IT Geeks start welding?

Geek Chic

Yes it true, MC Ware Group now includes a welding a steel manufacturing division in the name of http://mcware-mechanical.co.uk.  

Why?

Not a natural progression from programming and computer forensics I grant you but in actual fact our clients are the same for this business as they are for the long running IT business (1998 that’s nearly 200 years in Dog Years).  Subsea construction and offshore wind farm construction is where it’s at for us.  We now put the IT systems on the ships and manufacture the steel structures that make up the wind farms that the same ships lay on the ocean floor! Obvious isn’t it

All divisions have different ISO 9001 (UKAS of course) certificates so that means lots of lovely audits in the future! 

The fabricators and welders we have selected are superb and we are really proud to have them on board and will do our best to keep them warm and busy this winter.

We’ve also produced a safety induction video with the help of the lovely, ITV’s own Alex Watson and you can see this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZ8dJY2qiY.  No “back of a fag packet” business here.  As you would expect from a proud Geek of an owner I’ve put an amazing IT System in that tracks progress, safety stats, quality and full traceability of materials used and track our 200 weld procedures!

IT meets welding – what next Bare Knuckle fighting ballerinas?

E-Safety for Children

e-safety for Schools

E-safety for children.

 There is a ticking bomb that is going to go off and I suspect in the next 12 months there will be a whistle blower from a school IT Department who spills the beans on how hard it is to protect children from adult online content. It will send shockwaves throughout the country and will shock parents who will believe that there children are safely browsing the Internet at school. But E-Safety Policies should not lose sight of the fact that the Internet is a wonderful tool that will always be a part of the lives of the people who pass through the schools.

Am I taking a cheap shot at under funded School IT Departments – No, absolutely not as they are doing their best with the tools they have available to them. There are very effective tools and collaborations in place that in many cases are making best efforts to help. But here is the cruncher!

What do you think would happen if a forensic analysis was done across a school network that would report back independently to a governing body. The report would detail all web surfing trends and demonstrate all of the holes in the system. A report that showed all web activity of Teachers, Support Staff and Students.

Based on the E-Safety Experience so far of http://www.mcware.co.uk and http://www.hdforensics.co.uk the country will be shocked to the core. Can it be prevented with a strong E-Safety policy? No What is the best scenario? More and better education of Students, Support Staff and Teachers with a manned helpline for parents and teachers. Use a forensic company who understands the current trends in cybercrime and how unscrupulous companies deliver content. Talk to the private sector who spend much more than the education sector can afford E-Safety outsourced to an independent company who will not hide results and will be subject to independent regular and thorough audits. The battle being waged in Education is similar to Anti Virus companies fighting with hackers.

E-Safety Cat and Mouse – but by putting the right tools in place on the network you will have a much better chance of stemming the tide.

Jonathan

While I’m at it here is another Nostradamus prediction. The whole media world will be incredibly disappointed after Tony Blair gives evidence at the Iraq Inquiry on Friday. There is no way he is going to give anything away other that what has already been said by those before him. It will be like Alistair Campbell with a big smile. This inquiry has no teeth and resembles a parish council meeting to discuss refuge collection.

OK I agree that last sentence is not quite right, anyone who has ever been to a parish council meeting will know that Dog Fouling is always point one on the agenda.

E-Safety

HD Forensics E-Safety

E-Safety from MC Ware and HD Forensics

 Can the adults keep up with the kids?

 I’ve been studying this for a while now and following some extensive research I am convinced that the answer is no. I do agree that in many cases best efforts are in use but I’m not always sure that Schools have the funding to hire security professionals who are specialists in E-Safety.

Yes you have E-Safety Videos, Yes you have E-Safety Policies and you tick all the boxes but are you really studying the content filter logs? Are you keeping on top of the latest technology and the latest list of Proxy Servers? Are your users using remote access to get out or are they simply logging on to a Virtual Desktop? The answer may be that there is nothing you can do to stop someone who wants to get out of the control of the Network Admins and “Content Filter Police” but they do need to see first- hand the possible consequences of their actions. MC Ware solutions spot trends, keyword clouds, obfuscation and other known methods used in the corporate world.

E-Safety Services from http://www.mcware.co.uk and http://www.hdforensics.co.uk include E-Safety Assemblies at each School . E-Safety Parent Helpline. E-Safety – Train the Trainer sessions. We don’t rely on firewall logs we go straight to the Internet History

E-Safety Shameless Plug

Here is our new thing – trying to protect Children, Teachers and Parents from the dangers of browsing the web.

MC Ware delivers content filtering for the Education and Corporate Sector using a unique combination of the Sonicwall Premium Content Filter and a custom written Forensic Computing program (Big thanks to http://www.hdforensics.co.uk and Simon Mitchell) that studies the existing network for Internet Trends.

Security Manager Series (CSM), is an appliance-based gateway security and content filtering solution that integrates real-time gateway anti-virus, anti-spyware and intrusion prevention to deliver maximum network protection from today’s sophisticated Internet threats. While continuing to increase employee productivity, optimise network utilization and mitigate any legal liability. This unique solution integrates seamlessly behind any firewall, enabling companies of all sizes to upgrade their security without upgrading their firewall.

MC Ware Education Forensic Solution includes the following: –

Extraction
Auto Extraction via a custom written program that leaves no footprint whilst gathering all internet history from a network.

Education
MC Ware using it’s own staff of Law Enforcement professionals will help to train teachers, students and parents on the topic of “Using the E-Safety to protect students, staff and parents”

Reporting
MC Ware report to the designated person every six weeks for a project update and a briefing session on recent surfing trends on their network

Legitimate Sites Blocked
This can often be very frustrating and MC Ware offer a “local access” telephone number and will endeavour to unblock the site for the user or group within 5 minutes if approved for use. If the AUP of the individual school needs further authorisation then this will also be sought by MC ware

Google Keywords
MC ware reports include: –
Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo and many other search engine results. This lets us report on what is been searched for very quickly.

“Movers and shakers”
Our report will show movement in the hosts (URL’s)visited which often indicates a particular trend.

Hidden Browsing and Proxies
MC Ware subscribe to an update service that will block most proxy servers. Some proxy servers allow for anonymous browsing but our forensic software will let us know about all websites visited, by whom and at what time.  Our Forensic solution will find just about any proxy

Experience
MC ware and HD Forensics spend every single day protecting networks and network users from unwanted content. We keep up to date with the trends and we know how to report in clear lay terms allowing action to be taken quickly.  We are also heavily involved in the aftermath of these cases and know all of the signs to look for.

Update of Content Filters

Using our central command software we are able to update all content filters lists within a couple of minutes.

Advanced replacement of hardware
MC Ware will dispatch a replacement firewall same day and if you are based in the North East it will be hand delivered and installed “same day”

CRB Checked Engineers for E-Safety
All MC Ware engineers and HD Forensics examiners are “CRB Checked”

Home Access Program – Laptops for Home
MC Ware has a software solution that will transparently monitor web activity on laptops that are offered to children.
Infected PDF’s
We are seeing that more and more images and malware are getting delivered via PDF as most people seem to think these are safe to open. They are not but by combining our solutions we will be able to assist by blocking via our “reputation” filters and this helps the payload or malware from executing. Likely symptoms include: –
Starting a key logger program and sending everything you type back to a third party
Your machine may be set up as a “bot” to assist in distributing spam or malware around the Internet.
You may be allowing someone to remotely control your computers
Education Content Filter*
Education IT Services Provider
School Forensics
Two Way Content Filter
Education E-Safety Solutions*
E-Safety Consultants
E-Safety in schools*
Protect children on the Internet
Home access program*
E-safety*

We know that anything to do with Government tendering should normally be steered well clear of but in this case it would be crazy for us not to use the benefit of our Networking and Computer Forensics background to help with E-Safety in Schools.

Password Cracking from MC Ware

reset passwords

MC Ware now offer a unique password and encryption recovery service. Don’t worry there is nothing sinister in this, we are asked for this all of the time.

With over 190 file types supported we can recover or reset passwords in almost any situation including: –

Full scan of computer to find all password protected files
Reset of local admin password
Encryption cracking
Bitlocker cracking
Decryption attack
Domain Password Recovery
Website username and password recovery

Why would you need it?

Computer Forensics may need to quickly find password protected or encrypted files.
Employee data problems – An employee can encrypt files before they leave.
Domain Admins password recovery

Stokesley Motors Review

I’m going to go off topic here and tell you all about my experience this week with Stokesley Motors. I took my dear wife’s car in for a service and MOT. It is a Vauxhall Vectra Estate 2006 and this was the first test it has ever needed. My friend warned me about Stokesley Motors and said that they will try and sell you items that you don’t need. eg. One of his cars only does around 700 miles per year and they tried to replace the tyres. He mentioned to them that it will take around 10 years at current mileage before these would need changing. But I really like to buy locally……….

I dropped it off and waited for the call to tell me how much.

and it came……..

It needed a suspension spring (and they insisted on installing in pairs) and the exhaust was blowing and a hanger needed replacing. what was the cost I hear you ask?

I was told that only Vauxhall parts that could be used – for an exhaust – are you kidding me. £350. The springs over £400. No mention of the MOT Cost

I called another garage Charlie Taylor in Northallerton (01609 778228) and they will do everything including the MOT for £279 including VAT. When I called Stokesley Motors to tell them that I would not like the work doing the lady said “would you like me to take the quote back to the parts department and see if they can do anything?” Are you crazy? How stupid do you think I am.

Apparently someone called the office and left a message for me? More BS.

In the end I paid £195 and didn’t argue anymore as frankly I couldn’t wait to get out of the place before they picked my pockets.

Did I mention they charged me £60 to tell me why my airbag light was on?

My advice go elsewhere, if you can’t do not let them do any work until you have had a quote from another Garage.

Good Luck

Mr Angry IT from Stokesley

Computer Forensics and Cloud Computing

I can’t get excited about this term the cloud because as long as we have had networks we have had the cloud, even grandma with a Gmail account can be classed as “in the cloud” but I suspect she will be as unimpressed with the name as I am. Saving your data or holding your data on remote servers is nothing new.

From a Forensic Computing standpoint until there is full hosted desktop solutions available and more importantly used by more people nothing much will change. Forensic tools will still track user activity via Internet Explorer and your username and password to your hosted accounts will still be available to a determined investigator. At HD Forensics http://www.hdforensics.co.uk we have been addressing the issue of online storage for a long time and tools such as NA have great filters to help the investigator find links to online storage. The writer of NA or Netanalysis is Mr Craig Wilson and without his product my investigations would take twice the time.

MC Ware http://www.mcware.co.uk expect the take up of online desktop products from vmware and citrix to increase by 25% in 2010 for our customer base.

Computer Expert Witness

Earlier in the year we dealt with a major case for the defence that dealt with the dreaded virus defence. The computer was riddled with malware and the main culprit was a DNS changer that was pointing this guys searches all over the place.
We were able to demonstrate using Liveview and VMWARE exactly how his browser was behaving and with a little help from Sunbelt in the US (morale support during a tough time) we found the smoking gun.
The Virus Defence has been successful very few times and in fact I was only able to find one other case. All readers of this blog must beware how images can end up in temporary internet files without your knowing. If you have saved them, previewed then or even put them on CD then you should pack your toothbrush and get ready for a stay at her majesties pleasure.
If you are under investigation at work or as part of a criminal investigation and you believe that malware or viruses are to blame for files found on your computer then contact http://www.hdforensics.co.uk or http://www.mcware.co.uk

Fraud Prevention Suggestion for Online Merchants

Fraud Prevention Suggestion for Online Merchants

Last week I took delivery of a treadmill.  Two young kids and a cold winter means that I can’t hit the roads for a while yet and sitting in front of a PC writing this blog whilst eating anything that comes my way is not helping my waistline.

When the guy delivered it I asked how his online sales were going.  He said every order that comes in creates a headache and a whole load of worry.  He has been scammed so many times with stolen credit cards and now he can smell a rat after asking the right questions.  But he couldn’t get his head around why the Police were not interested even though he knew the transaction was fraudulent, he knew where it was going to be delivered so why didn’t someone just go with the delivery and arrest them.

If only it was that simple.  Firstly the Police are no longer interested and would prefer to pass this over to the banks to deal with.  Secondly the chances are that the person who signs for the goods has no idea what the scam is and the transaction will not be traced to them.

A third party robust manual check system is needed and I’m sure the merchants wouldn’t mind paying their bit.  The credit card company needs to ring the cardholder, if the purchase is over a certain amount or if requested by the merchant.

If your products are only low value items you are already paying a high price and it’s likely that you are already paying plenty in merchant charges and allow for this shrinkage,  however painful in your numbers.

I would love to hear of any other fraud prevention suggestions. We have posted an fraud prevention section on http://www.mcware.co.uk and http://www.hdforensics.co.uk can also help with anti fraud advice.

Digital Marketing – Do you have an empty shop?

So you got a call offering you a website for a couple of hundred pounds and you are now selling products and promoting your business online – woo hoo.  I’m afraid you may as well open up a retail outlet on a boat floating in the middle of the north sea because nobody will see you and they certainly won’t buy your products.  Why – because they won’t find you.  Putting a website online is the easy bit getting people through the imaginary door and keeping them there is the tough bit.  But don’t despair your tiny first step is at least a start.  Here is what to do next: –

1 – Start filling the site with useful interesting content including lots of keywords.

2 – Blog blog and blog some more

3 – Set aside time to create content for the site.

4 – Write about your site on your social media sites

5 – Search for your business on google using keywords.  This will tale you to bulletin boards where people may be asking how to get hold of your products?  Let them know and create a link back to your site.

6 – Create online press releases and launches – don’t make the boring like so many others.  Make them different.

7 – Create digital videos and images explaining your products

8 – Regular newsletters.  Sample these first using a product like dotmailer to see how many are actually hitting the target.

9 – Outsource your blogging and link building to http://www.mcware.co.uk

I know what you are thinking.  How the hell I am supposed to get time to do that.  Here comes the shameless plug bit http://www.mcware.co.uk we’ll do it for you.

You do what you’re good at and we’ll do what we’re superb at.