After Amazon outage, HealthExpense worries about cloud lock-in

Financial services companies as popular targets of cybercriminals for the obvious reason -- they're where the money's at. And health care companies have medical records, which are very valuable on the black market since the information there can be abused in so many ways, and doesn't expire.HealthExpense, which provides health care payment services to banks and their enterprise customers, straddles both worlds."When we started, every new client asked us about security," said Marco Smit, CEO at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Health Expense."It has to do with the data we're collecting," said company CSO Ken Lee. "We are definitely bound by HIPAA compliance, and we hold all the personal health information and financial information."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Non-malware attacks grow – there are tools for IT security to fight back with

More and more attackers are carrying out their work without using malware so they can evade detection by traditional, file-based security platforms, which presents a tough problem for security pros trying to defend against them.Nearly two-thirds of security researchers polled by Carbon Black say they’ve noted an uptick in these attacks just since the beginning of the year, and aren’t confident that traditional anti-virus software can deal with them.+More on Network World: IBM says cybercriminals are starting to grab unstructured data, spam has rebloomed 400% and ransomware has just gone nuts+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Non-malware attacks grow – there are tools for IT security to fight back with

More and more attackers are carrying out their work without using malware so they can evade detection by traditional, file-based security platforms, which presents a tough problem for security pros trying to defend against them.Nearly two-thirds of security researchers polled by Carbon Black say they’ve noted an uptick in these attacks just since the beginning of the year, and aren’t confident that traditional anti-virus software can deal with them.+More on Network World: IBM says cybercriminals are starting to grab unstructured data, spam has rebloomed 400% and ransomware has just gone nuts+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

2.5 and 5 Gigabit Ethernet: Benefits and Use Cases

NETCONF on Cisco Campus Switches on Software Gone Wild

During Cisco Live Europe (huge thanks to Tech Field Day crew for bringing me there) I had a chat with Jeff McLaughlin about NETCONF support on Cisco IOS XE, in particular on the campus switches.

We started with the obvious question “why would someone want to have NETCONF on a campus switch”, continued with “why would you use NETCONF and not REST API”, and diverted into “who loves regular expressions”. Teasing aside, we discussed:

Cisco issues urgent reboot warning for bug in ASA and Firepower appliances

Cisco has issued an urgent request to Cisco customers running specific releases of software on their Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) appliances to reboot their devices to prevent a device from hanging and stop passing traffic.Cisco said its ASA and FTD devices are affected by a “functional software defect that will cause the device to stop passing traffic after 213 days of uptime” and that the issue is a result of a software regression bug introduced when addressing Cisco bug ID CSCva03607.+More on Network World: IBM on the state of network security: AbysmalTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco issues urgent reboot warning for bug in ASA and Firepower appliances

Cisco has issued an urgent request to Cisco customers running specific releases of software on their Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) appliances to reboot their devices to prevent a device from hanging and stop passing traffic.Cisco said its ASA and FTD devices are affected by a “functional software defect that will cause the device to stop passing traffic after 213 days of uptime” and that the issue is a result of a software regression bug introduced when addressing Cisco bug ID CSCva03607.+More on Network World: IBM on the state of network security: AbysmalTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HelloSign branches out to fix frustrating forms

Getting set up at a new job can be a frustrating maze of forms that require overlapping information to be entered perfectly. Solving that is the idea behind HelloWorks, a new service from HelloSign designed to simplify the process of filling out forms.People using HelloWorks will be able to complete forms digitally rather than fill out PDFs on their computers or scan handwritten responses. Even if users have to work through several different forms, the system will automatically populate identical fields with the appropriate response. That way, people won’t need to fill in their address half a dozen times.The new service is an expansion for HelloSign, which got its start as a company with a service that let users send faxes over the internet. In the intervening years, the company expanded to offer e-signature capabilities that compete with companies like DocuSign and Adobe.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What does it mean that Cisco will sell Software?

Our friend Cisco made a big announcement this week – “Cisco has built a new networking operating system that will allow users to run its most sophisticated networking features on older and lower cost Cisco routers and switches”.

We welcome and are in fact quite excited about this change. This validates the inevitable paradigm shift of the segregation of network hardware and software, and even a big titan like Cisco cannot stop the change.

If you can recall Cisco’s then-CEO John Chambers’ talk in 2015, Chambers dismissed SDN and white box makers, saying “We are seeing no unusual competition in the market, no unusual competition with white-label or white box [vendors], nor will we in the future.” Even in mid 2016, the new Cisco CEO, Chuck Robbins, still maintained the same tough position, stating “There’s a misconception that’s driving the belief that all customers want to buy white box switches”. That was less than a year ago, and the world has completely changed.

So Cisco has changed their opinion. The market is going through a paradigm shift, and I actually admire Cisco’s courage to embrace the changes instead of fighting them. Cisco has been leading the networking industry Continue reading

Google AudioSet aims to make sounds, from roars to boings, searchable

Google researchers have released a collection of 2 million-plus labeled audio snippets designed to spark innovation in the area of sound search.The company earlier this month published a paper titled "AudioSet: An ontology and human-labeled dataset for audio events" that it hopes will combine with image recognition to strengthen overall search and identification capabilities that could be used in a wide variety of machine learning applications, including the automation of video captions that include sound effects. Google began work on the project last year.Google has exploited its YouTube business to collect 2 million ten-second YouTube excerpts (totaling 5.8 thousand hours of audio) labeled with more than 500 sound categories to create its AudioSet. Categories start at high levels such as Human Sounds and Music, and then get more specific, such as Whistling and Music Genre.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

20% off Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station – Deal Alert

A new approach that centers around performance makes the Airport Extreme taller with 6 antennas at the top, three for the 2.4GHz band and three for the 5GHz band, creating a higher platform for dispersing the signal. Together with 802.11ac wireless technology, they let you connect faster, farther. Averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from 1,800 people, the typical list price of Apple's Airport Extreme has been discounted on Amazon by 20% to $159. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

20% off Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station – Deal Alert

A new approach that centers around performance makes the Airport Extreme taller with 6 antennas at the top, three for the 2.4GHz band and three for the 5GHz band, creating a higher platform for dispersing the signal. Together with 802.11ac wireless technology, they let you connect faster, farther. Averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from 1,800 people, the typical list price of Apple's Airport Extreme has been discounted on Amazon by 20% to $159. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon to launch wireless Cat M1 network nationwide to juice IoT

Verizon on Friday will launch a nationwide wireless network designed to help developers, businesses, utilities and municipalities deploy secure internet-of-things devices at lower cost.The Verizon 4G LTE Category M1 (Cat M1) network will span 2.4 million square miles and will be the first of its kind, the company said.Many IoT technologies have been slow to catch on, but Verizon's Cat M1 and similar networks will be game changers for IoT deployments, said Steve Hilton, an IoT analyst at Machnation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What AI can and cannot do today

A two-day artificial intelligence (AI) conference could overlook the opposing point of view, especially held in San Francisco—the epicenter of technology innovation and the center of over-hyped technology.But by adding Gary Marcus to the speaker roster of the MIT Technology Review’s EmTech Digital conference, we got a balanced view about AI, including engaging criticism about where AI works, where it does not, and why Marcus says the direction of R&D in the AI field will not lead to artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI is a theoretical machine intelligence that equals human intelligence.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Senator: Russia used ‘thousands’ of internet trolls during US election

The Russian government used "thousands" of internet trolls and bots to spread fake news, in addition to hacking into political campaigns leading up to the 2016 U.S. election, according to one lawmaker.Disinformation spread on social media was designed to raise doubts about the U.S. election and the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat."This Russian propaganda on steroids was designed to poison the national conversation in America," Warner said Thursday during a Senate hearing on Russian election hacking. The Russian government used "thousands of paid internet trolls" and bots to spread disinformation on social media.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Senator: Russia used ‘thousands’ of internet trolls during US election

The Russian government used "thousands" of internet trolls and bots to spread fake news, in addition to hacking into political campaigns leading up to the 2016 U.S. election, according to one lawmaker.Disinformation spread on social media was designed to raise doubts about the U.S. election and the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat."This Russian propaganda on steroids was designed to poison the national conversation in America," Warner said Thursday during a Senate hearing on Russian election hacking. The Russian government used "thousands of paid internet trolls" and bots to spread disinformation on social media.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Argonne National Lab Lead Details Exascale Balancing Act

It’s easy when talking about the ongoing push toward exascale computing to focus on the hardware architecture that will form the foundation of the upcoming supercomputers. Big systems packed with the latest chips and server nodes and storage units still hold a lot of fascination, and the names of those vendors involved – like Intel, IBM and Nvidia – still resonate broadly across the population. And that interest will continue to hold as exascale systems move from being objects of discussion now to deployed machines over the next several years.

However, the development and planning of these systems is a …

Argonne National Lab Lead Details Exascale Balancing Act was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Samsung reboots its smart home, IoT strategy with the Galaxy S8

Samsung has a portfolio of devices and appliances that would make Apple envious. But unlike Apple, Samsung devices don't work well together.With the Galaxy S8 smartphones and other new products, Samsung hopes that will change. The company is setting in motion a grand plan to build smart homes where its devices operate seamlessly and provide a consistent user experience.Samsung's S8 smartphones will be able to activate appliances through Connect, an app based on the company's SmartThings platform. With just a flick of the finger, the app will allow users to start a robot vacuum cleaner, dim lights, or even ask a Family Hub refrigerator to analyze contents and send a supermarket shopping list.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: It’s Personal

Meeting people we’ve talked about, directly or not, brings a poignant perspective to creating content for a wide audience. It’s personal. Somebody made a decision to create the product that way. Some group of humans worked on that standard. Real people decided on that process. Is it appropriate to cast those people in a negative light and share that opinion with an audience? Sometimes…yes, at times even crucially necessary, if unfortunate. Sometimes…maybe not. Sometimes it’s okay to shut up. To show restraint. To chain the snark monster. —Ethan Banks

The post Worth Reading: It’s Personal appeared first on 'net work.

What is bitemporal and why should the enterprise care?