Welcome to My Web HQ!

About the Man: Benjamin Kitko

You have now entered into the beginnings of a realm filled with cyber defense, music, and video games. For cyber defense here is a reminder that you might find helpful -- changing from the default credentials within your computer or IoT (Internet of Things) devices to a difficult-to-guess password or passkey made by you will greatly increase your internet cybersecurity defense posture. For music guitar is my forte but a keyboard cannot be too far away for when inspiration strikes. For video games both the Nintendo 3DS and Switch 2 are some of the first systems I gravitate towards. One of my other interests is learning about and photographing many different Maryland wildlife creatures.

A Small Handful of Cyber Safety Tips

  1. Long passwords that contain phrases known only by the password creators can lead to better memorization and less of a need to write down credentials.
  2. Enabling file extensions within the file systems of your computer could prevent the accidental activation of an unknown program that disguised itself as a different file.
  3. Having multiple antivirus or anti-malware applications active on a computer might seem extra safe, but it is not entirely necessary and can cause a computer to slow down quicker.
  4. Cookies are delicious, but stale cookies can ruin both appetite and login sessions -- good practice allows for clearing all cookies now and again.

New Linux Adventurers

Looking to begin the journey into the world of Linux but not quite sure how yet? Trying a Linux distro (operating system distribution) on a vm (virtual machine) is a good starting point. Give VirtualBox a go. Oracle keeps the free and open-source (FOSS) software updated and secured. With VirtualBox or another vm like VMWare Workstation Pro (Windows) or VMWare Fusion (Mac), Qemu, or Xen those searching can download a complete Linux operating system (iso file) to test how they might like the feel and overall change of OS (operating system) pace. One place to 'shop' around for Linux OSes might be DistroWatch as an example. It contains long lists and categories of Linux and FreeBSD (Unix-based operating systems) where one can browse and learn more about available distros.

Be sure to confirm the hash of any free software, and ensure that the download was from the actual source before running the software on your computer. Malware likes to sneak onto systems through haphazard clicks and blind direction-following. For Windows systems a yellow pop-up with an unknown author or source upon clicking or activating an installer (usually ending in the extension ".exe") means that the download might be risky if continued.

For Employers

I am enthusiastic that you have reached here. This is only a small sample of my capabilities and skills in the Information Technology and Cybersecurity arenas. I am looking forward to seeing where our business relationship will take us. Thank you for visiting my webpage.