First, let's get the Windows matter out of the way: I noticed something on one of my Win7 boxes that will be relevant to the security updates Redmond just pushed out. I'd seen McAfee VirusScan interfere with the installation of several KB items (updates) before (to fix it you just set the agent to STOP, do all the download/install/config stuff then set it back with START), but just experienced the same problem where McAfee wasn't on board. I'm trying out Bitdefender and realized that it has a comprehensive status control panel, on which it checks for, not only its own definition files but for things like Adobe updates and Windows Updates. In this case, when I checked for updates through Bitdefender's panel rather than through the ordinary OS updater (WU panel under Security in W7), it worked ok. Just sayin'.
Second, here's the page for a nice security-based distro some of you already know about:
Security Onion
It's based on the easy-to-use Ubuntu and includes tools like Snort, Snorby, Network Miner and Bro. I'll do a more in-depth analysis on it as soon as I kick the tires.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
3 Short Topics
Hmm. Several things technologic have cropped up with me lately. First, a hardware problem: I have several computers in an outbuilding, stored in less than optimal, rather humid conditions (there's A/C out there but not often running). At least one computer is 18 years old. Trying to start it up yesterday, I got a indication that the HDD could not be located (although a mouse cursor did appear successfully). I restarted and just got a blank screen. Three restarts later - same thing. How to fix it? What worked was to leave the power connected and come back in 30 min. Evidently, either something on the mobo "charged" up, or perhaps caps or resistors warmed up to a temperature they liked - or that something downstream from them liked. Startup went fine.
Another thing - a news story. Yet another break-in at some big organization compromised a bunch of information, this time lots of personal info per account, like medical data for thousands of users. What to do if that happened to you? I haven't read this in any industry publication but I'd think that it would be good to look at all data exposed, then separate the pile into these categories: what cannot be changed, what can be changed, and what is less consequential. Your balance in the office coffee fund is probably a member of the third category (although perhaps it could be used to track your activity) but the first category would include stuff like SSNs, DOBs, military discharges, traffic tickets and other matters of public record. The second category interests me. Logins as well as passwords, and even vlan's, IPs and so forth are things that don't have to be what they are. Though sometimes complex to change, they probably should be changed periodically.
And a third thing... on jobs in the tech area, there's a headline I saw recently that claimed that the amount of time that a job went unfilled went from 25 to 27 days on some average or other. Don't have much way of checking the validity of the claim, but assuming it's true, I wonder why it happens. Maybe there are fewer babies being born, maybe fewer immigrants are those of technical proficiency, maybe students are dumber, maybe teaching standards are lower... but what if it's something else? What if economic pressures on businesses and government organizations are such that fewer people have to do more work? And therefore must know more than in previous times? This would mean a greater reliance on guru-level workers that have never existed in vast amounts. Maybe. Just maybe.
Another thing - a news story. Yet another break-in at some big organization compromised a bunch of information, this time lots of personal info per account, like medical data for thousands of users. What to do if that happened to you? I haven't read this in any industry publication but I'd think that it would be good to look at all data exposed, then separate the pile into these categories: what cannot be changed, what can be changed, and what is less consequential. Your balance in the office coffee fund is probably a member of the third category (although perhaps it could be used to track your activity) but the first category would include stuff like SSNs, DOBs, military discharges, traffic tickets and other matters of public record. The second category interests me. Logins as well as passwords, and even vlan's, IPs and so forth are things that don't have to be what they are. Though sometimes complex to change, they probably should be changed periodically.
And a third thing... on jobs in the tech area, there's a headline I saw recently that claimed that the amount of time that a job went unfilled went from 25 to 27 days on some average or other. Don't have much way of checking the validity of the claim, but assuming it's true, I wonder why it happens. Maybe there are fewer babies being born, maybe fewer immigrants are those of technical proficiency, maybe students are dumber, maybe teaching standards are lower... but what if it's something else? What if economic pressures on businesses and government organizations are such that fewer people have to do more work? And therefore must know more than in previous times? This would mean a greater reliance on guru-level workers that have never existed in vast amounts. Maybe. Just maybe.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Be Your Own Network Administrator!
Whether it's the stories about the low-security Internet Of Things (IOT), or the stories about vulnerabilities aboard airliners running in-flight WIFI from the cockpit, it's not difficult to imagine problems from convenience arrangements that happen via connections that are always on, and that foster connections between stuff that doesn't go through people or devices that we monitor things on (but directly). That was a jawbreaker of a sentence. Lemme put it another way:
The lazy layman that turns on everything that's conveniently wireless is easy to see as heading for trouble if Ivan Ivanovich can get to his "Tax-O-Matic" files via the toaster. But just how bad could it get? Consider that the Information Technology field is chock full of security pros either hobbled by bad budgets and policies, or mediocre to bad in their job performance. Even banks are getting robbed remotely. Considering how badly the PROS are doing at safely running networks, what chance does Joe Sixpack have?
Well, there's probably no hope for the lazy ones since they don't lock their cars, either. Those who give these matters a thought at all, however, have some hope but a sobering realization: we must now be our own Network Administrators - that is, if we insist upon doing things over a network. This means two further things. First, for matters that need a network, one must know basic safe practices about routers, antivirus scanners, backups and such. Second, for matters that only optionally need a network, one should consider a non-network alternative.
Networks make lots of sense concerning computers, gaming platforms, streaming services and the legit sharing of various connections and resources. On the other hand, you can work a To-Do list in non-electronic forms quite easily. Printing out a hard copy of an item can often be avoided, but not always (certain concert tickets are in hand instantly that way, making will-call unnecessary). And as to online purchase alternatives, ever hear of cash paid in person? Sometimes big discounts are offered for that.
I'm no Luddite, longing for a return to the days of Fred Flintstone. But crappy security may make non-networked alternatives increasingly more attractive. After all, Usenet was a technology that served us well for awhile but died in an ocean of spam. Many say that that's now happening to email. If the internet becomes even more of a party line than it already is, it could become a vulnerability as such, rather than a tool.
EDIT: It's a bit untoward to end this post there... for two reasons. First, I think if the 'net becomes more dangerous than useful, it will become so only for the average and casual user rather than the pro. If one uses complex passwords, encryption (VPNs and such) and general common sense, then one should be able to do business. The casual will get bitten. Second, for the casual user, things could get worse as the hardware moves away from separate and recognizable computing devices (like CPUs, drives, desktop computers themselves, hardware firewalls, switches, hubs, routers...) and closer to the smart phone and nothing else. Most of us know someone who has already abandoned the desktop, laptop and home internet connection in favor of just the phone, never mind needing to beg access to somebody else's printer or flash drive when that's needed. Issues of routing, security and such will be even harder for the novice to conceptualize when only seeing colored buttons on a phone... but perhaps I've been too harsh on the learned, who will be likely to recognize annoyances.
The lazy layman that turns on everything that's conveniently wireless is easy to see as heading for trouble if Ivan Ivanovich can get to his "Tax-O-Matic" files via the toaster. But just how bad could it get? Consider that the Information Technology field is chock full of security pros either hobbled by bad budgets and policies, or mediocre to bad in their job performance. Even banks are getting robbed remotely. Considering how badly the PROS are doing at safely running networks, what chance does Joe Sixpack have?
Well, there's probably no hope for the lazy ones since they don't lock their cars, either. Those who give these matters a thought at all, however, have some hope but a sobering realization: we must now be our own Network Administrators - that is, if we insist upon doing things over a network. This means two further things. First, for matters that need a network, one must know basic safe practices about routers, antivirus scanners, backups and such. Second, for matters that only optionally need a network, one should consider a non-network alternative.
Networks make lots of sense concerning computers, gaming platforms, streaming services and the legit sharing of various connections and resources. On the other hand, you can work a To-Do list in non-electronic forms quite easily. Printing out a hard copy of an item can often be avoided, but not always (certain concert tickets are in hand instantly that way, making will-call unnecessary). And as to online purchase alternatives, ever hear of cash paid in person? Sometimes big discounts are offered for that.
I'm no Luddite, longing for a return to the days of Fred Flintstone. But crappy security may make non-networked alternatives increasingly more attractive. After all, Usenet was a technology that served us well for awhile but died in an ocean of spam. Many say that that's now happening to email. If the internet becomes even more of a party line than it already is, it could become a vulnerability as such, rather than a tool.
EDIT: It's a bit untoward to end this post there... for two reasons. First, I think if the 'net becomes more dangerous than useful, it will become so only for the average and casual user rather than the pro. If one uses complex passwords, encryption (VPNs and such) and general common sense, then one should be able to do business. The casual will get bitten. Second, for the casual user, things could get worse as the hardware moves away from separate and recognizable computing devices (like CPUs, drives, desktop computers themselves, hardware firewalls, switches, hubs, routers...) and closer to the smart phone and nothing else. Most of us know someone who has already abandoned the desktop, laptop and home internet connection in favor of just the phone, never mind needing to beg access to somebody else's printer or flash drive when that's needed. Issues of routing, security and such will be even harder for the novice to conceptualize when only seeing colored buttons on a phone... but perhaps I've been too harsh on the learned, who will be likely to recognize annoyances.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Top Ten Server Rental Mistakes [this week anyway]
1. "Drives can be resized on the fly without a reload."
--- probably a misinterpretation encouraged by programs like Partition Magic, which just make use of unassigned space rather than actually moving a partition. Even some virtual server offerings are in specific sizes only, so as to mimic physical servers (as opposed to other storage options which might be by the meg or gig).
2. "The “cloud” is a backup." --- nope. And I have no idea why some believe this. Wishful thinking?
3. "The “cloud” is something new." --- nope. A network's a network by any other meme.
4. "Any form of storage/CPU should be as fast as I need/do what I want." --- nope. You pays for what you gets. And don't get the cheapest storage and then want HA performance or try to run PBX/telephony or video.
5. "The hosting company is my administrator." --- nope. If you aren't specifically paying an administrator, nobody is your administrator.
6. "Reboots shouldn't be necessary." --- depends. Some systems rely on it more than others. And if all you're doing is reacting to preset email alerts and not bothering to log in, who are you to know?
7. "Reloads or backups shouldn't be necessary." --- nope. You or your administrator had better save all data and configurations or at some point it'll all be over but the crying.
8. "Security just gets in the way." --- and that's what it's supposed to do.
9. "I'm in a hurry/don't write anything down/get on with it." --- nope. I'm gonna document and cover my ass, and surprise! We're recording this conversation.
10. "This is easy; you shouldn't have to research it. You should be able to do it right now." --- Dear Reader: I'm not making this one up; I've actually heard it - a logic hole big enough to drive the Hindenburg through.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
"The least important part of the computer is the operating system."
The titular quote above, opening this post, is something an old friend long ago said to me, a few years before he got hired by the storied Bell Labs (then known as Lucent, later Alcatel/Lucent). His point was that an OS is just something to enable human interaction, plus something that provides a context for additional applications post-setup. The real work is done by CPU, memory and other hardware. Even within the OS, the human part could be considered secondary, since the kernel does the core duties of file system management, memory management and job stack scheduling (to use antique terms). And if the kernel, needed programs and related libraries are working fine, who needs GUIs or even terminals? Put the whole thing on a card and have a remove/replace guy power down, switch for new part, power up and rock on, dude. And if you must, virtualize the whole thing, script that replacement process and you have the same freedom from interactivity (with three additional problems if you're in the cloud: hypervisor vulnerabilities, API vulnerabilities and access at the cloud provider by staff members whom you don't control).
But I digress.
I understand that personal computers are tools that allow humans to get stuff done, so I'm not telling you not to "startx", so to speak (to use a graphical user interface). After all, I'm now posting on a board related to a User's Group that is dedicated to a particular OS, which is FOR human interactivity. I'm merely advocating a concern for computing above and beyond the which-OS-is-better debate. I certainly have an opinion as to what's better or worse, but in point of fact, I use any and every system even remotely popular. That's due to curiosity as well as for professional reasons. The OS choice, while not unimportant, should be made with an eye toward ultimate use. What do you need to do? Why do you need to network from A to B? Is security a concern - or not? Is the computer for a narrow technical use or a general-use entertainment device? Is location or compatibility a concern? Is a computer or network even necessary? The OS question is only one of many questions on the way to the success of some ultimate use, project, activity or work.
But I digress.
I understand that personal computers are tools that allow humans to get stuff done, so I'm not telling you not to "startx", so to speak (to use a graphical user interface). After all, I'm now posting on a board related to a User's Group that is dedicated to a particular OS, which is FOR human interactivity. I'm merely advocating a concern for computing above and beyond the which-OS-is-better debate. I certainly have an opinion as to what's better or worse, but in point of fact, I use any and every system even remotely popular. That's due to curiosity as well as for professional reasons. The OS choice, while not unimportant, should be made with an eye toward ultimate use. What do you need to do? Why do you need to network from A to B? Is security a concern - or not? Is the computer for a narrow technical use or a general-use entertainment device? Is location or compatibility a concern? Is a computer or network even necessary? The OS question is only one of many questions on the way to the success of some ultimate use, project, activity or work.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Audacity is audacious. [updated to Version 1.4]
[...the steps H, I and J were a bit garbled earlier; they're all better now...]
Here, folks, is a real-world case study in which the open source sound recording program AUDACITY is seen to be very, very nice indeed.
Problem: you have 500 vinyl records, a new turntable and you just got an iPod nano onto which to rip songs. The 6-year-old Mac you've dedicated to music projects due to large storage won't run the most recent version of iTunes, which controls the iPod and other Apple devices. And what files do you tell Audacity to convert songs into - and do you need a copy of Audacity on two computers, so that a PC or newer Mac can convert the files from Audacity's .aup file to something the iPod can read? And can you drag/drop onto the iPod or does iTunes control that, too - and which version of iTunes? The old on the music project Mac or on the Mac/PC that has the newer version of iTunes that can talk to the iPod?
First world problems.
The simple way would be to have either a brand new Mac or PC (or even a Linux desktop at the initial burning stage) with outboard storage and do everything on one computer.
However, as John Belushi would say, "Buuuuuuuuuut Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo".
I insist on using an old Mac for ripping and a Win7 box for loading. Plus there's the issue of how to get out of a vintage stereo receiver into a computer (it's actually not necessary with newer turntables)... here's how I did it.
Preparation -
1. Setup A consists of conventional receiver, speakers and new turntable with both RCA line level connections and USB output.
2. Setup B consists of older Mac with whatever version of iTunes was current when unit was delivered, and newest version of AUDACITY for Mac
(Audacity is available for Windows, Mac or Linux at http://www.audacity.sourceforge.net)
and a USB-to-miniUSB cable (probably provided with the turntable) connected between the turntable and the Mac.
3. Setup C consists of recent Win7 box (with iPod optionally connected) and latest iTunes for Windows downloaded, plus newest version of AUDACITY for Windows.
Stragety -
A. Ignore iTunes on the older computer.
B. Ignore the conventional stereo during recording. Use the powered speaker system on the Mac locally to "monitor" the "live" LP output as the recording's taking place. To do that, switch on the turntable's internal preamp (this would be a modern USB-era turntable - I use an Audio Technica ATLP-120usb) for recording to the computer and switch it off for normal playback to the conventional stereo.
C. Fire up Audacity on the first computer (older Mac dedicated to music production) and hit File / New and hit the record button.
D. Start the turntable (since Audacity has begun recording you can hear, or monitor, the record through the computer speakers now), queue up before the song, scratches and all.
E. Record the song and delete the extra stuff before and after the song (which you can wipe off of the graphic screen with the mouse).
F. Hit File / Save Project, give the rip a name and put it in a file named ".aup files".
G. Put onto thumb drive or push it to the newer PC over a network.
H. Open the ripped file(s) with Audacity on the newer computer (on which iTunes will talk to the iPod).
I. Use Audacity to export the .aup file(s) to some converted file that the iPod likes ("export" is the relevant command). Put exported files into a file named ".aup conversions". I haven't figured out the trick regarding the library for Apple Lossless yet, so I'm using AAC at the moment.
J. Drag/drop a converted file (AAC in this example) from your storage location of ".aup conversions" onto the iTunes playlist window. It will load into iTunes immediately as far as the Windows PC is concerned, and iTunes syncs the song from application to player at the point when it senses that you've hooked up the iPod via its USB line.
Done. Simple, eh? By the way, I went with the iPod as a player since my car stereo has a cable connection for one, and front panel controls for when it's hooked up. So I had to try it. The car system is a bit laggy on the commands (takes almost a second, not really instant) but good enough. The bottom line here is that you can rip on Audacity for Windows, Mac or Linux and maybe other things too - but how to get the ripped file converted and into the player? That's where you have to have any computer that runs the latest iTunes and from there it just syncs the player. Just two steps, really: create the .aup project file on anything, then get that file into the latest Audacity for conversion from project file to preferred music file, and you're pretty much there.
For clarity, let me repeat it another way: To rip LP's to iPod, getting from a USB-capable turntable into a USB-capable computer (monitoring with either phones or computer speakers) can be done on Windows, Mac or Linux, since Audacity is written for those OSs. That gets you as far as the .aup project file. After that, you have to have either a Mac or a Windows computer that runs whatever version of iTunes (preferably latest, probably) talks to the iPod or iWhatever that you just bought, plus it'll need the latest version of Audacity. Once on that newer machine, use Audacity to make MP3, AAC or whatever out of the project files, then drag/drop those new music files onto iTunes' playlist, then hook up the player gizmo and syncing (loading new songs) happens automagically.
Update: I don't yet know how it does it, but you can get from AAC to Apple Lossless by first converting the project file into AAC with Audacity, loading the song via drag/drop into iTunes and THEN right-clicking on the track listing. "Convert To Apple Lossless" is one of the choices. Then delete the earlier cut. Where does it get the extra info in the file? Maybe it just turns off a filter...
Here, folks, is a real-world case study in which the open source sound recording program AUDACITY is seen to be very, very nice indeed.
Problem: you have 500 vinyl records, a new turntable and you just got an iPod nano onto which to rip songs. The 6-year-old Mac you've dedicated to music projects due to large storage won't run the most recent version of iTunes, which controls the iPod and other Apple devices. And what files do you tell Audacity to convert songs into - and do you need a copy of Audacity on two computers, so that a PC or newer Mac can convert the files from Audacity's .aup file to something the iPod can read? And can you drag/drop onto the iPod or does iTunes control that, too - and which version of iTunes? The old on the music project Mac or on the Mac/PC that has the newer version of iTunes that can talk to the iPod?
First world problems.
The simple way would be to have either a brand new Mac or PC (or even a Linux desktop at the initial burning stage) with outboard storage and do everything on one computer.
However, as John Belushi would say, "Buuuuuuuuuut Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo".
I insist on using an old Mac for ripping and a Win7 box for loading. Plus there's the issue of how to get out of a vintage stereo receiver into a computer (it's actually not necessary with newer turntables)... here's how I did it.
Preparation -
1. Setup A consists of conventional receiver, speakers and new turntable with both RCA line level connections and USB output.
2. Setup B consists of older Mac with whatever version of iTunes was current when unit was delivered, and newest version of AUDACITY for Mac
(Audacity is available for Windows, Mac or Linux at http://www.audacity.sourceforge.net)
and a USB-to-miniUSB cable (probably provided with the turntable) connected between the turntable and the Mac.
3. Setup C consists of recent Win7 box (with iPod optionally connected) and latest iTunes for Windows downloaded, plus newest version of AUDACITY for Windows.
Stragety -
A. Ignore iTunes on the older computer.
B. Ignore the conventional stereo during recording. Use the powered speaker system on the Mac locally to "monitor" the "live" LP output as the recording's taking place. To do that, switch on the turntable's internal preamp (this would be a modern USB-era turntable - I use an Audio Technica ATLP-120usb) for recording to the computer and switch it off for normal playback to the conventional stereo.
C. Fire up Audacity on the first computer (older Mac dedicated to music production) and hit File / New and hit the record button.
D. Start the turntable (since Audacity has begun recording you can hear, or monitor, the record through the computer speakers now), queue up before the song, scratches and all.
E. Record the song and delete the extra stuff before and after the song (which you can wipe off of the graphic screen with the mouse).
F. Hit File / Save Project, give the rip a name and put it in a file named ".aup files".
G. Put onto thumb drive or push it to the newer PC over a network.
H. Open the ripped file(s) with Audacity on the newer computer (on which iTunes will talk to the iPod).
I. Use Audacity to export the .aup file(s) to some converted file that the iPod likes ("export" is the relevant command). Put exported files into a file named ".aup conversions". I haven't figured out the trick regarding the library for Apple Lossless yet, so I'm using AAC at the moment.
J. Drag/drop a converted file (AAC in this example) from your storage location of ".aup conversions" onto the iTunes playlist window. It will load into iTunes immediately as far as the Windows PC is concerned, and iTunes syncs the song from application to player at the point when it senses that you've hooked up the iPod via its USB line.
Done. Simple, eh? By the way, I went with the iPod as a player since my car stereo has a cable connection for one, and front panel controls for when it's hooked up. So I had to try it. The car system is a bit laggy on the commands (takes almost a second, not really instant) but good enough. The bottom line here is that you can rip on Audacity for Windows, Mac or Linux and maybe other things too - but how to get the ripped file converted and into the player? That's where you have to have any computer that runs the latest iTunes and from there it just syncs the player. Just two steps, really: create the .aup project file on anything, then get that file into the latest Audacity for conversion from project file to preferred music file, and you're pretty much there.
For clarity, let me repeat it another way: To rip LP's to iPod, getting from a USB-capable turntable into a USB-capable computer (monitoring with either phones or computer speakers) can be done on Windows, Mac or Linux, since Audacity is written for those OSs. That gets you as far as the .aup project file. After that, you have to have either a Mac or a Windows computer that runs whatever version of iTunes (preferably latest, probably) talks to the iPod or iWhatever that you just bought, plus it'll need the latest version of Audacity. Once on that newer machine, use Audacity to make MP3, AAC or whatever out of the project files, then drag/drop those new music files onto iTunes' playlist, then hook up the player gizmo and syncing (loading new songs) happens automagically.
Update: I don't yet know how it does it, but you can get from AAC to Apple Lossless by first converting the project file into AAC with Audacity, loading the song via drag/drop into iTunes and THEN right-clicking on the track listing. "Convert To Apple Lossless" is one of the choices. Then delete the earlier cut. Where does it get the extra info in the file? Maybe it just turns off a filter...
Monday, February 9, 2015
Customers Say The Darndest Things! {with apologies to Art Linkletter}
Here's a collection of pithy sayings and desperate pleas from your friend and mine, the Customer. I mean that seriously, since the Customer's money is green, and keeps us employed. My quotations, therefore, have not only a humorous angle, but a serious one, as they reveal the condition and situation of the Customer in ways that conversation with them outside the incident will almost always fail to deliver...
"Find out what's wrong with my network."
"Build me a network."
"See if you can hack into this address." - from a non-customer / member of the general public
"Why won't my virtual switch work?"
"What did you just do?"
"What did I just do?"
"What control panel app would get me around having to know commands?"
"Get me the log of the FSCK."
"Where are my backups?"
"This workstation has been up for months; why won't it log into your web app anymore? It can get everywhere else so the problem must be on your end."
"Fix my API code."
"Fix your API. This code should work."
"I shouldn't have to identify myself. Your security is a waste of my time."
"Why won't my server stay up?"
"What is RDP?"
No, really. All of those quotes reflect a legitimate customer need. They may or may not be needs within the scope of what you or I do, but if you can stretch the scope that restricts you somewhat, word gets around in the user community you serve that your outfit is solid and will help if it can. Word of mouth like that cannot be appraised highly enough. It's an extra mile that your competition probably won't take.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)