security

PIF file type meaning

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, security

When it comes to file types you should never trust, PIF belongs high on the list. PIF used to be an important file type, but it’s largely obsolete today. But if you’re curious, here’s the PIF file type meaning.

Get ready for a trip down computing history lane. But this once-important file format is risky today. In all honesty, it’s largely outlived its usefulness in most instances.

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Are PDF files safe to open?

Dave Farquhar security
Are PDF files safe to open?

Are PDF files safe to open? It depends. Don’t you hate when security people say things like that?

There are risks involved with PDF files, but you probably also can’t avoid PDFs entirely. So here’s what you can do to work with PDF files safely.

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Cyber security and cryptography

Dave Farquhar security
Cyber security and cryptography

Cryptography is one of the more difficult concepts to master when studying for a certification like CISSP. I know from my own experience it’s really easy to let the details overwhelm you. After seeing an acquaintance’s Linkedin post, I thought I’d write about cyber security and cryptography and what you really need to know.

Let me start with one thing. I have never, ever had to encode or decode anything by hand. I’m very confident I can stay employed another 20 years in the cyber security field and never have to do the math myself.

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CISSP vs CEH

Dave Farquhar security
CISSP vs CEH

CISSP and CEH are two of the most common computer security certifications you’ll see in security program job descriptions. If you want to advance your career by becoming a certified professional, you might consider each of them. Here’s my experience of CISSP vs CEH.

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Vulnerability assessment vs penetration test: What’s the difference?

Dave Farquhar security
Vulnerability assessment vs penetration test: What’s the difference?

You can expect any midlevel or higher security certification test to require you to compare and contrast a vulnerability assessment vs penetration test. The difference is important. But since I still see people confusing the two, let me explain them.

I conduct vulnerability assessments for a living. I’ve done some light pentesting in the past, but I’m happier doing assessments. I don’t want to be a penetration tester. That seems strange to some people. Maybe that gives me a good perspective to compare and contrast the two, because both have their uses. But they aren’t interchangeable.

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Cleanbrowsing.org review

Dave Farquhar security
Cleanbrowsing.org review

I’ve advocated using something other than your ISP’s DNS for years. There’s little if any downside to doing so, and tons of upside. My current favorite third-party DNS is Cleanbrowsing.org because it does so much to improve performance and security. Here’s my Cleanbrowsing.org review.

First things first: Don’t worry about how much Cleanbrowsing.org costs. It has useful tiers available as a free service, even though it’s tremendously valuable.

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Should I buy a used Chromebook?

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security
Should I buy a used Chromebook?

Should I buy a used Chromebook? I asked myself that question for years. And argued with myself about it. Finally I decided to take the plunge and bought one. Here are the pros and cons to buying a used Chromebook, and what you should look out for to protect yourself.

Overall I recommend them. For less than the price of a year of Lifelock, you can do something that really will make a difference in how secure your personal finance is.

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Extract a MAC address from Excel data

Dave Farquhar Office, security

A vulnerability scanner like Nessus or Qualys will record the MAC address of every computer it finds. But Qualys doesn’t output the MAC address in a nice column format. It mixes a lot of other data into the cell. So I had to figure out how to extract a MAC address from Excel data to give an infrastructure team an inventory they wanted.

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Is there a virus on my phone?

Dave Farquhar Android, security
Is there a virus on my phone?

Is there a virus on my phone? Or your phone? I can’t know for certain, but probably not. Here’s what to do if your phone says it has a virus and wants you to visit a web page or pay someone money.

I’ll tell you what you really need to do, and I’ll even show you a neat trick so you’ll see fewer of these messages. And none of this will cost you anything, either.

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Inherent risk definition

Dave Farquhar security
Inherent risk definition

Sometimes you’ll hear insurance professionals, banking professionals, computer security professionals, and other people who deal with risk talk about inherent risk and its counterpart, residual risk. If these are unclear to you, or you just need a refresher, you came to the right place. Let’s take a look at a simple inherent risk definition and example, as well as residual risk.

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