As I had been stressing repeatedly, the Civil Services battle is won and lost in mind. Self-confidence and mental strength are the most important ingredients for success in IAS exam.
Reading Shiv Kera's 'You Can Win' is the surest way to keep your morale always up. You should read and reflect on each page in the book.
The book can simply guide you in the right direction. If you are spending time unproductively, the book will turn you around.
Just a single line in the book - 'Time wasted is life wasted' made me sleepless during the days in which I were preparing for the exam.
I would say 'You can win' is the bible for civil services aspirants. And the best way to show your gratitude to Shiv Kera for giving the wonderful thoughts, is by buying the original copy of the book. Pirated version of the book is freely available in the market. But, it is cruel to derive benefits illegally.
Bala
Sunday, November 22, 2009
How to combat increasing cyber security threats?
Of late, cyber-criminal activities across the globe have assumed such grave proportions that all enterprises - big and small, are exposed to security breaches and identity thefts of various kinds. Many sabotage were found to have been caused by the insiders of the enterprises - either disgruntled staff or greedy techies or sacked employees.
Lack of well-defined internal controls and access restrictions generally pave the way for security incidents. Particularly, as stolen identities seem to have served as the ‘hacking channel’ for many cyber-crimes, improper management of the administrative passwords is believed to be at the root of a good number of security threats.
Security experts strongly believe that many security incidents (though not all) are actually avoidable by placing access restrictions and well-defined password policies.
How can we combat the threats?
Read my article on 'Combating Cyber Security Threats' in Express Computer (Nov 23rd issue):
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091123/technology04.shtml
Bala
Lack of well-defined internal controls and access restrictions generally pave the way for security incidents. Particularly, as stolen identities seem to have served as the ‘hacking channel’ for many cyber-crimes, improper management of the administrative passwords is believed to be at the root of a good number of security threats.
Security experts strongly believe that many security incidents (though not all) are actually avoidable by placing access restrictions and well-defined password policies.
How can we combat the threats?
Read my article on 'Combating Cyber Security Threats' in Express Computer (Nov 23rd issue):
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20091123/technology04.shtml
Bala
Thursday, November 19, 2009
What it takes to succeed in civil services exam?
In my first blog on Civil Services, I had stated about a close friend of mine who was awaiting his results. I thought I could post a case study on him so that it becomes beneficial to other aspirants following this blog:
The story of E Harikrishnan, now serving as IRTS officer is indeed inspiring. His journey towards civil services started twelve years ago when we were studying B.E in Annamalai University, Chidambaram. In fact, three of us started preparing for civil services with IAS/IPS as goal, and he alone made it to the coveted service in 2008.
You might have noticed the year 2008 - yes, he started preparing in 1997 and finally made it in 2008 in his seventh attempt. His is a story of diligence, self-confidence and hard work. I often used to reflect on what went wrong in my case and what went right for him.
First, he had single-minded determination, which I did not possess. He wanted civil services and nothing else. Whereas, after two unsuccessful attempts, my mental strength vanished, fears about future gripped my mind and took up a job in a software firm.
Second, he very strongly believed that he would succeed one day. He visualized himself as a civil servant and finally achieved that. On the contrary, I had several doubts in my mind!
Third, six consecutive failed attempts could not deter his self-confidence. When people made fun of him, he did not mind them. Some persons even advised him to seek a job and be of help to the family. He did not mind such comments at all.
Fourth, he kept working very hard towards his goal. Referred to all possible source material.
Fifth, despite the not-so-sound financial background, his family stood behind him like a rock. His parents supported all his ventures wholeheartedly. (Of course, in my case too, I had the total support of my family and in fact, my father wanted me to prepare full-time and opposed my decision to take up the job. My father was ready to spend all his financial resources for my preparation).
Sixth, he kept constant touch with fellow aspirants to keep abreast of the happenings. He learnt valuable lessons from his own mistakes and from the mistakes of others. He was not lured by anything.
All these things together enabled him succeed in the civil services. All aspirants should possess these qualities to succeed.
The story of E Harikrishnan, now serving as IRTS officer is indeed inspiring. His journey towards civil services started twelve years ago when we were studying B.E in Annamalai University, Chidambaram. In fact, three of us started preparing for civil services with IAS/IPS as goal, and he alone made it to the coveted service in 2008.
You might have noticed the year 2008 - yes, he started preparing in 1997 and finally made it in 2008 in his seventh attempt. His is a story of diligence, self-confidence and hard work. I often used to reflect on what went wrong in my case and what went right for him.
First, he had single-minded determination, which I did not possess. He wanted civil services and nothing else. Whereas, after two unsuccessful attempts, my mental strength vanished, fears about future gripped my mind and took up a job in a software firm.
Second, he very strongly believed that he would succeed one day. He visualized himself as a civil servant and finally achieved that. On the contrary, I had several doubts in my mind!
Third, six consecutive failed attempts could not deter his self-confidence. When people made fun of him, he did not mind them. Some persons even advised him to seek a job and be of help to the family. He did not mind such comments at all.
Fourth, he kept working very hard towards his goal. Referred to all possible source material.
Fifth, despite the not-so-sound financial background, his family stood behind him like a rock. His parents supported all his ventures wholeheartedly. (Of course, in my case too, I had the total support of my family and in fact, my father wanted me to prepare full-time and opposed my decision to take up the job. My father was ready to spend all his financial resources for my preparation).
Sixth, he kept constant touch with fellow aspirants to keep abreast of the happenings. He learnt valuable lessons from his own mistakes and from the mistakes of others. He was not lured by anything.
All these things together enabled him succeed in the civil services. All aspirants should possess these qualities to succeed.
How do you manage website passwords?
Nowadays, even for personal needs, we are largely dependent on online services. At the enterprise level, it becomes much more complex.
Just reflect on the following questions:
Just reflect on the following questions:
- Do you face problems in remembering the credentials of website login accounts?
- Do you have a large number of web accounts and wish to automatically login to the sites without manually entering the user name and password?
If the answer to the above questions are 'yes', you must take the services of a password manager. ManageEngine Password Manager Pro is there to help you!
By simply storing the URL of the web page and the login credentials, you can launch direct connection to the required website from Password Manager Pro. That is, the URL of the website would be visible in Password Manager Pro and upon clicking that you will be logged in to the website directly.
There is a step-by-step tutorial on how to implement this feature. Along with the textual explanation, the tutorial contains a two-minute video presentation at the end. Don’t forget to check that out too!
Bala
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Have you ever revealed your administrative passwords to your colleagues?
Have you ever revealed the administrative password of an enterprise resource to your colleague? And do you strongly believe that your passwords remain secure even after telling others? If so, you must read this interesting survey done by SecurEnvoy.
The survey results reveal that 75% of UK employees have admitted that they have told at least two other colleagues their corporate passwords.
SecurEnvoy states that while workers are trusting of their colleagues, it may not be a great idea to share passwords so easily since it can compromise one’s entire work life.
The concern raised in the survey is well-founded. Enterprises - big and small, face security issues and outages quite often. After all, mis-management of administrative passwords lies at the root of all security issues.
It is always good to avoid sharing of administrative passwords. But, what if your business needs demand that you seletively share passwords with others and yet ensure high levels of security? Caught in a catch-22 situation, right?
But take heart, you have ManageEngine Password Manager Pro for your rescue. Using this Enterprise Password Management Solution, you can store thousands of administrative passwords in a centralized repository and selectively share the passwords with others. You can have the trail of 'who', 'what' and 'when' of password access. The passwords are shared, yet remain highly secure. Exactly what you want!
To know more, visit ManageEngine Password Manager Pro
Bala
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
VERY GLAD THAT BJP IS DYING A SLOW DEATH!
I am not a psychopath to celebrate the suffering of others. But, day after day, when I hear news about the downfall of BJP and its leaders, unconsciously, I get great joy!
This is not without reason:
My childhood ambition to get into the IAS was spoiled by the anti-youth policies of the BJP Government. The moment Vajpayee came to power, the Government announced down-sizing measures and recruitment to the civil services got a severe beating.
The normal vacancy range of 800 was brought down to 300 or so. For 'Open Competition' category to which i belong, only 50 per cent of the 300-odd were available. As the selection to civil services is based on the number of vacancies every year, I lost despite scoring reasonably good marks.
Now, the Congress Government has restored the number of vacancies to 800+ and those who had secured far less than I did in 2001, have become proud civil servants. Until I exhausted my maximum limit of four attempts, BJP was in power and my ambitions were buried.
Had the Government achieved anything worthwhile for the Nation through the downsizing policy, I would not have felt sorry on losing the appointment to Civil Services. This policy did not help shape the economy anyway; nor did the BJP prevent the lavish spending on other heads and accounts. Their actions were far from austerity - not even the level of austerity "practiced" by the present UPA Ministry. They just spoiled the career of thousands like me.
Not only me, but thousands of aspirants belonging to all communities had to suffer due to BJP's policies. Only if the Congress tries to make up for the wrongs committed by the BJP (by increasing the number of attempts to different categories (OC from 4 to 9, BC from 7 to 9 and SC/ST no limit) and age-limit (OC from 30 to 35, BC from 33 to 38, SC/ST from 35 to 40)), we will get justice. But, I know, this is a wild dream!!
So, when I hear the news about the fall of BJP, my mind becomes happy. Cruel, it may sound, but I cant help. The party is dying a slow-death and I wish to see it disappearing from National Scene soon!
This is not without reason:
My childhood ambition to get into the IAS was spoiled by the anti-youth policies of the BJP Government. The moment Vajpayee came to power, the Government announced down-sizing measures and recruitment to the civil services got a severe beating.
The normal vacancy range of 800 was brought down to 300 or so. For 'Open Competition' category to which i belong, only 50 per cent of the 300-odd were available. As the selection to civil services is based on the number of vacancies every year, I lost despite scoring reasonably good marks.
Now, the Congress Government has restored the number of vacancies to 800+ and those who had secured far less than I did in 2001, have become proud civil servants. Until I exhausted my maximum limit of four attempts, BJP was in power and my ambitions were buried.
Had the Government achieved anything worthwhile for the Nation through the downsizing policy, I would not have felt sorry on losing the appointment to Civil Services. This policy did not help shape the economy anyway; nor did the BJP prevent the lavish spending on other heads and accounts. Their actions were far from austerity - not even the level of austerity "practiced" by the present UPA Ministry. They just spoiled the career of thousands like me.
Not only me, but thousands of aspirants belonging to all communities had to suffer due to BJP's policies. Only if the Congress tries to make up for the wrongs committed by the BJP (by increasing the number of attempts to different categories (OC from 4 to 9, BC from 7 to 9 and SC/ST no limit) and age-limit (OC from 30 to 35, BC from 33 to 38, SC/ST from 35 to 40)), we will get justice. But, I know, this is a wild dream!!
So, when I hear the news about the fall of BJP, my mind becomes happy. Cruel, it may sound, but I cant help. The party is dying a slow-death and I wish to see it disappearing from National Scene soon!
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