Infiltrator

I have to agree with int0x80, it really comes down to what you want to do. I could tell you what to study today, but tomorrow you might change your mind and want to study something else. You said yourself that you are far from developing your own exploits and scripts, you could use your spare time to learn how exploits/scripts work and then learn how to write your own. Metasploit framework may seem an easy tool to use, but it can get quite complex at times, here's another opportunity you have to develop your skills. Again keep reading, researching and practicing while you can, that's the only way you will get to the top. These are good InfoSec resources you could utilize to learn more www.pauldotcom.com www.irongeek.com www.securitytube.net www.hak5.org (of course)

Another possible way to elevate privileges on an user account without giving it via an administrator account would be through Kernel exploitation. For example, you could use the Meterpreter module in the Metasploit framework to elevate/change the previleges on any user account. One way to mitigate this risk is by maintaining all your computers and systems patched. In order to detect this sort of attack, you could also deploy an IDS (Intrusion Detection System) in your network and have all alerts/warnings sent to your email or logged to a log file server.

@Luretryne, my apologies for misinforming you, I overlooked that important aspect and in fact motherboards must support virtualization or else it won't work. @Digip, I just realized that I did have to enable virtualization on my mobo BIOS.

Either way, its your choice you can go with a batch script or a third party software.

That's one of the things I would never share, even with a girlfriend. If she needs money, she can always come to me and I will be more than happy to help. But giving someone access to my credit card and banking details, it's asking for trouble. I would go with her to a bank and open an account for her, then she can have her own money and credit card. If she's broke you can always help her out. When it comes down to your own finance or money, you should be the one controlling it not someone else. By the way, I would do exactly what int0x80 suggested.

If by software tools you mean, tools that will help you get most technical problems resolved, then I would recommend to look into Hiren's Boot CD. It has a large collection of tools you can possible imagine, but all aimed at repairing/fixing computer issues. Now if you need a Linux OS to learn, look into Linux Mint.

What Linux distro are you using?

Any local account that has limited permissions/access will not become part of the administrators group all the sudden. It must be made part of that group, by someone who already possess administrator privilege in this case an Administrator. So if I create a local user account, say in a XP box that account will automatically be part of the local "users" group. If you need that user account to be part of the administrators group, you will need to manually add that account to the local "administrators" group. Unless you created that account off a template that already has all the permissions set to it, than you won't need to add that account to an "administrators" group. Hope that answers your question!

If you need an automatic disk defragger, can I recommend SmartDefrag. I've been using it on my computer for a very long time, it does all the work by itself no user interaction required. It automatically determines if your hard disk needs DE-fragmentation or not.

If the AP in question, has a long or complex passphrase you can forget about dictionary attacks. I would recommend looking into a WPA cracker that uses Nvidia Cuda.

I didn't know you have to switch on your monitor, in order to remotely connect into your computer. It's not like you are sitting in front of the computer. On the other hand, is the monitor physically switched off or is it on stand by?

! agree Sandbox or even a VM will do the job, of preventing the infection from spreading to your computer. That's the best way, to contain the infection or prevent it from spreading to your main system altogether.

Where I am, rooting or jailbreaking will void the warranty. And usually they will charge a fee for repairing it, if it has been found to be jailbroken or rooted.

It has nothing to do with the motherboard, its the CPU that must support VT-D. And the I5 you are purchasing currently supports it. http://ark.intel.com/products/52209/Intel-Core-i5-2500-Processor-%286M-Cache-3_30-GHz%29 Edit: My current MB is an Asus Striker Extreme and its more than 4 years old. And it does not have any support for virtualization and I can till use it to run Vmware or Virtual Box.

Backtrack has a nice utility that brute forces directories. Here's a link to it. By brute forcing, I mean it will try to determine what directories exist on a particular webserver. http://www.darknet.org.uk/2011/11/dirbuster-brute-force-directories-files-names/

Finding out if a file is malicious or not, its the hardest part. You can't tell if the file is infected or not just by looking at it. Ways to tell, is by uploading it to virus total as suggested by Sparda Or install a good AV such as Avast, for instance it will alert you and delete the file if it finds to be infected.

I was going to suggest DOS, if you are comfortable with CLI but I realized DOS does not support SSL/TLS protocol. So it will have to be done via a third party software.

While FTP services are generally good for transferring larger files or smaller files. One could always use a webserver to upload or download files via a web based interface. A lot of free web hosting services provide this capability and whilst its convenient you don't have to set up or install any third party software to interact with. If the webserver allows you could access/upload/download all your information via HTTPS, this will prevent someone from sniffing your traffic and consequently stealing your information or even your logon credentials. Though HTTPS is good for encrypting the connection, you shouldn't entirely rely on it. You should always encrypt your information before it leaves your computer.

An i5 will do just fine, if you are only using it for virtualization. My current rig has a Q6660 2.66GHZ quad core CPU and it can run 3 VMs simultaneously without any noticeable performance drop. However they do get a bit slow to respond at times and that's because my hard drive has reached it maximum throughput. And when virtualizing its very important to consider fast storage systems in order to maintain a responsive and smooth performance.

It won't necessarily make your system insecure, but if a bot or a script kiddie finds port 21 opened, they will try to brute force their way in. By changing the default port to something unused will slow their attempts down, but it won't prevent a future attack from occurring. Always remember to disable anonymous login and if possible use other means of authentication (eq, Kerberos). Keeping your software update its also important, that will minimize the chances of someone exploiting your server. If you are the only person using the FTP server, I would consider using OpenVPN to secure the connection, rather than using the FTP server itself, which could be more vulnerable to attacks.

A mismatch type will usually occur when both CPUs are operating under different voltages. I'd check to see if there are any BIOS updates, as well as try to manually alter the voltage settings in the BIOS. If you can't alter, do a trial and error by installing Vmware and see if that fails.

Found some information that might help you out https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MpichCluster http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5862 http://pareto.uab.es/mcreel/ParallelKnoppix/

Linksys by Cisco has some really nice wireless surveillance cameras. They seem to shoot in 720p if I am not mistaken and they don't cost more than $150.00 each. That's what I plan on getting to my house. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CISCO-Linksys-WVC80N-Internet-Home-Monitoring-Color-Camera-Wireless-802-11N-/260891957059?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbe5f5743#ht_4466wt_1139

For virtualization your current specs are more than enough, provided you will not be running several VMs. Which in that case, you will need a lot more RAM to support them along with your main OS. Furthermore, HT is not as effective as a physical core and will not offer the same level of performance, as a physical core would. But if the application you are using can take advantage of the extra cores, I don't see why not buy one. For video encoding/rendering, I would go with the I7 CPU it will perform a lot better than the I5. And if budget permits, throw in an SSD for optimum performance.

I would consider setting up my own webserver at home, its a lot safer and there's no third party involvement. Of course, you will be responsible for whatever happens to it.