So, you had Xcode up and running and then you went and upgraded to Lion… now stuff isn’t working X11 tools are all horked. So, you rush to the app store grab the latest version of Xcode wait for the 4GB+ download and install it and bam! shit still isn’t working. After recovering from the epic /facepalm you just gave yourself and wonder wtf?!?

Well little Timmy, did you remember to uninstall the old version of Xcode? If you didn’t, don’t sweat it it is a quick and easy fix. Just pop a terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo /Developer/Library/uninstall-devtools –mode=all

Once the command completes open up your applications folder and find the install Xcode folder and fire up the Xcode installer and you should be good to go!

This awesome infographic was created by the people at Veracode. Well done!

http://www.veracode.com/resources/sony-psn-infographic

Infographic by Veracode Application Security

Well as the title it seems that ZmEu activity is on the rise again. I have noticed lately in review logs from my servers and my clients server ZmEu seems to be generating a ton of noise. I have seen it go after shopping carts like Zencart and OS commerce but the most common entries seem to be attacks against mysqladmin/phpmyadmin. It is also no surprise that most of these attacks are originating from China.

The activity is pretty simple to spot if you view your httpd logs i have omitted various lines just to show some of the different versions it tests against:

GET /w00tw00t.at.blackhats.romanian.anti-sec:) HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /admin/pma/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /admin/phpmyadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" 302 20 "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmyadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmyadmin1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmyadmin2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /pma/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /web/phpMyAdmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /pma/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /web/phpMyAdmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /xampp/phpmyadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /xampp/phpmyadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /web/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /web/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /php-my-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /php-my-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /websql/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /websql/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmyadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /php-my-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /php-my-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.2.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.2.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.2.6/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.2.6/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.5-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.6/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.7/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.7/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.7-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.5.7-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-alpha/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-alpha/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-alpha2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-alpha2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-beta2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-beta2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-rc3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.0-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.2-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.3-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4-pl4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.6.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-pl1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0-pl2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.7.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-beta1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0-rc2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.3/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.1-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.0.4/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.1-rc1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.1/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /sqlmanager/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpMyAdmin-2.8.2/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /mysqlmanager/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /sqlmanager/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /mysqlmanager/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /p/m/a/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /PMA2005/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /pma2005/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmanager/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /PMA2005/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /php-myadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /pma2005/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /phpmy-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /webadmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /webdb/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /sqlweb/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /mysqladmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.23" "ZmEu"
GET /websql/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /webdb/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /mysqladmin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"
GET /mysql-admin/scripts/setup.php HTTP/1.1" "69.55.233.22" "ZmEu"

The logs do not cover everything but it is still a pain in the ass.

So, how do we help reduce the attack surface and vectors for ZmEu?

Some of the most effective counter-measures are simple best practices.

At the perimeter firewall or choke start with the old deny all and only open the specific ports required.

If you don’t “need” thing like mysqladmin/phpmyadmin then remove it or don’t install it.

If you are going to run them things like .htaccess files and mod_sec are your friends… so use them!

Hell, most hardware firewalls include at least one ssl vpn license these days so if you can’t control access based on ip,

restrict it to the vpn network as a management segment

(i.e. http://www.foo.net:8881/myPhpAdmin and block 8881 in your firewall to all but your static IP address).

Here is a quick little mod_sec rule to help you out:

       SecRule REQUEST_URI "@rx (?i)\/(php-?My-?Admin[^\/]*|mysqlmanager
       |myadmin|pma2005|pma\/scripts|phpMyAdmin-insertproperver|w00tw00t[^\/]+)\/"
       "severity:alert,id:'0000013',deny,log,status:400,
       msg:'Unacceptable folder.',severity:'2'"

READ THIS TWICE!!!: You can’t really cut the lines this way… Use a \ and don’t cut strings.

This is just to make the format easier to read on the blog.



If you are using phpMyAdmin, then you’ll want to add another rule to skip this one.

That other rule should check your IP and when you get a perfect match, use “skipAfter:0000013″.



Hope this helped!

–E

Earlier this year CompTIA announced that it would be changing three of what most people consider their (CompTIA’s) most popular certifications. The A+, Network+, and Security+ would no longer be valid for life. Their reasons for change made sense that with these certifications gaining ISO recognition and accreditation that the certs would need to be renewed every 3 years. Many people were upset with the change myself included. There were two main reasons people were upset the first was the blanket announcement that these 3 certs would now require re-certification for all current holders as well as people that would be taking the test in the future. The second reason being that for most people the change came out of the blue and most of the details for how re-certification would be handled were pretty fuzzy. The backlash on this announcement was huge and CompTIA doing what I consider to be a wise move decided to reconsider its decision (view their post here). They changed their stance to say that all A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications completed prior to January 1, 2011 would be valid for life and after the first would require renewal every 3 years.

Based on their blog post which can be found at http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed/renewal.aspx re-certification will be handled in the following manner:

“For candidates currently preparing to sit for a CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+ exam, if you pass an exam and become certified by December 31, 2010, you too will have a lifetime certification with no requirements for recertification or retesting.

Effective January 1, 2011, all new CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+ certifications will be valid for three years from the date the candidate is certified. After three years, the certification must be renewed. This can be done by passing the most current exam for a respective certification or by participating in CompTIA’s upcoming new continuing education program, which will allow individuals to keep their skills current and their certification up to date without retesting.”

I felt the re-cert/cpe process is pretty standard and I already have to do it for my (ISC)2  certifications and a few others anyhow.

Most people that are actively continuing the certification process are aware of this change but some were not. For me most of the CompTIA certifications I hold were older objectives so it seemed like a good time to renew and get it done with. So I bit the bullet and decided to pick 4 days to re-certify and truth be told I had a blast doing it. Honestly, I had already convinced myself that this was going to be boring and suck not because I would have to cram to do it but because I found myself thinking with almost 20 years of experience why sound I take these entry level exams? The the most obvious answer was that short of my employer requiring me to re-cert I could just knock it out and be done with it.

You know, it is amazing when you are always working at the higher levels how much of the basics you can forget! This point alone really made the whole process fun for me when you nail 90 practice questions on complicated questions and then whiff on a “how the hell did I miss that question” lead to a few good laughs.

I won’t really go into the whole exam experience other then to say I studied 1 day for each exam and my lowest score was 875, my highest 900 and my longest 100 questions took me 27 minutes including the agreement and candidate survey.

Overall the process was fun and a great refresher for an old salt like me. I had to laugh on the A+ because some of the questions with dealing with customers/clients are great if you are dealing with customers but for a guy like me that works in a large enterprise I don’t consult with a customer of explain their options… I pick up a two-way radio, bark an order to my staff, and shortly after a cart with a replacement machine appears and the old unit is whisked off to the bench for repair. So I did have to “remember my role” for the exam.

As the hiring manager for the department I often get asked are the CompTIA certs worth getting? So here is my view, these are great baseline certifications. They are not advanced certs that are going to automatically earn you a 6 figure salary. If you are new to IT and looking to help make you more solid as a candidate they are a great option. If you work for (or have aspirations to work for) the government or a government contractor  that needs to meet 8570 requirements they are definitely worth doing. Sure you will find higher demand for many of the Cisco, Microsoft, (ISC)2 and ISACA certifications but the path is usually much longer or has experience requirements.

I found it to be fun and rewarding and I do not regret the experience. Truth be told it served as a good motivator to get back back on track and finally knock out the last few credentials that I had put on the back burner.

If you are interested in discount test vouchers check out the widget below:

Browse categories: CompTIA Microsoft MOS/MCAS Novell Check Point Cisco IC3 CTP EC-Council EXIN Sun Microsystems

So if you are like me and do a bunch of work in the field sometimes you need a DNS server for various reasons or can’t get to your own because of firewall etc. Google is now offering public DNS! The server IP’s are:

8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4

You can read about it here I’m sure any unresolvable domains or typo’s will yield you a page full of ads and Google search but what do you expect from free?

The difference is one site gets lots of targeted free  search engine traffic while the other site is on  page 99 of Google at best.

That’s right—traffic and lots of it.  Many people believe that content is king, but that’s  like putting the cart before the horse.  What good is the world’s greatest content if nobody  ever finds it?   But all traffic is not created equal.  You could run up your credit card balance with  pay-per-click traffic hoping for a decent return.

And if you are lucky enough to find a profitable  niche, it is only a matter of time before someone  else will move in, shrinking your profit margin to nothing.

Or you could write tons of articles and submit  them to the hundreds of article sites and hope the end user feels like giving you credit for the article you wrote.

I don’t know about you but I have no desire to relive 12th grade English.

Or you could wait for the traffic ferry to come  by and sprinkle some search engine love dust on  your site.

I heard he is booked up, so good luck  getting him to visit.

Or you could become a hermit and spend months  learning everything about search engine optimization. Let’s face it, you have enough to do  already without adding something else into  your schedule.

Now there is a much easer way to get all the  free traffic you could ever want, but it  requires something…watching videos!

Charles Kirkland has done the hard part for  you. Now you can learn from his success and  failures with his new four-step process to  get top search engine rankings. Charles takes  the mystery out of getting top search engines  listings in Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Now I know you have heard this a million times before.

I know I have.

Most of the time it is followed by some fuzzy  screen shot for a top listing for some five-word keyword that nobody in their right mind would ever use.

Getting a top spot for the keyword “Anchorage,  Alaska dog walking service” isn’t going to be hard.

That is what I expected when I first heard about  Charles and this SEO Codebreaker system he developed.

Was I wrong?

Watch the video on his home page and you can be  the judge.

He has multiple first page listings on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for a number of different sites, including some with very competitive keywords.

He is not only dominates niches, he is kicking butt in whole categories.

What makes this so amazing is that he has broken  down the steps into a simple four-step process.

Watch the online videos of how it’s done online  right now.

Just click on the link below to check it out yourself.

http://ericamos.com/gw7

Thanks,

~Eric

P.S. Remember, getting top search engine rankings is like having the ability to give yourself an  instant pay raise when you need it.
http://ericamos.com/gw7

To begin, I was very skeptical about this product.

Do you really think that anybody can get great search engine rankings and free traffic in four easy steps?

I doubt it!

Well, after reading the sales letter, it all seemed to promise a lot.

However, since there was a money back guarantee, I didn’t have anything to loose.

So, I figured I would give it a try.

If it didn’t work I would just get a refund and that would be that.

After deciding to take the plunge, I was pleased with the membership area.

Everything was laid out and organized in a very easy-to-use manner.

However, I didn’t join for a pretty member’s area. I wanted step-by-step videos telling me how to get free search engine traffic.

It was the videos that I wanted!  The content on the videos is what is important, not some fancy member’s area.

Now this is where the rubber met the road.  Did the Charles Kirkland promise live up to the hype?

Well, I thought I had a good understanding of SEO but this was like going from 0 to the speed of light in the length of the videos.

The videos are very easy to follow, and were much better than I expected.

The content is rock solid and is really easy to grasp.

Charles really takes his time and explains the how to do it and, most importantly, why to do it.

I would give this product 4 ½ stars out of 5.

This is just personal, but I hated music in the videos. In addition, some of the Web 2.0 techniques are on the advanced side.

But other than that, this is a steal.

Overall, I recommend that you get this before your competition does.   http://ericamos.com/gw7

9/26 – edited for spelling… my bad