NewsLine 2000: Tips, Tricks and Information | ||
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INTRODUCTION TO TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION |
THE PROBLEM
Your network is open to the Internet to let your staff access your computers. How do you stop the unwanted using those same connections to steal or destroy your valuable data?
When a user connects to your system - how do you know they are who they say they are?
THE SOLUTION
Two Factor Authentication. This uses something you know (a password, User ID or PIN) and something you have (a token). The token might be software embedded in the user's PC or a separate handheld processor (a small device like a pocket calculator or pager). The token has within it the user's unique and secret key.
To login, the user gives a PIN to the token. The token generates a one-time password to your computer system.
For a user to gain access to your systems, they must have knowledge of the user account and the token
THIS MEANS...
If someone steals a mobile notebook, they can't get into your system because although they might have the token, they don't have the User ID or PIN.
If someone finds out a user account on your machine (easy to do) they can't use password guessing - the token generated passwords are long and complex.
If a network sniffer managed to capture the password it would be useless because the password is one time, single use only.
AXENT DEFENDER OVERVIEW
Axent Defender prevents data theft and destruction using two factor authentication to make sure users of your system are who they say they are.
Defender extends authentication beyond static IDs and passwords, and uniquely authenticates users before granting them network access over dial-up, ISDN, on-LAN, Internet, or intranet connections. Defender uses standards-based challenge/response technology to create a one-time password that is far more secure than static passwords.
Two-factor authentication further strengthens security by requiring something unique the user has (the token issued by the security administrator) and something unique the user knows (a PIN to enable the token). Defender's easy-to-use tokens compute a one-time password when challenged by the Defender Security Server. Without the authorized user's unique token and the PIN to activate the token, potential intruders cannot compute the one-time password. No damage can be done even if the password is captured. Once used, it is never again valid.
Defender offers the option of using software or hand-held tokens. The secure and proven software token eliminates the need for users to carry a separate hand-held token. The user's laptop computer or PC becomes a token when the Defender software token is activated. Software tokens are just as secure, easier to use, and less expensive than hand-held tokens. Leading banks and Fortune 500 companies have implemented the Defender software token because it is transparent to the user, not easily lost or stolen, and half the cost of hand-held tokens. Software tokens are ideal for users who employ a single device to log-on to the network, whereas hand-held tokens are best utilized by users who frequently log-on from many different computing locations and platforms.
BENEFITS
* Token options including software, hardware and email
* Unique email distributed tokens eliminate token costs
* Proven cost-effective form of authentication
* Uses standards-based challenge/response technology
* Software tokens cost 50% less than traditional hand-held tokens
* Easy to use and detect if lost or stolen
* Once activated, uniquely transforms entire PC into security token
* Ideal for workers using more than one computer
* Allows centralized management of all users, servers, and audit information
* Can be implemented quickly and easily
* Applies to LAN, Internet, dial-up, ISDN and NAS connections.
* Works with leading communications servers, firewalls, and dialers
* Works with TACACS+ and leading Radius servers.
* Supported on Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Novell, NetWare
* Can support load balancing for two or more servers or firewalls
* Defenders Replication Server automates changes across multiple servers
* Support for 100,000's of users hosted on Microsoft SQL 7.0 database
* Provides strong authentication services for other Axent products -- PowerVPN,
Raptor, WebDefender and Defender logs can be examined by Intruder Alert
See http://www.c2000.com/products/sec_dfdr.htm for more information
HIDING RECIPIENTS MAIL ADDRESSES |
A company in the process of moving offices wanted to email all their customers and suppliers informing them of their change of address.
Simple enough, but of course, they didn't want all their customers to see everybody elses email addresses. So they wanted to know how could they do this, without having to laboriously create a new email for each customer and supplier.
Actually, the answer is much simpler than it looks, use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) option. Everyone sees their own address and no other.
BCC is not normally displayed in the basic send form, but if you click the To button to open the address selection dialog you will see three panels, To, CC (everybody sees these) and BCC (the special one).
See http://www.c2000.com/mswindow for more information
DISABLE INFOTIPS IN MYCOMPUTER |
Windows 2000 displays "InfoTips" if you hover the mouse over icons and drives in the folder displays. Normally these are fine, but occassionally they can get in the way. You can simply disable them by:
1) Start Explorer
2) From the Tools menu select Folder Options
3) Select the View tab
4) Unselect 'Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items'
5) Click Apply then OK
See http://www.c2000.com/mswindow for more information
PRINTING FRACTIONS IN UNIPLEX |
Printing fractions properly in Uniplex using the correct fraction symbols is easy:
Use ESCAPE-ESCAPE-0 (zero) - 1 - 2. Each key one after the other, gives you ½ (or 1/2 if you can’t see that in your mail program).
ESC-ESC-0 is the "compose" leadin, used before you compose any special character, then you can follow through with the fraction numbers:
ESC-ESC-0-1-2 is a half
ESC-ESC-0-1-4 is a quarter
ESC-ESC-0-3-4 is three quarters
See http://www.c2000.com/uniplex for more information
JUST HOW GOOD IS YOUR WEB SITE REALLY? |
The questions below are to help you think about how your web site stands compared to how it COULD be.
As you answer the 8 questions below honestly YES or NO. If you end up with more than a couple of "NO's" you really ought to think about taking your web site further.
1) Do you have your own domain name?
There's nothing makes you look more unprofessional than a "www.cheapskate.freeweb.com" type address. Domain names are very cheap, but finding the right one gets harder by the day as more and domain names are gobbled up.
2) Does your site offer free and useful information about your area of expertise?
What's the point of a site that is just a sales letter and nothing more? The best sites offer genuine help and assistance. Sharing your information keeps browsers at your site and encourages repeat visits.
3) Does your site really look professional?
Or does it look done by a beginner? Nothing wrong with beginners as such, but your website must be attractive and profesisional. If you are not sure, then it probably doesn't. If you did it yourself, you are no judge - ask someone who will give you an honest and independent answer.
This also applies to the text, not just the layout. The copy should be precise, accurate and professional. Ultimately it must lead to your visitors taking action - like buying something from you!
4) Do you display a privacy statement at your site?
Rapidly becoming a hot topic these days. A privacy statement simply explains what you will do with any information your visitors give you.
5) Do you offer secure credit card ordering?
If you are selling then your credit card handling must be secure. Full stop.
6) Are you growing an opt-in email list?
Are you capturing email addresses of potential customers and subscribing them to your newsletter? These are your leads, give them something of value and keep yourself in their minds eye. Which leads to...
7) Do you email your newsletter regularly?
A solid strategy keeps you in touch, lets you announce new products, offer special deals and so on. Our Centreline 2000 we aim to publish twice a month. When's there lots going on we'll even do it weekly, but we try very hard not to let it run out more than a month.
8) Is your website promoted?
Do your existing and potential customers get to hear about the web site? Do you advertise it? Include it on your letterhead and business cards? Do you run a program to keep it on the search sites?
If you answered NO more than a couple of times, then you should think about what you are doing with your web site. You are probably missing an opportunity. Even small calling card sites can generate you business and because the costs are reasonably low even a single sale can pay for the web work.
Well worked web strategies make money.
THE 7 WORST SECURITY MISTAKES MANAGEMENT MAKES |
1) Give untrained people the job of maintaining security.
2) Fail to understand how IT security is a business problem and that the problem is both physical and technical, theft of the computer or theft of the information - both have the same consequences.
3) Failing to deal with all aspects of security. Allowing the cheaper and simpler fixes to go through the but not the more expensive or complicated. Also not changing employee policies, terms and conditions to match the technical security policy.
4) Getting the firewall installed and assuming that's it.
5) Not realising just how much the organisations information (and reputation) is worth
6) Allowing reactive, short term fixes without allowing (or requiring) long-term solutions too.
7) Pretending the problem will go away if they ignore it.
Next issue: what mistakes the IT staff make
See http://www.c2000.com/papers for more information
MISSING MY SLEEP() |
Us old Unix programmers often used sleep(), that handy little function that just puts your program to sleep for a little while. Now Visual Basic doesn't have a sleep() and most documentation tells you to go the long and complex way around and use timers and goodness knows what else.
Well, actually it is a lot easier than that, there is a Sleep() function buried in the WinAPI, as follows:
Declare Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)
Sub Sleeping()
Debug.Print "Going to sleep";
Sleep (10000) ' wait 10 seconds
Debug.Print "Waking up"
End Sub
EXCEL: FINDING CELLS QUICKLY. |
These four shortcuts let you find cells that are linked to the cell you are editing
Ctrl-[ Find cells directly referred to by this cell
Ctrl-{ Find cells direct and indirectly referred to
Ctrl-] Find cells that refer directly to this cell
Ctrl-} Find cells that refer direct or indirectly
So, you've got a cell, you want to see what cells are used in calculating the value in the cell, then use the open brackets variations.
If you want to see what cells refer back to the current cell (that is what cells use this cell in a formula) use the closed brackets options.
Direct cells are only 1 step away, indirect cells may use several intermediate calculations before arriving at the selected cell.
See http://www.c2000.com/mswindow for more information
SUBJECT: WRONG WORDS TO SONGS |
Subject: Wrong Words To Songs (was Re: Mae Strelkov passed away)
From: Rob Hansen
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
Organization: Death to 'SciFi'
I don't know whether that was deliberate or not, but one that certainly is is a version of the Welsh National Anthem written by a Swansea poet in 1994 in response to then-Welsh Secretary John Redwood's panicked mumbling of the original that same year, a TV clip cruelly rerun many times since to the great appreciation of Welsh people and non-Tories. Below are the first verse and chorus (all that most people know of the original, anyway) and though only intended as nonsense verse to help English-speakers look like they're singing the real thing, it has a certain Lear-like surreal appeal of its own:
My hen laid a haddock,
one hand oiled a flea,
Glad farts and centurions
threw dogs in the sea
I could stew a hare here and
brandish Dan's flan,
Don's ruddy bog's blocked
up with sand.
Chorus:
Dad! Dad! Why don't you
oil Auntie Gad?
Can't whores appear in beer
bottle pies?
O butter the hens
as they fly!
Ffion allegedly deployed this version to help husband William Hague get to grips with the anthem when Hague succeeded Redwood as Welsh Secretary.
See http://www.c2000.com/fun for more information
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Centreline 2000 - Uniplex, Unix, Windows and Internet FREEPOST, PO BOX 2000, Pershore, Worcs, WR10 1BR Tel: (UK) 08000 772000 - Fax: (UK) 08000 772001 |
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URL: www.c2000.com/papers/nw_000317.htm © 1995-2000 Centreline 2000 Last Updated: 06/08/2001 |
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