Author: oosh09

Computer running slow??

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So, something I have learned in my IT career is what some users put up with when it comes to their personal computers. No, it should not take 20 minutes for your computer to load. No, it should not take 10 minutes for Word or Chrome to load. Yes, you should be able to print. Man I could go on and on.

Woosah…

Bare with me now, I do have a story to go with this post. People are using their personal computers or laptops more than ever due to the ability to work from home. Some people are lucky enough to work for a company that is able to provide equipment to use. Either way, this post is for anyone that has a personal computer. I will tell you why.

So, I had a friend come to me with a laptop and said that it would not connect to WIFI. (My grandpa likes to pronounce that weefee. HAHA) Now, this is when I start feeling like a mechanic. A good one though. A trustworthy one, of course. There is usually not one easy fix to computer issues and no one really wants to hear that. I could probably find a few things that could be causing any certain issue. In this situation, that was exactly the case. The computer was so slow that I could not even get to the network settings to troubleshoot her network adapter and settings. Once I was able to reboot the computer I found out that there were operating system updates that have been waiting for six…yes 6 years. There were manufacturing driver updates that were waiting for 3 years. I was even able to find some adware and malware that was on the computer. Once I was done the computer started normally and my friend was so grateful and excited. A new laptop was not needed.

I want to give some tips on how to maintain a personal computer. This is not for equipment provided by an employer. Odds are the employer has a maintenance schedule established for those devices. I am not trying to endorse any particular software, so I will be as general as possible. These tips should be done periodically and are similar to changing the oil in your car. We all know what happens if you don’t change the oil in your car. Be careful when you search and download any software online. There is a high probably that you will download something that you do not need or at the worst, will be harmful. These tips will not fix all issues, but they should keep your personal computer running smoothly.

  • routinely check for operating system updates (there is usually a setting that can check and install updates automatically for you)
  • check for driver updates by your manufacturer (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.)
  • check for malware on your computer (some software has free trial periods that you can use to scan your computer)

Let me know if you try this and notice any differences. Also, let me know if you still continue to have issues. I hope you have a Happy Holidays!!

What I have learned from changing careers into Cybersecurity?

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I am not going to lie. I started this blog project to get exposure. There I said it. I had run into the vicious cycle of needing experience to get a job, but I couldn’t get a job to get the experience. Don’t get me wrong I hope I can help someone along the way, but I needed a way to get myself noticed. I needed a way to show my story and who I am. A way to show what I was working on and what I continue to work on.

Blah blah blah…

At the risk of sounding like a cover letter or resume objective, here is some boring background and context. So, I have around 15 years of experience in banking, sales and customer service. I had multiple positions from teller to banker to supervisor. At one point, I honestly thought I was going to be in banking for a lot longer. At the time I saw all my friends complaining about working nights and weekends so I thought… what is closed at night and on the weekends? Boom… a bank. The pay was good. The benefits were good, but I didn’t like where I was going. Where was I going?

Why?

So, what made me question the path I was on?? Family, I realized that my family is my purpose. That is my why. That was so important for me. Why am I leaving a good job to start over again? Why am I deciding to go back to school? Why am I risking my confidence and status in an industry in order to become the “low man on the totem pole?” That is the first thing I learned, my why. I suggest to find yours as soon as you can. Everyone’s is different and I believe it may even change at times.

Mistakes will be made…

The first mistake I made was my expectation on my job after I graduated. I should have done more research into what it takes to get started in Cybersecurity. That could be a whole other post, but I assumed the typical timeline of school, graduation, then job. This industry is different. It is one thing I love about it. I have to keep learning. Everyday is different. I have to put in more effort. It is challenging and this is another reason I started this blog (saying that is still so weird to me).

I was so scared to take my first job. I was new to the industry, in my mid 30s and I had to do all the dirty work. I took a step back in pay in order to be happier in what I did everyday. Be prepared for this. I hjope you don’t have to, but just in case. Dial back the budget, because you become a different person when you like what you do everyday. To me, that is worth more than buying lunch everyday, fancy coffee drinks in the morning or the occasional happy hours. It will be a grind, but use your why. Be patient and continue learning. This is big!! Find an area of the industry that you are interested in and learn about it, read about it, watch videos about it, etc. There is so much free content available. It is okay if you learn you don’t like it, move on to another area that interests you.

Less people, more computers…more mistakes

When deciding what industry I was going to get into, I thought “where can I not deal with as many people?” I know it sounds bad, but hear me out. I was so submerged in selling that I was tired of dealing with people. Another mistake, It wasn’t the people that I was frustrated with, I was tired of selling. I was tired of the same thing everyday. I needed a challenge.

Once in the industry I learned that my customer service skills not only translated, they were and are my advantage. I found that this is a part of our industry that needs improvement and that is what I can bring. We do not sit in corners in a dark room by ourselves, but hey getting away in the server room for a little while is quite nice. Give it a try. We need to relate to the people we help everyday and we need to be able to relay what needs to be fixed to our team.

Man, where is my coffee??

I feel like I could give so much more on this, but hey I need more coffee. This is just part of my story and I hope to continue telling more. Everyone’s story is different and I hope that at least one person can relate to a part of mine. This was a tough time in my life and I am glad I went through it. It gave me more confidence in myself and I learned a lot… about the industry and, more importantly, about myself. Thanks for giving me a little time of your day. Let me know if this helped in any way. You can do it. Just be patient.

Monitor your home network

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This post is going to show how I set up a home virtual machine to monitor my home network. I am going to show what I used and maybe some helpful tips that I found. This will lead to future posts on dashboards, linux and more. Grab some coffee and lets get started…..

My device

  • HP Spectre i7
  • 16gb RAM
  • Windows 10

Downloads

After installing VirtualBox, select New. First, make sure you are in Guided Mode, I found this easier for me. It should say Expert Mode at the bottom. Next, name your machine. I got creative and named mine SecurityOnion. Feel free to get crazy and name it whatever you like. The type, operating system, will be Linux and the version is Ubuntu 64bit. Next is RAM for the machine. SecurityOnion documentation suggests 12gb. I would do some research on how this effects your host machine. I gave mine 10gb. I have not seen this have any negative effects on the performance of the VM. Then you will create a virtual hard disk. Select the radio button for VDI. Next, select Dynamically allocated. I would do some research on this also, just a nice topic to know. Next step is the size of the virtual hard disk. I gave mine the suggested amount of 200gb.

Great job!! Now we have to mount the SecurityOnion iso file and add some settings to the VM. Select your VM and click on settings. In the storage tab click on “Empty.” On the far right there is a CD icon with a down arrow, click on that and select “choose a disk file.” Then you will select the SecurityOnion iso file that you downloaded with the link above.

In the system settings change the processor to 4, for increased performance. Change the video memory in the display setting to 128mb. Next, add some convenient copy and paste action in the advanced tab in general by changing the shared clipboard setting to Bidirectional.

Now the network adapter needs to be edited in the network tab. Under adapter 1 change the first setting to Bridged Adapter. This will allow the VM to see activity from your host machine. This is also another topic to do some research on. There are a lot of options here and maybe that can turn into another post later. In the advanced tab, by the blue arrow, change promiscuous mode to “allow all.”

Now you are ready to start the VM. I am going to set the SecurityOnion configuration in a list form below. I feel like this will be quicker and easier to read.

Security Onion Configuration

  • create user
  • reboot and sign in
  • standalone version
  • type “agree”
  • choose standard and name your machine (use anyway if you named it SecurityOnion)
  • select the first NIC
  • DHCP and yes
  • OK
  • Direct
  • add NIC and choose automatic updates
  • use your home network settings (ipconfig in host cmd)
  • basic, suricata and ETOPEN
  • install all components
  • keep default docker id
  • email address and password for logging into web interface
  • basic
  • no extra suricata processes and no ntp servers
  • nodebasic
  • yes allow web tools
  • allow entire home subnet and yes
  • reboot

Take note of the IP. It will also show when you start the VM, if you didn’t record it. This will take a while so maybe get a refill of coffee or maybe a cold beer by now.

Let me know how this works for you. Did you run into any issues? Did you find some tips along the way? Comment below or message me on LinkedIn.

About me

/ oosh09 / Leave a comment

My name is Josh and I am a technical professional with more than 15 years of professional experience in a multitude of fields, including IT, banking, and data industries. I was born and raised in San Antonio, TX.

I am a husband to an amazing wife and a father to two beautiful daughters. I enjoy fishing, watching sports, bowling and spending time with my family.

Well, I am glad that is over. I am never good at those things. I am not one to “toot my own horn” and I never do well with the “tell me about yourself” topic.

So, I guess the big question is why start this blog……. well I have been trying to “break into cyber” for a few years now and I struggle with running into the hampster wheel that is not having enough experience for the job but can’t get experience without the job.

With this blog, I am hoping to show what I am working on and maybe help some people along the way.