Jeff Preston

Projects

Gentoo Linux

A Do-It-Yourself linux distribution where you can customize the entire system from scratch (if you want). Associated Links:

http://gentoo-wiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.gentoo-portage.com/Browse

Port knocking with iptables

Imagine a perfect firewall on the internet where no one can see that your computer exists. The questions is, how do you access it remotely without comprimising your security? Create a "key" of specific ports that when sent a certain type of packet, a hole in the firewall opens up to the IP address that you're attempting to access from. The key can be as complex or as simple as you want, but your firewall will remain perfectly intact. Here's a sample of the script that I use.

Associated Links:

http://www.portknocking.org/
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6811

Network Security

Since there is so much information on the internet these days, one has to watch out for people who look to abuse that information. I figure that the best way to secure yourself is to know what someone can do to get at your information. So there are a few links below with sites of dubious repute and some with genuine good information. Use at your own risk.

Associated Links:

Hack This Site - Safe and legal way to learn web security from the black hat pespective
Insecure.org - The nmap port scanner home page and top 100 security tools link
Ettercap - Proves that a switched network isn't safe from packet sniffing
Wireshark - Network sniffer
Aircrack-ng - Wireless network wep cracker
Ophcrack - Password audit using Rainbowtables
plain-text.info - Online cracking of password hashes using Rainbowtables

OpenWRT and X-WRT

I bought a Linksys WRT54GS wireless router a few years ago and found out I could put linux on it. The OpenWRT distro fits on the very limited memory of the router. The nice thing about it, is that I have a better firewall (iptables), SSH, Samba, WPA, and CUPS running off a router instead of multiple machines to manage resources.

Associated Links:

http://x-wrt.org
http://www.ipkg.be/
Iptables onto a Linksys Router

Car Repair

When I first bought my previous car used, something went wrong with it the first month I had it. Being used, it had no warranty, so I was either screwed or I could fix it myself. After being told by 2 chain-style repair shops that my entire electrical system was shot and needed to be replaced. Well, to make a long story short, I fixed it for less than $20 when I was quoted at least $1000 from each repair company. From then on, I do just about all of the repairs on my car (if I have the tools). After buying a new car with everything electronic, I probably won't be doing my repairs, but rather easy maintainance.

Associated Links:

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/
http://www.saturnfans.com/
http://saturnparts.com/

Open Source Projects

Whos says that good software can't be free?

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption for Windows and Linux
Mozilla - Home of Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla, etc
Gaim - Open-Source AIM/Yahoo/etc client
Azureus - Best BitTorrent client I've used
TOR - Anonymity online
Eraser - Secure deletion of files and free space wipes
CCleaner - Clean up accumulated junk in Windows
Recuva - Modern version of undelete with a GUI
Microsoft Visual Studio Express - Not open source, but free for non-commercial uses