- TechRepublic Author Biography
During his 24 years of service with the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, Mike Mullins served as a community e-mail manager for his base while stationed in Germany. While stationed in the U.S., he was a WAN/LAN network, NT domain, Exchange, and security administrator for the Defense Information...- more about Mike Mullins »
TechRepublic Resources
- Five ways to make Outlook Express more secure
- Microsoft Outlook Express is a popular and free e-mail client that comes bundled with most versions of Windows client (except for Windows Vista, which replaces Outlook Express with Windows Mail). It's easy to set up, and it's easy to use. However, it's also a target for a...
- Tags: Security, Microsoft Outlook Express, Virus, Microsoft Outlook, Groupware, E-mail, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Enterprise Software, Online Communications, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2008-05-05
- Pop-up windows: Know the difference between the good, the bad, and the annoying
- There's been a lot of publicity about pop-up windows, and most of it hasn't exactly been rave reviews. But it hasn't always been this way. In fact, pop-up windows were a positive component in the beginning. Created long before tabbed browsers, their purpose was to present information...
- Tags: Window, Pop-up, Web Browser, Web Browsers, Security, Internet, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2008-02-07
- Establish a strategy for security breach notification
- When it comes to security breaches, it's important to remember that old adage about quality vs. quantity. Data breaches aren't just about a hacker breaking into a network and stealing information. In fact, they come in all shapes and sizes: A data breach can occur with a...
- Tags: Strategy, Financial, Information, Financial Information, Identity Theft, Security, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2008-01-31
- Help users create complex passwords that are easy to remember
- While most end users understand the importance of using passwords to secure corporate systems and data, they don't always know how to create a strong password. That's why it's just as important to create a strong password policy in your organization. Remember: Passwords are only as good as the policy...
- Tags: Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2008-01-16
- Take this four-phase approach to a network risk assessment
- I've written before on the importance of conducting a regular gap analysis of your organization's security practices. While it's vital that your organization regularly perform such audits of security policies and procedures, it's just as important to include a network risk assessment in this process. An external network...
- Tags: Risk Assessment, Network, Network Service, Vulnerability, Network Risk Assessment, Networking, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-12-13
- Keep your router configurations secure
- When it comes to an enterprise's network, routers are at the top of the food chain. Clients request information, servers provide information, and switches connect clients and servers together. But routers run the network. The security you add when managing routers can make the difference between providing...
- Tags: TFTP, Router, Network, Configuration, Routers & Switches, Network Technology, Networking, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-12-06
- Why your registry doesn't need cleaning
- A long time ago, in a land forgotten by time (before Microsoft Windows 95), Windows computers and their programs had .ini (configuration) files that stored information. These files determined how a program ran, its environment, and a host of other things. Then the Windows Registry came onto...
- Tags: Registry, Registry Cleaner, Registry Hive, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-11-29
- Clean your registry with care
- Mike Mullins has written a great post over in the TechRepublic IT Security blog that captures a lot of my feelings about registry cleaning programs, and I think it's worth drawing attention to here for readers of the Help Desk blog. A few weeks ago, I wrote...
- Tags: Registry, Microsoft Corp., Registry Cleaner, Mike Mullins, Windows Registry, Microsoft Windows, Help Desk, Operating Systems, Software, It Operations, William Jones
- Blog posts 2007-11-29
- Defend your network from slow scanning
- There are a lot of security tools out there that will scan a wide range of ports and IP addresses. An intrusion detection system (IDS) will generally catch this type of broad scanning. It will then shut it down by blocking the source IP address or alerting someone to the...
- Tags: Attacker, Network, Scanner, Intrusion Detection System, IP, IP Address, Tool, Productivity, Scanners, Intrusion Detection, Networking, Security, Hardware, Peripherals, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-11-15
- Protect corporate data with these physical security precautions
- Not all attacks on your organization's data come across the network. It's imperative that companies remember that maintaining an "iron-clad" network security program doesn't immunize them against the physical assault or theft of data and the networked resources that contain that data. Attackers can be from outside...
- Tags: Attacker, Network, Computer, Productivity, Security, Networking, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-10-18
- Restrict users' access on Linux systems
- In a recent article, "Force users to log off when their time is up," I told you how to force home and workgroup users to log off at a specific time by using a third-party utility. But this solution targeted Windows machines, and one of my loyal readers asked how...
- Tags: Linux System, User, Pluggable Authentication Module, Linux, Security, UNIX, Open Source, Operating Systems, Networking, Software, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-10-11
- Establish a patch management policy
- Patch management is an issue that will always plague your organization's network. There will always be patches, updates, and security fixes to apply. Unfortunately, there will not always be unlimited time to evaluate and distribute fixes to close a security hole that attackers are currently exploiting. Given...
- Tags: Network, Patch Management, CrossTec NetOp, Patch, Patch Management Policy, XYZ Networks, Patches, Security, Networking, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-10-04
- Make sure security logs exhibit accurate time with NTP
- It's vital that organizations take steps to synchronize the time on their network and devices, but it's even more important to make sure the logs produced by security devices reflect the accurate time. Find out why accurate time is so important for security logs, and walk through the process of synchronizing your...
- Tags: Security, Router, Network, NTP, Networking, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-09-27
- Be aware of the threat of hidden keystroke-logging devices
- Keystroke loggers are a particularly dangerous security threat because users typically don't realize they're even there. Learn about the different versions of keystroke loggers, and get tips for protecting your organization and your users from this threat. More and more people have made the switch to...
- Tags: Software, Keyboard, User, Computer, Tools & Techniques, Keyboards, Productivity, Security, Management, Hardware, Peripherals, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-09-20
- Defend your network from idle scanning
- Black hats employ several stealth scanning techniques, and one of those threats is the idle scan. Find out more about idle scanning, and learn best practices for protecting your network from this threat. If your organization's intrusion detection system (IDS) identifies a scan...
- Tags: Firewall, Network, IPID, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-09-13
- Force users to log off when their time is up
- Last time, I told you how to control access to home and workgroup machines by implementing logon restrictions using the net user command ("Restrict logon access with this command"). In response, a loyal reader pointed out that, while this restricts logon, it does not force logoff. Essentially, that means...
- Tags: Security, Utility, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-09-06
- Restrict logon access with this command
- Do you need to make sure employees aren't cruising the Internet or using the network to browse inappropriate sites or copy proprietary data? What if you just want to control when your children can use the computer so they're not on the Internet without supervision? You can restrict the times...
- Tags: Security, Internet User, Internet, Restriction, Computer, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-08-30
- Pinpoint vulnerabilities on your system with Nessus
- Fixing vulnerabilities is an ongoing process that requires diligence -- it's not something you can ever cross off your task list. However, there are plenty of excellent tools available that will assess your systems for known vulnerabilities. Let me introduce you to one of the best.Finding and fixing vulnerabilities on your systems...
- Tags: Security, Vulnerability, Tool, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-08-23
- Troubleshoot IPSec with these tips
- Running IPSec to secure your network's communication traffic provides a very strong layer of defense to your network. However, it's important that you test these policies before deploying them and verify that they're running properly. Here are some troubleshooting tips for when you run into trouble.Securing your organization's LAN and WAN traffic...
- Tags: Policy, Authentication, IPSec, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-08-16
- Two proactive steps to protect data when using Windows EFS
- Depending on the community that your network serves and the information contained on that network, the government may require you to encrypt that data. But even if you're not subject to such legislation, encryption can be a good idea.Users have many responsibilities, and low on their list of priorities is...
- Tags: Security, Network, Microsoft Windows, Computer, Recovery Agent, Recovery Certificate, Mike Mullins
- Blog posts 2007-08-09
Harnessing the power of waves
Planting solar gardens
Fill your car for $1.10 a gallon?