Archive for the ‘google’ Category
VPN Server for Windows
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
A VPN (or Virtual Private Connection) allows the connectivity of remote users to the organizational network. By means of a secure, encrypted “tunnel” to the private network, a user is able to dial into a server and become a member of that network, as if that user was directly linked to the network itself.
Although VPN servers for windows are considered as an extension of a private network, in reality they are nothing close to the equivalent of a private network. This is so because you can’t compare physically connected devices in a closed environment to a remote connection.
Some advantages of a Windows VPN Server are as follows:
- Expensive long distance leased lines are not required, thus lowering costs
- Compared with alternatives, it is relatively easy to setup on both the client and server side
- Flexibilty; for the simple reason that you can connect to a VPN server for windows from anywhere in the world that has internet access.
However, it does have a couple of disadvantages, namely:
- If a fast and reliable internet connection is not available then the performance of the VPN connection can be negatively effected. Unfortunately, this is something out of the organization’s control
- Due to all the encryption that takes place, although compressed, one may notice a slight decrease in speed.
A VPN is composed of two parts:
The VPN Server for windows is the machine that accepts VPN connections from VPN clients. A windows vpn server provides remote access connections or router-to-router VPN connections. In Windows 2003, this can be setup from the RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Server) Administrative Tool.
VPN Client
The VPN Client can be the remote user who wishes to connect to the VPN Server to establish a session on the network. The interface required by the VPN Client can be that of a dial-in modem or a dedicated connection to the internet (ADSL for example).
The diagram below illustrates the basic anatomy of a typical VPN connection.
The cloud in the middle signifies the public intranet, which in the case of a dedicated connection to the internet interface, the VPN client uses to connect to the server.
windowsnetworking.com
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Google Whacked by Hack Attack
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
When a multibillion-dollar corporation gets quietly and spectacularly hacked, the last thing you expect it to do is announce the breach to the world. Yet that’s exactly what Google did last January after discovering hackers had breezed past its security measures to burrow deep into its network.
The well-coordinated attack, dubbed Operation Aurora, began with an instant message to a Google employee in China that included a link to a malicious Web site. When the employee clicked on the link, the nefarious code downloaded to a computer, enabling the attackers to control it and hop to other machines in the company’s U.S. network. e intruders accessed a software repository used by Google developers, siphoned intellectual property, and viewed basic Gmail account information for at least two human rights activists who focus on China.
No fewer than 27 other companies— financial institutions and defense contractors among them—were also attacked, but most remained mum. Google went public in part to counter the silence of its fellow victims. Google cofounder Sergey Brin said in February that “if more companies were to come forward with respect to these sorts of security incidents and issues, I think we would all be safer.” Google’s admission made other companies realize the sophistication of the attacks they might face, says Alan Paller, director of research at the sans Institute, which trains computer security professionals.
Although determining the precise source of a hack is often impossible, fingers pointed at China as the likely origin, sparking a volley of political posturing from Beijing, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C. In its blog post reporting the cyber attack, Google announced it would stop censoring search results in China and threatened to pull out of the country entirely. In the end, the company only added a link to its Chinese search page, allowing users to view uncensored results through its Hong Kong-based search engine, Kim Zetter