Building upon the generous contributions of the Oracle community, this database trigger was designed to provide companies with SOX and ICE related information regarding any 3rd party tool’s access to a given database.

The trigger is designed to restrict access to only the ‘allowable’ programmes, and then validates the session information against specified Windows/Linux/Unix accounts. Additionally, if the executable is renamed in an attempt to disguise the programme, the trigger will not be able to identify the executable and immediately terminate the user’s session. If the database account has ‘admin’ options, the trigger will not terminate the session, but will record the session in an audit table, along with broadcasting an email with the connection information.

• All standard executables have an ‘A’ flag status and allows the programme to run unchecked
• All ‘C’ flagged programmes are checked against the user’s Windows/Linux account to validate if this user is authorized to connect with an identified programme

The database trigger basically identifies the session’s programme executable, and then validates the value against a list of values that resides within the OMON_TOOLPRIV_HDR and OMON_TOOLPRIV_DTL tables respectively.

• If the session’s programme is allowed, no action is taken
• If the session’s programme is to be validated, it checks the session information against maintained information (programme and Window/Linux account)
• If the checked programme is not allowed, it performs the following:
• Records the session information in an audit table
• Sends an email to identified recipients, with the session information and action taken
• Records the attempt and session information in the Oracle Alertlog
• Immediately terminates the user’s session
• If the checked programme is validated and allowed, it performs the following:
• Records the session information in an audit table
• Sends an email to identified recipients, with the session information and action taken
• Records the attempt and session information in the Oracle Alertlog

The rollout of this trigger and the account security maintenance is very simplistic, and is designed to reduce it’s footprint on the database by keeping most of the objects in a separate tablespace.

Step 1: Create a tablespace for the table and index objects to reside. All of the objects can be created with the SYSDBA account, as the only the trigger is recommended to reside in the SYS schema.

Step 2: Create the Email header and detail tables for the recipients

Step 3: Create the Tool Privilege header and detail tables for the executables and accounts that are authorized to run the executables

Step 4: Create the audit table for recording all ‘validated’ or offending programmes

Step 5: Create the database trigger that will perform all the needed tasks. It is preferred that this trigger is created and managed by the SYSDBA account.

Why get LinkedIn? Well, for starters, LinkedIn is the creator of the world’s largest and most effective business network. With more than five hundred of the Fortune 500 companies deployed, this establishes them as a leader in the recruiting and sourcing of passive job candidates. With more than four million members in North America, more than three million in Europe, and a million-plus in Asia, these companies have adopted LinkedIn Corporate Solutions across their staffing and recruiting organizations and pay between $10,000 and $250,000 annually for subscriptions, which include access to the LinkedIn network of over 8.5 million professionals, enhanced search and communication capabilities, as well as job listing packages.

So, as an Entrepreneur, what does LinkedIn bring to the table?. It is built upon trusted connections and relationships, and is conceivably the biggest gathering of professionals and entrepreneurs seen at a global level. It is like a virtual ‘Chamber of Commerce’ open for anyone to join, without any bias or restrictions on anyone wanting to tap the opportunities it potentially offers. LinkedIn takes your personal business network online, giving you access to people, jobs and opportunities like never before. With more than four million members in North America, more than three million in Europe, and a million-plus in Asia, it provides entrepreneurs use of social networking tools for marketing and recruiting purposes.

But LinkedIn is only as good as you want it to be, and it’s effectiveness is only as much as the user can get out of it. Although regarded as the gold standard in professional networking and social interactions, it is primarily a place to do business at a global scale. It follows the principles of traditional networking in the virtual world, and makes many more people covering a broad spectrum of profiles accessible to one another.

How can it work for you? How about…

• An Ever Expanding Rolodex
• Finding People And Staying In Touch
• Hiring People
• Selling & Brand Building
• Branding & Marketing Yourself
• Finding A Job
• Finding Vendors And Service Providers
• Background Checks On People
• Entrepreneurs: Get Opinions & Investors
• Linkedin Answers: A Global Focus Group

LINKEDIN ACCOUNT LEVELS:

LinkedIn offers free personal accounts with robust features, including the ability to:

• Build and maintain a trusted professional network of unlimited size
• Find and reconnect with colleagues and classmates
• Request and provide recommendations
• Create a professional presence on the web
• Request up to 5 Introductions at a time
• Search for and view profiles of other LinkedIn users

Besides the free basic account, LinkedIn also offers a variety of premium accounts that give you more ways to reach or be reached by the right people on LinkedIn – including better communication, more powerful search tools, and enhanced access to decision makers and other resources on LinkedIn.

Personal Plus accounts cost $60 per year. This includes:

• 10 Introductions open at a time
• OpenLink Network membership
• Unlimited OpenLink messages
• Premium Access content
• One-business-day Customer Service

Business accounts cost $19.95 per month or $199.50 per year. This includes:

• 3 InMails per month, with a seven-day response guarantee
  - Unused InMail credits roll over each month, up to a maximum of nine
• Expanded Profile views for the top 100 search results outside your network
• 15 Introductions open at a time
• Unlimited one-click reference searches
• OpenLink Network membership
• Unlimited OpenLink messages
• Premium Access content
• One-business-day Customer Service

Business Plus accounts cost $50 per month or $500 per year. This includes:

• 10 InMails per month, with a seven-day response guarantee
  - Unused InMail credits roll over each month, up to a maximum of 30
• Expanded profile views for the top 150 search results outside your network
• 25 Introductions open at a time
• Unlimited one-click reference searches
• OpenLink Network membership
• Unlimited OpenLink messages
• Premium Access content
• One-business-day Customer Service

Pro accounts cost $200 per month or $2,000 per year. This includes:

• 50 InMails per month with a seven-day response guarantee
  - Unused InMail credits roll over each month, up to a maximum of 150
• Expanded profile views for the top 200 search results outside your network
• 40 Introductions open at a time
• Unlimited one-click reference searches
• OpenLink Network membership
• Unlimited OpenLink messages
• Premium Access content
• One-business-day Customer Service

Interested in networking?… introduce yourself on LinkedIn!

Reference Information:

• LinkedIn Top Ten Questions
• Savvy Companies Get LinkedIn to Find Top Talent

After many months of waiting, the free Windows Mobile 6 (formerly code named "Crossbow") finally became available for the US versions of the Palm Treo 750 last month. This upgrade is designed for the Palm Treo 750 running on the AT&T network, and will update the smartphone’s software to the latest release, version 2.25.

For the Cingular and AT&T customers, the High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) capability allows for faster data-download speeds on 3G/UMTS/HSDPA networks.

HSDPA is a new protocol for mobile telephone data transmission. It is known as a 3.5G (G stands for generation) technology. Essentially, the standard will provide download speeds on a mobile phone equivalent to an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line in a home, removing any limitations placed on the use of your phone by a slow connection. Though any data can be transmitted, applications with high data demands such as video and streaming music are the focus of HSDPA.

The current Treo 750 runs Windows Mobile 5.2 Pocket PC edition. It is powered by a 300MHz Samsung processor and has 128MB nonvolatile flash memory (60MB available for storage). The display is a 65k colour, 240 x 240 pixel touch screen. It also has integrated Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology. It has a new side mounted mini-SD memory expansion and a 1.3 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom. The battery is a removable 1200 mAh Lithium-ion, good for a claimed 4.5 hours GSM / 2.5 hours UMTS talk time, with 10 days standby time.

Although some enhancements in this upgrade may require Exchange Server 2007, they include:

• Microsoft Direct Push Technology connection to email, calendar, contacts and tasks
• Improved Calendar with Day-at-a-Glance bar
• Email enhancements such as HTML-formatted email messages
• Ability to set an out-of-office message from the Treo smartphone
• Mini-SD storage card encryption, password and PIN improvements, and remote data wipe
• Ability to search for email messages on the Exchange server
• Ability to set an out-of-office message from the Treo smartphone
• Meeting request and scheduling conflict improvements

The upgrade itself was very painless, however, it is critical that you read and understand the upgrade directions before attempting this upgrade. There is only one download limit per device (requires the Treo 750’s serial number), therefore having a backup of your Windows Mobile 6 upgrade installer is essential for potential future recovery.

The complete features list, upgrade documentation, and downloads can be found on Palm’s website for the Treo 750

Reference Information:

• The Palm Treo 750 download information
• High-Speed Downlink Packet Access [HSDPA]
• AT&T 3G network
• Windows Mobile 6 Summary