Ransomware

Last week I was at a customer site when NotPetya hit. I was working in the company’s IT Ops room when news broke. All of a sudden people went from worrying about an AD user surname change to contemplating moving their patch schedule forward.

Toward the weekend I tried and failed to help another customer who had been hit by the ransomware. Somehow the application server had become infected. In the end there was no other option except to reinstall the application. Thankfully the databases were safe and the customer is back to running.

NotPetya targets vulnerabilities in the ancient SMB1 protocol. I recently disabled SMB1 on my desktop PC at home. Save for not seeing my NAS and Router appear as objects in Windows File Explorer there were no adverse affects. Microsoft have recently announced that future Windows 10 builds will not have SMB1 installed by default. The IT community should really be working on consigning SMB1 to the bin alongside SSL 3.0.

Speaking of which years ago when the Heartbleed vulnerability broke out I ran a test in production: I disabled SSL 3.0 without telling anyone that I’d done it. The only known site that broke was – very shockingly – a major UK bank partly owned by UK.gov. Why is there such inertia behind retiring old and broken protocols?

70-462: Administering SQL Server 2012/14

This week I passed Microsoft Exam 70-462: Administering SQL Server 2012/14. This was my second attempt after a near pass of 674/1000 (pass mark is 700) on the first attempt.

My preparation was similar to that I did with 70-462 so check out my earlier blog post for more details. The main difference was that I built a lab environment and messed around with everything in SQL Server with the aid of a Microsoft study guide. Lots of stuff has been learnt from this and confidence with the product comes with that progression.

Honestly the first attempt at 70-462 felt easier than 70-461. Naturally I’m more of an SQL administrator (alright: configurator) than a query writer. I was disappointed to have failed it first time but I decided to come back for seconds.

My 3rd and final exam I have planned for this year will be 70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012. Upon hopeful completion of said exam I will become an MCSA in SQL Server 2012/2014 with a view to upgrading to SQL Server 2016/7 next year.

Passing Exam 70-461: Querying Microsoft SQL 2012/2014

Recently I passed my first Microsoft Exam. After lots of time studying, tinkering and practising I can now say I’ve passed exam 70-461: Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014.

For those looking to take exams you might find my “study mix” helpful. I’m not going to divulge what was on the exam but what I would say is that you need to be prepared and you really, really need to know your T-SQL right from the knowledge about how and why queries work to how you write them.

Courses – I attended a course in Leeds, West Yorkshire provided by a company called QA Ltd. They provided a service they call “certification in a box” which is: the course, a voucher for the corresponding Microsoft labs for 14 days, a voucher for a MeasureUp practice exam for 180 days and a voucher to take the final exam. The instructors were very knowledgeable and I thoroughly enjoyed the courses as well as learning a lot.
Training Books – My humble beginnings in SQL were from Sam’s Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes a Day but for this exam you need something far heavier. Microsoft Press have a book written specifically for those taking exam 70-461. Just a word a of caution: don’t take the included practice exam as a good measure of what the real exam is like. Microsoft Press even event spelt ‘training’ wrong on the CD label.
Practice Exams – The course from QA provided a practice exam from MeasureUp. Again, I’m not going to let you in on the exam content but this practice exam isn’t exactly what you should expect for the real thing. It was great for learning as it does provide explanations of why an answer was wrong.
Experience – As I mentioned above you really need to know the practicalities of how SQL works. If you can do it under pressure in your job you can do it in an exam (which is less pressure!).
Lab – As a keen target archer I found inspiration to build a database on a PC at home. This gave me a great example of how to build an eventually query data from it without regurgitating examples.

Lastly a word about “braindumps”. Don’t. That’s all you need to know bout them.

My next exam will be 70-462: Administering SQL Server 2012/2014 and then followed by Exam 70-411 to hopefully earn an MCSA in SQL Server.

RAM is cheap, time isn’t.

There aren’t many small challenges in life that I haven’t solved by: a) WD-40, b) bicarbonate of soda or c) add more RAM.

This week a colleague asked a question regarding specifying a server: “is it ok for Client X to reduce RAM on the new server they are specifying?”
We will eventually build a finance system onto this server. It will run Microsoft SQL Server, the finance application and also reporting services through SQL.

An 8GB stick of RAM would cost about £100 based on a quick look at my favourite hardware site. Compare the cost of RAM to the productivity time users could be spending waiting for results or reports to complete over the 3-6 year lifespan of the server.

“RAM is cheap, time isn’t.”

Don’t forget!

Let’s Review WiFi Security

I recently decided to update my wireless keys and I wanted to share some notes to help others understand what needs to be done to not only have a secure network but also one that performs well.

Tip 1: Choose WPA2.

WEP and WPA are both done for. In addition the 802.11n spec states that you must use WPA2 or else your WiFi won’t set a rate of any higher than 54Mbps. You also need WMM APSD enabled so don’t forget that either. Is there any counter argument left here?

If you are in an enterprise environment you should deploy WPA2-Enterprise which relies on an accounting method such as RADIUIS instead of shared paraphrases to authenticate. This makes it much easier to manage who or what gains access to the network.

Tip 2: choose a sensible length key with a mix of letters, cases, numbers and symbols.

Whilst you’re unlikely to have an issue with someone sat outside in a white van cracking your WiFi keys it’s no harm to choose a password that is something other than a word you might find in a dictionary.

Balance your passphrase complexity and length with user friendliness. A 32 digit key that looks like your cat had a rampage on your keyboard only infuriates your family and tires poor little fingers.

A passphrase 12 digits long with uppercase, lowercase, some numbers and a few symbols thrown in should suffice. Don’t write it down on a scrap of paper either!

Tip 3: Don’t rely on MAC filtering or hiding your SSID. They aren’t security settings. They’re actually management functions.

MAC filtering can be very cumbersome to maintain not to mention someone in that infamous white van mentioned above can sniff out what MAC adresses are transmitting on WiFi which can then be spoofed very easily.

Hiding your SSID in effect sets a flag to the device OS “do not display me”. Imagine of someone wrote software that just ignored such a flag? I’m sure someone hasn’t done that. Surely…

Tip 4: Segregate guest traffic and don’t hand out connection details to your core network.

If you want to offer guess access do it right. Even in a SOHO environment you should avoid the risk of someone introducing a malware bitten device into your network.

For best results your guest access needs to separate the guest traffic by using a VLAN. Consult your router’s documentation for specific details here.

The Summer 2016 Build

This summer I had the opportunity to build my next gaming PC. I had previously had a Shuttle SX58J3, Intel Core i7-930, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB build for an impressive 6 years (!!!) before deciding the time was right to go for a new build.

I had moved out of the parent’s place about a year back and left behind the small box room where anything bigger than an ITX build would have cramped the desk. Now I have my own ‘office’ I have much more room to use.

The end build comprises of…

Corsair Obsidian 450D case.
Corsair RM650i
Intel Core i7-6800k cooled by a Corsair H100i v2.
ASUS STRIX X99
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders’ Edition.
Crucial Ballistix 32GB DDR4-2400 RAM
Crucial MX300 750GB SSD.
ASUS PG279Q 27″ Monitor
Corsair K70 LUX RGB Cherry Red Keyboard

20160716_080335697_ios — Smaller pile ‘o parts.

20160914_210706149_ios — The completed item.

The only real challenge the build posed was the radiator. I had initially chosen the Corsair H110i to fit to the top of the case. Whilst building it became apparent that it was just too wide to fit in the Corsair 450D. I solved this by exchanging for the narrower but just as capable corsair H100i v2.(Thank you to CCL Computers, Bradford for allowing the return).

The build is an absolute dream. Transitioning to an SSD is the biggest key benefit as I was previously on a SSHD build which was nowhere near as responsive.

At the moment I am playing Total War: Warhammer as well as Doom. Of course, I am also working hard with SQL Developer edition to hone my SQL skills.

Hello World

I am pleased to be able to introduce myself. I am Joseph Scott from the United Kingdom. I have recently moved away from a family business where I was employed as an IT & Marketing consultant and have started life as a technical consultant with a specialisation in financial systems.