To stay on top of security you need to regularly review your server configurations. It’s helpful to build a checklist to be used as part of an internal security audit review. Below is just such a checklist, specifically tailored to audit a SQL 2008 Server running on Windows Server 2008. Most of what’s in this…
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The Account Lockout Policy in Active Directory is not what it seems. Oh sure, at first glance it appears simple enough. Set a threshold, set a counter, and when that threshold is tripped in the allotted time, account locked out. What could be simpler right? Well, as with most things in IT, what should be simple isn’t….
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I think the “Log On To” setting within the Account tab of an Active Directory user could easily be overlooked. As simple as this setting is, it’s very easy to forget about it in favor of something more elaborate when attempting to restrict user access to specific computers. Let’s say you want to allow a…
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As part of an internal security review, I put together the following best practices guideline to secure SQL servers. This is just an example, and is not meant to be a comprehensive list of SQL server security parameters. DATABASE CREATION AND CHANGES New databases must be requested using a SQL database request form with proper…
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A guide for LAN Administrators who want to secure their systems without a user revolt. GOLDEN RULE OF PASSWORD CREATION: length + the uniqueness of your brain More on that in a moment. But first, if only we could trust our fellow human beings, there would be no need to secure our sensitive data. No need…
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Are you unable to “Unblock” a file after copying it from a network location to a Windows 2012 server? When you right-click the file in Windows Explorer and choose properties, do you see this message? Security: This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer. PROBLEM When you click…
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I purchased my 1st generation Apple iPad (16GB, WiFi only) one week after it went on sale back in 2010. Almost three years later, I replaced that iPad with a brand new iPad mini (16GB, Verizon). I was tempted by the idea of having data on the go with a larger screen than my work-provided…
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The WordPress UserOnline Plugin is a useful way to see how many guests and search engine bots are currently viewing/scanning your content. But do you see this in the “Right Now” section of your WordPress Dashboard, Users: [YourUserName] %GUESTS_SEPERATOR%%BOTS_SEPERATOR% when you should instead see something closer to this? Users: [YourUserName], 18 Guests, 7 Bots This…
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