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Notes on the FCC and Privacy in the US

I’ve been reading a lot about the repeal of the rules putting the FCC in charge of privacy for access providers in the US recently—a lot of it rising to the level of hysteria and “the end is near” level. As you have probably been reading these stories, as well, I thought it worthwhile to take a moment and point out two pieces that seem to be the most balanced and thought through out there.

Essentially—yes, privacy is still a concern, and no, the sky is not falling. The first is by Nick Feamster, who I’ve worked with in the past, and has always seemed to have a reasonable take on things. The second is by Shelly Palmer, who I don’t always agree with, but in this case I think his analysis is correct.

Last week, the House and Senate both passed a joint resolution that prevent’s the new privacy rules from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from taking effect; the rules were released by the FCC last November, and would have bound Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the United States to a set of practices concerning the collection and sharing of data about consumers. The rules were widely heralded Continue reading

Notes on the FCC and Privacy in the US

I’ve been reading a lot about the repeal of the rules putting the FCC in charge of privacy for access providers in the US recently—a lot of it rising to the level of hysteria and “the end is near” level. As you have probably been reading these stories, as well, I thought it worthwhile to take a moment and point out two pieces that seem to be the most balanced and thought through out there.

Essentially—yes, privacy is still a concern, and no, the sky is not falling. The first is by Nick Feamster, who I’ve worked with in the past, and has always seemed to have a reasonable take on things. The second is by Shelly Palmer, who I don’t always agree with, but in this case I think his analysis is correct.

Last week, the House and Senate both passed a joint resolution that prevent’s the new privacy rules from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from taking effect; the rules were released by the FCC last November, and would have bound Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the United States to a set of practices concerning the collection and sharing of data about consumers. The rules were widely heralded Continue reading

Multistage MC-LAG in Data Center

1       Executive Summary

Compute virtualization and converged infrastructure has introduced tremendous changes in Data Center networks.  Traditional network design (Core, Aggregation and Access layers) coupled with Spanning tree protocol for management of layer 2 loops could not simply afford requirements of virtual machine mobility and elephant flows required for modern applications. All major network vendors have collaborated and brought new technologies to solve modern day Data Center challenges. 3 tier traditional networks are being replaced with flat switching fabric or scalable IP-Fabric.

2       Multi-Chassis LAG, A Solution

Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Group is   another solution besides “Switching Fabric and IP Fabric” where access devices or servers can have active-active connectivity and traffic load sharing on links connected with 2 different network devices.  The basic idea is to prune effects of spanning tree protocol and offer active-active topology and redundancy for link and device safe fail-over.

In this solution paper; we will discuss how to design a Data Center network for small to medium organization with collapsed core architecture (Core and aggregation layers combined in single layer) with active-active multi-homing between server and access layer switches and active-active multi-homing between access and core layer network devices. Thus completely removing spanning Continue reading

8 great small business productivity and collaboration apps

Small business owners, whether working in a busy office, on the road or from home, can easily get distracted – and overwhelmed. From email (and text) messages bombarding their inboxes and smart phones, to having to stop what they are doing to attend meetings or put out fires, to the temptation to check social media, it can be hard – make that nearly impossible – to stay focused and complete tasks on time.And while many entrepreneurs claim to be excellent multitaskers, research has shown most are not.So what, if anything, can small business owners do to stay focused and on top of things? Following is a list of free or inexpensive tools (listed alphabetically) that can help.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What it takes to become a chief information security officer (CISO)

download Career Tracker: What it takes to be a chief information security officer CSO Jeff Foltz did not set out to be an information security professional. He arrived at his current role as CISO at Fidelity National Financial by making the most of a series of opportunities and constantly building his skillset. His degree in psychology and philosophy would also prove more useful in his CISO job than one might think.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

10000 percent more expensive SFPs

Cisco genuine SFP for 1000BASE-BX BiDi is 100 times more expensive than a compatible product. Choosing two random sites, Walmart sells Cisco genuine part for $829, Fibrestore sells same component for $7.29.

 

 

Screenshot of Safari 11 04 2017 09 33 40Screenshot of Safari 11 04 2017 09 33 30

Proving that Enterprise IT really doesn’t care about price, ROI, or value for money. Thats just management self-justifying their lack of talent and ability to measure risk.

Private Cloud will never compete with public cloud while price distortions like this are commonplace.

Link: 1000BASE-BX SFP 1310nm-TX/1490nm-RX 10km Transceiver | FS.COM – http://www.fs.com/products/29894.html

Link: Cisco 1000BASE-BX10 Downstream SFP Module – 1 x 1000Base-BX – Walmart.com – https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cisco-1000BASE-BX10-Downstream-SFP-Module/40322147

The post 10000 percent more expensive SFPs appeared first on EtherealMind.

New guidelines point to an augmented future

Lockheed Martin, Proctor & Gamble and Caterpillar have joined with 62 other organizations to create hardware and software guidelines for using augmented reality (AR) on the manufacturing floor.The guidelines are designed to guide AR technology vendors in developing future products for industrial businesses, both large and small. UI Labs and the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) announced the guidelines in a document released on Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Research: McAfee Labs Threats Report April 2017

Network professionals are the front line in cyber-defence by defining and operating the perimeter. While it is only a first layer of static defense, its well worth understanding the wider threat landscape that you are defending against. Many companies publish regular reports and this one is from McAfee.

McAfee Labs Threats Report – April 2017 – Direct Link

Landing page is https://secure.mcafee.com/us/security-awareness/articles/mcafee-labs-threats-report-mar-2017.aspx

Note: Intel has spun McAfee out to a private VC firm in the last few weeks so its possible that we will see a resurgence of the McAfee brand. I’m doubtful that McAfee can emerge but lets wait and see.


Some points I observed when reading this report:

  • McAfee wants to tell you about its cloud-based threat intelligence (which all security vendors have now, table stakes)
  • The pitch is pretty much identical to any other cloud threat intelligence.
  • The big six security companies have formed the Cyber Threat Alliance ( ….to prevent the startups from competing with them ? ) aka. Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec
  • Big section on Mirai botnet and how it works.
  • Good summary of the different network packet attack modes in Mirai. Nicely laid out with Continue reading

It’s time to dump Moore’s Law to advance computing, researcher says

Dumping Moore's Law is perhaps the best thing that could happen to computers, as it'll hasten the move away from an aging computer architecture holding back hardware innovation.That's the view of prominent scientist R. Stanley Williams, a senior fellow in the Hewlett Packard Labs. Williams played a key role in the creation of the memristor by HP in 2008.Moore's Law is an observation made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 that has helped make devices smaller and faster. It predicts that the density of transistors would double every 18 to 24 months, while the cost of making chips goes down.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Slack apps can now use drop-down menus

Apps that integrate with Slack can now include drop-down menus in the messages that they post to the service, as part of a push to improve the interactivity of third-party integrations.Slack's message menus let apps spawn clickable lists that users can choose from in order to take actions that developers have enabled. For example, using menus would allow users to pick a from a list of customers in a CRM system that integrates with Slack, assuming the developers have built their service to work with the new feature.Developing integrations with the broader universe of enterprise software is key to Slack’s longevity. Deeper integrations with a broad third-party ecosystem can help the service compete against Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts Chat, according to Gartner Research Vice President Mike Gotta.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DNS record will help prevent unauthorized SSL certificates

In a few months, publicly trusted certificate authorities will have to start honoring a special Domain Name System (DNS) record that allows domain owners to specify who is allowed to issue SSL certificates for their domains.The Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) DNS record became a standard in 2013 but didn't have much of a real-world impact because certificate authorities (CAs) were under no obligation to conform to them.The record allows a domain owner to list the CAs that are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for that domain. The reason for this is to limit cases of unauthorized certificate issuance, which can be accidental or intentional, if a CA is compromised or has a rogue employee.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DNS record will help prevent unauthorized SSL certificates

In a few months, publicly trusted certificate authorities will have to start honoring a special Domain Name System (DNS) record that allows domain owners to specify who is allowed to issue SSL certificates for their domains.The Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) DNS record became a standard in 2013 but didn't have much of a real-world impact because certificate authorities (CAs) were under no obligation to conform to them.The record allows a domain owner to list the CAs that are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for that domain. The reason for this is to limit cases of unauthorized certificate issuance, which can be accidental or intentional, if a CA is compromised or has a rogue employee.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The one thing you need to compete in cloud

New estimates out this week from Synergy Research suggest that in the cloud computing market the big and getting bigger, and that in order to compete in this market, scale is key.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Battle of the clouds: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform + Synergy Research Synergy Research data shows that 68% of the cloud market is served by hyperscale vendors, which means if you don't have scale, it's tough to compete. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 7 steps to avoid getting hooked by phishing scams

High-profile hacking attacks might dominate the headlines, but one of the biggest risks to your security isn’t software vulnerabilities or malware—it’s phishing attacks. There were more than 1.2 million phishing attacks last year alone, up 65 percent over 2015, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).+ Also on Network World: 25% to 30% of users struggle with identifying phishing threats, study says + Phishing attacks usually come in the form of a fake email that appears to be from a legitimate source, such as your bank, employer or a website you use frequently. The idea is to get you to hand over the keys to your accounts by prompting you to type your login details and password into a fake website front. Victims click the link in an email and get taken to a website that looks just like the real thing, but in reality, it has been created to steal information.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here