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

DockerCon Agenda, Mobile App and DockerCon Slack

From Docker use cases at large corporations, to advanced technical talks and hands-­on lab tutorials, the DockerCon Agenda includes sessions adapted to every attendee profile, expertise level and domain of interest.

If you’re a registered attendee, login on the DockerCon portal using the information you set up during the registration process. You can use the keyword search bar or filter by topics, days, tracks, experience level or target audience.

DockerCon Agenda

Once logged in, you can “star” your interests and create your DockerCon schedule. Your saved interests and schedule will be available on the DockerCon mobile app you can download here.

Below are some useful tips and tricks for getting the most out of the DockerCon App.

Add More Sessions in the App

If you have not started already, we encourage you to review DockerCon sessions and build your agenda for next week. The process is very simple and will help you organize sessions and activities by the topics that you are interested in. Just click the “Schedule” widget and explore sessions by day or track. When you add  to “My Agenda”, you’ll be able to it find later in “My Event”.

You can use the DockerCon App to take notes and rate Continue reading

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Who's Hiring? 

  • Pier 1 Imports is looking for an amazing Sr. Website Engineer to join our growing team!  Our customer continues to evolve the way she prefers to shop, speak to, and engage with us at Pier 1 Imports.  Driving us to innovate more ways to surprise and delight her expectations as a Premier Home and Decor retailer.  We are looking for a candidate to be another key member of a driven agile team. This person will inform and apply modern technical expertise to website site performance, development and design techniques for Pier.com. To apply please email [email protected]. More details are available here.

  • Etleap is looking for Senior Data Engineers to build the next-generation ETL solution. Data analytics teams need solid infrastructure and great ETL tools to be successful. It shouldn't take a CS degree to use big data effectively, and abstracting away the difficult parts is our mission. We use Java extensively, and distributed systems experience is a big plus! See full job description and apply here.

  • Advertise your job here! 

Fun and Informative Events

  • DBTA Roundtable Webinar: Leveraging Big Data with Hadoop, NoSQL and RDBMS. Thursday April 20, 2017 | 11:00 AM Pacific Time. Continue reading

Docker Docs Hackathon: April 17-21, 2017

During DockerCon 2017, Docker’s docs team will be running the first-ever Docker Docs hackathon, and you’re invited to participate and win prizes – whether you attend DockerCon or are just watching the proceedings online.

Essentially, it’s a bug-bash! We have a number of bugs filed against our docs up on GitHub for you to grab.

You can participate in one of two ways:

Or, both – if you want to have the best shot. After all, we won’t be in the hack room 24/7 that whole week.

All participants who show up in the 4th floor hack room at DockerCon will get this way-cool magnet just for stopping by.

DockerCon Docs Hackathon logo

Quick links

How it works

We have a number of bugs that have built up in our docs queue on GitHub, and we have labeled a Continue reading

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

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

Data time: Tracking sleep, tracking my car

Seagate and IDC recently issued a white paper that predicted an explosion of the amount of data that we’ll be dealing with by 2025. As more device makers create Internet of Things devices, these devices will create tons of data for people to analyze.Two devices I recently had a chance to test produce a bunch of data, but in different environments. The HumX system by Verizon tracks and analyzes data from your car, while the Live Sense sleep sensor tracks and monitors your body during sleep. Verizon The HumX by Verizon system includes an OBD reader, Bluetooth speaker (that clips onto a driver's visor) and smartphone app.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Instant messaging service Wire open-sources its server code

This is a good time for open-source communication systems.The decentralized, free software, Twitter-esque social network Mastodon seems to be doing rather well. And now Wire, the end-to-end encrypted instant messaging platform, is releasing the source code for its server.The source for the Wire client was already available. But now the company is releasing the server source code, as well—up on GitHub and licensed under the AGPL.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

People, process and technology challenges with security operations

These days, it’s tough for any organization to keep up with cybersecurity operations. Why? Well, the bad guys are pretty persistent for starters, launching a blitzkrieg of attacks and new types of exploits all the time. OK, hackers are relentless, but we’ve always know this, and their behavior isn’t likely to change anytime soon. What’s really disturbing, however, is that a lot of problems associated with cybersecurity are based upon our own intransigence. And organizations aren’t struggling with one issue, rather cybersecurity operations challenges tend to be spread across people, processes and technology. When it comes to security operations, it’s kind of a "death by a thousand cuts" situation. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

People, process and technology challenges with security operations

These days, it’s tough for any organization to keep up with cybersecurity operations. Why? Well, the bad guys are pretty persistent for starters, launching a blitzkrieg of attacks and new types of exploits all the time. OK, hackers are relentless, but we’ve always know this, and their behavior isn’t likely to change anytime soon. What’s really disturbing, however, is that a lot of problems associated with cybersecurity are based upon our own intransigence. And organizations aren’t struggling with one issue, rather cybersecurity operations challenges tend to be spread across people, processes and technology. When it comes to security operations, it’s kind of a "death by a thousand cuts" situation. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

People, Process, and Technology Challenges with Security Operations

These days, it’s tough for any organization to keep up with cybersecurity operations.  Why?  Well the bad guys are pretty persistent for starters, launching a blitzkrieg of attacks and new types of exploits all the time. Okay, hackers are relentless but we’ve always know this and their behavior isn’t likely to change anytime soon.  What’s really disturbing however is that a lot of problems associated with cybersecurity are based upon our own intransigence.  And organizations aren’t struggling with one issue, rather cybersecurity operations challenges tend to be spread across people, processes and technology.  When it comes to security operations, it’s kind of a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ situation. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: NetOps: Can networks be both available and agile?

Do you believe in a future where the leading source of value creation is through the experience of digital connections? If you don’t, you may want to compare the growth and value of AirBnB with many of the world’s largest hotel chains. And don’t think that this is a phenomenon limited to certain industries—evidence is mounting that across the landscape of public and private sectors, and across every industry segment, the future of business is digital business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: NetOps: Can networks be both available and agile?

Do you believe in a future where the leading source of value creation is through the experience of digital connections? If you don’t, you may want to compare the growth and value of AirBnB with many of the world’s largest hotel chains. And don’t think that this is a phenomenon limited to certain industries—evidence is mounting that across the landscape of public and private sectors, and across every industry segment, the future of business is digital business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here