Tech Stuff | Ain't Complicated

.htaccess Question

So hackers and wannabe-hackers probe sites for the presence of setup.php in various real and imagined and software-guessed directories.

How do I attack and/or block such probes via an .htaccess file?

Here are some code snippets I’ve seen across the Web:

<FILES setup.php>
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
</FILES>

RewriteRule ^(.*)setup\.php$ http://www.google.com/ [NC]

RewriteRule setup\.php$ http://www.google.com [NC,L]

RewriteRule setup\.php$ – [G]

RewriteRule setup\.php$ – [F]

If any of those work, which is the best?

And if there’s a better way than any of the above, what is it?

Thanks!

Update at 8:46 pm: At this point, I’m using

RewriteEngine On
# 403-Forbidden
RewriteRule setup\.php$ – [F]

Along with an order allow,deny set-up denying access to a huge pile of IPs out of China.

Crazy Behind the Wheel

Or on the sidewalk.

Or in Walmart.

I hope I get pulled over for illegal cell phone usage; then I can tell the officer what I was really doing. Maybe plant a seed.

[…]

My son who lives in the heart of Philly says it’s no good now with everybody packing a cell phone and moving their lips as they walk down the street alone: “You can’t tell who the crazies are anymore.” Personally, I find the whole development liberating. I can talk to God all I want while cruising down Easton Road and nobody cares anymore. Between the tweeters and drunkards and prayers, it’s hard to tell who is crazy.

I like that!

And if you are a Christian, you really ought to read the rest of Andrée Seu’s piece at World Magazine Blog.

Your Face in Facebook

Your photo. From your computer. To Facebook. And from there to who knows where for who knows what to be 'enjoyed' by who knows whom. Be wise, Facebook users!

And elsewhere.

From Facebook.

Thanks to you.

CNN: ‘Dating’ site imports 250,000 Facebook profiles without permission

How does an unknown dating site, with the absurd intention of destroying Facebook, launch with 250,000 member profiles on the first day?

Simple.

You scrape data from Facebook.

At least, that’s the approach taken by two provocateurs who launched Lovely-Faces.com this week, with profiles — names, locations and photos — scraped from publicly accessible Facebook pages. The site categorizes these unwitting volunteers into personality types, using a facial recognition algorithm, so you can search for someone in your general area who is “easy going,” “smug” or “sly.”

[…]

“Facebook, an endlessly cool place for so many people, becomes at the same time a goldmine for identity theft and dating — unfortunately, without the user’s control. But that’s the very nature of Facebook and social media in general. If we start to play with the concepts of identity theft and dating, we should be able to unveil how fragile a virtual identity given to a proprietary platform can be.”

Now think about those photos of you.

Which you have put on Facebook.

Can you imagine where they might end up next?

No More Driving and Texting

Most people get away with driving and texting.

Those who don’t, can’t see this:

Now, please use the sharing links below to tell others about this post and this video documentary from AT&T. Thanks.

And thanks to AT&T and those featured above.

Six Free Ways to Stay Secure

Each year, consumers and businesses spend a considerable amount on security-oriented software and/or services. As January approaches, and with it the end of the fiscal year not to mention lowered bank balances and exhausted budgets due in part to a spate of December gift-giving, it’s easy to find oneself or one’s business a bit short on funds. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily need to spend money for top-notch security software. If you resolve to stay secure in the New Year, here are a half-dozen no-cost ways to do it.

His main points:

Go Gratis for Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware
Encrypt Your Data
Start Using Real Passwords
Keep Your Software Patched
Switch Your DNS
Go Virtual

For the details, please take the time to read (and act on) what Joseph Moran says here: 6 Free Ways to Stay Secure in the New Year.