Activate roaming in NTC prepaid sim from abroad

By // 1 comment:

 Nepal Telecom (NTC) SIM can have roaming service. If you are going abroad you can subscribe the roaming service using USD code *1415*7# . But you cannot do this from abroad. If you are out of country you can subscribe this service via "Nepal Telecom" app.

To subscribe via app you need to go "Buy Packs" and then select "International Service" >> "GSM Prepaid Service" >> "Roaming Activation."

 
Though subscription successful, as of writing this the service has not been enabled yet.
 
Another option is login to selfcare portal of Nepal Telecom https://www.ntc.net.np/user/login if you have already created. Go to Buy Packages https://ntc.net.np/buy/packages and then select prepaid and then "International Services" and then under GSM Prepaid Roaming Service, the activation link can be found. This will send an OTP to mobile, so will not work outside the country.



Update: Please send mail to

roaming.support@ntc.net.np with the activation form, and citizenship scan copy to activate the service if you are out of country.

Word file Download link


How to stay secure from digital wallet fraud?

By // No comments:

By: Asmita

 It has been over a decade since digital payment systems were first introduced in Nepal, and people were slowly but surely shifting towards digitization. When the spread of Covid-19 turned the world upside down in 2020, Nepalese also quickly adjusted to the new, socially distanced world. Today, mobile payment apps are rapidly becoming the preferred option for consumers all over Nepal to pay for goods and services. However, with anything good that arrives, there is always a piece of bad that follows; as is the case for digitalization. The popularity of digital payments has also increased the risk of unaware users being targeted by fraudsters and scam artists who abuse these apps for their illegal schemes. But, we must not panic, we must learn because the best line of defense is awareness.

Payment gateways like digital wallets in Nepal provide users with a wide range of payment services; they allow you to transfer money to any mobile number, or send and receive remittance online, users can even easily make utility payments on these digital wallet apps. Digital Wallet apps are powerhouses in the palm of your hands.

The digital wallet industry in Nepal is thriving amidst the pandemic, due to the safety precautions we all must take to minimize the risk of the Covid-19 virus. Digital wallet companies are dedicated to finding ways to continually improve the ease, convenience, and security for the users. However, as quick, convenient, and secure as these companies try to make their systems, there is always a risk of misuse by fraudsters; these are predators who may abuse the lack of awareness in our users.

Digital Payment fraud is any type of false or illegal transaction completed by a cybercriminal. These fraudsters can trick you into giving up sensitive information or private financial data and steal your money without your knowledge. Imagine if you left your purse at a public place and someone finds it. Let’s say a few genuine people would help you get it back, but mostly that unknown person will empty your purse, right? It’s the same if you share your Password, Pin, OTP, CVV, etc., and other crucial information with anyone. Digital fraudsters can use various measures and tactics to lure you into their trap. It's up to you to maintain necessary precautions to keep your money and information secure, and your wallet safe.

All you need to know about Digital Scams

Here’s a look at some of the ways these scammers can steal your money from digital platforms:

  • Asking for your OTP, Password, PIN, CVV number.
  • Asking to send money for payment through social networks/ Online delivery for your online purchases and then not delivering the goods. So we need to be very careful while sending money to unknown numbers.
  • Claiming you’ve won Lottery/bonus/Contest through fake Viber, WhatsApp, SMS channels. Asking to deposit tax amount or certain deposit in Bank account or asking to remit the money.
  • Use your personal documents and create a fake account with your name and details.
So are digital payment platforms safe to use? Yes, indeed, if used properly and securely.

What not to do?

If you are using the digital wallet platforms for payment, here are some of the tips of the things you must never do:

  • Never share your Password, Pin, OTP, CVV, etc. with anyone, not even if the person says they’re calling from the digital wallet company. Representatives will never contact you to ask for your confidential information.
  • Never share your sensitive information on unknown social media pages/sites or through mail/SMS. Scammers might misuse your personal details to create fake accounts in your name.
  • Before sending money to any mobile number or domestic remittance, if you are unsure, always confirm by calling the person if it is their genuine mobile number.
  • Don’t click on any SMS, suspicious email/site links offering cashback unless it’s from an official channel.
  • Be careful while sending money to Social networks, online product or service purchases. Make confirmation of the official wallet number before sending money in such cases.

If you’ve become a victim of fraud, what to do next?

  • Kindly report possible cases of cyber-crime as soon as possible to your local police station.
  • Report financial irregularities in your account to the respective company.
  • Stay alert of financial fraud arising from phishing & vishing attacks.
  • In case you lose your phone, immediately call the customer service of your digital wallet.

Remember, your data is your power, and it needs to be protected!

Install Debian 9 with RAID 1

By // No comments:

Install wildcard certificates for apache

By // No comments:
Let's encrypt now provides wildcard certificates to be deployed for servers groups and even for the servers at intranet.

I am using CEntOS here.
Install apache and mod_ssl plugin then install certbot package.
Certbot package is available in Epel repository
Enable the EPEL repository
yum install epel-release

Install Certbot with dns plugin
yum install certbot python2-certbot-dns-rfc2136

Start the process with the following command
certbot certonly \--manual \
--preferred-challenges=dns \
--email dipes@dipes.com.np \
--server  https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory \
--agree-tos \
-d *.dipes.com.np


Replace dipes.com.np with your own domain and your email.

Please deploy a DNS TXT record under the name
_acme-challenge.dipes.com.np with the following value:

7Cvl9fgz8OlwUCJVTFg5dLatVAcQDLPIY66AVImhXhk

Before continuing, verify the record is deployed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Press Enter to Continue


Update the TXT record with the generated value and verify the record before pressing enter.


_acme-challenge.dipes.com.npTXT"7Cvl9fgz8OlwUCJVTFg5dLatVAcQDLPIY66AVImhXhk"






Once it it verified message is displayed as follows.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
 - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/dipes.com.np/fullchain.pem
   Your key file has been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/dipes.com.np/privkey.pem
   Your cert will expire on 2019-07-07. To obtain a new or tweaked
   version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot
   again. To non-interactively renew *all* of your certificates, run
   "certbot renew"
 - If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by:




Certificates are saved in the location
/etc/letsencrypt/live/dipes.com.np/fullchain.pem and  /etc/letsencrypt/live/dipes.com.np/privkey.pem
Update the certificate and key file location as in apache ssl configuration file.

Install vmware tools in linux virtual machine

By // No comments:
Installing vmware tools in Redhat (CentOS)
 If you have installed Redhat or CentOS in your virtual machine with the minimal software installing vmware tools require installing ifconfig command
ifconfig command can be found in net-tools package to install it run
# yum install net-tools
Load the vmware-tools CD in the virtual machine, unpack the vmware-distribution folder to the desktop or /tmp folder and then run ./installer.pl file inside the vmware-tools-distrib folder
# mkdir /mnt/cdrom
# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
# cp /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-{version}.tar.gz /tmp/
e.g.
# cp /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-9.4.11-2400950.tar.gz  /tmp/
# cd /tmp
# tar -zxvf VMwareTools-9.4.11-2400950.tar.gz
# cd vmware-tools-distrib
# ./vmware-install.pl

if you are not a root user, append sudo in your commands
An alternative way to install vmware-tools is install open-vm-tools
# yum install net-tools
# yum install open-vm-tools
start the vmware tools service
# systemctl start vmtoolsd.service

Installing vmware tools in Ubuntu
# sudo apt-get install net-tools
# sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools
# systemctl start vmtoolsd.service


Slack alternative

By // No comments:

Slack alternative for team chat

Many alternatives on the subject are on mainstream. Among them I have tried Openfire chatserver and Rocket chat. Since our org do not allow us to leave our intranet and slack does not have the in house installation, the above two are the perfect solution, though there are many chatserver that allow the inhouse installation I am not taking considerations that I haven't tested. Though I was tempted to test others like mattermost, discord and others like I am sticking to the formers till they fulfil the clients request.
Openfire and Rocket chat are both open source and free. Openfire can be installed in Windows and Linux both. I haven't tried Rocket chat in Windows Server. Both the installation are straight forward and can be installed in no time and make them running in your intranet. I integrated both of them to the Active Directory for the users authentication.
Openfire is an XMPP server and all XMPP clients readily connects to its server. I used Install4j to create my own branded version of Openfire client Spark. Its VOIP extension easily connects to the asterisk clients to make VOIP calls.
Rocket chat has modern UI. I used its chat bot and channel feature to generate alerts from my NMS LibreNMS. Previously I used Slack with Observium for this feature.

Bulk Unicode converter for Word

By // No comments:

Unicode converter for Word

Nepali non-Unicode fonts to Unicode font converter for formatted documents like word, excel, powerpoint

Many online webpages using javascript are available that convert non-unicode fonts to Unicode fonts for unformatted text that is copy-pasted into the page. My own online version is available at
Preeti to Unicode
Fontasy to Unicode

But when it comes to the formatted documents like in word and excel and with mixed fonts, it becomes difficult to convert using these simple converters. They remove all the formatting and moreover convert all the text to the Unicode or vice-versa. They not only convert Preeti or Kantipur font to Unicode but also the English text to the Unicode making them unreadable.

 Download bulk converts for Word from https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=EncCnvtrs#c20c35ef




Sil converter also works for Excel sheets