During a recent Symantec Endpoint Protection deployment, I started to notice an interesting anomaly. Every time a user accessed the web interface and launched a Citrix icon, a new process would spawn and minimize to the users tray (SEP Notification Icon).  You can also see the pending process by  opening the Citrix Connection Center and expanding the servername (active/servername/).

disconnected session shows notification icon for sep

Whats interesting about this specific issue is after the user closed out of the published application, the SEP Notification icon remained and the user still had an active session on the server. As a result of this action we started to notice our concurrent license usage was at levels we did not anticipate which prompted further investigation.

In the event you do have the Notification Icon after updating SEP, simply logon on the server in question and add/modify the following registry key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC]
"LaunchSMCGui"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"ccApp"=-

Now that you have hidden LaunchSMCgui an purged the run key of unnecessary Symantec launches you should be good to go and will no longer have lingering sessions.

 

So you have decided to bring a dinosaur out of the bag and use Adobe Flex over HTML5 or some of the more advanced .NET and ASP code to display your user interface (web). First, please at least understand the user interface has come a long way in the last 4 years. Microsoft has focused a tremendous amount of time on the interface as it pertains to displaying data sourced from databases.  In essence, datagrids have come a long way from the first .net release, and so have web technologies.

With XenApp 6.0 and 6.5 at hand to deliver the content over ICA.  The first question is – How do I optimize Adobe/Flex over ICA? The concept seems simple right? It is but you may also be in a upwards battle as foolish architects question your approach. Let’s stop babbling and dive in!

Here are a few things to take into consideration: Continue reading “Optimize Flash and Flex content” »

 

I find it quite interesting as this is the second time ISC has raised the yellow flag over a vulnerability and of all the various “security” focused organizations in the market, I would consider ISC to be the most reliable (and Secunia).

This time it’s a result of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-020 [CVE-2012-0002]. With proven Point of Concept code already available, its time to lock down your Terminal Servers and Citrix XenApp servers in preparation for a possible exploit. Corporations across the globe are buckling down their hatches and quickly deploying the Patch. RDP is used today now more than ever, especially with companies embracing the remote workforce more and more these days. And as a result, we decided it would be a good idea to provide our 15 readers with a  tool that will quickly scan your environment\network for hosts that do not have the MS12-020 patch or are in an “at risk mode”.  This scanner utility uses a multithreaded approach and allows you to scan the following the following modes.

  • Remotely scan an individual hostquickly target vulnerability servers and desktops
  • Scan a specific subnet
  • Scan a block of subnets
  • Scan an entire domain
  • Quickly identify gaps in SCCM/WSUS server and desktop deployments

As results are tallied in real-time, hosts are categorized in one of two categories. Tab 1 contains a listing of hosts and servers that are still vulnerable, and Tab 2 contains a list of hosts that are fully patched and considered safe.

To download the application, simply logon and click on the “downloads” link under your profile. The download is absolutly free to use and distribute. If you do not already have a profile, simply create one. It only takes 10 seconds.

[update 04/06/2012] due to the wild success of our vulnerability scanner, we have ported this code over to a new base that supports more products, and patches. The patch vulnerability scanner is still free and has even more features – read about it here: http://www.cibengineering.com/blog/security-patch-vulnerability-scanner/

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