-port>

Now the SSH client at ‘work’ will connect to SSH server running at ‘home’ (usually running at port 22) binding port 9001 of ‘work’ to listen for local requests thus creating a SSH tunnel between ‘home’ and ’work’. At the ‘home’ end it will create a connection to ‘yahoo.com’ at port 80. So ‘work’ doesn’t need to know how to connect to yahoo.com. Only ‘home’ needs to worry about that. The channel between ‘work’ and ‘home’ will be encrypted while the connection between ‘home’ and ‘yahoo.com’ will be unencrypted.

Now it is possible to browse yahoo.com by visiting http://localhost:9001 in the web browser at ‘work’ computer. The ‘home’ computer will act as a gateway which would accept requests from ‘work’ machine and fetch data and tunnelling it back. So the syntax of the full command would be as follows.

ssh -L <local-port-to-listen>:<remote-host>:<remote-port> <gateway>

The image below describes the scenario.

Here the ‘host’ to ‘yahoo.com’ connection is only made when browser makes the
request not at the tunnel setup time.

It is also possible to specify a port in the ‘home’ computer itself instead of
connecting to an external host. This is useful if I were to set up a VNC session
between ‘work’ and ‘home’. Then the command line would be as follows.

ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 home (Executed from 'work')

So here what does localhost refer to? Is it the ‘work’ since the command line is executed from ‘work’? Turns out that it is not. As explained earlier is relative to the gateway (‘home’ in this case) , not the machine from where the tunnel is initiated. So this will make a connection to port 5900 of the ‘home’ computer where the VNC client would be listening in.

The created tunnel can be used to transfer all kinds of data not limited to web browsing sessions. We can also tunnel SSH sessions from this as well. Let’s assume there is another computer (‘banned’) to which we need to SSH from within University but the SSH access is being blocked. It is possible to tunnel a SSH session to this host using a local port forward. The setup would look like this.

As can be seen now the transferred data between ‘work’ and ‘banned’ are encrypted end to end. For this we need to create a local port forward as follows.

ssh -L 9001:banned:22 home

Now we need to create a SSH session to local port 9001 from where the session
will get tunneled to ‘banned’ via ‘home’ computer.

ssh -p 9001 localhost

With that let’s move on to next type of SSH tunnelling method, reverse tunnelling.

Reverse Tunnelling with remote port forwarding

Let’s say it is required to connect to an internal university website from home.
The university firewall is blocking all incoming traffic. How can we connect from ‘home’ to internal network so that we can browse the internal site? A VPN setup is a good candidate here. However for this example let’s assume we don’t have this facility. Enter SSH reverse tunnelling..

As in the earlier case we will initiate the tunnel from ‘work’ computer behind the firewall. This is possible since only incoming traffic is blocking and outgoing traffic is allowed. However instead of the earlier case the client will now be at the ‘home’ computer. Instead of -L option we now define -R which specifies
a reverse tunnel need to be created.

ssh -R 9001:intra-site.com:80 home (Executed from 'work')

Once executed the SSH client at ‘work’ will connect to SSH server running at home creating a SSH channel. Then the server will bind port 9001 on ‘home’ machine to listen for incoming requests which would subsequently be routed through the created SSH channel between ‘home’ and ‘work’. Now it’s possible to browse the internal site

by visiting http://localhost:9001 in ‘home’ web browser. The ‘work’ will then create a connection to intra-site and relay back the response to ‘home’ via the created SSH channel.

As nice all of these would be still you need to create another tunnel if you need to connect to another site in both cases. Wouldn’t it be nice if it is possible to proxy traffic to any site using the SSH channel created? That’s what dynamic port forwarding is all about.

Dynamic Port Forwarding

Dynamic port forwarding allows to configure one local port for tunnelling data to all remote destinations. However to utilize this the client application connecting to local port should send their traffic using the SOCKS protocol. At the client side of the tunnel a SOCKS proxy would be created and the application (eg. browser) uses the SOCKS protocol to specify where the traffic should be sent when it leaves the other end of the ssh tunnel.

ssh -D 9001 home (Executed from 'work')

Here SSH will create a SOCKS proxy listening in for connections at local port
9001 and upon receiving a request would route the traffic via SSH channel
created between ‘work’ and ‘home’. For this it is required to configure the
browser to point to the SOCKS proxy at port 9001 at localhost.

thats all hope you enjoy this tutorial   :>)