I’ve been on a bit of a security kick lately…more than usual anyway. I’ve always been a bit of a security fanatic but lately I’ve been learning a whole lot more. Working as an IT auditor by day and just naturally being attracted to technology, security is of great interest to me. I’m also becoming a huge fan of the open source DD-WRT firmware as I start to use more and more of its features on my home network.
A lot of security topics exists that I’d love to write about sometime, but securing your wireless network is one that should be useful to most of my blog readers. Plus, this is a natural progression from my recent post about How to Flash the WRT54GL with DD-WRT Firmware. This post will not cover the intricate details of the hows and whys of wireless security nor will provide a ton of details on how to circumvent (i.e., crack) common security settings. Maybe I’ll cover those topics at a later date. For now, I just want to tell you about what security settings you should use on your home or small business wireless network to ensure no one is able to sniff (see what your doing on your wireless connection) or use your wireless connection without your permission. Continue reading
**DISCLAIMER**The following instructions are provided without warranty of any kind. Flashing firmware does not come without risk. I will not be held responsible for any resulting equipment failure or otherwise undesirable results. Proceed at your own risk.
This tutorial explains how I successfully flashed my Linksys WRT54GL version 1.1 with the open source dd-wrt version 23 SP2 VPN firmware (generic). If you happen to have Linksys WRT54GL version 1 rather than 1.1 (you can tell by the serial number prefix of CL7A for version 1.0 and CL7B for version 1.1 per the Wikipedia entry and dd-wrt Wiki), you may have to follow slightly different instructions. The main difference is that you will need to flash to a smaller version of the dd-wrt firmware (the mini version) first due to a flash file size limit on the version 1.0 WRT54GL firmware before flashing to the standard, VOIP, or VPN versions.
As a bit of background information, I’m used a fully patched (as of April 6, 2007) Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Internet Explorer 6 during the firmware upgrade process. The OS and web browser shouldn’t matter that much, but I have heard reports of Firefox causing some problems with the Flash for some people in the past though others have claimed to use Firefox without any problems–just a word of caution.
Before you begin, download the package and version of the dd-wrt firmware best suited to your needs though this tutorial walks through flashing to the open source dd-wrt version 23 SP2 VPN firmware. Once you’ve downloaded the file, go ahead an unzip the files. The zip package contains several files, you will only need the “dd-wrt.v23_vpn_generic” file. We’re going to be using the generic file rather than the wrt54g file because we’re going to be using the web GUI to upload the file. Continue reading
**WARNING** The message below may be offensive to some people. However, as a Christian I feel it necessary to share my thoughts about what Jesus has done for me since today is Easter. If this bothers you please don’t read this. I’m not forcing you to and I’m warning you ahead of time. Fare enough.
As I’m writing this I’m thinking about all the many blessings that God has provided to me and my family. I am truly blessed and I know it. I’m very thankful it too. Easter is a great reminder of all that God has done for everyone, not just myself. He has done many great things in my life. If it weren’t for Him, I would have never met my wonderful wife. If I’m completely honest, if it weren’t for Him I wouldn’t even be here much less have anything at all. Of course my saying general statements like these doesn’t provide enough evidence for people who don’t believe in God.
What could provide evidence? Nothing really. The way I say it, Christianity is about faith. Therefore, God will never show Himself in a completely undeniable way. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be about faith. You see God wants us to believe in Him and worship Him because we choose to. Forced love is never true love. Thus, God leaves the door open for us to accept Him or not.
Don’t get me wrong. Plenty of evidence exists pointing to a Creator just not enough to make God’s existence undeniable. I don’t see how anyone could look at the world around them and think it happened by chance…creation itself points to a Creator. Moreover, how could one man, Jesus Christ, turn the world upsides down. Jesus was born into an average family, worked as an average carpenter, and never traveled far from His home. Yet, He changed the course of history by His truly profound message.
What was that message? That God loved us and wanted to forgive us for all the wrong that we had done. That’s good news to me. I know I’ve done many wrong things in life that were against God’s will. To know that God loves me and is willing to forgive me is outstanding. Of course, the message goes deeper than God love and forgiveness. Jesus claimed to be and was the Son of God who came to earth to be a man–an average man, not a king. This Man performed many miracles to show who He was. During His life, He fulfilled all of the prophecies about the Messiah. The fact that one man was able to fulfill the many, many prophecies written in what is now known as the old testament of the Bible is truly amazing.
Ultimately, His claim to be God led to His death. His death was all part of the plan though. You see He died willingly…for if He was God’s Son (and I believe He was) He could have done anything He wanted including save Himself. His unwillingness to not forgo the suffering when He easily could have is part of the beauty of God’s love.
The excruciating death of Jesus on the cross is what we celebrate on Good Friday today. Seems ironic that we celebrate such a horrendous death of the One we Christians claim to worship. Why could such a day be called Good Friday? Because of what happened three days later. HE AROSE! Death could not hold Him in the grave because He lived a perfect/sinless life while on Earth; death occurs because of sin.
Exactly why was the death of God’s Son part of God’s plan? Seems a bit odd if you ask me. It wasn’t though…not for God. We must remember that God created us. He loves us dearly. At the same time, God can’t stand sin. Humans sin. Therefore, a big problem exists. God loves humans but can’t have complete fellowship with them due to their sin. Only one way exists for sin to be forgiven. That way is someone innocent to pay the penalty for the sinner. Jesus was innocent. We were the sinners. Jesus died to pay for our sin so that God could be with the ones He loved, the ones He created.
You must however accept the gift of God’s love by having faith in Jesus death and resurrection. You must turn away from your sin and ask for God’s forgiveness. That’s all it takes to become a Christian and know you’re going to heaven. No other way exists. Trust me, the decision is totally worth it. Yes, some people will call you crazy but the peace and relief you receive more than makes up for it. I couldn’t imagine my life without knowing God…He makes such a difference in my life.
Hopefully, my ramblings haven’t been completely and utterly confusing. Hopefully, my words have shed some light on what I believe as a Christian. Most importantly, I hope my words have touched you in some way. I tend to write in a confusing a seemingly illogical way according to my wife (she’s probably right…too many philosophy classes in college. It’s really not illogical…not to me anyway Seriously, if I’ve confused you or if you’ve got any questions please contact me and I’ll try to help or point you in the right directions to get more answers.
Here’s a nice video to go with this post. It’s not exactly an “Easter” video but it’s a good one just the same.
Seriously, if I’ve confused you or if you’ve got any questions please contact me and I’ll try to help or point you in the right directions to get more answers.