UDP

Takeaways from Patrick Gray’s AusCERT coverage

Dave Farquhar security , , , , ,

I’ve been listening to Patrick Gray’s coverage of the AusCERT security conference, and I walked away with two major takeaways, one for security professionals and one for everyone.

Everyone first: Use SSL (https) everywhere you possibly can. Generate superfluous https traffic if you can.

Network professionals: Block as much UDP at the firewall as you can.

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Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model

Dave Farquhar security, War Stories , , , , , , , ,

I saw this phrase in a job description last week: Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model. That sounds a bit intimidating, right?

Maybe at first. But let’s not overcomplicate it. Once you get past the terminology, it’s a logical way to locate and fix problems. Chances are you already do most of this whether you realize it or not. I was already troubleshooting at at least four of the seven layers when I was working as a part-time desktop support technician in college in 1995.

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CISSP melted my brain

Dave Farquhar security , , ,

Five and a half hours ago, I turned in my test and departed the CISSP test site. It took me four hours to answer the nastiest 250 test questions I’ve ever seen in my life.

I felt better about it than the other guys milling around the lobby, but….

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