April 2009 - skunkworks - Skunkworks Site

Fwd: KRA has gone online...but!
by Solomon Mburu 05 Apr '09

05 Apr '09

Dear Skunks and Skunkettes, At least we are back and right on course! The other day I went to Times Tower (Tower Wing) to apply for a VAT certificate from KRA. The lady at the reception bluntly refused to have my documents saying KRA is no longer accepting manual applications either for VAT or PIN. She further told me to log on to www.kra.go.ke/portal and I'd be able to register the details of my company, as long as it is a valid and legal entity. When I logged on to the site, which is too colourful for my 'ageing' eyes, I finally clicked on the Taxpayer Registration<https://mapato1.kra.go.ke/itms>just under the E-registration services I entered the company's PIN number and all the details about the company were on my screen. Now, the funny part is that when I set a new password and waited for next page to open, I was told that the agent (who registered my company) does not exist on the Integrated Tax Management System of KRA. So I cannot proceed with the registration for a VAT certificate. Then I gave a shot at my PIN and interestingly, the PIN number does not exist on the ITMS of KRA again. I've tried this on a number of occasions without getting any through. (I tried using my friends PIN and his worked, though it later asked for his parent's names). Could it be that PIN certificates can be fake? And can KRA really isue fake PIN certificates? Anyone amongst you who has experienced a problem with the KRA portal? It really gets into my nerves! Mburu -- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! -- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!

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Fwd: Business Information Technology (bit.or.ke)
by Solomon Mburu 04 Apr '09

04 Apr '09

I got this information and thought it worth sharing with you. Any body a victim, or it is just one of those "Y2K" kind of stuff? Mburu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Welcome to Business Information Technology .or.ke <kkimson(a)gmail.com> Date: 2009/4/3 Subject: Business Information Technology (bit.or.ke) To: solo.mburu(a)gmail.com Business Information Technology (bit.or.ke)<http://www.bit.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage> [image: Link to Welcome to Business Information Technology .or.ke]<http://www.bit.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage> How to Protect yourself from the Conficker computer worm<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/WelcomeToBusinessInformationTechnologyorke…> Posted: 02 Apr 2009 07:16 AM PDT Lately we have seen lots of media coverage on how the Conficker worm is going to cause havoc on April 1. The Conficker worm, formally named W32/Conficker.worm, started infecting systems late last year by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Since then we have seen a couple of variants of this worm and lots of binaries that carry this malicious payload. Conficker.C is the latest variant; it will change the behavior of its “call-home protocol” on Wednesday, April 1st. Conficker may use this protocol to update itself to include some as-yet unknown functionality. Some antivirus companies already offers protection from this worm in its endpoint and network products. Microsoft has also issued a security update to patch the vulnerability that the Conficker family has used to propagate. The following information will give you an overview of the worm, the steps one can take to clean an infected system, and measures to prevent reinfection. What is the Conficker worm? The W32/Conficker worm exploits the MS08-067 vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server Service. If the vulnerability is successfully exploited, it could allow remote code execution when file sharing is enabled. Machines should be patched and rebooted to protect against this worm’s reinfecting the system after cleaning, which may require more that one reboot. * Upon detecting this worm, reboot the system to clean memory correctly. May require more than one reboot. * The worm often creates scheduled tasks to reactivate itself. * The worm often uses autorun.inf files to reactivate itself. It has been identified thousands of binaries that carry this payload. Depending on the specific variant, the worm may spread via LAN, WAN, web, or removable drives and by exploiting weak passwords. Conficker disables several important system services and security products and downloads arbitrary files. Computers infected with the worm become part of an army of compromised computers and could be used to launch attacks on web sites, distribute spam, host phishing web sites, or carry out other malicious activities. Conficker.C is the most recent variant of this worm and is dependent on its predecessors, the .A and .B variants. Exposure to .C is limited to systems that are still infected with the earlier variants. The virus, called Conficker or Downadup, first appeared in November 08 but has recently become more prevalent, infecting millions of machines by some estimates. Technically it’s a worm, a kind of malicious software that automatically spreads itself from computer to computer. The cyber-security community is up in arms because worms haven’t been an issue for years. Over the course of the decade, computer hackers shifted their techniques away from rapidly spreading worms—people will remember worms like “blaster” and “Melissa” that shut down entire offices for a day or two—towards targeted snippets of code that are harder to detect. The reason: money. Worms are basically a big irritant; code that gets past security software can be used to steal information or make a computer send spam email, both of which command a big price on the black market. Microsoft issued a software update that protects computers from Conficker in October 08. Most anti-virus software will also stop it. The result is that while Conficker is spreading rapidly, it is mainly doing so in parts of the world where people haven’t updated their systems. About 29% of infections are in China, followed by Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and India, according to Symantec. Many of these countries are among those with the highest rate of software piracy, which probably isn’t a coincidence. Less than 1% of infections appear to be in the U.S. according to multiple security researchers. Conficker is, by all accounts, a pretty sophisticated piece of software.According to the Internet Storm Center, which tracks virus infections and Internet attacks, Conficker can spread in three ways. First, it attacks a vulnerability in the Microsoft Server service. Computers without the October patch can be remotely attacked and taken over. Second, Conficker can attempt to guess or 'brute force' Administrator passwords used by local networks and spread through network shares. And third, the worm infects removable devices and network shares with an autorun file that executes as soon as a USB drive or other infected device is connected to a victim PC. Conficker and other worms are typically of most concern to businesses that don't regularly update the desktops and servers in their networks. Once one computer in a network is infected, it often has ready access to other vulnerable computers in that network and can spread rapidly. Home computers, on the other hand, are usually protected by a firewall and are less at risk. However, a home network can suffer as well. For example, a laptop might pick up the worm from a company network and launch attacks at home. The most critical and obvious protection is to make sure the Microsoft patch is applied. Network administrators can also use a blocklist to try and stop the worm's attempts to connect to Web sites. And finally, you can disable Autorun so that a PC won't suffer automatic attack from an infected USB drive or other removable media when it's connected. The Internet Storm Center links to one method for doing so but the instructions involve changing the Windows registry and should only be attempted by adminstrators or tech experts. Comments under those instructions also list other potential methods for disabling autorun. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a tool to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm. You are subscribed to email updates from Welcome to Business Information Technology .or.ke<http://www.bit.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage> To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now<http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=QNhVKXYSghseaLJTCOtqo-l…> .Email delivery powered by Google Inbox too full? [image: (feed)]<http://feeds2.feedburner.com/WelcomeToBusinessInformationTechnologyorke> Subscribe<http://feeds2.feedburner.com/WelcomeToBusinessInformationTechnologyorke>to the feed version of Welcome to Business Information Technology . or.ke in a feed reader. If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: Welcome to Business Information Technology .or.ke, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 -- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!

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Outage
by James Wachira 04 Apr '09

04 Apr '09

Almost went nuts there without the regular posts on skunkworks...was worried it was CONFLICKER, ;-) Regards, James W

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Right under our noses.
by David Kiania | Asentric Consulting Ltd 04 Apr '09

04 Apr '09

It takes 150,000 acres (66,0000 ha) in Turkana to produce 30% of the country's electricity requirements from wind only. If you dont believe me check out www.laketurkanawindpower.com. They are in the process of putting up 326 wind turbines and 425 km of powerlines. My only beef is that it's taken Dutch tourists to harness the reasources in our own backyard right under our noses. If I was to go mathematical doesn't this mean with an additional 45k acres we can double our energy output currently standing at 1000 Mw? And from renewable source; green power! -- David Kiania [Asentric Consulting Ltd] If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one no matter what his birth .... -Richest Man in Babylon

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WhereCamp Africa
by Martin Gachunga 04 Apr '09

04 Apr '09

WhereCamp Africa is now in session. You can follow on Twitter: #WhereCampAfrica or #wcafrica Live blogging: http://silcsolutions.com/Liveblog.aspx -- Regards, Martin Kamau

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Testing
by Laban Mwangi 04 Apr '09

04 Apr '09

testing -- Laban Mwangi Systems Administrator Packet Central Ltd Tel: (+254)20 3592272 Mobile: (+254)735 823856 GPG Key:AE3E905F website:www.pct.co.ke

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Tested!
by Skunkworks forum 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

Tested! -- Regards, Ndambuki Muthoka David Phne: +254733476463;+254722316140 Addr: 2084 - 01000 Thika, Kenya.

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Re: [Skunkworks] Testing
by chuks Jonia 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

Its back!!! lemmie test the Security forum too On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 8:08 PM, chuks Jonia <chuksjonia(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Its back!!! > > lemmie test the Security forum too > > > > On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 7:43 PM, Laban Mwangi <lmwangi(a)pct.co.ke> wrote: >> testing >> -- >> Laban Mwangi >> Systems Administrator >> Packet Central Ltd >> Tel: (+254)20 3592272 >> Mobile: (+254)735 823856 >> GPG Key:AE3E905F >> website:www.pct.co.ke >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> >> > > > > -- > -- > Gichuki John Ndirangu, C.E.H , C.P.T.P, O.S.C.P > I.T Security Analyst and Penetration Tester > infosigmer(a)inbox.com > > security-subscribe(a)openworld.co.ke > http://nspkenya.blogspot.com/ > http://chuksjonia.blogspot.com/ > http://www.kamongo.co.ke/ > -- -- Gichuki John Ndirangu, C.E.H , C.P.T.P, O.S.C.P I.T Security Analyst and Penetration Tester infosigmer(a)inbox.com security-subscribe(a)openworld.co.ke http://nspkenya.blogspot.com/ http://chuksjonia.blogspot.com/ http://www.kamongo.co.ke/

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Re: [Skunkworks] Welcome to the "Skunkworks" mailing list
by Laban Mwangi 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

Hi All, Welcome back. Please remember to update your address books. Old Address: skunkworks(a)my.co.ke New Address: skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke A vcf has been attached. On Fri, 2009-04-03 at 19:22 +0300, skunkworks-request(a)lists.my.co.ke wrote: > Hi, > Welcome back to the skunkworks list. We had an un-anticipated outage (that is yet to be resolved). Due to this, we have moved the list to another box and resubscribed you... > Please have a look at http://my.co.ke for a bunch of other services available. > > Sorry for the incovinience.. > > Regards, > AdminWelcome to the Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke mailing list! > > To post to this list, send your email to: > > skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > > General information about the mailing list is at: > > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > > If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your options (eg, switch to > or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), visit your > subscription page at: > > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/options/skunkworks/lmwangi%40gmail.com > > > You can also make such adjustments via email by sending a message to: > > Skunkworks-request(a)lists.my.co.ke > > with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the > quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. > > You must know your password to change your options (including changing > the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: > > boeccaek > > Normally, Mailman will remind you of your lists.my.co.ke mailing list > passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you > prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to > unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on > your options page that will email your current password to you. Regards, -- Laban Mwangi Systems Analyst Penguin Labs Ltd Tel: (+254)20 4211777 Tel: (+254)20 3592272 Mobile: (+254)735 823856 GPG Key:AE3E905F website:www.penguinlabs.co.ke

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