While remote access solutions have given us a unique way to access our networks and applications -- and provide a new level of worker productivity -- these solutions can inadvertently provide hackers a portal to your entire network if the security features are compromised.

This is especially true now that the mobile workforce has become a reality for organizations across all industries, and the ubiquitousness of the Internet is fueling more cost effective remote solutions, the security perimeter is anywhere your employees can hang their hats.

The latest white paper, "Like Stealing Candy: Recent Security Threats Leave Passwords in the Open", from authors Eric Beehler and Eric Johnson is now posted at Redmond Magazine's Tech Library: www.redmondmag.com/techlibrary. There is also a companion web cast recorded that we finished last week. Get the latest on threats to remote access and solutions available to neutralize those threats.

Link to white paper: http://redmondmag.com/techlibrary/resources.asp?id=667

Link to webcast: http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=109811&s=1&k=228FC12DBA871955999704159BAD33EA&partnerref=library

- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)

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This week's new podcast, available at CStechcast.com, gives IT pros another dose of news and expert information. Microsoft Office 2007 Servers is the topic with J. Peter Bruzzese, author of Administrator's Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers and regular contributor to Infoworld.com, among his many endeavors. Find him on the web at cliptraining.com. In the news; Microsoft floods us with bad news on desktops, the Yahoo merger, and it's database share, but hey Live Mesh is cool along with Yahoo! announcing a redesign at the Web 2.0 Conference, SQL injection attacks are on the rise, and IT pay takes a depressing dip. You would think a non-profit charity like One Laptop Per Child could steer clear of making "The Worst Tech Move of the Week", the "Weekly Tech Tip" gives us a refresher about DNS on Windows with some useful tricks, and we get the "Point / Counterpoint" on system administrators specializing in more than one OS.

Links to stories discussed during the show:
Microsoft Windows Sales Plunge 24% Amid Rising Competition (Information Week)
Microsoft Flexible On Windows XP End Date, Ballmer Says (Information Week)
In Database Market, Oracle Gets Bigger, Others Hang On (Information Week)
Microsoft Demos Live Mesh (eWeek)
Yahoo plans makeover with elements of social network (Washington Post)
The Web 2.0 economy hangs in limbo (C|Net News.com)
Microsoft: Web at the center, not PC (C|Net News.com)
SQL attack hits 500,000 websites (vnunet.com)
SQL Infection Hits Over 500K Webpages, Infiltrates DHS And UN (mashable.com)
Walter Bender Resigned from One Laptop Per Child!! (olpcnews.com)
OLPC CTO founds own company, aims at $75 laptop (Ars Technica)
Average Info Tech Pay Drops To $105,000 For Managers, $78,000 For Staff, Our Survey Finds (Information Week)

For those looking for additional information on the SQL Injection attacks plaguing vulnerable Internet pages, please follow this link to the SANS posts: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4331. For anyone interested in viewing some of J. Peter Bruzzese video training material, point your browser to youtube.com/cliptraining.

For anyone who enjoys our podcast through iTunes, please write up a nice note in their reviews section or on your favorite podcast directory. If you like what you hear, share it with a friend; send them to CStechcast.com. Thanks everyone for listening and, please, give us your feedback. Keep tuning in every week for a new episode of CS Techcast.

Link to the episode: http://www.cstechcast.com/home.aspx?Episode=22

- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)

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CStechcast.com brings another podcast episode to the starting line with guest Kalen Delaney. This SQL Server expert and authoritative author of the Inside SQL Server series gives us her take on SQL Server 2008.  Find the latest from Kalen Delaney at insidesqlserver.com and SQLCommunity.com. In the news; 10,000 legitimate sites were hit by a SQL injection to deliver malware, Microsoft get their Dynamics apps revved up for the enterprise, Apple makes the iPhone business savvy, and the NCAA gets set to dunk on your network bandwidth. The "Worst Tech Move of the Week" is pre-installed with viruses courtesy of bad Q.C. at Chinese factories, we reach back in our storied histories for our favorite "Data Center Disasters", and the "Tech Tip" exposes easy to use shortcut keys in SQL Server Management Studio.

Links to stories discussed during the show:

Hackers Look to Steal Online Gaming Passwords
Anatomy of a SQL Injection Incident
Anatomy of a SQL Injection Incident, Part 2
A Glimpse of Microsoft's Enterprise Goals
Apple releases iPhone SDK, announces push e-mail, Exchange support
How to Not Bring the Network to Its Knees During March Madness

Shout out to the "Couple of Admins" podcast at mindofroot.com, Steve Jones at the Voice of the DBA podcast and SQLserverCentral.com, and Peter Varhol at the Redmond Report for giving us props. Don't forget to leave your comments here on this blog, refer-a-friend to our podcast from the link on our homepage, leave your feedback, and keep tuning into cstechcast.com.

Link to CS Techcast Episode 16 podcast: http://www.cstechcast.com/home.aspx?Episode=16

- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)

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Episode 1 of CS TechCast is posted and ready for your listening pleasure at cstechcast.com. This week our guest is Anil Desai, who we talk with about virtualization best practices. In the news, detecting wireless intruders, HP buys up more companies, Quicktime exploit, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, and how to keep your IT staff happy. Plus, “The Worst Tech Move of the Week”, “IT Pet Peeve”, and “The Tech Tip of the Week”.

Here are the show notes.

Links to stories discussed during the show:

http://www.news.com/No-slowdown-in-HPs-software-expansion-quest/2100-1014_3-6220699.html?part=rss&edId=3&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1359088162;fp;16;fpid;1

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140137-pg,1/article.html

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2224485,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594

http://entmag.com/news/rss.asp?editorialsid=9284#6

http://www.news.com/U.K.-governments-lost-data-worth-billions-to-criminals/2100-1029_3-6220725.html?part=rss&edId=3&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

Thanks again to Anil Desai for being our guest. Find his web site at http://anildesai.net and learn more. Be sure to check out one of the many books he has authored.

Post your comments on our podcast at this blog post. Hope to hear from you and look forward to bringing you a new episode every week.

- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)

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