Sentimental Sundays - Nokia 3310

 The Nokia 3310, first introduced in 2000, quickly became a cultural icon due to its simplicity, durability, and unmatched battery life. With over 126 million units sold worldwide, it stood out in a crowded market with its robust build and long-lasting battery, capable of 55 hours of talk time and up to 245 hours of standby time. The phone's design was minimalist, featuring an 84 × 48 pixel pure monochrome display and a sturdy frame that could withstand significant wear and tear. Its popularity was not just limited to its practical features; it also offered a range of utilities such as a calculator, network monitor, stopwatch, and reminder function, along with four built-in games, including the iconic Snake II.

In 2017, Nokia reintroduced the 3310, incorporating modern elements while retaining the classic design that fans loved. The new version featured a 2.4-inch color display, a 2-megapixel rear camera, and a microSD slot, making it a blend of nostalgia and contemporary functionality. However, the rebooted model faced criticism for being less of a throwback to the original and more of a sleek, modern device. Despite this, it still offered impressive battery life and the return of the beloved Snake game, appealing to those who wanted a simpler, more straightforward mobile experience. The new Nokia 3310 came in four distinct colors: Warm Red and Yellow with a gloss finish, and Dark Blue and Grey with a matte finish, catering to a variety of personal preferences.

Some trivia about the Nokia 3310 includes its impressive durability, which earned it the nickname "The Unbreakable" in Finland, where it was chosen as one of the country's national emojis. The phone's battery life was legendary, with the original model boasting up to 245 hours of standby time, far surpassing the battery life of modern smartphones. Additionally, the 3310 was one of the first phones to allow users to compose their own ringtones through a built-in app called "the composer," which provided a list of options for each key press. The phone also featured a messaging character limit of 459 characters, three times the standard limit of 160 characters at the time, making it a standout feature for SMS enthusiasts.

Over 16,000 Fortinet devices compromised with symlink backdoor

 

Over 16,000 internet-exposed Fortinet devices have been detected as compromised with a new symlink backdoor that allows read-only access to sensitive files on previously compromised devices.

This exposure is being reported by threat monitoring platform The Shadowserver Foundation, which initially reported 14,000 devices were exposed.

click the image to read the article https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-16-000-fortinet-devices-compromised-with-symlink-backdoor/

Wireshark - my mac filter

This is a basic classic and essential capture filter that I use and teach others to use for many years.

It’s a pretty simple filter but at the same time is very powerful when performing application baselines, troubleshooting, or just trying to learn about protocols.

Using a capture MAC filter in Wireshark offers several key benefits for network analysis, particularly when troubleshooting or monitoring specific devices on a network. A capture MAC (Media Access Control) filter allows users to focus on traffic related to a particular device by filtering packets based on their unique MAC address, which is a hardware identifier assigned to network interfaces. This is especially useful in environments with heavy network traffic, where isolating relevant data can save time and reduce the complexity of analysis. By applying a MAC filter during the capture process, Wireshark only records packets sent to or from the specified device, effectively narrowing the scope of data to what’s most pertinent to the task at hand.

One major advantage of this approach is improved efficiency. Without a filter, Wireshark captures all network traffic passing through the monitored interface, which can result in large, unwieldy packet captures filled with irrelevant data. This can overwhelm users, especially in busy networks like corporate LANs or public Wi-Fi systems. A MAC filter eliminates this noise upfront, reducing the capture file size and making it easier to analyze specific communications, such as identifying connectivity issues, diagnosing latency, or detecting unauthorized activity tied to a single device. For example, if a network administrator suspects a particular workstation is malfunctioning, they can apply a capture MAC filter to track only that device’s traffic without wading through unrelated packets.

Additionally, using a capture MAC filter enhances precision in scenarios where IP addresses might change or be less reliable for tracking, such as in DHCP environments where devices frequently receive new IPs. Since MAC addresses are tied to the hardware and remain constant (unless spoofed), they provide a stable reference point for monitoring a specific device over time. This can be critical for security investigations, like tracing the source of a potential attack, or for performance audits targeting a known piece of equipment. While display filters in Wireshark can also isolate traffic after capture, applying a MAC filter at the capture level ensures that system resources aren’t wasted collecting unnecessary data, making it a proactive and resource-efficient choice for targeted network analysis.

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Sentimental Sundays - 1968 Honeywell Briefcase Computer

 The 1968 Honeywell Briefcase Computer was a visionary concept that foreshadowed the modern laptop. Commissioned by Stanley Kubrick for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the briefcase was designed to be a portable computing solution for the character Heywood Floyd. It included a range of advanced features for its time, such as a computer, modem, telephone, TV camera, and microfilmed documents, all integrated into a compact and stylish briefcase. The design was not only a prop for the film but also a forward-looking prediction of future technology, suggesting that such devices would be commercially available within 15 years. While the briefcase was a concept piece and not a functional device, it accurately anticipated the miniaturization and portability of computing technology that would become commonplace in the decades to follow.

One of the most striking aspects of the Honeywell Briefcase Computer was its innovative design. The briefcase featured a CRT screen that was surprisingly thin for its time, though it was still a conceptual representation rather than a functional display. The screen was rounded and fitted into the lid of the briefcase, which was an early attempt to create a portable and user-friendly interface. The device also included a red-handled wand for direct screen input, as touch screens had not yet been developed. This wand was a precursor to modern stylus technology, which is still used in various forms today. The keyboard, while mechanical, was designed with a unique layout, including a dedicated square root key, which was a nod to the mathematical and scientific applications of the device.

The Honeywell Briefcase Computer concept was part of a broader trend in the 1960s to envision a future where technology would be more integrated into daily life. While the briefcase itself was a concept piece, it inspired other futurist visions and technological advancements. For example, researcher Alan Kay, influenced by the learning theories of Jerome Bruner and Seymour Papert, created a mockup of a wirelessly connected tablet-like computer called the Dynabook in 1968. Although the Dynabook was never built, it was a highly influential design that anticipated many of the features of modern tablets and laptops, including a graphical user interface and object-oriented programming. The Honeywell Briefcase Computer and the Dynabook both exemplify the forward-thinking approach of the 1960s, where futurists and technologists were beginning to imagine a world where computing would be portable, accessible, and deeply integrated into everyday activities.

Trivia: The Honeywell Briefcase Computer was not the only futuristic device featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film also included a flat-screen tablet-like device that appeared on the dining table of the Discovery One spacecraft. This device, which was simulated by projecting from under the table, was an early and accurate prediction of modern tablets and entertainment screens, demonstrating that Kubrick and his team had a keen understanding of the direction technology was heading.

Unlocking the Power of Wireshark: Rebuilding SMB-Copied Files

 In the world of network analysis, few tools are as versatile and powerful as Wireshark. Wireshark offers a window into the intricate details of network traffic for IT professionals, cybersecurity enthusiasts, and network administrators. One particularly useful application is its ability to rebuild files transferred over the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, a common method for copying files across networks. Whether you’re troubleshooting a slow file transfer, investigating suspicious activity, or simply curious about what’s moving through your network, Wireshark can help you reconstruct those files precisely and easily.

The process begins by capturing network packets as the file is copied via SMB, a protocol widely used in Windows environments for sharing files and printers. Once the capture is complete, Wireshark’s robust filtering capabilities allow you to isolate SMB traffic and extract the raw data payloads embedded within the packets. By following the packet stream and exporting the reconstructed data, you can rebuild the original file—be it a document, image, or executable—right from the network traffic. This capability not only aids in diagnosing network issues but also serves as a powerful forensic tool for analyzing potentially malicious file transfers.