A funny couple of things happened recently...

...and I thought that I'd share.  Mainly as I am just now teaching a Network+ course, and one of the topics in here is Security.  And in that, Social Engineering is seen as a risk, as is misdirection of information.

So here's me.

For the last year, I have been receiving email from a medical insurer in South Africa, for, well, me. Not me, me, but a guy there, born in a different month, 6 years before me. Yup, I know LOTS about him.  It's been kind of funny, but there is a very serious side to this misdirection of data. I have his bank details, the South African equivalent of his Social Security number. And I know his health history, and his wife’s.

Today, I wrote him a letter, and attached one of his health statements.  I hope that it reaches him, and that he takes action with his provider. But what's the lesson here? The lesson is, double check your details with any organisation that you have your financials with. Make sure that all those details are correct. I even did a double check of the handful I have today.  This was an innocent enough mistake on the face of it, but with the information that I have, it could have been a lot worse for this guy.

The second funny thing, was Gmail. So there is a lady in the US of A. She lost her job in RIDICULOUS circumstances and rather publically.  And I really felt for her, mainly because I have an innate sense of fairness. She writes rather well, and has a great sense of humour. I have been a Twitter follower of hers, since. We have never had email contact. We have never communicated outside of a few tweets on Twitter. Anyhow, I have her home number, and her personal email account, showing up in my Gmail phone concats. What the? I did a lookup on Google and some crazy Russian website showed me that it is in fact a US based number, down to state and town. The rest of the location I won't say.

Here the lesson is to make sure that whatever tools you're using on the internet, make sure they are locked to hide any private data. Check what services are sharing that information, and be very careful with the apps installed on your phone that say “We need access to your details here, and here.” And, where you can, avoid putting those private details online when registering on a website. It's amazing how much people are will to put online for some app or the other. With the current trend in fitness tracking that seems to be all the rage, through to online shopping, minimal is best. Hell, it might sound obvious, but pseudonyms can help a fair bit.

As a last one, PLEASE STOP using your email/password combo as the login/password combo on this that and every website! It's just plain silly.

Cheers,

Malc.

 

A re-boot of the blog

Been a while since I posted things, and I know that now it is time to really kick myself into gear.

This was an interesting week in the classroom..... the first 3 days were SQL 2014 query writing, and the last two days of the week was a Crystal Reports course. These two topics are so very close to each other, and yet with enough differences that you can really make a mess of things if you don't have your wits about you!

So anyway, what's been happening.  A whole lot, and I'll be turning this into a very regular posting from now on.
Here is the highlights package:

• Continuing running of the Wellington Windows Infrastructure and Azure Users Group
• Aquisition of a iPhone and Android for the furthering of my InTune learning
• Delivery of InTune user session to Singapore User Group
• Taking of, and learning SCCM
• Discovering new and exciting things in Azure and InTune
• Delivery of InTune session to CodeCamp Wellington

I'll fill in more details later, but in the next couple of weeks expect some writeups on the above, and new things to keep you interested.

Cheers,
Malc.

An intro to the blog.

 












Howdy all,



So I am Malcolm, usually called Malc (or other less savoury things), I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer, employed for the past 9 or so years by Auldhouse Computer Training Ltd.

I have a number of certs under my belt, and will update those as I go. My qualifications and interests in IT are quite varied, but always rock on back to a bit of a data bent.

With regards to the training I deliver, I believe the best results come from having a bit of fun while you train, and never be afraid to try something for the first time in front of a class.  It goes to show that things can work (or can go horribly wrong) in a "sterile" training lab environment, just as well as they can in the real world.

The idea behind this blog is to share some ideas and thoughts on what I do, be somewhat reflective on the previous week, or weeks courses that I have delivered, and hopefully give people a good laugh along the way.

Where I pick things up from other blogs and sites I'll link those too.  Knowledge shared means lightened workloads to me, and allows for greater progress in all things.

A few highlights, good for a chuckle, from the past few months.

• Sept 2013 - TechEd Exam Cram sessions delivered.  70-410, 70-411, 70-412
• Nov 2013 - Office 365 course, during which I demonstrated the Exchange Online feature of remote wiping data on a phone. I used my phone, and not knowing what to expect I assumed that I would simply remove the Office 365 connection to my phone. Next thing you know, my entire phone factory reset! Lesson learned, and a good laugh for the course.
• Dec 2013 - Microsoft Office 365 Road Show with Paul Bowkett of Microsoft. It was a hoot, and such a great guy to co-present with! We had a blast, and if you attended any of our sessions in Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch, THANKS! Paul's blog is here.
• Jan 2014 - Reset all Auldhouse Wellington classrooms, re cabled etc. Mint
• Jan 2014 - Decided to do a live Fail Over Cluster hot shut down with our classroom servers to demonstrate to a class just how effective it is.  Did a 5sec power button shutdown on cluster node 1, then brought it up again.  It took a second reboot, but life was peachy.  The class thought I was nuts to do it in our live environment, but the truth is, if you can't test DR while servers are under load (which wasn't too bad since only 3 courses that first week) then when can you? Ha!  

This week started with a Crystal Reports 2 day course, and Microsoft Course 6293 for the last three days. 

Well, that's all for now.  As the year winds on, and new things are found out and discovered, I'll be here writing my take on it.

Cheers,
Malc.