We ware struggling getting the HTTP API cron task to run. We found that (at the time of writing) the official documentation doesn't work for our version: 1.15.8. After many tries we found the correct way to call the cron API:

curl -d "{}" -H "X-API-Key: API_KEY_HERE " https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/tasks/cron

In short, it needs to be a POST request, that has the X-API-Key header. Obviously you'll need to generate the API key for the IP you're executing the request from.

I hope I saved you some time.

Net enkele dagen voor de afgelopen jaarwisseling hoorde ik voor het eerst van “Korcoin” (KOR) op een populaire lokale televisiezender[1]. In deze reclamespot was er een Spaanssprekende presentatrice die beweerde $5 aan “Korcoin” weg te geven als je een bepaalde “cryptocurrency wallet” app installeert en een bericht zou sturen aan het nummer wat zichtbaar was op het scherm. Hierin werd ook beweerd dat hun “cryptovaluta” de eerste was die haar eigen webwinkel had waar deze “cryptomunt” besteed kon worden voor goederen. Zelfs werd er beweerd dat bezitters van deze “crytovaluta” op kort termijn “winst” zullen maken.

Just a few days before last New Year’s Eve first heard about “Korcoin” (KOR) on popular local TV station[1]. This commercial was in Spanish where the lady presenting in the commercial claimed to give away $5 worth “Korcoin” if you installed a cryptocurrency wallet and messaged the number shown on screen, claiming that their “cryptocurrency” is the first to have its own store so where can spend their “cryptocurrency” for goods. Furthermore, they go on by claiming that you will have “earnings” on the short run by owning the coin.

Het is ons allen niet ontgaan vandaag: de enorme uitval van Facebook en haar dochterbedrijven zoals WhatsApp, Instagram en Messenger. Dit is niet zoals eerdere storingen die het platform had die beperkt waren tot bepaalde regio’s of diensten, en na enkele minuten verholpen waren.

Dit omdat de oorzaak van de storing van vandaag veel complexer is dan eerdere storingen die vermoedelijk “software bugs” waren die snel en gemakkelijk gecorrigeerd kunnen worden binnen het wereldwijde platform.

In deze blogpost probeer ik op een versimpeld te toe te lichten wat er vandaag is gebeurd, de impact hiervan, en waarom dit niet snel opgelost kan worden.

Of beluister mijn interview op Paradise FM over dit onderwerp:

I've been asked by Paradise FM, a local Dutch radio station, to share my expertise and thoughts on the recent development surrounding the (possible) intrusion that took place at the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS). According to the latest press release at the time of writing/the interview, the CBCS claims that a possible intrusion took place through a remote work platform, possibly via a VPN (or similar tunneling) solution). In the interview I gave a brief introduction on VPN's and shared my initial thoughts about possible vulnrabilities exploited:

(interview is in Dutch)

So I recently found out the hard way that reverting back to an earlier/older EdgeRouter firmware image also reverts back to the configuration at the time of upgrade to the newer firmware. I expected the current (latest) configuration to remain active regardless of which firmware version you're running. In my case the router was upgraded to the 2.0.x firmware in our lab, before all production configuration was configured. When troubleshooting an issue I decided to downgrade the firmware just to confirm that this wasn't a result of a possible bug in the 2.0.x firmware. After reverting to the 1.10.x firmware I lost remote access to the router. When connecting to the console port I managed to log in and concluded that the settings ware as they ware at the time of the upgrade to the 2.0.x firmware. Luckily I made a back-up before reverting to the previous firmware so I was able to recover to the production configuration quickly.

username@router:~$ set system image default-boot 
The system currently has the following image(s) installed:

v2.0.9-hotfix.2.5402463.210511.1317 (running image) (default boot) 
v1.10.7.5127989.181001.1228    

Are you sure you want to switch images? (Yes/No) [Yes]: Yes
Moving images... 
Done
Switched from
  Version:      v2.0.9-hotfix.2.5402463.210511.1317
to
  Version:      v1.10.7.5127989.181001.1228
username@router:~$ reboot
Proceed with reboot? [confirm][y]

I thought this might be a word of caution to my peers :)