Between Saint and Sinner. pt 1.

Between Saint and Sinner. pt 1. Preaching the Gospel is sometimes the most controversial position on Earth. Preaching or Ministering the Gospel is two different things, 1. The Truth of Life and 2. Information. Lets look at the Information side first. Information has become wide spread in this world but how much of it is the truth? Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. [Ref; Dan_8:26; Rev_10:4, Rev_22:10 Dan_12:9, Dan_8:17, Dan_10:1, Dan_11:40 Dan_11:33; Isa_11:9, Isa_29:18, Isa_29:19, Isa_30:26, Isa_32:3; Zec_14:6-10; Mat_24:14; Rom_10:18; Rev_14:6, Rev_14:7] John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. How many here are saved today? Are you sure? Have you kept the commandments of Christ? Have you loved your enemies, have you prayed for them, do you know some one that really gets on your nerves and still prayed for them. Are you doing what you are supposed to do and acting like a Christian each and every day or are you just going thru the motions? In scripture, when God demands His prophets to seal up a Book, He means that all words have been said on that subject and no more needs to be written.This is the Amen of each prophecy.
We increase our knowledge each and every day in scripture. Each time the scripture is preached or taught another idea and revelation comes out and we know a little more. But as the Bible states, man has gone after knowledge of a different sort and has left others behind. Many are going after knowledge that they think will make it easier to enter into the kingdom of Heaven and others have come up with knowledge that they believe dictates that there is no God, so no reason to worry about what they do. Some people have gotten so much knowledge that they cannot see the truth. Its like not being able to see the forest for the trees getting in the way. Knowledge is nothing without understanding. Understanding is what leads us to Christ and the Kingdom. Knowledge without understanding is like a blind man with a road map. Jesus stressed three things in His teachings, Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding. One without the other two is next to useless. Lets put it this way, We all have the knowledge of Jesus, even those that dont believe, many of those are in Church today. We all have a some amount of wisdom in Gods word. If you get out on the street and ask everyone that passed, “Who was Noah?” everyone would be able to tell you. But if you ask many in the Church today what was the reason for Jesus to come to the Earth, you would get many different answers, all would probably be correct but without the true meaning of the plan of salvation. How do you know that you are Saved? Look at what Jesus said; “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:” Lets break this down. There are three different types of people in Church today. 1.”He that hath my commandments, These are the people that has the wisdom of the Commandments of Jesus. They can amost quote every word that Jesus uttered, but without keeping a single one.The do as I say and not as I do Hypocrites. These people have no reverent fear of God, but believe that their works shall be suficient to be saved. 2.”He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them”, These are the people that have the Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge of the Word and keeps it, the Saved. These people have the reverent fear of God, they add works to faith. 3.These are the unbelievers and the hypocrites. 1Co 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha ( “accursed” )., the meaning of the phrase “let him be Anathema Maranatha.”, is, “Our Lord is coming, and he will judge those who have set him at naught.” If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ – If any be an enemy to his person, offices, doctrines, or commands. Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Heres the proof of what I just said; Mat 13:27-30; So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. How many today believe that God knows everything? If you answered yes, then you must realize that God knows who belongs to Him and who are still in need of salvation. Salvation is not a game that people play it is of the most urgency to the soul of man. Our ideas, our thoughts, our plans, our interpretation, nor our doctrine of life, has no bearing on Gods word. Many say that it matters what you believe, I say it doesn’t matter what you believe, what matters is what Gods word Says. Commandments from God are not written for to be, cut up, surgically removed, changed, altered or debated, they are commandments. Follow them and become saved, ignore them and be lost forever. Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. [endureth; As "drawing back unto perdition" hold fast] Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (JFB)”but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” a great saying, repeated, in connection with similar warnings, in the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat_24:13); and often reiterated by the apostle as a warning against “drawing back unto perdition” (Heb_3:6, Heb_3:13; Heb_6:4-6; Heb_10:23, Heb_10:26-29, Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39, etc.). As “drawing back unto perdition” is merely the palpable evidence of the want of “root” from the first in the Christian profession (Luk_8:13), so “enduring to the end” is just the proper evidence of its reality and solidity. end pt. 1. ars

About the Author

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
A.R.Smith Sermons International
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

October 17, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

Are You Building Your Own Cistern?

You’re looking at one star in the middle of a dark sky…

The star stands still while you fly up to it.

As you get closer you see someone standing there holding an object. You can’t see what it is so you move even closer. It’s a cup that is almost vase shaped.

You watch as the person pours some water into the top of it. -Before the person even finishes pouring the water is flowing out parts of the sides and the bottom!

You watch the person get upset and go for more water to fill the cup.

You’re still watching but you slowly start to float back away from the star into space.

All of the sudden you stop and watch water float right by the star. It just continues to flow right on past this person that is still upset over the holes in the container…

Do you realize that we humans are too good at fighting to do more to fix a problem -and yet sometimes we miss the flow of the best.

God knew this and had it written for us in Jeremiah 2:13:
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The First Evil
Let’s look at the first evil. God’s people have left Him. He is the fountain of living water. God doesn’t have any holes… The flow keeps on continuing from Him with no end…

The Second Evil
The second evil is God’s people hewing their own cisterns…

To really understand this verse we need to understand the words that were used. The word ‘hewed’ means chopped, hacked, or shaped by cutting, and made smooth.
The word ‘cistern’ in the Strong’s Greek and Hebrew dictionary means container.

It does sound like it can take a lot of work to make one cistern though! The chopping or hacking away at it to make it smooth doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun.

Yes, it takes work but in the very next sentence God tells us that the cisterns are broken! The containers can’t hold any water!

Obviously we want and need water! God provides the best for His kids.

Knowing this why would anyone attempt to create their own ways of making themselves content and happy? The religions, the diets, and even the schedules operate to help someone. If we are going to help ourselves, shouldn’t we go to the living water?

Just Remember…
It’s when we sit in the flow of living water we get to be filled with the love, joy, and peace of Father God!

Feel free to distribute this article if it is kept as is, including the Resource Box at the bottom. Notification of online use is not required but I would appreciate it. Please contact the author prior to use in printed media.

-Michelle Jacobson
contact@seedministries.com

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Copyright 2005, SeedMinistries

About the Author

Michelle Jacobson is the author and webmaster at
SeedMinistries.com where you can get
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A fun and easy way to really learn the word of God!

October 16, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

Sexy Aids May Make You Go Crazy

The sex aid business has seen a hefty increase in business since the seventies. This is part of the marital toy revolution and a substantial benefit to mankind. Marital toys are a fascinating way to increase passion into your sex life, they could help you come to orgasm and sexual toys regularly put a cheeky grin on your face.

Whichever brilliant sexual toy you decide to acquire this Spring let your desires be your guide. If you are into bondage play then go and acquire yourself bondage gear. if you are into romance then go and purchase yourself some chocolate body paint. Keep your mind open and see where it guides you. Looking for the real thing then get Realistic Dildos.

The most popular sexual toys on the sex market have got to be the vibrating marital aids. The aforementioned awesome sex toys have been all around for years and you have possibly seen one in your local sex retailer. Vibrating marital aids come in a multitude of lengths and colours, you can get vibrators in a small size for your backpack right up to 11 inches. The wonder of a vibrating sex toy is the super vibration that it gives off, this vibration is the main source of orgasm for women and can often usually be changed in vibration to suit the gal. Sexy aids are terrific.

October 16, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

The History of the cellular Phones & how we use them at the moment.

The cellular telephone, a creation which has now been around for & assessable for ages. Its found its skills evolve & progress from something which was merely and effortlessly just a phone, to presently something else amazing which comes with MP3 or camera or in fact both. This is what the current generations of now is probing for. The more exciting devices that can be found included within it the more users wish for the product. The new most wanted cellphone available at the minute seems to be the wonderful iphone. Designed by Apple, this is top of the line, its an iPod & a phone. Therefore if you’re a follower of technology then this is absolutely the correct cellphone for you.

The cell hand-set is also known as a wireless or maybe a mobile phone. Although cell phones have taken over our current society they have been everywhere for some years, in some shape or perhaps another. The cellular handset industry persists to escalate and develop by leaps and bounds as it has in the past few years. Even though it started little more than 20 years ago. Manufacturers have designed loads of new gizmos that keep cellular telephone cleints returning back for more. They keep on every year to increase the assortments of capabilities and services to receive the growing desires of what todays, on the go culture crave. Get the cheapest mobile phone deals with MobileShop, Click Here.

There are types of networks. The current leading & most likeable kinds are Orange, T-Mobile, and Vodafone. These days you can opt whether people want to possess the cell contract on pay as people go or maybe a on an actual contract. Contract cell phone are normally the most sought after style of contract and with this it means the best part of the time you do not take to pay for a state of the art new mobile phone, it on average comes free together with the package. Mobile phones on contract give people the most flexible choice in regards to how you use it, there is a hefty array within the varieties of deals for sale to you. It makes it remarkably painless for you to choose a deal that are right for your needs and how you use it.

October 15, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

How to Protect Your Files From a Computer Virus

How safe is your computer? Could you be in danger of getting a virus on your system? Just how real is the danger? What steps should you take if any?

While visiting with a one of my students, I became aware that her anti-virus software was over seventeen months old and had never been updated. Upon informing her that she should update her anti-virus software regularly, she was totally surprised. Furthermore she had no concept how essential this was to ensure her system’s safety. Therefore I thought it wise to write about some of the precautions you should take to avoid becoming infected with a computer virus.

While there are many ‘virus’ hoaxes, and please do not pass any of these hoaxes on as these may actually contain viruses, computer viruses do pose a very real danger. Therefore I’ve listed a few preventative measures that you should take to ensure computer safety.

1. Do install an anti-virus software program and update it often as there are new viruses discovered everyday. I update my anti-virus database daily. At least weekly should be a goal. If you are not updating perpetually, it is like having an insurance policy and never paying the premiums. In no time at all it would be worthless.

2. Be wary of email from strangers. Never open an email with an attachment from a source that is unknown or suspicious. Virus containing emails can be very persuasive in the subject line. Do not let your curiosity be aroused.

I prefer an anti-virus program that has the ability to check all email sent and received. If you update it often, this should keep you safe, although nothing is 100% secure. There are good programs that offer a free version for personal use. These programs generally allow continual updates. Some may require that you register again at the end of year, but the software and updates will still be free.

Two such programs are:

AVG anti-virus, Free edition
http://grisoft.com

Free avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

For more options and reviews on programs you can do a search on google for free anti-virus.

3. Do exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Be sure to download from well known and reputable sources. Ascertain that your anti-virus software is set to scan files while you are downloading. I have that feature enabled in my anti-virus program and it scans all files when I am in the process of downloading, and it has on occasion prevented me from downloading a file that was infected or posed a potential danger. These programs work so take advantage of the security your anti-virus will provide by using all of the safety features.

4. New viruses creep upon a daily basis. It is important to back up your important files regularly. CD’s and DVD’s hold a large amount of information. Take advantage of this and store your valuable information and computer programs on these removable disks. In the event that a virus should ever invade your system and your files become corrupted you will be able to replace them with your backup copies.

5. Lastly apply the little rule, ‘When in doubt do without’. If you are uncertain, whether it is with an unknown source in your email or a web site that offers a download, then best not to take a chance. No email message or free software is worth the damage to your computer files and the time and expense of repairing your PC. Do not be fooled, computer viruses do affect everyone.

The Internet offers us an array of software, services, entertainment and education that is beneficial. There is no reason to fear the web, it can be safe and secure. Yet it would be unrealistic to assume that there is no danger of computer viruses. There are unscrupulous persons who desire to do you harm. By observing these few guidelines you can minimize any threat of a virus attacking your computer.

Doran, writer and entrepreneur provides lessons, resouces, tips, freeware, biz info, ebooks, mp3s, and more to improve your PC and Internet experience. doranunlimited.com

October 14, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

Hacking Using Google – A Myth

There are a lot of hacking websites who are fooling you into this stuff. Yeah it is possible that Google may pick up some trashed passwords that never work. The passwords found are from some lame websites which don’t have any levels of security applied to the data. There are many other simple ways to hack such sites.

Google caching – The pages that are picked up by Google for caching are simple pages. Google spider can not even find what’s present inside dynamically placed content. The passwords are always stored in the database, which in no case can be crawled by Google spider. Google search engine always crawls through these cached pages to get the desired searched content. And every webmaster is aware how difficult it is to get a site crawled by Google or any other search engine. Even some innovative stuff used for the sites optimization can disrupt the crawling of your website. So there is no possibility that a crawler will enter the logs or database of a website and pick up the treasure of passwords.

These clever website publishers use such stuff to get more and more traffic. If they were so good in hacking why do they publish such stuff? Suppose, if I find such a stuff, why would I publish this stuff? And then get listed in Google. After looking at my stuff they will get alert and configure the search engine accordingly.

So please stop wasting time on such destructive ideas. Use your mind to construct something useful. Don’t let anybody use you for just earning good traffic.

by Bikramjit Singh
author for
sycamore.in and
sarvpriya.com

October 14, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

Cybercriminals’ Trick: Targeted Trojan-Containing Emails

Threats we ordinary Web users face online leave us no choice but learn. Haven’t you noticed how many new things you learned lately? We are much better informed about malicious programs than just a year ago.

This section of our vocabularies grows rapidly: now we all know what a “keylogger” is,”worm” for us has something to do not only with zoology, nor a “Trojan Horse” with Ancient Greek literature. We are getting better at avoiding such scams as phishing, and this word doesn’t look like a spelling mistake anymore.

We Web users are getting smarter — at least the numbers from the recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project say so. The study shows that 91% of respondents (adult Web users from the USA) have improved their online behavior in one way or another.

81% of respondents have become more cautious about e-mail attachments.

People are also avoiding certain Web sites (48%), using file-sharing networks less often (25%), and even switching browsers (18%).

But, alas… As Web users get wiser, cybercriminals become more insidious and commit more sophisticated crimes.

More people are now aware of a worm, virus or Trojan which might be hidden in a spam email attachment — for cybercriminals it means that spam becomes less “effective” means of spreading
malware.

Why they are spreading malware? What motivates them? Money, of course.

All security experts are at one in thinking that ” cybercriminals are primarily motivated by financial gain”. In other words, they prefer cash to fun. Instead of doing mischief just for the h… of it, they steal money. Big money.

Along with other unlawful activities, cybercriminals are actively hunting for valuable data that can be turned into cash. Stealing information needs contaminating as many PCs as possible with malicious programs. Most PC users now are aware of (or we even can say, almost got used to) the fact that Trojan horses can be included into e-mail messages, multimedia files or free knick-knackery like postcards, smileys and screensavers. We users know that many viruses, worms, and Trojan horses contain information-stealing (keylogging) modules.

Spreading malware as wide as possible that’s what cyberthieves do in order to reach their treacherous goal. At least it was their main approach — until recently, when crooks began to more intensively exploit a new tactic.

Targeting at Individual Addressees

On July 8, 2005 CERT (the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team), issued an alert warning about the rise of Trojan attacks of a new kind. Signs of these stealthy Trojan attacks, which were targeting specific firms to evade detection, have been detected for the last year. Targeted Trojan-horse attacks are a new trend
in online threats, states the alert.

Trojan attacks by themselves aren’t new, but CERT said this technique has two features that make it very dangerous, especially for businesses.

First, conventional anti-virus software and firewalls can’t beat Trojans of this kind. These programs are “tailor-made”. Source code of known Trojans, if altered, is unfamiliar to anti-viruses, and they can’t detect it.

Any new variation of known malicious program is a new program for anti-viruses. There is a long way from detection of a piece of malware to the moment when an anti-virus or anti-spyware vendor is able to offer protection against it. This cycle takes time — from several hours to a couple of days. When such a program is detected, its signature (piece of code) should be picked and included into an update. Only after all anti-virus or anti-spyware programs on all users’ PCs are updated it is possible to protect them against this particular piece of malware. Poor consolation for those unlucky ones who were hit by a new kind of malware FIRST.

These e-mails contain dangerous malware-laden attachments, or links to web sites hosting Trojan horses. When such an attachment is opened or a link is clicked, a malicious program installs the Trojan onto the users’ machines. These Trojans can be configured to transmit information via ports used for a common service, like TCP port 80, which is assigned to Web traffic. That’s why firewalls are helpless against them.

Second, this time the e-mails are TARGETED — sent to specific recipients. Their subject lines often have something to do with the user’s work or interests.

What the criminal can do when the attachment is opened? He can: (Quote from the alert issued by US-CERT)

  • Collect usernames and passwords for email accounts
  • Collect critical system information and scan network drives
  • Use the infected machine to compromise other machines and networks
  • Download further programs (e.g., worms, more advanced Trojans)
  • Upload documents and data to a remote computer

CERT made recommendations for system administrators on how to prevent this kind of Trojan horse attacks.
You can get the complete list from: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA05-189A.html

As for us ordinary Web users — to lessen the risk of these attacks we all should:

  • use an anti-virus scanner on all e-mail attachments
  • update operating system and application software to patch vulnerabilities these Trojans exploited
  • set the default options in e-mail clients to view opened e-mails as plain text, i.e. turn off the “Preview Pane” functionality.

    And, of course, be more cautious about everything which appears in our inboxes.

    Alexandra Gamanenko currently works at Raytown Corporation, LLC — an independent software developing company. This company provides software capable of disabling even “tailor-made”
    information-stealing modules, which can be hidden inside spyware as well as viruses, worms and Trojans.

    Learn more — visit the company’s website
    http://www.anti-keyloggers.com

    October 13, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

    ‘Net Sports Competitions Betting — a Guide for Beginners

    Tie together the two of men’s dominant pursuits and what you’ve got is something that’s universally called a sportsbook wagers site. And what could be more original. If you envisage a gathering of devotees clapping in support of their preferred local sports club, and always stakes are fixed in tandem with the commotion. So keen to catch more of the exhilaration, on-lookers usually venture to presage who will win the running meetup. In the end, this eventually evolves into a warmhearted meetup titled sportsbook wagers site.

    It is bound to sound a craving but, instead, sportsbook wagering is essentially only fun and to bond with your buddies. You can bet a any small amount of mazuma and yet enjoy a extraordinary time. Furthermore, here are a few select leads to get going sportsbook wagering. In order to wager, we would advise you call on a sportsbook wagers site, i.e. a setup that takes sportsbook wagers site. In the United States, there are no less than four states where to do sportsbook wagering in a legit manner, but if legality is no concern, you can attempt it just about anywhere assuming you can find a bookie and you happen to be of age. Included in the sports events you can bet money on are pro plus, of course, college football as well as basketball, pro hockey, pro hockey, plus, of course, wagers on both dog and horse racing. Customers might bet money on the complete tally of a fight or game, in what round any given competitor will be knocked out, and even whether a given tossed coin in a fight or game will come out heads or tails.

    Texans QB Schaub likely out for Sunday

    The bookmakers rely on number crunching to assist you choose which sports club you sense will win. For starters, there’s distribution, or specific points leverage tallied to the weaker team expected to lose by x number points. Self-Evidently, this constitutes the sportsbook provider’s acknowledged technique of organizing unbiased wagers for a Sportsbook. To take a practical example we might wager on a club expected to lose and and yet win the bet assuming the team does actually lose by x number of points. There are plenty of so many varying sorts of wagers- straight, parlay wagers, teaser wagers, and so on, the straight bets, where all you have to do is to pinpoint the side you believe is most likely to win or be defeated being the most prevalent in sportsbook wagering.

    So, why don’t you just go for it and enjoy yourself at the same time. Just make certain that you won’t get overwhelmed and fritter your complete retirement pension on a caprice! Otherwise you will most likely find yourself distressed till the end of your days!

    October 13, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

    The Prospering Multi National Estate Market Space: Fostered by Property Index Online

    Find a great portfolio of Dubai properties here!

    Even if Property Index may be considered a young concern, registered only in March 2007, they were fast to establish expert reputation. Actually, they are a unbelievably easy going concern entirely focused on catering to every client meaning to rent, buy, sell etc. property across the world. They assure they will lend you a hand to spot bang-on what you are calling for fast and, furthermore, painlessly. Estate is easily available all over the world at present, one of the most fashionable areas being estate available for sale in Dubai. It should be no problem to write up the ripping properties available in Dubai, one explanation for wanting estate here being the houses and apartments on the market and the option of living amid this bubbly, fervent and peppy population.

    This is one of the truly fashionable property markets at present, and considering the overall attractiveness and agreeable climate that surrounds you all year long, how can you say no! Estate in Dubai is very rich in history and culture, this area of the world has a long tradition as a home to lots of indigenous nations. Some 25 or 30 years ago there was merely a tiny number of Englishmen keen on properties in Dubai. Ask any one single person who has moved to Dubai and they will tell you the same thing. Some people would prefer to view it as a negligible fashion and others prefer to view it as a as something approaching an obsession… People actually moving here generally range from yuppies looking for a perspective to retired people intending to have fun.

    Note that you may hit on a few problems when looking to acquire properties abroad: there will be 100s of steps whether strategizing, popping in or buying and completing. If you only miss one single action this is certain to generate impassable problems plus, critically, money loss. Obviously and expectably with this favored place, properties may be very costly in this destination and that is purely because of the expanding demand. In spite of this the real estate buyer is rather spoiled in such an area so wonderful in terms of smiling topography and setting. It actually has the whole kit and caboodle a buyer could desire and more.

    October 13, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

    How To Give Away Your Personal Information

    Identity Theft and Your Personal Information

    ——————————————–
    Identity theft is apparently the “in thing” these days. By
    media accounts, hackers and evildoers lurk everywhere trying
    to steal your personal information. In the past few months,
    one company after another is being forced to admit customer
    data has been lost or stolen.

    In many cases, they have then come forth repeatedly over the
    next few weeks, or even months revising the estimated number
    of impacted customers. To date, I don’t think any have ever
    lowered those numbers.

    Identity Theft and Respected Companies

    ————————————–
    Generally speaking, these aren’t fly-by-night organizations.
    These are respected companies who we’ve come to trust. In
    many instances, the loss wasn’t even the work of a
    “malicious hacker” or other mystical force beyond their
    control; it was simple carelessness. The frequency of such
    reports of identity theft is making it difficult for
    consumers to feel confident in those with whom we do
    business. Customers are outraged that companies are not
    doing more to protect their information from the forces of
    evil.

    You and Your Personal Information

    ———————————
    What about you? How are you at keeping you personal
    information under wraps? Some of these high profile
    incidents were the result of a trivial mistake that could
    have happened to anyone, including you.

    Let’s consider two events that didn’t make the front page of
    C|Net or CNN.

    The Keys To The Castle

    ———————-
    I consult for a client who doesn’t trust me. It’s nothing
    personal, they don’t trust anyone. Whenever I visit this
    site, I am forced to contact the client throughout the visit
    to have them type a credential, or password, to grant access
    to a server or router. It’s really annoying.

    I really respect this client.

    They don’t really know me; I’m “the consultant”. They’re
    taking the proper steps when dealing with a consultant,
    providing the absolute minimum amount of information
    required. They would never give me unsupervised access to
    the network, and certainly wouldn’t consider giving me
    passwords to their servers or routers. Not on purpose
    anyway.

    Then there was the day I was working alongside the client
    and needed to reconfigure a router to complete a task. It’s
    a long walk to the client’s office to get the password for
    that particular router. Yes, this is a client who apparently
    has a unique password for every piece of equipment they own.
    Conveniently the client does keep a password protected file
    on a USB key that contained the needed information. The
    client was completely appropriate and even asked permission
    before using my laptop to fetch the file. I consented, and
    even made the gesture of turning away while he unlocked the
    file and retrieved the required password.

    Have you ever used Google Desktop Search? It’s a very cool,
    and aptly named, program that is a Google for your PC. It
    will index your files and make them searchable through a
    fast, flexible, and easy to use interface. It’ll even cache
    the contents of files so if you move it off your hard drive,
    you’ll still be able to see the contents of what was once
    there. Normally it does all this in the background when you
    computer is sitting idle. It also does it anytime you open a
    file.

    Your Personal Information Is The Prize

    ————————————–
    You guessed it. Logins, passwords, public and private IP
    addresses. You name it, I had it. The client who would never
    give me a single password had turned over all of them at
    once.

    What kind of wondrous data was now available? Personnel
    records, salary data, trade secrets? Maybe, if this was a
    corporate client. What about an academic, a University even?
    Student records, financial aid forms, and grant information.
    The possibilities were endless.

    I promptly deleted the cache. The customer didn’t want me to
    have the information, nor did I.

    Would You Hand Your Credit Card To A Stranger?

    ———————————————-
    The previous example showed how simple it is to
    inadvertently reveal a large amount of data. It’s funny how
    easily a person can dismiss this type of loss. After all,
    it’s not your data, right?

    So let’s get a bit more personal.

    Convenience And Computer Security Are Rarely Compatible

    ——————————————————-
    I have a good trust relationship with my next client. She is
    quite comfortable with me administering and securing the
    corporate network. When it comes to her personal credit card
    information however, well, not so much.

    Pretty much every web browser available these days has quite
    a few convenience features designed to make your day to day
    “net experience simpler”. One of these convenience features
    came into play in this example, specifically the Firefox
    browser’s auto-completion feature.

    Not too long ago, I was tasked by this client to make
    arrangements for transfer of an internet domain to their
    ownership. Not a difficult task, she could have handled it
    herself. She was quite a capable computer user; she just
    didn’t want to be bothered with the process.

    I set aside 20 minutes to go through her domain registrar’s
    step-by-step transfer wizard. I summoned the client to
    explain the details of the transfer displayed on my laptop
    screen. Facing the payment options screen the client asked
    if she could proceed. I relinquished control of my laptop
    and she entered the credit card information required to
    complete the transaction.

    Web Browsers Cache Your Personal Information

    ——————————————–
    Most modern web browsers, for convenience, will cache
    information entered into web forms. The intent is to be able
    to recall this information if it’s requested by another
    form. The following day, I was in the process of registering
    another domain with the same registrar and was surprised,
    for half a second, when the payment screen pre-populated
    using the same information used the day before. In addition
    to the credit card information I also had my client’s
    personal home address, and telephone number. This was quite
    a bit of personal information the client never had any
    intention of giving me.

    So What’s Your Point?

    ———————
    These two examples are very different but do share two
    important attributes. First, data the client intended to
    keep private was revealed to me. Second, the reason for the
    “compromise” of the data was due to the “victim” working
    with said data on a computer they neither owned nor were
    familiar with. Under different circumstances, the end
    results could have been quite devastating.

    Conclusion

    ———-
    When using a computer system you do not own, perhaps at a
    kiosk, or Internet Café, be aware that the computer itself
    is going to remember a lot of what you’ve done as part of
    basic functionality. Additionally, most entities that are
    going to provide you with access to a computer, including
    your employer, probably have systems in place that could
    collect additional data you don’t desire to share. Even
    WiFi hotspots that allow you to use your own notebook or PDA
    to surf the web while sipping coffee can be a potential
    information collector.

    The moral of the story is, when dealing with computer
    systems that aren’t your own, never handle data or documents
    that you wouldn’t want left behind unprotected. In all odds,
    once you walk away from that computer, you’ve done just
    that.

    About The Author

    —————-
    Erich currently specializes in providing network and security
    solutions for small to medium businesses that frequently have
    to resolve the conflict of need versus budget.
    His commitment to precision and excellence is eclipsed only by
    his fascination with gadgets, particularly ones that are
    shiny, or that blink, or that beep. Erich is a
    staff writer for http://www.defendingthenet.com and several other
    e-zines. If you would like to contact Erich you can e-mail
    him at erich.heintz@gmail.com or
    DefendTheNet@ParaLogic.Net.

    October 13, 2008. Uncategorized. No Comments.

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