Windows Security

Learn how Train Signal’s FREE Training website can help you

Train Signal makes some excellent video training products (covering Windows 2008, Cisco, and much more) but I want to take a second to talk about their sister site - Train Signal Training.com (called TST).

At Train Signal Training, they have a lot of experts who make daily blog posts covering all sorts of Windows, Microsoft office, and Cisco networking topics.  For example, there are tips on how to get a networking job, tips on how to do a address label merge in Word 2007, and many more.  What is most impressive is how their writers deliver these real-world and very useful tips.

Please take a second to check out Train Signal Training and sign up for their free newsletter or RSS feed.

Introduction to the Petri IT Knowledgebase - www.petri.co.il

Have you used the Petri IT Knowledgebase? This website is an excellent source for all sorts of Windows, Cisco, Virtualization, CompTIA, and Wireless HOW-TO information. On this site, you will find over 1000 articles covering Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2003, Cisco networking, VMware Virtualization, and so much more. Additionally, there are forums filled with thousands of messages and many experts are available to answer technical questions. To check it out, use the link above and if you are looking for Cisco-specific articles, checkout the Petri Cisco index.

Common Sense is sometimes all it takes to protect your network from attackers

In a recent Information Week article, “A Crook Comes Clean“, a conviced malicious hacker admitted to helping a crime organization hack into companies networks and steal resources like thousands of minutes of free VoIP usage. One of the most obvious statements he made was this:

“it would have been easy for IT and security managers to detect him-if they’d been looking. “If they were just monitoring their boxes and keeping logs, they could easily have seen us logged in there,” he said. “If they had intrusion-detection systems set up, they could have easily seen that these weren’t their calls.”

IT technicians also could have set up access lists, telling their networks to allow only their own IP addresses to get in. “We came across only two or three boxes that actually had access lists in place,” Moore added. “The telecoms that we couldn’t get into had access lists or boxes that we couldn’t get into because of strong passwords.”

I think that this is a good reminder for us all to follow the basic security practices to secure our network. To me, this is as simple as what you should be doing to secure your data center physically - locks on the doors, no windows, strong doors, controlled access, etc.

I have published a number of articles and videos on how to secure your network. For example, here is a video on securing your router using IOS Access-Lists (ACL): FREE VIDEO: Harden your Cisco Router with IOS ACLs

Additionally, SANS has a great document on securing your network:SANS: Cisco Router Hardening Step by Step

Remember-

1. change default passwords & use complex passwords
2. use protocols that are secure (no http and telnet to manage routers)
3. password protect all entrances to the router and routing protocols
4. Apply ACL on your router to control management access and prevent spoofing
5. Use a firewall (in the router or a stand-alone box) to control inbound and outbound network access to and from the Internet

So much of security is just common sense and taking time to apply it.

Have a great day!

David Davis, CCIE

Personal Website: HappyRouter.com - home of Cisco how-to articles & videos
David Recommends:
HappyRouter Cisco CCNA & CCNP Video Training Series
Cirro - Quote Telecom Internet, Voice, and Data T1 circuits from an unbiased source