HSBC loses server containing details on 159,000 customers

An HSBC branch in Hong Kong has lost a server containing the personal details of 159,000 customers.

The server is said to have disappeared early last month during renovation work at the branch.

The missing machine stored customer names, their account numbers and transaction details.

HSBC stressed that the server, which is said to have been protected with "multiple layers of security", did not contain customer Pins or online banking log-in details.

The Hong Kong police and financial authorities are investigating the incident.

In the UK, HSBC recently lost a computer disc containing the personal details of around 370,000 life assurance customers.

How to Choose a Secure and Hack-Proof Email Password

How secure is your email? We all know that unencrypted emails can be intercepted and read freely, but one of the prime dangers still is people hacking into your email account.

Your best defence against email hackers is a strong password. But how do you make a password both difficult to guess and easy to remember? Both long and speedy to type? Here's one strategy for secure email passwords that turns a simple sentence into a complex password and adapts it for the individual email service, too.

Choose a Secure and Hack-Proof Email Password

To create an email password that is hard to crack:

• Pick a sentence you can remember easily.
  • This could be a summary of a significant event, a description of your favorite place or the first difficult sentence you learned in a new language.
• Combine word segments to form a new string.
  • Make sure the string is at least 8 characters long.
  • • Strive for 10 or more characters, though. Your password's length is probably the prime ingredient for security.
    • Combine word endings, beginnings and other parts similar to how new words are formed out of two existing words. Make sure the resulting string is easy to remember and has nice ring and rhythm.
    • Do not use too mechanical a process — like using every word's first character, for example.
  • Capitalize two or more characters where it makes sense.
    • Pick the "words" that convey your sentence's core message, for example.
    • Do not just capitalize the first or last character.
    • Some email systems may not regard to case in passwords. I'd still use the mixed-case password in these cases, except when the email service does require an all-lower-case password.
  • Introduce two or more numbers, dots, ampersands or other special characters.
    • Look for places where punctuation makes sense in your string, preferably somewhere in the middle.
    • Of course, do turn numbers (in your original phrase) into digits. You can also replace "for" with "4", and look for other expressions that lend themselves to being turned into numbers easily.
    • Some email services may not allow extra characters. Make sure you have an all-character password ready and well-established for these.
  • Include a character or two derived from the email system for which the password is used.
    • Make sure you can easily reproduce the characters you come up with.
    • This creates a unique password for each email service.

  Secure Email Password Example

  Let say...

• Momotaro went walking toward the sea.
  • ...is our initial sentence.
  • From a hugely popular fairy tale, this sentence is not perfect, of course. Try to pick something unique and personal that does not yet appear on the web.
• morowewalintodse
  • I have picked a few characters and word segments, mostly by random (our password does sound like a somewhat twisted Japanese word now, though, does it not?):
  • momotaro went walking toward the sea.
• moroWeWalintodSe
  • Let's say went walking and sea contain our original sentence's core message.
• moro%WeWa1in2dSe
  • The l looks a bit like a 1, so let's exchange the two.
  • To, of course, becomes 2.
  • Finally, a percent sign marks our hero, little peach boy.
• moro%OOWeWa1in2dSe
  • We use this password for Gmail. Let's pick "oo" from "Google" and turn it into "OO", then insert it, as is our custom procedure, after the percent sign.
  • For Windows Live Hotmail, we could choose "CR" derived from "Microsoft", for example, and get moro%CRWeWa1in2dSe. That's not particularly original, but it should suffice.

This password is a tad long and cumbersome to type. You do, I hope, get the idea, however.

Alternative Secure Password: A Sentence

If the email service allows for really long passwords, you can use

• a reasonably long, random sentence

as your password. You can pick the phrase with which we started above, of course. Make sure the sentence is unique — lines from popular books or lyrics are not ideal — and long enough — say, 50 or 60 characters. A unique and quasi-random sentence in a foreign language is usually a good choice.

How to Fix Problem with Volume Control: There are no active mixer devices available error in Windows XP

There are no active mixer devices available when opening volume control

Although the sound card and its drivers are installed correctly. I receive this error message about no active mixer devices when I try to double-click on the Volume icon in the system tray of Windows XP. Most people will assume the sound card itself is having difficulty or the drivers have no been installed, or maybe the system has been muted. However, when the computer starts or shuts down you hear the normal Windows sounds. However other audio does not play normally and results in error messages.

Troubleshooting the Error

When I checked the Sound and Audio Devices section of the Control Panel in Windows XP, it shows there are no audio devices and everything is greyed out.




Then I checked the System Devices section of the Control Panel to make sure the sound card was installed correctly and all drivers were installed. As you can see below, the sound card in this case the Realtek High Definition Audio card is installed and working properly.

Solution

It turns out the problem for this error lies in the Windows Audio Service, which usually starts automatically when the sound card is installed and working. However, in this case the service was turned off. Follow the instructions below to reactivate the Windows Audio service.
1) Click on Start and Run
2) Type the following command and press Enter

services.msc

3) Scroll down to Windows Audio in the right-hand column and double-click on it, you should see a screen similar to this one.



4) Make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic and click on the Start button under Service Status. The Windows Audio service should restart and the error with the volume control should be resolved.

What is CTFMON.EXE and How Can I Remove It

What is CTFMON.EXE
If you have opened the Windows Task Manager or used Hijackthis to track down a problem, you have probably run across a file called CTFMON.EXE. Disabling it from MSCONFIG doesn't make it go away and it definitely feels like a virus, so what exactly is this file?

It turns out that CTFMON.EXE is a file that is installed with Office XP applications. It activates the Alternative User Input Text Input Processor and the Language Bar. The program monitors the active windows and provides text input service support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, keyboard, translation, and other alternative user input technologies. It also starts the language bar that appears next to the system tray (shown below).

A Hijackthis log will show CTFMON in this way

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe

How to Disable the Language Bar and Remove CTFMON.EXE

Follow the directions below to disable the Advanced Text Services to remove the Language Bar

1) Open the Control Panel
2) Double-click on Regional and Language Options (if you are in Classic View)

or Double-click on Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options in Category View

3) Click on the Languages tab, then click on Details



5) Click on the Advanced Tab
6) Finally, place a checkmark in the box "Turn off advanced text services" and Click Ok



The language bar next to the System Tray should disappear, and CTFMON.EXE will unload from memory.

If you wish to bring back the language bar, simply follow the procedure above and UNCHECK the box to turn off advanced text services.

Microsoft has more information and a Frequently Asked Questions document about CTFMON.EXE, click on the link below to review it.

Therefore, CTFMON.EXE is not a virus or a piece of malware, but its also not a program that you NEED running, expecially if you don't use Microsoft Office XP applications.

Unable to Download Files Using Internet Explorer - How to Fix It

Yesterday I was working on a computer that had a very strange problem. I could bring up web pages just fine, check email, and everything else online. However, when I clicked on a link to download a file to the computer I received a message stating:

"Internet Explorer cannot download filename from this particular webserver". In other words, using pchell.com and the filename fixit.exe as an example, the message stated "Internet Explorer cannot download fixit.exe from pchell.com"

I could use an FTP program just fine and I could download the file using an alternative browser such as Firefox.So the problem was definitely an Internet Explorer issue.
After trying to repair Internet Explorer to no avail, I discovered the problem lies in the Temporary Internet Files folder. Sometimes the index.dat file can become damaged. If this occurs, you'll have to delete the index.dat file and restart your computer. Then you'll be able to download files correctly again. Follow the steps below to delete this file. 1) Open Internet Explorer. 2) Click on Tools, Click on Internet Options 3) On the General tab under Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Files 4) Click Ok when it asks if you want to delete the files 5) Under the History section on the General tab, click Clear History, then click Ok 6) Close Internet Explorer 7) Log off the current user and Log onto another user account such as Administrator 8) Click on Start, Run 9) Type CMD and Press Enter to open a command prompt 10) Change directories to the Temporary Internet Files directory by typing the following command, substituting the correct drive letter and the word username with the correct user in Windows XP. cd drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 Example: cd c:\Documents and Settings\Mark\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 11) type del index.dat and press Enter 12) Type Exit and press Enter to close the command prompt 13) Restart your computer Once the computer has been restarted, open a web page with a link to a download. Click on the link and try to download the file. It should now work.

How to Fix SVCHOST.EXE Application Error

How many times have you been faced with this irritating problem of SVCHOST.EXE when you have switched on your machine??The answer may vary from being few to many.Now I have found out a solution of this problem from the net and am putting forward this solution here.

The 0X745f2780 SVCHOST error is a problem due to corrupted Windows Update in Windows XP. Follow the steps below to fix this error.Verify Windows Update Service Settings

• Click on Start, Run and type the following command in the open box and click OK
  
  services.msc
  
  
• Find the Automatic Updates service and double-click on it.
• Click on the Log On Tab and make sure the "Local System Account" is selected as the logon account and the box for "allow service to interact with desktop" is UNCHECKED.
• Under the Hardware Profile section in the Log On Tab, make sure the service is enabled.
• On the General Tab, the Startup Type should be Automatic, if not, drop the box down and select Automatic.
• Under "Service Status" on the General tab, the service should be Started, click the Start button enable it.
• Repeat the steps above for the service "Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)"

Re-Register Windows Update DLLs

• Click on Start, Run, and type CMD and click ok
• In the black command window type the following command and press Enter
  
  REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL
  
  
• Wait until you receive the "DllRegisterServer in WUAPI.DLL succeeded" message and click OK
• Repeat the last two steps above for each of the following commands:
  
  REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL
  REGSVR32 WUAUENG1.DLL
  REGSVR32 ATL.DLL
  REGSVR32 WUCLTUI.DLL
  REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL
  REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL
  REGSVR32 WUWEB.DLL
  

Remove Corrupted Windows Update Files

• At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter
  
  net stop WuAuServ
  
• Still at the command prompt,
  
  type cd %windir% and press Enter
  
• In the opened folder, type the following command and press Enter to rename the SoftwareDistribution Folder
  
  ren SoftwareDistribution SD_OLD
  
• Restart the Windows Update Service by typing the following at the command prompt
  
  net start WuAuServ
  
  
• type Exit and Press Enter to close the command prompt

Reboot Windows

• click on Start, Shut Down, and Restart to reboot Windows XP

Although this method may not solve all of the issues with a SVCHOST.EXE Application error, I have found it fixed the problem with the 0x745f2780 reference error which is the most common type of SVCHOST.EXE error.

How to Remove "This page contains both secure and nonsecure items" Warning Message

How to Delete Secure and NonSecure Items Warning Message

Whenever your browser views secure web pages it usually displays a lock or a key telling the viewer the data shown on this particular web page is secure and safe. In order for the page to be considered safe, ALL the data including images, pages, and more need to be on the secured site. However, sometimes when exiting a secured web page, the exit page will load some items from a part of the site that wasn't secured. In this case, a warning message telling you the "page contains both secure and nonsecure items" is displayed to warn the user.

This warning message is a nice verification that you are leaving a secured site. However, sometimes the message can be just plain annoying, especially if you are visiting the particular web page frequently.

Gmail, is a perfect example, when you exit Gmail the above warning message is displayed. Many times, even when you open individual messages in Gmail the warning will appear. Although its a bit of a security risk, since you won't be notified about the switch from secure to nonsecure pages, follow the instructions below if you would like to remove this warning message.

1) Open Internet Explorer

2) Click on Tools

3) Click on Internet Options

4) Click on the Security Tab

5) Click on the Custom Level button

6) Under the Miscellaneous section look for "Display Mixed Content"

7) Click on Disable for Display Mixed Content instead of Prompt

8) Click on OK twice

9) Close Internet Explorer and reopen

10) Open the webpage that was displaying the warning message, the message should not appear now.