j-j.co.za
Sharing thoughts and ideas on business, security and photographyWorking with SQL Server error logs in Log Parser Studio
Posted on April 05, 2015Microsoft Log Parser Studio (LPS) has become one of my favourite (free) tools whenever it comes time to work with log files of any significant size. In the past I have always used one of the pre-define log type formats when working with log files. Recently I needed to work with SQL Server error logs and was a little concerned initially that there was no pre-defined format for these logs and trying one of the standard log types didn’t give me the output I expected (or needed).
With a little bit of effort I managed to figure out what was required, it turned out to be fairly simple. The trick was using the TSV format and then customising the settings.
The new Nespresso Limited Edition Monsoon Malabar is available
Posted on March 31, 2015
The new Nespresso Monsoon Malabar is available to try. It’s an Indian coffee of a fairly high (8) intensity that is ideally enjoyed as an espresso. Time to head on down to the Nespresso shop and grab some to try.
Will report back once have had a chance to sip on some.
Facilitated CISA Study Session 31/3/2015 : Chapter 2 Part 1 to be broadcast via Google Hangouts
Posted on March 31, 2015The sessions from the last two weeks have been reasonably successfully broadcast and recorded on Google Hangouts On Air so we will try and do the same for this afternoon’s session. If there is something we can improve ahead of the next session please let us know.
Link to the Google Hangout event
Link to Youtube live broadcast
Hangouts are limited to a maximum of 10 people participating via video / audio and many more who can watch the video feed and participate in the chat. First come first serve.
Facilitated CISA Study Session 24/3/2015 : Chapter 1 Part 2 to be broadcast via Google Hangouts
Posted on March 19, 2015Last week’s session seemed to work reasonably well on Google Hangouts On Air so we will try and do the same for the next session. If you have missed it the recording is available. If there is something we can improve ahead of the next session please let us know.
Link to the Google Hangout event
Link to Youtube live broadcast
Hangouts are limited to a maximum of 10 people participating via video / audio and many more who can watch the video feed and participate in the chat. First come first serve.
Slides for Facilitated CISA Study Session 17/3/2015 : Chapter 1 Part 1
Posted on March 18, 2015Last night we held the second of the CISA facilitated study sessions at the ITSec offices. The number of attendees is growing and we have an increasingly diverse group of attendees which is greatly beneficial to all participating. We also broadcast the session on Google Hangouts on Air. We had a total of zero 🙂 live listeners to the event. The benefit of doing the broadcast is that it is recorded and now available for anybody to watch / listen to. Check it out (links in post below) and let us know if it is useful. I encourage anybody who would like to join the live session next week to listen to this week’s session and just leave a comment here or pop me a mail / message on twitter to let me know you will be joining.
Attached below are the slides from last night for your reference (they are also in the recorded hangout).
ITSec CISA Prep June 2015 session 17th March 2015 Chapte 01 part 1
Solution to CISA 2014 Self-Assessment
Posted on March 18, 2015A number of the participants in our weekly CISA study session asked for the solution to the 2014 CISA self assessment hosted on the ISACA website.
Summary
Below is a PDF print of the answers. Please use responsibly and goodluck with your studies.
Facilitated CISA Study Session 17/3/2015 : Chapter 1 Part 1 to be broadcast via Google Hangouts
Posted on March 16, 2015ITSec is hosting CISA Exam Preparation facilitated study sessions at our offices in West Riding, Durban. Last week we had the kickoff session where we just did some introductions, discussed expectations of the participants for the exam and for the study sessions, spoke a bit about the structure of the exam and the five practice domains, spoke through Geroge Pajari’s Ten Steps to acing the exam, agreed and approach to the studies and set some objectives and pre-work for the next study session (to be held on Tuesday 17th March 2015).
If you are based in KZN you are welcome to join us for these sessions. Take a look on the ITSec website for directions to our offices (a map is included in the presentation pack).
On Tuesday 17th March at 4:45pm South Africa time (GMT+2) we will be covering Chapter 1 of the study guide. Participants were asked to do the self assessment on the ISACA website, read Chapter 1, note down area of concern, do some of the sample questions and come with a list of questions that went wrong.
For those not close enough to join us for the sessions, download the slides, read through and see if you can find some useful tips in there. You can also use the study schedule, customise it for your use, and then have a structured plan for your exam prep. Having a structure to assist in your study discipline is always a good idea.
We are going to try and set up a Google hangout for the session Tuesday afternoon. I am not sure how that will work out, we don’t have professional equipment to broadcoast the session, so it will be done off a reasonable webcam. Feel free to join us.
Download a copy of the introductory presentation from last week.
ITSec CISA Prep June 2015 session 1 10th March 2015 with slides for Prep 17th March
Checking a sample of South African ID Numbers in Excel
Posted on March 11, 2015All South African Identity numbers have built in validation digits. The formula to check these isn’t a secret. This afternoon I needed to check a list of ID numbers to ensure they were all valid and was most grateful to Robert MacLean (and Riaan Pretorius) for their work in putting together (and sharing) an excel sheet which can validate the numbers. Just copy and paste in your sample.
Find a copy of this useful spreadsheet here : ID Number checker
Cross posted on ITSec’s blog.
CISA, CGEIT, CRISC. What is a good score in an ISACA exam?
Posted on March 11, 2015Please note these are all my own opinions and comments, based on my experiences and results. This is not an official ISACA post in any way.
There is not a lot of information available on ISACA exam scores and what would constitute a “good” score. After I received my exam results from the most recent CISA exam (and before receiving confirmation of a placing), I thought I had done quite well and wanted an idea of just how good a score this was. I looked around and really couldn’t find much.
Many years ago ISACA used to score their exams with a simple percentage score. 75 was required to pass the exam. A number of years ago they switched to a new system, where the results are provided on a scaled score with the maximum score of 800. A scaled score of 450 or higher is required to pass, which represents the minimum consistent standard of knowledge as established by ISACA’s Exam Certification Committee (there is one for each qualification). The score represents a conversion of individually weighted raw scores based on a common scale. As such you cannot apply a simple arithmetic mean to convert area scores to your total scaled score. (Wording from various ISACA sources).
A comment on one site that a score of over 700 was a tremendous achievement was the best I could see. I had written two other ISACA exams over the last few years so went back and looked at those scores and I could see I had done quite a bit better this time, although I had done well in those exams too.
So for those interested, I publish my results from the last three exams. The information below is edited from results emails received from ISACA after each of the exams in question. I am fairly sure that a “good” score would be exam dependent and vary from exam to exam and year to year. Nonetheless, take this for what it is, set yourself a lofty goal, and good luck with your studies towards achieving one of ISACA’s globally recognised and universally accepted qualifications in the space of Risk, Security, Governance and Compliance.
If you happen to be based in Durban and are planning to write the CISA exam (or one of the others), we are hosting a facilitated study group at the ITSec offices in Durban. This is a no-cost endeavour for the good of the community. Come along and join us. We had a planning session last night and will be meeting weekly from next Tuesday. Studying with a diverse bunch of your peers is a whole lot better than doing it alone. More details here : ITSec facilitated study group.
Justin J Williams
CA(SA), CISSP, MBA (UKZN), CISA(pend), CGEIT(pend),CRISC(pend)
Director, ITSec.
Exam Results : December 2014 CISA exam
We are pleased to inform you that you successfully PASSED the exam with a total scaled score of 727.Your score was in the top 5 percent of those testing. For your information, your exam results by area are provided below.
SCALED SCORES OF YOUR PERFORMANCE BY AREA:
- The Process of Auditing Information Systems: 800
- Governance and Management of IT: 714
- Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation: 767
- Information Systems Operations, Maintenance and Support: 615
- Protection of Information Assets: 759
This score of 727 was ranked 1st in the World for the December 2014 CISA exam.
As an aside, this is not the first time I had written the ISACA exam. I wrote and passed it back in 1996 with a score of 83% under the old scoring system. Why would I write it again? A little “oopsie” with CPE credits along the way meant I lost the certification at some point. Based on a new position I took late last year my new employer asked me to write the exam again.
Exam Results : June 2013 CGEIT exam
We are pleased to inform you that you successfully PASSED the exam with a total scaled score of 644.Your score was in the top 5 percent of those testing. For your information, your exam results by area are provided below.
SCALED SCORES OF YOUR PERFORMANCE BY AREA:
- Framework for the Governance of Enterprise IT: 722
- Strategic Management: 702
- Benefits Realization: 615
- Risk Optimization: 598
- Resource Optimization: 540
This score of 644 was ranked 1st in South Africa for the June 2013 CGEIT exam.
Exam Results: December 2012 CRISC exam
We are pleased to inform you that you successfully PASSED the exam with a total scaled score of 634. For your information, your exam results by area are provided below.
SCALED SCORES OF YOUR PERFORMANCE BY AREA:
- Risk Identification, Assessment and Evaluation: 534
- Risk Response: 688
- Risk Monitoring: 650
- Information Systems Control Design and Implementation: 650
- Information Systems Control Monitoring and Maintenance: 727
Again, congratulations on passing the CRISC exam, we look forward to having you join the more than 16,000 professionals worldwide who have earned the CRISC credential.
This score of 634 was ranked 3rd in South Africa for the December 2012 CRISC exam.
Work Update (overdue)
Posted on February 09, 2015Just a quick note to let everyone (who doesn’t already know) that from 1 December 2014 my (almost) three years at Transnet came to an end, I relinquished my position as head of Information Security for the Group and took up a new challenge at a small IT Audit and Information Security consulting firm in Durban by the name of ITSec. You can find out more about ITSec and its services at the website : www.itsec.org.za
The reason for the delay in announcement? I guess that leaving behind what I had worked so hard to achieve and leaving behind the team that I built and that was so good to me was a very difficult thing to do. It has taken a while to come to terms with all of that. Thanks guys, you made it the amazing experience that it was.
MS Image Composite Editor updated to Version 2.0
Posted on February 09, 2015My favourite free photography tool of all time, Microsoft Image Composite Editor (related to Microsoft Photosynth on mobile devices), has been updated with significant updates.
ICE was first released in 2008 and has been updated a few times since, before entering what seemed to be a hibernation period. I am truly delighted that this update has been made.
There are a number of new key features, including :
- Automatic image completion, where gaps that would otherwise leave black spaces in your final image, or force you to crop it closer than you would like, can now be “auto completed” using some smart new algorithms. You can see this in action in the demo video and it really is cool
- The application is now more forgiving, select the wrong option or decide you don’t like what you have selected and you don’t have to start it all over. Just press back and give it another go.
- The video to panorama feature introduced last time around has been improved. You can now select key frames from the video and have them stitched together to give you wonderful panoramas with the person in the video appearing across your final image. Looks great for action sports.
- A new series of lenses (projections) have been added providing for a number of different effects such as fish-eye, spherical, orthographic or stereographic amongst others.
- 32 bit and 64 bit versions available (hopefully no more running out of RAM)
Your final images can still be exported in a number of different formats including JPEG, TIFF and Photoshop PSD/PSB as well as special multi-resolution tiled formats used by HD View and Deep Zoom. You can also still upload your panoramas for 3D viewing on the Photosynth website.
You can download the new MS Ice here : Project ICE
Mugg and Bean nespresso compatible pods now available
Posted on October 30, 2014I was delighted to discover that my local Checkers now stocks a new range of Mugg and Bean nespresso compatible pods.
There seemed to be four flavours available, three of which are pictured below. Espresso (no 47), House Blend (no 52), Single Origin (no 24) and a Decaf.
They are presented in a cute square box and each box contains two puffed up airtight bags with 5 capsules in each. The foil tops are of each capsule are printed with the name and number of the coffee and seem to be aligned with the new “extra compatible” design being used by Caffè Luxe so should work in most machines.
Interestingly the box doesn’t mention the Nespresso brand anywhere but it’s clear from the pod shapes that they are the same.
Always good to have more options. They are priced at a mid range of R49.99 for the box so a bit cheaper than the Nespresso foil pods and R13 more than Checkers’ own Foreign Ground range.
Apple TV setup woes with Netflix (and a painful solution)
Posted on October 26, 2014I have been using Apple TV with Netflix & Hulu for a few months now without too many problems.
I noticed last weekend that Netflix had lost it’s credentials on my Apple TV and was in an unusable stable. This seems to have happened after an update.
The Netflix app as only giving me the option of signing up for a trial (on my iTunes account) which I didn’t want or need since I have a paid Netflix subscription. The Netflix app was “logged in” using my iTunes email address (which is different to my Netflix one) and there was just no way to log out. Every time I used the “log out” option it revered back to the iTunes email address.
I Googled and tried many options, none of which worked. This included logging out, removing my iTunes and iCloud details and then logging out amongst others.
In the end the only thing that worked was doing a Factory Reset on the Apple TV and then re-entering all of the Netflix details. At this point I could finally put in the proper Netflix email address. In the process all other Apple TV settings were lost, so region settings, network settings, credentials for other services such as Hulu had to all be re-entered. Time consuming and painful.
If anyone know a better way of dealing with this problem please do share. I’m hoping it doesn’t re-occur but having a more palatable solution would help.
What people say
Close block