Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Hire A Hacker

    On Wednesday I was having a slow day, and, after hearing about other systems being hit with a web-based attack the previous day, I decided to see how easy it would be for someone to reach my server on the Wifi network.

    Now I feel like I don’t have to explain the devastation that could be caused by a disgruntled person who has enough Google skill to script kiddie their way and wreak havoc with traffic noise or compromise your network or server.

    This is where the grey IT arts known as pentesting, (or penetration testing) comes in handy and it is on the same line as Offensive Security. Now most businesses use wired for their workstations, but with tablets and laptops becoming more powerful, there is a big shift to wireless offices and classrooms. To gain access with a wired connection you have to be on the property, not ideal if you get caught and have trespassing added onto the plethora of federal charges brought up on you; it just doesn’t seem worth the risk. But Wifi is just radio signal of a different nature, but still it is data sent in the air that can be pulled out and decoded and read.

    The first line of defense is our own wireless security is that our SSID is not broadcasted for the service network, but even that is not enough. Anyone who knows how to use a network sniffer could easily see a hidden wireless network whether or not SSID is hidden or not. The next line of defense is a strong Wifi password to gain a network address.This is the portion of our defense that I was control testing.

    The Setup:
    Mine:
    Apple Airport Extreme coming right from the DSL hooked up to an airport express in bridge mode. The reason for this setup is that it cuts down on service interruptions coming from the surrounding companies’ “Hot Spot”.

    The Bad Guy:
    An Acer Aspire from 2011 running Kali Linux, with Aircrack-ng running. A simple setup anyone can download from the almighty inter webs. No customization done to the Kali linux system.

    Ok, so now on to the test. Our target system was picked up on a scan while the Bad Guy was sitting out in our parking lot trying to get free internet, curious on why the network was hidden. They start their attack box, and start scanning traffic going to and from the BSSID 00:24:36:A5:D7:7F (my router). What he would need is a WPA Handshake, which is when an authentication has happened between BSSID (router) and the station the computer trying to connect to. This computer is always encrypted. But that is like house locks; they only keep out the honest people. Encryption can be cracked. As you can see, with all the devices on the service network, getting a WPA handshake was easy. That is where the novice setting ended in this game.

    My system survived without a breach, now that’s not to say you couldn’t brute force your way in, but that would cause alarms to go off.

    So thanks to long complex passwords, my server is safe. This is a good lesson.

  • Hey there, Tech Tails readers!

    This week marks one year since I took the position of service & repair technician here in Waitsfield, VT. I began my journey as a Small Dogger in our Rutland location as a part-time retail associate just before the decision to close the store was made. I then accepted a full-time position as a Junior Macintosh Repair Technician in our South Burlington store, and after learning the tools of the trade, (quite literally) I migrated over to our Waitsfield store and corporate office nestled in the beautiful Mad River Valley. While I’ve explored much of the Small Dog ecosystem, I have yet to make a visit to our Key West store, (Don, just say the word!).

    I remember unwrapping my first Macbook (all-white, a true classic) on my 16th birthday; a gift from my mother, and when I asked where she got it she replied “the Small Dogs” in South Burlington. I’d grown up around Macintosh computers, as my mother was, who remains to this day a top-tier graphic designer. I’d never had my own personal Mac computer until that moment. And with it my mother could breathe a sigh of relief knowing I would no longer be taking the screwdriver to her MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo to “take a peek inside.” The hours I spent messing around with Garageband, taking those classic Photobooth photos with friends and family, spending hours fine tuning and itemizing my iTunes library- it may sound silly, but those early days I spent learning the lay-of-the-land of the Apple computer architecture with my trusty white Macbook are truly fond memories. Ha, and perhaps in a moment of prophecy, I remember my mother sternly telling me upon opening the clamshell for the first time, “Don’t mess around with the hardware in that thing or you’re grounded.”

    I didn’t listen.

    Now here I am a whopping 10 years later, working as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician at the place that indirectly helped shape my interest and curiosity in the world of the Apple computers. It seems everything comes full circle eventually!

    We have some great articles for you this week and if there’s something you’d like to see in a future edition of Tech Tails, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us with a suggestion!

    Enjoy, readers!
    Connor “I can’t hang out guys, I’m grounded” McGinnis
    connormcginnis@smalldog.com

  • Join us

    Wednesday, June 13th

    4pm – 6pm

    1001 Truman Ave

    Light refreshments served

    Small Dog Electronics is hosting a home automation event on Wednesday, June 13th from 4pm-6pm. This will be an opportunity to see how home automation can work to make your home or office a more enjoyable space. We will be having live product demonstrations, giveaways and exclusive sales!

    If you have been thinking about automatic shades, are not sure how or what geo-fencing is and how it can make getting home after dark easier or think smart home devices require hundreds of dollars in products this event is for you. We will show you how you can start automating your home for less than you think and can explain just how and what products can make your home or office more comfortable to be in.

    Giveaways!
    Drawings during the event for Philips Hue, Small Dog gift cards, Smart Weather Stations and more! No purchase necessary.

    Exclusive Deals!

    We will be featuring deals on Sonos room sets and iPad Pro 9.7in, perfect for jump-starting your smart home set ups. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow night!

  • I am really looking forward to the new Apple software. I think I will use the walkie-talkie feature of the Apple Watch a lot. Yeah, I know you can text or call but just pushing the “talk” button and being in instant communication is way cool.

    Grace pretty much has gotten the garden in. We had a funny moment as we were a pair of draft horses hauling a bag of lime and couple bags of compost up to the garden. It would have been funny to watch as these two old foggies struggled to haul the cart up the hill and then just as we hit the garden the entire floor of the garden cart gave up the ghost and gave way. I guess I’ll have some rebuilding on my schedule with a few sheets of plywood.

    Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,

    Don & Emily

  • Dear Friends,

    I almost hopped into the car and started driving back to Key West when the high temperature here in Vermont was in the 40s this week! I think we will see some return to normal June temperatures by this weekend, but it certainly was an unexpected thrill to search for long sleeved shirts.

    Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference was this week and, as usual, software and operating systems were the focus of this gathering of software developers. We have a comprehensive run-down of what you will be seeing this fall from Apple for Mac, iOS, Watch and Apple TV operating systems in this week’s edition.

    One interesting tidbit that most reports are not talking about is that Apple’s AirPods will gain the “Live Listen” feature that heretofore has been only available with some of the MFI Hearing Aids. This enables you to place your iPhone in the middle of the conference table or even at the lectern in a big hall and have the audio streamed to your hearing aids or, in this case, to Apple AirPods. How long before Apple gets into the hearing aid business?

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes Exclusive features the 9.7-inch iPad Pro with 256GB of storage, Wi-Fi and Cellular. I have two units in Gold and one in Rose Gold. These are brand new and come with Apple’s 1-year warranty. They are a discontinued product but can be a powerful navigation tool or production iPad. They regularly sold for over $800 but for these three units you can snag a brand new iPad Pro for only $649!

  • Taking the Apple Logo in Vain

    As useful and easy as it is to use a mouse to interact with your computer, most of the time it’s much quicker…

  • I will be riding my Indian motorcycle over to Manchester, NH to my dealer so they can address a couple of recalls on the bike. Something about the bike starting up by itself or something! Hopefully the weather will cooperate for the ride down I-89.

    I wonder what’s going to be new at WWDC. I am always wowed at what Apple has in store as they give us a glimpse of the product and features coming in the future. I think we will see some good progress on AR – artificial reality stuff. Last year on the annual Road Pitch there was a company that was developing AR applications for schools that would give students seemingly real time experiences at historical events. It is sort of like time traveling!

    I hope you have a wonderful first weekend of June!

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team

    Don & Emily

  • Is Mail Taking Over?

    E-mail is great, but sometimes there’s just too much of it at work. Ok, don’t jump to conclusions just yet about me, I know e-mail is critical for most of us to perform our jobs. However, it can get a bit overwhelming and, to be honest, annoying. Sharing information as a collective team frequently brings with it e-mail that just clogs your inbox. We all can probably say we have a friend or co-worker that overly uses the share all option or responds with unnecessary answers. To continue with my theme of honesty, this is why I Bcc ( blind carbon copy ) any company wide e-mails. I have found Bcc to be the only effective means of not cluttering up the in-boxes of others with excessive responses. It is unfair, however, to insinuate that a cluttered in-box is solely due to those who overshare. Marketing offers and other junk fills your inbox almost at breakneck speed. It seems we are being bombarded from every corner, and it sometimes seems to me that my e-mail loads feel like the pile of dirty laundry that seems to never end.

    Here at Small Dog, we rely heavily on e-mail for communication and the Apple chat program. Chat is a very effective means of quick communications with individuals, but it’s become more challenging to have group chats. Another downside to Chat is it’s perhaps overly easy to send a message in error to the wrong person. Most of the time there is humor in the wrong chat sent, but it’s also resulted in some red faces of embarrassment.

    Recently I learned of a group messaging service Slack, which is free but includes paid plans with additional features. Slack, which has apps for macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android, isn’t conceptually all that different from Apple’s Messages app. You type short messages and other people in the conversation can reply. You can share graphics or other files in the discussion, and search through past messages. Slack supports person-to-person voice calls, and if you switch from a free to a paid plan you can also use team, group calls, video conferencing, and screen sharing. One of the hiccups we’ve had here at Small Dog with Chat is that not everyone uses the same version of software or, in the case of trying to AirDrop a file, not being able to use personal iCloud accounts.

    An appealing feature of Slack is that it has channels that are easy to create. It can bring together all communications relevant to a particular workgroup, project, or topic. You might have a private #marketing channel for everyone in that department, a private #annual-report channel for the people who need to put together that document, or a public #facilities channel to talk about burnt-out lightbulbs and stuck doors. I feel this is a way better way than organization-wide mailing lists because you can pay attention to just those channels that matter to you, and ignore the others.

    You can also choose to be notified of replies to threads you’re in. Then you can override those defaults for any channel or conversation you’re in, which lets you make sure that important messages get through and water cooler chatter doesn’t interrupt you. Plus, if you leave your computer, Slack can repoint notifications to your mobile devices automatically, with separate settings to make sure you aren’t overly nagged while at your kid’s soccer game.

    Slack provides tons of other features that can prove useful in organizations of any size. You can share and comment on files of any type, which is far more effective than sending attachments around in email. You can create “posts” and get others to edit them collaboratively—a boon when trying to craft the perfect bit of text for some purpose. And you can integrate hundreds of Internet services into Slack so it can act as a single dashboard for many other apps.

    We have not deployed Slack here at Small Dog, time will tell if we do choose to make a switch. However, this find was an exciting one for me to come across so I wanted to share this software tip with our readers.