The ultimate Linux Trojan horse: Windows Subsystem for Linux

I'm a Linux user. And, as the old adage goes, "I don't do Windows." This is not an article about how Linux is superior to Windows. Truth be told, I don't begrudge any person's choice of computing environment—be it Windows, Mac, BSD, Amiga. What each person uses is truly up to them. Me? I use open source. I use free software. I use Linux. So, what then, do I make of Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux aka WSL? For those unfamiliar, the WSL is basically a compatibility layer within Windows 10 that allows you to run Linux binaries. The end result is that you can run a full Linux shell, complete with Linux terminal applications, on a Windows PC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SAP seeks to speed analytics with AI technology

SAP wants to speed up how analytics adapt to change. It's doing that by embedding SAP Predictive Analytics' machine learning capabilities in S/4Hana."When you take something rules-based, you are not able to adapt predictions to new data," said Mike Flannagan, SAP's senior vice president for analytics, ahead of the company's Sapphire Now customer conference in Orlando."The power of machine learning is you are able to continually update the model. Your model is running against all the data it has seen so far."But there's another stumbling block to that: the computing power required for machine learning systems. "Most business apps aren't robust enough to handle the machine learning computation," said Flannagan. S4/Hana, on the other hand, is fast enough to embed machine-learning prediction in a core ERP system, something that was previously only possible with rules-based prediction, he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: The 10 best JavaScript editors

JavaScript programmers have many good tools to choose from—almost too many to keep track of. In this article, I discuss nine text editors with good support for developing with JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS, and for documenting with Markdown. Why use an editor for JavaScript programming instead of an IDE? In a word: speed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Outsourcing security: Would you turn over the keys to a third party?

Years ago it would have been unthinkable to give up control to securing your most valuable assets. But for some companies the risk of handing the security keys to a third party is less than the idea of facing the daily barrage of attacks.When asked why a company would cede control, many vendors said it depends on the level of staffing that company has. If the expertise is lacking, why take the chance. Or if it is a small to midsize enterprise, maybe there is just not a budget for creating a security staff up to the level needed. Therefore, partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) has become almost a must when faced with worries over data theft and the number of mobile devices entering the workplace. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Outsourcing security: Would you turn over the keys to a third party?

Years ago it would have been unthinkable to give up control to securing your most valuable assets. But for some companies the risk of handing the security keys to a third party is less than the idea of facing the daily barrage of attacks.When asked why a company would cede control, many vendors said it depends on the level of staffing that company has. If the expertise is lacking, why take the chance. Or if it is a small to midsize enterprise, maybe there is just not a budget for creating a security staff up to the level needed. Therefore, partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) has become almost a must when faced with worries over data theft and the number of mobile devices entering the workplace. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 steps to ending generational stereotypes

Stereotypes of any kind are harmful to your organization. And generational stereotypes -- millennials are lazy, entitled and needy; baby boomers are cranky Luddites who hate change; generation X … well, hates everything and everyone -- are no different. Perpetuating these stereotypes negatively impacts diversity and inclusion as well as engagement, productivity and morale, and it makes teamwork and collaboration difficult, if not impossible.Some of the most pervasive stereotypes surround millennials; those who are roughly 20 to 35 years old, says William A. Schiemann, CEO of Metrus Institute. Schiemann says he's continually faced with clients' confusion and misunderstanding about generational differences, and the stereotypes that arise from this confusion.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 steps for a future-ready cloud storage strategy

Blame it on poor copy data management, compliance requirements or the internet of things (IoT), but data storage volumes are growing exponentially, and that growth shows no signs of abating. Managing skyrocketing storage demands on limited resources is a top challenge for many enterprises. To alleviate the burden, many organizations have turned to the cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

28% off Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Dual USB Power Bank – Deal Alert

Great for hikes, trips to the beach, or any sunny place you find yourself, this waterproof and shockproof power bank will harness the sun to keep you fully juiced all day. Features a hook for easy attachment to your pack or bag, eco-friendly silicone rubber, and comes in several colors. The solar power bank averages 4 out of 5 stars from nearly 800 people on Amazon (read reviews), where its typical list price of $24.99 has been reduced 28% to $17.99. See the discounted solar charger on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sixth grader weaponizes smart teddy bear, hacks security audience’s Bluetooth

If yet another cybersecurity expert wanted to warn the general public about the risks associated with the internet-of-things (IoT), it is as likely as not that the warning would go in one ear and out the other. But when a sixth grader hacks an audience of security experts and “weaponizes” his smart teddy bear, it might just snag the attention of parents who have disregarded warnings about the dangers and bought internet-connected toys for their kids anyway.At the International One Conference in the Netherlands on Tuesday, 11-year-old Reuben Paul set out to ensure that “the Internet of Things does not end up becoming the Internet of Threats.” Judging by security experts’ awed reactions on Twitter, Paul made a lasting impression.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sixth grader weaponizes smart teddy bear, hacks security audience’s Bluetooth

If yet another cybersecurity expert wanted to warn the general public about the risks associated with the internet-of-things (IoT), it is as likely as not that the warning would go in one ear and out the other. But when a sixth grader hacks an audience of security experts and “weaponizes” his smart teddy bear, it might just snag the attention of parents who have disregarded warnings about the dangers and bought internet-connected toys for their kids anyway.At the International One Conference in the Netherlands on Tuesday, 11-year-old Reuben Paul set out to ensure that “the Internet of Things does not end up becoming the Internet of Threats.” Judging by security experts’ awed reactions on Twitter, Paul made a lasting impression.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sixth-grader weaponizes smart teddy bear, hacks security audience’s Bluetooth

If yet another cybersecurity expert wanted to warn the general public about the risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), it is likely the warning would go in one ear and out the other. But when a sixth-grader hacks an audience of security experts and “weaponizes” his smart teddy bear, it might just snag the attention of parents who have disregarded warnings about the dangers and bought internet-connected toys for their kids anyway.At the International One Conference in the Netherlands on Tuesday, 11-year-old Reuben Paul set out to ensure that “the Internet of Things does not end up becoming the Internet of Threats.” Judging by security experts’ awed reactions on Twitter, Paul made a lasting impression.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sixth-grader weaponizes smart teddy bear, hacks security audience’s Bluetooth

If yet another cybersecurity expert wanted to warn the general public about the risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), it is likely the warning would go in one ear and out the other. But when a sixth-grader hacks an audience of security experts and “weaponizes” his smart teddy bear, it might just snag the attention of parents who have disregarded warnings about the dangers and bought internet-connected toys for their kids anyway.At the International One Conference in the Netherlands on Tuesday, 11-year-old Reuben Paul set out to ensure that “the Internet of Things does not end up becoming the Internet of Threats.” Judging by security experts’ awed reactions on Twitter, Paul made a lasting impression.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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36% off iOttie Easy One Touch 2 Car Mount Holder – Deal Alert

Averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 17,000 people on Amazon, this popular smartphone car mount locks and releases the device with just a push of a finger and features a telescopic adjustable arm. iOttie's mount opens to 3.2 inches in width, which makes it compatible with even "Plus" sized phones. The list price of $19.95 has been discounted right now 36% to just $12.75. See this deal on AmazonSee this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft to NSA: WannaCry is your fault

Microsoft’s top lawyer has blamed the government’s stockpiling of hacking tools as part of the reason for the WannaCry attack, the worldwide ransomware that has hit hundreds of thousands of systems in recent days.Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer, pointed out that WannaCrypt is based on an exploit developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) and renewed his call for a new “Digital Geneva Convention,” which would require governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft to NSA: WannaCry is your fault

Microsoft’s top lawyer has blamed the government’s stockpiling of hacking tools as part of the reason for the WannaCry attack, the worldwide ransomware that has hit hundreds of thousands of systems in recent days.Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer, pointed out that WannaCrypt is based on an exploit developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) and renewed his call for a new “Digital Geneva Convention,” which would require governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T’s 5G Plans Include Context-Aware Networking

An enterprise customer that wants certain preferences is an example of a context-aware networking.

Regional Internet Exits in Large DMVPN Deployment

One of my readers wanted to implement a large DMVPN cloud with regional Internet exit points:

We need to deploy a regional Internet exits and I’d like to centralize them.  Each location with a local Internet exit will be in a region and that location will advertise a default-route into the DMVPN domain to only those spokes in that particular region.

He wasn’t particularly happy with the idea of deploying access and core DMVPN clouds:

IBM makes leap in quantum computing power

IBM has some new options for businesses wanting to experiment with quantum computing.Quantum computers, when they become commercially available, are expected to vastly outperform conventional computers in a number of domains, including machine learning, cryptography and the optimization of business problems in the fields of logistics and risk analysis.Where conventional computers deal in ones and zeros (bits) the processors in quantum computers use qubits, which can simultaneously hold the values one and zero. This -- to grossly oversimplify -- allows a quantum computer with a 5-qubit processor to perform a calculation for 32 different input values at the same time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Getting started with Calico on Kubernetes

In the last 4 posts we’ve examined the fundamentals of Kubernetes networking…

Kubernetes networking 101 – Pods

Kubernetes networking 101 – Services

Kubernetes networking 101 – (Basic) External access into the cluster

Kubernetes Networking 101 – Ingress resources

My goal with these posts has been to focus on the primitives and to show how a Kubernetes cluster handles networking internally as well as how it interacts with the upstream or external network.  Now that we’ve seen that, I want to dig into a networking plugin for Kubernetes – Calico.  Calico is interesting to me as a network engineer because of wide variety of functionality that it offers.  To start with though, we’re going to focus on a basic installation.  To do that, I’ve updated my Ansible playbook for deploying Kubernetes to incorporate Calico.  The playbook can be found here.  If you’ve been following along up until this point, you have a couple of options.

• Rebuild the cluster – I emphasized when we started all this that the cluster should be designed exclusively for testing.  Starting from scratch is always the best in my opinion if you’re looking to make sure you don’t have any lingering configuration.  To do that you Continue reading