University finds Proactive Security and PCI Compliance through NSX

The University of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest institutions in the country, dating to 1787 when it was founded as the Pittsburgh Academy. The University has produced the pioneers of the MRI and the television, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, Super Bowl and NBA champions, and best-selling authors.

As with many businesses today, the University continues to digitize its organization to keep up with the demands of over 35,000 students, 5,000 faculty, and 7,000 staff across four campuses. While the first thing that comes to mind may be core facilities such as classrooms, this also includes keeping up with the evolving technology on the business side of things, such as point-of-sale (POS) systems. When a student buys a coffee before studying or a branded sweatshirt for mom using their student ID, those transactions must be facilitated and secured by the University.

What does it mean to secure financial transactions? For one, just as with a retail store operation, the University must achieve PCI compliance to facilitate financial transactions for its customers. What does this mean? Among other tasks, PCI demands that the data used by these systems is completely isolated from other IT operations. However, locking everything down Continue reading

DNS Glitch

Had a DNS glitch mid morning ET in switching some configurations around. It should be back up and running now, and rule11.tech should be coming up as a secondary domain soon’ish.

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What one company learned from testing Intel’s superfast Optane SSDs

Intel's large-capacity Optane is like the Ferrari of storage: It's super fast, it's cool and it's expensive.Also, it isn't for everyone yet. That was reiterated by Intel when it introduced its first large capacity SSD, the Optane SSD DC P4800X, last month.The 375GB DC P4800X is aimed at high-end applications. Optane is also available as low-capacity cache storage on motherboards, allowing Windows 10 and other applications to load faster.Before release, Intel gave Optane SSDs to a select few customers who had a chance to get their hands dirty with the new technology for longer than a year. The testers included Facebook, IBM, Lenovo, and database company Aerospike, which believes Optane could unite DRAM and SSDs. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Show 334: Illumio & Adaptive Security (Sponsored)

In today s sponsored podcast we talk with Illumio about its Adaptive Security Platform. Illumios approach is to drive filtering and enforcement using adaptive segmentation technology that adjusts security policies in real time to changes in your network. The post Show 334: Illumio & Adaptive Security (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Microsoft launches Windows 10 beta program for business users

Business users get access to their own version of the Windows 10 beta program this week. On Friday, Microsoft unveiled the Windows Insider Program for Business, alongside its first post-Creators Update Windows 10 beta.The program will let business users sign up for beta updates with their Azure Active Directory credentials, rather than a personal Microsoft account. The new feature is designed to provide IT professionals with a path for giving Microsoft business-specific feedback on Windows 10 features. That, in turn, should help business users shape feature development.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: ONIE in the Data Center

ONIE stands for Open Networking Install Environment; it allows a network operating system (NOS) to be installed on any white-box switch hardware that supports this technology. Essentially it’s an extremely lightweight Linux implementation that is put on the mass-storage device in the switch during the manufacturing process, enabling automation of discovery and installation of a NOS image once installed on the customer network. ONIE supports installation from a variety of sources over a network using IPv4, IPv6 and tFTP, or even locally from a USB flash drive. Not only does this technology ease data center administration, it gives the end user a broader choice in software and hardware combinations. —Data Center Journal

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20% off Litom Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Security Lights, 2 Pack – Deal Alert

This Amazon #1 best selling solar security light is super bright and easy to install wherever you need it. It features 3 modes: (1) Always on, (2) Dim until motion is detected, and (3) Off until motion is detected. It's designed with a large sensor that will detect motion over a larger distance, and 20 LED lights that the company claims are larger and more powerful than the competition offers. Being weatherproof, this is a light you can mount anywhere you need it outdoors. The Liton outdoor motion sensing light averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 people (see reviews), and a 2-pack is currently being offered at $31.99, a 20% discount over its typical list price of $39.99. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

36% off Litom Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Security Lights, 2 Pack – Deal Alert

This Amazon #1 best selling solar security light is super bright and easy to install wherever you need it. It features 3 modes: (1) Always on, (2) Dim until motion is detected, and (3) Off until motion is detected. It's designed with a large sensor that will detect motion over a larger distance, and 20 LED lights that the company claims are larger and more powerful than the competition offers. Being weatherproof, this is a light you can mount anywhere you need it outdoors. The Liton outdoor motion sensing light averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 people (see reviews), and a 2-pack is currently being offered at $31.95, a 20% discount over its typical list price of $49.99. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

20% off Litom Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Security Lights, 2 Pack – Deal Alert

This Amazon #1 best selling solar security light is super bright and easy to install wherever you need it. It features 3 modes: (1) Always on, (2) Dim until motion is detected, and (3) Off until motion is detected. It's designed with a large sensor that will detect motion over a larger distance, and 20 LED lights that the company claims are larger and more powerful than the competition offers. Being weatherproof, this is a light you can mount anywhere you need it outdoors. The Liton outdoor motion sensing light averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 people (see reviews), and a 2-pack is currently being offered at $31.99, a 20% discount over its typical list price of $39.99. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

36% off Litom Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Security Lights, 2 Pack – Deal Alert

This Amazon #1 best selling solar security light is super bright and easy to install wherever you need it. It features 3 modes: (1) Always on, (2) Dim until motion is detected, and (3) Off until motion is detected. It's designed with a large sensor that will detect motion over a larger distance, and 20 LED lights that the company claims are larger and more powerful than the competition offers. Being weatherproof, this is a light you can mount anywhere you need it outdoors. The Liton outdoor motion sensing light averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 people (see reviews), and a 2-pack is currently being offered at $31.95, a 20% discount over its typical list price of $49.99. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WikiLeaks: CIA used bits of Carberp Trojan code for malware deployment

When the source code to a suspected Russian-made malware leaked online in 2013, guess who used it? A new release from WikiLeaks claims the U.S. CIA borrowed some of the code to bolster its own hacking operations.On Friday, WikiLeaks released 27 documents that allegedly detail how the CIA customized its malware for Windows systems.The CIA borrowed a few elements from the Carberp financial malware when developing its own hacking tool known as Grasshopper, according to those documents.Carberp gained infamy as a Trojan program that can steal online banking credentials and other financial information from its victims' computers. The malware, which likely came from the criminal underground, was particularly problematic in Russia and other former Soviet states.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WikiLeaks: CIA used bits of Carberp Trojan code for malware deployment

When the source code to a suspected Russian-made malware leaked online in 2013, guess who used it? A new release from WikiLeaks claims the U.S. CIA borrowed some of the code to bolster its own hacking operations.On Friday, WikiLeaks released 27 documents that allegedly detail how the CIA customized its malware for Windows systems.The CIA borrowed a few elements from the Carberp financial malware when developing its own hacking tool known as Grasshopper, according to those documents.Carberp gained infamy as a Trojan program that can steal online banking credentials and other financial information from its victims' computers. The malware, which likely came from the criminal underground, was particularly problematic in Russia and other former Soviet states.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Twitter pulls lawsuit after US government backs down

Twitter has withdrawn a lawsuit against the U.S. government after the Customs and Border Protection backed down on a demand that the social media outlet reveal details about a user account critical of the agency.The lawsuit, filed Thursday, contended that the customs agency was abusing its investigative power. The customs agency has the ability to get private user data from Twitter when investigating cases in areas such as illegal imports, but this case was far from that.The target of the request was the @alt_uscis account, one of a number of "alt" accounts that have sprung up on Twitter since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The accounts are critical of the new administration and most claim to be run by current or former staff members of government agencies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Twitter pulls lawsuit after US government backs down

Twitter has withdrawn a lawsuit against the U.S. government after the Customs and Border Protection backed down on a demand that the social media outlet reveal details about a user account critical of the agency.The lawsuit, filed Thursday, contended that the customs agency was abusing its investigative power. The customs agency has the ability to get private user data from Twitter when investigating cases in areas such as illegal imports, but this case was far from that.The target of the request was the @alt_uscis account, one of a number of "alt" accounts that have sprung up on Twitter since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The accounts are critical of the new administration and most claim to be run by current or former staff members of government agencies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT malware starts showing destructive behavior

Hackers have started adding data-wiping routines to malware that's designed to infect internet-of-things and other embedded devices. Two attacks observed recently displayed this behavior but likely for different purposes.Researchers from Palo Alto Networks found a new malware program dubbed Amnesia that infects digital video recorders through a year-old vulnerability. Amnesia is a variation of an older IoT botnet client called Tsunami, but what makes it interesting is that it attempts to detect whether it's running inside a virtualized environment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT malware starts showing destructive behavior

Hackers have started adding data-wiping routines to malware that's designed to infect internet-of-things and other embedded devices. Two attacks observed recently displayed this behavior but likely for different purposes.Researchers from Palo Alto Networks found a new malware program dubbed Amnesia that infects digital video recorders through a year-old vulnerability. Amnesia is a variation of an older IoT botnet client called Tsunami, but what makes it interesting is that it attempts to detect whether it's running inside a virtualized environment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Comcast’s New Wireless Service Uses Verizon’s Network

Like Charter, Comcast will operate as a mobile virtual network operator.

Get into the spring mood with some new gadgets

Spring is officially on the calendar, despite having a bunch of snow still on the ground around my house. But that doesn’t matter to several of the companies displaying new products and services at the Digital Focus Spring Spectacular, held last night in New York. Here’s a roundup of some new devices that I hope to review soon: Epson Epson showed off its new projector aimed at houses looking for projection in well-lit rooms.The Home Cinema 1450 ($1,499 MSRP, available April 17) is a 3LCD projector that delivers up to 4,200 lumens of color brightness and 4,200 lumens of white brightness and full 1080p resolution. The difference between the 1450 and other projectors is its ability to provide a brilliant image in a room with lights on (like a living room, as opposed to a home theater room setup). The projector includes a built-in 16-watt speaker, and supports cable/satellite boxes, game consoles, Internet streaming devices (Roku, Chromecast, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.) through its two HDMI ports and a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL3) port.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cohesity Scores Over $90M to Enhance Data Platform

Only 20% of data is mission-critical; the rest is secondary.

Samsung’s squashing of malicious Tizen smart TV bugs is turning messy

After 40 critical vulnerabilities on Samsung's Tizen -- used in smart TVs and smartwatches -- were exposed this week by Israeli researcher Amihai Neiderman, the company is scrambling to patch them.But Samsung still doesn't know many of the bugs that need to be patched. It's also unclear when Tizen devices will get security patches, or if older Tizen devices will even get OS updates to squash the bugs.Beyond Samsung's smart TVs, Tizen is also used in wearables like Gear S3 and handsets like Samsung's Z-series phones, which have sold well in India. Samsung wants to put Tizen in a range of appliances and IoT devices. Tizen also has been forked to be used in Raspberry Pi.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here