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While searching for various server security methods during one of my many journeys through cyberspace I stumbled upon a very interesting document titled LAME or “Linux Administration Made Easy.” The function of this document is to provide you with an easy guide that describes the day-to-day administration tasks and common maintenance issues facing a system administrator. Chapter 12 in particular caught my attention because not only does it have very practical advice for Linux security but it can also be applied to security in the Windows OS environment as well. Chapter 12 is titled “Strategies for Keeping a Secure Server” which as you have probably guessed already has tips on maintaining the security of the server as well as the safety of your data. One of the most commons sense precautions that any administrator can take against unwanted server access is to update system tools, applications, and the kernel or core of the operating system. This can be one of the most crucial if not the essential task in maintaining a server’s security and is often neglected. This is one of the most common causes of server break-ins and can be easily remedied by configuring automatic updates within the operating…
Never forget a task again with Remember the Milk Remember the Milk (https://www.rememberthemilk.com) is a free, powerful on-line to-do task reminder application. You can create multiple lists of to-do items and assign due-dates using “natural language” (i.e. “Tomorrow” or “Next Tuesday”). You can also assign priorities, time estimates, locations and URL’s to each item. You can also tag to-do items, and then create “Smart Lists” that collect similarly-tagged items, regardless of which list they appear on. For a small fee ($25 per year) you can upgrade to the Pro edition, which allows you to easily sync your on-line to-do list with your iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or Windows Mobile phone. This integration is quick, easy, and is two-way (adding or updating items on your phone causes those same changes in the on-line version, and vice-versa).
Hi, my name is Christopher Schmitt and I am apart of Online Tech’s Operations Team. Since the beginning of Information Technology, a Systems Administrator always has one thing usually in mind. How secure are my servers? This one thought can cause a Systems Administrator to always have this in the back of their mind. When you look at security, there can be many different approaches to it. Here’s a quick list of recommended security measures you can take to have some peace of mind when dealing with security. I’d also suggest you take a look at one of my colleague’s posts that deals with firewall rules. 1. Software Updates – Depending on what you are using your server for, you may want to look at automatic updates. This will ensure that you closing any open security flaws that may have been there before. Another set of updates which is usually overlooked is Open Source. There usually isn’t any central kind of alerting when there is a new release so this could be a bit difficult. It’s always great to stay on top of these updates since the source code is available for download. While Open Source is great product maintenance…
Easily manage simple or complex projects with Basecamp. Basecamp (https://basecamphq.com) is a great online project-management tool for small or large teams. In just a matter of minutes, you can easily set up and start tracking a new project. Multiple users can work on to-do lists, track deadlines, post messages, share files, and collaborate on documents in a clean and easy-to-use interface. It’s easy to switch between multiple projects, or even manage multiple accounts (each with their own list of projects) from a single login. For any project, you can also add users for your clients, and involve them in the project so that they can contribute or monitor progress as well. One great Basecamp feature is the Dashboard page, which summarizes the most recent activity across all your different projects, making it easy to keep tabs on your team’s overall progress. Users can also record their time spent on each to-do item (or just by projects in general) allowing you to quickly create weekly or monthly time tracking reports. Basecamp offers a 30-day free trial on all their different plans, as well as a free account option (limited to just a single project) making it easy to get started without…
Tired of bounce back messages saying “Server refused connection”? Does it seem that some if not most of your email messages are not being delivered to their recipients? If any of these apply to your current situation your email server may have been placed on an Blacklist or improper server configuration may be losing your precious email. In order to diagnose these issues you need a tool that can perform multiple system tests to help you gain better understanding of the issue itself. A free and effective tool that I often use is mxtoolbox. This web-based tool offers you such valuable options such as an MX record, Blacklist, SPF header, and DNS lookup as well as many other tools that can be helpful in the solution development process. For more information please visit www.mxtoolbox.com and https://community.mxtoolbox.com/blog/.
Easily work with two (or more) side-by-side computers using a single keyboard and mouse. If you happen to have more than one computer at your desk, and they’re all on the same network, there’s a great (and free) tool that lets you access multiple machines using just one keyboard and mouse: ‘Input Director’ (https://inputdirector.com). Each machine will need its own monitor, but only one will need to have a keyboard and mouse. Once installed and configured properly on each machine, Input Director lets you slide the mouse from the edge of one monitor to the next, “activating” the second machine. Personally, I use two machines while doing development: my main development PC and the netbook that goes with me everywhere. With Input Director, I don’t need to type on the cramped netbook keyboard, or use its small touchpad (which are both fine in a pinch, but not optimum for a full day’s work). Instead, I simply move my mouse “off” the edge of my main machine’s monitor, and it appears on the netbook. Instantly, anything I type on the keyboard is redirected to the small machine. Do you have multiple monitors on each machine? That’s not a problem; Input Director…
The internet can be teeming with many threats to the security and integrity of your web server. It is essential that you protect your vital data and web pages from malicious hackers bent on using your page to fish for customer information as well as send out countless spam email. There are multiple methods of securing your web page against unwanted intrusions such as creating a login page in PHP that queries a SQL database to check for a login or you can enable the feature available in most web servers called basic authentication. Basic authentication is a feature available in the widely used web server software such as IIS 7 and Apache. This method of authentication is an excellent choice to use for protecting content since all major browsers support it and it works across firewalls. However there is one drawback of this type of security and that is the login credentials are sent to the server unencrypted. This means that you should only use this type of authentication when you know that the connection is secured which can be easily remedied with the installation of an SSL certificate. In IIS 7 it is fairly simple to enable basic…
Email is an essential service especially in today’s world of convenience and quick communication between clients and businesses. However with email come viruses, phishing schemes, and spam that can be a major drawback to hosting your own email system. Although these malicious messages can never be completely avoided, there are many different services and tools that when implemented correctly can reduce the number of spam to controllable amounts. Despite the ability of these excellent programs to prevent you from seeing a million nasty messages they can also impeded the successful delivery of legitimate mail. Most often when I am configuring a server or troubleshooting an email delivery problem for a client I find that there is very little knowledge of the spam policies used by other email providers. The most troublesome and often the hardest to find any information on email policies are web based email service providers such as Yahoo, Microsoft Hotmail, and AOL. These services often use a variety of methods to determine if a message is legitimate and should be passed through or spam which often will be simply deleted. Another major problem with spam filters is that they will often automatically block the address of your…