LoveMyTool - Open Community for Network Management and Monitoring

A Great Week – Computer Cache Training and CacheBack (by The Oldcommguy)

A new and easy way to dig into computer internet caches!

As many of you know I teach Cyber Investigation techniques..etc to Law Enforcement plus private and corporate security officers. Thus getting data out of the Internet cache for all the big browers is not an easy task until I was trained on the new CacheBack solution! Very Cool!

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being trained, tested and certified on a new software tool for security and law enforcement personnel called CacheBack.

CacheBack is the brain child of John Bradley and even though the newest version is not out it is an awesome visualization tool for cached data from websites to chat. It even allows one to play a chat for court room viewing without using the entire product and suspect database.

He seem to have thought of almost everything from simplicity of operation, speed of acquisition, forensically sound processes to easy to develop sound, focused and yet simple reports on a very complex set of data.

CacheBack opens the suspect information in a simple to use tabular view, you select the evidence needed, it automatically carves out your selections then easily place in a report for evidence. The tool even makes use of Microsoft Excel and Access for custom report building or placing the information into larger reports.

Real World Testing through Emulation! Plus a very cool FREE tool to test you network, website, application servers and more…at the end! (by The Oldcommguy®)

I decided to study an instrument that helps Network Architects test and predict new applications deployments, installations, WAN predictability, Cell Backhaul services and much more!

I found some very interesting and important information and why you should use an Emulator and not a Simulator!

OK, Lets first define what a real Network Architect is, the kind of professional that would do Emulation –

The fourth and Highest level of Network Personnel is the Architect!

The fourth network level is where we meet the most senior and the most capable of the Network Engineers. This level is not only where the most difficult issues are solved but this is the home of the Network Architect. This level is where the future design of the network and its applications comes from and is the main focus. This is the level where the Business goals and growth meet the reality of network and application design implementation. The Architect can develop, define and present the value of the network in relationship to the business goals of the company. This level is where all future growth design, testing and purchase value come from. Some may call this the “What if Level” – What if we add 50 new employees to the main application with 50 new VoIP phones, What if we open a new remote facility ..Etc – What will we need to do to make sure that the network will be able to deliver these additions/changes. Timing is an essential element in deployment considerations!

At LoveMyTool we are fortunate to have two real world Analysts that share their knowledge monthly with you - Tony Fortunato and Chris Greer!

This is from my article Four Types of Network Personnel- http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2009/10/four-types-of-network-personnel-by-tim-oneill.html

So now we know the correct level of Network personnel that would want to be this interactive and focused on the network growth and application success.

To be proactive and test one now has to understand the difference between a network Emulator and the Simulator.

The three most important differences are:

Password Recovery (by Casey Mullis)

Good day to all who are reading this article about Elcomsoft. I wanted to take this time to thank you for stopping by lovemytool.com and reading this article.

I have a motto in my life that says the following “There is no such thing as a problem, only solutions!”

What I mean by this is twofold. One is I do not dwell on the problem. If I dwell on the problem I stay depressed and have no time for finding a solution to the problem.

Second is I dwell on the solution. If I dwell on the solution then the problem will take care of itself. Elcomsoft is one of those solutions.

Elcomsoft Password Recovery Technology!

What Elcomsoft offers us in the realm of password protected files is multiple solutions to the pesky password protected file and lost passowrds. If you have never heard of Elcomsoft then I would strongly suggest that you go check them and their products out! They have solutions that cover almost every corporate need and special ones for Law Enforcement and Intelligence agencies.

I have used many of their products to crack all sorts of files and their newest product for the iPhone. Actually the iPhone works great on iPod and iPad as well. Now before you reader’s get mad (You know who I am talking about) and think that Elcomsoft is helping the “MAN” gain access to your secret files. Understand that what you are using right now to read this is man-made. If man made it, then man can break it. If you are not doing anything illegal then you should have nothing to worry about. Trust me, there are people out here on the net looking to steal your data and turn you into a victim of some sort of fraud.

I use Elcomsoft to catch the criminal(s), not to peer in to the law abiding citizens files. What Elcomsoft has done is made their tools so simple even a cave man can do it. The iPhone tool is for select groups of people as stated on their website as follows: This software is for Restricted Use by Law Enforcement only!

ElcomSoft restricts the availability of this toolkit to select and vetted entities such as law enforcement and intelligence agencies, it is not available to the public.

 

New and truly a Rapid Smart Cell Phone acquisition device! (by Casey Mullis and Notes from Tim O’Neill)

The Paraben Phone Recovery Stick and more!

Phone Recovery Stick Testing done by Investigator Casey Mullis!

I had the luxury of testing the new Paraben Phone Recovery Stick today. 

 The computer system used for the test was the Lenovo T510.

Test Acquisition Computer Specifications:

1. Windows 7 Enterprise 64bit
2. Intel Core i7 M620 - 2.67GHz
3. Installed Memory (RAM) 8.00GB

Test Phone: HTC EVO 4G (Carrier - Sprint)

My friend, Tim O’Neill , a cyber instructor for the Georgia Police Officers Standards and Training, is always getting the latest forensic tools  for us to test to see if we can improve our lawful acquisition techniques, skills and ability. In the past we had tested the Paraben I-Stick for recovering the iPhone for forensics.  Recently Tim gave me the Paraben Phone Recovery Stick to test and I got the opportunity to test the product today on the HTC EVO 4G (Sprint).

First and for most, I am a guy and the last thing guys like to do is read manuals and or instructions. You know how it is, “We don’t need no stinking instructions”. Well the really good thing Paraben was to made this click simple, because the first thing I did was pop in the Paraben stick, double click the EXE file located on the root of the Paraben stick, and plug in the cell phone via USB.

I know, I know… there is a manual and or instructions for a reason. Great thought, it is located on the USB drive as well. If you have to read it, then feel free to do so but note this tool is so simple, even the manual is only twenty pages long.

What is NEBS Certified and Why is it Good for My Company? (by The Oldcommguy®)

What is the value of a NEBS level 3 certified product mean to me, my company, and the future value of my Network?

There are many standards for test and test access technologies but none is more strenuous and sought after than having a NEBS level 3 certified product.

First  - What is NEBS? – NEBS stands for Network Equipment Building Systems and has three (3) Certification levels. Level 3 is the Gold Standard!

 
Nothing is better than Level 3 Certification!

Second – The Levels of compliance and certification- The higher the level the stricter the standards for passing and covers categories like - Physical ( space, heat dissipation, air flow dynamics), Electrostatic Discharge Potential (ESD) , Electrical, Electromagnetic Radiation (EMI) , Grounding and Bonding to ground, Lightening and Surge Protection, AC/DC Power Fault, Steady State Power Induction, Corrosion, DC Potential Difference unit to unit, Thermal, Fire resistance, Burn Content (i.e. Both amount of Burnable Material and Dangerous Gasses emitted during a fire) plus Overall Electrical Shock Safety.

This standard is about 50 years old and is the most stringent in the world for certifying equipment for safety and ability to function under the worst network and environmental circumstances.

Third – The History of NEBS- The NEBS standards were created by the AT&T Bell Labs to assure survivability of the U.S. Network during the worst of conditions and to have an electrically safe environment for their employees and contractors with a common space definition, kind of like the fact that cabinets are rated in rack units of 1.75” each.

If there was ever a fire, NEBS was designed to help prevent fires and mitigate the damage, the burning material was kept to a minimum and the gases produced during a fire were not poisonous to the employees or fire crews. Even to this day NEBS does not allow items like batteries in racked equipment even and especially Lithium batteries that are not only explosive and caustic to the skin, eyes, lungs…etc and when burning gives off dangerous gases like Manganese Dioxide, Lithium Trifluoromethane Sulfonate; Hydrofluoric Acid; Oxides of Carbon and Sulfur, Dimethoxyethane and other toxic by-products.

Fourth – A summary of NEBS certifications value- NEBS was designed to assure that the equipment is physically, electrically and electronically stable and that the product was not an electrical shock hazard nor could cause any interference (RF, eddy currents…etc) to other equipment and was fire resistant and safe even in the case of fire.

Daddy or Mommy, What Did You Do During The WAR! (by The Oldcommguy®)

What War are we talking about?

Today's Cyber WAR!

The war today is the Cyber War and it goes on 24 hours a day 7 days a week…..all year long and in every home, business, town, state and country in the world!

 
Just last week I was called to help in a multi-jurisdictional and multi-location criminal raid warrant. I worked with some of the best cyber law enforcement officers in Georgia and our job was to document and start the evidence trail on many personal and business computers plus the networks that they were attached to – WiFi, WLAN and XDSL.

As I approached the scenes I use the Fluke's AirCheck to determine the RF arena and I stored the information for later reporting and to assure that we had all the IP addresses for further warrants. Really a very cool and very valuable tool for LE as well as for enterprise RF signal radiation WiFi studies and defenses!

 Fluke's AirCheck Area WiFi network overview!

 

Real Testing – A Real Solutions Full Validation! (by The Oldcommguy)

Chris, Tony and I are always saying “Test Them, Don’t Trust Them” and Anue Systems took that to heart and did just that!

Most companies sell on their specifications alone, most if not all have of them have never been tested! What and Why do you believe them?

The Tolly Group and other test verification labs, test products to assure you, the customers that you are getting what the vendors say they are selling to you. Don’t Trust Them, Test Them!

I am writing about this because it is important to point out companies that focus on customer satisfaction as well as assuring the customer that they are getting a top quality product.

One must first decide on the parameters that are required for their solution and the solutions capability for future growth.

Then they must decide on the operational, deployment and operational difficulty level that they can handle.

In my humble opinion, Anue Systems deserves recognition for all their efforts and that is why I wrote this article. I also write about products that I have tested or worked with a customer that has done the testing and review.

As a consultant and a very avid supporter of deep network visualization access I would certainly use the Anue solution. This may seem as biased and yes it is – when I like a product and company and they have shown ethical and technically responsible behavior then I love to tell you about them! This is one of those solutions!

Anue Systems in their effort to prove that their specification and capabilities are one and the same did just that. No façade just real testing to prove that they do what they say and that buyers can be confident investing in this carrier grade network access technology solution, the Net Tool Optimizer. They wanted to again prove that they are a carrier class device and have done it with this Tolly Test along with their NEBS 3 compliance certification. One cannot be a carrier class solution without NEBs 3 compliance and fully technology verification.

Anue went to the Tolly Group and asked that they test for the real specifications required to validate the Anue NTO claims and Tolly did a great job!

I tested this very cool tool – Every Cyber Officer and Security manager needs one! (by The Oldcommguy™)

 

I agree with Tony - He did a GREAT review!

Many of you know that since I became crippled and can no longer travel I decided to do volunteer training for Law Enforcement and security officers, on the Computer/Cyber/Data world.

After almost 50 years of computer, data and network technology experience I figured I could help those on the front lines of protecting us, our Children and our Country! I support and train any Law Enforcement Team, the High Tech Criminal Investigation Association, Georgia Association of Professional Private Investigators and the Georgia Police Officers Standards and Training, plus a few more. I am also a certified Cyber/Internet Safety Instructor for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and speak at many schools and organizations! I am also driving the most innovative Law Enforcement officers training for the GAPOST. I was recently appointed by State Senator John Albers as his Chairman on Cyber Law Enforcement and Terrorism.This is why I am passionate about helping the Good Guys find the criminals and the Fluke AirCheck wil be a super tool in the police cyber tool kit!

The child pornographers always try to hide their filthy files from Law Enforcement and they have had some success with using steganography or hiding in plain sight using the open file structure of picture formats to hide the images that they do not want you to find. They have also started hiding hot spots that are connected to large memory devices; they hide them in attics, closets and any number of places in their house. They even get their neighbors to allow them to store in their house or in some cases they hide them without the neighbor’s permission, maybe in the attic with garage access. We even had one hide the WiFi point and HDD in a wall. Yes they put power in the wall and housed the units then plastered the wall back, painted it in an attempt to hide their filth. The same for all Cyber Criminals - they love to hide the evidence and hope that the police cannot find it.

So Thanks to my friends at Fluke Networks they loaned me their new AirCheck – WiFi tester and hot spot locater…and WOW!!

Do Not Miss this opportunity to meet some of the Super Innovators of Open Source! (by The Oldcommguy™)

Call it the “INNOVATORS CORNER”!

Meet the Legendary Innovators of the technologies that are the foundation of today’s Packet Capture and Analysis tools and solutions!

Meet them and Participate in a Live Q&A!

Join the creators of TCPDUMP, WinPcap and WireShark in a live Twitter event on Tuesday, May 24 at 11:00 AM PST, 13:00 EST.  

                                 
This event will feature Steve McCanne, creator of TCPDUMP, Loris Degioanni, creator of WinPcap and my good friend Gerald Combs, the creator of WireShark (fka –Ethereal).

These Innovators of Technology will be sharing stories of how their groundbreaking philosophy’s help create leading edge technologies.

How their ideas were conceived, how they created and guided their visions into today’s advance open source tools and the foundation for many more commercial tools and visualization solutions.

They will also be discussing their thoughts on what they feel the future holds for packet capture and analysis.

Free Wireshark Training in 4 Cities from Laura Chappell (by The Oldcommguy)

Free Training on how to effectively use Wireshark for Network Security Visualization

This training will be focused on Federal Network Security Engineers and Law Enforcement

Great Free Training Opportunity hosted by Riverbed Technologies 

  

If you have been in the Network Arena for any time you should know of Laura Chappell and Wireshark University, which she founded.

I am proud to call Laura a friend and I rate her as one of the very best trainers in networking and even higher as a Wireshark trainer/expert.

Laura will be sharing her expertise in Network Security Visualization Techniques using Wireshark in the cities, listed below, with Federal Network Security Engineers and the Law Enforcement community.