Security Auditing

Security auditing is not very appreciated process within any organization due to the fact that higher up people like managers would not like to have imposed any rules and due to the fact that they are not IT professionals it may be a bit difficult to explain why security is so important and why certain mechanisms should be implemented. On the other hand some businesses can appreciate the benefits from security auditing for instance when certain weaknesses are identified and countered or advise on better software or hardware is given to save that organization’s money.
The mechanism for security audit is hardly ever standard due to difference of environment between companies. Often techniques such as interview, vulnerability scans and observation/analyses of the logs etc are steps which security auditor undertakes Often the companies’ security policies and procedures need to be analyse not only to check if they may be an issue within those documents but also to base the analyses and mechanism of auditing on these policies. CAAT’s (Computer-Assigned audit Technologies) are utilities to generate system reports that store all the logs and configuration files and sometimes even monitor activities. I think that it’s very useful as the information can be very well formatted and display to an auditor without him going into specific directories/volumes or configuration files to get the information needed. Some of these tools actually have programmed patterns of for instance default configuration files which are being matched to the tested system configuration files and it flags the auditor when positive.
Considering auditor role as an investigator there are certain areas that are need to be checked for instance the way the passwords are generated or the way backups are stored often by asking all sorts of questions based on the auditors experience. I think the very important issue to observe is that some companies have got their own internal auditors/security consultant/officers which can help however to gain objective system audit an external auditor is a must. In many companies that is a way to check how the IT Department is developing and progressing for example the University of East London Dean’s assistants or so called management board may not be full of IT professionals so it may be difficult to judge the amount of work and progress the IT Department is doing, therefore by using an external auditor Dean or management board will receive the report on their achieved goals and aims for the next audit – if that is several visit of an auditor. That is normally the formal report produced few weeks after the audit takes place. Some institutions like Higher education or some government bodies have a law impose to make sure that externals audits are up to date and consistently maintained.

John Edwards. (2008). The Essential Guide to Security Audits. Available: http://www.itsecurity.com/features/security-audit-essentials-042908/#comments.

Communication Security threats

Communication will always require a certain security due to the sensitivity of information being stored. Networking can be explained really simple; all we have to do is send information from point A to the point B, although there are many of complex processes carried out while the information is being transferred. As the information is being sent from A to B is forwarded using different routes using Routers, Switches, Access Points, Firewalls etc, therefore is even more difficult to secure it. There are many threats to communication security therefore I have listed the most important ones by my understanding and experience.
Main vulnerabilities are:

• Packet Sniffing – when an intruder listen to the network traffic and analyses the packets having a possibility to read our incoming and outgoing information using obscure protocols (eg.FTP) in Voice over IP protocol also known as eavesdropping.

• IP Spoofing – where an intruder sends the packets to our network and disguises himself as a trusted host (that we could have communicated with in the past) or in order to try Denial of Service attack so that the packets are reflected on the actual target.

• Password breaking – where there are many methods, brutal-force using rainbow tables or disguising as trusted entity sends requests to the target to confirm his username and password (also known as phishing).

• Man in the middle attack – it’s an attack where intruder attack someone who has already established a trusted communication with us, for instance subcontractor or another company we do business with, therefore because our network is too secure intruder attacks less secure network we have connection with.

• Denial of Service attack – occurs where intruder is sending extremely high amount of packets/information so that our network/server can’t handle it. Sometimes it may be caused by the number of users using certain services at the same time causing ‘legitimate’ denial of service.

• There are also all the other threats that affect communication security like spyware, malware ,viruses ,Trojans ,backdoors ,net boots and other malicious software all designed to interrupt the confidentiality of our information to retrieve it or destroy it.

• General vulnerabilities – operating systems bugs, protocol bugs, transfer medium failure, data storage failure and bad organised physical security (data centre doors wide open).

Microsoft. (2007). Common Security Threats. Available: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb964031%28office.12%29.aspx.

PS3 HDMI to DVI - connecting to Monitor

It's been quite long since I have first tried to hook up my PS3 to my 22 inch DGM l-2362wd Monitor. Most of the youtube videos and online guides will show you that if you purchase HDMI->DVI converter (about 20£) it's just a matter of plugging the leads. My experience was completely opposite! The truth is that PS3 HDMI->DVI requires HDCP monitor/tv if you are using the HDMI port for it to display. My monitor turns up to be the one odd without HDCP so I can forget about connecting PS3. The advantage is that it will help me focus on my studies and project. The good news is that currently each monitor comes with HDMI connection and you can get 22-24inch for less then a 150£!

0x00000024 error code - blue screen

If you see this code that means we are having the same problem.
That means that there is a problem with NTFS file system on your HDD.
No safe mode boot possible, keep blue screening.
I have tried to use the OS CD however it doesn’t detect the hard drive, Windows 7 CD would allow you to get into command prompt but there the story ends. I have taken the hard drive out and use the Magic Bridge II ( allows you to connect corrupted hard drive to another machine via USB) – HDD detected .. but even after formatting the volume and put it back to original machine is not being detected...All the hours spent on running diagnostic tools and searching for the right answer with no luck... My solution: If you haven’t got big budget issues – get a new HDD.

Marvell Libertas 802.11g/b Wireless driver Windows 7 issues

Moved here due to the copyright issues:
http://www.it-googled.com/shared/2011/09/marvell-libertas-802-11gb-wireless-driver-windows-7-issues-fixed/

It really works and it's quite hard to find the solution online.

Best.

AutoIT Novell iPrint automation complete

iPrint information from wikipedia.
iPrint, a technology originally developed by Novell, allows users to install printer-drivers from a web browser and to submit print jobs over the Internet or a local network through the standard Internet Printing Protocol (IPP).

Although the system uses Novell infrastructure, desktop users require only an iPrint client.

iPrint servers utilise the combination of:
an IPP server, Print Manager ,Printer Agent ,iPrint Gateway ,driver store

Until now we have been using autoIT gui interface to install the client and printers in a very simple and efficient way:



Rescripted by me to allow installing multiple printers with only few mouse clicks (using checkboxes), new support for Windows Vista/7 32/64bit. Few printers added.



Conclusions:
It's sometimes much harder to modify existing code rather then creating things from scrach.