Graded Naming Convention and Documentation

You can easily provide groups of users with unwanted access if you do not use descriptive security group names. For example, the accounting department just purchased a SaaS based accounting program. It can sync with Active Directory for single sign-on and permissions. The administrator created an Accounting_1 and Accounting_2 group to manage access to the software. Accounting_1 is full access and Accounting_2 is limited. Both groups are generic and have no description or documentation.

The accounting department also needs a shared folder setup so they can share and collaborate on some files. The administrator thinks, oh I’ve already got accounting groups configured, and therefore proceeds to use Accounting_1. Users are added to Accounting_1 to provide access to the NTFS share, but unfortunately this now grants users full access to the SaaS accounting program.

Bad Security Group Names

The groups below are examples of bad security group names because there is no description and are generic, telling the administrator nothing. You would have to scan the entire network to know where these groups are being used.

Good Security Group Names

In the examples below you can look at the group name and instantly know what it is used for and there is information in the description box.

Do not create generic security group names, instead be descriptive in their use and use the description field.

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Audit and Review NTFS Permissions

Whether you have an existing file server or are setting up a new one it is important to review your NTFS permissions, this at times can even be a requirement of an audit. To simplify this task I recommend using an NTFS Permissions Report Tool that can scan all folders and show you who has access to what. With a reporting tool, you can list all folder permissions, verify users have the correct permissions, check inheritance, find insecure permissions, verify directory rights, and export the report to CSV, Excel, or PDF.

Secure NTFS Permissions with Security Groups

It is a best practice to create security groups to set NTFS permissions rather than using individual user accounts. Security groups have the following advantages:

  • Easier to manage permissions for a group of users
  • Easily remove user’s permissions
  • Easily grant users access to a file or folder
  • Makes it easier to identify who has access to what
  • Simplifies auditing and compliance reports

Let me walk through an example of how using security groups simplifies NTFS permissions management.

Say you have 100 employees that need access to the accounting folder, 80 need read/write permissions, and the other 20 need read-only access. To set these permissions you only need to create two security groups, and then configure the permissions for these two groups. Example below.

Example of using security groups to manage NTFS permissions.

Now as new employees are hired, all you need to do is add the user to one of these groups to give them access. To remove access you would just remove them from the group. If you did not use security groups for the NTFS permissions you would have to add all 100 users to the ACL, this would be very time consuming and difficult to manage. Example below.

Example of setting individual accounts on NTFS ACL permissions. This is a bad design. Always use security groups to manage the ACL on NTFS permissions.
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How to fix High swap usage in cPanel server

Is your server guilty of using too much swap space? You can run a quick check with the command:

# free -h 
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 7.6G 895M 4.3G 362M 2.7G 6.2G
Swap: 2G 1.9G 0.2G

If your swap usage is high, this often indicates a problem with the server performance. According to our in-house tech experts, the extremely high swap usage often occurs during and after the server is low on memory.

In other words, the swap usage in itself is not the issue on hand, it is merely a symptom of the actual issue. In fact, swap usage helps speed up the server when it is running low on memory.

Furthermore, swap is where less frequently used data gets cached. This allows your server to place the more highly trafficked data in RAM and yet still have access to the less frequently used data in the swap space.

Why doesn’t High swap usage in cPanel server go down?

Let’s take a closer look at why the amount of swap space doesn’t actually go down. First, we have to realize that moving data to swap is actually an intensive and slow task. The kernel effectively moves data to swap only when the benefits outweigh the operation time.

Similarly, moving data out of swap space is also a slow process. Hence, the kernel tends to take its time when it comes to moving data from the swap.

Why does high swap usage occur?

According to our Support Techs, high swap usage often depends on the type of application run by your server. Other factors that may cause it includes the server configuration and usage patterns. Any time the server runs low on memory, it starts relying more on swap space.

Rather than focusing on the amount of swap usage, it is better to monitor the rate at which the server moves pages to and from the swap space.

Our Support Team recommends monitoring the swap rate regularly. This makes it easier to identify when it becomes higher than usual. In most cases, the swap rate increases rapidly when the server starts having trouble.

How resolve extremely high High swap usage in cPanel server?

The easiest way to ensure that your swap usage by your server becomes 0 is to turn swap off and then turn it back on again.

In other words, this will prompt your swap space to flush out the swap pages into RAM and thereby setting the swap space back to 0.

You can turn your swap usage off by running the following command:

swapoff

Then turn it back on with the following command:

swapon

According to our Support Engineers, as long as your server is not having a low memory condition, it is safe to run these commands.However, if your server is currently facing low memory issues, contact our Server Management Services for further assistance.

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How to Fix Pagefile.sys

Move Pagefile.sys to Another Drive

In this method, we will show you how to move pagefile.sys to another drive in Windows via the Settings app to improve your PC’s performance:

Step 1. Open Settings and navigate to “System” > “About”

Step 2. Click “Advanced system settings” next to Related links.

Step 3. In the System Properties pop-up window, click the “Advanced” tab. Next, under the Performance section, click the “Settings” button.

Step 4. In the Performance Options pop-up window, click the “Advanced” tab. Next, under the Virtual memory section, click the “Change” button.

Step 5. Uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” in the Virtual Memory window.

Step 6. Under the Paging file size for each drive section, choose the C drive and select the “No paging file” option.

Step 7. Click the “Set” button. Click “Yes” when prompted.

Step 8. Select the drive you want to save the pagefile, for example, D:. Next, select the “System managed size” option. Click the “Set” button.

Step 9. Click “OK” and then “Apply.”

Step 10. Click “OK” and restart your PC.

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How to read an Email header

How to Read an Email Header

The layout and procedures of reading an email header vary depending on the email service provider (ESP). To inspect it, go to the email header and search for the lines that concern you.

Email Headers in Gmail

With over 1.5 billion active users worldwide, Gmail is one of the most prominent online email services. It’s no surprise that Google regularly packs Gmail with a slew of handy features and capabilities.

You can easily view email headers in Gmail by following the steps below on a desktop computer or laptop (this option isn’t available on mobile devices):

  1. Open your Gmail client and select the email that has the message header you want to view.
  2. Access the kebab menu by clicking on the three dots beside the “Reply” button once you see the message body.Next, select “Show Original” in the dropdown menu.
  3. A new window will pop up, displaying the longer header in its original HTML format. You’ll be able to view header details such as authentication statuses, IP addresses, MIME version, and DKIM signature.
  4. Click on “Download Original” if you want to install and inspect the header data individually, or if you want to email it to your tech team.
Email Headers on Yahoo

Yahoo Mail isn’t bad—it includes a lot of the same options as Gmail. Still, it can’t match with the quantity of benefits Gmail offers.

If you have a Yahoo Mail account, use the following instructions to quickly display your desired email header in detail.

  1. Open your Yahoo webmail client in a separate tab and click on the message whose header you want to view.
  2. Access the meatballs menu by clicking on the three horizontal dots located beside the “Spam” button.
  3. Next, choose the “View raw message” option on the dropdown menu.
  4. Now, a new window will open, enclosing the entire email header data.
Email Headers in Outlook

Many corporations prefer using Microsoft Outlook to enhance their mailing strategies. Thanks to the app’s organized folder system, users can reduce mail clutter by categorizing tasks and messages in a variety of ways.

In this section, we’ll be using Microsoft Outlook version 2202 (64-bit). Here’s how to access any email header’s details:

  1. Open any email from your folders that you want to see the header of. Make sure to double-click on it to open it in a separate window.
  2. Click on “Actions” from the menu at the top of the window. Next, select “More Actions,” then choose “View Source.”
  3. The header details will automatically open in a Notepadfile.
Email Headers in Apple Mail

Apple Mail (Mac) has grown to be a particularly useful email client since its inception. It’s easy to set up and use. Recent OS releases now include fresh formatting settings, the ability to add more attachments, and a spruced “Reply” menu.

Getting email headers from Apple Mail couldn’t be simpler. Just follow the directions below:

  1. First, open your Apple Mail client, then click to open the email whose header you want to view.
  2. From the menu, hover your mouse over “View,” then click on it to expand the dropdown menu.
  3. Select “Message,” then choose “Raw Source.” Now you’ll be able to see the full content of the email header and copy it if you’d like.

Despite the explosive growth of various communication channels, email remains a highly useful tool for any business. It’s proven to be one of the most cost-effective strategies to promote different ventures, generate new leads, and improve customer retention.

Consequently, email has become a popular target for hackers. Therefore, it’s critical to have adequate security to safeguard your organization from malicious email attacks and avoid the spam folder. Owing to their ability to troubleshoot delivery issues swiftly, email headers are a crucial asset for all users, particularly marketers focused on the technical requirements of sending emails and ensuring their delivery.

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Why Email Headers are important

Protection from Spam and Phishing

Phishing and spam are both unpleasant nuisances in our inboxes. Cybercriminals are constantly inventing new spoofing techniques to overcome security measures and cause more damage to users and businesses.

Email headers can help you avoid spam and phishing attacks. They assist email service providers (ESPs) in differentiating between spam and legitimate messages. Since email headers include the necessary data, ESPs can evaluate that information to identify whether the message is legitimate and should be routed to the intended recipient.

Identifying Sender and Receiver Information

Email headers provide critical message identifiers such as FromToSubject, and Date, as described above. You won’t be able to determine who the message is from, to whom it’s delivered, the day and time it was sent or received, or whether it contains safe, genuine content without the information the header provides.

In addition, email headers give a detailed description of the sender’s IP address, allowing you to trace the origin of the message. This way, it’s easier for you to spot a scammer or any malicious activity.

Improving Email Deliverability

For every dollar you spend on an email marketing campaign, you get $44 ROI. This means that the return of investment for email marketing can go as high as 4,400%.

Considering those numbers, the last thing you need while launching an email campaign is for your messages to be trapped in your clients’ spam filter. Spam filters and email providers scan your email header and analyze SPF, DKIM, X-Spam-Status, and X-Spam-Level sections. This is to ensure that the sender’s IP address is authorized to send messages to the domain, and that nobody fiddled with the email. It’s also wise to invest in email tracking software to keep an eye on your email delivery statuses. With a tracking system like Mailchimp, you’ll have a much easier time spotting issues as (or even before) they arise.

While you can also use tools like Mailhog to test emails, it’s often simpler to just send a sample message to yourself. This gives you an opportunity to review your own header information to make sure that it’s accurate and spam filter-friendly to ensure you maximize the email deliverability rate.

Finally, consider what might happen if your website goes down. Does this mean your emails will halt too? If your email is hosted on the same server as your website, it’s a near-certainty that they will.

To minimize the chances of your email going down along with your site, we strongly recommend keeping your email and hosting separate from one another. Kinsta doesn’t offer email services for this very reason: Our priority is to keep all parts of your site running smoothly, and for that, you need server separation and redundancy.

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How to whitelist particular domains in Office 365

To whitelist a domain in Office 365, users must

  1. Click on the “Admin” drop-down box found on the top of the display
  2. Click on “Exchange” and click the “Mail-Flow” heading
  3. Select “Bypass spam filtering” on the menu after clicking on the plus icon
  4. Write a new name for the rule in the text box. “Whitelisted Domains” is an excellent choice
  5. From the “Apply this rule if” drop-down box, choose “The Sender domain is”
  6. Enter the domain that should be whitelisted. The whole email address should not be included, only the domain such as xyz.com or gmail.com
  7. Click “Ok”
  8. Check the “Stop Processing More Rules” Option and click Save

Along with the whitelist feature, Microsoft offers various other Office 365 spam filter advanced options that allow users to configure and manage their anti-spam settings. These include choices that “increase spam score” if characteristics such as Linked images, Numeric IP addresses, URL to .biz sites, and so on are found in the email. There are also options to mark some emails, such as empty emails or those that have JavaScript as spam.

Some Office 365 spam filter best practices to get the best out of the service include

  • Set-up multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts.
  • Set up Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) for all Office 365 mailboxes.
  • Users must be educated to flag phishing emails to train the system. Suspicious emails should be marked as junk.
  • Add warnings when external emails from outside the organization arrive.
  • To combat phishing, set up rules for blocking or warning about emails that seem to be similar to a user’s domain but are not from it.
  • For enhanced detection, enable the auditing and logging of user activities in all areas possible.
  • Dedicated spam filtering and secure messaging solutions can be implemented for advanced protection.
  • Follow the Principle of Least Privilege.

Office 365 is an excellent cloud-based platform that fulfills all requirements of enterprises. It has several features that make it right for users. For instance, for preventing outbound spam office 365 has built-in filters. Such spam filters in Office 365 should be leveraged to their full extent, and best practices should be followed to ensure that spam emails do not interfere with the operations of an enterprise. Although the Office 365 spam filter is handy, it can block legitimate email communications. Setting up the Office 365 Spam Filter Whitelist is the best solution to allow desired messages to pass through the filter.

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How to fix Windows Backup Error 0x8078012D

Windows users have reported seeing an error code 0x8078012D when they attempt to create a backup of the Windows Installation using the Windows Backup Utility. This issue is reported to have occurred in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Usually, this error may be triggered due to any of the following reasons:

1. Disabled Windows Backup Service

2. Corrupted Storage Sectors

3. System File Corruption

4. Third-party software Conflict

Now that we know the possible causes for the error, let us see the fixes that other affected users have tried to resolve the issue.

Fix 1 – Enable the Windows Backup Service

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Open Services screen by typing services.msc in the Run box. If you are prompted by UAC (User Account Control), click on Yes to grant access.

2. Inside Services, on the right side, scroll through the list of services until you find an entry associated with Windows Backup.

3. Right-click on Windows Backup and select Properties in the context menu.

4. In the Properties screen,  select the General tab and change the Startup type to Automatic, then click on Start to start the service if it is stopped.

5. Apply the changes. Restart the system and repeat the action causing the 0x8078012D error code to check if it is resolved.

Fix 2 – Run a CHKDSK scan

If the above fix did not work, then you need to investigate whether it is an HDD/SSD storage-related problem. A CHKDSK (Check Disk) scan allows to identify malfunctioning logical sectors and replace them.

1. Press Windows key + X to open the WinX menu.

2. Click on Windows PowerShell (Admin) in the menu to launch the PowerShell with administrative privileges. If you see a UAC dialog, click on Yes to continue.

3. In the PowerShell window, type chkdsk X: where X is the drive letter corresponding to the partition of your system hard drive that you want to scan, followed by the parameters you want to perform the scan with, and then press Enter. Running a scan without the parameters will result in only scanning the selected drive and it will not fix the errors found.

The following parameters can be used :

/f - Tells CHKDSK to fix any and all errors that it finds
/r - Tells CHKDSK to locate bad sectors on the drive and try to recover any and all readable information from them
/x - Tells CHKDSK to forcefully dismount the selected drive before scanning it

The final command will look as below:
chkdsk C: /f
or
chkdsk D: /f /x

4. Wait for CHKDSK utility to finish its work. At the time of the scan, you will be able to continuously monitor the utility’s progress.
Fix 3 – Run SFC and DISM scans

System File Checker (SFC) and Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) are two built-in tools that are equipped to fix the most common corruption issues that might trigger the 0x8078012D error with Windows Backup.

SFC is a local tool that doesn’t require an internet connection as it uses the locally stored cache to replace corrupted system files whereas DISM requires an active internet connection as it uses a component of Windows Update to replace corrupted windows file instances downloaded over the Internet.

Click on How to perform SFC and DISM scans to fix the issue. Move to the next fix if this doesn’t resolve your error.

Fix 4 – Disable or uninstall 3rd party security suite

In case you are using a 3rd party security suite or firewall, it’s possible that a false positive is affecting the backup and triggering the error. You can probably avoid the error code while creating a backup by disabling the security suite before opening Windows Backup.

1. Right-click on the tray icon of your 3rd party antivirus and look for an option that allows disabling real-time protection.

2. If disabling was not enough to fix the issue, then uninstall the 3rd party security suite from the Programs and Features menu.

Note:

If you are using Windows Defender, skip this method as there is no evidence that it conflicts with the backup service.

Fix 5 – Restart PC in Clean Boot Mode

If the above fixes did not work, there may be a specific application that is triggering this error. To debug this, click on Clean Boot PC in Windows 10 to boot your system in clean boot mode and determine if a specific application is causing the error.

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How to fix no Wi-Fi network connectivity when installing Windows 11

  1. Please download the latest version of the Wireless Lan driver installation package
  2. After the driver’s download is completed, please copy the installation package to a USB flash drive.

Install Wireless Lan driver

  1. If Windows is unable to find an available Wi-Fi network to connect to during the installation of Windows 11, please connect the USB flash drive with the WLAN driver on it (previous step) to your computer.
  2. Press Shift + F10 keys to open Command Prompt window.
  3. In the Command Prompt window, type [C:\Windows\explorer.exe & exit] and press Enter
  4. The system will open the File Explorer window. Find the Wireless Lan driver that you’ve uploaded to your USB flash drive, then double-click it to start the installation
  5. After the WLAN driver setup wizard opens, please close the File Explorer window by clicking the  icon in the upper-right corner before proceeding.
  6. In the driver installation window, select [Next] to start the Wireless Lan driver installation.
  7. Please read the License Agreement, and check the [I accept the agreement] box, then select [Next] to proceed with the installation.
  8. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Wireless Lan driver installation.
  9. After completing the installation, click [Finish] and restart your computer to finish the installation.
  10. After restarting your computer, you should be able to find the available Wi-Fi network connections.
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How to make USB bootable with MacOS on windows

To perform this task, you’ll need:

  • Broken Mac computer running macOS
  • A trial copy of the TransMac software
  • One high-quality USB flash drive with 16GB of storage
  • Copy of macOS (DMG file)

To create a bootable USB drive with macOS, use these steps:

  1. Download and install TransMac on Windows 10.
    Quick note: This is a paid piece of software, but it gives you a 15-day trial, which is more than enough time. (If this works and you want to support the developer, purchase the full version.)
  2. Connect the USB flash drive.
    Important: If you have any data on the flash drive, remember to back it up since this process will erase everything on it.
  3. Right-click the TransMac app and select the Run as administrator option.
  4. Click the Run button. (If you use the trial version, wait 15 seconds)TransMac on Windows 10
  5. Right-click the USB flash drive and select the “Format Disk for Mac” option from the left pane.Format Disk for Mac using GPT partition
    Quick note: You want to perform this task before creating the bootable media because there is a good chance that the drive was formatted using a Windows device. If this is the case, the chances are it’s using an MBR partition, and the USB drive needs a GPT partition to work on a Mac.
  6. Click the Yes button to format the drive on the warning message.Format warning
  7. Confirm a name for the drive. For example, “macOS bootable USB”
  8. Click the OK button.
  9. Format USB for macOS with label
  10. Click the Yes button.
  11. Overwrite warning
  12. Click the OK button.
  13. Right-click the USB flash drive and select the “Restore with Disk Image” option from the left pane.
  14. TransMac Restore with Disk Image option
  15. Click the Yes button to confirm the erase of the USB flash drive data.Delete warning
  16. Click the browse button on the right.
  17. Select the “.dmg” file with the macOS installation files.Select dmg macOS file to create bootable USB drive
  18. Click the Open button
  19. Click the OK button
  20. Click the Yes button.
  21. TransMac create macOS USB bootable drive warning

Once you complete the steps, insert the USB flash drive on your Mac to install, reinstall, or upgrade the operating system to the latest macOS version (Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, or Mojave).

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