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The management of updates has become an essential element in overseeing a computer network today.   Take the network that I manage for the school district I work for.  Being a Windows based network, our 90 servers and 5500 workstations rely on Microsoft update which are made available from Microsoft every  second Tuesday of the month for the most part.  Critical updates are made available on an as needed basis such as a hot fix or the plugging of a security hole that has been exposed. 

When I first entered the networking field, these updates had to be managed on an individual computer basis much like your home computer.  This of course was very labor intensive.  It also ate up a lot of your Internet bandwidth as each and every machine had to communicate directly to the Microsoft website.  Today, most windows based networks of any size utilize a Windows WSUS server, (Windows Software Update Services) which download s all available updates and then dispenses them throughout the network during off peak hours.  See the link for more information:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/bb466193.aspx 

The most common types of updates are for antivirus and anti spam applications.  Ensuring that these types of updates are downloaded and installed throughout the network is of the utmost importance.  Viruses can spread across the world in a matter of hours and can bring down critical servers or even an entire network unless AV applications are current. 

Like most schools and many other types of organizations we have a web filter.  Nearly every night, the filter downloads the latest site category updates.  To explain, a filter company constantly discovers new sites across the Internet for categorization and will return to previously visited sites to discern if the site needs to be recategorized.  

We have dozens of applications such as our backup software that regularly download updates as well.  In addition, all of our servers are from Dell, which periodically (about once a quarter) sends out a CD with hardware and BIOS updates for its machines.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

             Thanks to David Cardoso for permission to use this Photo. 

Ten years ago the big upgrade in network speed was from 10 MB to 100 MB.  Organizations quickly began upgrading their LAN infrastructures to take advantage of this increase in performance.  This meant of course that CAT 3 cable had to be replaced with CAT 5 cable and all the switches and routers that couldn’t handle 100 MB had to be replaced.  Most organizations had to upgrade the NICs in all of their computers as well.  Five years ago, organizations started upgrading their datacenter structure to 1 Gig for all of their servers in order to enlarge the pipeline of data moving into and out of the datacenter from users. 

Although some organizations have provided 1 Gig throughput for their entire network, meaning that once again most switches, routers and NICs have to be replaced, many have not felt that the return on investment (ROI) is worth it.  Despite this, vendors are now touting the new 10 Gig Ethernet standard.   It will be interesting to see what type of demand for a speed that will most definitely require an organization to upgrade all involved switches and routers and NICS.  The cabling for 10 Gig is different as well.  

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

There are not many people who can seriously put into question the projected dominance of  Google search technology in the future evolution of the Internet.  Through his brilliantly engineered software architecture and conceptual maps of its' potential applications, supergenius Tim Berners-Lee, the acknowledged inventor of the World Wide Web, has for years been carrying his message of a "semantic web" that will make the current incarnation of the web seem look like your Dad's Rolodex by comparison. 

In Berners-Lee vision, the next generation of web technology will be semantic, i.e. all data will be interconnected and capable of communicating with other "information"  through a common language so speak.  The following article discusses the development of the semantic web alongside the related, but not parallel development of Google’s search, mapping, and tracking applications.  Berners-Lee is not anti-Google, but he is passionately against the centralization of web data and any form of proprietary control over Internet content. 

I also encourage you to check out this very insightful video presentation in which Berners-Lee takes you on a virtual tour of the Web from its’ beginnings into tomorrow.  This is fascinating stuff.   Please share your thoughts with the Ashworth Blog community after brainstorming on your own.   
 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University    

 
                     Thanks to NASA for permission to use this Photo.

If you are purchasing a PC today over $700, chances are the specs include a dual core processor.  Multi-core processors have been thetrend for several years.   A dual core processor is a CPU with twoseparate cores on the same die, each with its own cache. It’s the equivalent of getting two microprocessors in one.  A typical server today has at least two dual core processors.  Quad cores are also very popular too.  The organization that I work for typically uses dual quad core processors for any of the servers that will be carrying a processing load such as a database server, email server or a virtual host.  

But as you can surmise, it’s not stopping at quad core.  Intel will be releasing a six core processor later this year.  AMD will be releasing theirs early next year.  These will be strictly targeted at the server market since desktop software can barely fully utilize dual core processing.  And if 6 isn’t enough, both companies plan on releasing a 12 core processor sometime in 2010.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

               Thanks to Nick Cueva for permission to use this Photo. 

There isn’t a profitable business segment today that isn’t competitive and that even includes the SPAMMING industry.  Two of the biggest Spamming organizations, Nugache and Storm are currently going at each other head to head to dominate the SPAM/malware market.  Yes, there is a market for SPAM and malware.  Surprised?  These organizations are not owned and operated by legitimate business people.  No in is yet sure who is behind Storm but many IT security experts feel that Nugache is linked to the Russian Mob, aka the Russian Business Network. 

Both of these organizations distribute SPAM through Zombie networks and both have been involved in highly criminal activities.  Zombie networks are composed of PC’s across the globe, which have been compromised by some type of Trojan Horse which allows the Zombie controllers to then use them to send SPAM, conduct phishing attacks or other types of illegal activities.   Each of these organizations control hundreds of thousands of computers.  Take Storm for example.  Some IT security experts have estimated that the Storm Zombie network, called the Storm Botnet, runs anywhere from one to fifty million computer systems.   Even the most conservative estimates place the size somewhere around 150,000 to one million.  The Storm Botnet in 2007 accounted for 8% of all malware on Microsoft Windows computers. 

This year, Storm has an extremely viable competitor, Nugache.  Although its zombie technology is not as sophisticated as Storm’s (for instance, Storm is somehow able to send SPAM in the native language of the receiver while Nugache cannot) Nugache has a big thing going for it right now, price.  In an attempt to unseat Storm from its botnet dominance, Nugache has initiated a price war.  Nugache will send one million emails for only $100.  For $800 you can send 10 million emails. 

It is because of the ridiculously meager amount of money that is required to SPAM a million people that SPAMMING is very profitable, even if the response rate to SPAM is only .01%.   It is the sophistication of these controllable zombie networks that worry IT security professionals.  Many fear that the current war for control of the malware market is only the beginning of this illegal destructive industry.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

                  Thanks to conskeptical for permission to use this Photo. 

Have you ever wanted to revisit a link that was fifty or more characters long and was impossible to remember?  Have you tried to tell someone about a site with an extensively elongated URL?  A great example is the link for a specific link on YouTube. 

If you access such a site from the same computer all the time you can simply save that site as a favorite in your browser.  But what if you want to access the site from any computer you want?  Here is a great website to help you do just that,  

http://www.tinyurl.com  

For instance, let’s take a link to a book on Amazon about Windows 2008: 

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-Administrators-Pocket-Consultant/dp/0735624372/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209996637&sr=8-3 

This is a nasty link that only someone with a photographic memory could possibly remember.  Simply go to tinyurl.com and paste in the link.  Then assign it an easy to remember name such as 

win2008book_i_want 

And save it.  You would then access the link by simply typing 

http://www.tinyurl.com/win2008book_i_want 

You have to type in unique names that no one else has used before because each link has to be unique.  Most easy links such as www.tinyurl.com/Brad are already used. Of course, like most technological tools, this site poses a security risk to organizations as well as a great benefit.  People who use computers at organizations that utilize web filtering, such as schools and businesses, can create personal custom links for websites that are filtered by the organization, allowing them full access to these sites.  For this reason, Tiny Url is sometimes blocked by organizations to prevent this.  I recommend that you try it out for yourself…

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

The 2008 Global Information Security Workforce Study was recently released.  A total of 7,548 professionals in the field were surveyed.  The complete study can be downloaded at https://www.isc2.org/cgi-bin/content.cgi?category=510 

The most interesting headline from the study was the fact that 70 percent of all respondents reported that their own employees are the biggest threat to their organization’s security.  This is contrary to the common belief that organizations must throw most of their resources at the outside perimeter of the organization’s network to prevent outsiders from accessing their network.   

This premise is supported by a recent finding that email is now no longer the number one manner in which viruses access an organization’s network.  With the ease at which employers now bring in thumb drives, personal laptops and PDA’s.  Network security plans must focus on an umbrella approach that guards the entire network. 

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

   Thanks to NASA, ESA-Hubble Collaboration for permission to use Photo. 

One of the security weaknesses experienced with laptops and other portable computer devices for many years is the simplicity in which their drives could be compromised if the device is stolen.  This was especially true before Windows XP and Windows 2000 when a thief could simply install a second operating system on the laptop, logon to the new operating system and gain admin rights to all the data on the drive. 

Windows XP and Windows 2000 introduced EFS, Encryption File System, which allowed users to encrypt files of their choosing.  Because the encryption was centered on an encryption key based upon the original operating system, an intruder couldn’t access that file simply by accessing it through another operating system.  However, this required the user to individually encrypt every file or folder in order to protect all of their data.  Needless to say, the majority of users failed to do this.   

Microsoft has introduced a new technology called BitLocker with Windows2008 and premium flavors of Windows Vista.  BitLocker encrypts the entire drive, including the Windows system files necessary for startup and logon, which could give an intruder the ability to discover passwords and logon information.  What’s more, BitLocker utilizes a feature called Integrity checking which analyzes the early boot components and helps to ensure that data decryption is performed only if those components appear unmolested and that the encrypted drive is located in the original computer.  This prevents thieves from stealing your hard drive and putting it into another computer to access the data. 

It will also make it much easier for organizations to recycle old computers as they will not have to worry about erasing data on machines being decommissioned as the drives will be inaccessible.  BitLocker is a great new addition to the Windows operating system and should be implemented by any organization or individual that works with sensitive data.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

              Thanks to Jamie Hladky for permission to use this Photo. 

You have to learn how to crawl before you learn how to walk, but once you learn a foundation of IT skills in Ashworth University’s information technology programs and anchor yourself in the IT labor force, here are the ten hottest tech skill sets you should aim to learn in the next five years according to Tech Republic.

1. Voice over IP - sales of pure IP PBX systems for the first quarter of 2007 increased 76% over the first quarter of the previous year 
2. Unified Communications - the convergence of different communications technologies, such as e-mail, voicemail, text messaging, and fax 
3. Hybrid Networks – Networks are no longer all Windows or all Linux, they are a hodgepodge of different systems and IT pros need to learn more than one of them.   
4. Wireless Technologies – everything’s going wireless it seems.    
5. Remote User Support – with more employees working off-site today, help support personnel must provide remote support to anywhere. 
6. Mobile User Support – more and more organizations are providing blackberries and other smart portable devices for their employees that must be supported. 
7. Software-as-a-Service – or SaaS as it is referred to in technical articles.  With the popularity of Web 2.0, the trend is to now provide software applications over the Internet rather than installing them on each and every computer. 
8. Virtualization – With the dominance of VMWare and the soon to be released 2008 Virtual Application from Microsoft, virtualization is THE buzzword today along with its countless benefits. 
9. IPv6 – Although this standard has not grown in popularity as of yet, mostly because the wide usage of NAT has allowed us to not run out of IP addresses on the Internet as fast as predicted, this standard is going to come about within the next five years.
10. Security - A skill set that will probably always be in the top 10. 

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician/Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

            Thanks to Donovan Mueller for permission to use this Photo. 

It’s standard practice that if you have an always-on Internet connection, then you should have a firewall, implemented in either hardware, such as a router, or in software.  But even if you are using a dial-up connection, you really need a software firewall to protect you from intrusions.  You would be surprised at the number of attempts to get into your PC a good software firewall will block on a PC using dial-up.  A firewall will also notify you of attempts to go out to an Internet website.  You can then allow or disallow the outbound traffic.  You would want legitimate programs such as Windows to access the company’s website for update purposes, but you’re safer to block any programs that you don’t recognize from doing so.  Be sure to check for correct spelling.  Say you have Symantec’s anti virus program on your PC and have set it up for automatic virus signature updates.  Your firewall will ask you whether you want to grant the program permission to go outbound.  But some malware could identify itself as Symantek.  Should you allow it to access the Internet, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise. 

Yes, it’s unfortunate that there are so many nasty things that can happen to your computer.  And thwarting such attempts can cost you time and money, but you really need to do this.  At minimum you need a firewall, an anti-virus program, and an anti-spyware utility.  You’ll also need to update the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs’ signature files at least once a week, as well as scanning with each at least once a week, more frequently if you are online daily.then you should have a firewall, implemented in either hardware, such as a router, or in software.  But even if you are using a dial-up connection, you really need a software firewall to protect you from intrusions.  You would be surprised at the number of attempts to get into your PC a good software firewall will block on a PC using dial-up.  A firewall will also notify you of attempts to go out to an Internet website.  You can then allow or disallow the outbound traffic.  You would want legitimate programs such as Windows to access the company’s website for update purposes, but you’re safer to block any programs that you don’t recognize from doing so.  Be sure to check for correct spelling. 

Say you have Symantec’s anti virus program on your PC and have set it up for automatic virus signature updates.  Your firewall will ask you whether you want to grant the program permission to go outbound.  But some malware could identify itself as Symantek.  Should you allow it to access the Internet, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise. 

Yes, it’s unfortunate that there are so many nasty things that can happen to your computer.  And thwarting such attempts can cost you time and money, but you really need to do this.  At minimum you need a firewall, an anti-virus program, and an anti-spyware utility.  You’ll also need to update the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs’ signature files at least once a week, as well as scanning with each at least once a week, more frequently if you are online daily.

Dave Ronan
Computer Training Instructor
Ashworth University