SSO agent update for Watchguards

So a couple days after I complain about Watchguard having a broken SSO agent they release an update! Perhaps they read my blog? In any case before all they had was an agent which gets installed on a server, now they have both an agent and client. The client runs in the background and facilitates the passing of credentials. I will implement this in the next few days and report on how it goes.

Hallmark Virus

Please be aware of this new virus. It comes in the form of an email message with a hallmark e-card.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

Computer virus quarantines London Hospital for second day

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/19/hospital_computer_virus_shutdown_update/

Three hospitals have been effected by this and do you know who is sufferring here? The patients, not to mention the staff who are likely running themselves ragged trying to keep up with this. People with potentially life threatening conditions may not be getting the attention they need because of some angst filled teen with too much time on his hands and parents that are no where to be seen. Even if the hospital itself wasn’t targetted it is still being affected. I hope they catch this kid and charge him with X number of counts of attempted murder. It’s no less than they deserve for such reckless action.

SSO agent known issue for Watchguard firewalls

After troubleshooting an issue with the SSO agent causing internet disconnections for users I have discovered from Watchguard tech support that this is a known issue. It will be fixed in the next update. There are no workarounds in place other than disabling the SSO agent.

Xbox360 freezing after update

Like many in the IT industry I enjoy ending a long day of working with technology by occasionally playing with technology. Over the weekend I decided to sit down and play some Fable 2 when I was immediately notified that there was a new update from MS. After installing the update I continued to load up Fable 2 only to have my 360 freeze. Rebooting and trying again caused another freeze. I tried some other games and had the same issue. So I called Xbox support to have them inform me that this is a known issue and they were dealing with it and to call back tomorrow if it wasn’t resolved.

The next day I tried again and had the same issue, so I called back to Xbox support where I was informed that apparently this wasn’t a known issue. After some troubleshooting with the tech I was informed that the issue was the HDD and I should try formatting it and if that doesn’t work to replace it. I found this odd that the issue began right after an update.

While I had been talking to the tech I had started a download for the Mirror’s Edge demo and it had completed right after I got off the phone. I figured why not give it a shot. Demo came up fine and I was able to play through it with no issue.  Out of curiosity I figured I would load up Fable 2 again and this time it worked fine, as did all my other games. So apparently the Mirror’s Edge demo is capable of fixing a defective HDD issue which is both a known/non-known issue that occurs coincidentally after the latest Xbox update. Brilliant.

There is no Citrix XenApp server configured on the specified address

I am not by any means a guru with Citrix Xen App so as this was passed onto me, hopefully it will help some of you. I set up Citrix with Web interface. The web interface worked internally but not externally (using a NAT rule on the firewall). They get the log in screen and can see the app’s but opening any yields the error message “There is no Citrix XenApp server configured on the specified address.

Two step process to fix this. The first is using the altaddr command.

Syntax is “altaddr /server: *citrix server name* /set  *internal ip*   *external ip*

From there all you have to do is go into the citrix access management console, and configure the client access managment section. Go into the DMZ settings and change the default connection to “Alternate” and add each direct connection needed.

WPA has been cracked!

http://www.itworld.com/security/57285/once-thought-safe-wpa-wi-fi-encryption-cracked

Read this article,  this is pretty bad. Despite many of my vociferous objections about implementing wireless on your trusted network, many of my client’s are doing just that. Everyone loves the convienance of wireless tech but we always must remember that this is a security hole. Sure you can implement a ton of encryption to cover the hole but the hole is still there.

Server will not boot due to USB HDD

So maybe this is a coincidence but I encountered an issue where a server would not boot. It froze right before hitting the windows splash screen, no errors, nothing. Wouldn’t boot with “Last Known Good” or in Safe mode. As soon as the USB HDD was unplugged though it boot fine. I have never heard of this issue before.

Blocking internet access for a single user

First off let me just say that it is in my experience that it is never a good idea to try to use technology to police employee’s. If your employee wastes to much of their day surfing the internet instead of doing work then just fire them. Instead we have so many products trying to force them not to surf or to surf properly and their are always loop holes. In the worst of scenario’s you have the request “This user has been surfing inappropriately, prevent them from surfing the internet”, talk about bludgeoning the issue with a rock, I would think a little finesse here in order. That being said if you are in this situation there is a quick easy way to accomplish this without the need of a lot of effort or expensive software.

1) Get the MAC address of the computer
2) Use DHCP to create a reservation for that MAC so that it always gets the same IP
3) Create a firewall rule blocking port 80 traffic coming from that IP

Bingo!

Windows 7 inspired by OS X

So here is an interesting article.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/windows_7_vista_lessons/

I will give Microsoft credit, they figured out they were going in the wrong direction, better late then never i guess.  Being successful these days is difficult and really requires sticking to your strength’s. Microsoft has accepted that they need a return to their fundamentals, ripping off other people’s ideas and stop trying to have original ones of their own. I foresee a bright future for Windows 7.