Killing Java using Group Policy and other notes
Hello GPanswers.com Team.. This last week was a biiiiig week. In no particular order
1. All the book orders have shipped, so if you don’t have yours yet, it should be very, very soon. (If you’re new and don’t know what I’m talking about, my latest 800 page book on Group Policy is available at www.GPanswers.com/book, as a signed copy.) (More about the book at the end of today’s email.)
2. Speaking of NEW PEOPLE, we had a huge influx of people join us after reading the article "Hone your IT skills with these five web apps". GPanswers.com is #3 in this article: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/hone-your-it-skills-with-these-five-web-apps/1679
I’m not sure GPanswers.com qualifies as an "app", but — hey, I’ll take it !
Thank you and welcome to all of our newest GPanswers.com Team members !
3. So, the big news story of last week was.. Java.
Unless you were under a rock, you learned that the Department of Homeland security suggested that everyone (literally, not joking) DISABLE Java (at least for now.)
The rationale, is that even with the "fix" (Java 7 u11) , the fix isn’t really a "fix" at all. But rather, it simply updates the warning levels and messages to end users. (And users are so grrrrrrreat at knowing what to do when they see warning messages.) Um, no they’re not.
Okay. So, how, exactly would you stop Java capital N, NOW on all of your machines? (At least until the dust settles?)
I can tell you that there is no "in the box" way to perform this function, and ensure it’s going to work in all browsers, consistently. However, I’ve created a video (two videos really) at my "other" blog at PolicyPak.com to show you Exactly how to turn off Java NOW in your enterprise:
I did find some other "ideas" floating around on the internet. I tried those ideas and make it work, for about two hours of banging my head against the wall, but had to give up. Sometimes you gotta just get the right tool for the right job.
Hope this helps you out and makes your company more secure..
PS: This article http://tinyurl.com/a2usfs2 has some good, reasoned information about the problem and where it’s going.
4. I have some notes for folks still thinking about getting a copy of the book:
Note 1:
I decided to "buy my own book". That is, I wanted to see for myself how good or bad the Amazon version of my latest book was. I have to say, I found it to be a very pleasurable experience reading the book on the iPad Kindle app. (That’s all I tested it on, so your mileage may vary.)
First, on the iPad Kindle app, all the figures are in COLOR. Which is really great. I like that.
Second, what I had heard from readers about the PREVIOUS edition of the Kindle book was that figures were hard to see sometimes and tables were difficult to manage. Something must have improved in the process, because in my experience in the new book, figures will "Zoom" in and become full screen if you want. And tables have a special function to look at different cells with <- and -> buttons. In short, I thought it was awesome and personally approve of how it works on an the iPad Kindle app.
Caveat 1: Again, I don’t own a Kindle DEVICE. I tried this out on the Kindle iPad app, so that’s all I tested.
Caveat 2: If you buy the Kindle edition of the book and hate the experience, please don’t blame me — take it up with Amazon. I only wrote the text and have zero to do with the Amazon or printed edition’s final results.
Note 2:
There are a handful of very small errata (errors) in the book. The most notable is Figure 1.1.. Yes, the first official figure in the book is misprinted. (Don’t shoot the messenger.. I went back to my writing notes, and something happened between my directive to change it, and the printing process.) In Figure 1.1, I show Vista as your management station and not Windows 8, as might be expected in a Win 8 book.
There are a handful of other little issues, and I’ll be posting the errata to the website at some not-so-far-in-the-future point. But for now, that’s the big "headsmacker".
Note that the same figure can be seen in the "Look inside" in Amazon and also when you buy the Kindle version.
5. Last call to get your own copies before I stop talking about it for a while (no guarantees).
Here’s exactly how to do it:
1. Signed from me, "printed on dead trees" edition: www.GPanswers.com/book
2. Cheaper, not-signed, "printed on dead trees" edition from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Group-Policy-Fundamentals-Security-Managed/dp/1118289404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358787512&sr=8-1&keywords=jeremy+moskowitz
3. Even cheaper Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Group-Policy-Fundamentals-Security-ebook/dp/B00ATL9TSE/ref=tmm_kin_title_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358787512&sr=8-1
REMEMBER: Get the version with the LEAF on the cover. All others are now.. older.
Bonus eChapters available for free at www.GPanswers.com/book
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