One of the up and coming computer based solutions in the security space is video surveillance.  You may say to yourself "hey video surveillance isn't new".  Well it's not.  It's what is being done with the video after it leaves the camera that is new.  Commonly call CCTV or Closed Circuit Television these cameras have been analog based.  The cameras are connected to a central location via coax cable.  One cable per camera to the central location.  The cameras also require electric power to function.  Far more than 90% of the surveillance systems installed today are analog based.  Similar to the VCR technology rather tan DVR technology. Technology in this space is changing vary rapidly.

A new breed of camera is available by nearly ten vendors which offer  IP connectivity with many other advanced features. IP being "Internet Protocol" which is commonly spoken between computers on a network.  These new cameras include low light adjusting, infrared, remote control pan and zoom.  They can be set to record only when motion is detected.   These new video cameras are even powered by the Ethernet network that they are connected to.  That translates into lower wiring costs.   Some based on a small internal PC board can store up video and send it as requested.  Some hove wireless network interfaces too.

When the total cost of a solution is examined analog cameras cost $2K to $3K each while a similar digital solution would cost $1.5 to $2K per camera.  The initial purchase costs are higher then traditional CCTV cameras but the new features are extensive.

I have found that the market space is young but the players in the space are in some cases very mature.  Many have existing analog based solutions.    For more information on  Sun Microsystems Video Surveillance Solutions follow the link.

-- Frank

I am just back from three days of deep technical training at the Q Center in St. Charles, Ill.    The Q Center is a first class business conference facility located just outside Chicago, Ill.   It was Sun Microsystems sponsored with classroom and hands on sessions.  The event included an evening dedicated to our partners to showcase their new products and solutions.   Some of the partners showing their newest technology included VMware, LSI Logic, IBM, HP, Brocade, and many others.

I attended sessions from both AMD and Intel which detailed their current processor offerings with a peek at their future road maps.   Other very good sessions included identity management deployment best practices and a virtualization hands on lab.

Much of the excitement at this event had to do with several recent announcements made by Sun Microsystems:

    Sun Microsystems and VMware Announce OEM Agreement

-- Frank

Was looking for something else on YouTube and I came across several interesting videos on virtualization.   Specificly what Sun is doing with virtualization.  This video shows how Sun Microsystems' technologies let you virtualize your datacenters.

Dr. James Baty, Chief Technology Officer with Sun Microsystems, discusses the challenges and approaches to addressing a virtualization strategy.

-- Frank

As the IT world is moving at a rapid pace toward some level of virtualization we, as solution architects, must not forget the basics that we have learned to protect our computing resources. All of the same principles still apply if we are deploying single systems or a virtualized environment with several different guest operating systems.

Over the past few weeks I have undertaken a "homework assignment" to become more familiar with Sun xVM Server technology. I have gotten my hands on an AMD based Sun Fire X4200 Server with two internal 73 GB disks.  Once I fired up the system I quickly noticed that the BIOS, ILOM, and hardware controller firmware levels were several revisions back from the current release.  In the case of the ILOM it lacked some of the functionally I was familiar with from a previous project.  I upgraded the BIOS, ILOM, and hardware controller firmware via the ILOM's web interface.  It was much easier than I thought it would be.   The required files were downloaded from the Sun Download Site on Sun.com.  This exercise got me thinking about security in the virtualized world.

Just because we would architect a solution at a "higher" level, a virtual level, we must be as vigilant as we would with a single system.  We must still be concerned with the basics.  I have noted several basic housekeeping tasks that can serve as a starting point to keep your virtualized environment a little more secure.

• Secure the ILOM with an alternate unique set of user names and passwords.  Set strong passwords that include numbers, symbols, upper and lower case characters.  If deploying into a large environment integrate into the existing LDAP naming infrastructure for authorization to the ILOM.

• Connect the ILOM to a private management network used for functions such as system administration, device management, and backup.

• Physically secure the systems in a locked data center quality environment.

• Secure passwords on the guest operating environments as if they are standalone systems.  Avoid using generic, default and well know account names for administration functions.

• Use virus protection and firewalls as if they are individual systems.

• Use caution when connecting to networks and SANS.

• Continue to implement SAN Security.

• Patch the base hypervisor platform and guest operating environments as needed.  This may require a controlled patch process.   Patch them as if they are individual systems or a whole sale replacement of the guest environment which include the newly applied patches.

• Use non wire IP traffic between guest operating environments for more secure communications.

• Deploy a separate NIC rather than sharing a NIC between guest operating environments.

•  Implement hypervisor and guest operating environment best practices for hardening.

• Adjust your corporate security policy as needed to accommodate virtualization technologies being deployed in your specific environments.

 This is an active work in progress.   Please check back for more details.

-- Frank

A friend of mine has pointed out that if you are using an older version of the browser Mozilla or Fire Fox you have the ability to save the page you are viewing as postscript. Then with any old text editor you can go into the postscript file and change the information as you see fit.

In the case of online airline check in, a security hole has been brought to my attention. Someone can display and print a boarding pass. They also can save it to a file and edit it. Changing the flight number, date and time this allows someone with a questionable background access beyond the airport security check points. Of course if an airline is using some type of scanning as part of their boarding process they should not get access to the plane.

-- Frank 

Just before the Super Bowl a friend of mine asked me what I would do if I were giving my computer away. My advice was to backup or save their files. They can save them to CD-ROMs or a thumb drive. I advised him to make sure that the media you copy it to is readable after you are complete. In other words verify you can read what was written. A testing of your backup.

I then suggested that he reformat his hard disk and reload the operating system. Once complete, verify that all of your personal information no longer exists on the computer disk(s).

This should prevent personal information from getting into the wrong hands. It may even prevent "Identity Theft" and the headache of cleaning up after someone has charged that large screen TV on your credit card.

It's your personal data. Don't spread it around.

-- Frank

I was asked to assist someone with a "computer" problem they were having recently. As soon as I sat down in front of their personal computer I noticed their personal firewall was "disabled". I questioned why it was disabled. They replied that some application they had attempted to use did not work. So they turned it off. I asked how long had it been disabled? They indicated a few days. While fixing their original problem I updated their virus protection software with the latest files. It had been many months since their virus definitions had been updated. So "Keep Your Guard Up"!

-- Frank 

I have been asked this question several times this past week so I will formalize my response as a Christmas Gift to you all.

Well you are now on your second or third generation digital camera. You have 3000 to 5000 photos on the hard disk of you home computer or laptop. If you are like myself you have been taking digital photos since the late 1990's. You now have a digital camera built into you phone. Sure hope all of these priceless photos are backed up someplace!

My recommendation to you all is to go out and get some high quality write once CD-ROM media that can be found at places like CompUSA or Wal-Mart. Divide your photos into some logical grouping. I like filing by year and then by activity or event. If I don't have a specific activity or event but have several disparate photos, I just file them in a directory/folder named month_year, like Feb_06 (usually a slow month). This way I can archive an entire year at a time. So far I have not hit the maxium size of a CD-ROM in a given year.

I burn two copies. One I keep in my computer CD-ROM collection at home. The other I put in a safe place such as a bank safety deposit box or fire proof safe. Preferably someplace other than where you are keeping your first copy. I archive my photos yearly. I backup my photos on hard disk every few weeks.

Now for a great Christmas gift for that owner of that digital camera. Get them a USB thumb drive or memory card/stick to keep their most recent photos on. This will allow them to bring their most recent photos with them to show off at family gatherings and other various social events that typically take place here in the United States at this time of the year.

Happy Holidays! --Frank

So make sure you get "your" credit card back after each and every transaction.

In case you don't get your credit card back after a transaction here is a helpful pointer to the Federal Trade Commission's page on Credit, ATM and Debit Cards: What to do if They're Lost or Stolen.

-- Frank

Was in lower Manhattan yesterday between customer meetings. Walking across Cedar Street to Broadway very near Wall Street. I passed a FedEX truck with the rear door open. A stack of boxes sitting on the sidewalk. All unattended. As I passed I noticed one of the boxes was clearly marked in bold lettering Iron Mountain. I got to the end of the block before thinking of getting a photo if they were still there. So I returned to get this snapshot, the boxes still unattended.

Do you think this customer entended to have their data or backup tapes out on display for all to see on Cedar Street?  Do you think they were protected in some way?

I sure hope my personal information isn't on these tapes.

-- Frank

I can't make this stuff up. This is real world conversations.

An employee travels to his corporate offices in New York City and is conducting business on one of the computers in this office. Since their IT staff is forward thinking the employee can login to the computers in the NYC office and use his profile as if he is back in his local office. He sets his default printer to the NYC office printer. This individual returns home. Several days later he prints some sensitive corporate information but the output did not come out of his printer. It went to the printer in NYC. You guessed it, the chase is on to find someone he trusts that can grab the output before he gets in hot water.

Also this past week I hear a story about how someone attempted to print some off color output from an adult web site on their printer from their company owned laptop. Nothing printed on his/her home HP Inkjet, but must have forgot they printed it. Several weeks later at the office, after plugging in his/her laptop, a coworker on a witch hunt is running around trying to track down who just printed some very offensive material at work.

So be careful when printing something that is not for public consumption.

-- Frank

Was at a meeting last week where a number of participates had their laptops with them and used them extensively. Some were personally owned while others were owned by their employer. Not sure what the mix was.

I did not notice it until a colleague called it to my attention. All of the participants had left the room leaving their laptops unattended. This made for an easy grab by an untrustworthy individual. The meeting room was near an outside entrance. It was just off a restaurant lounge area which had a high volume of people traffic.

No wonder so many laptops and PDA's disappear each year. From a positive standpoint I feel confident that no one would find personal records of 30,000 employees, but I do know that company proprietary and confidential information was on every laptop. Could be very damaging to company direction and corporate image.

We have let our guard down! Think before you leave your laptop in public places or it may be your CNN moment. Don't be That Guy . . .

--Frank

Today I had to reset my password on two of my web based accounts. Managing these all to familiar accounts has become a real chore for me. The root of the problem is that I refuse to write them down on a post-it note and my memory isn't as sharp as it once was. Like most of you I too will use several variations of the same word or words. Now these new Web 2.0 based systems have started to report back that I have used this password once before, it is too similar to the current password, or has to have more then one symbol in addition to alphanumerics.

I have also found it isn't always my failing memory that has denied me access. Each time I needed to access one of my employee health benefit accounts the password I had set at last use was not excepted and had to be reset. To my surprise my wife had been using the same account and would have the password reset each time she would need to access it. How could this be?

At home recently we had a problem with the monitor on our personal computer. As I was troubleshooting the problem I moved the monitor to find my wife's own post-it note with more then a half dozen username password combinations stuck under the monitor base. So it's not just me having problems. When confronted she commented that most of the time she couldn't find her list of passwords. So good luck to some specificly looking for them.

Extremely perplexed by the situation I turned to Google for advice and to my surprise here is what the Microsoft and Sun security experts had to say:

Microsoft's Jesper Johansson

Sun's Dr. Whitfield Diffie

Well the experts say it's ok to write them down?

-- Frank