How my NetAlly LinkRunner Saved the Day

 When I was tasked with a recent network installation, the internet service provider (ISP) supplied VLAN information that turned out to be incorrect, and it was now after hours with no one to call. Fortunately, I had my NetAlly LinkRunner AT. It quickly identified the issue by displaying the correct VLAN configuration directly from the connected switch port. Using its AutoTest feature, the LinkRunner instantly provided the VLAN ID.

In this case, it displayed the accurate VLAN tagging, which contradicted the ISP’s documentation. This allowed me to reconfigure the connection on the spot.

I do not sell, or resell NetAlly products nor have I been paid to make this video, so click the image below and it will take you to the NetAlly website, where you can get more production information.

From the net: DDoS-for-Hire - The Evolving Threat Landscape and What It Means for Your Network

 

Over recent years, the DDoS-for-Hire (booters/stressers) ecosystem has surged into a sophisticated “cybercrime-as-a-service” economy—complete with automation, API integrations, reconnaissance tooling, and even AI-driven adaptability—that has made launching potent Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks as simple as clicking a button. This democratization of attack capabilities has enabled less technically adept actors to initiate disruptive campaigns, resulting in widespread operational downtime, reputational harm, and financial loss. NETSCOUT’s eBook dissects the anatomy of these services, from pre-attack reconnaissance and infrastructure abuse to dynamic attack execution, offering cybersecurity professionals a clear understanding of how these threats function.

To defend against this evolving threat, NETSCOUT emphasizes the need for adaptive, intelligence-driven defense strategies. Key recommendations include deploying systems capable of dynamically adjusting defense tactics mid-attack, leveraging real-time data feeds to detect emerging patterns before they escalate, and ensuring robust, multi-layered monitoring across all network planes. These proactive measures aim to help organizations anticipate and counter the rapidly shifting tactics of modern DDoS-for-Hire operators.

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from the net : DHCP Snooping

 

The article describes DHCP Snooping as a security feature on Cisco switches that protects against DHCP-based threats by filtering out untrusted DHCP messages and maintaining a DHCP snooping binding table. This binding table records details such as MAC address, IP address, lease time, binding type, VLAN, and interface—but only for devices connected via untrusted interfaces; trusted interfaces (typically toward the DHCP server or backbone) are not included. By acting like a firewall between untrusted hosts and DHCP servers, the switch can block unauthorized or malicious DHCP traffic and clearly differentiate between trusted and untrusted parts of the network.

How it functions in the network and its broader utility:

DHCP Snooping is enabled per switch and per VLAN. Once activated on a switch, it operates as a Layer 2 bridge that inspects DHCP traffic within VLAN domains. This helps prevent common attacks—especially Man-in-the-Middle attacks—where a rogue device responds to DHCPDISCOVER requests before the legitimate DHCP server does. By marking the DHCP server port as trusted (even if it's a trunk), and marking all other user-facing ports as untrusted, the switch ensures only valid DHCP replies get forwarded.

Integration and configuration considerations:

DHCP Snooping not only protects client-server communication but also supports other security features such as IP Source Guard (IPSG) and Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) by supplying validated binding data. When configuring, global enablement on the switch is required before applying it to specific VLANs. Additionally, enabling DHCP Snooping automatically disables any DHCP relay-related configuration commands such as ip dhcp relay information check, policy, trusted, and trust-all.

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Don’t Skip the Ends

 When creating Ethernet cables, the focus often leans heavily on the length and quality of the cable itself, but the RJ45 connectors at each end are equally critical to overall performance. These connectors serve as the physical and electrical interface between devices and the network, meaning any flaws in crimping, alignment, or seating can compromise signal integrity. Even a seemingly minor misalignment in the pins can lead to issues such as intermittent connectivity, dropped packets, or complete failure to establish a link.

Visual inspection of the RJ45 connector can reveal a number of common issues. For example, if the individual wires are not fully seated into the connector, or if they are not in the correct T568A or T568B sequence, the cable may appear to function intermittently or not at all. In some cases, the plastic housing may be improperly crimped, causing it to loosen over time and lose contact with the device’s Ethernet port. These problems are not always obvious during basic continuity checks, but they can wreak havoc in real-world deployments—especially in critical environments like data centers, VoIP systems, or surveillance networks.

A good practice is to always inspect each handmade cable with a keen eye before deploying it. Use proper lighting to ensure all eight wires are fully inserted and correctly ordered inside the RJ45 plug. Confirm that the strain relief tab is properly engaged, helping to secure the cable jacket and reduce stress on the internal wires. For additional verification, use a cable tester to check for continuity, shorts, and cross-pair wiring errors. These simple steps can save hours of troubleshooting down the road and reduce the chance of performance degradation in your network.

Ultimately, handmade Ethernet cables offer flexibility and cost savings, but their reliability hinges on the quality of both construction and inspection. Treating the RJ45 connectors as a critical part of the build—rather than an afterthought—will drastically increase the success rate of custom installations. Whether you're a professional technician or a DIY enthusiast, meticulous inspection of the connectors ensures your network runs smoothly and efficiently from end to end.

CISA open-sources Thorium platform for malware, forensic analysis

 from bleeping computer;

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) today announced the public availability of Thorium, an open-source platform for malware and forensic analysts across the government, public, and private sectors.

Thorium was developed in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories as a scalable cybersecurity suite that automates many tasks involved in cyberattack investigations, and can schedule over 1,700 jobs per second and ingest over 10 million files per hour per permission group.

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From the net: CCNA Basics: What is BPDU GUARD ?

 I thought you would find the article, “CCNA Basics: What is BPDU Guard?” from The Network DNA interesting.

BPDU Guard is a security feature in Cisco switches designed to protect a network’s Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) topology, especially on user-facing or edge ports. When PortFast is enabled to allow rapid transition into the forwarding state, unexpected BPDUs (Bridge Protocol Data Units)—which typically should not appear on access ports connected to end devices—can indicate a misconfiguration or unauthorized switch connection. If BPDU Guard is enabled and a BPDU is received on such a port, the port is immediately disabled (placed in an error-disabled state), effectively denying any device connected behind it from participating in STP. This requires manual re-enabling of the port or configuring an error-disable timeout for automatic recovery

The feature is particularly useful for preventing rogue switch connections and safeguarding network integrity by enforcing strict boundaries around the STP domain. There are two main ways to activate BPDU Guard: globally—by enabling it by default on all PortFast-enabled ports using the spanning-tree portfast bpduguard default command—or on a per-interface basis using the spanning-tree bpduguard enable command. This configurability allows administrators to secure access-layer ports while maintaining flexibility for expected switch links

Awe - Paul W. Smith

 

Our granddaughter accompanied my wife on a commercial flight to Las Vegas to attend the 90th birthday celebration of my wife's mother.  When I received a text that they had arrived safely, it included a picture showing our 4-year old GK sitting on the edge of the pilots seat, holding the control yoke with one hand and throwing a switch with the other.  I assume the plane was powered down at the time, since I heard nothing about the incident on the six o’clock news. 

The friendly pilot had noticed a child peering into the cockpit while deplaning and invited her to come in and look around.  A simple gesture on his part opened a world of awe that our granddaughter will never forget. Part of the joy of having kids is seeing their faces light up at the wonders of the world. If only we could keep that sense of awe...

A high school buddy of mine with an interest in aircraft took me to LAX to see one of the first 747’s land.  In those days, you could park on Aviation Blvd and watch the arriving planes pass directly overhead just prior to touchdown.  For someone who had not yet studied fluid dynamics, the spectacle of that 4-engine beast was incredible.  More recently, my wife and I were returning from a trip to Italy when we took a bus out onto the tarmac and walked up to a 787 Dreamliner.  Standing in line near the massive left engine to climb the stairs, I was struck with the inadequacy of my fluid dynamics education to fully comprehend how such a machine could possibly travel 4500 miles at nearly 600 mph and 40,000 feet.

The dictionary defines “awe” as “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, or extremely powerful.”  It is also the root word for both awesome and awful, commonly used as opposites.  Semantics aside, “awe” represents something which has a powerful effect on us.  But there is more to awe than just a wow moment.

In their 2003 paper “Approaching Awe- A Moral, Spiritual, and Aesthetic Emotion”, psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt note that the word “awe” had spiritual origins in the Old English and Norse, where it expressed fear and dread toward a divine being.  It has evolved since then - in the United States today most will connect their latest awe moment to a positive experience in nature. 

Keltner and Haidt further characterized awe as a combination of perceived vastness and a need for accommodation - something big that doesn’t jive with our normal understanding of the world.  It may even bring about increased heart rate, goosebumps and chills. 

Researchers tell us that awe shifts our attention away from ourselves, making us feel like we are part of something greater, and increasing our generosity toward others in the process.  The so-called “small self” effect tends to reduce our sense of urgency, make us feel more connected, lower materialism, and improve our critical thinking.  It also boosts our mood while making us kinder and gentler.   Awe challenges us to adjust our understanding of the world to match this new experience.  We may feel fear (I just don’t get it...), enlightenment (now I understand...) or a bit of both. A sense of wonder is proven to support our mental, physical, and emotional well-being,

For those of us who see the world through a STEM lens, an awe moment may trigger an immediate brainstorm in a frantic attempt to accommodate the new information.  This doesn’t always work.  My Dreamliner moment definitely rattled my comfy little Navier-Stokes world.

Those few STEM folks who have been blessed with the opportunity to travel into space agree on one thing.  Looking back on Earth - the “overview effect”- is awe-inspiring and life altering.  We earthbound humans got a glimpse of that with “Earthrise”, an iconic photo taken by astronaut William Anders.  He later commented that while the mission was to explore the moon, he and his fellow astronauts actually discovered Earth.  Often an awe moment can help us discover ourselves as well.

Children, whose young minds are not yet burdened by STEM stuff, can still experience awe moments from a modern jetliner cockpit - something that most of us take for granted.  To get some of that same joy, we need to turn down the conjecture machine , take notice of what can make us say “wow”, and seek it.  The performance of an Olympic athlete, the work of a virtuoso musician, even the underlying technology of an otherwise unpleasant medical test - all have some awe-inspiring stuff behind the scenes, if only we would just calm our minds and be present.

And then there’s that Dreamliner....

 Author Profile - Paul W. Smith - leader, educator, technologist, writer - has a lifelong interest in the countless ways that technology changes the course of our journey through life.  In addition to being a regular contributor to NetworkDataPedia, he maintains the website Technology for the Journey and occasionally writes for Blogcritics.  Paul has over 50 years of experience in research and advanced development for companies ranging from small startups to industry leaders.  His other passion is teaching - he is a former Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Paul holds a doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.