Living in the desert, we're no strangers to dust. It's a persistent issue that can clog up air vents, heat sinks, and cooling fans inside your computer. Moreover, dust is a conductor of electricity, making it a potential hazard. To stay ahead of these issues, it's crucial to clean the inside and outside of your computer at least every three (3) months, and even more frequently if you live in particularly dusty areas like Phoenix. I personally do it monthly, given that my primary system is in an open case (Antec Skeleton).

Let's start by turning off the computer and unplugging the power supply. Now, with the system de-energized, we can begin cleaning it. Since this can be messy, I recommend that you do this outdoors. This does mean disconnecting all attached devices/peripherals, but you won't be blowing the dust back into the surrounding area.

*** Note: When using compressed air, it's important to exercise caution. Always use a non-metallic utensil, like a wooden skewer, to hold any fan in place as you clean it. This prevents the fan motor from being damaged by spinning it too fast. As you clean your computer, be sure to check for cooling fans that spin freely with your finger. If you find a fan that is hard to spin, it may have failed and needs to be replaced. ***

First, let's open the case. If the front panel of your case can be safely removed, go ahead and remove it too. Using a can of compressed air or air compressor and a non-metallic utensil, let's start inside and work our way out.

Typical case with front and side panels removed

Clean the CPU fan and heat sink fins

Clean the vents and cooling fan on the power supply

If your system has a graphics card, clean the fan and heat sink

Clean all heat sinks and open slots

Clean all case fans

Clean all openings in the case and connection points

Once the dust has settled, reassemble the case, re-attach all devices, and you are all done.

The one thing I love about my Android-based smartphone is the availability of applications for it. And finding and installing Android applications just got easier. Google has recently opened a web-based version of the Android Market.

The Google Android Market website homepage

The website is clean and easy to navigate, with clearly marked tabs. I found the amount of applications to be the most available for Android based hardware anywhere. I found quite a few that I had never seen on the Verizon version of the Android Market application.

A typical application category list

I browsed through a few categories and found an application to download. Remember that you have to be signed in to your g-mail account associated with your phone to install any applications. I clicked on install and got the following prompt asking for the installation location. I selected my phone and clicked install.

Android Market application installation screen

I got a confirmation that the app would be downloaded to my Android.

Android Market download confirmation screen

I checked my phone and sure enough, on the status bar on top was an icon indicating an app had been installed. A quick check confirmed the installation of the application.

This is, by far, the easiest way to find and install Android applications I have found to date. Hands down the best! If you have an Android powered device, I highly recommend you go over to Google Play and take a look around.

In a previous article, I discussed Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). I like the ease of use, the integration with Windows Update, and the small footprint it has, especially on my netbook. Recently, Microsoft has released Microsoft Security Essentials Version 2 with some new features, including a new and improved protection engine, Windows Firewall integration, and a Network Inspection System.

A new look for MSE V2

As you can see, the user interface changed slightly, with a new color palette and mesh graphics. There are a few more options for the user to configure, but it is still one of the easiest anti-virus applications to setup. For more on the major improvements, here is a quote from the MSE web site:

Windows Firewall integration
Windows Firewall can help prevent attackers or malicious software from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. Now when you install Security Essentials, the installation wizard verifies that Windows Firewall is turned on. If you have intentionally turned off Windows Firewall, you can avoid turning it on by clearing a check box. You can change your Windows Firewall settings at any time via the System and Security settings in Control Panel.

Network Inspection System
Attackers are increasingly carrying out network-based attacks against exposed vulnerabilities before software vendors can develop and distribute security updates. Studies of vulnerabilities show that it can take a month or longer from the time of an initial attack report before a suitable security update is developed, tested, and released. This gap in protection leaves many computers vulnerable to attacks and exploitation for a substantial period of time. Network Inspection System works with real-time protection to better protect you against network-based attacks by greatly reducing the timespan between vulnerability disclosures and update deployment from weeks to a few hours.

Award-winning protection engine
Under the hood of Security Essentials is its award-winning protection engine that is updated regularly. The engine is backed by a team of antimalware researchers from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, providing responses to the latest malware threats 24 hours a day.

Now, in going through the program, I did find two options quite interesting...

Enable behavior monitoring and Enable Network Inspection System options in MSE V2

I did a little digging in the MSE V2 Help file and found this description of these features:

Enable behavior monitoring
This option monitors collections of behavior for suspicious patterns that might not be detected by traditional anti-virus detection methods.

Enable Network Inspection System
This option helps protect your computer against “zero day” exploits of known vulnerabilities, decreasing the window of time between the moment a vulnerability is discovered and an update is applied.

Here are a few of the other changes inside of MSE V2:

• Microsoft Security Essentials also supports Windows XP Mode in Windows 7
• The ability to limit CPU usage during scanning
• Automatic removal of quarantined files after a set amount of time
• You can now select between monitoring all files, incoming or outgoing

Microsoft Security Essentials Version 2 is available for Windows XP (SP 2 or SP 3)(x86), Windows Vista (x86, x64), and Windows 7 (x86, x64) and can be downloaded here.

Note:
The only issue I came across was that the update function inside Version 1 would not update the program to Version 2. I tried it on a couple of systems without success. I had to uninstall Version 1 first, then install Version 2.

Let's face it, some of the software we use on a daily basis has become subject to security vulnerabilities and exploits. Software manufacturers do their best to develop and test fixes / patches as fast as possible, but this can take time. A lot of users just cannot keep up with all of the updates and hotfixes. A few years ago Microsoft released the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) to deal with just this issue.

View of the main screen inside EMET 5.5

So what is EMET? EMET monitors selected programs (Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, etc.) for known attack actions and techniques. When one of the several pseudo mitigation technologies is triggered, EMET will either block the programs' access to the resource it is trying to reach or just terminate it. EMET expands on the technologies that Microsoft implemented with Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which has been included in the Windows operating system since Windows XP SP2. It will also validate digitally signed SSL certificates inside of Internet Explorer.

View of the application configuration screen inside EMET 5.5

So how does EMET work? EMET acts as a shim between the program being monitored and the operating system. The monitored program thinks it's talking directly to the operating system, but it's actually talking to it through EMET. EMET comes with predefined profiles for some of the more common programs like Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat and Java. You can also add to the predefined profiles or create your own. I recommend that you monitor any program that can open files on or from the Internet.

What security exploits are currently covered

Here's is the current list of mitigations EMET 5.5 currently looks for.

• Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) Mitigation
• Export Address Table Filtering (EAF+) Security Mitigation
• Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Security Mitigation
• Structured Execution Handling Overwrite Protection (SEHOP) Security Mitigation
• NullPage Security Mitigation
• Heapspray Allocation Security Mitigation
• Export Address Table Filtering (EAF) Security Mitigation
• Mandatory Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) Security Mitigation
• Load Library Check - Return Oriented Programming (ROP) Security Mitigation
• Memory Protection Check - Return Oriented Programming (ROP) Security Mitigation
• Caller Checks - Return Oriented Programming (ROP) Security Mitigation
• Simulate Execution Flow - Return Oriented Programming (ROP) Security Mitigation
• Stack Pivot - Return Oriented Programming (ROP) Security Mitigation
• Windows 10 untrusted fonts

What programs should you harden / mitigate

You only want to harden / mitigate certain programs that are targeted on a regular basis. Web browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, production / office programs like Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, e-mail clients like Outlook and Windows Live Mail are some of the few. I recommend that you harden any program that can open files on or from the Internet.

What programs should you not harden / mitigate

You should never configure EMET to monitor anti-virus, anti-malware, intrusion prevention / detection software, debuggers, software that handles Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies or software that uses anti-debugging, obfuscation, or hooking technologies.

Installation notes

New installation: Just download EMET and install

Upgrade install: Since the registry keys for EMET changed with this version, you can either export your existing EMET settings using the method in the 'What's new' section below, download the converter or reconfigure all of the program settings. With the drastic change with the EMET data format inside of the registry, I think that it would be just easier to reconfigure EMET then try the export / import method. Either way, remember to uninstall any older version of EMET and restart your computer before you install this version.

What's new in EMET 5.5?

• Full-featured GPO management, compatible with reporting and compliance requirements
• Command line: new syntax and options
• Implementation of certificate pinning now based on root CA thumbprints. Exceptions logic removed.
• Export and Import now memorize path
• EMET registry has been refactored. To convert settings from previous versions of EMET (including EMET 5.5 Beta), registry values must be saved in a file then imported back with the use of the converter PowerShell script after EMET 5.5 is installed. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Export settings. With elevated PowerShell, run the following command:
   .\Migrate-EmetSettings.ps1 -RegFile .\NewEmetSettings.reg -MissingCertCsv .\MissingCerts.csv PowerShell script Migrate-EmetSettings.ps1 is provided with EMET 5.5 RTM. It includes documentation about its usage.
2. Uninstall former version of EMET.
3. Install EMET 5.5 RTM. When asked to choose between Use recommended settings and Configure manually later, chose option Configure manually later.
4. Import settings. With elevated PowerShell, run the following command:
   reg.exe import .\NewEmetSettings.reg

Supported Operating Systems

Windows 10 , Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Vista

• EMET 5.5 requires .NET Framework 4.5.
• For Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 you need to install KB2790907 - a mandatory Application Compatibility update that has been released on March 12th, 2013 or any other Application Compatibility updates for Windows 8 after that

Your motherboard may forget the time and date or the onboard device settings at some point in time. A Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) is used on the computer's motherboard to save the system settings (time and date, on-board devices, etc.). It uses an on-board battery to keep it powered when the system is turned off. The standard replacement is a CR2032 lithium battery.

A generic CR2032 lithium cell

Common indicators that the CMOS battery needs to be replaced

• You start your computer and almost immediately get a message similar to this: System settings have changed. Press F1 to resume, F2 to Setup.
• You run your computer 24/7, only restarting for maintenance. You notice that the on-board clock is running slow and not keeping the correct time.

Replacing the CMOS battery

1. With the system turned off, unplug the power cord.
2. Open the computer case.
3. Locate the CMOS battery.
   
4. Press the battery release lever, and the battery will pop up.
   
   
5. Replace with a new battery.
6. Close the computer case and plug in the power cord.