Thursday 13 December 2012

Basic Linux Commands List

The purpose of this blog entry is to document a few basic Linux commands that i find useful. I'm fairly new to Linux and recording these commands gives me a point of reference and helps me remember them.

It's important to note that in Linux syntax is case sensitive.

I am using Ubuntu so my syntax may differ slightly to yours if you are using another distro. If you want to learn more about any of the commands i list try the following:

SSH Tunnel

SSH Tunneling

This is a quick blog post to let my mate Ollie know about a few ways that I use SSH and how it is useful.

Firstly, a SSH client connects to a SSH server, logs in with either a password or certificate and communicates over an encrypted tunnel. The beauty of SSH is that it is also easy to tunnel other types of traffic such as HTTP or VNC over the tunnel. This is useful for the following:

> Secure Administration of a remote server.
> Secure File transfer.
> Securing web traffic over a non-secure wired or wireless network.
> Bypassing of restrictions and filtering imposed on the local network.

SSH Tunneling Full Tutorial

SSH Tunneling the Pretty Way

This is just a quick post about a nice little tool I found that allows you to setup and save your SSH tunnels and then quickly bring them up when required. Why might you want to do this? Well theres plenty of reasons. They range from it feels geeky, to you're paranoid about those kids in the coffee shop with the "Hack Naked" stickers on there laptops, to just because you can.

Now this guide does assume that you have a SSH server that you can get too and its running Privoxy on port 8118.

The tool is Gnome SSH Tunnel Manager (gSTM) and is available from http://gstm.sourceforge.net the repositories.

apt-get install gstm

Now, a quick reminder of the manual way:

ssh -NL 8118:localhost:8118 synjunkie@ssh_server_ipaddress

Then point your browsers proxy at localhost:8118

And now the pretty way.

Create The Tunnel

Open gSTM from Applications > Internet Menu, and enter your SSH server details. Click Add to configure the port redirection settings and click OK.



Save the settings by clicking OK.



Now you have a tunnel that is saved for you and can be started by Clicking on the Start Button.


Configure The Browser

Now you need to tell Firefox to use your tunnel. Open Firefox Preferences from the Edit menu in Firefox and amend the network proxy settings.



Now you can safely browse the web

You could make this even more seamless by adding a Firefox extension to allow you to have multiple proxy configurations set up and simply select which one you want using drop down list on the toolbar. Switch Proxy works well for this.


Check The Tunnel

You can test that your traffic is being tunneled by using Netstat, Etherape, TCPDump or a number of other tools. Bellow I have used Netstat.



I can see that I am making connections to local port 8118 and that the only external web traffic is going to my SSH server.

Free ICMP Tunnel

On the computer network a person feels himself not comfortable with all those security measures implemented (firewalls, proxy servers, Router Access lists…), these measures are very important to protect users but even if all these perimeters are installed we can have a good opportunity to eliminate and bypass them.
Usually there are some standard protocol that are allowed on any network (HTTP/HTTPS, SMTP, POP…) and even for these protocols traffic do not directly go to outside network but it passes by NAT over getaways that will scan and block non legitimate packets.
ICMP protocol has been used by system administrators to send error messages—indicating, for instance, that a requested service is not available or that a host or router could not be reached and while ICMP is required and do not cause a big threat from the security prospective you can find it enabled on most network.

Google Maps for iOS Download Now

To say that Apple Maps for iOS 6 has been a blunder is quite the understatement. Ever since iOS 6 was released to the public a few months ago, complaints began rolling out about the mapping services. Everything from misplaced roads, to wonky directions, to horrible rendering of terrain became fodder for the online media and even mainstream media -- not to mention Apple's customers and Apple's competitors.

Things got so bad that Apple CEO Tim Cook even apologized to Apple customers

However, even as Apple is looking to improve its native Maps application on a continuing basis, Google is looking to offers users a seasoned alternative -- Google Maps. The refreshed Google Maps app for iOS has all the goodies (and more) that users loved before Apple decided to give the application the boot for its own homegrown solution.
 

Samsung Exec Praises Apple Ecosystem, Uses iPhone and iPad at Home

Samsung exec shows Apple some love

Samsung and Apple definitely have an awkward relationship. Samsung is one of Apple's top suppliers for components in its popular iPad and iPhone mobile devices. However, Apple is currently embroiled in a bitter "thermonuclear war" with Samsung over claims that the South Korean electronics giant has ripped of its patented designs and technology.

Despite the fact that Apple is looking to have numerous Samsung products banned from the market, it was revealed that Samsung President and Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn actually has quite a bit of love for Apple and its products in an interview with MIT Technology Review. Sohn praised Apple tie-ins like iCloud, stating, "If you look at the strengths of Apple, in a way it’s not the product per se. It’s that consumers like their ecosystem such as iCloud. I like that my family 6,000 miles away in Korea is able to see my schedule and see all of my contacts and photos."

iPhone 5 Full Review

The last significant redesign of the iPhone platform came in 2010 with the iPhone 4. It was an update that literally touched all aspects of the device, from SoC to display to baseband and of course, chassis. Last month’s launch of the iPhone 5 is no different in magnitude. The sixth generation iPhone makes some of the biggest changes to the platform since its introduction in 2007.
Visually the device begins by evolving the design language of the iPhone 4/4S chassis. From the launch of the iPhone 4 it was quite obvious that Apple had picked a design it was quite proud of. Thus it’s not too surprising that, from a distance, the iPhone 5 resembles the previous two iPhone models. We’ll get into material differences shortly, but what make the iPhone 5 design such a radical departure is its larger display.
All previous iPhones have maintained the same 3.5-inch, 3:2 aspect ratio display. With the rest of the world quickly moving to much larger displays, and with 16:9 the clear aspect ratio of choice, when faced with the decision of modernizing the iPhone platform the choice was obvious.
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