Nov 19 2009   6:15PM GMT

I didn’t learn information technology from TV crime dramas

Posted by: Troy Tate
information technology, irc, internet relay chat, technology education, misinformation, education, hacker, leetspeak, chat, covert channel, communication

I recently blogged about an online Nmap training video and referenced some movies that featured the Nmap application. It’s not just movies that feature information technology. Television features it’s share of information technology also. However, like anything you see on TV or in the movies, you have to consider accuracy of the information source. TV shows are not meant to be educational unless marketed as such, even then sources should be verified and established as credible. A recent Numb3ers show featured a segment about IRC or internet relay chat. According to the video below from YouTube, that is about all that was accurate about this information technology reference.

What references to information technology have you seen that may hurt or hinder IT professionals?

Thanks for reading & let’s continue to be good network citizens.

Nov 19 2009   3:21PM GMT

Online Nmap video training - scan your network

Posted by: Troy Tate
nmap, scanning, penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, host identification, blackhat, whitehat, hacker, network testing, education, network analysis, training, online training, free training, training resources

Nmap has been around a long time. It has become an indispensable tool for identifying systems, services and vulnerabilities on a network. It has also been featured in movies like The Matrix Reloaded, Bourne Ultimatum and Die Hard 4. What other network tool do you have in your toolkit that is a movie star?

I came across a great training resource for Nmap. It is a video by the author of Nmap, Gordon “Fyodor” Lyon. This particular video is from Defcon 16 Black Hat Briefings 2008. It is a great video because you learn some tips and tricks from the Nmap master. Take some time and learn about scan timing settings in Nmap that can get you results much faster. Learn also about analyzing responses of firewalled hosts versus non-firewalled hosts. The tips I learned in this video made a big difference in getting my job done.

The CosmoLearning website has a lot of excellent computer science content. This is a website to bookmark if you are a computer professional or student. You will find something of interest whether it be artificial intelligence, computer graphics, programming theory, or robotics.

Thanks for reading & let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Oct 21 2009   1:20PM GMT

Microsoft IT professional resource - RunAs Radio

Posted by: Troy Tate
Microsoft, podcast, webcast, Powershell, sql, dba, Development, IIS, AD, Active Directory, education, IT education, virtual machines, Virtualization, SharePoint

I just came across an excellent resource for IT professionals working with Microsoft products. It is called RunAs Radio. There are weekly podcasts about topics of interest to those of us who support Microsoft products. The podcasts are in multiple formats such as mp3, wma & AAC (iPod). I was particularly interested in the presentations on performance management. There are several presentations on this one topic. Some sample topics include:

Clint Huffman Analyzes PerfMon Logs! Mr. Huffman is the creator of the Performance Analysis of Logs tool found at Codeplex. I have found this tool very useful in tracking down server issues to show folks “it’s not the network!”

Shane Creamer Goes Deep on Performance Monitor! This is a very interesting presentation. There is a link to the video presentation portion and another link to the various audio formats. The video presentation has a very long gap in audio at the beginning (almost 12 minutes). This is because the video portion is only capturing the presenter’s audio portion and not the commentators’. You really should download both audio and video to get the full impact of the presentation.

Steven Choy Measures Server Performance!

Other topics that might be of interest includes SQL, Active Directory, IIS, cloud (Azure), Powershell, virtualization, SharePoint, information security, and many other Microsoft-centric technologies. I have subscribed to the RSS feed so I can keep up with new presentations as they are released. If you run any Microsoft technologies, or you just want to learn about some recommended best practices, then check out this resource. There might be something here that will help you “save the day”.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Oct 15 2009   6:44PM GMT

Free Training - Laura Chappell presents: Wireshark 201 Jumpstart - Filtering on the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis, Laura Chappell

Laura Chappel, the BitGirl, is at it again with another in her series of Wireshark Jumpstart webinars. The next one is called Wireshark Jumpstart 201: Filtering on the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. It will be held on October 27 - 10:00am-11:00am PDT (GMT-7). If you manage networks or want to manage a network, a good understanding of protocol and packet analysis will help you immensely with your career.

Some things you will learn in this webinar:

• Using the Default Capture and Display Filters
• Creating a Few Hot Capture Filters
• Filtering Tips and Tricks for Troubleshooting
• Filtering Tips and Tricks for Security

Even if you are very familiar with Wireshark or other packet capture and protocol decode tools, Laura’s seminars are well worth attending. You might even find out a little tidbit here or there because Repetition is one of the keys of learning. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this webinar since I will be on a golf vacation in North Carolina. So, if you attend this event, please come back and share with me and other IT Trenches readers what you learned and how valuable the webinar was for you.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Oct 7 2009   5:34PM GMT

Can IT education bring an end to the recession?

Posted by: Troy Tate
economics, technology, education, career, IT, information technology

Well, by my title I don’t mean entirely end the recession, and especially not just through IT education alone. I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a snippet about an upcoming story. Unfortunately, I was unable to hear the entire story. However, the topic of the upcoming story raised an interesting question about the link between economic stimulus and education. I tried finding the story online but have been unable to find it to cite here. Maybe I just imagined it, but the story topic was about the GI Bill and how it helped a nation recover economically after the Great Depression and a costly war. The story preview continued to say that the nation grew economically and scientifically in the years following the war. It is as a result of those who were educated under the GI Bill that a new world of technology was shaped:

• Man in space and man landing on the moon
• Satellites
• Lasers
• Solar cells
• Transistors

Just think about all the marvels that have appeared in our world since the mid-1940’s. The relationship between those educated under the GI Bill and these technological advances is easy to see. Now, fast forward to today and the current economic conditions. What will happen in the next few years in the world of technology as a result of those who have lost jobs, being retrained in new skills and starting new careers? Maybe technological advances won’t be as rapid as those in the post WW2 era, but I expect some life-changing advances due to the education and skill changes resulting from the current education stimulus packages.

Electronic medical records, for example, will change both the patient’s and health care professional’s lives. The technology advance may not be sexy like lasers, but it may have a greater impact on the country we live in as a whole. Maybe we are living under the Chinese curse that goes “May you live in interesting times!“

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Sep 30 2009   12:33PM GMT

Heard in passing - IT Trenches support at its finest

Posted by: Troy Tate
humor, network performance, education, network support, user education

Okay - if you support networks and have to explain why the network is slow or application performance is not what the users expect, why not use some of the following responses? These statements may or may not have been used in real life. What responses have you given to users when there really wasn’t a problem?

• Unfortunately we have run out of bits/bytes. Don’t worry, the next supply will be coming next week.
• The routing tables are all filled. There is going to be at least a 15-20 minute wait until you can be seated.
• Those packets have to go uphill to their destination. Gravity impacts network performance when you access services at that location.
• That is due to a BNC error. (i.e. brain not connected)
• The developer used a spell checker on that program. The fix will be delayed.
• The parallel processors are running perpendicular today.

Maybe a smile came to your face today while reading this. Maybe you have some similar comments to share with ITKE readers. Feel free to leave some words of wisdom for other IT Trenches members.

Thanks for reading & let’s continue to be good network citizens.

Aug 28 2009   4:21PM GMT

BlackHat USA technical presentations available online - not just for hackers

Posted by: Troy Tate
malware, bootkit, rootkit, antivirus, threats, vulnerabilities, research, blackhat, hacker, least user authority, least user privilege, Database, Development, information security, infosec, education

The media archives have now been posted on the BlackHat website from the BlackHat technical conference held in July 2009. This is the place to go if you want to see some of the latest information security research and the threats that are REAL and may become real someday. I posted a previous blog entry on the presentation about the Bootkit - rootkit - malware bypasses disk encryption!

Some of the presentation titles:

I Just Found 10 Million SSN’s

Sniff Keystrokes With Lasers/Voltmeters
Side Channel Attacks Using Optical Sampling of Mechanical Energy and Power Line Leakage

Anti-Forensics: The Rootkit Connection

Reversing and Exploiting an Apple® Firmware Update

The Language of Trust: Exploiting Trust Relationships in Active Content

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems: Making A LOT More Money on the Web the Black Hat Way

The Conficker Mystery

These are just some of the titles available in the BlackHat 2009 Technical Conference media library. Check it out even if you are a web developer or an IT professional who manages desktops or networks or staff members who perform these tasks. You need to know what you are up against and possible methods to fight the threats.

Thanks for reading & lets continue to be good network citizens!

Jul 24 2009   6:47PM GMT

Microsoft Learning Snacks: Coming to a desktop near you

Posted by: Troy Tate
Microsoft, e-learning, education, online training, Exchange Server, Microsoft Virtualization, web 2.0, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Vista, Windows Server 2008

In today’s business environment it is always a challenge to get technology training as it seems like training is one of the first things to get cut.

Microsoft has always been a great source of free training material that can help make IT professionals and user’s use of technology much more effective. A Microsoft training resource you may not have heard of is Microsoft Learning Snacks. These are short (most between 3-20 minutes long) Silverlight-based self-paced presentations that you can watch at anytime from your computer. The topics available include:

• Core Infrastructure Optimization
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
• Microsoft Silverlight
• Virtualization
• Web 2.0 Development
• Windows 7
• Windows Essential Business Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Vista

If you have a little craving for education and your budget does not permit you to go to offsite training, check out the Microsoft Learning Snacks. And, as is true with most snacks, you won’t be filled up here but maybe this will guide you into gaining a better understanding of these Microsoft technologies.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Jul 24 2009   6:03PM GMT

Using Wireshark to analyze a bot infected host

Posted by: Troy Tate
wireshark, ethereal, network analysis, bot, data capture, tutorial, education, Laura Chappell, information security, packet analysis, packet capture, network security, Security

My favorite Bitgirl (Laura Chappell) is at it again in this 15 minute presentation. She came across a host on a network that appears to be infected with some bot application. Take a few minutes and watch and learn! Maybe you will see something you can use or better understand some odd behavior on your local network.

Analyze a BOT infected host using Wireshark Tutorial

Beware - there is a trick question in the presentation. Think hard… you probably know the right answer!

Thanks for reading & let’s continue to be good network citizens.

Jul 20 2009   6:36PM GMT

Wireshark quickstart tutorial - learn to capture network traffic

Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis, Laura Chappell

There are more upcoming sessions in the Laura Chappell seminar series called Wireshark 101Jumpstart tutorials. Check out the schedule at Chappell University website. Some of the things you will learn include:

• Wireshark elements and capabilities
  
• Tapping into the wired or wireless network
  
• Capturing and filtering basics
  
• Graphing basics

If you cannot attend the seminar, you can still register and download the seminar notes and gain access to the trace files used in the session. If you manage a network, you should learn this stuff! Be sure to register and attend early. The sessions are limited to 1000 viewers and these fill up FAST!

See my entry

Repetition is one of the keys of learning

for a how attending one of these seminars helped address an issue I was having with using Wireshark.

Thanks for reading and lets continue to be good network citizens!