Chromebook vs Windows laptop – A discussion

Chromebook vs Windows laptop is a hot topic for discussion these days. People are discussing whether a Chromebook is better or Windows 8 laptops still rule the world. People are also wondering whether Chromebooks are powerful and feature-rich enough to replace the mighty Windows machines. I this post, we will have a look at the advantages and disadvantages, the pros and cons and the pluses and minuses of a Chromebook vs. a Windows 8 laptop.
Basically, choosing between Chromebook and Windows 8 laptop depends on user’s priorities and nature of work. This decision answers the very basic questions – What are your requirements.

Chromebook vs Windows laptop

Before you start making a decision about buying a Chromebook or Windows laptop, you should first understand the fundamental difference between the two.
A Chromebook can be used only for web surfing and using web applications. It offers a better user experience with Chrome Suite and Online applications. However, you can’t use applications that are meant for offline use. You need Internet connectivity all the time to be able to use a Chromebook.
A Windows laptop – be it any version of Windows OS – is a complete package of a ‘PC’. Apart from using it for Internet surfing and online applications, Windows laptops offer the widest range of services which majority of people need in day-to-day life. This includes, Microsoft Office suite, photo editing using software, online or offline video calling, downloading games and playing them offline and more. The list is huge.

Difference between Chromebook and laptop

While most are voting for the full-fledged Windows 8 laptops, some people are choosing Chromebooks. Here’s the comparison between the two.
Price
Chromebooks are cheaper than any Windows laptop. If you are looking for a device that can connect you to the world through web at cheaper price, then Chromebook is the device for you. Windows laptops are little pricier as compared to Chromebooks. However, if you want a PC that increases your productivity, then Windows laptops should be the choice.
However this price difference may narrow down as Microsoft is getting ready to launch $199 Windows laptops made by HP, as well as $99 Windows tablets, to compete with Google Chromebooks.
Surfing the web and online apps
This is the point where both Chromebook and Windows 8 laptops score the same. The Chromebook is optimized for Google’s online apps, which include Google Drive, Google Calendar and Gmail. Windows laptops too offer a smooth connectivity with Windows Store. However, when it comes to using some of these apps offline, then Windows 8 laptops score an additional point. You will be able to watch your favorite movies and TV shows offline on Windows 8 laptops; but not on Chromebooks. Chromebooks, by default, need internet connectivity at all the times!

Microsoft Office Suite
If you are a hardcore user of Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) and other Windows programs, then you may have a hard time adjusting with the Chromebook. You can use Microsoft Web Apps on the Chromebook though. Microsoft Web Apps is a free cloud version of Microsoft Office and it’s compatible with Chromebooks. Besides, you can also make use of Google Drive to open Microsoft Word documents and Excel sheets. However, you will need to tackle with the formatting issues when importing Office documents to Google Drive. Hence, if you are going to import large number of Microsoft Office files like documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, then it’s better to stick to Windows 8 laptops.
File structure and placement of documents
Most of your files such as document, videos or pictures need to be uploaded on cloud when using Chromebooks. However, with Windows 8 laptops you can choose the placement of your documents. Besides, those habitual with Windows PC’s file structure may find Chromebook file structure messy and unorganized.
Image editing
If your job involves image editing task frequently then Chromebook may not solve your purpose completely. With Chromebook, you can use web-based image editing alternatives such as Pixlr Editor. Pixlr Editor doesn’t offer all the features that software like Adobe Photoshop (which runs smoothly on Windows 8 laptops) has; but it will simply help you edit the image which is usable. However, Chromebook certainly isn’t the device for hardcore image editors whose job involves complex image editing tasks.
Games
Chromebook certainly isn’t a high-powered, graphic-rich gaming notebook. You can play games, but limited to the games that are available on Chrome Web store. Besides, Chromebooks’ graphics processing ability is limited, and hence, you won’t be able to play online games which require high leveled graphic processing power. On the other hand, Windows 8 laptops offer both online and offline gaming.
Skype, iTunes and other such programs
Those connected with their friends, family and colleagues through Skype, won’t be able to go for Chromebook as Skype doesn’t run on Chromebooks. Similarly, other essential programs such as iTunes, Quicker and many more don’t run on Chromebook at all. For these, you will have to go for Windows 8 laptops.
Printers and Scanners
The Chromebooks need Google Cloud Print-ready printers. Other printers won’t work on Chrome. Hence for any printing job you will need a Windows PC, laptop or a Mac device. In fact, the Chromebooks can’t connect many other peripheral devices directly, such as scanners.
Summary
As we mentioned earlier, the selection depends purely on your priorities. If you are happy with online apps or are mostly connected through Gmail and are looking for a cheaper device, then Chromebooks is the choice for you. However, if your requirements include lot of documentations, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, image editing jobs, Skype connectivity and offline gaming, then Windows 8 laptops should be your pick.
In short, set you priorities and go for the technology that works for you!

USB firmware: Beware of a new threat called BadUSB

When we think and talk about malware and viruses, we often try and secure our computers with antivirus programs. The obvious threat comes from web where we visit a number of websites and online applications; some of them posing a serious threat for our systems. However, have you ever thought that a USB device can pose as a danger to our systems? No, we are talking about the viruses entering from a USB to our PCs through some files.

BadUSB

This new threat is caused by USB firmware. Well, this is the fact which was brought to notice by a researcher duo, Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell, in 2014′s Black Hat annual conference that took place in Las Vegas.


In the 45 minute long presentation by Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell, the researchers explained how an innocent looking USB firmware can cause a massive threat to our systems. The malware is known as ‘BadUSB‘.
BadUSB manipulates the USB firmware, the supervising software that controls the mechanism of a USB device. The worst part about this malware is that the threat is tricky to trace. The currently available anti-virus programs cannot detect this malware as it lies in the USB firmware. The attackers just need to get hold of the USB device and they can insert their own controlling chip in the USB firmware. The chip does its ‘job’ when inserted in the computer. It connects with your PC and steals your data or simply spy on your activities.

At the beginning of this presentation Karsten showed a demo on how a USB firmware can easily install a malicious software onto your system. He inserted a normal looking USB into the laptop. The USB was empty and to confirm that the USB did not contain anything, he formatted right in front of the audience. He mentioned that, the presentation wasn’t about the viruses into a flash drive.



You can see in this presentation that the USB device does nothing for a minute after inserting in the laptop. But after that, within a split-second, the USB firmware installed some malicious software on the laptop, turning the normal USB device into a ‘different USB device’.
Implications of BadUSB USB firmware on home and enterprise users
The official blog on Microsoft mentions the implications of BadUSB on home and enterprise users,

“Some USB peripherals may have to be discarded in the future if they become targeted and no manufacturer update is made available…. If any enterprise users require USB thumb drives, they should look into upgrading to a USB model with non-writable firmware or models that require digitally signed firmware updates. Enterprises with highly sensitive data may need to evaluate the firmware update process for all the peripheral devices they currently use and are purchasing.”

BadUSB is therefore a future threat that needs close monitoring and serious attention.

What is Malvertising? How to Avoid it?

There are many methods being used to compromise users of the Internet, so that their information can be obtained by cyber-criminals. Once a computer is compromised, the cyber-criminals can use the users data for anything they want. Such events may even result in Identity Theft, where cyber-criminals use your identity for taking loans, etc. and leave you in a mess. Among the many newer methods of compromising a computer is -  Malvertising. Let us take a look at what is malvertising and how to stay safe by avoiding it.

What is Malvertising

Malvertising or Maladvertising contains two words: Malicious + Advertising. This is not just about malicious misleading advertisements that lure users to Phishing websites. Malvertising is about compromising your computer, by downloading a short malicious code on to it, when you hover on or click on an advertisement. Some adverts will even download malicious code to your computer, while the website is still loading in the background. In such cases, by simply visiting a website, users can get infected via Drive-by-downloads.
Cybercriminals are using advertisements as a means to hack in to your computers. Since these advertisements look genuine, users click on them expecting to be taken to a website, where they can get more information about the advert. However, instead of being redirected, the click action triggers a download of a small but malicious code to users’ computers. In fact the infection can even take place silently in the background, even as the ad is being loaded by the browser. Since the ad networks serving these ads are pretty huge, it is nearly impossible to identify the person or organization behind the malicious advertisement. Many popular websites too end up unknowingly serving such adverts without any harmful intent, as they do not know that the adverts are malicious.

How Does Malvertising Work

One does not need to hack a website to place malicious advertisements on that website. Instead, criminals use advertising networks to insert their advertisements on thousands of millions of websites. If you know how advertising on the Internet works, you know that once an ad is submitted, after scrutiny, it is pushed into the Internet where it appears on websites related to the keywords typed by users for any kind of information.
Cyber-criminals use display advertising to distribute malware. Possible vectors of attack include malicious code hidden within an ad creative (such as a swf file), executables embedded on a webpage, or bundled within software downloads. All web publishers and websites are potential targets for malware authors attempting to spread their software by hiding malicious code within an ad’s SWF (Flash) file, GIF file or landing page.
If an advertiser or agency provides you with an infected ad, your computer and personal information, and that of your site’s visitors, can be exposed to serious harm. Google’s Anti-Malvertising.com website has a few tips ad publishers and website owners may want to check out.

Although reputed advertising networks do scrutinize the ads for the obvious factors, like banned words, prohibited products, etc., without a proper scrutiny of the code, malvertisements can slip through! In such a scenario, the ad network places millions of users at risk by displaying the infectious advertisements on various websites. And there are yet other ad networks who may even ignore such malvertising, for the lure of good money.
In other cases, criminals claim to represent genuine institutions, submit clean adverts directly to the websites instead of ad networks. Later, they attach a malicious code to the advert that is downloaded to computers of users who click on the adverts on websites. After a while, when the target is met, the criminals remove the code. The advert stays there for the contract period. Between attaching and removing the code, the criminals get to hack plenty of computers and thus, much information about different Internet users is at their hands. They can use this information for any purpose they like.

How To Avoid Malvertising

Precaution is the only key to avoid malvertising. Malicious ads can appear even on reputed websites. If any ad looks overtly promising, simply avoid them. For example, popups saying you are the 100th visitor and are chosen for a prize – ignore it. Avoid anything that promises you likes of money, gifts, discount coupons etc. for free. Since the advertisements that appear on the websites are result of network advertisers, it is up to them to check the advertisements for malicious codes. Most of them just check the language profanity and publish the ads. These days, most reputed networks like the Google AdSense network check the entire code, but there have still been the rare case, where malicious advertisements have crept in.
There are some cloud-based malvertising detection platforms and solutions, which deliver insight about and control over the safety of online ads being served on the websites. Large publishers may want to check this option out. As a user, make sure you have a good security software and inculcate safe browsing habits. And remember to keep your operating system and your installed software, including browser plugins, always updated.

Some recent examples of Malvertising

Certain ads on DeviantART.com were redirecting users to the Optimum Installer web page in order to install Potentially Unwanted Applications on unsuspecting users. Hackers had compromised Clicksor Ad Network to distribute malware. Blackhole Exploit kits were being distributed via the Clicksor Ad Network and others. In yet another very recent case, Java exploits were being served via advertisements on Java.com, reported Fox IT.com.
Infographic This Infographic shows how Malvertising works.


It is therefore important that publishers use only such advertising networks and exchanges that have strong screening methods and who take immediate action, once instances of Malvertisements are found, in order to prevent the spread of malware within their systems, as well as contain the damage which may be caused.
Bad, vulnerable and insecure plugins often get compromised. So as I mentioned earlier, make sure you have a good security software and inculcate safe browsing habits. And remember to keep your operating system and your installed software, including browser plugins, always updated.
Stay safe!

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