Category: Risk

How to fix error the following packages have been held back in Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux

When updating packages in Linux Mint 21 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, at times, a message appears, as shown below, that states the following packages have been held back.$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade <enter> Reading package lists… DoneBuilding dependency tree… DoneReading state information… DoneCalculating upgrade… DoneThe following packages have been kept back:cryptsetup cryptsetup-bin cryptsetup-initramfs libcryptsetup120 upgraded, 0 … Continue reading How to fix error the following packages have been held back in Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux →

Exodus Permissions and Trackers Report for Android Applications

If you need to find out the permissions and trackers that are required or in use by an Android application, visit, https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/. Here, you can enter the application URL of any application from any app store and can see the results of the permissions the applications require and the trackers they use. As an example, … Continue reading Exodus Permissions and Trackers Report for Android Applications →

How to shred a file on Linux leaving no remnants

Sometimes we have files on our hard disks that we would like to remove for good. If you have set up full disk encryption when you installed Linux on your computer, you will have an encrypted hard disk which is pretty much useless to anyone without the password that only you know. However, sometimes, to … Continue reading How to shred a file on Linux leaving no remnants →

How to check if user name or ID has been compromised in a data breach

When data breaches occur, there are various kinds of data that get compromised. The most critical data that can get compromised is the user name or ID or the password. All is not lost due to a great service hosted by Troy Hunt. Use https://haveibeenpwned.com/ to check if the User name or user ID appears … Continue reading How to check if user name or ID has been compromised in a data breach →

How to mitigate the threat of being a victim of ransom ware

Ransom ware seems to have gotten the better of many ordinary users. However, it is not a threat that has no mitigation measures available to the ordinary user, but is more of following good basic security and hygiene practices, to not fall prey to a ransom ware threat. Do the following: If you use Linux, … Continue reading How to mitigate the threat of being a victim of ransom ware →

How to calculate MD5 or SHA256 sums in Linux and Android

Many of us use Linux Distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, available for free on the Internet. To install these distributions on our computers, we need to down their ISO files. Recently, the Linux Mint ISO was hacked and malware inserted into some of it's files. It was then repacked and put up on an external website. … Continue reading How to calculate MD5 or SHA256 sums in Linux and Android →

Ubuntu Boot Manager Partition entry overwritten after Windows 8.1 patch update

I recently applied the latest Windows 8.1 patches. To my dismay, I found that the core Ubuntu 14.04 entries at boot time were missing and by default, the laptop always booted into Windows 8.1. This meant that my Ubuntu EFI boot partition had been corrupted or taken over by Windows 8.1 patches that probably updated … Continue reading Ubuntu Boot Manager Partition entry overwritten after Windows 8.1 patch update →

Xiaomi or Xperia type security issues and how to detect them on any Android device

Anything that is too good to be true and available at dirt-cheap prices like the Xiaomi phones sold in flash sales on http://www.flipkart.com, always has a catch. It is like the Trojan horse. The security issue with Xiaomi phones is that the phone allegedly transmits user sensitive data like IMEI, contacts, numbers etc to servers … Continue reading Xiaomi or Xperia type security issues and how to detect them on any Android device →