Secunia PSI
So the question is do I lead or follow with Secunia PSI?
As this is partially a ramp-up to DefCon ending on a security note would be appropriate. However security is important and should not be left to wait, so grab this puppy and run it.
Personally I prefer the 2.x interface more than the 3.x interface. With that said the interface in 3.0 has been tweaked since it's initial release mostly compensating for the aspects I did not like. The addition of the list view is very welcomed. As was the option to select between auto-update and notification only.
In theory the 2.x version is completely usable and will keep you just as updated as 3.x. I have not attempted to run 2.x on Windows 8, mileage may vary.
Download and install is the typical double-click process, no surprises there. Last I ran the installer the application was still pleasantly unbundled and did not contain any extra garbage, tool-bars, etc.
So why should you care and run Secunia PSI?
You are running Windows right? Enough said. No seriously while Microsoft is making strides towards better security it is still a huge target. As are many of the big name applications that run on Windows.
Secunia PSI will not secure or protect the OS or the applications themselves. It will however alert you to the presence of a known vulnerable version of software and provide a link to the patch if one is available. There is an option to allow Secunia PSI to automatically download and install patches. Point being there is a distinction between having an up-to-date version of software and securely configuring said software. Secunia PSI does not examine the specific configuration of the software, only that it is up-to-date. For most of you average Windows users this is huge and Secunia PSI is incredibly valuable. Even for seasoned users the task of ensuring your patch process each month is greatly simplified.
Secunia PSI will make you aware of exactly how much stuff is on your PC, and what most be updated. Listen to it well. Use it to eradicate the unnecessary bloat ware shipped with your new PC. Use it to keep the high target apps up-to-date in near real time, Java, Adobe Flash, to name a few.
Every Windows user should take advantage of this wonderful and free app.
Secunia PSI
02 July 2013
30 Days of Tools
So the gratitude diary was a fail.
Positive Comments May was a fail. Or success as i really didn't say anything, depending on which side of the fence you are on.
A tune a day in June went well.
(All posted via other services.)
For July, to get back into more of a tech vibe and to force myself to blog more often I will be commenting on a tool a day.
Enjoy.
Positive Comments May was a fail. Or success as i really didn't say anything, depending on which side of the fence you are on.
A tune a day in June went well.
(All posted via other services.)
For July, to get back into more of a tech vibe and to force myself to blog more often I will be commenting on a tool a day.
Enjoy.
09 May 2013
Meaning of Life
So there i was sitting at the local DC Groups meeting with the rest of the DC214 kids and the same question crosses my mind. What the hell am i doing?! Yet another year, another project restart, another memory of another project never completed. Then off in the corner i hear Rengade say to RedSand "dude your root kit talk is what made me realize i'm stupid and to get off my ass." Yep, thanks Renegade that is about how i feel at this very moment, Shooting Blanks and all.
So what is to be done? Buck up kiddo and pull on your big boy pants. It is time to make shit happen.
1.) update this damn blog on reasonable basis
2.) finish that network project
3.) do another talk for DC214
So.... With that i plan to return bearing topics of useful data and or opinionated banter. Until then... keep hacking my friend.
So what is to be done? Buck up kiddo and pull on your big boy pants. It is time to make shit happen.
1.) update this damn blog on reasonable basis
2.) finish that network project
3.) do another talk for DC214
So.... With that i plan to return bearing topics of useful data and or opinionated banter. Until then... keep hacking my friend.
30 July 2011
Star Search
Well things are progressing faster than planned.
Found a dish on craigslist and ended up with a near complete rig.
Dish = WS9036 (the exact model is was looking to buy)
LNB = DMX521 (mixed reviews cheaper price range from what i've seen, not the model i was looking at)
Receiver = Coolsat 5000 platinum (price is right, why not)
Just need to get a mount
and icing on the cake would be a motor as we plan on not being in a fixed position.
Hooked everything up tonight and got all of squat. Honestly wasn't expecting much as it was just kinda laying in the yard. But everything appeared to begetting power and otherwise in working order.
For now we hit the books and read up on how to aim one of these bad boys.
Found a dish on craigslist and ended up with a near complete rig.
Dish = WS9036 (the exact model is was looking to buy)
LNB = DMX521 (mixed reviews cheaper price range from what i've seen, not the model i was looking at)
Receiver = Coolsat 5000 platinum (price is right, why not)
Just need to get a mount
and icing on the cake would be a motor as we plan on not being in a fixed position.
Hooked everything up tonight and got all of squat. Honestly wasn't expecting much as it was just kinda laying in the yard. But everything appeared to begetting power and otherwise in working order.
For now we hit the books and read up on how to aim one of these bad boys.
28 July 2011
What next
wow how time flies. So i have not been here much and sadly nor do i have much to drop.
So what is next.....
- First and Foremost, Vegas. It's going to be a crazy year this trip.
- FTA, Free-To-Air, rig. I will be setting one up and seeing what there is to see. Definitely more posts to come on that topic.
- Finish my Nessus XML parser. Got away from direct contact wit Nessus and like wise the very nice project Seccubus.
- Second part of my anonymity presentation that i did for DC214.
- Smart Meters, oh yes i have not forgotten about you. Those notes will see the light of day again i promise you.
- Pirate Radio. I still will not accept the fact that this town has no pirate presence. Surly there must be one, and i would like to find it.
- Antennas. A recent article discussed how to construct your own DTV antenna. I've ignored antennas in the past with a mild exception for early war driving gear, and a lack luster investigation into bluetooth and rfid, but why? what else is out there waiting patiently next to 'the truth' killing time until it is eventually found.
...enter the rant...
This article on antennas, more than anything else recently, has renewed my enthusiasm for the sport of hacking. The easiest way to investigate and learn is to take advantage of these low cost items that give you near immediate access to a medium that is all around us and completely free. Don't give way to thoughts of those like Erwin G. Krasnow who says that the public does not own the airwaves. ?? o'really?! let me use a not quite perfect analogy of a road. Airwaves like a road provides the medium by which to deliver something. Where that road in a urban area had a direct cost associated with it's development and maintenance, the airwaves do not. While that road has specific point of access the airwaves do not. while that road stops well in front of my home, the airwaves do not. While i can easily control what comes off the road and into my home, with the airwaves i cannot. So i am supposed to accept and blindly give Mr. Krasnow and his supporters full, pervasive, and intrusive access to my home via the airwaves but I in no way can utilize those same airwaves for my own purposes. Sorry, you brought something into my home and left it there, I will touch it, I will open it, I will look at it, and I will play with it. We have precious little that is free these days, and even these require a vigilance for us to keep. Free Speech, Free Internet, and Free Radio.
ref.
http://seccubus.com/
http://www.popular-communications.com/pc_highlights/2011_pc/0811_pc/0811_pc__dtv_antenna.pdf
http://flykaty.com/ftablog/?p=223
So what is next.....
- First and Foremost, Vegas. It's going to be a crazy year this trip.
- FTA, Free-To-Air, rig. I will be setting one up and seeing what there is to see. Definitely more posts to come on that topic.
- Finish my Nessus XML parser. Got away from direct contact wit Nessus and like wise the very nice project Seccubus.
- Second part of my anonymity presentation that i did for DC214.
- Smart Meters, oh yes i have not forgotten about you. Those notes will see the light of day again i promise you.
- Pirate Radio. I still will not accept the fact that this town has no pirate presence. Surly there must be one, and i would like to find it.
- Antennas. A recent article discussed how to construct your own DTV antenna. I've ignored antennas in the past with a mild exception for early war driving gear, and a lack luster investigation into bluetooth and rfid, but why? what else is out there waiting patiently next to 'the truth' killing time until it is eventually found.
...enter the rant...
This article on antennas, more than anything else recently, has renewed my enthusiasm for the sport of hacking. The easiest way to investigate and learn is to take advantage of these low cost items that give you near immediate access to a medium that is all around us and completely free. Don't give way to thoughts of those like Erwin G. Krasnow who says that the public does not own the airwaves. ?? o'really?! let me use a not quite perfect analogy of a road. Airwaves like a road provides the medium by which to deliver something. Where that road in a urban area had a direct cost associated with it's development and maintenance, the airwaves do not. While that road has specific point of access the airwaves do not. while that road stops well in front of my home, the airwaves do not. While i can easily control what comes off the road and into my home, with the airwaves i cannot. So i am supposed to accept and blindly give Mr. Krasnow and his supporters full, pervasive, and intrusive access to my home via the airwaves but I in no way can utilize those same airwaves for my own purposes. Sorry, you brought something into my home and left it there, I will touch it, I will open it, I will look at it, and I will play with it. We have precious little that is free these days, and even these require a vigilance for us to keep. Free Speech, Free Internet, and Free Radio.
ref.
http://seccubus.com/
http://www.popular-communications.com/pc_highlights/2011_pc/0811_pc/0811_pc__dtv_antenna.pdf
http://flykaty.com/ftablog/?p=223
28 October 2010
scanmonitor.pl - A script for Seccubus
Earlier this year I found Seccubus an open web front end for Nessus, http://seccubus.com/.
In previous attempts to improve my use of Nessus and share the results with the admins that need it I failed at getting Inprotect to function properly. So I took a step back and decided to attack this problem one step at a time.
1.) automate the scanning of a Class B. Frankly covering 2 Class Cs a week isn't gonna cut it, say roughly two and a half years to get full coverage!
2.) automate report sharing.
3.) parse the daylights out of the data for trending and analysis.
Enter a fruitful Google search and lo there sits Autonessus, at the time it had recently been renamed to Seccubus. It's small, light weight, damn this looks handy!
To bypass the cron scheduler and create a constant scan cycle to minimize scan overlap and / or dead cycles I created a little Perl script that wraps the native do-scan process and scanmonitor.pl was born.
Basic workflow of a scan
1.) Vulnerability Assessment Admin runs a scanmonitor.pl script.
2.) scanmonitor.pl checks for any currently running processes and bombs if there is a process already in use. (ensures a single scan process per scan engine)
3.) scanmonitor.pl evaluates the scangroup.txt file, reading one line at a time.
4.) scanmonitor.pl calls the script 'do-scan' and passes do-scan the subnet name to be scanned.
5.) do-scan evaluates the primary and secondary config files.
6.) do-scan calls the 'nessus' command and passes nessus the scan engine, target subnet, and scan policy information.
7.) do-scan monitors the Nessus job and upon completion generates both .nbe and .nessus formatted report files.
8.) do-scan quits
9.) scanmontor.pl monitors the do-scan process and upon completion reads the next line of the scangroup.txt file and calls another do-scan job.
10.) scanmonitor.pl will continue to run until the admin sends a kill command, process crashes, or the system is shutdown.
2.) scanmonitor.pl checks for any currently running processes and bombs if there is a process already in use. (ensures a single scan process per scan engine)
3.) scanmonitor.pl evaluates the scangroup.txt file, reading one line at a time.
4.) scanmonitor.pl calls the script 'do-scan' and passes do-scan the subnet name to be scanned.
5.) do-scan evaluates the primary and secondary config files.
6.) do-scan calls the 'nessus' command and passes nessus the scan engine, target subnet, and scan policy information.
7.) do-scan monitors the Nessus job and upon completion generates both .nbe and .nessus formatted report files.
8.) do-scan quits
9.) scanmontor.pl monitors the do-scan process and upon completion reads the next line of the scangroup.txt file and calls another do-scan job.
10.) scanmonitor.pl will continue to run until the admin sends a kill command, process crashes, or the system is shutdown.
With a no pause interval between scan groups (subnets) I can cover an entire Class B using a fairly intense Nessus policy in about 16 hours.
With a 6 minute interval between scan groups (subnets) I can cover the same Class B using the same fairly intense Nessus policy in just under 7 days.
By not using a hard schedule and allowing for the nature dynamics of the network environment to affect the scan subnet sequence there is a level of randomness to the scan pattern. I do not hit the same subnets at the same time on the same day every time.
**Note, the scanmonitor.pl is primarily used for desktop and DHCP enabled environments. I still use hard fixed schedules for the bulk of my servers to minimize potential negative impact.
20 October 2010
olpc hack station
So it's been two or three years since i got my OLPC and i'm finally getting aroiund to doing something with it.
Irritation #1- the Sugar interface. Well by being a dawdler the latest OS update, 10.1.2, includes an option to use a gnome desktop. Saves me the trouble of loading open box or completely trashing the native OS. (not to say that may have it's own benefits, i'm just lazy)
So. Apparently since the XO laptop is based on fedora, the delivered nmap rpm appears to load right up and run flawlessly.
Need to look at my hard drive space and determine what tools i can load and create a nice little scanner. One downside being the novelty of the hardware detracts from being non-obvious, as it does garner random interest and questions. Yes, it is a real laptop, No it is not a toy (well okay i'll maybe give you the second one).
More later........
Now to give nessus a go.
Irritation #1- the Sugar interface. Well by being a dawdler the latest OS update, 10.1.2, includes an option to use a gnome desktop. Saves me the trouble of loading open box or completely trashing the native OS. (not to say that may have it's own benefits, i'm just lazy)
So. Apparently since the XO laptop is based on fedora, the delivered nmap rpm appears to load right up and run flawlessly.
Need to look at my hard drive space and determine what tools i can load and create a nice little scanner. One downside being the novelty of the hardware detracts from being non-obvious, as it does garner random interest and questions. Yes, it is a real laptop, No it is not a toy (well okay i'll maybe give you the second one).
More later........
Now to give nessus a go.
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