OpenBSD Laptop mini-HOWTO

Awhile back I wanted a fully supported laptop to use as my OpenBSD development machine. I ended up with a Lenovo u150 which has worked out great and the price was right. Along the way of setting it up, I have learned a few tricks to get OpenBSD purring on it. Wanted to share for those who come after me… ...

March 27, 2011 · 2 min · Nick

Color App and the future of GPS Spoofing

Google News is full of articles on the pro’s and con’s of the new application, Color. Overall it is a pretty dumb application if you ask me, but it does show that the onslaught of “hyper local” social networks is coming soon. What started as a way to actually test the Color app showcased how much fun it would be to check-in to places. Steps to GPS spoof: ...

March 26, 2011 · 1 min · Nick

FrontPoint and Alarm.com – The Digital Security Eval

Most of the folks using the GE Simon XT for their home security systems are amazed that they can use their Android, iPhone, or Blackberry to remotely lock their homes. I was curious as to what was actually being passed. I loaded my OpenWRT router with tcpdump and did some basic dumps on a br0 interface to see what all was being passed. A few quick points: ...

March 18, 2011 · 3 min · Nick

Why is my /dev/sda missing?!?!

I am in the midst of testing some of the latest Linux kernels and realized that my old kernel config was wiped. In my desire to finish the build I forgot to select a VERY important option if you are using dm-crypt and LUKS. If you cannot access your /boot then there is no way to upgrade your kernel. Chicken and egg issue. Another issue maybe that you lost your /dev/sda1 or other nodes due to udev overtaking. Here is the fix in the situation: ...

March 12, 2011 · 1 min · Nick

Debian Server vs. Ubuntu Server

Lately I have had a few requests for my thoughts on using Ubuntu Server. For me the real question at that point is why use Ubuntu server over Debian? ———- I have used Ubuntu server a good bit and while I appreciate the effort, I am not sure I agree with it. What I mean by this is that Ubuntu is based on Debian testing/unstable. Every LTS (Long-term Support) release is guaranteed to be supported for 3 years on the desktop/5 for the server. Knowing that is in essence just Debian under the hood, why go with Ubuntu? ...

March 11, 2011 · 4 min · Nick