Patch management is not as straightforward as one might imagine. A main consideration is the patch management tool used, but it’s important to realize that, while the tool plays an integral part of the patch management strategy, it is just one aspect in the overall strategy. What should one consider when choosing a tool and how does one deploy a patch management tool?

Patch Management Tool

Choosing the right patch management tool is an important part of the patch management process. There are many tool s available and although there are some common requirements, each entity needs to identify others areas that may require a different type of solution or one with additional functionality.

Common Requirements for all organizations

• Supports patching of Microsoft solutions
• Third party applications
• Customizable deployment strategy
• Patch rollback
• Automatically monitors  for patches and informs you when these are available
• Allows manual control of the patch management process
• Multilingual patch support
• Allows you to deploy your own custom patches
• Alerts you of vulnerabilities that do not yet have a patch available

Requirements that differ from organization to organization

Deploying the Patch Management Tool

Proper patch management is more than just deploying patches as and when they become available. There is a process that one needs to follow.

• Configure the environment to work with the patch management tool. This can include:
  • Creating the necessary accounts on our domain
  • Setting up a test environment mirroring our main network setup in order to be able to test the patches before deployment
  • Configuring firewalls to allow the proper access for the patch management tool.

The patch management process starts with you being aware of missing patches. When deploying your patch management solution you need to configure it with this in mind as it needs to automatically look for missing patches periodically and inform you when these are found.

When we know what patches are required, the next step  is to test those patches on our test environment. At this stage we should have a mirror of our network’s various setups available on a test network. We need to deploy our patch management tool in a location where it can deploy these patches not only on our main network but also on our test network.

Provided testing goes well our next step is deployment. Some questions to ask before deploying patches:

• Will it force a reboot when deployment finishes?
• Will it allow the users to choose when to reboot or not in order to avoid disruptions?
• Can we set the deployment process to occur after working hours?

Next comes validation, make sure that after deployment is complete you use the tool to verify that the process was successful.

Finally we need to ensure the patch management tool is properly configured and can be used effectively in the event that you need to follow a disaster recovery plan. For example, if part of our disaster recovery plan includes patch rollback, is the tool configured to roll back patches quickly in case of disaster?

Deploying your patch management tool correctly is an important part of the patch management strategy. Patch management is partly meant to ensure maximum availability on your network therefore a bad deployment can hinder the stability of your network and cause the exact issues you set out to avoid in the first place.

This guest post was provided by Emmanuel Carabott on behalf of GFI Software Ltd. GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. Read more on the importance of patch management.

* All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The only purpose I started this blog 4 years ago was to make it easy for aspiring ethical hacking students learn the everything in simplified & arranged manner. It consumed plenty of my  time when I first started of & everything was scattered all over the web. And because this ‘Hacking’ industry have its Black & White hat areas, It was really hard to find any mentors for learning. So today I am reviewing one of the most organized learning system from uCertify named E312-50-v6 Prepkit.

You might be already aware that there are several exam to begin with in career in ethical hacking. Now, CEH v6 is one of the exam that most of the  aspirants have to deal with first this exam to learn & understand Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures.

uCertify E312-50-v6 is a preparation kit offered by uCertify.com, makes it very easy  to prepare yourself for CEH v6 exam, which guarantees success in the exam. Just to let you know I have personally tried using  the full version of this Prepkit, only to tell you how good or bad this Prepkit  is.

And I must say – They have covered every single detail that any ethical hacking student must know. More interesting thing I would like to specially mention is, ‘Even If you are an absolute beginner they have provided all the modules to make it easy to learn‘

Even if you have no idea what is Linux is & how it works ? The Prepkit have answer for that too !!

uCertify E312-50-v6 Prepkit Overview

As I told this Prepkit deals with basics of Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures, They have tried to make you understand everything with the Study Help modules. You get number of Exam Standard/Objectives, Articles, How To’s, Notes & Key terms which you can understand about before you are heading for the  tests.

You get numerous practice tests, some diagnostic tests & interactive tests for checking your level of understanding the topics covered. Moreover you can also add custom tests for making it more challenging to learn ethical hacking. All the tests are properly timed to check whether you are preparing well according to the timeline.

What else you ever need to prepare yourself ?

Well, they have provided you to store test histories, reports to analyze while you progress with the learning. Prepkit covers much more smaller details and modules than mentioned here, and everything is well organized in very usable interface accessible on your home PC. I personally feel this Prepkit was good enough for any student to pass CEH exam. You never need to opt for very expensive educational institutes , No need for any mentor.

The Prepkit alone will get the job done for you. All you have to do is Download the Prepkit, Practise & Practice until you are fully prepared for EC Council CEH v6.

uCertify offers such Prepkits for many of different exams and subjects related to Computers & web, You can know more about them by visiting Official website of uCertify.

Click here to get uCertify E312-50-v6  Prepkit.

Rafay Baloch , as we know is one of the finest ethical hacker who loves to share everything that he knows for students in Ethical Hacking. He is on spree of writing best of tutorials & books form past 6 months & I am happy to let you know that he managed to get lot of happy students for his Facebook Hacking Course & Beginners Guide to Ethical Hacking Book.

Today I am reviewing his all new book that he has kept completely Free – juts for those who can not afford to buy stuff for learning currently. This Book is named - An Introduction To Keyloggers, RATS And Malware.

As the name gives you clear idea that its all about Keyloggers, Malware & RATS – I must say he has done a great job explaining all stuff from ground zero. Even if you are not in to hacking & script kiddie stuff ever – This book is perfect start for you to know how stuff works in Keyloggers, RATS & Malware.

And for those who are already having some knowledge, then this book will definitely take you to next level. Rafay has explored every single aspect of most used tools like Keysnatch, Snipperspy, Keycobra, Zamanda Antilogger & many more.

RAT Servers like Bintext & Multi purpose Wireshark tool is also demoed in this book step-by-step. Not just these but every tool he has mentioned is well explained – Why & how you can use it to proceed with the tools. If you are not using Windows then Snipperspy is also explained on Mac OS too.

The most important part in learning hacking is – you never get to see the stuff that experts do. And Rafay has taken initiative to share all about it & that is also with demo & screenshots of each and every step.

I must admit that – while I was learning hacking it took me 3-4 years to become an expert. Because I did not find material like this in collected format. I wish this great book was available  from that time too. This is like perfect one step to start of your career in ethical hacking.

One thing I forgot to mention above that – this book not just explains how can you use these great tools for sniffing keys & data. But it has also included the security tips which will be helpful for you in securing your personal computers, Mac or organizational network.

Click here to know more about his book & Download it for Free

IT industry is going with very rapid pace but security issues related to it are keep striking it mostly harmed due to lack of knowledge regarding security. The way gadgets & web sites taking every information in digital level – all employees of IT organization must be trained to secure all the data & digital documentation.

This is where the role of information security training makes a lot of difference from safety perspective for any organizational data and network information. This security training is very essential to every employee that deals with data not only in IT industry but also in most of other fields.

Earning a Degree in Information Security

Choosing best program that fits you need is very essential before diving in to the information security trainings that various colleges offers. Having bachelor’s degree in computer science, information science or management information systems is a good starting point for a career in computer security. If you think it’s a good training for you to make dedicated career in then you can also take specialization courses in system security. If you already graduated in computers then having security certification will give you an edge while looking for job in market.

Technology changes rapidly, so information security specialists are often required to take ongoing education courses throughout their careers. Computer security specialists may have opportunities to advance into supervisory positions as their career develops.

Major Content You learn In Information Security Training

Internet security, wireless security, securing business applications, network 7 authentication security is basically included in your training. After completing this degree program you can work for operating system security, secure computer networks design, implement and execute counter-attack measures on security breaches & most of security jobs.

You’ll develop strong problem solving & logic skills that are essential to defend your organization data theft & cyber attacks. You’ll learn to face such attacks in real time model, So you can learn by the way any hacker would.

Westwood College offers a hands-on bachelor’s degree program in information technology: major in systems security. Westwood also offers a bachelor’s degree program in information technology: major in computer forensics.

This is a Guest Post by “ John jeffrey  ” ,   He shares his tips about Hacking and security at Hackaholic To view his complete profile click Here

In this tutorial I am explaining all about SSH (secure shell ) and explain  How to make a SSH tunnel & how youc an use it for casual firewall bypassing & anonymous browsing on protected networks of offices & schools.

What is SSH ? And what is it used for ?

Secure Shell or SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices
All the data sent between them are encrypted not like Telnet where all data are sent in plain text . Default port used for SSH
is 22 . Since all data are encrypted it used for secure connections between a server and client and It is Used for Secure File Transfer .

What is SSH tunneling?

A Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel consists of an encrypted tunnel created through a SSH protocol connection. Users may set up SSH tunnels to transfer unencrypted traffic over a network through an encrypted channel. For example, Windows machines can share files using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, a non-encrypted protocol. If one were to mount a Microsoft Windows file-system remotely through the Internet, someone snooping on the connection could see transferred files. To mount the Windows file-system securely, one can establish an SSH tunnel that routes all SMB traffic to the remote fileserver through an encrypted channel. Even though the SMB protocol itself contains no encryption, the encrypted SSH channel through which it travels offers security

What is the use of SSH tunneling ?

SSH tunneling can be used for different purposes . I use SSH tunneling in cafes for secure browsing , I use it  in college to Bypass firewalls to view restricted websites and even use it for anonymous browsing

How do I create an SSH tunnel & Hack With it ?

Follow this step by step guide on How To Set Up SSH Tunnel For Bypassing the Firewalls & anonymous browsing.

Things you’ll need for performing SSH Tunneling:

1. First thing you need is  to find a SSH server for SSH access there are lots of free SSH providers try
googling them or you can create your own SSH server using openSSH

2. Putty witch is an open source SSH client .You can download putty from Here

Setting up our SSH Tunnel

1. After downloading putty open it .Now  enter  the Host name or the Ip address of the SSH server as
shown

2. Now check the SSH radio button and enter port no as 22

3. Now open Tunnels in SSH options and enter the source port as 8888 (you can use any port) Now
check dynamic radio button

4. Now click open and login with your SSH account details

5. Now we have to configure our web browser to use the SSH connection in my case its FireFox

6. Open Firefox go to Tools ——- > options ——- > advanced  now click network tab and click
settings

7. Now check manual proxy and enter local host as the Socks host  and enter the port no as 8888 and finally click apply that’s it we have created  our SSH tunnel

8. To check your SSH tunnel you can go to whatismyip.com . Now you can see the ip address of the
SSH server .You can also use wireshark or any other network protocol analyzer to see  all the traffic
is  encrypted as shown