Author Archives: Andrew Hopper1

SSH Tunnels Are Like a Free Cheap VPN

By Andrew Hopper1 | Published: August 21, 2009
If you’re not already familiar with the concept I bet you’d be very interested to learn that you can simulate VPN access to a network as long as you have access to a linux host on that network. These instructions work on OS X and Linux. Putty also has tunneling capabilities, but those are beyond [...]
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Google Docs Turns a Blind Eye to Security

By Andrew Hopper1 | Published: August 21, 2009
Google doesn’t use SSL for the Google Calendar or for Google Docs. When information is sent to and from Google the information is sent in clear text and is visible at all intermediate network routers. I know that Google Docs is very convenient, but make sure not to store sensitive data on the Google Docs system. You [...]
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Use nslookup to check DNS propagation and verify MX record configuration

By Andrew Hopper1 | Published: August 21, 2009
NSLookup is a tool that can be immensely helpful when troubleshooting network connectivity issues. Here are some example uses: 1.) You want to see if the DNS change you requested in live on the primary nameserver hopper-macbook:~ andrewhopper$ nslookup > server dns1.noris.net Default server: dns1.noris.net Address: 213.95.0.65#53 > set type=a > puma.com Server: dns1.noris.net Address: 213.95.0.65#53 Name: puma.com Address: 128.167.119.25 2.) You just configured Google apps for your domain [...]
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