Must Haves for the IT Professionals

Over the years I’ve used some really cool devices and services and I find these all to be very useful tools that I personally must own.

DeepCool

So, I was a hacker party once and my friend was like, “You have to try this.”. This product sits beneath your laptop while circulating air and improving the angle. At first, I didn’t think anything of it but after a 4-hour hackathon, my laptop was cold. It had no heat and I was absolutely surprised at how effective this product was.

HooToo (Travel Router)

This little device has a lot to offer. It is a must for someone who is practicing penetration testing. It provides a miniature DHCP server that is necessary for running VulnHubs. The problem with using another person’s WiFI, say corporate, or university is that you will have to do a netdiscover on their LAN to identify your vulnerable virtual machine. Since you often have to join and approve that device to get Internet access this just isn’t the best method of doing so. The device has an easy to use interface that allows for identifying which devices are connected to the HooToo.

Features

• Travel router – connects to WiFi and shares it with your other devices so you really only need to connect one device.
• Share files among devices
• DHCP server
• 10400mAh  Battery Pack
• Chromecast Support
• < $50 dollars

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi provides endless learning opportunities along with the ability to create machines. One of the coolest things about Raspberry Pis is that you can install operating systems on mini SD Cards and then rapidly switch them out. So, I can have one card that has Ubuntu with Snort IDS configured or I can have Raspbian or even a Kali ARM installation. For less than $100 dollars this is an incredible device to have.

NordVPN with Static IP

Keeping security in check is a must as an IT professional. Leaking sensitive information or a compromise in security can result in someone stealing your identity, source code, data, and or harming your business or corporation. One of the benefits of NordVPN is that it will also provide you with a dedicated server and a static IP address. This is incredibly useful if you want to white list your IP address. I use a NordVPN IP address for accessing Azure.

Amazon Alexa Tap

I undervalued my Amazon Alexa Tap for a very long time. It wasn’t until I really started to use it regularly that it became extremely beneficial. I currently use it as a Bluetooth speaker but I have in the past set this up with custom Alexa Skills. This is a great thing to play with and it is a great external speaker for my laptop.

Amazon Kindle

If it’s possible to win a Guinness World Record for purchasing books and not reading them, I would be that guy. I will often read something out of them but never end to end. I purchased an Amazon Kindle and now I read religiously. Having books at my fingertips and with me, all the time makes reading convenient.

Standing Desk

For about $250 dollars I purchased a standing desk off Amazon. This has been one of my best investments because it is really worth the money. It provides me a lot of desk space and helps improve my health.