Thanks to the Black Hat community not keeping a lid on their activities I’ve been made aware of a spamming system targetted at the DigitalPoint forums. It can, however, be used on any vBulletin forum - I would assume. Some have implemented different rules around when you can send a private message, and some might even have captcha - but it’s all circumventable. (more…)
Microsoft’s .Net applications have failed to dominate the web world. Certainly there are alot of sites using it, and alot of very good applications built in it but the closed door, clip the ticket approach has blocked alot of interest. Add to that the lower hosting costs of PHP and you’re onto a winner with smaller enterprises.
Now Microsoft are announcing that their focus has moved away from the PC and onto the Web and that LiveMesh is their new baby. We’re yet to see what LiveMesh actually is but LiveSide define it as: (more…)
I’ve just discovered the Goolag Scanner.
It’s a handy dandy tool for using Google queries to identify if there are any known holes in a website. Googlebot has already checked every crevice in the site, I just want to know what it knows!
Now Google, being all security conscious and that, gets a bit sensitive about you running these queries. They know that it’s possible you’re going to use the results to do bad things. (more…)
We are all used to the phishing emails that we get sent from “banks” and “auctions sites” - trying to steal your logins for financial gain. A new phase has started where phishing messages are sent via the private message (PM) facility at a forum.
The motive in this case is pure revenge, but with forums being used for trading, deals, and product promotion the trend is very dangerous - primarily because you believe you “know” the users, or atleast have some sort of respect and trust between you.
Lets walk through the steps. (more…)
I check the whois records for domains reasonably often. Whoisguard type systems are commonly in place to protect the identity of the domain owner. No problems there.
What irks, though, is the people who give completely false information… like this one where the info is incomplete and gives an Australian address yet I know that the actual owner is in India. By saying he’s in Melbourne he aquires a western credibility he perceives as superior to his Indian identity. (more…)
Years ago I encountered a company called NBD and posted my very popular thread NBO - National Business Online.
I was alerted recently that they’ve started up two new websites: jobleader.co.nz and nzcareerexpo.co.nz. It’s an ambitious project given that the Herald have their search4jobs and there’s seek.co.nz dominating the market.
The good news is that they appear to be trying to make a legitimate business and I’ve seen billboards around town promoting the jobleader.co.nz website.
The bad news (according to Melinda) is that their sales techniques haven’t changed.
So, I was wondering, are there any other New Zealand (or Australian) companies with first hand experiences?
This is a big topic in Auckland right now as our City Council Elections are hijacked by a supposed candidate promoting his porn empire. It’s hard to separate the “no harm done” side of the industry from the exploitive and damaging side and to understand, in the long run, where to draw the line.
Aside from the obvious industry fronts of websites, movies, magazines and gadgets there are the rogues that exploit the demand for the product. I guess anytime you have something popular there are going to be people who trick and connive.
Take Captcha - it’s a great way to bot proof your website and unless (more…)
