CompTIA Product Dev Team wants to hear from you

[Katherine Keyes]

Do you have a crazy story about a server closet? Can you think of a time someone rolled a 1 on proper software management? Come sit by me!

The CompTIA product development team is looking for your anecdotes, examples, and real-life stories. If you have a tale of working the help desk, or the weird thing you found while running cable, we want to hear about it. We plan to use these stories within CompTIA training courseware, supporting instructional concepts, illustrating ideas, and of course grabbing learner attention.

If you want to share your story (or stories!), please complete this waiver first (the waiver must be completed or I cannot use your story) and email me ([email protected]) or share below.

Some of the topics we're looking for are:

• When tech goes wrong -- situations of ignorance, when someone didn't understand what they were doing (could be an end user, could be a new professional)
• Not properly securing personal data -- what happens when people don't take care of their personal data, or give it out willingly
• Security tools in practice -- misuse of any cybersecurity tools (firewalls, NIDS/IPS, hardware, anything), trying to convey that the security tool isn't the only factor- a human has to properly use the tool
• Wildest networking stories -- what have you found while dropping cable, what have you had to fix, where is the weirdest place you've seen for a server closet?
• Networking specifications -- what happens when people don't pay attention to small wireless network specs? What can go wrong when you don't adhere to the network specifications?
• Software management -- what happens when someone downloads software from a suspicious source? Could be an end user, could be a professional
• Back it up -- perils of not backing up data, what has been lost? Personal stories (a college paper) and enterprise level are welcome

We will credit you either with your first name, last initial, and job role, or with "Anonymous, Job Role" as you prefer.

These stories will be used in one or more CompTIA training courses and may be edited for clarity and/or brevity.

 

[Roslyn Turner]

Hi, Katherine!

Well, there was the dead rat that fell out of the ceiling onto a lady's desk while a friend was running cable. No one would want a dead rat to land on their desk, but, unfortunately, the lady was also very afraid of rats and began screaming.

Then there was the simple mistake a friend made as he was working in a building's attic. A screwdriver slipped, managed to fall between all the CAT 6, and landed handle first on a fiber optic cable. That took down the college's satellite campus.

There was the wiring closet with a water faucet in the wall, as it was formerly the janitorial closet.

There was the wiring closet in which the entire building's electrical conduit ran across the ceiling into the next room (which should have been the wiring closet). I joked that they should fashion a giant tin foil hat for shielding the rack of EMI.

There was the wiring closet just outside restrooms. Once, when maintenance was repairing a toilet, they left the building to turn off the water. The broken toilet picked that moment to begin a deluge of water (clean, thankfully) rushing from a 3" pipe in the wall. This is why your equipment is elevated!

Then, there's the retrofitted building in which the contractors (plumbers, no less) installed the cable trays flush with the ceiling, making it impossible to lay cable into it but rather have to "fish" it through.

Then, there was the new building in which the contractors did not install any networking conduit.

A few years ago, I saw a newly renovated building in which the server room was in the basement, next to the heating system. (Heat, plus water flows downhill. What could go wrong?)

There was the building in which someone decided to save money by installing CAT 3 cable, instead of at least CAT 5e.

There was the building in which the networking cable installers (electricians) pulled the cables so tight that, as the building naturally shifted, the wires were pulled out of the wall jacks.

There was the manager whose computer was running slowly. It was infected by malware and being used by the hackers as a server for a pornographic website.

Then, there was the employee whose request for his own wireless access point was turned down. Not to be denied, he brought a wifi router from home and plugged it in. Unfortunately, its DHCP service was turned on, and it began handing out incorrect IP addresses to devices all over the organization. Reports started coming in about devices scattered across the organization that would not reach the internet. (On a Windows network, this can be prevented using Active Directory. Unfortunately, this was a Linux network.)

On the PC repair front, there was the tech support call that said something was stuck in the floppy drive and they couldn't remove the object, "even with pliers". It turns out, the user saw part of the drive, and proceeded to try to tear it out with the pliers. (It's a dated but favorite story/memory. The look on the admin's face when he carried in the computer--pure bewilderment!)

All the best,
Roslyn Turner

 

[Gregory Childers]

1. I was working for a client who had a space issue in their office building. They had so many racks that they ran out of room in their server room. Their solution was to mount them FLAT AGAINST THE CEILING. The cables were dangling down from them. I've been in rooms where cables were a tripping hazard, but this was the first time it was a hazard for clothes-lining someone.

2. I was working for a client who had multiple spaces in an office tower, which also occupied several other companies. The client's server room was down the hallway on the same floor. While walking past the server room one day, I noticed that the server room door was propped open with a door stop. No one was in the server room, but the door was wide open. On a floor that not only housed my client, but also several other companies. I asked them why the server room door was propped open, and they told me it was because there was no ventilation in the room, so they kept the door open to keep the servers cool. I asked if they were concerned about some random person walking into the server room. They told me "Well, no one has done it so far."

 

[Roslyn Turner]

1. I was working for a client who had a space issue in their office building. They had so many racks that they ran out of room in their server room. Their solution was to mount them FLAT AGAINST THE CEILING. The cables were dangling down from them. I've been in rooms where cables were a tripping hazard, but this was the first time it was a hazard for clothes-lining someone.

2. I was working for a client who had multiple spaces in an office tower, which also occupied several other companies. The client's server room was down the hallway on the same floor. While walking past the server room one day, I noticed that the server room door was propped open with a door stop. No one was in the server room, but the door was wide open. On a floor that not only housed my client, but also several other companies. I asked them why the server room door was propped open, and they told me it was because there was no ventilation in the room, so they kept the door open to keep the servers cool. I asked if they were concerned about some random person walking into the server room. They told me "Well, no one has done it so far."

Gregory,

If no one was watching the room, how do they know that no one went in??

This reminds me of another story. I attended a meeting at an organization that was having trouble cooling their server room, to the point that they brought in a portable air conditioner and had to open the server door. (Thankfully, there was an employee and cameras watching the server room.) Meanwhile, in our meeting room across the hall, it was near freezing. We sat there with the thermostat reading 55 degrees F., the group surrounded by three large space heaters. The issue went on for months. Finally, someone realized that in the original floorplans, which had been used to program the HVAC system, the server room and conference room were swapped. Every time they requested the server room temperature to be lowered, the system lowered the meeting room's temperature instead.

Roslyn

 

[Katherine Keyes]

1. I was working for a client who had a space issue in their office building. They had so many racks that they ran out of room in their server room. Their solution was to mount them FLAT AGAINST THE CEILING. The cables were dangling down from them. I've been in rooms where cables were a tripping hazard, but this was the first time it was a hazard for clothes-lining someone.

2. I was working for a client who had multiple spaces in an office tower, which also occupied several other companies. The client's server room was down the hallway on the same floor. While walking past the server room one day, I noticed that the server room door was propped open with a door stop. No one was in the server room, but the door was wide open. On a floor that not only housed my client, but also several other companies. I asked them why the server room door was propped open, and they told me it was because there was no ventilation in the room, so they kept the door open to keep the servers cool. I asked if they were concerned about some random person walking into the server room. They told me "Well, no one has done it so far."

Greg, I have a deep and abiding NEED to use these stories! Can you complete the waiver, or email me if you have any questions about it.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

Do you have a crazy story about a server closet? Can you think of a time someone rolled a 1 on proper software management? Come sit by me!

The CompTIA product development team is looking for your anecdotes, examples, and real-life stories. If you have a tale of working the help desk, or the weird thing you found while running cable, we want to hear about it. We plan to use these stories within CompTIA training courseware, supporting instructional concepts, illustrating ideas, and of course grabbing learner attention.

If you want to share your story (or stories!), please complete this waiver first (the waiver must be completed or I cannot use your story) and email me ([email protected]) or share below.

Some of the topics we're looking for are:

• When tech goes wrong -- situations of ignorance, when someone didn't understand what they were doing (could be an end user, could be a new professional)
• Not properly securing personal data -- what happens when people don't take care of their personal data, or give it out willingly
• Security tools in practice -- misuse of any cybersecurity tools (firewalls, NIDS/IPS, hardware, anything), trying to convey that the security tool isn't the only factor- a human has to properly use the tool
• Wildest networking stories -- what have you found while dropping cable, what have you had to fix, where is the weirdest place you've seen for a server closet?
• Networking specifications -- what happens when people don't pay attention to small wireless network specs? What can go wrong when you don't adhere to the network specifications?
• Software management -- what happens when someone downloads software from a suspicious source? Could be an end user, could be a professional
• Back it up -- perils of not backing up data, what has been lost? Personal stories (a college paper) and enterprise level are welcome

We will credit you either with your first name, last initial, and job role, or with "Anonymous, Job Role" as you prefer.

These stories will be used in one or more CompTIA training courses and may be edited for clarity and/or brevity.

Hehehe. I got a lot. How many can we submit?

 

[Katherine Keyes]

Hehehe. I got a lot. How many can we submit?

Hey, I've got lots of space for stories, feel free to send over as many as you like -- as long as you complete the waiver!

 

[Gregory Childers]

Greg, I have a deep and abiding NEED to use these stories! Can you complete the waiver, or email me if you have any questions about it.

Waiver DONE! If you need any additional information, contact me.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

Content filtering is a good thing​

I sold a client on deploying a firewall with content filtering. I routinely block websites in the categories of Adult, Crime, Drugs, Gambling and Violence. The owner noticed. One day, he tracked me down in the hallway and told me to stop blocking his porn. I unchecked Adult from the block list.

Never mind that he left his wife with four kids and a $92,000 IRS bill.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

Non-repudiation is a good thing.​

At a client, a user clicked a link he should not have clicked. He ended up forwarding a phish email to everyone in his Address Book. Clients, vendors and coworkers reported the phish. The user told his boss he did not click the link and did not forward any phish emails.

I performed an eDiscovery search within Microsoft 365. The employee actually DID forward the phish email. I found evidence in his Sent Items folder. Ten minutes later, the same evidence was in his Deleted Items folder. I wrote a press release and shared it exclusively with the point of contact. The employee's lies were not credible. He lost to non-repudiation.

The employee no longer works there.

 

[Katherine Keyes]

Non-repudiation is a good thing.​

At a client, a user clicked a link he should not have clicked. He ended up forwarding a phish email to everyone in his Address Book. Clients, vendors and coworkers reported the phish. The user told his boss he did not click the link and did not forward any phish emails.

I performed an eDiscovery search within Microsoft 365. The employee actually DID forward the phish email. I found evidence in his Sent Items folder. Ten minutes later, the same evidence was in his Deleted Items folder. I wrote a press release and shared it exclusively with the point of contact. The employee's lies were not credible. He lost to non-repudiation.

The employee no longer works there.

This is glorious/insane. I'd love to use both these stories! Can you complete this waiver at your convenience? Once that's done I'll be able to use this content in our courseware. Cautionary tales are my favorite.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

Hi Catherine. I did the waiver a few weeks ago. Do you have it on file?

 

[Katherine Keyes]

Hi Catherine. I did the waiver a few weeks ago. Do you have it on file?

Hi Mark, I do have it, thank you for the nudge. I'm looking forward to using your stories. If you have any more, please feel free to share them. Thank you!