Windows programs remotely with Application Access Server

Application Access Server provides a lightweight alternative. Once you've got it installed and configured, you can issue commands to a remote machine by connecting to it using any web browser. AAS has built-in support for DynDns.org for automatic IP updating and DDNS access, so all you've got to do is choose a port for the server and forward access from your router (if necessary).

Adding launchable applications is done via the configuration menu, and it's a simple procedure. You can also configure multiple users and select which accounts have access to specific applications. Apps can be launched in three modes - normal, silent, and stealth - depending on how discreet you need to be. AAS is fairly light weight, using about 8Mb of memory when running.

It's a handy application to add to your Windows remote administration toolkit.

Source: .downloadsquad.com

Oracle Launches Data-Cleansing Server

Oracle on Monday introduced a data cleansing server based on Silver Creek Systems' software that restructures product data so it can be reused across an organization.

The Oracle server uses Silver Creek's patented DataLens technology, which is based on semantic recognition techniques that allow for standardization, validation and matching of most incoming product information. Once restructured, the information is loaded into the Oracle Product Hub, the database vendor's master data management system.

Other features within DataLens that have been incorporated in the Oracle server include an "auto-learning" capability that can infer new rules from previously unseen data and allow the semantic knowledge base to grow through use. The server can be adapted to a variety of industry-specific product data, such as clinical supplies in healthcare, consumer goods in retail distribution, component data in manufacturing, indirect office supplies in public sector or services in telecommunications.

The technology partnership between Oracle and Silver Creek is expected to bring "significant value to customers as the automation of product data quality can reduce the time, costs and risk to implement and operate a product information management system," BarbaraMowry, president and chief executive of Silver Creek, said in a statement.

The Oracle Product Data Quality Cleansing and Matching Server is available for customers to add to their Product Hub configurations.

Source: intelligententerprise.com

Enabling PowerShell on Windows Server 2008

For Windows editions prior to Windows Server 2008, PowerShell was an installable application. PowerShell now exists as a Windows feature for Windows Server 2008 in all editions except Core. The forthcoming Windows Server 2008 R2 release is, however, scheduled to offer PowerShell support.

To enable the PowerShell feature follow these steps:

Server manager

You can drop PowerShell on the server through the Server manager application. Go to the Features section and select Windows PowerShell. Figure A shows this selection in the Features wizard.



Scripted installation

The other approach that suits many administrators for a semi-automated configuration is to script the installation of Windows components. The ocsetup command can enable PowerShell on Windows Server 2008 with a one-liner. The command below will add the PowerShell feature to the server:

start ocsetup MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell

Once the server manager window is refreshed, the PowerShell feature will display as being installed, and the PowerShell shortcut will appear in the Start menu in the Windows PowerShell 1.0 program group. PowerShell is now ready for use.

Source: /blogs.techrepublic.com.com

How to Monitor your outbound DNS connections.

The bottom line here is that it is relatively trivial for a single infected machine to undermine DHCP to corrupt the DNS settings of all workstations on the network, assuming that they are not configured with static IPs.

So how can one defend against this trojan as well as similar attacks?

Static IPs

The simplest way to defend against such trojans would surely be to hardwire the DNS settings for every workstation on the network. However, such a solution is impractical for networks larger than even a couple of dozen nodes at the most. Indeed, the increasing use of wireless networks in the enterprise — as well as laptops — serves only as additional deterrents due to the inconvenience of static settings in such circumstances.

Outbound DNS

A simpler way for larger corporations to defend against the vulnerability exposed by this trojan would be to monitor outbound DNS connections. This could mean logging down all DNS queries — which is also useful to track down suspicious traffic trends from phishing attacks. Of course, such a drastic measure comes with its own bag of user and possible managerial resistance due to its invasive nature.

An even cleaner method would be to configure an internal DNS server tasked with all domain name queries. All other DNS queries not originating from this machine are to be barred. If the resources are not available to set up an internal DNS server, more sophisticated firewalls can be used to filter only DNS queries to addresses that are not in an approved list.

In the meantime, you might want to run a quick check that the IP of the malicious DNS server — at 64.86.133.51 and 63.243.173.162 – are not currently being queried on your network.

Source: techrepublic

Windows Server OS for Small Businesses by Microsoft

Microsoft introduced a version of its Windows Server OS for small businesses with 15 users or less, filling in what the company sees as a gap in its server offerings.

Windows Server 2008 Foundation initially will be available in 40 countries once its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners release servers for the new OS, since it will be sold exclusively through them. Hewlett-Packard, Dell and IBM should have those servers out sometime in the second half of this year, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft recommends using the new OS edition for basic small business IT needs such as running and maintaining a database, Web-site hosting, running line-of-business applications, file- and print-sharing and remote access, among other uses.

Microsoft already has an OS and software bundle called Windows Small Business Server (SBS) aimed at the small-business market. But that package bundles the Windows Server OS with Exchange Server, SQL Server and other business software, and may be more than some very small companies need to run their businesses.

One thing that will make Windows Server 2008 Foundation more affordable for small businesses is that the OS does not require them to purchase client access licenses, which other Microsoft business software -- including SBS -- does. Instead, the OS is licensed by user accounts; however, each license is limited to a maximum of 15 user accounts, and each one of those accounts can only have one distinct user at a time.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer let the news slip that Microsoft would add a low-end release of Windows Server to its existing server OS portfolio on a conference call with members of the financial community in February. At the time he likened it to a netbook version of the Windows client OS.

Source: .pcworld.com