Practical Technology

for practical people.

March 22, 2010
by sjvn01
6 Comments

Windows 7, Security, and the Trusted Platform Module

Every Windows expert knows that the way to secure a hard drive in Windows 7 is to use BitLocker. To use that feature, though, you need either Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate. But, did you ever wonder how BitLocker manages to lock down data when so much of Windows is vulnerable to attacks? Here’s how Microsoft has managed to make BitLocker easily the most secure part of Windows.

Back in 2001, Microsoft began working on an encrypted security project called Palladium, which soon became known as Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB). While Microsoft has said hardly a word about NGSCB over the last few years, it’s clearly become the basis of Windows 7’s TPM (Trusted Platform Module). In turn, TPM is at the core of BitLocker.

In NGSCB everything on the computer, data and programs, can be encrypted. Only trusted processes can access disk storage, CPU memory space, and main memory. In practice, Microsoft has opted to only make NGSCB security available for BitLocker.

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March 19, 2010
by sjvn01
6 Comments

The New Ubuntu Linux’s five best features

The fothcoming version of Ubuntu Linux, Lucid Lynx, has just gone beta and it’s going to be the most important Ubuntu release in years. I say that not just because it brings numerous important changes to this most popular of Linux distributions but because Ubuntu 10.04 is the next LTS (Long Term Support) edition. As such, is going to be supported for paying desktop customers for the three years and for corporate server users for five years. In other words, this is the edition that’s going to make, or break, Ubuntu’s parent company Canonical’s business future.

And, what will this future look like? Based on my quick look at the beta, the main thrust of this re-design is to make it as friendly as possible to people who aren’t already Linux desktop users.

With that in mind, it should be no surprise that Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu, has been laying down the law on what going in Ubuntu 10.04. As Shuttleworth said in a discussion over some major changes in Ubuntu’s graphical design, “This is not a democracy. Good feedback, good data, are welcome. But, we are not voting on design decisions.” As my compadre Brian Proffitt pointed out in IT World, “Shuttleworth is in the right here. Ubuntu and a vast majority of free and open source software projects, including the Linux kernel, have never been democracies. They are meritocracies, and any member of a community that thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. ”

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March 19, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Don’t trust that Web Address!

It used to be e-mail spam, while annoying, wasn’t that harmful. Things have changed. During the last day I received e-mails promising that they contained news about March Madness; Sandra Bullock’s possibly misbehaving husband; and Michael Jackson’s estate making a deal for a mint of money. Every last one of them contained a link to Windows malware.

I know this because, running a Linux system, I could safely visit these bogus Websites and watch Windows malware smack on my PC like bugs on a windshield. Most users though, if they’d clicked on through these links, could have ended up with one or more of the latest and greatest of Windows viruses.

I find this more than a little disturbing. Yes, good anti-virus protection will stop most of the attackers. But, by the very nature of these ever-evolving threats, anti-virus software is always playing catch-up. Sooner or later, even if you’re religious about updating your anti-virus programs, something nasty is going to get through. If you’re lucky it will be something that’s easy to delete. If not, you may have to wipe your PC down to bare metal and reinstall everything.

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March 18, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Google and Linux are coming to your TV

In what may have been Google’s worst kept secret in years, the word is out. Google, along with its partners, Intel, Logitech, and Sony is on its way to delivering the Web to your television . And, what will they be using to do this? Why, they’ll be using Google’s Android Linux of course.

Android is an embedded Linux that Google has already been deploying in phones like its own Nexus One and Motorola’s Devour and Droid. Android was always more than just a smartphone operating system though. It’s also been used in netbooks and other devices. So, taking it to a TV set-box was an easy move for Google and its hardware friends.

In fact, Linux has long been a part of the TV set-box scene. TiVo, one of the first and some would argue still the best DVR (digital video recorder) uses Linux. Many other DVRs and TV set-top boxes use it as well.

The way it looks like this going to play out with Google TV is that Google will be supplying Android as well as Web content from both its own video sources, such as YouTube, and outside video sources. Here, we don’t know what’s Google is up to. But, let me just say that I would be a very, very happy guy if they’d let me get to Hulu, Netflix, and Revision 3 on my television.

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March 16, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Will Internet Explorer 9 be any safer?

You can download the next generation of Internet Explorer 9, but I really don’t recommend it unless you’re an expert at both Windows and Web browsers. I qualify on both those grounds — What? You think I only work on Linux? — So I took a quick peek at this so not-ready for prime time Web browser.

I can tell you that it works on Windows 7 and Vista and that it does an OK job at rendering Web pages. But, as far as the rest goes, I really can’t say much. As Dean Hachamovich, Microsoft’s IE team’s general manager indicated the IE 9 Platform Preview isn’t even finished, never-mind polished.

But, we also know what Microsoft intends for IE 9 and that tells us something. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say a lot for any Internet Explorer security improvements. First, Microsoft says that IE 9 will not be available on Windows XP. That’s because, to quote a Microsoft public relations representative, “Internet Explorer 9 requires the modern graphics and security underpinnings that have come since 2001, and is intended to be run on a modern operating system in order to build on the latest hardware and operating system innovations.”

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March 16, 2010
by sjvn01
5 Comments

Linux on the Cloud: IBM, Novell & Red Hat

Today, March 16th, has been filled with Linux and cloud news. Which is great, I guess, if you’re ready to trust your data to the cloud.

In case you don’t follow Linux as closely as I do, here’s the round-up. Red Hat and Novell have joined up with IBM to provide a new open cloud environment that goes by the unwieldy name Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud.

Besides running Linux, this new cloud service comes ready for work with more software partners then you can shake a stick at. The bottom line is that I don’t care what capability you want from your server farm, chances are you’ll find it already ready to go on IBM’s new Linux-powered cloud from either IBM itself, which is offering its full Lotus and WebSphere lines, or from one of its ISV (independent software vendor) partners. These services are scheduled to be made available in the second quarter of 2010 in The United States and Canada, and to roll out globally by year’s end.

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