IPv6 adoption  Tags: networking, my blog, my server.
IPv6 adoption is still rather slow. Some Dutch ISPs promised support during "early 2013". I'd say "early" has come and gone by now. They probably were planning for it, then saw the hype drop off after IPv6 day and rescheduled. Some announced to have delayed it, others never said it would happen. The only ISP that I know supporting a full and free IPv6 connection is XS4ALL. Heck, we get a /64 IPv6 subnet by default at no cost! That's more than twice the entire IPv4 space.

MAC-address analysis  Tags: networking, computers, hardware.
First, a few things you need to know about MAC addresses: When a NIC (Network Interface Card) is manufactured, it is given (issued) a globally unique MAC address. Don't rely on their uniqueness though because users easily can modify them. A MAC address is 48 bits in size (12 characters hexadecimal, as you probably know them), and they are divided up into two halves: the first and the second half! Hard stuff, I know.

The first half is the "OUI" (like the French word for "yes" while forgetting to release caps-lock).

IPv6  Tags: networking, tutorials.
Since I couldn't find a clear all-you-need to know guide about IPv6, I'll attempt writing one.

For everyone who doesn't want to know everything about it, I wrote some shorter pieces.
What you need to know as...

How does SSL work?  Tags: security, networking.
Crosspost from security.stackexchange.com/questions/how-does-ssl-work.

General

SSL (and its successor, TLS) is a protocol that operates directly on top of TCP. This way, protocols on higher layers (such as HTTP) can be left unchanged while still providing a secure connection. Underneath the SSL layer, HTTP is identical to HTTPS.

When using SSL/TLS correctly, all an attacker can see on the cable is which IP and domain you are connected to, roughly how much data you are sending, and what encryption and compression is used. He can also terminate the connection, but both sides will know that the connection has been interrupted by a third party.

Amplification attacks explained  Tags: security, networking.
A Google search for amplification attacks returned a disappointing number of appropriate hits (none, actually); all results are specific for the DNS protocol. This post will explain in more general terms what an amplification attack is and does.

Definition
An amplification attack is an attack where the attacker triggers a big response from a third party to be sent to the target.

Basics