Wink - Tutorial and Presentation Creator

Wink - [Homepage]: " Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users."

Freeware (for personal and business use), cross-platform, multiple output formats (Flash, exe, PDF, HTML)... Awesome.

Microsoft Delays IE's Active X D-Day

Microsoft Delays IE's Active X D-Day: "Microsoft is moving full steam ahead with a plan to permanently modify the way Internet Explorer renders multimedia content on Web pages, but in what amounts to an admission that the changes could be disruptive, the software maker plans to give Web developers an extra 60 days to continue making preparations.

The IE update, which results from a multimillion-dollar patent spat with Eolas Technologies, changes the way the browser handles ActiveX controls and could have a significant impact on how online advertising and streaming media content is delivered over the Internet."

Nice. MS is having some issues of late with patent disputes. Not too long ago I received a letter saying that due to a patent dispute, all Office 2003 users need to upgrade to Service Pack 2. Now they're forcing a major change in IE. My suggestion to Microsoft: Think about forcing a major change in your legal department.

GPO Software Restrictions: Software List for Path Restrictions

So I decided to set up Software Restrictions on my Active Directory network. Of course, I needed a good list of paths to block (I'm using the path method). Unfortunately, I could find no such list and had to resort to digging through HiJackThis logs on Usenet and searches on Google. To help others, here's the list I'm using:

Chat

%ProgramFiles%\MSN\MSNCoreFiles\msn.exe - MSN IM Client 1
%ProgramFiles%\MSN\MSNIA\msniasvc.exe - MSN IM Client 2
%ProgramFiles%\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe - MSN IM Client 3
%ProgramFiles%\Messenger\msmsgs.exe - Messenger IM Client
%ProgramFiles%\AIM\aim.exe - AOL IM Client
%ProgramFiles%\skype\phone\skype.exe - Skype VOIP/IM Client
%ProgramFiles%\AIM+\AIM+.exe - Aim+ IM Client

P2P

%ProgramFiles%\Kazaa Lite K++\kpp.exe - Kazaa Lite P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\kazaa\kazaa.exe - Kazaa P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\BearShare\BearShare.exe - Bearshare P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\LimeWire\LimeWire.exe - Limewire P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\Shareaza\Shareaza.exe - Shareaza P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\Gnucleus\*.exe - Gnucleus P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\Grokster\*.exe - Grokster P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\eDonkey2000\edonkey2000.exe - eDonkey P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\Audiogalaxy Satellite\AGSatellite.exe - AudioGalaxy P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\WinMX\WinMX.exe - WinMX P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\iMesh\Client\iMeshClient.exe - iMesh P2P Software

Spyware

%ProgramFiles%\free surfer\fs20.exe - Free Surfer Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\MyWay\bar\2.bin\MWSOEMON.EXE - MyWebSearch Email Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\WEBSHOTS\WEBSHOTSTRAY.EXE - Webshots Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\HOTBAR\BIN\4.1.8.0\HBSRV.EXE - HotBar Spyware 1
%ProgramFiles%\Hotbar\bin\Hbinst.exe - HotBar Spyware 2
%ProgramFiles%\COMMON FILES\GMT\GMT.EXE - Gator Spyware 1
%ProgramFiles%\COMMON FILES\CMEII\CMESYS.EXE - Gator Spyware 2
%ProgramFiles%\webHancer\Programs\whAgent.exe - WebHancer Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\AllSpamGone\AllSpamGone.exe - AllSpamGone Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\AdsGone\adsgone.exe - AdsGone Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\Morpheus\Morpheus.exe - Morpheus P2P Software
%ProgramFiles%\iMesh\Client\FTP_back.exe - iMesh Trojan
%ProgramFiles%\POP Peeper\POPPeeper.exe - PopPeeper Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\Power Soft\Free Notes\FreeNotes.exe - FreeNotes Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\SmartBarXP BETA4.9\SmartBarXP.exe - SmartBarXP Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\MYWEBSEARCH\bar\1.bin\mwsoemon.exe - MyWebSearch Toolbar Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\SAVE\SAVE.EXE - WhenU SaveNow Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\BullsEye Network\bin\bargains.exe - Bargain Buddy Spyware 1
%ProgramFiles%\Bargain Buddy\bin2\bargains.exe - Bargain Buddy Spyware 2
%ProgramFiles%\Internet Optimizer\optimize.exe - MoneyTree Dialer Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\Web_Rebates\WebRebates1.exe - TopRebates Spyware 1
%ProgramFiles%\Web_Rebates\WebRebates0.exe - TopRebates Spyware 2
%ProgramFiles%\Speed Disk\nopdb.exe - Speed Disk Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\GetRight\getright.exe - GetRight Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\Common files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe - HuntBar Spyware 1
%ProgramFiles%\Common files\WinTools\WSup.exe - HuntBar Spyware 2
%ProgramFiles%\Common files\WinTools\Wtoolss.exe - HuntBar Spyware 3
%ProgramFiles%\EbatesMoeMoneyMaker\EbatesMoeMoneyMaker.exe - Ebates Spyware
*\win*\System32\msbb.exe - 180Solutions Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\INTERNET OPTIMIZER\ACTALERT.EXE - MoneyTree Dialer Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe - IST Spyware
%ProgramFiles%\PrecisionTime\PrecisionTime.exe - Gator Spyware 2

Of course, there are probably hundreds of spyware entries that I didn't include, but these are the most common I've seen. I also could have included more chat apps, like Gaim, Trillian, or Yahoo, but we currently use those in limited deployment. I'm also sure there's more P2P apps, but I don't use P2P so I've just included the ones I've heard of. Also, other apps like iTunes, Winamp, etc could also be inappropriate on other networks, but I tolerate it here.

Please feel free to comment with additional programs that you block...

Here's a link on how to set this up for your network:
Microsoft Windows XP: Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software: "Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software"

Microsoft Confirms 'Highly Critical' IE Hole

Microsoft Confirms 'Highly Critical' IE Hole: "Microsoft plans to release a pre-patch advisory with workarounds for a 'highly critical' vulnerability that could put millions of Internet Explorer users at the mercy of malicious hackers."

Microsoft Windows XP: Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software

Microsoft Windows XP: Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software: "Software restriction policies are a new feature in Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Server 2003. This important feature provides administrators with a policy-driven mechanism for identifying software programs running on computers in a domain, and controls the ability of those programs to execute. Software restriction policies can improve system integrity and manageability—which ultimately lowers the cost of owning a computer."

10 Best Security Live CD Distros (Pen-Test, Forensics & Recovery)

A summary of the 10 best LiveCD distributions dealing with security (pen testing, forensics & recovery). With links to download and a little information about each one.

read more | digg story

MSFN's Unattended Windows Guide

MSFN's Unattended Windows : Unattended Windows Introduction: "Have you ever wanted a Windows CD that would install Windows by automatically putting in your name, product key, timezone and regional settings? And have it merged with the latest Service Pack to save time? Followed by silently installing all your favourite applications along with DirectX 9.0c, .Net Framework 1.1 and then all the required hotfixes, updated drivers, registry tweaks, and a readily patched UXTheme.dll without any user interaction whatsoever? Then this guide will show you how you can do just that! "

Awesome guide, very detailed, easy to read, tons of screenshots.