Today Technology

Today’s business is non-stop. Employees need access to corporate systems and data wherever they are, around the clock. Only mobile devices provide the flexibility to allow employees that kind of constant connectivity. However, mobile devices introduce new kinds of security risks. Businesses need to consider using mobile device management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) software to protect against these mobile device threats: 1. Operating system attacks Much like computers, mobile devices run a range of operating systems and versions, each with its vulnerabilities to attacks. Vendors provide patches, but when employees use their own devices, it’s up to every employee to download and install the upgrade. Protect against these threats by using your MDM software to prohibit connections from devices that aren’t using the latest, safest operating systems. 2. Application attacks If an application isn’t securely coded, it can have vulnerabilities such as storing passwords and o...

SMB or Server Message Block Protocols are used to connect your computer to an external server. Windows 10 ships with support of these protocols but they are disabled in the OOBE. Currently, Windows 10 supports SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 as well. Different servers depending upon their configuration require a different version of SMB to get connected to a computer. But in case you are using Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, you can check if you have it enabled too. That’s what we are going to do today. How to check SMB version on Windows 10/8/7 First of all, if you have Windows 7, you should not be disabling SMB v2. This is due to the following reasons: Request compounding – allows for sending multiple SMB 2 requests as a single network request Larger reads and writes – better use of faster networks Caching of folder and file properties – clients keep local copies of folders and files Durable handles – allow for connection to transparently reconnect to the server if there is a temporary disco...

This policy setting determines which challenge or response authentication protocol is used for network logons. LAN Manager (LM) includes client computer and server software from Microsoft that allows users to link personal devices together on a single network. Network capabilities include transparent file and print sharing, user security features, and network administration tools. In Active Directory domains, the Kerberos protocol is the default authentication protocol. However, if the Kerberos protocol is not negotiated for some reason, Active Directory uses LM, NTLM, or NTLM version 2 (NTLMv2). LAN Manager authentication includes the LM, NTLM, and NTLMv2 variants, and it is the protocol that is used to authenticate all client devices running the Windows operating system when they perform the following operations: Join a domain Authenticate between Active Directory forests Authenticate to domains based on earlier versions of the Windows operating system Authenticate to computers that...

The Quick Definition: Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is used to prevent Layer 2 loops, commonly known as broadcast storms, from disrupting local area networks. STP virtually disconnects redundant links to prevent loops from occurring. If you’re tasked with managing bridges and switches, you’ll probably encounter spanning tree protocol (STP) during your configurations. STP is used to configure backup connections when linking between two bridges or switches fails. It provides the most efficient way to forward information between LAN segments, reducing performance issues — without losing redundancy. Root Bridge Election After you connect switches or bridges together, the first thing your hardware does is select a root bridge. This can be any one of the switches, but Cisco normally chooses the switch with the lowest MAC address. It does this because it’s likely the longest switch in service, but it could also be the slowest. This is why some network administrators choose to configure switch...

Today’s business is non-stop. Employees need access to corporate systems and data wherever they are, around the clock. Only mobile devices provide the flexibility to allow employees that kind of constant connectivity. However, mobile devices introduce new kinds of security risks. Businesses need to consider using mobile device management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) software to protect against these mobile device threats: 1. Operating system attacks Much like computers, mobile devices run a range of operating systems and versions, each with its vulnerabilities to attacks. Vendors provide patches, but when employees use their own devices, it’s up to every employee to download and install the upgrade. Protect against these threats by using your MDM software to prohibit connections from devices that aren’t using the latest, safest operating systems. 2. Application attacks If an application isn’t securely coded, it can have vulnerabilities such as storing passwords and o...

The Quick Definition: Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is used to prevent Layer 2 loops, commonly known as broadcast storms, from disrupting local area networks. STP virtually disconnects redundant links to prevent loops from occurring. If you’re tasked with managing bridges and switches, you’ll probably encounter spanning tree protocol (STP) during your configurations. STP is used to configure backup connections when linking between two bridges or switches fails. It provides the most efficient way to forward information between LAN segments, reducing performance issues — without losing redundancy. Root Bridge Election After you connect switches or bridges together, the first thing your hardware does is select a root bridge. This can be any one of the switches, but Cisco normally chooses the switch with the lowest MAC address. It does this because it’s likely the longest switch in service, but it could also be the slowest. This is why some network administrators choose to configure switch...

Redirector This is something you should only measure on your Terminal Server(s). You should monitor the "current commands" in the Redirector object. If the value is higher than 20 during sustained periods of time then you could have a bottleneck. Server Work Queues The Server Work Queues object should be monitored on the File server. You should monitor the "Available WorkItems" counter. Sustained values smaller than ten mean that the File server is running out of work items. When it does, performance really starts to plummet. Make sure this doesn't happen by upping the MinFreeworkItems value. Server In this object there's a counter called "Work Item Shortages". This value represents the number of times no work items were available or couldn't be allocated to service a file request. Obviously if you see any other value than zero, you need to start worrying. Upping the InitWorkItems or MaxWorkItems could help out here. Again, there'...