We had a number of odd discussions, one of which referred to password policies. I promised to provide a list of links that contain general password policy guidelines. Here are several:

• http://riit.smeal.psu.edu/privacy-and-security-policies/pwdpolicy.pdf
• http://www.psc.edu/general/policies/passwords/
• http://policies.lakeheadu.ca/policy.php?pid=168
• http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/computing/security/password/passwordpolicy.htm
• http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v2r1/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.itame.doc_6.0/rev/am60_cmdref194.htm
• http://www.pueblo.us/documents/Policies/PasswordPolicy0106.pdf
• http://www.securitydocs.com/pdf/3410.PDF
• http://www.usm.edu/infosec/pw-policy.php

I suspect that if you look through these, you will find that there is a common core of items that make the most sense.

I was to also provide a link to that video I showed. The location is: http://www.toolsfortheclassroom.com/

It looks like I have not bothered with a blog entry since March.

A lot can happen in 6 months…

• Data center closure
• Legacy migrations to a new datacenter
• Server consolidation
• Learning more than I wanted to about VMware
• NetApp configuration and testing
• Taking on a management role
• Having input in setting portions of corporate direction
• Hiring staff (all one so far)
• Vacation
• Family crisis (yeah, the fun never ends)
• and lots more…

It’s been a roller coaster.

That’s election week for those who can’t count, as well as Thanksgiving week.

Topics:

• RT and interfacing to exchange and procmail
• Ontario Linux Fest
• HTCIA case study
• What to do with old computers
• Maybe some switches avaialable for those who show up?
• Other groups in the region

The meeting for this month was punted out to the 31, due to scheduling conflicts and OLS. No special topics, but I did run across another distribution that is supposed to work with the firebox II units I gave away a while ago. I’m going to try to set up one of the “alternate” models with that and if it works, do another session on it.

Another hot topic which has reared it’s ugly head last week is the DNS vulnerability to cache poisoning. More info is at Dan Kaminsky’s blog and securosis.com if you want to read up on it.

We had an odd meeting, one might even say eclectic tonight. There was no formal agenda, other than a request to chat about the Canadian copyright Bill that has been tabled. More on that later.

There was a short discussion on ISPs and the methods they appear to use to encourage legacy clients from acquisitions to find greener pastures. There is a consensus that the NCF as an ISP is the right way to go. For people looking for an alternative, techsavvy is also available. These are useful to the more technically inclined. for those who don’t care or don’t want to know the difference, rogers or sympatico will probably suit you just fine. For those who want to know, I have located a Canadian hosting provider, Canadian Webhosting Canada who’s data center is located in Vancouver. The prices are reasonable, slightly higher than the American ones. There is also Blacksun out of Saskatoon.