Archive for November, 2014

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Hey IT Nerd! Are BYOD Policies Dangerous?

Posted in Tips with tags , , on November 14, 2014 by itnerd

I got a very interesting question in my inbox today:

Hello IT Nerd. I am a IT manager and my boss was to have a BYOD policy as he thinks it will give users choice in terms of the mobile devices that they want to use and save us money on hardware as we won’t be paying for it. I don’t think this is a good idea, but I would like to know what your thoughts are. 

Thank you. 

Thanks for the question. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies do have some risk to them, but if done right you could make it work well for you.

Here’s two main reasons why attempts at implementing a BYOD policy have crashed and burned:

  • Users don’t want to pay for their own devices so that you as an employer can have better access to them. If you want access to your employees after hours, they think you should pay for it or for the cellular data usage.
  • If you buy your own devices, you can lock them down and restrict what users can do. When you let users buy their own devices, you get devices aren’t completely under your control on your network. That opens up your company to some degree of risk. For example, your users could have devices that are compromised in some way such as having malware on it. That’s not going to save you money as the users are going to make you deal with it.

Now, here’s why it may work for you:

  • Whether you know it or not, your employees may use less secure workarounds such as Google Drive, Box, or DropBox to share company files with other individuals or themselves. That will put your company at risk as your data is completely outside your control.. A properly implemented BYOD policy can stop this.
  • You give tech savvy users a choice of the devices that they want to use. This may make them more productive.
  • If you get and properly implement mobile device management or enterprise mobility management software, you can properly manage these devices. You can do remote wipes and separate personal from business data. Thus mitigating some of the risk.

If you were in your position, you need to use mobile device management or enterprise mobility management software. Plus you need to have policies as to security and paying for cellular data usage. Plus you need to educate your users so that they don’t expose your business to any risks that my exist, as well as to the benefits of BYOD. I think that if you do that, you can make this work for you.

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WeMo Maker Announced And Has Already Won An Award

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

Belkin yesterday announced availability of the WeMo Maker, a build-your-own WeMo solution that enables users to control or monitor any low-voltage electronic device from a smartphone or tablet.

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The WeMo Maker connects to nearly any device controlled with a low voltage DC switch, allowing users to turn devices on or off or put them on schedules via any smartphone or tablet and the WeMo app. The WeMo Maker also enables users to connect to a wide range of 5V sensors for remote monitoring and automated control via sensor inputs. Sensors that will work with WeMo Maker include light sensors, motion sensors, moisture sensors, temperature sensors, flame sensors, and carbon monoxide sensors, to name a few. WeMo Maker seamlessly integrates with other WeMo products and also works with IFTTT to connect to a wide variety of Internet services and applications such as email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Available for purchase next week for $79.99, the WeMo Maker was named one of Popular Science Magazine’s Best of What’s New winners for 2014.

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Telus Throws Back To The Future

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

If you’re on Twitter, you’re likely aware of #throwbackthursday. Telus would like to to consider another hashtag. Specifically #ThrowbacktotheFuture. In exploring what the future holds we’ll be speaking with experts at Telus who will share insights on the countless and very exciting possibilities.

Now I am a bit late to the party as Telus has already covered these topics:

But the following topics are still to be covered:

  • The possibilities of remote working
  • The future of digital storage

#ThrowbacktotheFuture happens every Thursday until November 27 and you can follow along and join the conversation on the Telus blog, Twitter or Facebook.

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D-Link’s Wi-Fi Smart Plugs and Wi-Fi Motion Sensor Now Shipping

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

D-Link Canada Yesterday announced the availability of two Wi-Fi Smart Plugs (DSP-W110 and DSP-W215), and the Wi-Fi Motion Sensor (DCH-S150) giving you an easy way to make your home a connected home. Providing a simple way to turn devices on and off from anywhere using the free mydlink Home app for iOS and Android smartphones or tablets.

Wi-Fi Smart Plug (DSP-W110) delivers a range of easy-to-use features, including:

• Power Scheduling – easily create on/off schedules for home appliances, lights and other electronic devices powered through the Wi-Fi Smart Plug.
• Local and Remote control – use the free and intuitive mydlink Home mobile app to instantly turn devices on or off from an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet.
• Wi-Fi Connectivity – requires no additional hub or device, works with any Wi-Fi network.
• Simple Setup – Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button offers quick and easy setup to connect to any router supporting the WPS standard.

The DSP-W215 does everything the DSP-W11o does, but adds the ability to monitor energy use of connected devices.

The mydlink Wi-Fi Motion Sensor (DCH-S150) delivers a range of easy-to-use features, including:

• Motion Alerts – use the free mydlink Home app to receive alerts on your iOS or Android device when motion is detected.
• Wi-Fi Connectivity – requires no additional hub or device, works with any Wi-Fi network.
• Motion detection up to 8 meters (26 feet).
• Simple Setup – Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button offers quick and easy setup to connect to any router supporting the WPS standard.
• Get More Out of Your Other Connected Home Devices – connect with mydlink smart plugs to turn on/off devices when motion is detected or use with mydlink cameras and be alerted to motion and know when to view your cameras.

D-Link’s Wi-Fi Smart Plug (DSP-W110) available for $39.99, the Wi-Fi Smart Plug+ w/ Energy Management (DSP-W215) available for $49.99, and the Wi-Fi Motion Sensor (DCH-S150) available for $44.99, can be purchased throughout D-Link’s vast network of retail outlets in Canada

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Kickstarter Project INOVA | 8 Announced

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

If you need to make sure you are never without power for your smartphone, you need to look at the INOVA | 8. With it, you will never have to worry about running out of power again. If you are on the run and have only a minute, you can now charge your INOVA | 8 case for 1 minute and gain about 1 hour of typical smartphone usage. And if you have 8 minutes, you get 8 hours of smartphone usage, just about the same time it takes to fill up your car with gas! 4af22287-8e8a-4754-8ed4-d40dc43c0960

The INOVA | 8 uses a unique and innovative patented (pending) combination of a lithium-polymer battery and an electronic circuit that fit compactly in the back of the battery case. A small 35W power supply is added to this combination, which allows the INOVA | 8 to achieve full charge in minutes instead of hours. It’s also well designed for a variety of use cases, rugged, and stylish. The ultra-fast INOVA | 8’s powerful 1800 mAh battery will give you 8 or more hours of typical smartphone use with an 8 minute charge.

INOVA is currently offered for pre-order on Kickstarter. Early birds can get it for $79.

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Belkin Products Honored With 2015 CES Innovation Awards

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

Two Belkin International products have been honoured with prestigious 2015 CES Innovations Awards, including the brand-new TrueClear Pro Advanced Screen Case System for smartphone screen protection and the QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard for iPad Air. The awards, chosen by the Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) panel of independent industry experts and trade media, recognize Belkin’s achievements in innovations, design, and engineering.

Both the TrueClear Pro and QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard for iPad Air will be on display during the 2015 International CES, January 6–9, 2015, in Las Vegas at the Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase at the Sands Convention Center as well as in the Belkin booth in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the Innovations Design and Engineering Awards reflect innovative design and engineering. Entries are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers, and members of the trade press. For more information, please visit: www.CESweb.org/Innovations.

If you want to get your hands on either of these award winners, the TrueClear Pro currently supports the iPhone 4/4s, 5/5s and 6, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5. The QODE Ultimate Pro is available at Belkin.com and select retailers worldwide for an MSRP of $149.99. A version for the iPad Air 2 will be available in late December.

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BlackBerry Announces BES 12, Teams Up With Samsung, & More

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

There were a couple of significant events today in the world of BlackBerry:

  • BES 12 was announced today. It allows one to manage iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BB10 and legacy BBOS devices from one application. Pricing is per-device. The BES 12 Silver tier will cost $25 per device per year, or $45 per device per year with premium support. The BES 12 Gold tier, which provides additional security features, will cost $80 per device per year, or $100 per device per year with premium support. Additional features, like the newly announced BBM Meetings, can be added to either tier at an additional top-up price.
  • BlackBerry teamed up with Samsung to “provide end to end security for Android.” Now it does make sense for both these companies to link up. Samsung who sells the most Android phones has the KNOX security platform which not many people have implemented. BlackBerry who are the go to people for security will support KNOX via BES 12. That will give those who have invested in Samsung devices a reason to use KNOX.
  • WorkLife for BlackBerry was also announced. It will allow enterprises to add a separate corporate number to BYOD devices. That way corporate voice, SMS, and data usage be charged to the company, while all other usage is charged to the employee.
  • A new VPN authentication tool was announced today which provides two-factor authentication to mobile employees via their network credentials rather than hardware tokens to access secure information.
  • Salesforce and Brightstar are now BlackBerry partners.
  • The BlackBerry Classic is now available for pre-order. It will launch on December 17th.

Investors liked this news as the stock was up 7% today. It’s safe to say that’s a good sign for BlackBerry.

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Review: iStat Menus 5

Posted in Products with tags on November 13, 2014 by itnerd

I’m the type of person who likes to know exactly what’s going on with my Mac at all times. Such as which apps are using bandwidth or CPU power. Or the health of my battery and hard drive. Normally, I have to work pretty hard to get this info as it’s buried in things like Apple’s Activity Monitor or Disk Utility. But I’ve discovered a far easier way to get this info. I installed a copy of iStat Menus 5. The premise of iStat Menus 5 is simple. It places a series of icons in your menu bar that can be clicked to reveal dropdowns with information. You can customize this to get the info you want and it covers a variety of areas such as CPU, battery usage, graphic card usage and the like.

Installing it is pretty simple. Download the app and open it up. It will offer to install itself and then you can customize from there. It took me twenty minutes to get the info that I was interested in set up because there are so many options available to display. Here’s a list of what you have access to:

  • CPU — You get 7 display modes and multiple core support. You can also see the GPU that is in use on multi-GPU computers and see how its performing.
  • Memory — You get 4 display modes including page ins/outs and swap usage display.
  • Disks — You 6 display modes and SMART monitoring for internal hard disks.
  • Network — Monitor current and total bandwidth, peak bandwidth, IP addresses, and the ability to hide network connections you don’t want to see.
  • Temps — Monitor the temperature of your Mac. You get 2 display modes and the ability to hide sensors you don’t want to see.
  • Fans — Monitor and alter the fan speeds in your Mac.
  • Bluetooth — Control Bluetooth status plus monitor the battery level of your Apple wireless keyboard or mouse.
  • Date & Time — Date and time in your menubar. This includes a world clock display that  lets you see the time in multiple locations around the world.

I’d strongly recommend that you spend some time seeing what you have access to and don’t be afraid to play around with the setup. Once it is set up, this is what it looks like on your menu bar:

istat

You can see that I don’t use all the features that I listed above, but there’s more than enough info there for me and most other people. One of the things that I did was that I got rid of some of the duplicate items that OS X provides. For example I got rid of the battery icon as iStat Menus provides a much more informative one. Not only that, the array of things that it monitors is extensive. For example, you can see the status if individual temperature sensors in your Mac as well as get historical data on pretty much anything. This way if you’re trying to diagnose an issue, you can figure out when the issue might have started or zero in on when and under what conditions an issue might be manifesting itself. If however you need to use one of the Apple supplied tools, you do get quck and easy access to Apple’s Activity Monitor, Console, Terminal, System Profiler, and System Preferences.

Here’s the best part. This app is $16 which is a small price to pay to get access to all sorts of info. Now you could say that iStat Menus 5 is an app that will likely only appeal to power users and those who are really curious about how their Mac works. But I would argue that it would also be useful to someone who’s trying to diagnose an issue that is hardware or software related. That way they may be able to avoid a trip to the Genius Bar by identifying the cause. Or you can bring proof that specific components are failing which will make that Genius Bar appointment much more productive. If that’s you, I say that you should look into getting a copy of iStat Menus 5. The company offers a 14 day trial and I think you’ll be buying it long before the 14 days are up.

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ISPs Caught Disabling Encryption From Customers E-Mail Accounts

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 12, 2014 by itnerd

People ask me why I run my own e-mail server. The answer is simple, I’m in total control of it from every aspect including security. Now most people have to rely on their ISP for e-mail and that means that you have to trust them. However the Electronic Frontier Foundation has found that you may not want to trust your ISP. Here’s what they posted:

Recently, Verizon was caught tampering with its customer’s web requests to inject a tracking super-cookie. Another network-tampering threat to user safety has come to light from other providers: email encryption downgrade attacks. In recent months, researchers have reportedISPs in the US and Thailand intercepting their customers’ data to strip a security flag—called STARTTLS—from email traffic. The STARTTLS flag is an essential security and privacy protection used by an email server to request encryption when talking to another server or client.1

By stripping out this flag, these ISPs prevent the email servers from successfully encrypting their conversation, and by default the servers will proceed to send email unencrypted. Some firewalls, including Cisco’s PIX/ASA firewall do this in order to monitor for spam originating from within their network and prevent it from being sent. Unfortunately, this causes collateral damage: the sending server will proceed to transmit plaintext email over the public Internet, where it is subject to eavesdropping and interception.

Lovely. But let me point something out here. If you send or receive e-mail, you have to assume that anyone can read it regardless of what encryption you think you have on it. So with that out of the way, let me explain the above in a non-nerdy way. Stripping out the STARTTLS flag may mean that you can’t authenticate to the mail server over an encrypted channel. Now some individuals also set an option that tells their e-mail clients that encryption is preferred, but not required, which they assume to be sufficient because they believe their mail server is encrypted. But it’s not sufficient. When those individuals use an ISP that strips out STARTTLS, they are transmitting authentication data in plain text for anyone to see. Of course this ignores the fact that nobody should be using STARTTLS in the first place as it’s not a great method of security for e-mail.

Fortunately, you do have options to protect yourself.

On my mail server, I set it up so that an authenticated connection’s required for any outgoing users e-mail to through it. Encryption’s required before the client can authenticate. The IMAP server also requires encryption and won’t accept unencrypted connections. Now I host my mail server in a datacenter so it has almost direct access to the Internet. But if someone were to do anything that disables encryption, anytime I try to send an e-mail will result in errors being generated. That’s my clue that something is up that I need to look at. I’d recommend all mail servers be configured this way.

Now if you don’t run your own mail server, which would be most of the people reading this, there is something that you can do to protect yourself. You should setup your e-mail client to submit mail on port 465 (SMTPS) or 587 (SMTP). While you’re at it, you should receive e-mail on port 995 (POP3S). This assumes that your mail server supports this. Most of them do, but they don’t tell anyone. You should ask your ISP for more details.

 

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Significant Vulnerability Affecting All Versions Of Windows Exposed

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 12, 2014 by itnerd

Microsoft has disclosed a significant vulnerability in virtually all versions of Windows that requires your immediate attention.

Here’s the nerdy explanation of what this vulnerability is: The vulnerability is in the Microsoft secure channel (schannel) security component that implements the secure sockets layer and transport layer security (TLS) protocols. Now according to a Microsoft advisory, a failure to properly filter specially formed packets makes it possible for attackers to execute attack code of their choosing by sending malicious traffic to a Windows-based server.

Here’s the explanation in plain English: If you don’t install the patches referenced in Microsoft advisory, some evil doer on the Internet can remotely send commands to your Windows based systems and cause all sorts of havoc.

Seeing as vulnerabilities in Microsoft products are usually exploited within 24 hours of patch Tuesday (which was yesterday), you need to make sure that you immediately use Windows Update to patch your systems. The people who should be most concerned are those who run Microsoft servers that are exposed to the Internet. But I am certain that some evil doer will find some way to exploit this on computers that aren’t exposed to the Internet. Thus it makes patching every Windows PC that you have a must do item today.

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