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CPE opportunity: Exploding the Phone

Dave Farquhar security February 17, 2013July 4, 2018AT&T, CBK, cissp, cissp exam, CPE, isc, phone phreaking

This week Cnet interviewed Phil Lapsley, the author of Exploding the Phone, a book about the early history of phone phreaking.

Phone phreaking is absolutely fair game for the CISSP exam. I couldn’t tell you anymore how many phone phreaking questions I had to answer, but let me just say I’m glad I’d read those pages in the CBK about phone phreaking.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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How to save money on tech

Dave Farquhar Saving money January 29, 2013December 6, 2018antivirus, asus, AT&T, AT&T U-verse, avast, cable tv, Libre Office, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Security Essentials, netflix, Nook Color, office 2010, panasonic, prime95, saving money, sony, Windows 10

CNN offered up some good tips on saving money on tech. But of course I want to analyze and comment on it myself. Anything else would be out of character. Here’s how I save money on tech.

Dave Farquhar

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Workable two-factor authentication

Dave Farquhar security November 30, 2012AT&T, Fraud, internet providers, passwords, real estate, Two-factor authentication, vector, yahoo

I’m several months late to this party, but I just saw Marcel’s post on Google’s two-factor authentication with a smartphone.

He’s right. It works until someone steals your phone. Once someone steals your phone, you’re in a world of hurt. It’s just a compromise, until we find a way to do two-factor authentication the right way.

The right way is with a smartcard, issued by some sort of central authority. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Do as we say, not as we did: Microsoft and standards

Dave Farquhar Software November 18, 2012November 3, 20251990s, apple, AT&T, irony, nausea, tomato, unix

Microsoft is sniveling that mobile web sites are written with Webkit browsers in mind, because Webkit has 90% market share on tablets and phones.

For those who are over 30, the irony is nauseating. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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There’s plenty of credit for the Internet to go around

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized July 25, 2012April 27, 20261980s, 1990s, 3com, AT&T, IBM, IRC, Missouri, networking equipment, university of missouri, unix

There’s a crazy rumor going around saying that the government didn’t do much of anything to create the Internet, and that private industry did it all.

I remember the Internet before the private sector got involved in it. I was there.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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There’s no need to apologize for having a Yahoo or Gmail account

Dave Farquhar security May 24, 2012AT&T, spam, yahoo

I saw an assertion last week that Yahoo and Gmail accounts are less secure than an account that came straight from your ISP. Perhaps there was a time when this was true, but no longer. Today there are reasons to believe the exact opposite is true.

So, no, you don’t have to apologize for using a Yahoo or a Gmail account.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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PC Magazine has its reader’s choice awards for home networking equipment online

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized May 1, 2012asus, AT&T, Consumer Reports, networking equipment, pc magazine, verizon

PC Magazine posted its reader’s choice awards for home networking equipment Monday. PC Magazine‘s reader surveys aren’t gospel, but they’re valuable. They’re a cross-section of the opinions of people who care enough about technology to read the magazine, and as such, I give it more weight than what, say, Consumer Reports says. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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SCO v. IBM winds toward resolution

Dave Farquhar Linux, Retro Computing February 18, 2012October 30, 20181990s, AIX, AT&T, BSD, Digital Research, Gary Kildall, IBM, intel, SCO, unix, x86

Slashdot reported yesterday that SCO v. IBM is back on. Well, it is, sort of. The case never was fully resolved, due to SCO running out of money and filing for bankruptcy. Groklaw has the details.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, I’ll try to refresh your memory.

Dave Farquhar

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I’ve been reading up about tablets

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 24, 2011November 22, 2011apple, AT&T, ipad, kindle, Kindle Fire

I’ve been reading about the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet. And not surprisingly, the reviews are generally saying there’s not a lot of difference between the two.

Dave Farquhar

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Hey, AT&T! Don’t send clumsy oafs to bury my cable!

Dave Farquhar ISPs November 18, 2011August 3, 2017AT&T, cissp

Late Thursday morning, AT&T sent a subcontractor out to bury the cable strung across my yard for U-Verse. He buried the cable, but tore it up in the process. He knocked on the door and asked my wife to see if anything worked. It didn’t. Then he told her to contact AT&T and left.

That’s customer service. Poor customer service. But customer service, nonetheless, right?
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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