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Fri, 31 Dec 2004

Communications Programming 31 Dec
For the heavy programmers out there, here's the online version of Communications Programming Concepts.

joat: 13:00:00 31 Dec 2004


Thu, 30 Dec 2004

Chaining Policies 30 Dec
Here is a site discussing basic web proxy theory. An interesting part near the end discusses "chaining" of proxies so that each department in an organization can maintain its own usage policy while the organization can impose its own set of rules. This effectively "chains" or aggregates usage policies.

joat: 13:00:00 30 Dec 2004


Wed, 29 Dec 2004

Bill Stearns 29 Dec
Bill Stearns writes a log of valuable system security tools.

joat: 13:00:00 29 Dec 2004


Tue, 28 Dec 2004

Analyzing Worms Via Compression 28 Dec
S. Wehner has an interesting project which involves analyzing worms with compression.

joat: 13:00:00 28 Dec 2004


Mon, 27 Dec 2004

Frequency Chart 27 Dec
I made the following with PowerPoint and converted it to a GIF so it's a bit basic. However, the information is valuable enough. The numbers across the top is frequency in MHz.

joat: 13:00:00 27 Dec 2004


Sun, 26 Dec 2004

Wireless link page 26 Dec
QSL.net has a very nice link page.

joat: 15:00:00 26 Dec 2004


Sat, 25 Dec 2004

Vpots 25 Dec
SourceForge has pretty good documentation on monitoring VMware honeypots.

joat: 13:00:00 25 Dec 2004


Fri, 24 Dec 2004

Swiss Army disk 24 Dec
Normally I spend the first day of the weekend blogging most of the following week. Today is an exception, for obvious reasons. I have gifts to wrap, dishes to wash, animals to feed. Somehow I have to figure out how to sneak my son's and his girlfriend's presents into the house (past them). HBO is running Carnivale again this coming week so I have to find time to set up the record schedule. You get the idea.

In any case, blogging this week may be a little erratic. Here's today's...

IBM has an article about building clusters with custom Knoppix CD's. Knoppix seems to be one of those tools that finds its way into everything. Since our appliances will soon have their own IPv6 addresses, what's next? Washing Machine Knoppix? Fish Tank Knoppix? Lawn Mower Knoppix?

Don't laugh! Mix in a little wireless or broadband-over-power-line and it's not that much of a stretch.

joat: 17:00:00 24 Dec 2004


Thu, 23 Dec 2004

Session Riding 23 Dec
The Web Applications Security mailing list has a pointer to a paper which discusses "session riding", which appears to amount to hijacking a user's access or data via methods such as sending crafted instructions via html e-mail (when the user's e-mail client loads the html, the exploit is executed).

joat: 13:00:00 23 Dec 2004


Wed, 22 Dec 2004

More WEP problems 22 Dec
While we're on the topic of WEP problems, WiFi Toys has an article on breaking WEP really fast.

joat: 13:00:00 22 Dec 2004


Tue, 21 Dec 2004

Why? 21 Dec
Microsoft has stated that they've switched virus scanners to "provide a safer online experience for consumers". Considering that it's probably more of a financial issue or a programming difficulty (e.g., can't interface the scanner with the webmail), it's a bad choice of words for the supposed cause.

We may see a lawsuit because a corporation has taken a public position on the quality of a competitors product (remember Microsoft purchased two companies last year for this purpose). It's one thing to say your own product is better than everyone elses. It's another to say (or directly imply) that a competitor's product is crap. Without proof, that is.

joat: 22:30:00 21 Dec 2004


HSC 21 Dec
Activeworx has released a new verion of its Honeynet Security Console (for Win2K/XP). Screenshots are here.

joat: 13:00:00 21 Dec 2004


Mon, 20 Dec 2004

Bandwidth shaping 20 Dec
If you do more than the basic video streaming or VoIP on a small network, it might be worthwhile to learn about traffic shaping and bandwidth management.

joat: 13:00:00 20 Dec 2004


Sun, 19 Dec 2004

News 19 Dec
More news from the wireless front:

joat: 19:00:00 19 Dec 2004


WEP Problems 19 Dec
Here's part one of a two part series on the current problems with WiFi encryption. The focus in on WEP but it does touch on other topics.

One thing to keep in mind: if WEP is the best you have, it's better than nothing and overall WEP security can be improved via basic practices such as periodically changing keys.

joat: 18:00:00 19 Dec 2004


Sat, 18 Dec 2004

Effective Practices and Solutions 18 Dec
>From one of my former instructors, Effective Practices and Solutions in Security - Balancing the Need for Security and Open, Collaborative Networking. The primary target for the site is educational institutions.

joat: 13:00:00 18 Dec 2004


Fri, 17 Dec 2004

YASRB 17 Dec
Found Yet Another Security Related Blog (YASRB). Here's the RSS feed.

joat: 13:00:00 17 Dec 2004


Thu, 16 Dec 2004

tasklist.org 16 Dec
In doing work-ups for malicious code analysis, I've been using Full Disclosure as a source as it allows attachments. This allows me to download onto a non-MS machine, run a virus scanner and do other things while deciding to use the sample or not.

In the process, I usually hit Google also. In trying to figure out "You_are_dismissed.com" (it's Bagle.Ap) I found tasklist.org. It appears to be a really good source for identifying unknown (unauthorized) processes.

joat: 14:00:00 16 Dec 2004


Tom Dunigan 16 Dec
Tom Dunigan has a very large security-related link list.

joat: 13:30:00 16 Dec 2004


JPeg Vulnerability 16 Dec
InfoSec Writers has a good analysis of the JPEG Processing Buffer Overrun.

joat: 13:00:00 16 Dec 2004


Wed, 15 Dec 2004

Putty 15 Dec
Here's an online howto for configuring Putty to tunnel your email traffic safely.

joat: 13:30:00 15 Dec 2004


Deb Radcliff 15 Dec
Yesterday I posted about a blog run by Deb Radcliff. It appears she has quite an anthology of articles.

joat: 13:00:00 15 Dec 2004


Tue, 14 Dec 2004

Free classes 14 Dec
Don't know if I've blogged about it before but HP's free classes site is still online. Topics include firewalls, desktop publishing, MS, Linux, virus protection best practices, organize your life, and many more.

joat: 13:30:00 14 Dec 2004


More blogs 14 Dec
Picked up a couple new blogs: Security Awareness (run by Greg Hoffman) and Security Chief (run by Deb Radcliff). Both people are associated with Winn Schwartau, a "security type" and a real character. My first "run in" with him was when someone bulk emailed an employer with tons of wierd email (looked like mail bugs) and the source had his name in the registry.

joat: 13:00:00 14 Dec 2004


Mon, 13 Dec 2004

Dave Dittrich 13 Dec
Here's Dave Dittrich's home page. Of note are the link's on the left hand side of the page. He maintains some really good lists of site related to various security topics.

joat: 13:30:00 13 Dec 2004


Detecting Complex Viruses 13 Dec
Here's a good article which discusses the difficulties in detecting complex viruses.

joat: 13:00:00 13 Dec 2004


Sun, 12 Dec 2004

Firewalls book 12 Dec
It's almost a decade old but still a good read. Here's the online version of Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker.

joat: 13:30:00 12 Dec 2004


Network Attacks 12 Dec
Here's a good article which discusses network attacks and breaks them down into five basic types.

joat: 13:00:00 12 Dec 2004


Sat, 11 Dec 2004

Free training 11 Dec
Tony Bradley has posted about a site with free CISSP training. This is one of the certifications that will become a bit more valuable in the near future. The Federal Trade Commission is currently suing two companies for lack of GLB compliance. The orders they're trying to get signed include the directive to obtain an satisfactory assessment of their network with 180 days and includes the following statement:

Each assessment shall be prepared by a person as a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) or as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); a person holding Global Information Assurance Certification from the SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security Institute (SANS); or by a similarly qualified person or organization approved by the Associate Director for Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission.

Prediction: You'll see the quals thing get out of hand, even some fakery/foolery that will require either tighter control of quals or the government will create their own quals requirements.

Stand by for an industry shift!

joat: 13:00:00 11 Dec 2004


Fri, 10 Dec 2004

Phreaking 10 Dec
This article is a bit sensationalist ("piles on" semi-unrelated facts in order to scare you) but is mostly accurate.

Anyone seen "Sweet Tooth" in action? (No, not the Pogo game!)

joat: 13:30:00 10 Dec 2004


The Broken 10 Dec
For entertainment, try viewing the videos at The Broken. They're made by a couple of recognizable faces. I'm not sure if what they're showing is illegal or not, most of it is pretty mild or very old.

For you conspiracy types, it proves that there was dark forces behind that TV show. Hacking with Ramzi is really, really bad.

joat: 13:00:00 10 Dec 2004


Thu, 09 Dec 2004

Another semester ends 09 Dec
If you're reading this around 7 p.m. EST, I'm at the Biergarden on High Street in Portsmouth, overdosing on an odd version of potato soup and helping to run a local version of geek trivia. It's part of what is becoming a tradition in that the last (unofficial) day of class is held at the Biergarden.

I'm addicted to the potato soup, which I'm not supposed to have due to its content. I don't have the recipe for it (hope to though) but it contains what looks like small bits of pot roast, potatoe slices, and spaetzle in a clear beef broth. Occasionally, another veggie may make a cameo appearance but the base recipe is delicious. Anything with spatzle can't be all that bad, right?

If you can find someone who makes good spatzle, heifering, and dumpfnodle hire 'em, marry 'em, or otherwise move in with them. Same goes for lumpia and pansit. And before you food vacuums at 757 ask, mine's only passable so you ain't moving in with me.

Apologies for the spelling.

joat: 23:30:00 9 Dec 2004


fe3d 09 Dec
Interesting visualization tool. I don't expect it to go anywhere but it is a different approach (see the screenshots). Decent GL links on the page to. (via HITB)

joat: 13:00:00 9 Dec 2004


Wed, 08 Dec 2004

SMB 08 Dec
Ubiqx.org has everything you ever wanted to know about SMB (and probably much, much more).

joat: 13:30:00 8 Dec 2004


Questions to Ask 08 Dec
I think "Ten Questions to Ask About Application Security Systems" is appropriate, especially when a lot of our applications are moving onto the web server. They are appropriate elsewhere, especially when the other "move" is away from application proxies and towards "deep packet inspection" (which is inappropriate for HTTP traffic).

joat: 13:00:00 8 Dec 2004


Tue, 07 Dec 2004

Spammer update 07 Dec
Roughly two weeks have gone by. Total number of spams, three. Two from the same jerk at/via 81.27.200.49, trying to be funny. The other at/via 24.69.65.52. Both of them entered via the web page (vice the CGI interface). Both added to the blacklist. It's probably not helping that I talk about it but since this is the last week in the semester, I have a bit of free time to run the donkey at the windmill.

joat: 23:30:00 7 Dec 2004


Cell phone glossary 07 Dec
Mobiledia has a glossary of cell phone related terms.

joat: 13:30:00 7 Dec 2004


Windows Tips 07 Dec
Here's a good site for various Windows Tips: Win NT/2K/2K3/XP Admin Knowledge Base.

joat: 13:00:00 7 Dec 2004


Mon, 06 Dec 2004

Wireless protocols 06 Dec
Palo Wireless is a site with in-depth explanations of most (if not all) of the wireless protocols/technologies.

joat: 13:30:00 6 Dec 2004


Fighting comment spam 06 Dec
Just in case anyone wanted to know, I modified the writeback plugin so that it's non-standard. Just come up with a word that isn't used in any of the code (to keep things simple) and substitue it for writeback in all of the code. For now, it's a bit of a manual process but it doesn't appear to all that hard to automate (changing that is). It may drive the spammers back to posting via the interface, where fight can be on a more even ground.

joat: 13:00:00 6 Dec 2004


Spammer list for 4DEC04 06 Dec
Following is the list of IP's that attempted to connect to the old-style comment system. The only "things" that attempt this are automated programs of one of two types: either search engine spiders (such as Google's below) or comment spammers. Do what you will with the list, just don't hold me responsible for it.

2 12.158.228.18
1 168.143.113.5
5 193.95.113.114
12 194.213.41.11
127 194.213.41.12
26 194.213.41.13
72 194.213.41.14
1 194.7.246.43 uu194-7-246-43.unknown.uunet.be
1 195.132.141.251 m251.net195-132-141.noos.fr
4 195.27.14.2
1 200.12.238.23
40 200.21.45.4 mangostino.ut.edu.co
3 200.212.114.3
4 200.34.99.9
1 211.239.170.46
1 212.138.47.16 cache6-1.ruh.isu.net.sa
1 212.138.47.20 cache10-4.ruh.isu.net.sa
1 212.138.47.21 cache13-4.ruh.isu.net.sa
1 212.138.47.26
10 213.172.36.62
12 213.41.1.222 wan-222.1.rev.fr.colt.net
8 213.41.1.226 wan-226.1.rev.fr.colt.net
19 217.144.0.137
5 218.4.189.197
1 218.57.113.11
6 219.93.211.74
11 64.125.108.114 64.125.108.114.available.above.net
42 65.54.188.139
1 66.249.64.146 crawl-66-249-64-146.googlebot.com
1 66.249.64.156 crawl-66-249-64-156.googlebot.com
1 66.249.64.160 crawl-66-249-64-160.googlebot.com
1 66.249.64.198 crawl-66-249-64-198.googlebot.com
4 68.167.94.202 h-68-167-94-202.chcgilgm.covad.net
6 68.98.206.172 wsip-68-98-206-172.ks.ok.cox.net
5 80.65.102.162 ip102-162.introweb.nl

joat: 01:52:25 6 Dec 2004


Sun, 05 Dec 2004

Defeating Encryption 05 Dec
One thing that is not said all that often is that even the good guys have to know things like what's in this paper. It's not just the "good guys" that use encryption.

joat: 13:00:00 5 Dec 2004


Sat, 04 Dec 2004

Free time 04 Dec
Now that I'm not spending a hour or so per day mopping up comment barf (spam), I've had time to fix the comment script to all <b>, <p> and <br>, work on comment titles, and generally get back to tweaking the site. Are there any features that you'd like to see?

I'm considering dumping the Blogroll and replacing it with a links list or putting a "recent comments" frame there.

joat: 15:00:00 4 Dec 2004


DYI 04 Dec
Ryumaou has pointed out that O'Reilly has a new magazine called "Make". It's aimed at the hardware geeks. (Telmnstr! This one looks like one of yours.)

joat: 13:00:00 4 Dec 2004


Fri, 03 Dec 2004

Sealand 03 Dec
Ever wonder what happened to Sealand?

joat: 13:00:00 3 Dec 2004


Thu, 02 Dec 2004

Christmas music 02 Dec
Chalk this one up as a pointless temper tantrum...

What kind of person (that's the nice version) thinks it's important to post their Winamp-generated playlist to the Internet? (Hint: there's quite a few of them.)

I went shopping for a album, containing a Christmas song that I've not heard in fifteen years by Kevin Bloody Wilson (Hey Santa Claus...). It was amazing, the number of fake sites and playlist sites that I had to wade through before finding a legit site offering Kevin's albums.

Maybe I should write one?

<humming> living next door to spammers </humming>

joat: 13:30:00 2 Dec 2004


Survey of Odd Security 02 Dec
Via Need To Know and an odd Shmoo, here's A Survey of Novel Approaches to Network Security.

joat: 13:00:00 2 Dec 2004


Wed, 01 Dec 2004

Handbook of Information Security Management 01 Dec
From the same people that give you the online CISSP study guides, here's the online version of the Handbook of Information Security Management.

joat: 13:00:00 1 Dec 2004


robtex