Computing
Vending Machine Accidents
People around the world, no matter what race, color, or creed, share a standard bond; we all like stuff to be easy and free from any type of diligence. That is why takeaway food eating places and remote controlled tools are so well liked. It is bad for that reason, most people don’t even have to leave their autos so that they can purchase food, in case we all lose the remote, well, we simply look at whatever is on the current channel.
This is usually a major reason why vending machines enjoy a big part in our day-to-day lives. Why go through the horrific attempt of making a sandwich for work if we can just nip to the cafeteria and even get anything right out of the machine? We may rather quickly have a lunch composed of some sort of chocolate bar, a pack of fruit gums plus a nice coke, than a yummy sandwich having fresh, pure ingredients, and it’s remarkable all the particular pain and suffering we can put on our own selves through to manage this step.
Personally, that pretty much all commenced as soon as those hot coffee machines had been initially delivered. I’ve constantly experienced a romance with gourmet coffee, and those appealing machines meant that I was able to find my fix almost anyplace. Unfortunately, in addition, it means loss of layers of skin since that steaming hot coffee squirted out once more, just as I was reaching in to retrieve my cup. The initial soda machines were as well out there then, although did not feature the benefit of the fashionable, clear glass fronted designs of these days. The out of stock buttons used to be either invariably destroyed, or refused to light up until finally your dollars were in not to mention soda option selected. A number of moments I have found all of my selections fully out, which means I’m eventually left with a common beverage even now in store; the dandelion plus burdock fruit smoothie along with a twist of badger.
You really can’t tell whether or not the full vending machine industry was probably developed by a handful of crazed mental individuals possessing a desire to watch us suffer. Who else would be likely to have placed the glass at a distance from the wares displayed, only expansive enough for a decent bag of chips to get stuck on the way down? Just who else could have cans of soda carefully placed 6 feet up above their landing spot, meaning they ought to attain terminal speed just before hitting the dispenser drawer? Any can of aerated soda simply cannot generate that sort of fall without ever in due course exploding in your face as you pull the tab.
Absolutely certain, the brand new machines are usually more sophisticated, and have really settled the majority of the difficult challenges built into the earlier versions, however they have taken care of the thing which was a regular throughout the years. It doesn’t matter how new, how polished, how brimming with delicious benefits these new machines might appear, it seems that they still get the munchies and decide to take in much of our coins minus the aim of by chance giving them again, or even the product you ordered. My advice is simple should you want to reduce any or all these mishaps; make yourself a sandwich.
Networking Terms: Educating Your Clients
It is very important to educate your small business prospects and clients on key small business networking terms and buzzwords. After all, in order to “win them over”, you need to be speaking the same language. In fact, you may even want to prepare a “cheat sheet”, based on the below definitions, to help you in your prospect and client pre-sales activities.
If you’d like to order a license to reproduce these networking terms for client sales literature, please contact questions@ComputerConsulting101.com and put “Licensing Your LAN Buzzwords” in the subject line.
• NIC (Network Interface Card) – a printed circuit board, adapter card or the underlying supporting chipset that snaps into the motherboard of a desktop PC, notebook or server and transmits and receives packets on a network; used to connect to networks including a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or a broadband network for high-speed cable modem or DSL-based Internet access or other dedicated Internet access service; most common NIC used by small businesses is the 10/100Mbps Ethernet adapter.
• NOS (Network Operating System) – an OS designed for communications between networked computer systems; popular NOS’s include Apple Mac OS, Linux, Microsoft Windows NT/2000 and Novell NetWare.
• Peer-to-Peer Network – an inexpensive alternative to a client/server network in which a PC doubles as both a workstation (used by an end user) and a server (from which resources are shared); although virtually any OS can be configured for peer-to-peer networking, peer-to-peer networks are often assembled from Microsoft’s least expensive consumer OS’s, such as Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Me and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
• RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is technology generally used to increase a server’s reliability — by simultaneously writing data to multiple hard drives. While many people also use RAID to improve server performance, RAID eliminates a single point of hard drive failure. Years ago, you could only get the benefits of RAID through SCSI-based hard drives. Today, IDE hard drives can also enjoy entry-level RAID fault tolerance benefits.
• SCSI (small computer systems interface) is a high-end interface for connecting both internal and external computer peripheral devices. Years ago, only SCSI-based storage devices were used in most servers.
• Server – any computing device or peripheral on a network designed to provide shared services and resources to network users; primarily characterized by multi-user usage, as compared to a desktop or notebook PC; common servers include the file, printer, e-mail messaging and collaboration, Web, proxy and database server.
• Wireless Ethernet – set of standards and in-progress standards that allow Ethernet networks to run without physical cabling and utilize radio waves for transmission.
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Network Security – The Real Vulnerabilities
Scenario: You work in a corporate environment in which you are, at least partially, responsible for network security. You have implemented a firewall, virus and spyware protection, and your computers are all up to date with patches and security fixes. You sit there and think about the lovely job you have done to make sure that you will not be hacked.
You have done, what most people think, are the major steps towards a secure network. This is partially correct. What about the other factors?
Have you thought about a social engineering attack? What about the users who use your network on a daily basis? Are you prepared in dealing with attacks by these people?
Believe it or not, the weakest link in your security plan is the people who use your network. For the most part, users are uneducated on the procedures to identify and neutralize a social engineering attack. What’s going to stop a user from finding a CD or DVD in the lunch room and taking it to their workstation and opening the files? This disk could contain a spreadsheet or word processor document that has a malicious macro embedded in it. The next thing you know, your network is compromised.
This problem exists particularly in an environment where a help desk staff reset passwords over the phone. There is nothing to stop a person intent on breaking into your network from calling the help desk, pretending to be an employee, and asking to have a password reset. Most organizations use a system to generate usernames, so it is not very difficult to figure them out.
Your organization should have strict policies in place to verify the identity of a user before a password reset can be done. One simple thing to do is to have the user go to the help desk in person. The other method, which works well if your offices are geographically far away, is to designate one contact in the office who can phone for a password reset. This way everyone who works on the help desk can recognize the voice of this person and know that he or she is who they say they are.
Why would an attacker go to your office or make a phone call to the help desk? Simple, it is usually the path of least resistance. There is no need to spend hours trying to break into an electronic system when the physical system is easier to exploit. The next time you see someone walk through the door behind you, and do not recognize them, stop and ask who they are and what they are there for. If you do this, and it happens to be someone who is not supposed to be there, most of the time he will get out as fast as possible. If the person is supposed to be there then he will most likely be able to produce the name of the person he is there to see.
I know you are saying that I am crazy, right? Well think of Kevin Mitnick. He is one of the most decorated hackers of all time. The US government thought he could whistle tones into a telephone and launch a nuclear attack. Most of his hacking was done through social engineering. Whether he did it through physical visits to offices or by making a phone call, he accomplished some of the greatest hacks to date. If you want to know more about him Google his name or read the two books he has written.
It’s beyond me why people try and dismiss these types of attacks. I guess some network engineers are just too proud of their network to admit that they could be breached so easily. Or is it the fact that people don’t feel they should be responsible for educating their employees? Most organizations don’t give their IT departments the jurisdiction to promote physical security. This is usually a problem for the building manager or facilities management. None the less, if you can educate your employees the slightest bit; you may be able to prevent a network breach from a physical or social engineering attack.