Dienstag, 18. Dezember 2012

How to configure outgoing connection rules in the Windows 7 firewall


The Windows 7 firewall accepts or blocks all outgoing connections. It is not possible to allow specific connections only. The firewall rules have no effect.

Too bad. Most backdoors in use nowadays wait until an outgoing connection is possible and then connect to the infested remote computer.

Though there is a workaround to block all outgoing connections and leave some trusted remote ports open.

Simply block every protocol and leave the trusted remote ports open:


  • In the Windows Firewall Properties turn the firewall on for every profile.
  • Block incoming connections (default)
  • Accept outgoing connections (default)


Windows 7 firewall outgoing rules example
(Example: outgoing firewall rules with exceptions) 

Samstag, 27. Oktober 2012

Palkotools Sphinx 2.0 Video Monitoring Software

Palkotools released Sphinx 2.0 Video Monitoring Software on Oct 18th. Unlike other video surveillance software available, Sphinx 2.0 digitally signs recorded video images to prevent unauthorized changes.

For the creation of digital signatures, asymetric and symetric ciphers are used. The key size is adapted to the speed of todays CPUs and uses multithreading for signing and verfication of signatures. Several hundred alerts can be verified in just a view minutes. For security reasons a proprietary format for keys and signatures is used.

The movement detector of Sphinx 2.0 was built with the leading computer vision library OpenCV 2.4.2.

The security software is available as a download: Download Sphinx 2.0 Video Monitoring Software

View Screenshots here: All about Sphinx 2.0 Security Software

Montag, 9. Juli 2012

Introduction to the Open XML SDK 2.0

The Open XML SDK 2.0 is Microsoft's API for the Open File Formats of the Microsoft Office Products like Word, Powerpoint and Excel.

The documentation of the SDK contains many examples and provides a good starting point to muddle through the SDK. Though the file formats are specified but not documented. An expert is required to perform data import and export tasks on office documents.

The office file format itself is a compressed XML document. In my opinion the XML schema of the Office file formats is far more complex than let's say HTML5.

Once you are an expert on the Office file format you can create serial letters, compose large documents from single documents and data sources like project management tools and ERP systems and import data into Excel Reports.

See the Open XML SDK 2.0 in action: Historical stock data with 3D chart

Link to the online documentation: MSDN Welcome to the Open XML SDK 2.0




Sonntag, 19. Februar 2012

64 bit Notebook Processors with VT-x and AMD-V March 2012

See what's under the hood of a developer's notebook this spring.
Find a list of mobile 64 bit notebook processors of Intel and AMD supporting virtualization AMD-V and VT-x here.


Intel 64 bit Notebook CPUs with VT-x

2nd Generation Core i3, i5, i7
All Models
The 2nd gen Intel® Core™ mobile processor family delivers a visibly smarter PC experi-ence. Whether you use your PC for digital media, gaming, play, or everyday tasks, these new processors deliver even more performance automatically when you need it and now offer a better visual PC experi-ence built-in. The 2nd gen Intel Core mobile processors make it easier for you to design, edit, play, share, and enjoy—smarter than ever before.

Core 2 Quad Mobile
Q9000 / Q9100
Intel® Core™2 Quad mobile processors for laptop PCs are designed to handle compute and visualization workloads, along with extending battery life for multitasking and multimedia on the go.
Providing bandwidth for multi-threaded applications, Intel Core 2 Quad processors are built on previous-generation 45nm Intel® Core™ microarchitecture enabling faster, cooler, and quieter mobile experiences.

Core 2 Extreme Mobile
QX9300 / X7800 / X7900 /
X9000 / X9100
Designed for gaming and HD multimedia, previous generation Intel® Core™2 Extreme processors deliver a great option for HD digital content creation, HD multimedia, and gaming. These laptops provide the responsiveness and realism you need on the go.

Core 2 Duo Mobile
L7200 / L7300 / L7400 / L7500 / L7700 / P7370 / P7570 / P8400 / P8600 / P8700 / P8800 / P9500 / P9600 / P9700 / SL9300 / SL9380 / SL9400 / SL9600 / SP9300 / SP9400 / SP9600 / SU9300 / SU9400 / SU9600 / T5600 / T6670 / T7100 / T7200 / T7250 / T7300 / T7400 / T7500 / T7600 / T7700 / T7800 / T8100 / T8300 / T9300 / T9400 / T9500 / T9550 / T9600 / T9800 / T9900 / U7500 / U7500 / U7600 / U7600 / U7700
The Intel® Core™2 Duo processor is Intel's second-generation mobile dual-core processor designed to deliver breakthrough performance and great power savings. With an Intel® Centrino® processor technology-based laptop with the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 MB cache, you can enjoy a greater than 20% performance increase when doing processor-intensive tasks like multitasking compared to previous-generation laptops with Intel® Core™ Duo processors.

Celeron Mobile
787 / 797 / 807UE / 827E / 847 / 847E / 857 / 867 / B710 / B720 / B800 / B810 / B810E / B815 / B840 / P4500 / P4505 / P4600 / SU2300 / U3400 / U3405 / U3600
Designed for gaming and HD multimedia, previous generation Intel® Core™2 Extreme processors deliver a great option for HD digital content creation, HD multimedia, and gaming. These laptops provide the responsiveness and realism you need on the go.


Check intel processors here before you buy: Intel VirtualizationTechnology List



AMD 64 bit Notebook CPUs with AMD-V

"With the exceptions of Sempron-branded processors and Turion K8 Rev E processors, all notebook processors shipped by AMD include AMD-V" (AMD)



Turion X2 Ultra/X2
Highest bandwidth and long battery life. AMD's non plus ultra.
For the newest operating systems.

Turion Neo X2
Designed for todays affordable ultrathin notebooks for HD video, online 3D gaming, and today’s most demanding applications. For the newest operating systems.

Athlon Neo
Designed to enable today's latest ultrathin notebook designs.
For Windows® Vista, XP x64, XP Professional, XP Home, 98, NT
Fusion A8, A6, A4, E2 Series (model number ends with M and MX) based on Llano Architecture
Designed for netbooks and notebooks. Combines AMD CPU and ATI graphics power on one chip, which is called APU and stands for Accelerated Processing Unit. 64-bit is supported.

Athlon X2
Supports better multitasking and better overall processor performance because each core has its own L2 cache memory. 
For Windows® Vista, XP x64, XP Professional, XP Home, 98, NT

Athlon 64 X2
For Windows® Vista, XP x64, XP Professional, XP Home, 98, NT



Check AMD processors here before you buy: AMD Processors for Notebooks