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What is the DNS Changer Malware?

On November 8, the FBI, the NASA-OIG and Estonian police arrested several cyber criminals in “Operation Ghost Click”. The criminals operated under the company name “Rove Digital”, and distributed DNS changing viruses, variously known as TDSS, Alureon, TidServ and TDL4 viruses. You can read more about the arrest of the Rove Digital principals here, and in the FBI Press Release.

What does the DNS Changer Malware do?

The botnet operated by Rove Digital altered user DNS settings, pointing victims to malicious DNS in data centers in Estonia, New York, and Chicago. The malicious DNS servers would give fake, malicious answers, altering user searches, and promoting fake and dangerous products. Because every web search starts with DNS, the malware showed users an altered version of the Internet.

Under a court order, expiring July 9, the Internet Systems Consortium is operating replacement DNS servers for the Rove Digital network. This will allow affected networks time to identify infected hosts, and avoid sudden disruption of services to victim machines.

How Can I Protect Myself?

This page describes how you can determine if you are infected, and how you can clean infected machines. To check if you’re infected, Click Here. If you believe you are infected, here are instructions on how to clean your computer.

http://www.dcwg.org/

DNS Changer Infrastructure and TDSS/Alureon/TidServ/TDL4 Malware (Update)

Number: IN11-002
Date: 9 Nov 2011

UPDATE:
A court order to extend the deadline has been approved. The Internet Systems Consortium will continue operating the replacement DNS until 9 July 2012.
For more information, please visit the following: http://www.dcwg.org/

Purpose

This product provides information and mitigation advice to IT Security Specialists and potential victims of DNSChanger malware. Its goal is to assist with the detection and mitigation of the risks of such malware.

Assessment

Recently, the FBI uncovered a network of Domain Name System (DNS) servers controlled by cyber criminals. The FBI worked in collaboration with international law enforcement agencies and the cyber security community to disable these malicious DNS servers. Unfortunately, this malicious infrastructure has been used for over 3 years to steal personal information from millions of people around the world. Cyber criminals managed to infect these users'computers with malicious code that changes the users' DNS configurations to forward all their web content requests to a rogue DNS rather than a legitimate one. As DNS is necessary for most internet activities, the FBI implemented a plan for a trusted private-sector, non-government entity to operate and maintain a clean DNS server for the infected victims until they can be identified and notified. The IP addresses of potentially affected systems will be provided to the appropriate ISP and Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) for victim notification.

The FBI public announcement can be found here: http://www.fbi.gov/DNS-malware.pdf

- UPDATE -

The cyber security community website on DNSChanger can be found at:http://www.dcwg.org/

Under the U.S. District Court Order currently in place, Internet Systems Consortium (ISC, http://www.isc.org/) was authorized to install, monitor and administer replacement DNS for the victims until the 8 March 2012. At this date, it is expected that victims from the DNSChanger malware associated with this operation could lose Internet connectivity, because DNS is necessary for common use.

An extension request has been submitted and is pending approval before the U.S. Court for ISC to operate replacement DNS until 9 July 2012, which is referenced at:

http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/dnschangerextension.pdf

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is hosting a web-based tool to detect whether Internet users are affected by associated DNSChanger malware. This tool can be found at:

http://www.dns-ok.ca/

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/em/ccirc/2011/in11-002-eng.aspx.

Denim Suit

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Denim suit? YES! why not? Two separate pieces worn as a suit, which combined, give you a masculine touch to your look. It is indeed a comfortable outfit. I paired it up with my cadmium yellow vest for more contrast, especially because it has that masculine cut. Nothing is more practical then jeans; an essential piece in our wardrobe, a timeless trend in fashion history, worn by all of us in different personal style.

Jeans: American Eagle/ similar style here and here
Ankle boots: Zara
Vest: Benetton/ a chic version here
Blazer: vintage/ similar style here and here
Bag: Sequoia/ another great version here and here
Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren/ similar style here and here
Cuff bracelet: Vince Camuto/ similar here and here

FACEBOOK /BLOGLOVIN

hugs

Veronica

A penny for your thoughts on the elimination of the penny in Canada?

While delivering his federal budget on March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced production of the penny would end this month. Despite reaching a production peak of nearly 1.3 billion in 2006, a 2007 survey showed only 37% of Canadian used pennies.(Photo: Kayla Chobotiuk) RELATED From the editors: Iceland, the loonie's all yours The Canadian one-cent piece, commonly known as the penny, was born in 1858. Minted alongside five-, 10- and 20-cent pieces, it was among the first series of coins produced by the then-province of Canada, which for years had fought to distance itself from the sterling monetary system in use throughout the British empire. A decimal system was adopted to put Canada’s currency in line with the U.S. dollar. The first penny was composed of nearly 100% copper. The original coin’s L. C. Wyon design—with a bust of Queen Victoria, the reigning British monarch, on one side, and an arrangement of maple leaves on the reverse—was not radically different from today’s penny. The maple leaf twig designed by G. E. Kruger-Gray on the current penny was introduced in1937, and has appeared every year since, with the exception of 1967, when it was replaced with a rock dove designed by artist Alex Colville as part of a centennial series of coins. The penny’s cost has been an issue nearly since the year it was first produced. Due to its lack of physical heft, the first Canadian penny proved so unpopular that by 1859 the coin was being sold at a 20% discount to encourage consumers to circulate them, and was not minted again until 1876. In 1920, the increasing price of copper forced a decrease in the penny’s size from roughly that of today’s quarter to its current familiar form. Copper prices were responsible for another major change in 1997,when the penny’s composition was switched to 98.4%zinc with a copper plating. Three years later it was changed again, to its current composition of94% steel, 1.5% nickel and an increased copper plating of 4.5%. As its buying power lessened with time (a penny in 1858 could buy a loaf of bread), Canadians became reluctant to carry pennies, hoarding them in jars and leaving them in convenience store take-a-penny trays. With those pennies effectively out of circulation, the Royal Canadian Mint was forced to produce an average25 pennies per Canadian per year. Despite reaching a production peak of nearly 1.3 billion in2006, a 2007 survey showed only37% of Canadian used pennies. While delivering his federal budget on March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced production of the penny would end this month. In the end, the penny was collateral damage in the battle of inflation, its manufacturing cost rising to 1.6¢. In a world where even penny candy now costs more than a nickel, the copper coin became a nuisance. The Mint refused to grant the coin the dignity of becoming a low circulated collectible like its cousin the half-dollar and announced it will begin withdrawing them from circulation in the fall, though the one-cent piece will remain legal tender and retain its value indefinitely. The penny is survived by the quarter, dime and nickel, though rumours already have begun to circulate that the latter’s days may be numbered as well. PrintText: A A More Sharing Services

Meat-eating helped people take over the world: Study

QMI AGENCY

FIRST POSTED: FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 01:18 PM EDT | UPDATED: FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 01:24 PM EDT

Giving up our vegetarian ways and choosing to include meat into our diet is what helped humankind successfully populate the planet, according to a new study.

When early humans started eating meat and hunting, the higher quality diet meant women would wean their children earlier and give birth to more children and quicker, say researchers at Lund University in Sweden.

What's more, hunting required people to step up their communication skills, plan and use tools. These new developments required bigger brains, which our robust new diets helped us develop, according to the study, which compared 70 mammalian species and found clear patterns.

"This has been known for a long time. However, no one has previously shown the strong connection between meat-eating and the duration of breastfeeding, which is a crucial piece of the puzzle in this context. Eating meat enabled the breastfeeding periods and thereby the time between births, to be shortened. This must have had a crucial impact on human evolution," says Elia Psouni of Lund University in a press release.

The researchers reject another dominant theory - that breastfeeding duration is a social thing, and that new moms cut it short because of time constraints and family size.

The team created a mathematical model using data on brain size and diet of 70 mammals and found all species stop breastfeeding when their brains have reached a particular stage of development, which carnivores reach more quickly.

"That humans seem to be so similar to other animals can of course be taken as provocative. We like to think that culture makes us different as a species. But when it comes to breastfeeding and weaning, no social or cultural explanations are needed; for our species as a whole it is a question of simple biology. Social and cultural factors surely influence the variation between humans," Psouni said.

Levon Helm, drummer for The Band, dead at 71

The death of Levon Helm, drummer and singer for influential 70s rock group The Band, is a significant loss for the rock n’ roll community. But in the many decades that have passed since The Band’s heyday, Helm’s cultural significance is not as widely acknowledged as it once was. It is with that in mind that we present to you five essential — and maybe little-known — facts about the legendary Levon Helm.

Levon Helm, drummer for The Band, dead at 71

1. He played backup for Dylan
In 1964 and 1965, when Dylan decided he wanted to go electric, he recruited The Hawks — an early incarnation of The Band that included Helm, along with Ronnie Hawkins and future Band members Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel — as his band. So disenchanted was Helm with the negative reception Dylan received on the tour that he took a two-year hiatus from music after it was over.

2. He didn’t much like The Last Waltz
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of The Band may be one of the most widely celebrated concert films of all time, but Helm was not a fan, suggesting in his 1993 biography This Wheel’s on Fire that Scorsese and Robertson conspired to make Robertson look like the leading man, with the rest of the Band merely his supporting players. He pointed out that Hudson and Manuel received little screen time, while also claiming that nobody in The Band — aside from Robertson — received any money from the film’s VHS and DVD sales.

3. He didn’t much like Robbie Robertson, either.
For the reasons listed above.

4. He paid for his cancer treatments by hosting the Midnight Ramble
If you already know about the Midnight Ramble — occasional concerts Helm put on at his home in Woodstock that featured performers as varied and lauded as Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Hot Tuna, Kris Kristofferson and Jimmy Vivino (of Conan fame) — you might not know that their original purpose was to help Helm pay for his cancer treatments. Helm was first diagnosed with throat cancer in the ’90s, and underwent a laryngectomy and radiation treatment. He was unable to sing until 2004; The Midnight Ramble toured for much of the 2000s.

http://youtu.be/5lXOuZgm_eY

In Susan Black's book Elton John in His Own Words, Elton says of "Levon": "It"s about a guy who just gets bored doing the same thing. It's just somebody who gets bored with blowing up balloons and he just wants to get away from it but he can't because it's the family ritual." (thanks, Alexander - London, England)

The name "Levon" came from Levon Helm, the drummer and one of the lead singers of The Band. Elton and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, were big fans of The Band.

This is a great example of Taupin's complex, often obscure writing style. He and John made a great team because Elton could interpret his lyrics very well, giving life to the characters in the songs.

Since this runs 5:37, Elton's record company wanted to cut this down for the single so that more US radio stations would play it. Elton refused, insisting it be released full-length.

The actual New York Times page 1 headline that included the phrase "God Is Dead" is dated March 24, 1968. The phrase also appeared in a major (page 3) article on January 7, 1970. Smaller pieces dated January and April 1966 that feature the phrase in their headings can also be found. None were on Christmas Day, but the January ones are close! (thanks, Tony - Westbury, NY)

The cover art for the album was hand-embroidered on a Levi's jacket. On the back, the track listing was hand-stitched. This kind of artwork has become scarce in the age of digital design.

Jon Bon Jovi covered this for the tribute album Two Rooms. Elton played piano on some of Bon Jovi's recordings. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada)

Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish became parents to a son born on Christmas Day 2010 to a surrogate mother in California. They named him Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, which is why the baby boy ended up in this Songfact. It is assumed the name "Levon" was chosen because of the song's line, "He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day."

Bachelor and BacheloretteSued for Alleged Racial Discrimination

BY EILEEN FINAN Reporter And Source Here

Over the course of 10 years, 23 Bachelors and Bachelorettes have looked for love on ABC's hit reality franchise – each one of whom was white. And that, a lawsuit alleges, is no accident.

"This is a civil rights issue," attorney George Barrett said Wednesday in Nashville after filing a class-action lawsuit in federal court.

"ABC has engaged in conduct deliberately excluding persons of color."

Nathaniel Claybrooks, 39, and Christopher Johnson, 26, both African-American former college football players, answered an open casting call for The Bachelor in Nashville last August. They claim they were rushed through the audition process dismissively while observing white applicants treated with greater attention.

"I never even had a chance," says Claybrooks.

"In every job opportunity, you are looking to at least have a chance to compete for that job," addss Johnson. "Whenever you feel you are treated unfair or unjust, you are going to speak out."

The lawsuit alleges that ABC "knowingly, intentionally and as a matter of corporate policy refused to cast people of color in the role of the Bachelor and Bachelorette."

Warner Horizon Television, which produces the shows, calls the lawsuit "baseless and without merit."

"In fact, we have had various participants of color throughout the series' history, and the producers have been consistently – and publicly – vocal about seeking diverse candidates for both programs," says the statement. "As always, we continue to seek out participants of color for both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

awards and cords

I was hit with the lucky stick twice this week when two of my favorite ladies, Charmaine at My Best Friend Craig and Laura at Elegant Nest gave me the Liebster Blog award! Woot woot!

The Liebster Blog award is given to a blog on the rise. It is a great way to shine a light on those that are making their way in the blog world, and I am truly honored for the privilege.

This is probably as close to a Grammy as I'll ever get, so let me take this opportunity to thank my fans, my family for supporting me and of course God. (why do musicians always thank God in their speeches?) In all seriousness though I have a great respect for Charmaine and Laura and it means a lot that they even thought of me.

With this honor, I get to pass on the love to five of my favorite blogs.

Amelia at House Pretty

Colleen at Lemon Drop Dreams
Emily at Lucite and Lavender
Meg at Nutmeg & Company
Erin at Out on a Limb

Now with this award comes great responsibility my friends. Please continue the tradition by doing the following:
1. Link back to the person who gave it to you. Its important to represent!
2. Post the award on your blog for all to see!3. Give the award to 5 of your favorite bloggers (ideally with approximately 200 followers or less).4. Leave a comment on your chosen 5 blogs to let them know that they have been given the Liebster award.

Now for the 'cord' portion of this post - I'm off to a friends house today to sew some piping (cording). You know what that means - yes, the blasted couch is almost done! Here is a sneak peek.