Believe it or not, all went so well, that I even forgot to come back to this thread and let everyone know. Now if the big conversion goes that well, then I think I'll play the lottery soon afterwards.

Don

Moving thread.

Don

We'll be doing a little site maintenance tonight, so don't freak. This is not the big change we've been talking about, just a little housekeeping and planning for moving the production environment. Some of it includes work on the db, so make sure that if you are posting something in the forums, just be wary of possibly losing it. We will put the forums in Maintenance Mode, so no one should be able to do anything, but putting it in that mode in the middle of someone joining or posting could make you lose that effort.

We'll try to do this as quickly as possible, but those are infamous last words. ;-)

Don

OK... quick update.

As you can tell, because tomorrow is the first of the month, we're not going to make our end-of-month self-imposed deadline. But that's OK. Some articles are running behind as well as getting the giveaway for May, but I'm totally focused on this conversion process. This is going to be the backbone of the site for years to come, so putting some of the regular monthly items on hold for a little bit is worth it for the long-term vision.

That being said, I'm close to having a working demo for those who have been giving thoughts in this thread and offline.

Hang in there,
Don

That all being said, I do not support EC-Council or the CEH.

Then why support them by recommending that people not "skip" it?

Don

If GCIH is next for you, then I would make sure you know networking, Linux and Windows. So if certs are your thing, then go for Network+, Linux+ and a MS Server cert of some kind... or at least study those 3 topics.

If you ever go into an interview and the REQUIRE CEH, then by all means educate them that it is not what they should be looking for if they want a professional pen tester. I've talked to HR people and recruiters, and they were very appreciative of the knowledge. It's also happened that they came back later and thanked me for saving them headaches where they almost hired someone with only a CEH.

CEH is a decent starting point and, as other have said, a good way to motivate you to study, but it WILL NOT prepare you for a real job in this arena. If you already have the motivation, then skip it.

Hope this helps,
Don

I've narrowed it down to one CMS and 3 possible forum apps. I'm running each on a dedicated dev server for testing. I'm also doing test conversions, feature comparisons, integration review, etc.

I'll get in touch with each of you that either replied to this thread or contacted me offline to send you the dev URL for final testing and feedback.

So I'd like to have this done before the end of the month.

Don

Hey All,

Just wanted to throw a quick note out there updating you on what we've been thinking behind-the-scenes and what's coming.

In a nutshell, we have some needs, desires, deadlines on support and service, and much more on our plate. All of this and more is prompting us to look at migrating EH-Net from it's current platform to something new. We're hot on keeping this community based on LAMP, but other than that, anything goes! We've been pretty much open to any platform, open source, free or commercial, that best fits our needs. Unfortunately, I'm not finding a single solution for everything, but I'm doing my best.

As you know, we currently run Joomla CMS and Simple Machines Forum (SMF) and connect them with a bridge. This allows us to have single-sign on (SSO), integrated discussions for our articles, calendar, private messaging... all within a single look and feel. I'm doing everything I can to keep it that way. It's proving harder than you would think. Argh!!

This is a short list of the larger items we'd like to tackle:

1. Move to a faster dedicated server.
2. Implement our recently purchased SSL certificate
3. Create a better backend for our advertisers
4. In addition to our Columns and Articles, setup Blogs (less formal publications with no editing process) for interested EH-Netters (PM me if you'd like to be considered)
5. Better SPAM prevention
6. Upgrade everything!!

We have a number of small items as well, but those can always be done later and/or added as we move along. The big things need to be baked in from the get-go.

With that in mind, I also want everyone to know that no project of this magnitude goes off without a hitch. There will be sacrifices on my end and yours. In the end it should set us up for big, long-term growth. Here's what I may have to sacrifice:

1. Changing the look and feel of EH-Net.
2. Taking an initial hit in the search engines as we transition to new, friendlier URLs
3. We may lose some members as they may not like new stuff. 3h!t happens.

What might happen to you:

1. Might lose functionality or have to adjust to the way old things are accomplished in the new system
2. Might lose password and have to reset it (not always a bad thing)

In the end, this process has really helped the creative juices start to flow. It slows things down on outward appearances, but it's been a lot of work that no-one sees. All in all, I'm happy and excited for the future of EH-Net.

So I have a few questions for you:

1. Are you on-board with what we may have to do?
2. How extensively do you use PMs through our forums?
3. who's interested in Blogging for EH-Net?
4. Who's willing to help test?
5. Who's willing to possibily help moderate the forums?
6. Anyone willing to lend a hand who has expertise in PHP, MySQL, design?
7. Should we implement OpenID, login with Twitter?

This should be plenty to get the conversation rolling.

Thanks in advance for always being there,
Don

PS- Please keep in mind, that I have already been at this a while and have narrowed down some decisions. Things will hopefully move very quickly.

Nice!!

Are you going into eLS student or pro?

Don

"Very soon" just arrived. Take a look at our latest Monthly Giveaway!!

Don

[New eLearnSecurity Training and Certification Path on Web Application Security]

It's been a while since eLS has been the sponsor of our Free Monthly Giveaways. They're back at with a vengeance. Enjoy fighting over this one!

Permalink: [Article]-April 2013 Free Giveaway Sponsor - eLearnSecurity

Win 3 Prizes Worth $1700!

Shhhh... Don't tell anyone, but there's a new course coming from eLearnSecurity on webapp pentesting. And before it even goes live, all you EH-Netters have a shot at winning a free seat. If their past courses and projects like Coliseum and Hack.Me are any indication of the quality, this should be a very well received online class and practical exam. Of course we'll be the judge of that as EH-Net Columnist, New eLearnSecurity Training and Certification Path on Web Application Security, and you will also get a whopping 30% OFF at launch! But don't say anything!

In addition to the behind-the-scenes work on the new webapp course, eLS has also been busy lately updating Penetration Testing - Student. We'll share our thoughts on this course as well in an upcoming review by appropriately enough a new writer for EH-Net, Heather Pilkington. So with that, I'm sure all you hackers out there have figured out that members can win 1 of 3 prizes listed below:

   - 1 seat in the soon-to-be-released eLS WebApp Professional Course worth $900
   - 2 seats in the Penetration Testing - Student v2 Course worth $400 each
   
You know the drill. You win by participating in the EH-Net Community. So get at it!

Participation is the ONLY way to win. Start a thread that sparks lots of interest; share thoughts and experiences; spread the word of EH-Net to your social networks; help a newbie... quality is more important than quantity.

Only members are eligible!
Registration Is FREE!

Let us know what you think of the giveaway, eLS, their courses...

Don

[By Robert J. Shaker II, CISSP, CCSK, CGEIT, CRISC]

We have a new contributor in our midst. Give a hearty welcome to Bob Shaker. He has some great ideas on how to view security from different angles. Let us know what you think and offer honest feedback. Trust me, Bob can take it. 

Permalink: [Article]-Human Intelligence to Navigate the Security Data Deluge

By Robert J. Shaker II, CISSP, CCSK, CGEIT, CRISC

Since the dawn of man there has been intelligence. Hunter gatherers would venture out and learn from the world around them what each sound, smell, and taste meant. The growl of a large predator would alert them to prepare for a defensive effort or to change paths. The smell of smoke meant other humans were nearby, and the taste of bitter meant something wasn’t edible. As time marched forward, needing to learn more about the other packs of humans around them became more important. There was competition or cooperation for resources but this required getting to know the other pack. Sometimes the best way to do that was to spy on them, to gather intelligence about the way they behaved, the way they interacted with each other and to determine how strong or weak they were.

Regardless of the point in history, this has always proven to be true. We can see it as we progress through our modern era. In fact, this became so important that commercial intelligence companies began forming. The Age of Exploration saw a boom in this industry as the colonial armies grew. Their need for intelligence required outside parties, whether to help with the sheer volume of work, geographic disbursement or to give plausible deniability.  Is it so different now?

Today, we are up against countless adversaries. They’re nameless, faceless and shrouded behind false information. The ships that are on the horizon, the spies in our midst and the fortress we protect are all in the digital domain. The virtual skies are foggy and visibility is low. Today’s environment is much more difficult to navigate. The one commonality between these two vastly different times is the importance of human intelligence, and I’d argue that today it’s even more important than ever. A couple scenarios below will illustrate just how important it is for our innately human talents to remain a vital part of cyber security.

Here's to being human,
Don

That sounds like it could be a great hardware hacking article/tutorial.

Don

Last chance to make your impressions.

Don't forget the coupon code!

Don

[EH-Net Newsletter March 2013]

For those of you who haven't signed up for our newsletter, I thought I'd share it with you. It's not overrun with advertising (just enough to pay the bills). It's just a quick view into what's been happening on EH-Net. So it contains recent articles, let's you know what articles are coming, Free Giveaway news, our Global Calendar of Events for the coming month, etc.

It's a quick and easy way to get the latest from EH-Net.

Take a look for yourself:

EH-Net Newsletter March 2013
Bugcrowd, Network Forensics, Violent Python, Giveaway News, April Calendar
http://go.rm0003.net/v/pIEBEF6eQHvgVliDKKDApQ2

If you sign up on our list, you'll get this newsletter no more than once a month. We also sent out email messages about upcoming events, webcasts, contests, special offers and discounts and more, but those go out no more than once a week on average. For more info, go to Vitals>About EH-Net>Thanks for Joining Our List.

To become a member of the EH-Net Email List, click Subscribe Now.

Thanks and as always, let us know what you think. We're always open to suggestions.

Don