NetAlly CyberScope™ – Handheld Cyber Security Analyzer - Julio Petrovitch

 

In April 2023, NetAlly released CyberScope, the world’s first handheld cybersecurity analyzer. Still, for many such a description could be considered very broad. So, what exactly is a CyberScope and what does it do? More importantly, how can it help a network or security professional like yourself?

In a nutshell, CyberScope is a handheld cybersecurity analysis tool that offers comprehensive risk assessment, analysis and reporting for the site access layer. All in a single, powerful, and portable form factor. It supports endpoint and network discovery, wireless security scans, vulnerability assessments using Nmap, plus segmentation and provisioning validation.

As a ruggedized, purpose-built all-in-one tool, CyberScope is a network security solution that eliminates the use of fragile laptops and tablets. With multiple functions, it provides fast, actionable insights into your network, filling the critical visibility gaps that other cybersecurity tools frequently do not address.

As for what it does and how it can help, there is a lot. Here is some of its core functionality:

Probe Endpoints and Networks

Network discovery is a critical cybersecurity best practice, providing valuable information about the network infrastructure, layout, devices, and services that are present. CyberScope’s Discovery combines scanning and active probing via five different network interfaces (wired and wireless) using multiple technologies (including CDP, LLDP, FDCP, SNMP, Nmap, and others) to find endpoints, network infrastructure elements, and potential attack surfaces.

Classify Devices as Authorized, Unauthorized, Neighbor or Unknown

Network segmentation and provisioning can be complicated and prone to error. CyberScope can verify proper segmentation of both wired and Wi-Fi networks at the point of access with clear pass/fail indication. CyberScope can also examine switch ports for proper provisioning, join a VLAN to ensure correct segmentation, and capture traffic on a specific VLAN for deeper analysis. Not only that, all discovered devices and even endpoint manufacturers can be classified as Authorized, Unauthorized, Neighbor or Unknown.

Locate Endpoints on the Wire or in the Air

Path analysis is critical to understand how devices are interconnected. CyberScope provides complete port by port details of the network path – both wired and wireless – to any device. This is crucial when hunting down unknown or nefarious devices. Rogue hunting is made fast and easy on Wi-Fi with CyberScope’s external directional antenna.

Identify Endpoint Vulnerabilities

Nmap can help identify potential vulnerabilities like open backdoors, malware or poorly configured firewalls and intrusion detection systems. However, the cryptic nature of Nmap’s command line interface and excessive textual output prevents many network professionals from using it to its fullest extent.

CyberScope’s intuitive user interface integrates with Nmap’s robust probing capabilities to help with efficiency and repeatability. Even seasoned Nmap users will appreciate the ease of use that CyberScope brings to vulnerability detection.

Also, the embedded Nmap analysis engine in the CyberScope automatically scans for vulnerabilities on all endpoint devices connected to the network. Nmap allows CyberScope to enhance the information gathered from each device with valuable vulnerability information by running built-in or custom scripts and automatically generating warning and error notifications. All this can help identify potential security weaknesses and prioritize remediation efforts to reduce risk.

Generate Reports, Collaborate, and Share

Vulnerability reporting is easy using the Link-Live collaboration platform. With features that include vulnerability scan results visibility, discovery snapshots and comparisons, plus heat and topology maps, Link-Live makes it easier to collaborate and share with other team members. There is also a licensed, containerized version for on-prem use, available for those of you that don’t like the idea of storing network data in the cloud. Not only that, but Link-Live allows for secure sharing and even analyzer remote control by centralized experts, which fully enables collaboration across your team regardless of their location.

In conclusion, CyberScope is a rugged, hand-held instrument which allows you to identify wired and wireless network vulnerabilities in a single walkthrough. Plus, as a dedicated, purpose-built tool, CyberScope integrates all the hardware capabilities you need to complete any type of network survey or analysis. That includes:

• 10 gig fiber optic and copper (RJ45) Ethernet ports with high-power PoE support – functionality you won’t find on a laptop.

• One Bluetooth/BLE and two Wi-Fi radios with up to 802.11ax and 6GHz band support.

• USB ports that provide connectivity for accessories, like a spectrum analyzer, a headset for voice communications, label printers, and more.

Want to know more about NetAlly’s CyberScope? Then make sure to visit cyberscope.netally.com and check it out!

About NetAlly

The NetAlly® family of network test and analysis solutions has been helping network engineers and technicians better deploy, manage, and maintain today’s complex wired and wireless networks for decades. Since creating the industry’s first handheld network analyzer in 1993, NetAlly continues to set the standard for portable network analysis with tools that include EtherScope® nXG, CyberScope™, AirMagnet®, LinkRunner®, LinkSprinter®, AirCheck™, and more. NetAlly simplifies the complexities of network testing and cybersecurity assessments, provides instant visibility for efficient problem resolution, and enables seamless collaboration between site personnel and remote experts. To learn more and see how NetAlly helps network and security professionals get their jobs done fast, visit https://www.netally.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Instagram or YouTube.

Http ping and tracert ipv6/ipv4 tips

 I am starting to run into more environments where ipv6 is showing up. I must admit most of the time, the client wasn’t aware the impact of having ipv6 enabled on hosts can have. Other times the client intentionally had ipv6 enabled and in use.

Either way, I get asked how to perform some of the most basic troubleshooting when a Windows host has both ipv4 and ipv6 on it. I must admit, that the first time I was asked about this a few years ago, it was stumped until I stopped, took a breath and read the ping and tracert help screen , lol.  Accessing a webserver using a ipv6 address took a little bit more digging but well worth it since the same questions come up in my classes and troubleshooting engagements.

In this video I cover how to ping, tracert and http using ipv6 addresses and how to force the usage of ipv4 addresses when using a host name.

Find your tools with Nmap

 

Every network technician will have a sort of network tool that connects to the network. It can be a packet capture tool, like the IOTA I used in my example, a laptop, etc..

In some scenarios, you might send the tool out with a technician or ship it out to a remote site. If you’re lucky, you can preconfigure a static IP, gateway, etc, and connect to it remotely. But what if you have to rely on DHCP assigned address. If you have time you can work with the DHCP administrator and reserve an IP address, or look through the DHCP database for the device’s Mac address. In my experience, getting multiple departments coordinated to find an ip address can take a while, not to mention, what if it's after hours?

In this video, I use Nmap to locate my Profitap IOTA capture device. All I needed to know was a port number that it has ‘open’. In this case, TCP 3000. As I mention in the video, if you had more than one unit, you would need to know your device’s Mac address. Tip; to have Nmap return the Mac address, you need to be on the same VLAN as the target device. In our case, they had a support computer on that VLAN, but I have also used a remote client computer (with their permission).

The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value by Derek Lidow

 

Most of us think of an entrepreneur as someone who makes a lot of money for a lot of people very quickly. Entrepreneurs are justifiably a much-studied group - they have influenced us more powerfully than even governments or organized religion. The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value by Derek Lidow distinguishes itself from a crowded field by examining entrepreneurialism throughout recorded history, from Iceman Ötzi (c. 3250 BC) to the present. Entrepreneurs succeed by challenging the status quo and testing the limits, and there are risks involved for everyone. The historical record adds a completely new perspective to the relationship between entrepreneurs and our desire for a sustainable, equitable world.

The history of entrepreneurs is basically the history of mankind – people have been pursuing some sort of profit ever since humans began forming permanent settlements. In the Ötztal Alps in 1991, archaeologists discovered the mummified remains of what is now known as the Iceman (aka Ötzi). With him were found tools, clothing, and various medicines whose sophistication suggested he had obtained them in trade from early entrepreneur specialists.

People often took advantage of their environment – mineral deposits or other natural resources - to produce specialized goods. Balancing the self-benefit from these resources while exchanging goods to benefit others is basic to the nature of entrepreneurship. Stories of the beautiful beads of the Wadi Jilad or the copper smelters of Cabezo Jure’ illustrate how these practices came about. Before governments were sophisticated enough to take care of their citizens, people were forced to scramble and take responsibility for their own survival. Entrepreneurs filled a gap that their rules could not.

Economists don’t always agree on what constitutes an entrepreneur, but given their impact, it is important to have a working definition. Dr. Lidow visits this issue throughout the book and brings it to a crisp conclusion in the final chapter. My cousin is a fourth-generation farmer in North-Central California. The farm dates back to 1923. He took it over from his father, and now grows cherries, walnuts, and basil. Although he is an independent, self-directed businessman, that does not make him an entrepreneur. He has, however, developed new technologies for growing picking, shelling, sorting, etc. that break with tradition and have improved product yield and quality. He exchanges some of his services with neighboring growers to their mutual benefit. That makes him an entrepreneur.

The real power of entrepreneurialism comes from swarms, which rapidly scale new ventures. This made me think of smartphones – the early ones were amazing, but other entrepreneurs soon came along to capitalize on the idea, adding cameras, better cameras, and other distinguishing features to grab a piece of the business. This type of scaling has an enormous impact on the world.

Rapidly growing an entrepreneurial business requires resources, and the first evidence of venture capitalism was found chiseled into a cuneiform tablet. The port towns of 16th century England form the background for some enlightening stories about how early startups were legally organized, and the tale of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company demonstrated how the general public could also be a good source of funding for a joint-stock startup. On the other hand, John Law’s notorious failures at managing money left much of Europe wary of entrepreneurs throughout the 20th Century.

Unburdened by this history, America was an entrepreneurial place from the beginning, with fewer restrictions and a patent system to reward innovation. The management of the increasingly larger scale entrepreneurial endeavors led to a new type of organization – the corporation – which didn’t always follow the original founder’s vision. The stories of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford and, more recently, William Shockley and Jeff Bezos illustrate many of the challenges encountered by entrepreneurs along with their responses. Navigating legal restrictions, raising money, dealing with price competition, smoothing business cycles, and effectively managing large organizations were just a few of the trials they faced.

Early entrepreneurs focused on meeting people’s basic needs, but they soon recognized the market for wants, some of which were once known as “objects of astonishment”. Marketing is illustrated by the story of Josiah Wedgewood’s pottery -he was one of the first to market his premium goods in a retail store where customers could shop (and hopefully impulse buy). No one thought much about bad breath until a clever entrepreneur gave it the medical term “halitosis” and sold a version of a product once used as a medical antiseptic, known as Listerine.

Associating positive emotions with products gave rise to the hospitality industry, where people sought comfort and entertainment along with superior food and alcohol. Entrepreneur Edward Bernays leveraged his propaganda efforts during World War I to spawn the modern public relations industry, connecting certain products with good feelings and promoting the unquenchable desire for more and better things. He is responsible for making it fashionable for women to smoke.

Entrepreneurialism can produce, but it also has the capacity to destroy itself. The swarm is difficult to control, and is capable of unpredictable things, like the way scaling up the production of sugar led to the spread of slavery. Financial difficulties, deforestation, air pollution, and food safety all can be traced to entrepreneurial enterprises. Stories of food safety included a reference to adding opium to beer to make it addictive – reminiscent of the flavored, highly-addictive e-cigarettes that are currently marketed to young people.

Socially responsible entrepreneurship is the ultimate prize, but difficult to attain when entrepreneurs are by definition self-directed. Few can foresee the long-term consequences of their actions, and as some find ways to work around laws, others will follow. The Giving Pledge – notably signed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among others – is an example of what Andrew Carnegie had in mind – not worrying too much about the social consequences of your startup but pledging to give away at least half of the money you make to charity. Better than “break it now, fix it later” would be to estimate the future cost of entrepreneurial effort before sanctioning it.

As a former CEO of International Rectifier with a PhD in Applied Physics, Prof. Lidow is well qualified not only to put forth a thorough history of entrepreneurs, but also to highlight the lessons to be learned from their successes and failures throughout the centuries. He leaves the reader with a much clearer picture of what constitutes an entrepreneur, and what can be done to continue reaping the benefits of entrepreneurialism while minimizing the unwanted consequences. More than just an entertaining read, The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value is the beginning of a plan for encouraging good entrepreneurial efforts in the future.

Author Profile - Paul W. Smith - leader, educator, technologist, writer - has a lifelong interest in the countless ways that technology changes the course of our journey through life. In addition to being a regular contributor to NetworkDataPedia, he maintains the website Technology for the Journey and occasionally writes for Blogcritics. Paul has over 40 years of experience in research and advanced development for companies ranging from small startups to industry leaders. His other passion is teaching - he is a former Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Paul holds a doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.