WinNuke

Abstract: A method, resulting in producing a customized running image of files, is provided for running, through customized booting process, Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME on ramdisk in protected WINDOWS mode with additional advantages of either freedom of choice of access to non-volatile rewriteable storage medium or flexibility of preserving user configuration in User Drive(s). The method and the booting process include the steps of producing a customized copy of configuration files used by Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME; copying these configuration files, system files provided by Microsoft for setting up Windows 95/98/ME, other device drivers and programmes to storage medium/media to be used in computer system(s) or device(s) capable of running Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME; and with the use of these files from the storage medium/media, booting up in real DOS mode, preparing for and running off Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME on ramdisk in protected WINDOWS mode in the computer system(s) or device(s).

Abstract: TCP-SYN attack is one of the commonly used DDoS attacks aimed at bringing down a computer system connected to Internet. There has been an increased targeting of Windows end-users and servers. The attackers and intruders are leveraging easily identifiable network blocks to target and exploit Windows end-user servers and computer systems. In order to provide some level of security and protection against security attacks, the Microsoft's Windows XP operating systems were designed with an additional level of security. The initial Microsoft's windows XP without service pack2 (SP2) provided windows firewall with some security features. The later version of Microsoft's windows XP with SP2 intends to provide enhanced security features to prevent and mitigate the adverse effect of security attacks on the host computer systems. In this experimental paper, we set out to conduct real TCP-SYN attacks on computer systems in a controlled lab environment and measure the effectiveness of Microsoft's windows XP without SP2, and with SP2 in preventing TCP-SYN attacks. The Windows firewall (without SP2) was found to be not effective against the TCP-SYN attacks. However, the later version of Microsoft's Windows XP with SP2 was found to significantly help mitigate the adverse effect of the TCP SYN attacks on Windows based computer systems.