1. Best InfoSec Certs

 

Serious minded information security professionals should consider adding one or more of these top 5 information security to their to-do lists if they want to set themselves apart and pitch themselves as leaders, movers, or shakers in the field of information security.
When it comes to information security (aka InfoSec), you need only read the headlines to observe that those with malintent constantly find new and scary ways to access -- and misuse -- privileged information for unscrupulous or questionable purposes. As a result, IT professionals skilled in information security remain in very high demand.
When evaluating prospective candidates, employers frequently look to certification as a measure of excellence and commitment to quality. In this article, I take a look at five InfoSec certifications I consider to be leaders in the field of information security.
Ed Tittel
Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who’s worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's Hardware, and is the author of over 140 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.

2. CompTIA Security+

 

CompTIA's Security+ credential is a well-respected, vendor-neutral security credential. Credential holders are recognized as possessing superior technical skills, broad knowledge, and expertise in multiple security-related disciplines. While Security+ is an entry- or foundation-level certification, successful candidates should possess at least two years of experience working in the area of network security. Credential holders possess expertise in knowledge areas such as cryptography, identity management, security systems, organizational systems, identifying and mitigating security risks, network access control, security infrastructure, and more.
The Security+ credential is relatively inexpensive with the exam currently priced at $266 USD (discounts apply to those who work for CompTIA member companies). Training is available, but not required. Professionals who earned this credential prior to January 1, 2011 remain certified for life. Those who certify after January 1, 2011 must renew every three years to stay current. To renew, credential holders are required to pass the current Security+ exam, as well as to complete 50 Continuing Education Units, or CEUs, prior to the expiration of the three-year period. CEUs can be obtained by engaging in a variety of activities ranging from teaching, blogging, publishing articles or white papers, participating in conference events, or similar activities.

1. ASUS  (Computer hardware, Electronic Computer Manufacturing)

 

 

   2. Gigabyte Technology (Computer Industry)

 

 

 

  3.Intel (Semiconductor Manufacture)

 

 

 

4. MSI

 

 

   

  

5. ASRock (Computer Hardware)

 

 

 

  6. Biostar (Computer hardware)

 

   

  7.Sapphire Technology (Computer hardware)

 

 

 

  8. XFX (Computer hardware)

 

 

 

 

   9. Acer Inc

 

 

 

  10. Foxconn

  

 

 

ARES2-6GD5

Author: SaravananGamer  
Date: September 23, 2013
Product Name: Maximus VI Hero
Part Number: MAXIMUS VI HERO
Warranty: 3 Years

As the newest board in ASUS’ ever-expanding ROG lineup, the Maximus VI Hero is built to redefine value in the ROG series. This may seem like an innocuous enough goal but before this point, Republic of Gamers products were normally associated with high prices and with good reason. ASUS basically throws everything they have into these boards in an effort to make them the best around even if that means throwing cost into the wind.

Looking at the Hero from a high level standpoint, its target demographic is enthusiasts who want the ROG design ethos alongside performance and air cooled overclocking superiority without breaking the bank. Priced at close to $200 cheaper than the flagship enthusiast ROG board, the Maximus VI Extreme, the Hero is intended to bring ROG innovation that gamers crave without some of the extreme overclocking features which they may never use.

The Hero is packed full of features that we typically look for to maximize our gaming experience. The SupremeFX 8-Channel HD audio brings an amazing audio experience and Sonic Radar is an audio positioning engine which helps to locate opponents in games from sounds like gunshots or footsteps.

One more gaming-related feature the Hero brings is Gamefirst II. This helps the online gaming experience by ensuring pings and latency are kept low through constant packet inspection and management.

A few other features that don’t only effect the gaming experience, but the overall PC standpoint are ASUS' excellent CPU Level Up, 4-Way Optimization, USB Charger+, USB 3.0 Boost, AISuite III, and the Extreme Engine DIGI+ III VRM. Additionally, as with many other ASUS Z87 boards, the Hero has Fan Xpert II which brings a new level of control and optimization for system fans and even the UEFI BIOS has over 15 new features over previous gen boards.

We also can’t forget to mention the functionality brought to the table by Intel's new Lynx Point Z87 chipset . Items like six native USB 3.0 ports, six native SATA 6G ports, full support for PCI-E 3.0 including 16 PCI-E lanes, Rapid Start Technology, Smart Connect, and new instruction sets have all been carried forward en masse onto the Maximus VI Hero.

The Maximus VI Hero comes with the ASUS standard 3 year parts and labour warranty and is available now at most retailers. More importantly, at just $220 it is hundreds less than competing products from Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock and others. Does that mean ASUS has cut too much or are we really about to see a renaissance in overclocker-friendly yet abundantly affordable motherboards? We're about to find out.

ASUS Maximus VI Hero Specifications and Features :

Before jumping right into photos and testing, let’s take a look at the specifications and features for the Maximus VI Hero:


























 

While lower resolution gaming highlights processor bottlenecks, most people use slightly higher resolution monitors and want to play with increased detail settings. In these situations, the CPU tends to take a back seat to the graphics processor but even at 1080P (ie: 1920x1080) a slower CPU can still have a drastic impact upon in-game performance. In order to illustrate this, we have carried over the games from our previous tests, pumped detail levels to their max and used the increasingly popular 1080P resolution standard.



RESULTS: With the CPU taking a bit more of a back seat in the higher resolution tests, the situation becomes a bit less defined but once again, we’d say the Haswell architecture has a distinct advantage. Ivy Bridge-E does remain near the top of our charts but it never becomes a clear winner, often featuring less than a 3% improvement over its predecessors.

While lower resolution gaming highlights processor bottlenecks, most people use slightly higher resolution monitors and want to play with increased detail settings. In these situations, the CPU tends to take a back seat to the graphics processor but even at 1080P (ie: 1920x1080) a slower CPU can still have a drastic impact upon in-game performance. In order to illustrate this, we have carried over the games from our previous tests, pumped detail levels to their max and used the increasingly popular 1080P resolution standard.



RESULTS: The trend of middling performance increases continues here with the 4960X featuring limited benefits over other current generation Intel processors. Even against Sandy Bridge-E, the benefits are slim to none.

While our standard in-game testing consists of slightly older but still popular titles, we decided to throw in a number of additional, newer games. Each of these puts a significant amount of load on the CPU but many are also multi-core optimized.

All of the standard testing guidelines apply here as well though there is one major difference: instead of using FRAPS, we are utilizing the FCAT tool. This captures frames in real time before analyzing them, allowing for a much more accurate depiction of what will eventually be displayed onscreen. Once again, a GTX 670 has been used.



The first few newer games show a trend towards the same results we saw in the previous tests. The i7-4770K is often the fastest processor around since most titles can’t take advantage of more than four cores.

On the other hand, Crysis 3 uses additional CPU cores for various physics tasks and Company of Heroes 2 is fully multi core aware, making use of up to 12 threads for post processing calculation and AI. As a result, these two games allow the i7-4960X to surge ahead, though it doesn’t beat the 12-thread i7-3960X by all that much. Even AMD’s FX-9590 turns in an impressive showing every now and then.





In our last few gaming tests, the i7-4770K remains ahead of the pack more often than not. It does indeed seem like the Haswell architecture’s IPC improvements have led directly to better in-game framerates. Once again though, Tomb Raider does buck that trend and allows Ivy Bridge-E to eke out a single win.

 Author: Saravanan & Karthi
 Date: September 23, 2013

 Product Name: i7-4960X

In the world of high end processors, Intel’s Extreme editions have always been at the enthusiast market’s forefront. From Gulftown to Sandy Bridge E, the last few generations have gradually moved the yardsticks forward with better performance and increased instructions per clock. Now, Intel’s Ivy Bridge Extreme is looking to pick up the mantle from its predecessors by introducing Intel’s flagship CPUs to a 22nm 3D Tri gate manufacturing process.

While the mainstream product segment has moved on to the Haswell microarchitecture alongside Z87 motherboards, the extreme family has been lagging behind in some respects. The outgoing SB-E processors have been around for nearly two years now which may not seem like a long time but that’s an eternity in the world of processor lifespans.



Some have blamed this stately progression on the near-complete lack of viable competition from AMD while those with a mind towards conspiracy theories tend to point a finger at Intel purposely holding back technologies from the high end in order to milk their current offerings for all they’re worth. The actual reasoning behind this out-of-sync approach likely isn’t quite so dramatic.

Like its predecessor, the Ivy Bridge Extreme processors are based on Intel’s Xeon E-series server / workstation CPUs, though in this case the IVB-EP architecture is being used. As we have seen in every processor generation, the extreme and EP series progression marches to the beat of a different drummer while still maintaining Intel’s valued Tick / Tock strategy. So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that these new processors are being released after Haswell made its debut not that long ago.


Since Ivy Bridge is essentially a 22nm die-shrink of Sandy Bridge, there really aren’t many base architectural differences. The memory controller is integrated onto the die, as it has been for the last few generations while the Queue, Uncore and primary I/O functions haven’t experienced any major changes in the move away from Sandy Bridge. The memory controller has been slightly revised with official support for DDR3-1866 memory but for enthusiasts that isn’t much of a change since Sandy Bridge-E CPUs had no problem reaching that frequency anyways. In addition, all processors now have native support for PCI-E 3.0.

The move to 22nm Tri-Gate 3D transistor technology is a particularly important one for these large 265mm² CPU dies. It essentially stacks transistors across the die’s z-axis in order to save room and increase processing efficiency which has significant effect upon power consumption and heat output. In most instances, these new processors will consume less power, allowing system builders some additional PSU overhead.

Since the Tri-Gate 3D technology essentially stacks the processor’s hottest-running elements across a more concentrated area, Ivy Bridge processors typically run hotter than their predecessor but Intel has revised their IHS design in an effort to alleviate this issue.

While the standard desktop Ivy Bridge variants retained four physical cores and up to eight threads, the Extreme die ups the ante with six cores and 15MB of L3 cache that‘s shared between the processor cores and other architectural functions. Unfortunately, for the time being, we won’t see any eight, ten or twelve core desktop CPUs (with up to 24 threads) as those have been reserved for the Ivy Bridge EP lineup.


Much like the move between the mainstream desktop versions of Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, these new Ivy Bridge Exreme processors represent a simple incremental performance increase over Sandy Bridge-E. The focus for IVB-E has been put squarely upon moderate IPC boosts and some serious on-die efficiency improvements. Sadly, this means the actual performance difference between it and comparable processors from the SB-E era will be minimal in most instances.

Headlining Intel’s new product stack is the i7-4960X, a 6-core, 12-thread fully unlocked processor that has nearly the same specifications as the outgoing i7-3970X and one-ups the older i7-3960X by a significant margin. There is a small 100MHz Base Clock increase and a lower TDP but everything else remains the same, even the stratospheric $999 price point.


Moving slightly further down the lineup we have the i7-4930K and i7-4820K which replace the i7-3930K and i7-3820 respectively. Both of these look like worthy replacements for their forefathers for a number of different reasons. The i7-4930K still features twelve threads and a TDP of 130W but makes due with slightly less L3 cache than its $450 more expensive sibling while operating at frequencies that equal the i7-3960X. That represents an impressive speed boost over the 3930K. TDP remains at 130W but with less L3 cache, expect power needs to be further reduced.

In our opinion, the most interesting processor in this lineup is the i7-4820K due to the limitations of the processor it replaces. While the i7-3820 had its multiplier capped at 45X, this new CPU has a max multi of 63X so hitting ultra high frequencies won’t require changes to the Base Clock or gear ratio (two items which could hold back overclocks in some instances). The 4820K also features the highest Base Clock of any IVB-E processor and represents a very good competitor to the slightly more expensive Haswell i7-4770K. This could quickly become the darling of Intel’s Ivy Bridge Extreme lineup.


So with all of this information being thrown into a melting pot, what does IVB-E offer over SB-E on the performance front? Not all that much but enough to keep it relevant in today’s marketplace. Games and general tasks won’t be accomplished with noticeably more speed but Ivy Bridge’s IPC improvements will translate into improved speed within processing-intensive environments.

In many ways, these new processors aren’t meant as an upgrade path for Sandy Bridge-E users even though they are a simple drop-in upgrade for X79 motherboards (a BIOS update may be necessary though). The addition of official PCI-E 3.0 support and more overclocking features on lower-end SKUs will certainly be tempting but it is Gulftown, Bloomfield and AMD Thuban users who should really be paying attention here. For them, the performance increases and expanded feature set will likely be worthwhile.

Hackers claim to have broken Apple's iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint recognition system just a day after the phone was launched.
Germany's Chaos Computer Club claims it "successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple's Touch ID using easy everyday means".

By photographing a fingerprint left on a glass


surface and creating a fake finger they were able to unlock the phone, the hackers claim.

But Apple maintains Touch ID is secure.
On its website the iPhone maker says there is a one in 50,000 chance of two separate fingerprints being alike and the technology provides "a very high level of security".

Karsten Nohl, chief scientist at SRLabs, a German hacking think tank, told the BBC: "It would have been incredible if Apple had managed to do something the rest of the biometrics industry has failed to achieve after decades of trying, so I'm not surprised it was hacked after just one day.

"Claiming this system offers a high level of security is just ridiculous," he added.

Convenience
Apple does not suggest that Touch ID is a total replacement for traditional passcode security, simply a more convenient way of unlocking the phone.

"Touch ID is designed to minimise the input of your passcode; but your passcode will be needed for additional security validation," Apple says.

But it does not address the ability of hackers lifting individual prints and creating fake fingers, as the Chaos Computer Club claims to have done.

Mr Nohl says a five-digit password would be more secure than a fingerprint and believes Apple should have focused on convenience rather than security in its marketing of the Touch ID feature.

On Friday, an influential US senator called for Apple to answer "substantial privacy questions" arising from the technology.

Apple did not respond to the BBC's request for a comment.

Boot from Windows 7 DVD 

The first step is to place your Windows 7 DVD into the DVD tray and boot the machine. Your computer needs to be configured to boot from DVD. This is done via BIOS. On most computers, the BIOS menu can be accessed by pressing either the F2 or Del keys while the machine is booting.  

Once you have completed this stage, Windows 7 will start loading. If you see the below image, you're doing well so far. 

 After a few moments, you will reach the installation menu. Your first step is to choose the language and the keyboard. 

You will be now taken to the Install now menu. We have already prepared for the installation, so you can click Install now and proceed. 

 The next step is to accept the license agreement. 

 Next, unless you're upgrading an existing Windows installation, press the Custom (Advanced) installation type button. Note that in this case, the Upgrade button is disabled because this specific installation if performed on a new computer without any previous operating system on it.

  The next phase is to pick the installation partition. Since this computer has a new hard disk that hasn't been formatted before, you will only have the option to create a new partition on it.

If you don't want to specify a specific partition to install Windows on, or create partitions on your hard disk, click Next to begin the installation. If you already have another existing partition with enough free space and want to install the Windows 7 on that partition to create a multiboot configuration, select the partition you want to use, and then click Next to begin the installation. If you want to create, extend, delete, or format a partition, click Drive options (advanced), click the option you want, and then follow the instructions.

Since I don't need to perform any additional task I will just click on the "Next" button. The installation process will then create a partition on all the available disk space, and format it.

 The setup process will now begin to copy files from the installation DVD media to the hard disk.

 Process could take a while depending on the type of hardware your computer uses. In my VM test sample I've used for this demo, the entire process finished before I could finish writing the previous 3 paragraphs, so it could be pretty quick.

The computer will reboot, and the next thing you'll see is the prompt to set the user's and computer's name. By default, the computer's name will be username-PC, where username is the username you've entered.

Click on "Next".

 Enter the user's password. Remember this password, as it will be the ONLY user on the system, and unless you create an additional user or enable the built-in administrator account, if you forget this password you'll need to crack it to gain access to the system. The best option would be to choose a complex password made of at least 7 characters or more (something like Pssw0rd or MYpa$$w0rd). You must also enter a password hint.

Click on "Next".

Next, type in your product key. If you do not have the product key at hand you can still click "Next", and proceed with the installation. You will be asked to enter the product key after Windows is installed.

 Choose what sort of protection your computer gets. The recommended settings are best for someone that doesn't plan to hide their computer behind a corporate firewall (and even then, in some cases, this would be the best option). If you plan to install a 3rd-party firewall later you can opt to be prompted later. Note that this setting will also have effect on how the computer uses the Microsoft Windows Update (Automatic Updates) features.

 Choose your time zone and location and click on "Next".

Select your network location type. This setting can be changed later, but do note that choosing a profile will have effect on the Windows Firewall and sharing settings. Click on "Next".

Windows will finalize the settings and your desktop will appear.

This concludes the Windows 7 installation. Next, you would probably want to update your computer with the latest hotfixes and/or patches from Microsoft.