Dave Farquhar, Author at The Silicon Underground

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How Tenable sets plugin severity

Dave Farquhar security February 6, 2024March 11, 2024

How Tenable sets plugin severity is a question customers have been asking me for years, dating back to the days I worked for Tenable partners. It can be a bit complicated, so in this blog post I will explain what goes into Tenable plugin severity.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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What happened to ARCnet

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing February 5, 2024January 26, 2024

ARCnet was the first commercially available local area network standard, beating both Ethernet and Token Ring to market. Conceptually, it had similarities with both, and because it was inexpensive and efficient, it was popular for a good 15 years or so. ARCnet was an abbreviation for Attached Resource Computer NETwork.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx 4915S Steam type electric train set

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 1, 2024January 27, 2024

Youtuber SMT Mainline recently encountered a Marx 4915S Steam type electric train set when recording a video. He said he didn’t know much about it but thought it was neat. In this blog post, I’ll give some background on Marx train set 4915S.

Dave Farquhar

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What peer benchmarking is in vulnerability management

Dave Farquhar security January 31, 2024February 19, 2024

Successful vulnerability management is deceptively simple. It comes down to being able to answer yes to two questions: Are you fixing the right things? And are you fixing them fast enough? But how fast is fast enough? In this blog post, I’ll explain how I use peer benchmarking to help companies figure out how fast is fast enough. I’ll also explain how to know if your security policies are less popular than speed limit laws, and why that will make them fail.

Dave Farquhar

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Rax restaurant chain from the 1980s

Dave Farquhar 1980s January 30, 2024January 22, 2024

Rax was a fast growing fast food restaurant chain in the 1980s. It was based out of Columbus, Ohio, and it was a direct competitor to Arby’s. The chain still exists today. But the total number of stores in Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky where it survives is lower than the number of stores they once had just in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Dave Farquhar

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Trace an outlet to a circuit breaker

Dave Farquhar DIY January 29, 2024January 21, 2024

There are times when you need to trace an outlet to a circuit breaker. Maybe you need to replace the outlet. Maybe you need troubleshoot. Or maybe you are adding additional outlets and want to make sure you don’t overload the circuit. In this blog post, I will describe two ways to determine what circuit an outlet is on. I’ll also tell you how to know if two outlets share the same breaker.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel 6014 box car

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 25, 2024January 17, 2024

The post war Lionel 6014 box car and other post-war box cars made from the same tooling present some good examples of cheap classics. They also present a few challenges for collector types, and they also have uses for Marx and American Flyer fans. In this blog post, I will explore this frequently overlooked little brother of the 6464 series.

Dave Farquhar

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Pallet wood basement ceiling

Dave Farquhar DIY January 24, 2024January 17, 2024

Pallet wood is trendy right now, if only because you can’t beat the price and working with it can present a challenge that people enjoy. And if you are finishing a basement and want a rustic appearance, the appeal of pallet wood is undeniable.

Dave Farquhar

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What happened to NCIX

Dave Farquhar Retail, security January 23, 2024January 22, 2024

NCIX was a Canadian computer retailer, similar in concept to Fry’s or Micro Center. It went out of business in 2017 and its data was breached in 2018. Here’s what happened to NCIX.

Dave Farquhar

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Why physical destruction of RAM is sometimes necessary

Dave Farquhar security January 22, 2024November 26, 2023

I found this photograph along with the question about its intent. The photo was a RAM module with holes drilled in it. The person who posted the photograph asked a very valid question as to why physical destruction of RAM is necessary.

Dave Farquhar

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