Palo Alto – Find and Remove Unused Objects
If you work with Palo Alto firewalls, you might know there's no straightforward way to find and remove unused address objects. When I googled for solutions, I found that others suggested using Expedition or some kind of automation. In this blog post, I'll show you a very simple script to find these objects and remove them if needed.
Expedition or Automation
I tried using Expedition a few years back, but it required a dedicated VM, and I struggled to wrap my head around how to use it. I just needed a simple solution. While I could also use Palo Alto's REST API or even the Python SDK, setting everything up takes a bit more time.
Palo Alto 'Set' Commands
Then it occurred to me that Palo Alto provides 'set' commands, and you can use the 'delete' version of those commands to remove something. With that in mind, I thought, "Hmm, what if I get the whole config from either the firewall or Panorama in the 'set' format, run it through a regex, and extract all the object names?" Once I have the object names, I can go through the configuration line by line to check if the objects are Continue reading
HN738: Reducing Complexity With Fortinet’s Unified SASE (Sponsored)
Fortinet’s Unified SASE provides consistent security controls and policies both for traditional campuses and the hybrid workforce.. Nirav Shah joins us to explain how Fortinet is positioned to do this: a foundational software developed for 20 years, a network of over 140 POPs, a security lab with over 1,000 researchers, continuous ZTNA verification proxies, and... Read more »Hedge 230: Preparing for Layoffs
You will probably be laid off at least once in your career–we no longer live a world of “permanent positions,” or even a world where people are in complete control of their “work destiny.” It’s important, then, to prepare to be laid off, made redundant, or impacted by a RIF, today. Mike Bushong joins Eyvonne Sharp, Tom Ammon, and Russ White in a wide-ranging discussion about preparing to be laid off.
IPB153: Leveraging ICMPv6 to Troubleshoot Network Issues
If you don’t blame “destination unreachable” messages on DNS servers, are you even a real network engineer? All joking aside, Johannes Weber joins the show today to teach us how to use ICMPv6 to troubleshoot network issues, pinpointing if the problem is within your network or outside of it. He walks us through identifying possible... Read more »Worth Reading: Cisco SD-Access and IoT Devices
Dan Massameno wrote a series of blog posts describing the challenges you might encounter when connecting Internet-of-Things1 devices to a Cisco SD-Access network. It is an absolute must-read if you have to deal with IoT devices.
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Reading some of his caveats, you’ll quickly confirm the alternate meaning of the IoT acronym: Internet-of-Trash. ↩︎
Worth Reading: Cisco SD-Access and IoT Devices
Dan Massameno wrote a series of blog posts describing the challenges you might encounter when connecting Internet-of-Things1 devices to a Cisco SD-Access network. It is an absolute must-read if you have to deal with IoT devices.
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Reading some of his caveats, you’ll quickly confirm the alternate meaning of the IoT acronym: Internet-of-Trash. ↩︎
A Journey from Intern to Front-End Developer
The post A Journey from Intern to Front-End Developer appeared first on Noction.
What Is Python concurrent.futures? (with examples)
As a Python learner, I've faced several challenges, but so far, one of the most difficult topics to understand has been concurrency. In the beginning, it can be incredibly confusing, especially if you're a beginner. The aim of this blog post is to simplify concurrency by breaking it down with a couple of examples and an analogy to help you understand this challenging concept. So, let's get started.
Why does Concurrency Matter?
When writing Python programs, you might find yourself needing to execute multiple tasks simultaneously or in parallel. This is where concurrency comes in. Concurrency allows your program to run multiple tasks at the same time, which can significantly improve performance and efficiency, particularly when handling time-consuming tasks.
The Magic of Python concurrent.futures
Python's concurrent.futures module simplifies concurrent programming by providing a high-level interface for asynchronously executing callable (functions/methods). ThreadPoolExecutor and ProcessPoolExecutor are two popular classes within this module that enable you to easily execute tasks concurrently, using threads or processes, respectively.
When deciding between ThreadPoolExecutor and ProcessPoolExecutor, consider the following analogy - ThreadPoolExecutor is like having multiple chefs in a shared kitchen, while ProcessPoolExecutor is like having multiple chefs, each with their own kitchen.
ThreadPoolExecutor is Continue reading
NAN065: The Excitement and Trepidation of Automation with Scott Robohn
In part two of Scott Robohn’s interview, Scott tells us about his experience starting his own business and co-founding the Network Automation Forum and the AutoCon conference series. He describes the strong desire among many engineers to drive network automation forward, and how AutoCon creates a community to help make that happen. He and Eric... Read more »Celebrating 10 years of Project Galileo
One of the great benefits of the Internet has been its ability to empower activists and journalists in repressive societies to organize, communicate, and simply find each other. Ten years ago today, Cloudflare launched Project Galileo, a program which today provides security services, at no cost, to more than 2,600 independent journalists and nonprofit organizations around the world supporting human rights, democracy, and local communities. You can read last week’s blog and Radar dashboard that provide a snapshot of what public interest organizations experience on a daily basis when it comes to keeping their websites online.
Origins of Project Galileo
We’ve admitted before that Project Galileo was born out of a mistake, but it's worth reminding ourselves. In 2014, when Cloudflare was a much smaller company with a smaller network, our free service did not include DDoS mitigation. If a free customer came under a withering attack, we would stop proxying traffic to protect our own network. It just made sense.
One evening, a site that was using us came under a significant DDoS attack, exhausting Cloudflare resources. After pulling up the site and seeing Cyrillic writing and pictures of men with guns, the young engineer on call followed the Continue reading
Network Observability with SuzieQ: Part Two
In part One of this multipart series, we covered the introduction to SuzieQ and some of the features of SuzieQ. In this part, we will cover how to set up SuzieQ using Docker Compose. If you have not read Part One yet, I recommend you read it first before proceeding with this part.
Setting up SuzieQ using Docker Compose
Setting up SuzieQ with Docker Compose simplifies deployment and management. Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container docker applications using a single YAML file. We’ll use a pre-built SuzieQ Docker image from Docker Hub, maintained and regularly updated by the SuzieQ team, to ensure you have the latest features and improvements.
Prerequisites
Before we start, make sure you have the following installed on your machine:
- Docker
- Docker Compose
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The SuzieQ Docker image runs as a non-root user (suzieq). This means that you might encounter permission issues when running the docker compose file, particularly with file and directory permissions. We will address this in our setup.
Initiate Your Suzieq Setup
We'll begin with creating necessary files and directories. This will include:
suzieq/: Directory to store configuration files for SuzieQparquet/: Directory to store the Parquet database Continue reading
Network Observability with SuzieQ: Part One
Fresh out of attending Autocon1 (Network Automation Forum) in Amsterdam, I was excited to try out SuzieQ, a network observability tool that I heard a lot about. Though I had heard about SuzieQ before, and even tried it out in a lab environment before, I wanted to dive deeper into it and see how it could help me in my day-to-day work now that i was in a 100% network automation role.
What we will cover in the multipart series
In this multipart series, we will cover the following topics:
- Introduction to SuzieQ - Part 1
- Setting up SuzieQ using Docker Compose - Part 2
- Interacting with SuzieQ data - Part 3
Introduction to SuzieQ
SuzieQ is a network observability tool that provides a snapshot of the network at a given point in time. It collects data from network devices and stores it in a database at specified intervals. This data can then be queried to get insights into the network. It allows for us to have a historical view of the network and help us answer questions like What changed in the network between 2 points in time? or What is the state of the network at a given Continue reading
HW029: COWs, COLTs, and WOWs
Natural disaster responders, large event planners, and rural kids trying to do their homework all have something in common: they need a little extra help to get connected. COWs, COLTs, and WOWs can do just that. Mark Houtz joins Keith Parsons to explain how and why COW operators do what they do. First, he explains... Read more »VyOS – A Great Open-Source Router and Firewall
As a Network Engineer or someone working in IT, I always needed a firewall for my home network. Whether it's for learning purposes or using a VPN to connect back home while working remotely, having a reliable firewall is essential. If you are a small company, you might also need a free or cost-effective firewall for various experiments. The use cases can be anything.
There are numerous paid and free options out there, but VyOS stands out with its powerful enterprise-level features. In this blog post, I'll show you how easy it is to get started with the VyOS router/firewall. We'll cover how to download it, installation options, and some basic configurations. So, let's get started.
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Disclaimer - Please note that VyOS sponsors my blog, but the content and opinions are my own. I used their product long before they sponsored me. Everything you see here reflects my own views, and VyOS has no control over the content.
Why VyOS?
There are numerous free and paid firewalls out there. Of course, I would love to have the latest and greatest firewalls like Palo Alto or FortiGate, but they are way over my budget. Even if I could afford the Continue reading
PP018: RSA Recap, Including a View from the Event SOC
Drew and JJ have recovered from the overstimulation of the RSA expo floor and are ready to discuss their takeaways from the conference. They discuss the surprising emphasis on microsegmentation and storage backups, and the not-so-surprising focus on IoT security and AI-assisted products. They also pull back the curtain on what the conference’s own SOC... Read more »How to Address Kubernetes Risks and Vulnerabilities Head-on
Misconfigurations and container image vulnerabilities are major causes of Kubernetes threats and risks. According to Gartner, more than 90% of global organizations will be running containerized applications in production by 2027. This is a significant increase from fewer than 40% in 2021. As container adoption soars, Kubernetes remains the dominant container orchestration platform.
Realizing the full benefits of Kubernetes requires implementing processes and solutions to fight vulnerabilities, threats and risks, including issues stemming from human error such as misconfigurations, and inherent vulnerabilities like those from container images. DevOps and security teams need the right solutions to mitigate the risks and enjoy the full benefits of Kubernetes.
Mitigating the Impact of Misconfigurations
While container adoption has taken off, the industry still lacks skilled Kubernetes experts. Kubernetes is a complex platform, and personnel without the right skillset inadvertently — and frequently—make mistakes that create misconfigurations.
In the Red Hat State of Kubernetes Security Report 2023, more than 50% of respondents said they were concerned about misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. And with good reason: The simplest way for attackers to get to a company’s data, applications or code is through a misconfigured Kubernetes cluster. A bad actor needs just one small misconfiguration Continue reading
The Mythical Use Cases: Traffic Engineering for Data Center Backups
Vendor product managers love discussing mythical use cases to warrant complex functionality in their gear. Long-distance VM mobility was one of those (using it for disaster avoidance was Mission Impossible under any real-world assumptions), and high-volume network-based backups seems to be another. Here’s what someone had to say about that particular unicorn in a LinkedIn comment when discussing whether we need traffic engineering in a data center fabric.
When you’re dealing with a large cluster on a fabric, you will see things like inband backup. The most common one I’ve seen is VEEAM. Those inband backups can flood a single link, and no amount of link scheduling really solves that; depending on the source, they can saturate 100G. There are a couple of solutions; IPv6 or eBGP SID has been used to avoid these links or schedule avoidance for other traffic.
It is true that (A) in-band backups can be bandwidth intensive and that (B) well-written applications can saturate 100G server links. However:
The Mythical Use Cases: Traffic Engineering for Data Center Backups
Vendor product managers love discussing mythical use cases to warrant complex functionality in their gear. Long-distance VM mobility was one of those (using it for disaster avoidance was Mission Impossible under any real-world assumptions), and high-volume network-based backups seems to be another. Here’s what someone had to say about that particular unicorn in a LinkedIn comment when discussing whether we need traffic engineering in a data center fabric.
When you’re dealing with a large cluster on a fabric, you will see things like inband backup. The most common one I’ve seen is VEEAM. Those inband backups can flood a single link, and no amount of link scheduling really solves that; depending on the source, they can saturate 100G. There are a couple of solutions; IPv6 or eBGP SID has been used to avoid these links or schedule avoidance for other traffic.
It is true that (A) in-band backups can be bandwidth intensive and that (B) well-written applications can saturate 100G server links. However:
Cisco Live 2024 Wrap-Up
Last week, I attended my 11th Cisco Live in person, in the fabulous Las Vegas. This post is my Cisco Live 2024 Wrap-up. I can already tell you that the next edition of Cisco Live US will be held June 8-12, 2025 in San Diego, California. If my company agrees to send me there, I’m already looking forward to it, because San Diego is a wonderful city. If you’d like to be notified when the registration opens, you can subscribe here: https://www.ciscolive.com/global/cisco-live-2025.html But that’s not the main purpose of this…
The post Cisco Live 2024 Wrap-Up appeared first on AboutNetworks.net.
Heeding the call to support Australia’s most at-risk entities
When Australia unveiled its 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy in November 2023, we enthusiastically announced Cloudflare’s support, especially for the call for the private sector to work together to protect Australia’s smaller, at-risk entities. Today, we are extremely pleased to announce that Cloudflare and the Critical Infrastructure - Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (CI-ISAC), a member-driven organization helping to defend Australia's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, are teaming up to protect some of Australia’s most at-risk organizations – General Practitioner (GP) clinics.
Cloudflare helps a broad range of organizations -– from multinational organizations, to entrepreneurs and small businesses, to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe — to secure their employees, applications and networks. We support a multitude of organizations in Australia, including some of Australia’s largest banks and digital natives, with our world-leading security products and services.
When it comes to protecting entities at high risk of cyber attack who might not have significant resources, we at Cloudflare believe we have a lot to offer. Our mission is to help build a better Internet. A key part of that mission is democratizing cybersecurity – making a range of tools readily available for all, including small and medium enterprises Continue reading