The information technology industry, also known as the IT industry, is a sizable and quickly expanding sector that includes a wide range of computing-related activities, such as software development, hardware manufacturing, networking, data analysis, cybersecurity, and digital marketing, among others.
At Farmhouse Networking, we utilize the power of IT to help our clients improve their businesses and elevate their services to the next level. Our group offers expert assistance to networks for small- to medium-sized businesses. We possess the range and depth of expertise necessary to effectively operate business-class networks thanks to years of experience.
Our team has been fervently pursuing the best technologies and tools for our clients! Our passion for delivering nothing but the best for our partners. Today, we are proud to announce that we are reaping the benefits of the fruits of our labors as we introduce our latest Clutch award. We’ve been named as one of the game-changing IT Managed Service Providers in Portland.
Clutch, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this company, they are an established platform in the heart of Washington, DC, committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Clutch, their staff, and everyone else who helped choose our company for this game-changer award. We are sincerely touched and appreciative of your acknowledgment.
Our company would also like to express our appreciation to clients and partners for their support. To show our gratitude and appreciation, here are some of the teams’ favorite reviews throughout the years!
“Farmhouse networking always has the help we need and seems to look out for our company like it was their business. Scott is never pushy and is always available to answer questions so we feel confident in our decisions.” Josh Confer, Webmaster at Chief Aircraft Inc
“Their customer service has been outstanding. Working with them on this project is perfect because they are already familiar with our location.” Mikaila Herman, Office Manager at Chinook Forest Management
As our business continues to grow our focus is on providing white labeled Tier 3 IT support services, RMM as a service, and co-managed IT services. This blog will be highlighting tips for using Powershell to get an Export List of AD Users Last Login was more than 90 Days Ago.
Research
You need to find out what the Organizational Unit (OU) path that you are trying to get the count from. The following command will list all OUs in the domain.
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Filter 'Name -like "*"' | Format-Table Name, DistinguishedName -A
If you want the entire organization then you will need the top level information which looks like DC=[DomainName],DC=local
Variables
$SearchOU = This is the full DistinguishedName from the above output.
The script will take several seconds to run based on the number of users in the OU being searched. The output is saved to the local c:\support directory and you can modify this script to include the FTP upload based on our previous article – https://www.farmhousenetworking.com/rmm/automation/rmm-automation-export-log-files-to-ftp/ The script can also be easily modified to change the number of days since last login.
If your company is a MSP or wants to become one and automation just seems out of reach, then contact usto run your RMM for you.
As our business continues to grow our focus is on providing white labeled Tier 3 IT support services, RMM as a service, and co-managed IT services. This blog will be highlighting tips for using Powershell to get an Active Directory User Count.
Research
You need to find out what the Organizational Unit (OU) path that you are trying to get the count from. The following command will list all OUs in the domain.
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Filter 'Name -like "*"' | Format-Table Name, DistinguishedName -A
If you want the entire organization then you will need the top level information which looks like DC=[DomainName],DC=local
Variables
$SearchOU = This is the full DistinguishedName from the above output.
The script will take several seconds to run based on the number of users in the OU being searched. The output is an integer number. You can do the same sort of thing for an Active Directory Group Count or Active Directory Computer Count:
This is the tenth and finale in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on Cyber Security Audit.
Cyber Security Audit
Cyber Security Audit is a process where both internal and external systems are tested for their ability and susceptibility to being successfully attacked by hackers. This usually involves an inventory of current systems, research into known vulnerabilities, and testing of those found to see what information can be accessed. Once this process is complete a report is generated to detail both what is found and how those vulnerabilities can be addressed to protect the business’ most valuable commodity – information (intellectual property and client data). Here are some questions to ask:
Do you have an inventory of all assets in your organization? Is it up to date?
Have you tested your internal network for vulnerabilities?
Have you had a penetration test performed on your external network?
Do you know what compliance standards apply?
How do you document policies and procedures? Who oversees that?
If your company is wanting to have a free cyber security audit, then contact us for assistance.
When you think of cybersecurity, love and emotions are likely some of the last words that come to mind. However, scammers regularly depend on emotional connection to achieve their devious goals. According to the FBI, romance scams are at an all-time high, and accounted for the third highest internet crime loss in 2021.
Here at Farmhouse Networking, we account for human nature, and specifically gear our trainings towards helping people separate facts from feelings. When it comes to online romances, here are our top 3 red flags to look out for:
Things are intense: Online scammers want to act quickly before you suspect anything. They may profess their love for or even propose marriage after just a few months of talking.
Promises are broken: Since there is often an element of catfishing in romance scams, scammers may make plans to meet over video or in-person, but come up with last minute excuses to cancel.
They are far away: Similarly to #2, posing as a member of the military or international business person are common profiles of scammers, since they can easily avoid having to meet in-person.
Thanks to feelings of loneliness and isolation that often accompany winter, December through February is peak season for romance scams. Farmhouse Networking’s goal is for your employees to always feel confident and empowered to see through all kinds of phishing attempts. Thank you for being a valued customer, and know that we are always here to support you.
Had a local medial office want to move their current server into the cloud and because they are already an Office 365 customer, I chose to use Azure for their Virtual Machine. I helped them setup Azure to Araknis IPSec VPN to connect their headquarters to the hosted server. This tutorial will go into detail about the creation of this tunnel starting with the Microsoft Azure side first using Resource Manager. It will be using the following parameters:
VNet Name: TestNetwork
Address Space: 10.10.0.0/16
Subnets:
Primary: 10.10.10.0/24
GatewaySubnet: 10.10.0.0/24
Resource Group: TestResourceGroup
Location: West US
DNS Server: Azure Default
Gateway Name: TestVPNGateway
Public IP: TestVPNGatewayIP
VPN Type: Route-based
Connection Type: Site-to-site (IPsec)
Gateway Type: VPN
Local Network Gateway Name: TestSite
Local Subnet: 10.20.20.0/24
Connection Name: VPNtoTestSite
Configure an Azure VPN gateway
This part takes the longest, so it should be done first:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Virtual Network Gateway” and click on the “Create” button.
Give the Virtual Network Gateway a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Leave Gateway & VPN type the defaults
Choose a SKU <- These have changed since the article was created, so my “standard” now is WpnGw1 with Active / Active turned off (this is a good balance of performance and cost)
Choose or create a local network (not covered here, but must contain Gateway Subnet) that matches internal resources
Choose or create a Public IP Address
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “Create” button. (Please note the reminder that this takes 45 minutes to create!)
Configure an Azure Local Network Gateway
This is a reference to your on-premise network so that subnets can pass traffic:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Local Network Gateway” and click on the “Create” button.
Give the Local Network Gateway a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Specify the external IP address of the local on-premise site
Specify the on-premise address space (subnet)
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “Create” button.
Configure an Azure VPN Connection
This will create the tunnel from Azure to the on-premise site:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Connection” and click on the “Create” button.
Choose “Site-to-site (IPSec)” as the connection type
Give the Connection a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “OK” button. On the summary screen click on the “OK” button to create the connection.
Choose the newly created Virtual Network Gateway
Choose the newly created Local Network Gateway
Specify a shared key
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and click the “Create” button.
This completes the setup of the Azure side of the VPN tunnel. Now to work on the Ubiquiti USG side.
Configuring an Araknis IPSec VPN Network
Connect to Araknis router (need at least a 310 for this to work)
Click on Advanced > VPN
Scroll down to IPSec and click add new tunnel
Fill in the Remote IP address of the Azure VPN Gateway
Fill in the Remote Subnet Mask
Make the following changes to IPSec Setup
That is all there is to it. If your company is currently using either Microsoft Azure or Araknis routers and would like a VPN created, then contact us for assistance.
In today’s social media age, we are more interconnected than ever before. While this can be great for keeping up with loved ones and shedding light on current events, it also opens a new door for scammers. Last year, annual reported losses from social media scams hit $1.1 billion. Here are the five most common types and our recommendations for protecting yourself, and your business, from them:
Phishing Scams: Scammers attempt to trick you into revealing personal information by posing as a trustworthy source in an email or message. To avoid these scams, never click on links from unknown sources and always verify the sender’s identity.
Impersonation Scams: Scammers create fake profiles and impersonate others to deceive and scam others. To avoid these scams, check profiles for authenticity by verifying their information, friends, and photos.
Giveaway Scams: Scammers promise a prize or giveaway in exchange for personal information or a payment. To avoid these scams, never give out personal information, and only participate in giveaways from reputable sources.
Investment Scams: Scammers promise high returns on investments, but it is just a trick to steal your money. To avoid these scams, do thorough research before investing, be cautious of unrealistic returns, and don’t fall for pressure tactics.
Malware Scams: Scammers use social media to spread malicious software that can harm your device or steal personal information. To avoid these scams, don’t download anything from untrusted sources and keep your device’s security software up-to-date. Our goal at (Company Name) is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us @[handle] on Facebook and @[handle] on Instagram for more security tips and product updates.
Our goal at Farmhouse Networking is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us on LinkedIn for more security tips and product updates.
This is the ninth in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on Network Security.
Network Security
Network Security is having the proper hardware and configuration of that hardware in place to protect the business network. This configuration includes segmenting network traffic to keep specific types of traffic, like guest devices, separate from traffic of business devices. It also includes keeping outsiders out of the network and detecting when they have breached security measures. Here are some questions to ask:
Do you have a business class router / firewall?
Do you have business class switches and access points that support segmentation?
Is your network configured to segment business traffic from guest traffic?
Are devices like VoIP phones and network cameras on their own network?
Is geo-location blocking turned on for non-essential countries?
Is network traffic being analyzed for suspicious activity?
Do you filter internet traffic?
Can your network detect and respond to a breach?
If your company is wanting to lock down network security, then contact us for assistance.
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-10
