N00b Boyfriend

This one was too funny not to share.

N00b Boyfriend

Missing that Show Desktop icon?

Missing that Show Desktop icon? Whether you deleted it or it just came up missing, it is easy to replace the show desktop icon on your Windows 2003 or XP machine.

Simply open a text editor and enter the following text.

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Then perform a "save as" to the location of your choice.
file name: Show Desktop.scf

Copy or move the new file to the quick launch bar and your done.

SSH – Disable root logins

By default machines running Fedora, RedHat, and their variants allow root to ssh directly into them. In order to disable this and force users to first ssh into these boxes as themselves you should edit the sshd_config file.

To do this simply open the sshd_config file with your favorite text editor, I use vi.

Next, locate the line “PermitRootLogin”.

Remove the comment and change the value to no.

Save, close, and restart sshd.

Social Networking Safe Guards

Here are some simple things to keep in mind that will help protect you when using social networking sites.

Use caution when clicking links

* Many links have been shortened by sites such as TinyURL which means your flying blind when you click that link till you get there.

Don’t allow social networking sites to scan your address book.

* This will keep the email address of your friends safe.

Type the names of your social network site yourself.

* Following a link from another site or email may take you to a fake site.

Be selective when adding friends

* Hackers often setup fake accounts to try and gather personal information

What you post is there forever (be selective)

* Even though you may delete something from your site, you must assume that someone has copied it or it has been cached somewhere

Third party apps (be careful)

* Hackers sometimes write applications to gather personal information, so be aware before you allow an application

F5 BIG-IP resources

The BIG-IP is a great appliance and extremely powerful. However, because it can do so much you may find yourself looking for a little help getting pointed in the right direction. If you don’t already know about this resource, you should.

F5 DevCentral

This should be your first stop when trying to figure out how to configure your BIG-IP or write iRules.

McAfee Firewall Enterprise (aka Sidewinder)

I figured since I went to the trouble of pointing out how nice the new ASDM interface was I would point out an equally nice interface for firewall management. The McAfee Firewall Enterprise (aka Sidewinder), I still just call it the Sidewinder, has a very nice user interface for managing that appliance.

It is an explorer type interface with navigation on the left and tasks on the right. It is laid out logically and because it is a native Windows app, is very fast. I can honestly say I have never had this interface crash on me.

Besides having a nice management interface the Sidewinder is just a darn good firewall. Although, be warned, it is a proxy based firewall, so setting up rules isn’t always as straight forward as you might find with other firewalls, but don’t let that scare you away.

Cisco ASA

I have never been a fan of the PDM used to manage the PIX. It has always been slow, buggy, and not as intuitive as other firewall interfaces.

Today I had two ASA5550 firewalls to configure for an upcoming project. My opinion of the ASDM, well done Cisco. The ASDM makes managing the ASA a dream compared to using the PDM for the PIX.

The user interface is intuitive, it is straight forward to manage the objects and rules, it is much faster than the PDM, and after a full day of working in the interface, not one crash.