Network Administration

The landscape of network security and criminal behavior continues to evolve at an astonishing rate, and for the average company this is going to mean at least a handful of risks that must be addressed immediately. For those that have taken all of the traditional steps for protecting their network and their company's information, it may be surprising to hear that they still have vulnerable points in their system. Within most companies, the number one threat is not going to be a dedicated attack against a firewall or a backdoor hack into one's software, it is going to be the authorized users themselves.

It’s amazing the influence technology has. All these new gadgets have made our lives easier in so many ways, but they have also dramatically changed the cultures that embrace them. For example, digital theft is becoming a more common threat than physical theft.

We’ve heard examples of large corporations having their customer information hacked, or even celebrities having their personal photos stolen. And while we think criminals would only go after the big guys, small businesses aren’t in the clear. Without massive IT budgets and industry professionals, their networks are often left unprotected and become easy targets for intruders.

The way businesses operate has certainly changed with the rise of new technology flooding the workplace. Perhaps one of the most significant developments in the past few years has been the increased use of personal devices in the office. As smartphones and tablets have become more affordable and their capabilities have multiplied, more workers are bringing their own devices to help them with their jobs. According to one recent survey from Webroot, employees at more than 60% of companies use their own devices at work.

It may come as a bit of a shock, but many people simply don’t have security on their minds. With all the stories concerning major security breaches of large corporations like Target and Home Depot, businesses are definitely paying attention, but many private individuals don’t look at data security as a top priority. Even some smaller companies, while focusing on security for sensitive information, may unwittingly engage in practices putting that data at risk. One particular point of emphasis is the WiFi network.

In a world where security threats seem to rise up every day, protecting vital business data is more important than ever before. Stories of large corporations suffering from security breaches seem to be a common sight in the headlines now. It’s something every company wishes to avoid, but finding ways to fight present and future attackers has proven challenging to say the least. For any business just starting out, in addition to providing quality products and excellent service, establishing effective network security is a must. Without it, the chances of losing customer data increases dramatically.

A couple years ago, my wife and I took advantage of the post-housing bubble low interest rates and upgraded to a larger home. We came across a pre-owned house built in 2006 that came with the price, size, and style that just screamed to us "buy me".  As a family, we carefully reviewed our finances and listed our pros and cons before making the purchase. My wife and I were excited to finally have a bathroom connected to the master bedroom. Our then young son was excited that he finally had a family room that offered him fun and adventure. Secretly though, what sold me on the house had nothing to do with these things. What impressed me most was that this house had a network distribution panel.

If you have ever hosted your website on a server or virtual private server then chances are pretty high you once did or currently are using cPanel. cPanel is a graphical web-based control panel that helps site owners and administrators to quickly and easily manage their website and hosting account. It's an awesome tool that interfaces with your server to help you perform once difficult tasks such as creating databases, manage website files, as well as setting up email accounts. Unfortunately, hackers broke into a proxy server used by cPanel, Inc's technical support department and now there are concerns that a trojan may have spread onto your server.

"The Internet wasn't designed for people to watch television, I know because I designed it."

- Larry Roberts, ARPANet and Telnet founder, quoted in "Its Creators Call Internet Outdated, Offer Remedies", Wall Street Journal, Oct 2, 2007

Sigh...another round of security updates coming from the folks at Mozilla. It looks like version 1.5.0.7 will be at our doorsteps soon.  Now at home, updating Firefox and Thunderbird on the Windows PC is a snap since it is all automatic. However, updating in a secure enterprise environment is a different matter.

In most enterprises, most users don't have administrative privileges and without those rights Firefox and Thunderbird in most cases will not auto install the new version. What would really help is if Mozilla would provide their software in a MSI package. Until MSI packages are provided by Mozilla, it is difficult for me to accept Firefox and Thunderbird as "enterprise software". In a Windows Server 2003 environment, MSI packages are a must for easy deployment, management, and auditing.