Facebook SSL Rolling Out

First, I apologize for not posting to this blog in the past year it seams. I have been moving quite a bit of my daily blogging, internet posting, over to Twitter. I have decided to make atleast a monthly entry here covering IT security, virtualization, or some other IT Infrastructure related topic.

Today, I wanted to let folks know that the new HTTPS Security feature in Facebook appears to be rolling out today. At about 2:00pm EST I was able to enable HTTPS browsing for Facebook whenever possible. Why is this important? Well, unless you have been sleeping under a rock you have heard of the released firefox plugin called firesheep. Now, the information gathering that firesheep is now doing, is not new. It is however new that a utility like this can be downloaded and ran by Joe User with very little effort. Through this utility, an average computer user sitting on an unencrypted wifi hotspot, or somewhere upstream of your internet connection can easily sniff and and gain access to your login credentials to various social networking and other non-https sites.

As facebook rolls this option out, it will be available to you under Account - Account Settings - Account Security Settings.

All you have to do is check the box, and click save. This will then force Facebook to use HTTPS where ever possible. Please understand that this may BREAK a few apps that you use within facebook. I would suggest not using those apps going forward, however you can go in and uncheck the box to use those apps, and then simply check the box again to turn it back on. Your information will then be vulnerable once again while the box is unchecked, and you are using these insecure apps.

Good Luck

Lent - Day 1

It's that time of year again. Time to focus on reconciling with God, and bettering myself through alms giving. This year I am attempting to give up all fried foods. This is a major undertaking for me, but I think one that could be well worth it. I was able to attend the 8:30am school mass. It was pretty neat seeing my son sitting in the pew with his older prayer buddy assisting him through the mass. What do you know, he can behave through an entire time at church :)

Droid Info

Great Motorola Droid Site

http://www.droidforums.net

Using Exchange 2007 with Android?

If you have IT Security issues with the inability to use remote wipe with the built in ActiveSync client that Android OS ships with, I think I have found the answer. There are a couple of different applications out there that can do the job. First is Good Technology. They have a very solid product, but it is very pricey. I have chosen to go with Touchdown, by Nitrodesk. It rocks. It supports all of the features that IT security required for me to be able to use the device to sync with corporate servers.

Is Android 2.1 coming to the Droid?

I don't know. There haven't been any official notices. My guess is yes, as the new Google Nexus One has 2.1, and several hacked 2.1 ROMS have surfaced that can run on a Droid, or even a G1. Hopefully soon an offical 2.1 image for the Droid will be released.

iPhone vs Droid

I now have both phones. This isn't a totally fair comparison, as I have a NEW Moto Droid, and a 1st Generation iPhone.

The iPhone is definitely a great phone, that redefined what should be expected from a smartphone over the last couple of years. The apps that are available are excellent. The usability of the device is incredible. The interface is Apple shiny smooth. The call quality is decent, and the media capabilities of the device are unmatched. The exchange integration is mediocre at best, and the first generation's lack of hardware encryption makes it almost useless to any corporate user due to prevalent mobile device security policies of the day. Where this phone fails, is the network. Yes, my phone isn't 3G. It doesn't matter. AT&T 3G coverage in my area is spotty at best. Why would I upgrade to pay $10 more a month, lose my text messages, and get the same data speeds?

The Motorola Droid on the other hand is almost the opposite of the iPhone. The Droid runs Android 2.0. I am very impressed with the Android OS. It does a lot of things extremely well. It also fully supports Google Voice, which I use almost all the time for inbound call screening. The best part of the Droid is it's network. The Verizon 3G network has yet to let me down in the many, many places that I have taken it. The corporate email is still lacking, as it doesn't have a full implementation of ActiveSync. No remote wipe, etc.

To get around the corporate issues, both of these phones are supported by Good Technology.

So, the deciding factor for me on this, is the network. AT&T is totally spotty when it comes to 3G. You can't dual task on the phone in Edge mode. My suggestion, get a droid and an iPod touch.

Erik Buell moving on To EBR

Erik Buell's last day with Buell Motorcycle company will be November 30th. From then on, he will be founding Erik Buell Racing. This new venture will manufacture, support, and develop race parts for the 1125R based race only bikes under license from Harley Davidson.

What does this mean? Well, hopefully we will still have an American made bike that is a real contender in the AMA DSB and Superbike classes. I know that many of us are happy for Danny Eslick, and Team RMR. However, there decision to move to Suzuki's is troubling. Yes, Danny earned the #1 plate last year, but the Suziki he will be riding this year, sure didn't.

Who is going to be riding a Buell next year? Not too sure at this moment in the previously mentioned classes, however we know that the James Gang, and several other privateer Buell teams will more than likely compete again next year.

Go Buell Racing!

Eslick and RMR receive the #1 Plate for Daytona Sportbike

Snow Leopard - 30 day Review

Well, it's been a few weeks since Snow Leopard was released publicly. I purchased my copy in advance, and had it ready to install on the 28th. There is only one problem. Not many vendors were ready to support their software on it. Normally, i would just take the plunge, and give it a try, but not this time. I utilize PGP's WDE product. It isn't supported under Snow Leopard. Sure, I could just decrypt, and run without it, but in my mind the risks are too great. Without a bootup password on Apple products, WDE is my only defense when it comes to protecting my data in the event it is stolen.

I can't wait much longer :) I am an Entourage user, and totally hate it. It's the worst app by far. I am really looking forward to Apple Mail / Calendar integration with Exchange!

Never Forget

I hear quite a few folks saying, "It's been 8 years, move on."

I don't get it. How do you just move on? Would you say the same thing to those folks who lost loved ones on December 7th, 1941? Sure, not everyone is still feeling the lasting long term effects, but some are, and will forever. I don't see a problem with paying respect for those innocent folks whose lives were taken 8 years ago today.

God Bless America.

Marine Corps Bans Twitter, Facebook

RIP - Farrah

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30072275/?GT1=43001