The shocking truth of how you’ll be tracked online and why

A recent study, Online tracking: A 1-million-site measurement and analysis, conducted by researchers at Princeton University discovered that Google is tracking users on nearly 80 percent of all of the Top 1 Million Domains. How are they doing this? Not surprisingly, they’re using a variety of tracking and identification techniques and they’re doing it for the obvious reason: To manipulate you. In the beginning tracking you was just about getting you to buy stuff; now, it’s evolving, and in the future, it will be all about subtle, insidious manipulation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The shocking truth of how you’ll be tracked online and why

A recent study, Online tracking: A 1-million-site measurement and analysis, conducted by researchers at Princeton University discovered that Google is tracking users on nearly 80 percent of all of the Top 1 Million Domains. How are they doing this? Not surprisingly, they’re using a variety of tracking and identification techniques and they’re doing it for the obvious reason: To manipulate you. In the beginning tracking you was just about getting you to buy stuff; now, it’s evolving, and in the future, it will be all about subtle, insidious manipulation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How To Install dCore Linux in a virtual machine

dCore Linux is a minimal Linux system based on the Tiny Core Linux system. Like Tiny Core Linux, dCore loads its file system entirely into RAM, which should provide good performance in large network emulation scenarios running on a single host computer.

dCore Linux allows users to install additional software from the Debian or Ubuntu repositories, instead of using the pre-built (and often out-of-date) TCE extensions provided for Tiny Core Linux. This should simplify the process of building network appliances for use in a network emulator, as you will not need to compile and build your own extensions, or use out-of-date pre-built extensions.

dCore Linux is designed to run as a “live” Linux system from removable media such as a CD or a USB drive but, for my use, I need to install it on a hard drive. Currently available instructions for installing dCore Linux onto a hard drive are incomplete and hard to follow. This post lists a detailed procedure to install dCore Linux on a virtual disk image connected to a virtual machine. I use VirtualBox in this example, but any other virtual machine manager would also be suitable.

Notes about dCore

Because dCore Linux is a Continue reading

Node-RED, wiring the Raspberry Pi to the IoT

One of the many things that Raspberry Pi-based systems are excellent for is for building Internet of Things platforms. The price is right ($35), the performance is great for the price, the input/output options are great, there’s an enormous ecosystem of add-on and compatible sensors and other hardware, and an equally enormous supporting community. As a result of this vibrant market, a slew of operating system choices for the Raspberry Pi have appeared (see my Ultimate Guide to Raspberry Pi Operating Systems parts 1, 2, and 3) along with some really creative software development tools such as Node-RED, a free, open source, visual wiring tool built by IBM Emerging Technologies. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon and striking unions reach tentative contract agreement

Some 40,000 striking Verizon workers are poised to resume their regular job duties next week after their unions and the company reached a tentative contract agreement today.The strike has caused widespread service and installation delays, concerns among corporate customers that their needs would be neglected, as well as violent confrontations and allegations of vandalism and sabotage.Though the details of the pact have yet to be made public, it reportedly will run for four years and for the first time cover Verizon Wireless workers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon and striking unions reach tentative contract agreement

Some 40,000 striking Verizon workers are poised to resume their regular job duties next week after their unions and the company reached a tentative contract agreement today.The strike has caused widespread service and installation delays, concerns among corporate customers that their needs would be neglected, as well as violent confrontations and allegations of vandalism and sabotage.Though the details of the pact have yet to be made public, it reportedly will run for four years and for the first time cover Verizon Wireless workers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cumulus CTO JR Rivers: On Open Networking, Dell & Microsoft

Armed with partners, Cumulus still aims to change the networking world.

SDxCentral Weekly News Roundup — May 27, 2016

Microsoft and Facebook build a transatlantic cable.

Worth Reading: The privacy of telephone metadata

We investigate the privacy properties of telephone metadata to assess the impact of policies that distinguish between content and metadata. We find that telephone metadata is densely interconnected, can trivially be reidentified, enables automated location and relationship inferences, and can be used to determine highly sensitive traits. —National Academy of Sciences

The post Worth Reading: The privacy of telephone metadata appeared first on 'net work.

Verizon’s Test Lab Launches IoT Security Testing Program

ICSA Labs lays claim to an IoT first.

Are There Workloads that Don’t Belong in the Public Cloud?

According to ESG research, 75% of organizations are currently using a public cloud service while another 19% have plans or interest in doing so (note: I am an ESG employee).  Furthermore, 56% of all public cloud-based workloads are considered IT production workloads while the remaining 44% are classified as non-production workloads (i.e. test, development, staging, etc.).This trend has lots of traditional IT vendors somewhat worried, as well they should be.  Nevertheless, some IT veterans believe that there are limitations to this movement.  Yes, pedestrian workloads may move to the public cloud over the next few years but business-critical applications, key network-based business processes, and sensitive data should (and will) remain firmly planted in enterprise data centers now and forever.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Are there workloads in the cloud that don’t belong there?

According to ESG research, 75 percent of organizations currently use a public cloud service, while another 19 percent have plans or interest in doing so. Furthermore, 56 percent of all public cloud-based workloads are considered IT production workloads, while the remaining 44 percent are classified as non-production workloads (i.e., test, development, staging, etc.).This trend has lots of traditional IT vendors somewhat worried, and they should be.  Nevertheless, some IT veterans believe there are limitations to this movement. Yes, pedestrian workloads may move to the public cloud over the next few years, but business-critical applications, key network-based business processes and sensitive data should (and will) remain firmly planted in enterprise data centers now and forever.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Surface Books get major driver updates

Microsoft issued a number of driver updates for both the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book that ought to make owners very happy because they should improve performance of the two devices.The updates are all centered around driver support to improve stability and usability, along with improved battery support. So, these are all features that Surface users will definitely want. It's interesting to note that the Surface Pro 4 updates were not back ported to the Surface Pro 3.+ Also on Network World: Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4: Picking the best came down to just one thing + To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Anki, My New Love

Until now, I was never one to use flashcards. I could not see their value, and I was too lazy to actually write things down on a paper flashcard (and my handwriting is horrible). I recently discovered a program called Anki. On the surface, it is just a flash card program, but underneath, it can be as […]

The post Anki, My New Love appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Back to Basics: Dijkstra SPF

Since I had been dealing with Graphs for the past few months, So I thought of writing on something basic rather than some new shiny thing. In this post we will take a look at Dijkstra, Pseudocode and code. As we all know that Dijkstra is a shortest path algorithm which is used by OSPF […]

The post Back to Basics: Dijkstra SPF appeared first on Packet Pushers.

HPE Hunkers Down On Datacenter Hardware

Any aspirations that the Hewlett-Packard that we knew for nearly a decade and a half to build a conglomerate that resembled IBM in its own former enterprise breadth and depth of software, services, and systems is now over with the company spinning out its Enterprise Services business and focusing very tightly on its core hardware and related software businesses.

In conjunction with the posting of its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal 206, the trimmed down Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which has not included the PC and printer businesses since last year, announced that it was going to …

HPE Hunkers Down On Datacenter Hardware was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

35% off Omron 10 Series Bluetooth Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor – Deal Alert

The Omron 10 series wireless blood pressure monitor averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 4,450 customers (read reviews). With a regular list price of $99.99, this 35% off deal puts it at just $64.99.  The bluetooth monitor is compatible with Omron's free iOS and Android apps. It features multi-color indicator lights which show if your readings is in the normal (green) or hypertension (orange) range. BP level bar displays how your reading compares to normal home blood pressure levels. An Easy-Wrap ComFit Cuff inflates around your entire arm to avoid incorrect cuff positioning. It automatically takes 3 consecutive readings one minute apart and displays the average, following guidelines set by the American Heart Association. An easy-to-read display with extra-large digits & backlight make results easier to read. The unit stores 200 readings in device or 100 each for 2 users, and operates with an included AC Adapter or 4 AA batteries. See the discounted Omron 10 series bluetooth blood pressure monitor on Amazon now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Fearing forced Windows 10 upgrades, users are disabling critical updates instead

Microsoft stepped on the gas in its quest to drive Windows 7 and 8 users to Windows 10 over the past couple of weeks, rolling the upgrade out as a Recommended update. Watch out! The only behavior that could deny the Windows 10 upgrade before—closing the pop-up by pressing the X in the upper-right corner—now counts as consent for the upgrade, and worse, the upgrade installation can automatically begin even if you take no action whatsoever.It’s nasty business, and it’s tricking legions of happy Windows 7 and 8 users into Windows 10. Over the past week, I’ve received more contact from readers about this issue than I have about everything else I’ve written over the rest of my career combined. But beyond merely burning bridges with consumers, these forced, non-consensual upgrades could have more insidious consequences.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to turn a ‘toxic’ IT shop into a trusted business partner

“We were an organization of ‘no’ and we had to transform to an organization of ‘how,’” said Robert Fecteau, CIO of government contractor SAIC, describing his effort to turn the IT department into a partner trusted by other parts of the business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Shared malware code links SWIFT-related breaches at banks and North Korean hackers

Malware links suggest that North Korean hackers might be behind recent attacks against several Asian banks, including the theft of US$81 million from the Bangladesh central bank earlier this year.Security researchers from Symantec have found evidence that the malware used in the Bangladesh Bank cyberheist was used in targeted attacks against an unnamed bank in the Philippines. The same malware was also previously linked to an attempted theft of $1 million from Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam.Symantec confirmed the earlier findings of researchers from BAE Systems who found code similarities between the Bangladesh Bank malware, which was used to modify SWIFT transfers, and the malicious program used in attacks against Sony Pictures Entertainment in December 2014.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here