Hilarious video about a corporate troubleshooting session gone horribly, horribly wrong.
More at thewebsiteisdown.com
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Computer Driving Tests
(original article)
The battle against malware is a losing one. Eventhough virus scans, internet security software, and operating systems are becoming more sophisticated, evil viruses, worms, and even rootkits are more prevalent than ever.
What is the solution?
This author suggests that, just like we are all required to pass a driving exam if we wish to drive, so must we pass a basic computer exam. Basic items include:
The battle against malware is a losing one. Eventhough virus scans, internet security software, and operating systems are becoming more sophisticated, evil viruses, worms, and even rootkits are more prevalent than ever.
What is the solution?
This author suggests that, just like we are all required to pass a driving exam if we wish to drive, so must we pass a basic computer exam. Basic items include:
- How to get to the command line
- How to get to the command line and type ipconfig /all
- How to start Task Manager and what it can tell them
- How to browse a hard drive with Explorer and the command line
- How to compress a file without WinZip
- How to manually run Windows update from My Computer
- How to Add Remove programs
- The bandwidth ramifications of streaming videos/stock quotes/music/etc
- Why and when not to close the error message dialog before calling for assistance
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Video Game Skewl?! Sign Meh Awp!11!!1
(original article)
New York has now updated its public school curriculum to include video games.
While most parents may get up in arms, grab their pitchforks and torches, and storm their nearest school administration office, this unit will not be a free-time "play games at school, oh mah gawd" scenario. Students at the Q2L school will still have to attend normal-sized classes, pass the same exams, and attend four 90-minute courses a day. The only difference now is that some classes will involve Adobe Flash and Maya 3D.
Thoughts?
New York has now updated its public school curriculum to include video games.
While most parents may get up in arms, grab their pitchforks and torches, and storm their nearest school administration office, this unit will not be a free-time "play games at school, oh mah gawd" scenario. Students at the Q2L school will still have to attend normal-sized classes, pass the same exams, and attend four 90-minute courses a day. The only difference now is that some classes will involve Adobe Flash and Maya 3D.
Thoughts?
Friday, August 28, 2009
An Underground Revolution with Nothin' to Sign
While not directly related to network security, this article delves into how the world of technology has changed. Normally, we think of technology constantly evolving, each device stronger, faster, better than the last. It seems, however, that while that may be the case sometimes, it certainly isn't always making the big bucks.
So what succeeds in the technology consumer market?
Welcome to the "Good Enough" Revolution.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
WPA Cracked: Old News. In 60 seconds: Crap.
(original article)
Computer researchers in Japan have developed a way to crack through WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption in about one minute. While the ability to crack through WPA isn't really news, the speed at which it can be hacked has now essentially been increased by 12 to 15 times.
The masterminds behind the new attack, Toshihiro Ohigashi and Masakatu Morii, plan to discuss further details at a technical conference taking place Sept. 25 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Last November, WPA was successfully broken by researchers Martin Beck and Erik Tews. This attack worked on a smaller range of wireless devices, but took almost fifteen minutes to work.
Luckily, both attacks only work on WPA using the TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) algorithm. This means that WPA using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and WPA2 are still secure; at least for now.
Unfortunately, wireless encryption has a long history of security issues. The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) system, released in 1997, was decoded only a few years later and is not even considered secure by IT Professionals. TKIPed WPA can now join WEP in the Hall of Shame.
While wireless network users have long been encouraged to use WPA2 since its introduction in March of 2006, some people running older equipment may not be able to support the newer encryption. I have switched my home network to WPA with AES instead of WPA2 since my parents' legacy machines simply don't support the newer technology. You can switch the type of WPA encryption in your router's security settings.
As with any security system, people will eventually figure out a way around it. This only emphasizes the point that information security professionals need to keep improving themselves just like the bad guys are.
Computer researchers in Japan have developed a way to crack through WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption in about one minute. While the ability to crack through WPA isn't really news, the speed at which it can be hacked has now essentially been increased by 12 to 15 times.
The masterminds behind the new attack, Toshihiro Ohigashi and Masakatu Morii, plan to discuss further details at a technical conference taking place Sept. 25 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Last November, WPA was successfully broken by researchers Martin Beck and Erik Tews. This attack worked on a smaller range of wireless devices, but took almost fifteen minutes to work.
Luckily, both attacks only work on WPA using the TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) algorithm. This means that WPA using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and WPA2 are still secure; at least for now.
Unfortunately, wireless encryption has a long history of security issues. The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) system, released in 1997, was decoded only a few years later and is not even considered secure by IT Professionals. TKIPed WPA can now join WEP in the Hall of Shame.
While wireless network users have long been encouraged to use WPA2 since its introduction in March of 2006, some people running older equipment may not be able to support the newer encryption. I have switched my home network to WPA with AES instead of WPA2 since my parents' legacy machines simply don't support the newer technology. You can switch the type of WPA encryption in your router's security settings.
As with any security system, people will eventually figure out a way around it. This only emphasizes the point that information security professionals need to keep improving themselves just like the bad guys are.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Security Professionals Offered Free Online Course; Sharpen Skills
(original article)
Security buffs rejoice!
Now is your chance to prove your worth, sharpen your skills, or maybe learn a little something new. InfoWorld is offering a free online course to professionals wishing to keeping their security skills current.
In my opinion, this is a great idea. Hackers, spies, and script kiddies are constantly improving their skills, each year becoming more adept at tanking remote PCs. The "good-guys" need to improve themselves as well and this is an excellent opportunity to do so.
Classes will be conducted through email, with one assignment every weekday for four weeks, up until Friday, October 16.
Those wishing to sign up will need to be employed (unemployed black-hat hackers need not apply), so those without a job cannot get access to the class. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this, be sure to sign up before midnight of September 20th.
Security buffs rejoice!
Now is your chance to prove your worth, sharpen your skills, or maybe learn a little something new. InfoWorld is offering a free online course to professionals wishing to keeping their security skills current.
In my opinion, this is a great idea. Hackers, spies, and script kiddies are constantly improving their skills, each year becoming more adept at tanking remote PCs. The "good-guys" need to improve themselves as well and this is an excellent opportunity to do so.
Classes will be conducted through email, with one assignment every weekday for four weeks, up until Friday, October 16.
Those wishing to sign up will need to be employed (unemployed black-hat hackers need not apply), so those without a job cannot get access to the class. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this, be sure to sign up before midnight of September 20th.
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