Tim's Computer Science Blog

I simply don't need all of the web enabled "features" on all of my windows 10 devices. (Save data, privacy, less network footprint etc... ) So, after a little sleuthing I have cobbled together a *.bat file to reduce this a bit. A good portion comes from the comments section of the following website from users named Wade and Alup: https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-disable-telemetry-and-data-collection-in-windows-10/ I have added a few of my own edits, such as, the ability to revert the changes, turning on/off the web search feature in the search bar. I also commented out where the script attempts to block microsoft urls. (You can uncomment them to enable the blocking if you want) You will need to prevent your anti-virus (at least if windows defender) from removing/blocking the bat file. You can review, copy and paste the following into a file (script.bat). Then run it from administrator mode in the command prompt (cmd) I take no responsibility for any harm this ma...

Recently learned about this interesting search engine. It's not your normal search engine instead it surfs the net looking for computer vulnerabilities. http://www.shodanhq.com/ Works very similarly to other search engines you can use quotes and operation characters (+,-) Looks like the results are curated based largely on meta-data, user-agent, and banner results. Moral of the story, don't use default passwords, there is a search for that. http://www.shodanhq.com/search?q=%22admin%22

Lets take a look at some tracking tools with the advent of CISPA! RIOT = It essentially scrolls through social media sites and curates information. There is a neat video in the link below showing it's use. The most interesting function is that it will do analysis on when you do things during the day, such as going to the gym. Maltego- Pretty similar to RIOT. It is open source. This is what Wikipedia has to say about it. “Maltego focuses on providing a library of transforms for discovery of data from open sources, and visualizing that information in a graph format, suitable for  link analysis  and  data mining .” Jigsaw- It's good for looking up employees of a company. Doesn't really have anything to do with the post! http://darkernet.in/cispa-about-to-become-law-we-list-the-companies-that-back-it-and-introduce-its-new-friend-riot/

I've been allowed to try out a few workstation securing exercises from the cyber patriot security competition (circa 2012). I've made a quick guide that give's a basic overview, remember I did say Basic Overview, of things to do or look for to manage to get all of the points. Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/ClickHereforCyberPatriotDoc (For a couple years there you might be surprised how many nonsensical edit requests that google doc received) 

* Note this is probably out of date now*  Here is a quick outline of what every High school student to College freshman should know about computers. #1 Able to type Hardware, Simple description of what it is and does: CPU BIOS/EFI- Starts the operating system. Storage media:-: SSD - Solid State Drive HDD - Hard Disk Drive CD/DVD/Blu-ray Flash media USB Video card RAM - Random Access Memory peripherals:-: mouse keyboard printer/scanner etc... Software: Operating systems: (Knows about prior versions)   Cell Phone Operating systems: IOS vs Android vs Others Windows 3.1 -> 98 -> 20 -> XP -> Vista -> Win 7->Win 8 -> Windows 10:: Linux -> Ubuntu, or Fedora:: (Alternative to windows) Mac Os X:: Basic settings - Network settings    Audio Settings    Adding removing programs and apps     Remember your passwords - Have a way to keep track of them. UNDERSTANDS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN an...

Are you a cyborg? Definition : a bionic human Definition of bionic: Having artificial body parts, esp. electromechanical ones. Anyone have plates or screws from broken bones? Anyone have hips, or knees replaced? Implanted hearing aids? Mechanical heart, or pacemaker? You, sir, are a cyborg. #machinetakeover

 I recently ran into a problem of being unable to remove a facebook page from my profile.  The page linked to an off facebook website...containing no unlike button. Before I begin you might want to try something simpler such as: http://xnotion.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Leave-a-Fan-Page-on-Facebook https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=227905267225251 I will be doing this in chrome Begin by browsing to edit your profile. Click on the Other Pages You Like. Step #1 right click select inspect element Step #2  Right click on the selected element -> edit as html Copy the web address after <a href=” you will need this later in this example it is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/at-home-with-jono-bacon?ref=pb Delete the text everything between <A …... and  </a> Step #3 Insert the following text <a ajaxify="/ajax/pages/fan_status.php?fbpage_id=XXXXXXXXXXXX&amp;add=0&amp;reload=1&amp;preserve_tab=0&amp;use_primer=1" href="#"...