Archive for the 'Security' Category

How to Detect Network Eavesdroppers

PadlockAs someone with a security background and a generally curious mind, I spend a lot of time doing things on my network that I probably shouldn’t. At least, things that the IT department of any large company probably wouldn’t want me to do, cause they are supposedly the only ones who are allowed to do that sort of thing. Well, if you are managing a network and want to know who else out there is like me, then this article from Linux Journal provides some good tips for identifying eavesdroppers. A word of advice though: if you find someone else in the company looking at your packets, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Don’t jump all over them unless there is actually some indication that they have malicious intent. As a former Network Admin and IT Manager, I have learned that it can help to have the other people in your company who are in “the know” about networking on your side. I view this article as a good way to find those people, and also as a good way to locate and identify potential bots or compromised machines that might be sending your packets off-net.

In Search of a Sniffer from Linux Journal

Sniffing & Capture & Security Jed Daniels 30 May 2007 No Comments

Scan your computer for security holes

Lifehacker has yet another useful article on scanning your own computer for security holes. To some of you security experts and seasoned IT folks out there, this is old hat, but this is a pretty good article for those with less experience on the security side of the fence. Additionally, it is a good reminder to make sure you aren’t leaving yourself open to attack.

How to portscan your computer for security holes

Security Jed Daniels 02 May 2007 No Comments

Recovering lost passwords over the network

Cain & AbelDaily Cup of Tech has a great article on using the security tool Cain & Abel to recover passwords over the network. Why is this useful you may ask? Well, every time my mother asks me for help with her email and I ask “what is your password”, she responds with “I don’t know. They set that up when it was installed”. Using this tool, I can sniff her network and figure out what password was used when “they” set it up. It can also be useful for doing a security audit on your network to make sure you aren’t sending critical passwords in the clear. Be careful though, Cain & Abel has the ability to be used for unscrupulous purposes, and some Anti-Virus/Spyware/Malware programs may bark at you if they find it on your system (as well as some IT and Network admins).

Recovering Your Lost Passwords

Security Jed Daniels 30 Apr 2007 No Comments