unix Archives

Home » unix » Page 5

The ethics of writing nefarious security instructions

Dave Farquhar security March 28, 2013March 25, 2013apple, Ars Technica, malware, oracle, password database, password list, passwords, unix

This week I posted a link to a video showing how to crack a WPS-enabled wifi network, and this week, Ars Technica wrote a firsthand account of cracking a password list. I’m sure this raises questions of ethics in some people’s minds. To be honest, spreading this kind of information makes me a little uncomfortable too, but I also think it’s necessary.

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.

dfarq.homeip.net

How to find tech talent hiding under your nose

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized March 19, 2013March 18, 2013firewall, infoworld, trenches, unix

Sometimes the best place to look for new talent is inside the team you already have, writes Infoworld’s Dan Tynan. Then he gives seven ways to find them.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

We don’t need more H1-Bs, we need more immigrants

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized February 26, 2013February 25, 20131990s, american dream, oracle, unix

H1-Bs are a popular topic in Washington. Tech companies want them, since it lets them get the benefits of offshoring without actually offshoring, and politicians want them because companies want them, and they talk about luring the best minds to the United States as a side benefit. It’s such a great deal, they say, they want to bring in five times as many of them as they used to.

The problem is, they don’t stay. H1Bs aren’t about immigration–3% of H1B workers stay in the United States.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

The benefits of doing IT at home, too

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 9, 2013November 30, 2018apache, apple, firewall, hp, MCSE, os x, unix, windows 7, Windows Server

Earlier this week, The Register touted the benefits of having a home lab.

That lab doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate. But there is definitely something to be said for having some equipment that you can learn and experiment on, and that can break without the world ending. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How the previous week’s headlines flow together

Dave Farquhar Hardware January 27, 2013amd, asus, dell, hp, intel, IPO, nvidia, pentium ii, unix, whirlpool, x86

Here are some headlines I read this past week: Dell is trying to take itself private. Microsoft is investing in Dell. Intel is pulling out of the motherboard market. AMD is considering ARM CPUs. And the PC is dead.

It’s all related.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How to get your first job in IT

Dave Farquhar Careers January 17, 2013August 20, 20186502, antivirus, certifications, computer security, journalism, troubleshooting, unix

I helped a friend of a former coworker with his resume this week. He’s looking to get their first jobs in IT, and found it difficult, even though he was applying for an entry-level helpdesk position.

His resume certainly indicated he was educated and able to hold down a job, but that wasn’t quite enough. Here’s what I had him do to beef up that resume to get past those initial rounds of screening and get interviewed.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

A fast way to turn lots of images into an Adobe Acrobat PDF file

Dave Farquhar Software December 3, 2012April 4, 2023Adobe Acrobat, imagemagick, JPG, mac os x, os x, PNG, TIFF, unix, windows 7, Windows XP

I have a collection of magazine scans that, inconveniently, came as a series of JPG images rather than as PDFs that are more conducive to reading. I wanted PDFs, so I found a way to turn lots of images into an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

Building the PDF manually took a good 30 minutes per issue, so I wanted a faster way. Using command-line tools, I was able to convert the entire collection (about 40 issues) in less than 30 minutes. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

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

Dave Farquhar Software November 18, 20121990s, 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

dfarq.homeip.net

Dvorak is wrong about the cyber war

Dave Farquhar security October 14, 20121990s, DBA, john c dvorak, John Dvorak, mortgage, playstation, sony, unix, Vietnam, windows nt

So John C Dvorak (I’ll call him John Dvorak because he hates it–John Dvorak John Dvorak John Dvorak) says that cyber warfare, like Y2K, is a bunch of hooey.

I lived through Y2K, and I’m fighting the cyber war. He’s wrong on both counts. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Certifications are a scam! A rebuttal

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized September 25, 2012December 5, 2015certifications, cissp, discipline, firewall, pdf files, RF, unix

I overheard a couple of people talking a few weeks ago, and one said, flat out, “Certifications are a scam!”

As one who has two security certifications (Security+ and CISSP), I disagree. Now that I’ve had my first post-CISSP professional review, I disagree even more strongly.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net