After reading Sarah Gooding’s WPMU.org article, 7 Quick Strategies to Beef Up Your Security, we decided to take a look at our own WordPress settings here on the 318 Tech Journal.

Deleting the Default Admin User

Creating a new user with admin permissions, then logging in as that user and deleting the default “admin” account is great advice. Just make sure you assign all of the old admin users posts and links to the new account. Another caveat, if you are using the WPG2 plugin with a Gallery2 installation, make sure to remove the Gallery2 user links before deleting the old admin account.

Don’t Use the Default “wp_” Table Prefix

SQL injection attacks are very real, and this tip can help mitigate risk of infection. The WP Security Scan plug-in mentioned in the WPMU.org article has a built-in tool to help automate this change, but it can also lock you out of your dashboard. The trick is to make sure each user’s meta_key settings in the usermeta table match whatever prefix you choose:

wp_capabilities –> newprefix_capabilities
wp_usersettings –> newprefix_usersettings
wp_usersettingstime –> newprefix_usersettingstime
wp_user_level –> newprefix_user_level

Whitelisting Access to wp-admin by IP Address

This is typically done via .htaccess files and the AskApache Password Protection For WordPress plug-in mentioned in the WPMU.org article can help get the settings correct, although that plug-in has specific server requirements in order to run (it will run some tests for you to see if your server qualifies). If you do set this up, beware of dynamic IP address changes, which can lock you out in the future.

Other Items to Consider

• Consider using a local MySQL application like Sequel Pro or the command line mysql tools for database configuration instead of public web-facing tools like phpMyAdmin. If you do use PMA, you should lock down access as much as possible using .htaccess controls (or other methods).
• Tools like the WP Security Scan plug-in mentioned above or Donncha O Caoimh’s WordPress Exploit Scanner plug-in can help identify file permission issues in your WordPress setup.
• Using SSH/SFTP instead of FTP to access your server is always good advice, even when you are using whitelists.
• Stay up to date on both WordPress core files and all of your plug-ins.

318 is here to help you with all of your WordPress needs – call us today at 877.318.1318!

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We also have a number of sessions this year:

Hands-on Snow Leopard Server: Collaboration Services with Charles Edge
2/10 – 1:00PM to 3:00PM

Push: The Next Generation of Collaboration is Snow Leopard Server with Charles Edge
2/11 – 4:30PM to 6:00PM

Advanced Integration with Final Cut Server with Beau Hunter
2/12 – 3:30PM to 5:00PM

iPhone Mass Deployment with Zack Smith
2/13 – 2:30PM to 4:00PM

We hope to see you there!

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Want help integrating the iPad into your Enterprise? Let 318 know if you have interest with mass deployment, purchasing or development: our developers are on hand to work with you on commercial and enterprise applications as needed!

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Exchange 2007 has a lot of prerequisites that need to be installed before you can install Exchange 2007. Instead of going through a bunch of Wizards and using trial and error to make sure you have everything installed, you can set them up using a command line.

The first command that should be run is:

ServerManagerCmd -i PowerShell

This will install and configure everything that Exchange 2007 needs for PowerShell.

IIS has several components that need to be installed to use Exchange 2007. You can create a quick batch script that includes them all. The following commands need to be run:

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-ISAPI-Ext
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Digest-Auth
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-Auth
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Dyn-Compression

If you plan on using RPC over HTTP (Outlook Anywhere) you will need to run this command after all of the IIS commands have finished:

ServerManagerCmd -i RPC-over-HTTP-proxy

After running these commands you should be ready to run the actual setup files. When you run setup.exe you should see that everything before option 4. Is greyed out. Option 4. is what triggers the install. If anything has not finished look through the command lines to make sure no errors have shown up.

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The App is available on the App Store.

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First and foremost, granular ACL’s won’t translate completely. Secondly, although you might have effective write privileges via ACL’s, if you don’t have write privileges via POSIX, it will *look* like you don’t have privileges when you do an `ls` on the mounted NFS volume, however, if you try to read or write a file, it will work without issue. Poorly written software might inspect the POSIX permissions and determine that you don’t have access when you really do. Most software will attempt to read/write an asset and will report errors when encountered (as it should).  Lastly, ACL inheritance IS honored over NFS as well, so any files/dirs your users will create will have the appropriate ACL’s assigned on the backend, though displayed POSIX permissions once again won’t be especially accurate.

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- It features the ability to bind a variable number of finger clicks, taps, swipes, pinch and other gestures to functions like Middle Click , Hold Down Both Mouse Buttons , Spaces , Expose, Dashboard etc.
- Touch Sensitivity implements a single point control for a number of factors impacting the algorithms of the taps, swipes, pinche and other gestures.
- Tracking Speed adds the ability to increase the maximum mouse speed by a extra 200%.
- Also featured is a real-time display of the fingers touching the surface of the mouse that you can enable to test and monitor the way the mouse sees fingers.

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Beenverified.com has released a “free” app that allows you to run background checks right from your iPhone. While this isn’t a new idea, the app is well designed and you get three free searches a week. Since it’s just been released, you can only run one search at a time due to high server demand, but the searches are accurate and in-depth. It was able to produce not only basic information about those of us that have tried it, but also gave a complete histories of houses, including past owners, past occupants and the house’s current market value, amongst other things!

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http://mergebookmarks.sourceforge.net

Note: The script also looks at existing bookmarks and doesn’t merge in duplicates.

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1. Improved filesystem reliability
2. Improved cvfsck (the Xsan filesystem repair tool)
3. Resolves QuickTime reporting “invalid public movie atom found” on playback
4. Eliminates “An unknown disk has been inserted” message when mounting Xsan volumes (occurs in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard only)

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Developed by 318 Inc., ASR Setup Toll is an application for setting up Apple Software Restore (“ASR”). In the context of the ASR Setup Tool, ASR is used for setting up a multicast stream that can then be leveraged for imaging Mac OS X computers.

We hope you enjoy!

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sleep 3; screencapture -iw ~/Desktop/filename.png

When you run that full string as a command you’ll have 3 seconds after hitting enter to highlight your target window, at which point your cursor will switch to the photo in window selection mode. Alternatively, you can run:

sleep 3; screencapture -iwc

Which will capture the picture to the remote machines clipboard (and can then be copied via ARD, and opened in Preview (File->new from clipboard).

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The 1.5 version of the Google Apps connector for Blackberry has now been released. This update brings maturity, additional capacity and overall performance enhancements. But most importantly, it can be run on 64-bit operating systems. You can also now use BlackBerry Professional with the Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

If your organization is considering a move to Google Apps, contact 318 now and we can help to plan the transition; whether from Exchange or Lotus Notes or even good ‘ole postfix, 318 is here to help!

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You may want to check with Tech Support, but it appears the latest 10.5 drivers will work with 10.6

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But developing assets that can be leveraged to decrease Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for an organization is arguably a different beast. FAQs, knowledge base articles and pre-populated wiki entries are only the beginning to the self-servicing power that can be unleashed for your users. Concerned that you don’t have the deep technical backgrounds, the time to develop the required assets or the writing experience on staff, then let 318 work with you to develop a plan and assets that can be provided in a variety of means to meet the needs of your dynamically changing user base.

Contact 318 today for more on leveraging our experience to help you with your emerging zero asset needs.

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As Kerio 7 continues to move forward in development, we look forward to seeing how the other new features perform and work with our customers to develop strategies for the newly supported features. If you were thinking about Kerio, but the scalability was a barrier for you in the past, then contact us now and we can work with you to determine if Kerio is a good fit for your organization and if so, develop a strategy for integration!

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Mac OS X 10.6.2 Server is now available. This update represents a great step for environments that have either already made to, or are preparing/planning the upgrade to, Snow Leopard Server. In this update, Apple addresses the following issues (from Apple.com):

• adding and removing imported users in Server Preferences
• synchronizing Portable Home Directory content
• using iCal web interface within select time zones
• previewing and capturing dual-source video in Podcast Capture
• server-side filtering of incoming mail messages
• using chained digital certificates for mail services
• creating images with System Image Utility
• automating installation of NetRestore images
• preventing brute force password attacks
• using sudo command with authenticated Open Directory binding
• binding to Active Directory domains with invalid service records
• creation of mobile accounts for Active Directory users
• correcting a problem that would cause the Software Update cache to grow excessively

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• an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
• a graphics distortion in Safari Top Sites
• Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
• a problem that prevented authenticating as an administrative user
• issues when using NTFS and WebDAV file servers
• the reliability of menu extras
• an issue with the 4-finger swipe gesture
• an issue that causes Mail to quit unexpectedly when setting up an Exchange server Address Book becoming unresponsive when editing
• a problem adding images to contacts in Address Book
• an issue that prevented opening files downloaded from the Internet
• Safari plug-in reliability
• general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
• an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account

Mac OS X 10.6.2 represents Apple coming another step to making Snow Leopard ready for mass integration in most any environment. If you have not already done so, consider contacting your 318 representative now to start planning for your migration!

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Mail Archiva is an open source project aimed at bringing messaging archival to Microsoft Exchange, Zimbra, Mac OS X Server, Postfix, SendMail, IpSwitch, Axigen and a number of other messaging servers.

If you are in need of mail archival then feel free to reach out to us for more information on Mail Archiva today!

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Imagine all the infrastructure that can be repurposed, all the networking and message hygiene that you won’t have to do any more and most importantly, how happy the users will be. If your interest is peaked give 318 a call today and we’ll be happy to work with you on a strategy, whether it’s Google Apps, Microsoft Exchange, Zimbra, Mac OS X Server, etc – 318 is agnostic to the platform and here to help!

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vm_stat 5

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Happy upgrades and if you need any help, as always, feel free to call 318.

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The new Mac mini server comes with no optical drive, which is great because instead you get a pair of internal drives that can be setup in a RAID to protect your data! The server also comes with 802.11n, Ethernet and bluetooth – allowing a variety of uses.

Call 318 today for more information on this great new product from Apple!

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