Yahoo! and AT&T form Yahoo! AT&T to offer VoIP services

There is good news for all the users of Yahoo! Messenger and regular users of AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet subscribers and all Yahoo! users in AT&T's traditional 13-state local service area. Yahoo! has now tied up with AT&T to launch VoIP services.

With this new feature the consumers in the US can make PC-to-PC phone calls using the VoIP technology. The pricing has been kept low to make it very attractive. For now the calls within the US to over 30 countries for under two cents per minute. Yahoo! also allows users to receive calls from regular landlines and mobiles for a fixed fee of approximately $3 per month. These also comes with a Phone IN and a Phone Out feature

PHONE IN:
Yahoo! offers the users with a regular PTSN number for a small fee allowing them to receive calls anywhere in the world.

PHONE OUT:
Yahoo! consumers in the US can make VoIP PC to phone calls to call to land lines or mobile phones in more than 180 countries. Rates of the calls to over thirty countries are fixed at two cents a minute.

Yahoo! and AT&T are cementing their alliance, which began in 2001. It no small matter then that Yahoo! aims at making Yahooing an experience to remember.

Echoing Skype In

Key in the words “Skype” in Google search and the results page it says Skype – The whole world can talk for free. I can remember there was a time not so long ago when net2phone services were available on Yahoo Messenger for a short time. Thereafter it became a paid service and many discontinued using that service.

With over 100 million subscribers, Skype is definitely regenerating that lost interest by making calls over the Internet absolutely FREE. In order to make a free call from one PC to another, it is mandatory that both ends are connected to computer terminal with the rest of the associated gadgets like microphone and headsets. So what happens when you want to call someone who is not connected by a PC at home? For them Skype has the Skype Out - a paid service where you get to call almost anyone anywhere around the world to their regular phones. Costs have been kept fixed and low anytime of the day to make it attractive.

Now a Vancouver based company called EQO (pronounced Echo) is taking it one step further by announcing the availability of its free BETA EQO Mobile Internet Phone Service for Skype(TM), which allows people to access Skype from a regular mobile phone.

While VoIP WiFi phones will have to be in a WiFi area to function correctly, if EQO proves its technology, ordinary mobile phones could get to access the Skype software and enjoy the benefits of a low priced call over the Internet. So it would be a clever way of tapping into the benefits of VoIP without having to change your phone for a WiFi enabled one. While EQO is available for limited models are available for now, EQO is not charging for the software that’s going to bridge the gap between your PC and your mobile handset.

Finally considering the advantages this trial software will have to offer, for the larger interest of the telephoning community EQO BETtAr work.

Is my Net banking login really secure?

Every time I log into my net banking account, I am not only asked for my login name and password but I also get to see the small lock Icon appear on the right hand corner of my screen indicating that the transfer is secure. Get the mouse near the Lock Icon and it would probably display the type of encryption too - say 128 bit or 64 bit etc. All these are measures to make the online banking experience safe and secure. But how many net banking experiences really are?

According to Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the SANS Institute, American banks like Chase.com and American express ask customers for login particulars over encrypted forms but he points out that there is no authentication technology at the other end to prove that the users are genuine. One method of ensuring a higher degree of security is for the banks to use the HTTPS web pages for logins. On these web pages, use of the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a default in addition to encrypting the information on the page.

Capital One Bank, Citigroup Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co, Chase.com and American Express all require use of such encryption without which your data and details are very vulnerable to anyone wanting to hack in. While this is not a foolproof method, this additional step with a 128-bit encryption makes it a whole lot more difficult to hack in then it otherwise is. But the psyche behind this for most banks is that directing their customers from their main banking site to a secure HTTPS web page is likely to put off a lot of them.

Bank of America Corp. does not use SSL sign-in on its front page. Instead the bank allows customers to enter their login ID on the homepage and thereafter directs them to a HTTPS site to enter the password. If you resort to net banking, I suggest you look for the LOCK Icon on the right hand bottom corner before you proceed further next time.

Is your network getting phlooded

What’s it with all these companies that coin new terms to describe Network security problems. One thing that goes unnoticed is that most of them have a fixation for the sound "Ph" to name their newly coined terms.

Phlooding is described as a group of simultaneous but geographically distributed attacks that targets a business's authentication or login in a wireless network with the goal of overloading its central authentication server. These sorts of attacks are aimed at organizations, which operate from multiple locations but are largely dependant on a single server.

When many such multiple logins are attempted simultaneously, it could cause a Flood of login requests severely slowing down of an otherwise fast server. It may also result in blocking Email or Database access, which means it, may end up in a denial of service sort of a situation.
A Company called AirMagnet are introducing wireless intrusion prevention system that includes wireless event correlation and detection methods designed to identify clusters of attacks that indicate phlooding and similar exploit.

So what’s the difference between phishing, pharming and phlooding?

Phishing is the luring of an internet user to reveal personal details (like passwords and credit card information) on a fake web page or email form pretending to come from a legitimate company like a bank.

Pharming on the other hand refers to a set of devious techniques to misdirect your Internet browser, tricking it into accessing a malicious web site that looks like and pretends to be a legitimate site, usually to trick you into entering personal information. Here it directs you to another site not by web address manipulation but by the attacker manipulating it at the DNS level.Phlooding however is largely brought upon by negligent or improper use of a wireless network and it can be avoided by ensuring a proper firewall is in place and systems are configured correctly. Leaving Windows PCs in ad-hoc networking mode is another contributory factor that perpetuates phlooding.

So the next time you get attacked I suggest you say OOOOPH !

VoIP enabled cell phones - Myth or reality?

The cell phone that helps us stay in touch with friends and family from practically anywhere are prone to weak reception resulting in call losses. Cell phones with the capability to make calls over VoIP may prove to be a solution but are such phones a reality?

The Features:

The first glimpses of a VoIP cellular phone are now being seen. Nokia and Samsung and Motorola and HP all have a prototype or two in their stables that work like cell phones using VoIP. The Cellular WiFi phones will let people make connections using a local wireless Internet access point and seamlessly switch over to a cell phone network whenever necessary. The net result is greater flexibility in mobile communications as well as cost savings gained by shifting call minutes onto the Internet thereby avoiding payment against a cell phone plan. Additionally this will make use of the benefits of both the technologies involved - high speed of the cellular technology and greater bandwidth of the Internet LAN. It is believed that the new designs from Motorola will use a single chip with automatic switching between cellular networks and LAN depending on signal strengths. This will also be achieved without dropping the call.

The Grey Patches:

A few kinks however require to be ironed out before prototypes can be sold in large numbers.
· The fact that increase in VoIP calls made over WiFi would mean less calls made over the cellular network. Naturally, convincing cellular operators for support is not going to be easy.
· Infrastructure to manage this on a large scale is another reason for them not being deployed as yet.
· The other discouraging factor is definitely going to be the price of the handset itself. "These phones are not in the consumer end of the business" Motorola's director of business development, Chris White said

Conclusion:

Although the VoIP phone will initially target the business community and it will be sometime before it becomes affordable for the common man, the VoIP phone is closer now to reality than ever before.

Is VoIP Telephony Suitable for me?

The United Kingdom has more than half its Internet using population connected to the Broadband and as many as half a million of them use VoIP. Offers by big service providers promise large reductions on the annual fee most British pay on fixed line telephony only makes it more appealing. However, Is VoIP suitable for you?

Analysing what sort of a use you put your telephone to will help you decide. If a number of relatives and friends of yours live abroad and you stay in touch with them frequently, surely VoIP phones will certainly save a considerable amount of money. On the other hand if you rare an average phone user, it may not be such a prudent decision to make the switch.

'Voip is still not substantially cheaper than having a landline, especially for the average UK landline call,' says Blair Wadman, broadband manager at uSwitch.com. 'In some cases you will be better off with a fixed-fee landline package that offers all-inclusive calls.'

A number of packages available for the customer make VoIP look like an attractive option but there are some drawbacks before taking the plunge. VoIP call quality is still not perfect yet although that will change in time. There is also the problem with certain services requiring your computer to be left on for making the call unless as with some providers you get to use a router and leave the computer turned off. Not all packages work on Apple Macs either. Security of the phone conversation is a point of concern as it is using the Internet backbone.

What happens when the broadband connection itself fails is another issue. On the other hand it is not very often that we hear of a fixed line failing. There is no denying that a number of business houses are moving towards VoIP to tap into the cost benefits to be obtained and the VoIP market will definitely grow. Notwithstanding, you as an individual must assess whether the time and the pricing is right just now for you to make that jump.

As good as it gets

Scores of articles are written about Network Security about setting a strong password to installing the latest anti spy ware software. There is no dearth of tips for the Networked user. Yet, one fact that remains unchanged is that no matter how good or how new the anti spy software is, there is always a more devious person out there who will find a way of hacking in.

Besides the password, if there is a time-tested method of ensuring a high level of security, it is by setting up multiple lines of defense. Traditionally on a battlefield, there were foot soldiers, followed by horseback riders followed by heavy artillery at back. If this approach towards waging war has not changed much over the years why should we not to adopt from it? The variety in the lines of defense is what makes it difficult for the attacker to make inroads.

With network security too, we need to rely on different products from variety of reputed vendors. A hacker with a knack for breaking through certain types of defense techniques of a particular vendor will render that type of defense useless. Ideally a firewall, an IDS (intrusion detection system) and anti-virus software in that very order should be in place with the firewall being the outermost layer. Working in concert, these three devices or applications can help to keep out unwanted traffic, notify you when unauthorized access does occur and protect your computer from known Trojans, worms and viruses.

Firewalls may reside on the same computer or on another computer. The IDS on the other hand should monitor traffic on the network and once it recognizes an intrusion, it can either stop data transmission or counter the attack or inform the administrator. The last layer would be the antivirus software that should be able to pick up any malicious code that gets past the first two layers.

Prevent is all that we can do and that is as good as it gets. After all, if the attacking army is stronger, it’s a matter of time before you lose but at least you can put up a fight.

ZIP ZAP and ZOOOOOM !!

I thought that Zip Zap and Zoom were only in children’s comics and cartoon strips and perhaps in a commercial featuring the roadrunner. But it seems like Technology is taking the RFID technology to help you cut down on the waiting time at a typical Rent-A-Car desk.

With the introduction of the Zip Card and the Zip Car concept, all one has to do is to join the Zip Car membership. All it takes is for you to be over 21 and be in possession of a valid US license (even foreign ones work provided it is in English). Once you have enrolled, you will be sent a Zip Card, which becomes the key to your car in the city of your choice for the duration you pick.

As the company website says all it takes is four simple steps - join, reserve, unlock and drive away. It also says on the website that its simpler than withdrawing money from an ATM. What caught my attention however was the fact that there were numerous advantages over any rental cars or even owning your own car. Some of these include:

You don’t have to stand in long queues to pick up your car.
It offers 24 hours service and you can pick up or drop off your car anytime 24/7 365 days a year
Price of gas and insurance is part of the price
Variety of vehicles MINIs, BMWs, Prius's, even pickups
Booking may be made days or may be even months or at best up to a year in advance
One key ZIP CARD opens the car you have selected and paid for – Great use of RFID technology

With a lot of features and state of the art technology thrown in, ideally the next time you want to rent a car you should aim to sit in one that zips you from coast to coast.

VoIP - Is it future of Business Tele Conversation ?

If TCP/IP and PPP were the Industry buzzwords when the Internet was just taking off some years ago, today it is VoIP. It is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol. This is the technology that is revolutionizing not only the way we speak but also helping in reducing how much we pay for calls. VoIP takes analog audio signals, such as what you hear on the phone, and converts them into digital data or IP traffic. This allows the transport of voice traffic over the Internet or other data transport mediums.

The use of the Internet to transport voice and data over long distances only seems natural choice. Companies offer their services for very low rates while others offer it for FREE. While quality of the transmitted message may vary from time to time depending on the Internet and the various networks the data passes through, it has not stopped this method of telephony from becoming popular. It is predicted that by the year 2008 almost 78 percent of the Business telephony will be IP telephony.

While there are a few gray areas with this method too, the convenience and the capability to bundle video, data and voice into one helps overlook them. With features such as receiving your phone call straight from your “Inbox” and also watching a video of the caller while checking your emails that may be termed Unthinkable hitherto, its only a matter of time before the users become inescapably dependent on them.

The IP phones are constantly being upgraded. The next generation of IP Telephony systems includes video and presence or the intelligence of location and preferred media type. The phone will route calls to a set of pre-determined mediums and integrate handhelds, cell phones and chat protocols. One thing is for sure – The VoIP technology may not be quite perfect as yet but for the goodies it offers people are willing to risk it. That simply implies that it is here to stay.

Network Security begins with selecting a good password.

Despite advances in biometric and other authentication technologies, the password remains as the primary line of defense between an attacker and your personal information in most cases. Choosing a strong password that is difficult to crack and yet easy to remember is something a lot of people do not invest a great deal of time in. However, the commonest of the mistakes people make with regard to passwords is not paying attention to making them strong. Here are some guidelines to help you.

First Golden rule

Nobody wants to forget the password to our most important accounts - be it email or banking. To make it easy to remember we use our some personal information for a password. Those who know you will find it a cakewalk to hack into your system. Other weak area is setting a tough password but having an easy answer to the password reminder or password retrieval question. It defeats the whole purpose. Choice of regular words other than personal information is also not a good idea. If you are a car freak for instance bragging about wanting to own a Porsche, in all probability Porsche may well be one of your passwords. Never to use Personal Information for a password

Second Golden Rule

While formulating passwords, make it a mix of characters and numbers and even alternate between the cases. Surely such a combination is not easy to remember. Nevertheless do not make the most common mistake of writing it down somewhere. Obviously anyone who has access to that scribble pad, has access to your personal accounts. Never write down your password - always memorize it.

Third Golden Rule

Use different passwords for different websites and never disclose your passwords – Not even to your dearest

Trivial and repetitive as these rules may seem, you will be surprised at how many of us actually make one or more of these mistakes. Spending a little more time to make a better password may well be worth your while.