Tag Archives: security

1&1 VNC Remote Console Java Security Issue

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Java has consistently been updating its security to reduce it’s potential for spreading malware. Good news! Unfortunately older online java apps will sometimes break to the point of being unusable. One of those apps is the VNC Console for the 1&1 Dynamic Cloud servers. I found this article that explained how to add a line into the policy file to allow the IP that is getting blocked. Here is the article:

https://community.rackspace.com/general/f/34/t/4951

I had to add this code:


permission java.net.SocketPermission "74.208.2.19:993", "connect, accept";

to this file on OSX (windows has a similar file in JAVAHOME somewhere):

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/lib/security/java.policy

You can add additional lines to this file for any legacy app you encounter.

The error I was getting in the java console when I had this issue was:

"Network Error: access denied ("java.net.SocketPermission" "74.208.2.19:993" "connect,resolve")

As always have fun!

Repairing a TrueCrypt Volume and Unmountable Boot Volumes

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truecrypt-logo38pxThe dreaded Unmountable Boot Volume rears its ugly head from time to time. Microsoft says it’s either a bad cable or a corrupt filesystem. For me it has always been the later which I fix by putting the harddrive into another computer and running a chkdsk. Or windows sees it as corrupt and fixes it for me (ie Windows 7). But what if your drive has full disk encryption using Truecrypt? (Don’t know what TrueCrypt is? It is an encryption program that can encrypt full volumes or volumes you create. Awesome indeed)

TrueCrypt is not longer being supported and is now VeraCrypt https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/. The info here should be the same for 7.1a versions of TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt.

 

I have a MacBook Pro so I hooked up the drive using a USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE Cable (which are very handy BTW) and mounted it in Parallels Desktop with Windows XP by selecting the USB ATA Bridge under the Devices->USB menu. I loaded up TrueCrypt in XP and mounted the drive. You have to make sure to mount the drive with “mount partition using system encryption without pre-boot authentication” selected under options. I forgot to do this and got frustrated, but after a quick google I figured that part out. Here is where that is:

truecrypt-mount-without-pre-authentication

Once the volume was mounted under windows TrueCrypt noticed the volume had not been unmounted correctly and asked me if I wanted to ChkDsk the drive. I said yes as this is exactly what I wanted to do! It found a couple problems and ChkDsk stopped. I then ran ChkDsk 2 more times till it ran with no errors.

I now have a bootable TrueCrypt system volume again and best of all my client will be happy she can get access to her files!

Why do I use linux? Top 5 Reasons.

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Linux TuxI was inspired by a blog post about “Why Do You Use Linux” to post why I use Linux and I wanted to post how I use one of the best operating systems out there as well. First off if you are not familiar of what Linux is you can read up about it at wikipedia, but basically it is an operating system like Windows and Mac OSX that allows you to interface with the hardware and software on your computer system. Each operating system has its pluses and minuses. I’ll give you my take on what those are bust first I’ll give you some background.

I’ve been using Linux since around 1999 for both personal and professional reasons. I’ve always liked to tinker with computers as it is more than just a job for me. It’s fun. What isn’t fun is having to reboot every 10 minutes and having no clue why something like that is happening. It’s like having a car that is sputtering smoke and your not allowed to look under the hood. Fortunately in Linux everything is available under the hood. File locked? check it with lsof, network slow? view all the traffic with wireshark, running out of memory? use free or a large amount of other free and open source software that is at your disposal. So here are the main reasons why I use Linux:

  1. Freedom: no vendor lock-in, open source code
  2. Stability: I have client servers that have been running for over a year. ’nuff said
  3. Security: never have to worry about virus’ again, plus built from the ground up to be a secure OS
  4. Efficiency: Can run on small devices (Kindle anyone?) as well as a full desktop PC or server
  5. Choice: I’m not forced into candy XP, glassy Vista or keechy OSX I have a multitude of choices from KDE, Gnome, XFCE, e17 and more great desktop environments. Not to mention the thousands of other programs I can use.

    6. And those are just 5 of the reasons of why I use Linux. If you want to try this out you can download a “Live CD” that allows you to boot from a CD to run Linux and not touch mess with the system you are on right now, but I must warn you you might be tempted to click on the install now button because it is nice!

    I’ll write another post on How I use Linux, but this should get anyone who has not heard of Linux interested.

    Until next time. Linux on!

    Linux!

Paypal’s Security FOB

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Yes this has been reviewed multiple times (here) as well as talked about on one of my favorite podcasts Security Now (transcript), but I just had to let the people who look at my blog (all 8 of you lol) how great it is. Here is a picture of it:

This hangs on my keychain and has a button that when I press on it gives me a 6 digit number which I can then use to log into paypal.

In fact I just used it to login to paypal to help my buddy Matt get his Dad a new wii at http://www.mydadneedsawii.com/. Please check it out and donate a dollar or two.

So here are the steps to using the Paypal Security device:

1) Goto http://www.mydadneedsawii.com/
2) Click on the Donate button on the right
3) Enter an amount (ie $5) and click Update Total
4) Enter your paypal email and password
5) Then instead of logging you in you are presented with a box to enter your 6 digit security code from your Paypal FOB.

So that is it. Pretty simple and makes your paypal account alot more secure. Check out more on the paypal site.. You also get to use the same key for your eBay login!