How to Install VirtualBox on RedHat Enterprise Linux

How to Install VirtualBox on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

After finally performing many searches on the Internet for a solution to this problem, I have finally found the way to install VirtualBox correctly on RHEL.

The Problem: Once VirtualBox is installed, "Starting VirtualBox kernel modules" fails.

The Solution: Install updated Linux Kernel Headers.

If you have never installed VirtualBox on RHEL before, you may notice that a lot of websites will tell you to download the repository file to perform a simple yum install virtualbox query. While this is true, many of these online guides do not tell you to update your systems kernel headers (thus causing an error when starting VirtualBox for the first time). When I installed VirtualBox out of "the box" (no pun intended), I noticed that I would not be able to start the VirualBox Kernel Modules. If you are having problems setting VirtualBox up, try the following command to see if you experience what I did.

Open a new shell and execute the following command: /etc/init.d/vboxdrv start

You should see the following output:

Starting VirtualBox kernel modules [FAILED]

(modprobe vboxdrv failed. Please use 'dmesg' to find out why)

Then execute the following command: /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

You should see the following output:

Stopping VirtualBox kernel modules [OK]

Starting VirtualBox kernel modules [FAILED]

Every time I tried to start the vboxdrv modules it would fail. What I did was update the Linux Kernel Modules.

The Solution to the Problem:

In a new shell prompt, type: yum install kernel-devel

Once the kernel modules were updated, I executed the following command again: /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

The following output occurred:

Stopping VirtualBox kernel modules [OK]

Uninstalling old VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules [OK]

Trying to register the VirtualBox kernel modules using DKMS [FAILED]

(Failed, trying without DKMS)

Recompiling VirtualBox kernel modules [OK]

Starting VirtualBox kernel modules [OK]

Success! and just like that, I executed VirtualBox again and it finally worked properly! Hopefully this will help someone out there!

Good luck!

PS: I am running Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6, Version 2.6.32-220.2.1.e16.x86_64

Isolation Tank Experience

Interesting, Scary, Dark, Tank.
I want to share with you my experience inside one of these floatation tanks (also known as isolation tanks). On the left side is a picture I took just before I entered the tank.

What is an Isolation Tank?
As  the name suggests, an isolation tank is simply a tank that contains shallow water that is kept at body temperature and mixed with a lot of salt to create an environment completely isolated and dark for the user where he or she can float on the water.

The purpose of this experience is to allow one to relax and let their mind wonder in a quiet, pitch black, tank. They are really much more interesting than what I just described. In a nutshell, in the past they were used to test sensory deprivation. Feel free to click on the link above to read about their history and purpose. Furthermore, go on Youtube and check out the videos that come up under they keyword isolation tank.

The Experience
Today I went to one of the very few isolation tanks in Chicago with my brothers and cousin. The place is called SpaceTime Tanks. The website claims that you can take "a vacation in an hour." Our session was for an hour and upon arriving you get this awkward sense of nervousness. Once you arrive, you sit in the lobby and fill out a form where you accept and sign the terms and conditions for the service. They are not responsible for anything that may happen inside that tank.

The person there gave us a quick tour around to show us one of the tanks and gave us a quick explanation on what to expect, what not to expect, what to do and what not to do. Finally, he took us to our rooms and started his timer.

The Room
Prior to entering the tank I had to shower to get rid of all my hair product, etc. The room as you can see from the picture above is dark and candle lit. There is one chair that seriously reminds me of a crazy little girl with long hair (The Grudge or The Ring) for some reason! As I take my final deep breaths (as I am not a big fan of a slightly heated room, much less a tank, I open the front of the door and take a look inside.

In case you decide to go for yourself, if you choose Room 3, you will see something that will freak you out before entering the tank. I will not tell you what it is because then it will ruin the experience.

The Tank
Inside the tank when I closed the door it was extremely dark and quiet. The air is a little dense but not to the point where its difficult to breathe. As I let my body go I feel myself floating. It was very difficult to get adjusted to that feeling. I held myself to the wall or door until I felt comfortable. Inside the tank you lose track of time and your mind and feelings act on you more than anything else.

I remember just laying there staring at the ceiling of the tank and talking to myself in my head. For the first 15 minutes or so, I started to feel comfortable. I let go and let the water take me on its journey. I noticed immediately that I would panic when I moved or shifted from one direction to another because I had no idea which way I was facing. It feels like you are flying. As time passed, I began to relax and the talking ceased. Then I started to just think about things. Random things. One minute I'm in the park with my friends and the next I'm talking to my mother. It was like a dream. After being there for about 30 to 40 minutes, with absolutely no sound or light, I started seeing green clouds and hearing the sound of what seemed like the ocean or like if I was flying. The details are not very obvious and nor are the images but it was no longer pitch black in the tank. Occasionally I would pull myself back to the front by the door and hold on, and slowly my heart rate and my breathing would come to its normal state. I didn't experience anything scary or crazy, but I did feel extremely relaxed and got the opportunity to float. The only fear I had was when I first got in.

The Outcome
All in all, it was a nice experience. I honestly believe that if you are a person who has probably done bad things in life or freak out a lot about things then you will be the person who will seriously have a bad trip. I would highly recommend this place in Chicago and I will be going back in a few weeks. If you go, make sure you call and set an appointment and mention the coupon. I would recommend going with a group of people just to feel more comfortable.

Federal Reserve Internship Thoughts

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Internship Thoughts


Hello, Hello! So I just want to share a few thoughts about this new internship I am doing this summer. So, on May 16th I started working in my first internship opportunity and experience at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

In a nutshell, I have to say it is a very interesting and awesome place to be at. Everything from being at Chicago every day, to the people I have met and the projects that I have been involved with have been all contributed to some of the many pleasures of being apart of the team!

Coming from my own business and previous work experience, I was not sure what to expect. I remember on my first day that I was imagining what I would be doing and asking myself, will I have my own office? will I be standing all the time? The moment I arrived and checked in through security, the feeling of being welcomed was like that warm fuzzy feeling (lol). Everyone is so nice and pleasant to be around and I got to meet a few other interns that were also starting the same day. If you think the building from the outside is pretty neat, the inside is awesome! Of course, all of these small details excite me (even today) because I have never worked in that type of environment.

If you don't know me well enough, then know this. I rarely wear jeans and tennis shoes, and I love the whole dress up, nice shoes and tie type of style. I felt like I was somebody (haha). Anyways, so our recruiters arrived and took us all on the elevator to drop us off in our location. Mine was the last one, located on the 12th floor where the Customer Relations and Support Office department is located. I met with my manager and walked around introducing me to our team and many other people in the department. I was then escorted to my cubicle and received my work laptop and was preparing myself to get settled in.

To make long story short, it has been nearly a month since I started working there and already I feel like I have learned a lot. I have met some awesome people there that I hope I will be able to keep in touch with even after my internship ends in August. Anyways, thats my little rant for the day.

Are You Screen Peeking?

The Train Incident
So, I take the the train to Chicago every morning (sadly). This is kind of funny because it happens so much. This is how it goes...

I sit down all dressed up and with my awesome laptop and fire up Backtrack 5 to play around with some of the things and all of the sudden.. the person sitting next to me clearly is eye-balling my screen. I wonder what goes through their mind? (lol) My favorite part is when they probably read things like "attack, password attack, hacking, infection, etc." That actually happened today that is why I wanted to share it on here. Oh well, what can you do! I should probably get one of those screens that go over the laptop screen for those screen peekers! Oh, and I know you love my wallpaper ;)

Interested in Ethical Hacking?

Information Security Blog
I recently started a new blog on Wordpress where I will be going over many different topics, particularly focused on information security, both offensive and defensive.

While there are many blogs out there that already do a really great job covering many topics, I would like to take a different approach with mine. I want to do more video and "do it yourself" examples where people, particularly those interested in security, can learn more about what actually goes on or how something works rather than just read about it and say OK. Sure, the video and the music was cool, but what did you really get out of it?

Get Your Hands Dirty
How fun would it be to actually try these things and play around? I want to take live exploits and vulnerabilities and dissect them as well as help readers begin to absorb this mentality of what security is. Of course, I am no expert and I will be learning a lot of things along the way. Perhaps in the future I will look forward to having contributors that can provide valuable information. So as you can imagine, my target audience is not people that are smarter than I am (lol).

The Newbies
Lets admit it, we all played around with our little SubSeven and NetDevil servers that we renamed to sexy_picture.exe and attempted a file transfer on AIM with our much "slower" friends in hopes that they would accept it and double click it.. only to get this response:

"Norton says it has detected a virus. What should I do?"

Of course, darn it! "Just click ignore," apparently the sexy_picture.exe disappeared from their desktop and now they wonder... "I don't see a picture, can you send it again?" As funny as that sounds, it is how security is viewed by a lot of people who lack a deeper understanding of protocols, networking, memory, programming, etc.

What's Next?
For now, I just wanted to throw that out there. If you visit my blog, there is not much on there and will slowly take its form. Perhaps I will look forward to having a forum or live discussions on IRC (yes, IRC is correct). We will see what happens, but stay in touch and visit my Information Security blog at the link below.

http://jamesejr.wordpress.com

Is Your Printer Connected to Google Cloud Print?

Google Cloud Print

Perhaps you are not yet familiar with one of Google's latest applications. Google Cloud Print is currently in beta and is a free web application that allows users to connect their printers to the Google Cloud to enable users to:

• Print from virtually anywhere around the world with internet access
• Manage print jobs from the cloud
• Share printers with friends and family

In order to get setup with Google Cloud Print, all you need to do is sign in to your Google account and visit the Google Cloud Print website to print a test page. There is no installation or configuration required. Keep in mind however, because it is still in beta testing, it may not work with all printers.

For more information or questions and answers on Google Cloud Print, visit their help website at Google Support

Facebook or FaceRecognition Database?

The Buzz
Earlier this morning, I came across an article by CNN News as well as many others that mentioned the transition that Facebook is moving towards in the next couple of weeks. Apparently, Facebook is going to implement a face recognition algorithm that can detect faces in all of the images that are uploaded to the social giant.

The Problem
Unfortunately this creates big privacy concerns. So after this, what's next? Software that can take a picture of someone and look them up online to find out who they are? That was in fact a real project that Google worked on but quickly put it to a halt due to privacy issues. It is almost creepy to know how technology is in a sense taking over.

First, we get the cameras in every corner of large intersections monitoring traffic, then RFID chips come into existance for purposes of keeping health records, then we hear something about the government monitoring our communications lines through a backdoor on Windows 7 for "national security purporses," now we are moving into facial recognition. Does anyone see a pattern here or is it just me?

I am under the impression that technology as it advances, it also comes with a price. Think about how many applications we have that send out information about our location, likes, dislikes, etc. Recently this year there was an allegation with Tom Tom GPS company because they apparently had devices that transmitted the speed of the vehicle to the police department in order to "provide safer drivers." We are being monitored and tracked on the grid. It is scarry and sounds crazy but I believe that is what is going on. Anyways, apologies for the side track here.

The Results
As a way to respect the privacy of users, Facebook has included a way to turn off the setting for allowing you to be automatically tagged in pictures that recognize you by the algorithm. Needless to say, your face and the fingerprint that identifies you is still stored on their systems. I wonder what kinds of interests that sparks for cyber criminals?

Backtrack 5 Linux Release

I'm excited! Are you?

The new release of Backtrack, now version 5, is expected to release to the public on May 10th, that is four days away from the time of this post! There have been numerous notable changes, specially at a first glance you will notice the new look and feel to the system.

Please visit www.offensive-security.org for your copy on May 10, 2011. Check out the following video from Offensive Security http://bit.ly/jvytEz

Summer Internship Interview in Chicago

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather today! I just wanted to share with you that I had the opportunity to get an interview for the first time in Chicago for the Federal Reserve Bank summer internship positions. It was an exciting experience and at the same time made me very nervous.

The people and the environment as well as my expectations upon entering the building were met. Although it was a rainy and gloomy day on Friday, it turned out to be a great and productive day. I am excited to hear back from HR.

Until then, I'll be crossing my fingers! :P

Bag of Chips Stolen from Quiznos

Today I witnessed a person in Chicago open a bag of chips and walk out without paying the cashier.

As I sat and enjoyed my lunch, I watched a man on a wheel chair enter the restaurant and ask someone if they could buy him a bag of chips. The man at the counter simply ignored him and walked out with his lunch. The guy on the wheel chair seemed very confident and friendly. His next move surprised me. He grabbed a bag of chips, opened it and leaves the restaurant as if nothing had happened.

The cashier looked confused and was wondering if she should go after him. Two other employees walk out and search for the man on the wheel chair with the unpaid bag of chips.

This scene made me think and wonder. If this man had no money and had already eaten the bag of chips, would you have gone through the trouble of chasing after him for a bag of 25 cents? What would you expect to get out of it if money or the bag of chips was not an option? How would the police take that call if you called them?