I'm so bad

 I'm so bad at this. Well let's see, it is now 2021, I graduated a while ago. $.03 GPA thank you very much. I just got promoted at work, and am now a systems admin. Life is pretty good. Will try to be better about updating. no promises. 

Long time no see

Sorry I moved to Colorado, so I have been away for a while. Life is hectic at the moment but I shall be back soon enough.

Summer Term

So it is now Summer term. Sorry I have not been very active. So busy. Life has been so stressful. Still doing good in school, 3.89 gpa. This term may wreck that. I am convinced SQL is a tool of the devil. Really starting to hate that class.

So frustrated with it. Everything else has been good. Married life has been good too me, and I am happy to announce we have a bun in the oven. Due in February. After this term I have 6 more classes to get through. Two a term, way easier hopefully.

My first Youtube video,,

TAI CHI

I took Tai Chi this term, just to get my ass up and moving. I have not been able to make time to get to the gym (sleeping and studying keep getting in the way) and have been pretty sedentary thence I started going back to school. I took a few lessons a about 5 or 6 years ago and really enjoyed it. I have to say my only complaints about the college course is the room is a little small, and I wish the classes were longer, or more often. Really enjoying the class is basically what I am trying to say. I hope in the near future to be able to start taking classes at Oregon Tai Chi Wushu, my instructor speaks very highly of it.

Mid-Terms,,,,,,

Well Mid Terms have come, and so far so good,,,,,,I think. I have one more to go. Grades have not been posted yet but I feel like they went well, so far, and that's all that really matters right???

Well, I may feel differently once grades are posted, but till then I am living in the nice warm glow of self delusion.

Password Safety

So what have we learned this week,,,,I couldn't leave my blog at 13 posts

This week we covered how to steal all my information, (by making your e-mail look like it came from the school,)

 and that we will all die in a fiery nuclear holocaust thanks to Stuxnet. Happy World Domination!!

Stuxnet-Cyber Weapon or Misunderstood Digital Christmas Card?

So for those of you not in the loop, Stuxnet is a super virus, the first of it's kind cyber weapon. Found in industrial control systems of such things as nuclear power plants, air traffic control systems and many other key structures. What makes this virus so interesting is a few key facts that separate it from your run of the mill virus. It was made with a real security clearance, it's 20 times more complex then any known virus at the time, it has an array of capabilities, such as causing a nuclear plant to go into melt down all the while telling the operators everything was fine and it comes with a self-destruct feature among many other safeguards. It exploits multiple security gaps that the software creators are unaware of, often called zero-days, or 0-days. The virus originally targeted Siemens software by targeting Microsoft operating systems and networks then seeking out the Siemens Step7 software. There are 3 parts of Stuxnet, a worm that executes all routines related to the attack, a link file that automatically propagates copies of the worm, and a rootkit which hides all the malicious files and processes. Thence Stuxnet was first found, several similar programs have been discovered, such as Duqu, and Flame.

While no definitive person or group has been found guilty of creating Stuxnet many people believe it was a joint venture by Israel and the United States. It is believed to be the largest and costliest development effort in malware history, due to the team of programmers it needed to develop all the capabilities and the in-depth knowledge of the industrial processes. Documents from WikiLeaks and testimony from anonymous U.S. officials leave little doubt that both parties were involved. 

To make the world a better place Stuxnet is open source and free online for anyone to play with. Feel free to full fill your dreams of world domination by clicking here.

Frustrating Day

So one of my classes this term is "Internet in Depth" which is the reason I started this new blog. So far the class has been great, but at the same time incredibly frustrating. I am normally very non-trusting, cynical, and look for the worst in everyone. I know that's not the best outlook on life to have, and when I was younger I was quit the opposite. But life sticks it too you and you adapt and change. I have always been very skeptical of everything I see on the internet and love to punch holes in the lies and scams I come across. With this said, my professor has showed me my Achilles heal twice this term. I get fishing e-mails all the time, never fall for it, he sends me one and even though one part of my brain is screaming NO!!!!! I click on it anyways and enter my info. It's from the school, it has to be legit.

Dear Brian,

We are concerned that your Bobcat web account has been modified by an outside party.  In order for us to ensure that none of your classes will be cancelled (which could affect your financial status with the college) or other classes added, we need you to log in to your Bobcat account immediately and ensure that nothing has been changed.

COCC Bobcat Account Login

Please do this as soon as possible to ensure your classes continue as planned.

Thank you,

David Belluscini
Technology and Communications Coordinator
Central Oregon Community College

  Why oh why did I not listen to my bullshit detector? It was going off like mad, yet blindly I followed orders. Of course I am the type to stew on things so this is just eating at me, making it difficult to get my mind on task. Which is why I am blogging instead of doing homework. O.K. time to recite my mantra for a while, "don't trust anyone, don't trust anyone, don't trust anyone".