Eli Robillard's World of Blog.

While most people know and use the IIS Lockdown tool, few install the URLScan companion piece. I strongly recommend that this utility be installed on all servers running IIS 5.x, this is as important as staying up to date with critical fixes. Much of the functionality is available in IIS6, but why wait to upgrade when you can get that peace of mind for free today?

From the summary: "URLScan is an ISAPI filter that allows Web site administrators to restrict the kind of HTTP requests that the server will process. By blocking specific HTTP requests, the URLScan filter prevents potentially harmful requests from reaching the server and causing damage."

Many features provided by URLScan are baked into IIS6, other potential problems are avoided entirely by IIS6's redesigned page and security models. The URLScan home page provides an excellent walk-through of URLScan features vs. built-in IIS6 functionality.

Still running ASP.NET sites on IIS5? Install it!

SharePoint makes use of FrontPage Themes, but FrontPage doesn't make it easy to get at the files which make up a theme. First some background and then we'll look at how to get more control over building and deploying a theme.

Scott Cate is a busy guy. User group leader. ASPInsider. KBAlertz guy. myKB guy. And now, Novelist. The book is called Surveillance and it's in its first limited printing, of which copies are running out. My copy is on the way and judging by the pieces posted on the website, it should be a great read. Check it out!

While searching for a reference on uploading and implementing a new set of gradient images for a site, I stumbld on Mads Haugbø Nissen's Weblog. It's chock-full of useful discoveries with a focus on SPS/WSS customization. Subscribed.

My current client is being hit with a virus that seems to be hitting LDAP / AD to pick up usernames and then running dictionary attacks on those accounts (against Exchange in their case). The end result is that a mass of accounts on this company's network were locked out.

I've stumbled on two good resources recently for Tablet development.

A SharePoint KB article was posted today that's more like a FAQ item, and it got me thinking about all the other "oh yeah [slaps forehead]" things I figured out while setting up and configuring SPS/WSS sites. I've been wondering what sort of SharePoint posts to write and beginner snippets like this make good sense so expect more.

It's been said that MSF gets a major upgrade in the Whidbey / VSTS timeframe, and here is an early look. Paul Haynes and Rob Caron own the GotDotNet workspace for the Microsoft Solutions Framework Version 4.0, Beta: Workspace Home, and  it looks good! I'm really looking forward to seeing these documents fall into place, and it already makes an interesting read in relation to the features of VSTS. Exciting, productive times ahead.