It so happens that the topic of Whitelists vs. Blacklists comes up a lot when I’m talking to clients. The questions seem to always revolve around the pros and cons between these two methods of protection. Sadly, for some reason, there seems to be fear around implementing Whitelists in relation to how applications/code is executed on systems. That being said, I thought this might be a good discussion… Read more
I was working on a chapter for the new Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed book. Anyhow, I was writing a bit about BitLocker. While trolling through that section it reminded me that I still get tons of questions about what a TPM is. So… here you go: Read more
“A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.” Needless to say glitches happen a lot with new software and Exchange Server 2010 is no stranger. As we all know, there has been many fundamental changes to how Exchange operates under the hood. In tonight’s post, I would like to zero in on a particular change and a related glitch that I happened to get hit upside the head with. :>) Read more
How do people typically do an Exchange Server 2007 cross-forest migration using the basic set of tools provided by Microsoft? Well, to summarize the process, most people tend to perform Active Directory object migration via ADMT and then "move" user mailboxes using the Move-Mailbox cmdlet. Or, at least that tends to be the path of least resistance. On the other hand, if the need should arise, there are also a number of other paths that can be taken to achieve the same goal. Read more
A really good question recently came up on the SANS GIAC advisory board. Basically, someone needed to audit the NTFS permissions on a set of files and directories (I will refer to them as objects). Easy, right? Oh, I forgot to mention that “Administrators” had no rights to these objects, and modifying (like taking ownership) the permissions for these objects was out of the question. Read more
From time to time, I come across things that just frustrate the hell out of me. Today was no exception as I again stumbled across something that just boggles the mind. Read more
It seems like every time I do an Exchange installation, the question arises around how to test remote connectivity. Yes, I could jump on a machine that is external to the network, and test away. But, what about being able to test things while I’m configuring them? Or, ruling out a client that just doesn’t want to work. Or, the often lack of an ActiveSync device to test with… and so on…
In other words, I have been searching for a way to test EWS without worry about collecting various devices to test with.
***BLAM*** Read more
It seems like every day there is some announcement about some new iconic technology that is going to revolutionize how we work (kinda, sorta, maybe, or not really). Hurray everyone, its Office 2010, Google OS, Bing, etc. However, at the end of the day, what does this all really mean to everyday IT? Is all of this activity so fundamentally game changing that an IT’ers job will become increasingly more productive? Or, does the onslaught of new shiny “things” pervasively translate addition work for an IT’er. Read more
In my last post, we started down the path of reviewing parts of the discussion I had with FullArmor's CTO Danny Kim. Throughout that post Danny was talking about FullArmor's background and how their Azure based solutions: AppPortal and PolicyPortal came into existence. In this post, we continue to dive further into the really great background story that Danny was telling and learn about how FullArmor's solutions are actually be put to use to solve some very real problems in an emerging market. Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I learned about a very interesting technology project that was going on in Africa. In short, the Ethiopian government was trying to improve the quality of life for their citizens by advancing the effectiveness of their education system. One of the paths they had chosen was to deploy laptops to all of their primary and secondary school teachers and to find a means to both centrally manage those laptops and to distribute applications and information to the teachers. Read more
I do not know about you, but for the past couple of days my inbox has received several emails claiming to be from Microsoft while touting links to updates for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. :>) Naturally, I clicked on those links right-away and installed me some updates (not).
However, in all honesty, I was surprised at the level of effort that the sender went through in making this phishing email look more "authentic". For example: Read more
For some time now there has been a really great security feature that was introduced in Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. This feature was designed primarily to help administrators keep unwanted programs (like malware) off of their systems. No, this feature is not called AppLocker. :>) Instead, it was called: "Software Restriction Policies (SRPs)". Read more
Considering that PSH v2.0 is slowly making its way down the aisle it is fast becoming time that we started looking towards updating the 2nd edition of the Unleashed book. However, a lot has changed not only with PSH itself, but with many of the "things" that now rely upon it. So, it might be in the best interest of everyone if (the authors included) we ensure that changes to the book address of need. Read more
Yup, this is why I stopped throwing up Windows 7 postings. For the past two to three weeks, I have been testing and deploying an Exchange 2010 environment. Sadly, while doing this the RC came out. Yet, another thing I need to circle around to.
Anyhow, because I like sharing. I wanted to make a couple comments about the deployment: Read more
It seems like the chatter around some impending Windows 7 vs. Linux faceoff has been exponentially increasing these past couple of weeks. I do not know about you, but I find it somewhat humorous. After all, the fan boys are getting widely excited. And, from reading all of the comments flying around one might think this is some kind of no holds bar, dirt encrusted, choose your own weapon, cage match of death.
In fact, let's just call this Thunderdome! Read more
The other day, I saw this really cool blog posting by the Directory Servers team titled: Read more
Configuring an Authoritative Time Server with Group Policy Using WMI Filtering. Basically, in our every ending quest to ensure time is sync'ed the posting show how to use WMI Filtering to force certain GPO settings upon the PDC emulator. :>)
I'm not sure if everyone saw this announcement on the PowerShell blog, but sharing and sharing again is always a good practice. Basically, the PowerShell Summer Scripting Games of 2009 have been officially announced. But... what is really great about this announcement is the fact that the games is being held in collaboration with PowerShellCommunity.org and PoshCode.org. Read more
Over the past couple of months I have been working a lot with CLM 2007. During this time, I wrote a bunch of custom reports, built a notifications module, and tweaked a number of other things to get CLM kinda of the way it should have been (out of the box). Naturally, while doing all of this I have gotten to know the structure of the CLM database a bit better. And, considering that there is very little documentation about CLM and how to customize it. I figured that some sharing of my notes from the notifications module I developed might be in order. Read more
Ok, I'm back from Ishigaki and its time to try and wrap up this BranchCache stuff. Once this is done, my plan is to then move on to other Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 features. But, for this post let's focus on the remaining BranchCache topics.
As I hinted in my last post, BranchCache is kind of a BlackBox. When it's working, users shouldn't notice anything. On the flip side, when BranchCache is not working, users will still probably not really notice anything (besides a performance hit). Read more
Hurray! Odd title, but I'm getting ready to head down to Ishigaki for Golden Week. So, I wanted to share a couple of things before I headed out the door. Read more
With more than ten years of experience in IT, Tyson Kopczynski has become a specialist in Active Directory, Information Assurance, Windows automation, PKI, and IT security practices. Tyson is also the founding author of the Windows PowerShell Unleashed series and has been a contributing author for such books as Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 Unleashed and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Unleashed. He has also written many detailed technical papers and guides covering various technologies. As a consultant at Convergent Computing, Tyson works with and provides feedback for next generation Microsoft technologies since their inception and has also played a key role in expanding the automation and security practices at CCO. Tyson also holds such certifications as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), the SANS Security Essentials Certification (GSEC) and SANS Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), and the MCTS (Application Platform, Active Directory, and Network Infrastructure).
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