Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Know This: E-mail Hoaxes, Authorities to Reference, Firewalls

I received an e-mail today "warning" about the "postcard virus". I became unimpressed at the large quantity of people that continue sending this e-mail without verifying its validity. After completing some simple searches through Google's search engine, I found many articles dating back to 2001, identifying this e-mail as a hoax.
When this e-mail is continually re-forwarded, precious time and email bandwidth are wasted. This is disadvantageous for a company.

Sophos recommends this policy to avoid hoaxes.
Check the Authority that the author references in this case McAfee, Microsoft, and CNN. Also the major firewall vendors post the current virus threats on their individual sites.
The e-mail also referenced Microsoft's authority.
CNN was also referred to. Here is the search for "postcard virus" within CNN.
Consumer search lists the top Firewalls
These are two free Firewall providers

Monday, October 5, 2009

Careers: Computer Systems Analyst

From the research a Computer Systems Analyst is expected to have a bachelor degree; however, there are entry level positions.
The job duties are many, but generally the duties will be within these categories:
  • "Planning, designing, installing and developing new computer systems
  • Revamping existing computer systems for new tasks
  • Networking computer systems with others
  • Preparing cost-benefit and return-on-investment (ROI) reports for management
  • Testing and debugging new or revamped computer systems and the networks on which they communicate" (John Steven Niznik. (n.d.). computer systems analyst jobs. About.com . Retrieved from About.com: Tech Careers on October 5, 2009.).
The Annual Salary as of May 2006 was
  • "Median: $69,760
  • The middle 50 percent make between $54,320 and $87,600 a year
  • The lowest 10 percent make less than $42,780
  • the highest 10 percent make more than $106,820
Median annual salary and earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of computer systems analysts in May 2006 were:
  • Professional and commercial equipment and supplies wholesalers $81,080
  • Computer systems design and related services 71,680
  • Management of companies and enterprises 71,090
  • Insurance carriers 69,990
  • State government 61,340"(Career Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2009, from Overview.com: http://www.overview.com/career_summaries/Computer_Systems_Analysts.htm).
Here are a few sites to see for yourself what the current employers are looking for in Computer Systems Analysts.
Works Cited

John Steven Niznik. (n.d.). computer systems analyst jobs. About.com . Retrieved on October 5, 2009 from About.com: Tech Careers: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/computerjob13/a/systems_analyst.htm

Career Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2009, from Overview.com: http://www.overview.com/career_summaries/Computer_Systems_Analysts.htm

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A College Learning Model adapted to the Workplace

There is a unique college learning model that would be well suited to train workers for new tasks and assignments. The learning model that LDS Business College has designed is a 3 step repetitive cycle.
The principles can be applied to different aspects of the learning process.
They are
  • Prepare
  • Teach One Another
  • Ponder and Prove
I would like to think of these steps as cyclical, meaning that passing through the three steps once will not produce the maximum result.

As I think of the word prepare many ideas come into my head, "a Boy Scout is always prepared", "prepare for the unexpected", and "prepare for the worst". I would apply the Prepare principle in the job setting by first, studying an enterprises history before going to the job interview. Prepare can also be seen from an angle that a future employee would need to have developed certain skills learned desired principles before applying to a position. Another way of interpreting the Prepare principle is that the employer would encourage use of notes, made by the employee, created to make a knowledge base and thus a more effective and efficient work flow throughout the business.
It is a known fact that when one teaches a skill that skill is reinforced into the teacher. When we teach others, we give our selves the opportunity to strengthen the knowledge we gained previously. Also when one teaches they receive commentary from those they teach, whether peers or not, and this commentary can be used as constructive guidance to strengthen the teacher's developing knowledge. If we teach what we know than we reinforce that knowledge and also strengthen that knowledge by following constructive guidance. If employees are encouraged to teach the new skills to other employees than the retention level of these new skills will increase.
When I say Ponder and Prove, I simply mean that one needs to think about a task or problem before attempting to resolve it hands on. For example, if a pop-up error window appears as you are designing a company worksheet, do you click through the error message without reading what the possible errors could be and repeat the same process again and again, but expecting a different result? The purpose of pondering and proving is to use methodical and systematic problem solving when approached with problems. Formally stated, know the problem, research the problem, search for solutions, from your research determine a course of action and prove that it works or prove it infective. When your result is infective, research further and continue the process until you've proven a hypothesis effective.

Restated in my words this would the learning model to implement in training employees.
  • Be Prepared
  • Reinforce material through teaching and take constructive guidance
  • Use Systematic Problem Solving
To learn more about LDS Business College's recent activity go to http://www.utahcampuscompact.org/ldsbc.html
The LDS Business College website ldsbc.edu
For more information on the LDSBC Learning Model click here.
Picture of LDSBC learning model created by LDSBC and I take no ownership for its structure or design.

PC Slow After Login? Small Changes, Quicker Startup

Problem: Slow Start-up time after login to windows.
We all know that you have a computer or have used a computer that has taken several minutes just to start-up after the logging-in to Windows.
The change is simple, you need only go to one place to choose which programs will initiate at startup.

Research: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Remove-Unwanted-Startup-Programs-As-Fast-As-Possible&id=685807

Hypothesis Tested and Proven:
  1. Click the Start Button
  2. Open the "Run" program
  3. Type msconfig into the text field
  4. Click on the Startup tab
  5. Choose which programs you want to begin at startup by clicking on the box. The boxes with green checkmarks will begin at startup.
Note to user: Please, either search on the internet about each startup program before deselecting it or don't touch it at all. Obviously, some startup processes are necessary for windows startup.Conclusion: With a little research weather it be on the internet, through an acquaintance, or in a manual, a person can find the solution to almost any computer problem.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

Setting-up Wireless on the Network Security Toolkit (NST)

This link will give you detailed steps on how to set-up your wireless on you Network Security Toolkit.
http://24.97.150.195/nstwiki/index.php/Wireless_Setup_Tips#Detailed_Steps
  1. Boot Live CD
  2. Run the command "setup_x". After configuring the display you'll be returned to the console prompt.
  3. Run the command "init 5"
  4. Right click the desktop. Select NST WUI, then Documentation and then NST WUI Start Page (w)
  5. Login using "root" for "User Name" and your original password for "password"
  6. Using the menu bar, select Networking, then Wireless, and then WPA-PSK Setup
  7. Select your wireless interface. Click AP Scan. Choose your SSID. Enter the PSK (key). Click Perform WPA-PSK Setup.
  8. Close the Firefox browser. From the terminal window, run the command: "init 3". From the console prompt run the command "init 5"
The Main Page for NST Wiki http://24.97.150.195/nstwiki/index.php/Main_Page
You can check out the latest news about NST at http://networksecuritytoolkit.org/nst/index.html

Learning about Snort

I found some very informative articles about Snort.


Figure 1: Snort Architecture by Nalneesh Gaur of Linux Journal


The Linux Journal will provide you with information about the architecture, Snort rules, the principles upon which Snort is based, some examples of what the back end or output will be, and also great diagrams like the one above to help grasp the concept.

From Snort's home site snort.org I found that 4 programs are required before installing Snort:
  • Libpcap
  • PCRE
  • Libnet
  • Barnyard
As well there were programs to help and assit Snort like Oinkmaster.
http://www.snort.org/downloads/additional-downloads/#oinkmaster

You can download you Snort Rules at snort.org as well.
http://www.snort.org/start/rules

For information on Snort, read Docs from Snort like Snort Manual.
http://www.snort.org/start/documentation