Securing U.S. Democracy: Athenian Project Update

Last December, Cloudflare announced the Athenian Project to help protect U.S. state and local election websites from cyber attack.

Since then, the need to protect our electoral systems has become increasingly urgent. As described by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, the “digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.” Just last week, we learned new details about how state election systems were targeted for cyberattack during the 2016 election. The U.S. government’s indictment of twelve Russian military intelligence officers describes the scanning of state election-related websites for vulnerabilities and theft of personal information related to approximately 500,000 voters.

This direct attack on the U.S. election systems using common Internet vulnerabilities reinforces the need to ensure democratic institutions are protected from attack in the future. The Athenian Project is Cloudflare’s attempt to do our part to secure our democracy.

Engaging with Elections Officials

Since announcing the Athenian Project, we’ve talked to state, county, and municipal officials around the country about protecting their election and voter registration websites. Today, we’re proud to report that we have Athenian Project participants in 19 states, and are in talks with many more. We have also strategized with civil Continue reading

Rethink Your Security Infrastructure

A software-driven approach to security makes advanced capabilities possible even on a tight budget.

Worth Reading: WPA3

Wi-Fi devices have been using the same security protocol for over a decade. But today, that’ll begin to change: the Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees adoption of the Wi-Fi standard, is beginning to certify products that support WPA3… —Jacob Kastrenakes @The Verge

Bienvenue au Chapitre ISOC Madagascar! 35e Chapitre de l’Internet Society en Afrique.

Le Directeur Régional Afrique de l’Internet Society (ISOC),  Dr. Dawit Bekele a rejoint la communauté Internet de Madagascar les 15 et 16 Juin 2018 pour l’inauguration du Chapitre ISOC Madagascar (ISOC Madagascar Chapter), le 35^e Chapitre de l’Internet Society en Afrique. Cette inauguration a été marquée par une série de deux conférences  : la première a eu lieu le 15 juin 2018 à l’Akademia Malagasy sur le thème «Quel Internet voulons-nous réellement à Madagascar ? », et la seconde le 16 juin 2018 à l’Hôtel du Louvre sur le thème «Future de l’Internet : Enjeux et Opportunités». Dr. Bekele a profité de cette occasion pour présenter l’Internet Society à la Communauté Internet malgache et discuter des opportunités de collaboration et de partenariat pour le développement d’un Internet pour tous, ouvert, sécurisé et digne de confiance à Madagascar.

Pendant la première conférence  du 15 juin 2018, Dawit a discuté avec toutes les parties prenantes de l’écosystème Internet malgache sur l’état des lieux, les challenges et opportunités du développement de l’Internet à Madagascar. Il a profité pour présenter les axes prioritaires (campagnes) de l’Internet Society pour l’année 2018 avec un accent particulier sur l’alternative Réseaux Communautaires comme solution durable pour connecter Continue reading

Building a Strong Network for Websites

Why NVMe? Users weigh benefits of NVMe-accelerated flash storage

IBM has an answer for some of the biggest trends in enterprise data storage – including Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), artificial intelligence, multi-cloud environments and containers – and it comes in a 2U package.The new FlashSystem 9100 is an all-flash NVMe-accelerated storage platform. It delivers up to 2 petabytes of effective storage in 2U and can provide up to 32 petabytes of all-flash storage in a 42U rack.[ Check out AI boosts data-center availability, efficiency. Also learn what hyperconvergence is and whether you’re ready for hyperconverged storage. For regularly scheduled insights sign up for Network World newsletters. ] NVMe is a protocol for accessing high-speed storage media that’s designed to reduce latency and increase system and application performance. It's optimized for all-flash storage systems and is aimed at enterprise workloads that require low latency and top performance, such as real-time data analytics and high-performance relational databases.To read this article in full, please click here

Why NVMe? Users weigh benefits of NVMe-accelerated flash storage

IBM has an answer for some of the biggest trends in enterprise data storage – including Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), artificial intelligence, multi-cloud environments and containers – and it comes in a 2U package.The new FlashSystem 9100 is an all-flash NVMe-accelerated storage platform. It delivers up to 2 petabytes of effective storage in 2U and can provide up to 32 petabytes of all-flash storage in a 42U rack.[ Check out AI boosts data-center availability, efficiency. Also learn what hyperconvergence is and whether you’re ready for hyperconverged storage. For regularly scheduled insights sign up for Network World newsletters. ] NVMe is a protocol for accessing high-speed storage media that’s designed to reduce latency and increase system and application performance. It's optimized for all-flash storage systems and is aimed at enterprise workloads that require low latency and top performance, such as real-time data analytics and high-performance relational databases.To read this article in full, please click here

IETF 102, Day 4: DNS, IoT & TLS

IPv6 in China

Photo by chuttersnap / Unsplash

At the end of 2017, Xinhua reported that there will be 200 Million IPv6 users inside Mainland China by the end of this year. Halfway into the year, we’re seeing a rapid growth in IPv6 users and traffic originating from Mainland China.

Why does this matter?

IPv6 is often referred to the next generation of IP addressing. The reality is, IPv6 is what is needed for addressing today. Taking the largest mobile network in China today, China Mobile has over 900 Million mobile subscribers and over 670 Million 4G/LTE subscribers. To be able to provide service to their users, they need to provide an IP address to each subscriber’s device. This means close to a billion IP addresses would be required, which is far more than what is available in IPv4, especially as the available IP address pools have been exhausted.

What is the solution?

To solve the addressability of clients, many networks, especially mobile networks, will use Carrier Grade NAT (CGN). This allows thousands, possibly up to hundreds of thousands, of devices to be shared behind a single internet IP address. The CGN equipment can be very expensive to scale and further, given the Continue reading

Collaborative Governance Leaders, Canada, and Senegal Exchange Notes on IoT Security Frameworks

Canada and Senegal partners are meeting for a comparative learning exchange on developing robust Internet of Things (IoT) Security frameworks in Ottawa, Canada 18-19 July. The two countries are strong supporters of the collaborative governance, or multistakeholder, model in addressing critical Internet infrastructure. Both countries have already begun adopting the model for domestic policy development focusing on IoT security. The learning exchange is part of the Internet Society supported Internet Governance campaign activity for both countries and will explore issues of mutual interest, connect stakeholders, and exchange notes on the process.

In Canada, the Internet Society partnered with Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, CANARIE, and CIPPIC to convene stakeholders to develop recommendations for a set of norms/policy to secure the Internet of Things in Canada. The partners have agreed to focus on two specific thematic areas: consumer protection and network resilience. While in Senegal, the Internet Society partnered with the ISOC Senegal Chapter, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, and the Senegalese Commission for Data Protection to explore the same.

Canada and Senegal are amongst the countries that are leading in demonstrating the collaborative, multistakeholder model of Internet Governance. These Continue reading

AT&T Caters to Customers That Prefer a Full Cisco NFV Stack

AT&T’s other virtualization platform, FlexWare, now includes SD-WAN from VMware/VeloCloud.

Corvil Intelligence Hub Brings Machine Learning To Network Data

Exploring the Software-Defined Access Market, From A to Zed

From Adtran to ZTE, cable and telco vendors alike are beginning to reap the benefits of SDN and virtualization with the development of software-defined access solutions and propositions.

BiB 48: Gluware at Network Field Day 18

I broadly consider Gluware an automation engine that can deliver effective automation inside an brownfield network. That is, its multi-vendor, multi-technology (e.g. switches / firewalls, routers, QOS,) and works with the existing tooling such as CLI. So you don’t have to buy new hardware to start the SDN process. Thats a useful way to start […]

The post BiB 48: Gluware at Network Field Day 18 appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Containers-as-a-Service is a Fresh Battleground for Cloud Giants

Half of container users started less than 12 months ago, providing new blood for AWS, Azure, Google, Docker, VMware, Red Hat to fight over.

Iraq Protests Lead To Two-Day Blackout

Internet infrastructure will be inundated as sea levels rise, says report

By 2033, over 4,000 miles of underground fiber will be beneath sea water, and hundreds of data centers will be affected, reseachers at University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Oregon say. The conduits carrying the internet cables and the cables themselves are not designed for it — they’re water-resistant but not waterproof. That means global communications will get disrupted if action isn’t taken to mitigate the risk, the experts say.New York, Miami, and Seattle are the three major U.S. conurbations that the group says are most susceptible to metro-area cable inundation. However, the effects would ripple through the internet. And Los Angeles would be hit in its long-haul installations.To read this article in full, please click here

Internet infrastructure will be inundated as sea levels rise, says report

By 2033, over 4,000 miles of underground fiber will be beneath sea water, and hundreds of data centers will be affected, reseachers at University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Oregon say. The conduits carrying the internet cables and the cables themselves are not designed for it — they’re water-resistant but not waterproof. That means global communications will get disrupted if action isn’t taken to mitigate the risk, the experts say.New York, Miami, and Seattle are the three major U.S. conurbations that the group says are most susceptible to metro-area cable inundation. However, the effects would ripple through the internet. And Los Angeles would be hit in its long-haul installations.To read this article in full, please click here

Worth Reading: The IPv4 Market

On September 24, 2015, the free supply of IPv4 numbers in North America dwindled to zero. Despite fears to the contrary, IPv4 network operators have been able to support and extend their IP networks by purchasing the IPv4 address space they need from organizations with excess unused supply through the IPv4 market. —Marc Lindsey @CircleID

Mingis on Tech: The blockchain evolution, from services…to smartphones

Oracle joins other major tech vendors by rolling out its blockchain-as-a-service offering, and two smartphone makers plan to include the technology in new devices this year. Get the latest on the blockchain craze.