Cybersecurity Tips

* SLOW DOWN.

* Stop and Think.

* Don't click. Copy and paste a link into web browser.

* Research first.

* Lock your computer, cellphone when you're away.

* Backup before make any change, on daily, and weekly.

* Using KeePass or KeePassXC on Mac for password manager.

* 7-Zip or Keka for macOS file archiver

* Write it down. Pen and paper are good.

* Email with plain text mode.

* Airplane mode if not in use.

* Power off if not in use.

* Install only necessary app.

* Uninstall if no longer need.

* Use CerUtil or gpg to verify the integrity of downloaded file.

Before installing, you should always verify that your download matches

the signature that is published alongside the release package!

* Use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) if provide.

* Keep it simple.

How to verify checksum of a downloaded file on MacOS

$ openssl dgst -sha256 VirtualBox-6.1.2-135662-OSX.dmg

SHA256(VirtualBox-6.1.2-135662-OSX.dmg)=

20fb52bbd7edec58c9eef69046240a809091727872b8b4b254db272ffd6950b4



$ openssl dgst -sha256 Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.2.vbox-extpack

SHA256(Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.2.vbox-extpack)=

54047312d836c17ef0939410f755cb5a23e3037ec402198cc97f755181b25632



Compare result with value in

https://www.virtualbox.org/download/hashes/6.1.2/SHA256SUMS



Reference: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/230917/need-a-cli-to-check-the-sha256-hash-of-a-file

For security reason, validate the integrity of downloaded files

https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/tag/v7.8.2
SHA256 Digest

668e6c8a666c0cb91987985bf560bf587c4fb646523fe21d3fe85b7c7eeadd08 npp.7.8.2.Installer.exe

56ff0f152f5f84314cd995c65b567becb1ddf0f5a248d76b5e968e85d62e62a0 npp.7.8.2.Installer.x64.exe

C:\Temp>certutil -hashfile npp.7.8.2.installer.exe
SHA1 hash of npp.7.8.2.installer.exe:
8a9b270a7281384ad918c48d2a466b107f1bf395
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

C:\Temp>certutil -hashfile npp.7.8.2.installer.exe sha256
SHA256 hash of npp.7.8.2.installer.exe:
668e6c8a666c0cb91987985bf560bf587c4fb646523fe21d3fe85b7c7eeadd08
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

C:\Temp>certutil -hashfile npp.7.8.2.Installer.x64.exe sha256
SHA256 hash of npp.7.8.2.Installer.x64.exe:
56ff0f152f5f84314cd995c65b567becb1ddf0f5a248d76b5e968e85d62e62a0
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

Read more:
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189000/how-to-verify-the-checksum-of-a-downloaded-file-pgp-sha-etc

Tip: Using Visual Studio Code to reformat SQL script

Here is a no cost to reformat SQL script 

But, no capital keywords

Manage SQL Server Services from the Command Line

To manage the default database server instance, use these commands:

NET START MSSQLSERVER Starts SQL Server as a service.

NET STOP MSSQLSERVER Stops SQL Server when running as a service.

To manage named instances of SQL Server, use the following commands:

NET START MSSQL$instancename Starts SQL Server as a service, where instancename is the actual name of the database server instance.

NET STOP MSSQL$instancename Stops SQL Server when running as a service, where instancename is the actual name of the database server instance.

Read more at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd421654.aspx

Notes on Sample Azure Application Fix It

Here are some experience I got when learn to Developing Apps with Windows Azure by working on The Fix It Sample Application (Building Real-World Cloud Apps with Azure)



After unzip the zip file "Fix It app for Scott Guthrie%27s Building Real World Cloud Apps with Windows Azure.zip", rename the folder name to get rid of the special character "%". It is better to use the short name such as "Fix It". Otherwise, we get an error when compile the project.



When make a web app on Azure, don't make it to long in such as "fixitdemoapponazure20160916235959" (When you make a new MVC web application project using Visual Studio 2015 template, it could be long as webapplication120160917124045). You may get an error when the PowerScript attempt to add a new storage. After I named my Azure web app 12 characters, it worked.

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing today is a trend. Popular cloud computing are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, ... 

Cloud Computing like a private Local Area Network (LAN) on the internet. For most business, Cloud Computing is a cost effective. Instead of spend thousand dollars or more per month, they spend less. Instead of maintain a group of Information Technology (IT) professional, they may need only one. They don't need much of network engineer, network administrator.

So, first they are outsource software development. Then, outsource IT help desk. Now, companies outsource the IT infrastructure. 

The questions is:

1. In which scenarios, moving to Cloud Computing is cost saving?
2. How about security, privacy?