Ever wanted to be an Intermediate Certificate Authority?Speaking at the 25th annual Chaos Communication Conference (25C3) earlier this week, security researchers demonstrated the first known application of a years-old theoretical attack against the MD5 hashing algorithm used by companies like Verisign and Thawte to issue SSL certificates.SSL certificates use hash codes generated by a variety...

My colleague Jason Perlow has been playing with Windows 7, and he hates it. The sad thing is, all the things he hates are improvements, in my opinion, which just goes to show that you really can’t please everyone. But what’s sad to see is that every setting Jason describes as broken is in fact easily customizable so it works the way he wants it. The crux of Jason’s complaint is simple: “I...

Dell has declared itself carbon-neutral, but good luck defining and auditing what that means exactly.Assembling PCs at Dell's Hortolandia, Brazil, facility.The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story on Dell and its carbon-neutral efforts. In a nutshell:• There is no standard definition of carbon neutral;• Purchasing carbon credits is vital;• But the markets for carbon credits isn't...

December 30, 2008 (Computerworld) Downloads of a new build of Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows 7 operating system have soared in the past two days, with thousands of systems now pulling pirated copies from BitTorrent sites.Searches today on the Pirate Bay BitTorrent site, for example, returned multiple listings of Windows 7 Build 7000, which Microsoft identifies as a beta candidate in the file...

We all knew it was coming, but now it feels real. With its debut to select developers in November, Windows 7 is no longer just a label but a real OS. And the public beta is expected this spring.Those expecting a radical redo of Windows will be disappointed; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and other company executives call it a fixed Vista. And a fixed Vista will be welcome to users who found the...

According to market researcher iSuppli, for the first time ever PC makers shipped more portable PCs than desktops. Portable PC shipments rose almost 40 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 38.6 million compared to a 1.3 percent drop to 38.5 million shipments in desktop PCs. Overall, PC sales were up 15.4 percent globally with 79 million PCs shipped.Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell benefited from...

The DIR-615 supports the latest wireless security features to help prevent unauthorized access, be it from over a wireless network or from the Internet. Support for WPA™ and WPA2™ standards ensure that you will be able to use the best possible encryption, regardless of your client devices. In addition, this Wireless N router utilizes dual active firewalls (SPI and NAT) to prevent potential...

The D-Link® Xtreme N™ Duo Wireless Bridge/Access Point is designed for users looking to create a wireless network or to connect multiple wired devices to an existing wireless network. Xtreme N Duo is the latest addition to the award-winning Xtreme N product family. Duo means the DAP-1522 works with next generation dual band (2.4GHz or 5GHz)* 802.11n wireless devices as well as legacy 802.11g...

The Router has a 802.11b wireless access point, up to 128-bit encryption, as well as a 3-port built-in network switch to allow your wired computers to share printers and data. The switch features automatic detection so it will adjust to the speed of connected devices. The switch will transfer data between computers and the Internet simultaneously without interrupting or consuming...

The DSL-2540B includes a built-in QoS engine that helps prioritize Internet traffic to enable smooth Internet phone calls (VoIP) and lag-free online gaming. In addition, this device includes Dual Active Firewalls (SPI and NAT) to help protect your network from potential attacks from across the...

The D-Link Xtreme N Duo Media Router (DIR-855) is the latest addition to the Award-winning Xtreme N product family. The Duo technology in the DIR-855 supports dualband (2.4GHz & 5GHz) wireless signals at the same time. This allows you to check e-mail and browse the Internet using the 2.4GHz band while simultaneously streaming High-Definition (HD) movies and other media on the 5GHz band. The...

The WRT610N uses two simultaneous, separate radio bands to increase available wireless bandwidth. It is aimed at delivering multiple streams over the two radio bands simultaneously, while Linksys' Entertainment Optimized Networking (EON) technology prioritizes network traffic so that time-sensitive applications like HD video stream smoothly.

The Storage Link feature lets you connect a hard...

This article is intended as a primer on some TCP/IP networking concepts and factors that determine an optimal TCP Receive Window.   The TCP Window  The TCP Window is the amount of outstanding data (unacknowledged by the recepient) that can remain in the network. After sending that amount of data, the sender stops and waits for acknowledgement back from the receiver that it has gotten some of it. As such, this value is probably the single most important...

Microsoft enforces a limit on half-open TCP/IP connections that is hard-coded in tcpip.sys. The maximum simultaneous half-open (incomplete) outbound TCP connection attempts per second that the system can make is intended to limit the spread of malicious viruses and worms, as well as limit the possibility of launching a DDoS attack. However, it has proven to also limit some applications using many TCP connections, such as P2P and P2PTV programs. When the OS reaches the half-open...

Windows Vista introduces a number of new features to the TCP/IP stack, including CTCP, and TCP Window Auto-Tuning. This new implementation works much better by default than previous Windows versions with broadband internet connections, and is able to adjust the RWIN value on the fly, depending on the BDP (bandwidth-delay product). This, however, introduces some problems with older routers and restricts the user from tweaking some of the TCP/IP parameters. Still, there is always some room for...

This is a reference of IP networking parameters that are configurable as described in our linux tweaking article -here-.   /proc/sys/net/ipv4/* Variables: ip_forward - BOOLEAN 0 - disabled (default) not 0 - enabled  Forward Packets between interfaces.  This variable is special, its change resets all configuration parameters to their default state (RFC1122 for hosts, RFC1812 for routers) ip_default_ttl - INTEGER default 64 ip_no_pmtu_disc -...

Introduction The Travel Mate 292XC is a part of the 290 Series laptops from Acer. There is a large range of models within the 290 series with different specifications, some Centrino based, and others just Pentium M. This particular model being reviewed, the LX-T3505.455, is a Celeron M 330 processor version and it is a very well priced for its specifications. This model was purchased for about $599.99 CAD and has the following specs: Processor: Intel Celeron M 330 Processor...

Introduction D-Link was founded in 1986, and since then has catered to both consumer and SOHO users. D-Link is already a well known name in the home networking market, however in the past D-Link products have been considered inferior to those of their competitors such as Linksys (Cisco) and Netgear (Bay Networks). Recently this stigma has begun to disappear with D-Link taking a large portion of the home and SOHO markets. The D-Link DI-524 is one of the company's new series of Wireless-G routers,...

Introduction Compex is an established, yet forward-thinking company in the networking, wireless and telecommunications industry. The company was founded in 1987 and focuses on designing, development and manufacturing a complete line of networking products for the home, SOHO, broadband, and WLAN market needs. The NetPassage 26G is a notable addition to the wireless wave of broadband routers that is sweeping the current home/SOHO market. It comes with a...

Netgear is well known in the networking market.  Originally a consumer-oriented subsidiary of Bay Networks, they have since been spun off to become their own company.  Some of the first consumer routers came out of Netgear, and they have been a major player in the home networking scene.  Their latest line of products sports a new sleek look, a major change of the square purple boxes for which they were known.  Personally, I was a fan of the old box, but then again, not everybody wants a...