EB Security Technical Implementation Guide

Each year thousands of people are caught off guard by Winter storms. Again this year many more thousands will spend days and possibly even weeks without power due to the aftermath of a Winter storm. Following these few easy steps and preparing before a storm hits will help you and your family come through these storms alive and well.

Stock Up On Necessities

You should have several cases of drinking water on hand. This is water that should be stashed away in case of emergencies, not the drinking water you drink day in day out.

You should have other items on hand like canned food, flashlights, battery operated radio,batteries, etc.

Winterize You Home

If you didn’t get out and caulk you windows and doors, now is a good time. Sealing up those minute air leaks can lead to big energy savings. If the power goes out, you’ll be fighting hard to keep every bit of heat you can inside your home.

Wrap your pipes in insulation or a heat tape. If you haven’t done this in a while, check the insulation and make sure it’s still in good shape. Many people who live in homes with crawlspaces are surprised to find that rodents have chewed off all their pipe insulation. The same goes if your pipes are in the attic.

Keep rain gutters cleaned. You don’t want snow thawing and filling them up and then freezing again after sundown. This will allow snow to build up onto your roof. Then, when it thaws, the water will back up under your shingles. You might even want to look into gutter warmers.

Consider Having An Alternative Heat Source

A simple wood burning stove installed in your home, or garage even, may be the difference between riding out a Winter storm in style or wondering if you’re going to make it out of it. Firewood is fairly cheap and you don’t have to worry about it not working if the power goes out.

Pellet burning fireplaces are becoming popular in Northern States. These may be just right for a fireplace that is rarely used or kept around for emegencies.

Kerosene heaters are very popular. Make sure you have ample amount of kerosene safely stored outside the home. Follow all safety instructions and have working carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in your home.

Beware of Overexerting Yourself

How many people do we hear about dying from heat attacks while they shoveled snow? Many.

Winter can put added stress on your body. Take it easy, drink plenty of water – yes – water. Dress in layers and if you start to sweat heavily, slow down and take a few layers off. Cool down slowly!

With a little bit of preparedness you and your family can make it through any Winter storm. It’s how you prepare for such emergencies that counts.

Donald Lawson is the tool guru at http://www.tool-deals.com You can find more information about Winter preparedness along with Winter safety tips and advice at Winter Safety Tips

[tags]winter, winter safety tips, winter storm preparedness, home maintenance during the winter[/tags]

Imagine a car equipped with nothing more than a laptop computer, a portable GPS receiver, and a wireless network card slowly strolls through your neighborhood. Unknown to any onlookers, this is no ordinary vehicle; rather, it is a wardriving machine. As the car strolls past homes and businesses, a wireless network card (available at any electronics store for as low as $25) scans for any wireless access points. Anyone with a wireless network (and there are many out there) is vulnerable. The computer is looking for what is called an SSID. An SSID is your wireless network name and it is being constantly transmitted by your access point, letting computers know of its presence. The wardriver uses software such as Netstumbler (for windows) or Cismet (for linux) to scan the airwaves for SSIDs. The program can track various access points at once and monitor the signal strength. These programs can also check to see if the network is encrypted. The wardriver will generally configure his or her software to log any strong unencrypted signals. Using the GPS receiver, the coordinates of the strong signal will be recorded. After this preliminary drive, the wardriver can return to the locations that were recorded, and connect to the access point. Once connected to an unencrypted network, the wardriver can use the victim’s internet access, and can also explore computers on the network. If files are being shared within someone’s private network, all of that information is susceptible to a wardriver. Furthermore, once in the network, a wardriver can sniff network traffic and can view any information such as passwords and credit card numbers you send out to the internet – even SSL secured data. Wireless network vulnerability is a major problem, and as more and more households purchase wireless technology, the problem of insecure networks increases. Sound scary? Well this happens every day, and it doesn’t take an expert to pull off. It doesn’t take an expert to protect against either, however.

Steps you can take to protect against wardrivers:

There are a number of very simple steps you can take to protect your wireless network. For many of these, you will have to access your router configuration utility (check your manual on how to do this, you will generally need to type an IP address into your browser such as 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).

Don’t broadcast your SSID. If you are broadcasting your SSID, this is the first thing a program will pickup and recognize. If you configure your router to not broadcast your SSID, it will be difficult to detect (but not impossible, for some software can sniff wireless communication, so if you are using your wireless network, the SSID can be revealed). If you are not broadcasting your SSID, but it can be guessed (such as if you are using a default SSID), cloaking is pointless. Due to this, remember to change your SSID from the factory default. This is not a 100 percent effective method to secure your network, but it is a good first line of defense.

Change the default password. When you buy a router, a factory password is stored. People experienced in working with routers know the default passwords for different routers (and the make of the router can be seen by wardriver software such as netstumbler). It is important that you secure your router with a good password.

Encrypt your wireless communication. I can’t stress the importance of encrypting your wireless communication enough. Enable encryption and enter a key. Most routers are only capable of WEP encryption, but if they permit, use EAP encryption, it’s more secure than WEP. Like cloaking your SSID, encryption is not 100 percent secure. Given enough time and determination, if someone wants to target you and access your network, WEP encryption can be bypassed using software such as AirSnort.

Filter the MAC addresses that are allowed to connect to your router. This would require that you enter your router configuration and input the MAC address of each wireless card you have. This will restrict access so that only your computers can connect to the router. You will need to obtain the MAC address (which is the individual identification address of a network card in the form a 12 digit hexadecimal number). If someone sniffs traffic and detects the MAC address of a computer wirelessly using your network, the wardriver could emulate that address and connect to the router, but this takes time.

If you configure file sharing on your computers, make sure it is password protected. You should not share files on your networked computers unless it requires an authenticated user to access. Set up the same user accounts on your machines so that your computers can share files.

With these relatively simple steps, wireless network users can secure their networks from wardrivers. Wireless networks are inherently insecure, and these tips will merely help you greater secure your network. If someone is really determined to gain access to your network, given enough time, a good hacker can get access. These tips will deter the average wardriver from gaining access to your network, however. Although these methods are not definite security measures, they will change your network from being something that can be hacked in a matter of seconds, to something that will take a determined hacker days if not weeks of work, all of which will have to be done while in close proximity to your network.

The author is a network security veteran, and CEO of Andertec Enterprises http://www.andertec.com, which specializes in onsite custom computer services for the Los Angeles area. Andertec also sells custom made-to-order computer systems, and has a line of revolutionary products at incredibly low prices including the best-selling CyberHome Complete home automation package.

[tags]network security, wifi, 802.11b, wep, andertec, ssid, encryption[/tags]

WHAT’S WITH PEOPLE, ANYWAY?

Even though the warnings about unproteced internet use are everywhere, most people don’t listen until it’s too late!

This past month, the nightly news has been full of items about the dangers lurking on the internet. No matter where you go- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, the nightmare stories have been blasted out at us.

Yet for all that, people keep getting hurt. They end up with their ID being stolen, their credit cards being used, even their social security number being used for criminal purposes, and all they can ask is, “How did this ever happen to me?”

Well, how DID it happen?
Simple: They didn’t listen to the warnings!

“I DON’T LISTEN TO THE BAD NEWS”

In several online groups I keep tabs on, the subject of the London Bombings of July 7, 2005 was raised. The question was, “What is your take on these bombings, and how do you think it will affect your life?”.

Nearly 95% of all the responses were, “Oh, I don’t listen to any bad news. I would rather turn off the tv than hear about all the bad things going on in the world.”

These same people are the ones who are so easily victimized by online criminals. If they aren’t listening to the bad news on tv, neither are they listening to the bad news on the internet!
It would be stupid if it weren’t so tragic!

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE!

There is no way we, as users of the world wide web, can defend ourselves against the criminal element, unless we are aware of what they are doing! The number one strategy of all successful coaches is , “The best offense is a good defense!”. A good defense will win more games than an offense, because it prevents the other team from doing what it wants to do, which is score.

The criminal element on the internet wants to “score”, too. But their score doesn’t just cost a game- it can ruin your life! It can put you so far behind the eight ball, you’ll never get over it.

DOES 40 MILLION IDENTITY THEFTS MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?”

It should!
So far this year, more than 40 millions identities have been stolen! The majority of these thefts have come FROM THE INTERNET.

These criminals are successful just because people don’t listen! “Success” – even this kind of criminal success – simply breeds more success. The criminals are getting bolder all the time, and having more success, because they know people aren’t paying attention to what’s going on out there!

Will you be their next victim?

WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, WE ARE IN A WAR!

It may sound trite, but it’s true. There is a battle going on online between “us” and “them”. So far, “them” seem to be winning, because “us” aren’t taking it seriously enough to wage
all out war against them. And all out war is the only way we’re ever going to win this thing!

Any good military leader will tell you the best way to defeat your enemy is by first getting to know them. Once you know them, you can take action to counter any moves they make.

Takebacktheinternet.com, will help you get to know them. It will give you a lot of good advice on how to win this war. It also offers software solutions. But it’s no good if you don’t DO anything. We can never win by sitting still and doing nothing.

I think it was General Patton who said, “No war is ever won in a foxhole!” If you just sit in that foxhole, you are simply waiting for the enemy to come looking for you! The only way to win this war is by taking action. Start doing something!

Otherwise, I’ll just have to keep asking the question, “Why don’t most people listen?”, until they DO listen!

David Hallett
http://www.TakeBackTheInternet.com

For several years we have been promoting internet security through articles, ezines, and our web site. Our goal is to keep people informed and give them the tools to use the internet safely and securely.

[tags]internet safety,internet protection[/tags]

Finding a stable and secure income that will come year in, year out, no matter what happens on the farm, will give you real peace of mind. By investing off farm, you are not only providing a secure income now, but also preparing for retirement. This IS attainable by all levels of income earners and people of all ages.

I am a farmer’s wife and have lived through some good and bad seasons on the farm. If farming was all about money, then we wouldn’t still be here. Most of us farmers genuinely LOVE the lifestyle that farming brings.

However, being a ‘city girl’ and marrying a farmer, I struggle with the insecurity and irregularity of income. These days, you’d have to be a top financial professional to get it right 100% of the time. Some years we seem to have plenty of money and other we’re in debt before we even start paying for seeding expenses (and that doesn’t even include the tax due!). Does this sound familiar?

Well, I’ve got some great news for you. I have discovered a way that provides a regular income that is not affected by the rainfall! My husband and I have been investing in real estate now for a couple of years and have found that even in bad times, we still have that income to fall back on. This brings real ‘peace of mind.’ Trust me, it’s really not as hard or as expensive, as it sounds, and we as farmers have an extra huge benefit that we can take advantage of, and that is – the fluctuating seasons and income! (I bet that’s a surprise!)

Firstly, real estate investing builds not only income for now (assuming you buy cash flow positive properties), but will also prepare you for a comfortable retirement. As a bonus, you also get the capital increase (real estate is said to double in value every 7-10 years approximately), as well as tax advantages. And if this isn’t enough, then you can also use other people’s money to acquire it and pay it off.

Sounds like a winner all around, don’t you think?

Not convinced yet?

Well, how could we use our fluctuating income to our advantage? As farmers, on a good year we could put money in a ‘mortgage offset account’ or just pay extra off the loan. This would reduce your interest payments. In a bad year, you can redraw the extra equity you have in the property, or properties. This investment vehicle can be used totally to your advantage (check with your accountant or tax advisor though).

I really could go on for ages about this brilliant opportunity because I am so passionate about it and it has been our saving grace over the last couple of years as well as having comfort in knowing that we’re planning for a secure financial future.

I really hope you have got some benefit out of this article, at least be inspired to check it out further. Good luck in your enterprises, whatever you do, and I hope that this year is a great one for you!

Mandy Nield is a recognised authority on the subject of investing. Whether you are a fully experienced master craftsman or a raw apprentice, you will learn exciting and achievable ways to improve your saving and invest profitably in real estate, to secure a financial future.

http://www.anyonecaninvest.com

[tags]off farm income,retirement,cash flow,farming,farmers,security,retire,investing,invest,investment[/tags]