Rendering React on the Edge with Flareact and Cloudflare Workers
The following is a guest post from Josh Larson, Engineer at Vox Media.
Imagine you’re the maintainer of a high-traffic media website, and your DNS is already hosted on Cloudflare.
Page speed is critical. You need to get content to your audience as quickly as possible on every device. You also need to render ads in a speedy way to maintain a good user experience and make money to support your journalism.
One solution would be to render your site statically and cache it at the edge. This would help ensure you have top-notch delivery speed because you don’t need a server to return a response. However, your site has decades worth of content. If you wanted to make even a small change to the site design, you would need to regenerate every single page during your next deploy. This would take ages.
Another issue is that your site would be static — and future updates to content or new articles would not be available until you deploy again.
That’s not going to work.
Another solution would be to render each page dynamically on your server. This ensures you can return a dynamic response for new or updated articles.
Chapter Leaders Worldwide Make the Case for Strong Encryption
What makes a great leader? Earlier this year, 473 Chapter Members participated in the 2020 Chapters Training Program. The Internet Society kicked off the program with a lot of hope and excitement. This was an opportunity to harness the power of us – our global community – to incubate innovative ideas and tomorrow’s Internet leaders.
The program aimed to develop new community leaders to work with their Chapters, create local awareness of the Internet Society’s mission-driven work, and become involved in Action Plan projects, including Encryption.
Each time we share information on the Internet, we assume that only our selected recipients – and no one else – will receive and read it. But how can we be sure? Ursula Wyss of the Switzerland Chapter says, this is “where end-to-end encryption comes in, since it ensures that only you and those people who are intentionally included in the conversation can read the messages that are being exchanged. This is done by scrambling the message in a way that it can only be read by those who have the right encryption key to unscramble it. For everyone else, the messages remain scrambled.”
The Encryption Chapters Training Program was developed Continue reading
Considerations for Host-based Firewalls (Part 1)
This is a guest blog post by Matthias Luft, Principal Platform Security Engineer @ Salesforce, and a regular ipSpace.net guest speaker.
Having spent my career in various roles in IT security, Ivan and I always bounced thoughts on the overlap between networking and security (and, more recently, Cloud/Container) around. One of the hot challenges on that boundary that regularly comes up in network/security discussions is the topic of this blog post: microsegmentation and host-based firewalls (HBFs).
The Hedge Podcast #49: Karen O’Donoghue and Network Time Security
Time is critical for many of the systems that make the Internet and other operational networks “go,” but we often just assume the time is there and it’s right. In this episode of the Hedge, Karen O’Donoghue joins Alvaro and Russ to talk about some of the many attacks and failures that can be caused by an incorrect time, and current and ongoing work in securing network time in the IETF.
Syncing MySQL tables with a custom Ansible module
The community.mysql collection from Ansible Galaxy
provides a mysql_query module to run arbitrary MySQL queries.
Unfortunately, it does not support check mode nor the --diff flag.
It is also unable to tell if there was a change. Let’s write a
specific Ansible module to workaround these issues.
Notice
I recommend that you read “Writing a custom Ansible module” as an introduction.
Code
The module has the following signature and it executes the provided SQL statements in a single transaction. It needs a list of the affected tables to be able to detect and show the changes.
mysql_sync: sql: | DELETE FROM rules WHERE name LIKE 'CMDB:%'; INSERT INTO rules (name, rule) VALUES ('CMDB: check for cats', ':is(object, "CAT")'), ('CMDB: check for dogs', ':is(object, "DOG")'); REPLACE INTO webhooks (name, url) VALUES ('OpsGenie', 'https://opsgenie/something/token'), ('Slack', 'https://slack/something/token'); user: monitoring password: Yooghah5 database: monitoring tables: - rules - webhooks
Prerequisites
The module does not enforce idempotency, but it is expected you
provide appropriate SQL queries. In the above example, idempotency is
achieved because the content of the rules table is deleted and
recreated from scratch while the rows in the webhooks table are
Continue reading
Syncing SSH keys on Cisco IOS-XR with a custom Ansible module
The cisco.iosxr collection from Ansible Galaxy
provides an iosxr_user module to manage local users,
along with their SSH keys. However, the module is quite slow, do not
display a diff for changed SSH keys, never signal change when a key is
modified, and does not delete obsolete keys. Let’s write a custom
Ansible module managing only the SSH keys while fixing these issues.
Notice
I recommend that you read “Writing a custom Ansible module” as an introduction.
How to add an SSH key to a user
Adding SSH keys to users in Cisco IOS-XR is quite undocumented. First, you need to encode the key with the “ssh-rsa” key ASN.1 format, like an OpenSSH public key, but without the base64-encoding:
$ awk '{print $2}' id_rsa.pub \ | base64 -d \ > publickey_vincent.raw
Then, you upload the key with SCP to harddisk:/publickey_vincent.raw
and import it for the current user with the following IOS command:
crypto key import authentication rsa harddisk:/publickey_vincent.b64
However, if you want to import a key for another user, you need to be
part of the root-system group:
username vincent group root-lr group root-system
With the following admin command, you Continue reading
Writing a custom Ansible module
Ansible ships a lot of modules you can combine for your configuration management needs. However, the quality of these modules may vary widely. Sometimes, it may be quicker and more robust to write your own module instead of shopping and assembling existing ones.1
In my opinion, a robust module exhibits the following characteristics:
- idempotency,
- diff support,
- check mode compatibility,
- correct change signaling, and
- lifecycle management.
In a nutshell, it means the module can run with --diff --check and
shows the changes it would apply. When run twice in a row, the second
run won’t apply or signal changes. The last bullet point suggests the
module should be able to delete outdated objects configured during
previous runs.2
The module code should be minimal and tailored to your needs. Making the module generic for use by other users is a non-goal. Less code usually means less bugs and easier to understand.
I do not cover testing here. It is undeniably a good practice, but it requires a significant effort. In my opinion, it is preferable to have a well written module matching the above characteristics rather than a module that is well tested but without them or a module requiring Continue reading
Explore VMware Tanzu Service Mesh at VMworld 2020
It’s that time of year again — VMworld! And while this year, due to COVID-19, we’re pivoting to a virtual format, we’ll, we still be delivering a top-notch event with great sessions on cutting edge innovations. And the best part is, it’s FREE!
One of the hottest topics these days is service mesh, which is an abstraction that takes care of service to service communication, security, and observability. At VMware, we’re the “abstraction company” — but we’re not just working on the immediate use cases that the rest of the pack are working on, we’re ahead of the game, extracting a lot more value from our unique position vis a vis abstraction.
Service Mesh Sessions You Won’t Want to Miss:
I’ve compiled a list of our service mesh sessions below so you can easily register for them:
- Introduction to Tanzu Service Mesh [MAP1231] – This session, delivered by yours truly and Oren Penso, will take you step by step from understanding what service mesh is at the most basic level to understanding the unique value of VMware’s Tanzu Service Mesh. As we usually do, this session will have plenty of good demos.
- Connect and Secure Your Applications Through Continue reading
Don’t Forget Cybersecurity on Your Back-to-School List
This opinion piece was originally published in Dark Reading.
School systems don’t seem like attractive targets, but they house lots of sensitive data, such as contact information, grades, health records, and more.
Schools are starting to reopen around the country – some physically, some virtually, and some a hybrid of the two. As a result, the remote learning requirement that was thrust upon schools when the pandemic forced closures earlier this year has reemerged. Presumably, lessons learned during the chaotic transition in the spring can be applied to make fall run more smoothly. But one item is critical to consider during this back to school season: Cybersecurity.
Before examining cybersecurity needs in school systems, it’s important to understand what’s at stake. On the surface, school systems don’t appear to be an attractive target, but they contain a significant amount of highly sensitive information, such as contact information, grades, health records, counselor interactions, and possibly parents’ financial records. In light of COVID-19 and increased remote connections, there is now even more data – including health status, contact tracing, and recordings of student participation online – housed in systems and therefore more privacy concerns than ever.
In recent years, schools have also seen Continue reading
Day Two Cloud 064: Bringing Ansible Into A Windows Shop
Today's Day Two Cloud podcast makes the case for bringing Ansible into your Windows automation toolkit with guest Josh Duffney. Josh is an SRE, a Microsoft MVP, and author of a book on Ansible. We discuss key elements of Ansible, how it fits in a Windows shop, using Ansible with the Chocolately package manager, and more.Day Two Cloud 064: Bringing Ansible Into A Windows Shop
Today's Day Two Cloud podcast makes the case for bringing Ansible into your Windows automation toolkit with guest Josh Duffney. Josh is an SRE, a Microsoft MVP, and author of a book on Ansible. We discuss key elements of Ansible, how it fits in a Windows shop, using Ansible with the Chocolately package manager, and more.
The post Day Two Cloud 064: Bringing Ansible Into A Windows Shop appeared first on Packet Pushers.
The Hedge Podcast #50: The Challenge of Growing People
Many network engineers complain about their companies not giving them opportunities—but how many think about helping the company grow in a way that allows them to have the opportunities they desire? Scott Morris, aka “evil ccie,” joins Tom and Russ on this episode of the Hedge to talk about the challenges of certifications, growing people, and people learning how to grow in a way what improves the business. Sometimes growing means creating opportunities rather than just waiting for them to knock.
The Internet Society Welcomes the Comoros Chapter
We are excited to announce the new Internet Society Comoros Chapter! ISOC Comoros officially launched in July in front of an in-person and online audience at the Retaj Hotel.
Journalists joined several distinguished guests, including:
- Dawit Bekele, Internet Society’s Regional Vice-President for Africa
- Mohamed Said Abdallah Mchangama, President of the Federation of Comorian Consumers (FCC)
- Amina Abdallah, Coordinator of the World Bank’s Phase 4 of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program for Africa (RCIP-4)
- Hamidou Mhoma, President of the Comorian ICT Association
- Chamsoudine Soudjay, Secretary General of the Comorian ICT Association
- Amroine Mouzaoui, Executive Secretary of the Comorian Movement for Entrepreneurs
- Raymane Ali Matoir, Director of Human Resources of Telma Comores
- Youssouf Abdoulmadjid, Chief Operating Officer of Comor’Lab
- Moussa Abdallah Moumine, Coordinator of the General Inspectorate of National Education
Since the country’s very first connection to the Internet in July 1998, the Internet industry has continued to evolve, along with telecommunications. The country is beginning to benefit from the rise in competition in the ICT sector, and as such the establishment of ISOC Comoros brings an added dimension to the development, promotion, and use of the Internet for the greater good of the entire country.
The Internet is for everyone and Continue reading
Example: Securing AWS Deployment
Nadeem Lughmani created an excellent solution for the securing your cloud deployment hands-on exercise in our public cloud online course. His Terraform-based solution includes:
- Security groups to restrict access to web server and SSH bastion host;
- An IAM policy and associated user that has read-only access to EC2 and VPC resources (used for monitoring)
- An IAM policy that has full access to as single S3 bucket (used to modify static content hosted on S3)
- An IAM role for AWS CloudWatch logs
- Logging SSH events from the SSH bastion host into CloudWatch logs.
Mitigating the Risks of Instance Metadata in AWS EKS
Compromising a pod in a Kubernetes cluster can have disastrous consequences on resources in an AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) account if access to the Instance Metadata service is not explicitly blocked. The Instance Metadata service is an AWS API listening on a link-local IP address. Only accessible from EC2 instances, it enables the retrieval of metadata that is used to configure or manage an instance. Although you can only access instance metadata and user data from within the instance itself, the data is not protected by authentication or cryptographic methods.
A recent blog described a scenario where an attacker compromised a pod in an EKS cluster by exploiting a vulnerability in the web application it was running, thus enabling the attacker to enumerate resources in the cluster and in the associated AWS account. This scenario was simulated by running a pod and attaching to a shell inside it.
By querying the Instance Metadata service from the compromised pod, the attacker was able to access the service and retrieve temporary credentials for the identity and access management (IAM) role assigned to the EC2 instances acting as Kubernetes worker nodes. At that point, the attacker was able to pursue multiple exploits, Continue reading