The Network Monitor

One of the more disheartening aspects of log collection within the Windows Operating system are the limited number of out of the box events related to security. It is often desirable to capture any unknown or malicious running processes, capture the source process for outbound connections, identify modifications to files and the registry, and to capture command and PowerShell commands that are run on a particular endpoint.  Luckily for systems administrators, Microsoft provides a great tool for this type of log capture within the SysInternals suite called system monitor, or Sysmon.

In 2019, cloud computing hasn’t just hit the mainstream, it is the mainstream. In fact, some experts are predicting that upwards of 80% of enterprise workloads will live in the cloud by 2020.

DevOps as a practice and philosophy includes the communication and teamwork between developers and IT operations. Traditionally, developers and operations are two very different teams who would point fingers when issues would arise with software. DevOps is an attempt to abolish this and has both teams work together. The business result of this is a more stable and reliable software to provide to customers.

IP address management software enables you to plan, track, and manage the IP addresses on your computer network. It ensures that you are aware of the inventory of assignable IP addresses.

Over the past week, news broke about a rogue device that had gone unnoticed on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) IT network. The fact that a Raspberry Pi went unnoticed for almost 10 months is a clear signal of network management issues and lackluster security policies in place within NASA, and other government agencies for that matter.

Working in a DevOps environment, agility is everything. That next release needs to get into production quickly, so even a minor network issue can hamper speed and efficiency.

As a previous sufferer of imposter syndrome, I understand what it's like to feel like you're living someone else's remarkable life doing what someone else should be doing; but not me.

Windows event logs are a tool that every cybersecurity and IT professional should have in his or her arsenal. They can be used locally for troubleshooting or centralized for network awareness. When utilized centrally, powerful software known as a Security Information Event Management (SIEM) can be utilized to parse and search log files. But what if you are working locally?  Is there an efficient method to do the same? You will find the answer to these questions lies in Microsoft’s most powerful tool belt, Microsoft PowerShell.

If you’ve ever said that or even thought it, then you know exactly how much fun taking inventory is. Or is not, rather. Every industry requires periodic asset inventory – that’s just a fact of life.

It’s been predicted for years that most computers will run in the cloud and your screen will be the only connection between you and the cloud. Does that mean the business infrastructures will matter anymore, and what does that mean for the future of network monitoring?

Improper configuration changes to a network—or even just one server on a network—can cause huge issues. They can degrade network performance, shut down key services, and even result in noncompliance with regulatory standards like SOX, PCI, HIPAA and FISMA. And they can compromise network security.

Often perceived as a precursor to Industry 4.0, the rollout of 5G, if the marketing is to be believed, will allow innovations that were previously restricted or unreliable due to lack of bandwidth. Speeds of up to 10Gbps are promised by telecom companies but since we have yet to experience real-life usage scenarios, this is mere speculation.

According to the SANS Institute, Port Scanning is one of the most popular techniques attackers use to discover services that they can exploit to break into systems. In this article, we will discuss some best practices you can employ to defend against attackers and prevent potential network breaches.

Your network is a living, breathing entity. Like a living body or an organic brain, it’s constantly moving things around and changing from moment to moment. Every single individual part is in continuous contact with and reacting to every other part. The job of your monitoring tool is to track all of this.

Many companies that never dreamed they’d be developing their own software are having to “roll their own.” Sometimes it’s an internal-use-only, as a custom layer over an existing platform like Salesforce, sometimes as a product they’re selling. This is what has driven the DevOps methodology over the past several years.

Monitoring bandwidth usage is a vital aspect of any network management strategy. Bandwidth monitors collect, monitor and analyze network traffic volume by end-point (user), port, interface and protocol (application). This information enables IT Admins to:

If you are a systems administrator or a security engineer, it is probable you have a requirement to filter and forward Windows event logs either directly or hierarchically. There are many alternatives available to accomplish this goal, one of which is Windows Event Forwarding (WEF).  In this article, you will learn to configure a simple source initiated WEF subscription which utilizes the HTTP protocol to forward events between a client and a collector in a single domain.

The World Wide Web’s 30^th birthday came and went this week, and though there was much to celebrate—just look how far we’ve gone since the days of America Online CDs and Yahoo! chat rooms— it also seems like the problems the Internet causes are beginning to outweigh the problems it solves.

Everyone and everything in our modern connected world uses bandwidth. The pipes are now far bigger than the old 56kbps dial-up speeds most of the world endured once upon a time, so bandwidth is usually not seen as an issue by the vast majority of network users. Well, not until there’s a problem, that is.

Company bandwidth usage has, for reasons other than expected growth, increased dramatically and continues to do so every year. Over time this usage is going to increase beyond your workforce's limitations, which poses an important challenge for IT teams.