Author Archives: mike

Passwords: Long and Strong

Posted on 2019-02-21 by mike

Yes, this is another blog posting about password strength, which we do keep going on about. That is because :- The password audit still shows that people are not getting the message (although for active staff we’re doing a great … Continue reading →

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Do You Like Justin Bieber?

Posted on 2019-02-07 by mike

On of the stories I was reading this morning mentioned that some of those with Nest security cameras have been subjected to hack attacks. One of the attacks they were subjected to were hackers asking Alexa to play Justin Bieber … Continue reading →

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There Is No Such Thing As A Secure Web Site

Posted on 2019-01-25 by mike

On the left-hand side of the location bar, your browser will show you something like :- Which is entirely correct and incorrect at the same time. To be precise, what that little label (and the alternative green one) means is … Continue reading →

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The Latest Phishing Attack

Posted on 2019-01-25 by mike

I have just been alerted to yet another phishing attack that works by sending web links via email to a “secure message” (or in the example no words at all). The link of course takes you to a malicious site … Continue reading →

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The New GlobalProtect VPN Client

Posted on 2018-11-16 by mike

The new GlobalProtect VPN client will be made live in the coming weeks. This version has a number of usability enhancements (it looks prettier), so it is worth documenting those visibility changes. The task bar icon has changed and shows … Continue reading →

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Using The VPN For General Internet Protection

Posted on 2018-11-15 by mike

Using the VPN is generally seen as a way of using UoP services remotely in a relatively safe way, but it does actually offer another advantage for using generic Internet services – because the VPN goes through the UoP firewall, … Continue reading →

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Checking The Safety of Websites

Posted on 2018-10-05 by mike

With all the different dodgy web sites out there, and all the emails trying to encourage us to visit them, it is perhaps time to look at some web sites that can be used to check the trustworthiness of web … Continue reading →

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Apache: Reducing Information Leaked Through The Headers

Posted on 2018-05-31 by mike

Apache by default announces all sorts of information about itself when you make a connection to it :- $ lynx -head http://some-server-fqdn/ HTTP/1.1 302 Found Date: Thu, 31 May 2018 12:18:22 GMT Server: Apache/2.2.15 (CentOS) Location: https://t-oala-idp-01.iso.port.ac.uk/ Connection: close Content-Type: … Continue reading →

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Apache: Disabling Directory Indexes

Posted on 2018-05-31 by mike

One of the features of Apache that can cause security issues (or at least those who audit security issues may complain about it) is the ability to produce a file listing of a directory if there is no index page … Continue reading →

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Apache: Disable the ETag Header

Posted on 2018-03-29 by mike

By default, the Apache web server has an information disclosure vulnerability where the ETag header shows information about the file containing the object in question. This can contain an “i-node” value which in combination with the use of NFS can permit … Continue reading →

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