If you forget your password to a website and your 'forgot password' request is answered with your password being emailed to you, there's a problem there. Your password should at least be hashed with one-way encryption and stored in the database securely. Even though it's convenient, it's very bad security. As was exhibited by several database breaches recently, even hashed … [Read more...]
Merge multiple .txt files into a single file through the command line
When working with a lot of data and trying to massage it into usefulness, you never know what form the data will take. I recently wound up with a directory full of text files. In an effort to save some tediousness of the task, I looked for a way to merge all the files into one simple text file. With a single file, I could set to cleaning up the data using find and replace … [Read more...]
Are cloud-based services just as reliable as the weather forecast?
The weekend did not start off well for cloud-based services like Netflix, Pinterest, and Instagram. Starting last night and continuing into this morning, web services that rely on the Amazon Web Services Elastic Cloud Computing were down regionally or completely. The cause: thunderstorms on the east coast. Data centers across the regions have been giving all data center … [Read more...]
The cynic’s guide to security product presentations
Just as we saw what every stereotypical presentation looks like, here's a video that highlights the formula that almost every security product presentation follows. It's a bit painful to watch because it reminds me of a lot of wasted time sitting through presentations and webinars but it's also entertaining because it's nice to know I'm not the only one thinking these things. … [Read more...]
Windows 8 App Store – future IT headache or time-saver?
There are things with Windows 8 that I look forward to and things I dread. The Windows 8 App Store is somewhere in the middle with potential pain and positives waiting in the wings. The answer to this will depend on how much control the enterprise is given over the App Store through Group Policy. Win8 things I'm looking forward to: More drivers included in the initial … [Read more...]