uTorrent 3.3 alpha randomizes Peer-ID during sessions

By Martin Brinkmann on September 22, 2012 - Tags:File Sharing

It is almost certain that public – and likely private – Bittorrent traffic is monitored to a great extent by companies that specialize in these kind of operations. Information such as IP addresses, downloaded files, date and time, program name and version, and other information are likely recorded by these companies. Most users know that it is the IP address that makes them identifiable, and some take great care to anonymize their online presence because of this. There are several options to do just that, from using virtual private networks or proxy servers to seedboxes or open wireless networks.

Fingerprinting techniques may however reveal connections even if an IP address is changed regularly. Bittorrent clients are for instance sending out a peer-ID on connects which may or may not get randomized automatically by the application. The popular uTorrent application for instance up until now randomized the peer-ID on every start of the program, but not during sessions.

The peer-ID in this case may reveal links between seemingly unrelated user sessions. This is for instance the case if you have changed your IP during a session but not restarted the uTorrent client.

To avoid this from happening, Bittorrent INC. has added a new feature to the uTorrent 3.3 client that is randomizing the peer-ID for public torrent downloads during sessions.  The feature has been enabled in one of the latest alpha builds of the client to mitigate tracking using the ID.

Feature: don’t use a consistent peer-id (to mitigate tracking)

Other Bittorrent clients have had implemented similar measures for some time now. The popularuTorrent alternative qbittorrent for instance supports an anonymous mode feature that is taking anonymity a step further:

• peer-ID without client fingerprint
• user-agent will be empty
• trackers will only be used if they are using proxy servers
• listen sockets are closed
• incoming connections only accepted though Socks5 or I2P proxy

It is not really clear when the current stable version of uTorrent will be moved to version 3.3. Considering that it is currently in alpha it may take a while before stable users benefit from the protection.

You find a download link of the latest uTorrent alpha build on the official forum where updates are regularly posted. Keep in mind that it is an alpha and may be less stable because of it. (via Reddit)

Check if a website is banned from Adsense

By Martin Brinkmann on September 21, 2012 - TAGS: None

You need to be very careful when you buy websites or domains. You not only need to verify the claims made by the current owner of the website but also do extra research to find out more about the owner, domain and website. Some of the things that you may want to verify are for instance whether the content on a website is unique, if the traffic and revenue figures are correct, or whether the website has previously been manually or automatically punished by Google or another company.

If you do not see Adsense ads on the site but plan to run them once you have made the purchase, you also may want to check if that is possible or not. Adsense ads don’t display on sites that have been banned by Google, even if you add code to the site that is working on other websites.

But how do you find out about it without relying solely on the owner of the site? The Google Adsense Sandbox can help you in this regard. Just visit the website, enter the domain name or website url that you want to verify, pick a country, and click on preview ads.

If you see advertisement then the site is not banned by Google and can display Adsense ads after all. If you do not see ads, it is likely that Google has banned the site from the Adsense program. If that is the case, you could still try and reapply, but that is usually only successful if you fix the issue that got the site – or Adsense account – banned in first place. Knowing that a website has been banned from Adsense can give you additional leeway in the negotiations on the other hand.

You can use the tool to display other Adsense related information, like previewing ads to make sure the ads are appropriate for the content a site is offering.

It is a great tool all in all that buyers should use to quickly check if they can’t see Adsense ads on a particular domain or website they are interested in.

Internet Explorer security updates released [September 2012]

By Martin Brinkmann on September 21, 2012 - Tags:flash player

A 0-day vulnerability affecting all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer except version 10 on all supported Microsoft operating systems was revealed recently. Microsoft, aware of limited attacks targeting the vulnerability, promised to release an out of band patch for the vulnerability to protect Internet Explorer users from exploits making use of it.

Internet Explorer users have to visit a specially prepared website where the attack is carried out on. A successful attack may give the attacker the same user rights as the user working locally on the computer. It became known that different types of attacks were carried out of which some dropped a trojan on the system.

Internet Explorer users can mitigate the issue by installing Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit and configuring it to protect Internet Explorer from exploits. Other options that Microsoft suggested to customers was to change the security zone of the Internet and Intranet to high.

A Fix It has been released yesterday that patches the vulnerability on Windows systems, with the promise to release a full patch today.The promised patch has now been released by Microsoft. Windows users can either use the operating system’s built-in Windows Update tool to check for the patch and install it on the system, or download the patch from Microsoft’s Download Center instead once it is released there.

This security update resolves one publicly disclosed and four privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Internet Explorer 9 on Windows clients and Moderate for Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Internet Explorer 9 on Windows servers. Internet Explorer 10 is not affected. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The PC needs to be restarted once the update has been downloaded and installed on the system to apply it fully. You find additional information about the security update on the Security Bulletinpage on Microsoft.com.

Microsoft in addition has released an update for the integrated Flash Player in Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 that is also fixing security vulnerabilities. The update is available via Windows Update or on Microsoft’s Download Center.

Here it is available for Windows Server 2012, the Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate, the Windows 8 RTM release, and the Windows 8 Release Preview.

Takeover [Game Saturday]

By Martin Brinkmann on September 22, 2012 - Tags:flash games, game saturday

Takeover is a free strategic Flash game in which you take control of a tribe out of three that the game makes available to you. The game plays on small regional maps on which you usually start with one or two buildings under your command. The main task here is to conquer all enemy buildings with troops that you need to recruit. The game features half a dozen or so different types of troops, from basic foot soldiers to archers and cavalry, that have all their strengths and weaknesses.

Three types of building are available that determine the troops that you can hire. Towns for instance only let you hire foot soldiers and archers, while fortresses add cavalry and siege engines to that. The third building, the magic tower, makes available specialized units and access to an ultimate spell like cataclysm or summoning an avatar to the battlefield.

All buildings can be upgraded twice which improves their hitpoints and enables the recruiting of veteran or elite units that are sturdier in battle.

Up to three smaller buildings can be added to each larger building which increase the gold earned per turn (mine), the mana (obelisk), or the maximum number of troops (farm). Farms are especially important as you usually start with enough supplies for two unit types, not enough to defend and conquer the entire region.

Each of the three factions has access to different unit types and spells that you can make use of. The Duchy of Westaria for instance has access to a heal spell, while the Crimson Horde to bloodlust which increases attack power for a short period of time.

You will also find ogres on some maps that protect gold chests which add 500 or so gold to your treasury which usually is a welcome addition early on in the game as you need lots of money to improve buildings and recruit troops.

You move around the troops via drag and drop on the map, which works well most of the time. You can even draw a rectangle around troops to command multiple units at once. What does not seem to work is retreating once a unit has engaged another in battle which is a bit unfortunate as it would add another strategic element to the game. You can however move wounded troops back into your buildings were they recover their wounds over time.

You gain experience when you win a battle, which in turn awards you edict points which you can invest into power ups of sort. You can make your spells more powerful or last longer, turn basic troops into sturdier ones or reduce the recruiting costs of units.

Takeover is a fun game for a while. It lacks a bit in the diversity department as most battles play out more or less the same. You start with little money, recruit one or two units, try to defeat an oger or conquer a building, and go from there. Some challenges, for instance maps without buildings would have made a nice addition to the game. Still, if you like strategy games then this one will keep you entertained for an hour or two.