Save money and make your website better—by killing JavaScript

Bandwidth, storage space and computing power (CPU/RAM/etc.) on your web servers represent a distinct and noteworthy cost for any company with a major online presence.As traffic to a company’s website increases, most opt to throw money at the problem. More servers. Caching systems. More bandwidth. But these are Band-Aids—temporary solutions to the problem, solutions that will only suffice for so long before yet another round of "throw money at the problem" is required to keep up with ever-growing web traffic. The real problem is simple: Your web pages are just plain too big.Way too big. Enormously large. The average website is 2.9 MB in size (as of May 15, 2017). And that's just the average—an average that is growing. Fast.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Save money and make your website better—by killing JavaScript

Bandwidth, storage space and computing power (CPU/RAM/etc.) on your web servers represent a distinct and noteworthy cost for any company with a major online presence.As traffic to a company’s website increases, most opt to throw money at the problem. More servers. Caching systems. More bandwidth. But these are Band-Aids—temporary solutions to the problem, solutions that will only suffice for so long before yet another round of "throw money at the problem" is required to keep up with ever-growing web traffic. The real problem is simple: Your web pages are just plain too big.Way too big. Enormously large. The average website is 2.9 MB in size (as of May 15, 2017). And that's just the average—an average that is growing. Fast.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers leak 8 unaired episodes of ABC’s Steve Harvey’s Funderdome TV series

They’re back…The Dark Overlord, the hacking group which released 10 of 13 new Orange Is the New Black episodes in late April after Netflix refused to pay a ransom, has now leaked nearly the entire first season of ABC’s upcoming Steve Harvey’s Funderdome.Back in April, TDO warned ABC, National Geographic, Fox and IFC that the group wasn’t playing games anymore. Then on June 2, TDO tweeted, “American Broadcasting Company may be up next, ladies and gentlemen.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers leak 8 unaired episodes of ABC’s Steve Harvey’s Funderdome TV series

They’re back…The Dark Overlord, the hacking group which released 10 of 13 new Orange Is the New Black episodes in late April after Netflix refused to pay a ransom, has now leaked nearly the entire first season of ABC’s upcoming Steve Harvey’s Funderdome.Back in April, TDO warned ABC, National Geographic, Fox and IFC that the group wasn’t playing games anymore. Then on June 2, TDO tweeted, “American Broadcasting Company may be up next, ladies and gentlemen.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

27% off TaoTronics Bluetooth Sweatproof Headphones with Built in Mic – Deal Alert

These headphones feature sweatproof construction, fast and reliable Bluetooth 4.1, and a generous 7 hours of play time on a charge. A built-in mic with noise concellation allows for taking crystal clear calls on the run. TaoTronics sports headphones average 4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 4,800 people (read reviews), and its typical list price of $29.99 has been reduced right now 27% to $21.99. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

47% off iClever BoostCube 12W Dual USB Wall Charger with Foldable Plug – Deal Alert

This mini USB charging cube from iClever claims to be one of the smallest on the market, and charges up to 2 smartphones, tablets, or other USB devices at your device's maximum rate with Smart ID technology. The wall plugs fold in for maximum convenience. The typical list price of $16.99 is reduced 47% right now to just $8.99 on Amazon, where it averages 4.6 out of 5 stars from just under 200 customers (82% rate full 5 stars: read recent reviews here). An additional promotion is currently available giving you an extra 10% off if you buy 2 of them, dropping the price further. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

50% off iClever BoostCube 12W Dual USB Wall Charger with Foldable Plug – Deal Alert

This mini USB charging cube from iClever claims to be one of the smallest on the market, and charges up to 2 smartphones, tablets, or other USB devices at your device's maximum rate with Smart ID technology. The wall plugs fold in for maximum convenience. The typical list price of $16.99 is reduced 50% right now to just $8.49 on Amazon, where it averages 4.6 out of 5 stars from just under 200 customers (82% rate full 5 stars: read recent reviews here). See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Some non-lessons from WannaCry

This piece by Bruce Schneier needs debunking. I thought I'd list the things wrong with it.

The NSA 0day debate

Schneier's description of the problem is deceptive:
When the US government discovers a vulnerability in a piece of software, however, it decides between two competing equities. It can keep it secret and use it offensively, to gather foreign intelligence, help execute search warrants, or deliver malware. Or it can alert the software vendor and see that the vulnerability is patched, protecting the country -- and, for that matter, the world -- from similar attacks by foreign governments and cybercriminals. It's an either-or choice.
The government doesn't "discover" vulnerabilities accidentally. Instead, when the NSA has a need for something specific, it acquires the 0day, either through internal research or (more often) buying from independent researchers.

The value of something is what you are willing to pay for it. If the NSA comes across a vulnerability accidentally, then the value to them is nearly zero. Obviously such vulns should be disclosed and fixed. Conversely, if the NSA is willing to pay $1 million to acquire a specific vuln for imminent use against a target, the offensive value is much greater than the Continue reading

Aruba announces campus core switch for the digital enterprise

Digital transformation has been a hot topic with IT and business leaders over the past few years. In fact, it’s rare for me to talk to any organization, regardless of size, and not talk about the challenges of going digital.One of the interesting elements of this shift is that it makes the network significantly more important than it ever has been. Most of the technologies used to fuel digitization, such as IoT, cloud and mobility are all network centric in nature, so the network has a direct impact on a company’s ability to become a digital organization.RELATED: SD-WAN: What it is and why you will use it one day In today’s rapidly changing business climate, competitive differentiation revolves around speed, and that requires a highly dynamic and scalable IT foundation. However, a business can only be as agile as the least agile component, and that today is the network. Software-defined networks (SDNs) have helped transform the data center and SD-WANs the wide-area network, but what about the campus? That seems to have been forgotten about through this transition to a software-defined world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Aruba announces campus core switch for the digital enterprise

Digital transformation has been a hot topic with IT and business leaders over the past few years. In fact, it’s rare for me to talk to any organization, regardless of size, and not talk about the challenges of going digital.One of the interesting elements of this shift is that it makes the network significantly more important than it ever has been. Most of the technologies used to fuel digitization, such as IoT, cloud and mobility are all network centric in nature, so the network has a direct impact on a company’s ability to become a digital organization.RELATED: SD-WAN: What it is and why you will use it one day In today’s rapidly changing business climate, competitive differentiation revolves around speed, and that requires a highly dynamic and scalable IT foundation. However, a business can only be as agile as the least agile component, and that today is the network. Software-defined networks (SDNs) have helped transform the data center and SD-WANs the wide-area network, but what about the campus? That seems to have been forgotten about through this transition to a software-defined world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN : APIC Vv APIC-EM

Software Defined Network (SDN) is technology to allow network devices to be managed through software application, thus making configuration process automated and faster. Network devices have its own management plane, data plane and control plane. Traditional SDN decouples Control plane from all different devices and have all these control plane go live inside  SDN controller […]

Better Security Conversations – Thoughts for a Series

As many PacketU readers know, I have held the role as a vendor SE for a couple of years. In this role, a primary function is to correctly position our products into customer environments. What I’ve come to realize is that many of our conversations actually start incorrectly. I think we need to change that. I will be sharing, as well as structuring, my own thoughts with an upcoming series of posts on security.

I firmly believe that products are only tools and we need to back up to better understand the problems we are trying to solve. One analogy I use on a regular basis when talking about autonomous vehicles is that “no one needs a car [they only need the transportation].” So if technology can provide autonomous cars, transportation can become a service instead of a depreciating asset in our garage. 

Although it isn’t a parallel thought or analogy, no organization needs an NGFW for the sake of owning an NGFW. There is a need to provide proper tools required to enable the organization’s security program. Thinking in these terms guides the conversations to a more appropriate solution. My goal with this upcoming series is to help anyone that touches cybersecurity Continue reading

Tell the FCC you don’t want robo-voicemail, spammy direct-to-voicemail messages

If your phone doesn’t ring, yet you have received voicemail, did that voicemail qualify as a call? If it didn’t count as a call, then the telemarketer behind the pre-recorded voicemail message may claim it can leave “ringless voicemail” (RVM) for people even on the Do Not Call list.The FCC is currently deciding if it should ban ringless voicemail or if those spammy voicemail messages don’t count as calls as companies using direct-to-voicemail insertion technology claim.All About the Message, a ringless voicemail company, petitioned the FCC to “declare that the delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box does not constitute a call that is subject to the prohibitions on the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or an artificial or prerecorded voice” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (pdf).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tell the FCC you don’t want robo-voicemail, spammy direct-to-voicemail messages

If your phone doesn’t ring, yet you have received voicemail, did that voicemail qualify as a call? If it didn’t count as a call, then the telemarketer behind the pre-recorded voicemail message may claim it can leave “ringless voicemail” (RVM) for people even on the Do Not Call list.The FCC is currently deciding if it should ban ringless voicemail or if those spammy voicemail messages don’t count as calls as companies using direct-to-voicemail insertion technology claim.All About the Message, a ringless voicemail company, petitioned the FCC to “declare that the delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box does not constitute a call that is subject to the prohibitions on the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or an artificial or prerecorded voice” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (pdf).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Chinese Malware ‘Fireball’ Has Infected 250 Million Devices

A malware attack dubbed Fireball has infected more than 250 million computers worldwide and is redirecting web browsers on compromised machines to generate revenue for its attackers. First discovered by cybersecurity firm Check Point Threat Intelligence, the browser-hijacking malware attack of Chinese origin has reportedly spread to 20 percent of corporate computer networks. Read: Android …

Continue reading "Chinese Malware ‘Fireball’ Has Infected 250 Million Devices"

EuroDIG 2017: ISOC Speaks on Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Human Rights, IoT, Internet Shutdowns and more

How do we create a more secure and trusted Internet within the multistakeholder model of Internet governance? That will be among the many questions addressed this week at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Tallinn, Estonia. From June 5-7, we will have an Internet Society team on site participating in many sessions. Our EuroDIG 2017 page has all the details - including links to live video streams - but at a high level here are some of the workshops we are participating in:

Dan York
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