MCTS 70-640 – Classic Microsoft Exam

MCTS 70-640 – Classic Microsoft Exam
Anonymous publishes Israeli SCADA log-in details
IBM software eases role-based security operations
How a Baptist pastor in Florida became the go-to IT guy
4 Google Social Search Tips for Control and Privacy
Hash collision DoS vulnerability fixed in PHP 5.3.9
Stratfor relaunches site; CEO accuses attackers of censorship
Symantec employs scareware sales tactics, lawsuit charges
Can you trust data-recovery service providers?
Lawsuit claims Symantec sells scareware-like products
Public attack code aimed at Windows Web servers works, says Symantec
Flash Portfolio Website CMS – MotoCMS

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 12:04 PM PST

The chatter about the Windows server 2008 R2 Active Directory exam (MCTS 70-640) reveals the classic Microsoft mentality. That would mean difficult questions across a wide variety of subtopics.

There is no shortage of thoughts about the classic chicken and egg dilemma regarding Microsoft certification. Microsoft exams are intended to weed out candidates that do not have practical experience. Employers have little taste for hiring when a person does not have MCTS 70-640. This creates quite a dichotomy.

It is also true that the teams which do the actual item writing on not allowed to talk to the other Microsoft employees that create the training material.

There is no shortage of material for preparing for this exam. What there seems to be an extreme shortage of is good/current material for this digital witch-hunt.

Is Microsoft's position that the exam will test on the latest and greatest versions. How that works in reality is dependent on how fast item writers can create new questions and have been verified by the psychometrician.

I can say definitively that the exam covers R2 specific features. For example, the new commands like djoin.exe and AD Recycle Bin.

I first became an MCT in 1997. My experience tells me that brain dump sites are a waste of time money and energy.

In reviewing study materials to break the chicken and egg dilemma created by Microsoft. I was a little surprised and quite delighted to see http://trainsignal.com come up with the top of the list for suggested guidance.

I suspect the reason for this is the training is video-based. Most of us can absorb new material faster by seeing than reading.

Further, since the exam is based on the assumption of Active Directory servers being in separate physical locations, the magic of video is like instant teleportation. And certainly without the expense of setting up different physical servers.

Anonymous publishes Israeli SCADA log-in details

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 08:14 AM PST

A member of the Anonymous hacktivist collective has published a list of Internet-facing Israeli SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems and alleged log-in details.

IBM software eases role-based security operations

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 07:34 AM PST

IBM this week announced an identity-management analytics tool that eases what can be a tedious job for information-technology managers -- defining roles for employees in order to establish policy-based access to a network and application resources.

How a Baptist pastor in Florida became the go-to IT guy

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 07:01 AM PST

As a Baptist pastor, Terrill Gilley says his work calls for him to help worshippers and provide support to the senior pastor at his Florida church located in a rural area outside Orlando. And oh, he's also the network administrator for the church and the school it established.

4 Google Social Search Tips for Control and Privacy

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 05:59 AM PST

Google sparked controversy on Tuesday with the announcement of a major search update that includes content from its budding social network, the announcement posted on Google's blog, Google Fellow Amit Singhal says, "Search is still limited to a universe of webpages created publicly, mostly by people you've never met. Today, we're changing that by bringing your world, rich with people and information, into search."

Hash collision DoS vulnerability fixed in PHP 5.3.9

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 05:26 AM PST

The PHP development team has released version 5.3.9 of the popular Web development platform in order to address a recently disclosed denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability, as well as other security issues and bugs.

Stratfor relaunches site; CEO accuses attackers of censorship

Posted: 11 Jan 2012 01:25 AM PST

Strafor Global Intelligence CEO George Friedman on Wednesday blasted those responsible for a December attack on the global intelligence firm's website and decried what he called 'censorship' by the attackers.

Symantec employs scareware sales tactics, lawsuit charges

Posted: 11 Jan 2012 12:37 AM PST

A Washington man on Tuesday sued Symantec in federal court, accusing it of using the same tactics as fake "scareware" software to sell its PC cleanup utilities.

Can you trust data-recovery service providers?

Posted: 10 Jan 2012 10:58 PM PST

Data-recovery service providers are supposed to be saving important data for you when something goes wrong -- a drive crashes or storage device is dropped, and no backup is available. But do you trust them with the important data you let them recover or could they actually be a source for a data breach?

Lawsuit claims Symantec sells scareware-like products

Posted: 10 Jan 2012 09:29 PM PST

Symantec has been accused in a lawsuit of California's unfair competition laws and fraudulent inducement by using scareware-like tactics to trick users into buying licenses for its PC utility-type products.

Public attack code aimed at Windows Web servers works, says Symantec

Posted: 10 Jan 2012 09:16 PM PST