Clean your Windows registry

CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner 3.50 - The Most Popular Registry Cleaner

• PC runs much slower than when you first bought it


• PC crashes for no apparent reason


• You keep receiving error messages and don't know why

 

Solution: You need a Reliable Registry Cleaner!
CleanMyPC™ Registry Cleaner can clean your Windows registry, tune up your PC and keep it in peak performance!

The Windows registry is a database repository for information about a computer's configuration. The registry keep growing when you use Windows. As it does so, it attracts obsolete and unnecessary information, and gradually becomes cluttered and fragmented. With the growing of the registry, it can degrade the performance of the whole system and cause many weird software problems. To keep your computer in top performance, it is recommended to periodically clean your Windows registry with a reliable and efficient Registry Clean

CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner scans the Windows registry and finds incorrect or obsolete information in the registry. By fixing these obsolete information in Windows registry, your system will run faster and error free. The backup/restore function of the tool let you backup your whole Windows Registry so you can use it to restore the registry to the current status in case you encounter some system failure. Besides above, the startup and BHO organizer feature let you manage your startup and IE BHO items with ease, and you can control the programs started with Windows and IE more handy with this feature!

In short, CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner help you get rid of the bloat in Windows registry and achieve a cleaner, faster system.
The latest version adds the registry defrag/compact and privacy eraser features.

Main Registry Cleaner Features:

• Automatic Registry Scanning and Cleanup


• Backup and Restore the full Registry


• Registry Defrag and Registry Compact


• Tracks Eraser feature for privacy protection


• Startup Organizer


• IE BHO Organizer


• Improve system performance


• Remove Trojan which utilize startup items and IE BHO
  

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Protecting Portable Devices: Data Security.

Why do you need another layer of protection?
Although there are ways to physically protect your laptop, PDA, or other portable device (see Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security for more information), there is no guarantee that it won't be stolen. After all, as the name suggests, portable devices are designed to be easily transported. The theft itself is, at the very least, frustrating, inconvenient, and unnerving, but the exposure of information on the device could have serious consequences. Also, remember that any devices that are connected to the internet, especially if it is a wireless connection, are also susceptible to network attacks (see Securing Wireless Networks for more information).

What can you do?

• Use passwords correctly - In the process of getting to the information on your portable device, you probably encounter multiple prompts for passwords. Take advantage of this security. Don't choose options that allow your computer to remember passwords, don't choose passwords that thieves could easily guess, use different passwords for different programs, and take advantage of additional authentication methods (see Choosing and Protecting Passwords and Supplementing Passwords for more information).
• Consider storing important data separately - There are many forms of storage media, including floppy disks, zip disks, CDs, DVDs, and removable flash drives (also known as USB drives or thumb drives). By saving your data on removable media and keeping it in a different location (e.g., in your suitcase instead of your laptop bag), you can protect your data even if your laptop is stolen. You should make sure to secure the location where you keep your data to prevent easy access.
• Encrypt files - By encrypting files, you ensure that unauthorized people can't view data even if they can physically access it. You may also want to consider options for full disk encryption, which prevents a thief from even starting your laptop without a passphrase. When you use encryption, it is important to remember your passwords and passphrases; if you forget or lose them, you may lose your data.
• Install and maintain anti-virus software - Protect laptops and PDAs from viruses the same way you protect your desktop computer. Make sure to keep your virus definitions up to date (see Understanding Anti-Virus Software for more information).
• Install and maintain a firewall - While always important for restricting traffic coming into and leaving your computer, firewalls are especially important if you are traveling and utilizing different networks. Firewalls can help prevent outsiders from gaining unwanted access (see Understanding Firewalls for more information).
• Back up your data - Make sure to back up any data you have on your computer onto a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or network (see Good Security Habits and Real-World Warnings Keep You Safe Online for more information). Not only will this ensure that you will still have access to the information if your device is stolen, but it could help you identify exactly which information a thief may be able to access. You may be able to take measures to reduce the amount of damage that exposure could cause.

Authors: Mindi McDowell, Matt Lytle

Packet Sniffing

A network sniffer, or packet sniffer, is an application that captures all traffic traveling past a network interface attached to some network. Packet sniffing is useful for network troubleshooting and software developers; however, it can also be used to eavesdrop on unencrypted traffic (unencrypted email, Web packets, IM, and more).

When people communicate via IM, they do not realize their communication is probably hopping around numerous times through various networks and routers. On any network segment along this path, someone can use a packet-sniffing tool to intercept such communications. However, scanning through a large number of packets to extract something useful is very difficult. Thus, attackers also employ communication filters, software to detect and identify specific types of communication currently underway.

When attackers get access to some wire, they attach a network device to that network segment. Next, they install a communication filter to capture packets that contain specific strings or patterns, such as the "password" keyword. If a pattern in the filter matches traffic from the wire, that packet is recorded for subsequent analysis.

Flat, unswitched local area networks are particularly vulnerable to sniffing attacks because every packet traveling between two hosts is broadcast to all nodes on the network segments to which each host belongs. Thus, a sniffing device or program could be connected to any port or installed on any machine on the same segment. A few years ago, switching technology became sufficiently inexpensive to be widely accepted as a standard LAN building block. In many installations, switches replaced broadcast hubs and were used to micro-segment LANs into numerous virtual segments. Switches also establish point-to-point channels between pairs of hosts as they initiate conversations. This alleviates the problem of sniffing but does not eliminate it completely (especially if attackers can access the switch itself).

In the real world it is at least difficult, if not impossible, to gain access to ISP facilities and install sniffers there. Therefore, the biggest source of sniffing threats stems from LANs and public facilities. Cable modem technology is particularly prone to sniffing-based attacks, because all users on a cable segment can see (and therefore sniff) all traffic on that segment. Companies or organizations that support remote access for cable modem-based users should definitely use more secure implementation, preferably those based on IPSec.

Because so much information used in popular messaging software now takes the XML format using the HTTP protocol, traffic vulnerability to sniffing is actually on the rise. The latest trend is to convert everything to XML formats. Unfortunately, this also means that using HTTP without SSL or TLS is tantamount to sending information in clear text from the hacker's perspective. This explains why sniffer attacks are both insidious and potentially very dangerous because they can decode and reveal lots of sensitive information.

To prevent information leaks, you can't rely on communication programs that use no encryption mechanisms; you must use IPSec or VPN solutions to secure communications both on the local network and for all remote access. If IM services are deployed for business purposes, use applications similar to Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, which enables you to operate your own IM server that might or might not interact with the rest of the world. As a matter of security policy and user education, users should also be coached on which types of communication and file transfer are appropriate using IM outside organizational boundaries—if indeed such use is permitted at all.