Security certificates gone wrong

Security certificates are designed to authenticate hosts. Browsers have become pretty good about understanding chains of authorities, and making users accept the risk when websites can’t prove the chain of authorities needed to verify they are who they say they are.Sites masquerading as legitimate sites, however, employ sad little tricks, such as “punycode”—URL links embedded in otherwise official-looking phishing emails. These tricks are malicious. There are also sites that should be well-administrated but are not.Then there are sites, important sites, that botch their own security with certificates ostensibly granted by places such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security certificates gone wrong

Security certificates are designed to authenticate hosts. Browsers have become pretty good about understanding chains of authorities, and making users accept the risk when websites can’t prove the chain of authorities needed to verify they are who they say they are.Sites masquerading as legitimate sites, however, employ sad little tricks, such as “punycode”—URL links embedded in otherwise official-looking phishing emails. These tricks are malicious. There are also sites that should be well-administrated but are not.Then there are sites, important sites, that botch their own security with certificates ostensibly granted by places such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Escher Erases Batching Lines for Efficient FPGA Deep Learning

Aside from the massive parallelism available in modern FPGAs, there are other two other key reasons why reconfigurable hardware is finding a fit in neural network processing in both training and inference.

First is the energy efficiency of these devices relative to performance, and second is the flexibility of an architecture that can be recast to the framework at hand. In the past we’ve described how FPGAs can fit over GPUs as well as custom ASICs in some cases, and what the future might hold for novel architectures based on reconfigurable hardware for these workloads. But there is still …

Escher Erases Batching Lines for Efficient FPGA Deep Learning was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Box revises platform pricing to ease developer adoption

Box is trying to give developers who want to use its platform more pricing consistency with a new  announced Tuesday.Customers will now pay on the basis of how much active use they're getting out of the Box Platform, which offers cloud storage and content management capabilities for third-party applications. Companies can purchase packages from Box that include a set number of active users, API calls, bandwidth, and storage use.The first package costs US$500 per month and includes 100 monthly active users, 175,000 Box API calls, 125GB of bandwidth, and 125GB of storage in Box's cloud. The more packages companies purchase, the less they have to pay per package. For developers just getting started with the platform, there's a free tier that allows 10 monthly active users, 15,000 API calls, 10GB of bandwidth, and 10GB of storage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pluribus recharges, expands software-defined network platform

Looking to simplify what it calls the complexity associated with current Software Defined Networking controllers and proprietary protocols that require significant changes to customer network architecture and operations, Pluribus has refreshed and expanded its own SDN offering to address those challenges.+More on Network World: Cisco talks 2017 SD-WAN predictions+Customers looking to SDN to change and improve legacy network constraints have found many times that the SDN implementation has been nothing short of complex, and includes its own hardware-bound problems, said Steven Shalita, vice president of marketing and business development at Pluribus Networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pluribus recharges, expands software-defined network platform

Looking to simplify what it calls the complexity associated with current Software Defined Networking controllers and proprietary protocols that require significant changes to customer network architecture and operations, Pluribus has refreshed and expanded its own SDN offering to address those challenges.+More on Network World: Cisco talks 2017 SD-WAN predictions+Customers looking to SDN to change and improve legacy network constraints have found many times that the SDN implementation has been nothing short of complex, and includes its own hardware-bound problems, said Steven Shalita, vice president of marketing and business development at Pluribus Networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

MegaSwitch: an interesting new data center fabric

Data center fabrics are built today using spine and leaf fabrics, lots of fiber, and a lot of routers. There has been a lot of research in all-optical solutions to replace current designs with something different; MegaSwitch is a recent paper that illustrates the research, and potentially a future trend, in data center design. The basic idea is this: give every host its own fiber in a ring that reaches to every other host. Then use optical multiplexers to pull off the signal from each ring any particular host needs in order to provide a switchable set of connections in near real time. The figure below will be used to explain.

In the illustration, there are four hosts, each of which is connected to an electrical switch (EWS). The EWS, in turn, connects to an optical switch (OWS). The OWS channels the outbound (transmitted) traffic from each host onto a single ring, where it is carried to every other OWS in the network. The optical signal is terminated at the hop before the transmitter to prevent any loops from forming (so A’s optical signal is terminated at D, for instance, assuming the ring runs clockwise in the diagram).

The receive Continue reading

Would Verizon really publish my unlisted landline number?

The question occurs: What will happen if I cancel Verizon’s “Non-Published Service,” which for a ridiculously unjustifiable fee of $5.25 a month keeps my landline unlisted and my time at home almost entirely uninterrupted by scammers and robocalls.If I cancel this alleged “service,” will Verizon really punish me by publishing my number – unlisted now for 10 years – against my will and even if I first ask politely that they not do so?I know what you’re thinking: Of course, they will, they’re not only a cold-hearted corporation, they’re a carrier, for crying out loud. I, too, figure they will treat me like a shop owner who refuses to pay protection money: “Nice quiet dinnertimes you have going there; would be a shame if something happened to them.” But you never know for sure until you ask, right?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Would Verizon really publish my unlisted landline number?

The question occurs: What will happen if I cancel Verizon’s “Non-Published Service,” which for a ridiculously unjustifiable fee of $5.25 a month keeps my landline unlisted and my time at home almost entirely uninterrupted by scammers and robocalls.If I cancel this alleged “service,” will Verizon really punish me by publishing my number – unlisted now for 10 years – against my will and even if I first ask politely that they not do so?I know what you’re thinking: Of course, they will, they’re not only a cold-hearted corporation, they’re a carrier, for crying out loud. I, too, figure they will treat me like a shop owner who refuses to pay protection money: “Nice quiet dinnertimes you have going there; would be a shame if something happened to them.” But you never know for sure until you ask, right?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Getting Started: Tower Users and Credentials

Tower User and Credentials

In our previous Getting Started blog post, we discussed how to install Ansible Tower in your environment.

Now we’ll discuss how you can equip your Tower host with users and credentials.

To begin, let’s cover the essentials: setting up your user base and creating credentials for appropriate delegation of tasks.

How To Set Up A User Base

Building your user base will be the first thing you’ll need to do to get started with Tower. The user base can be broken into three easily-defined parts:

1. User: Someone who has access to Tower with associated permissions and credentials.

2. Organization: The top level of the user base - a logical collection of users, teams, projects and inventories.

3. Team: A subdivision of an organization - provides the means to set up and implement role-based access schemes as well as to delegate work across organizations.

Understanding User Types

There are three types of users that can be defined within Tower:

  • Normal User: A user that is given no special permissions from the beginning - they must be granted to them by a system administrator.

  • System Auditor: A user who will have view access only within Tower.

  • System Administrator: A user who has the Continue reading

FCC chairman to announce plans to repeal net neutrality

The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected to announce plans to repeal the agency's 2015 net neutrality rules on Wednesday.Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, will likely announce a plan to reverse course on the 2-year-old regulations and end the agency's classification of broadband as a regulated, common-carrier service. In a Wednesday speech, Pai will reportedly announce that he is scheduling a vote for the FCC's May 18 meeting to begin the process of repealing the rules.Pai has called the net neutrality rules a mistake that "injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market." President Donald Trump, who appointed Pai as the FCC's chairman, has also criticized the regulations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC chairman to announce plans to repeal net neutrality

The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected to announce plans to repeal the agency's 2015 net neutrality rules on Wednesday.Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, will likely announce a plan to reverse course on the 2-year-old regulations and end the agency's classification of broadband as a regulated, common-carrier service. In a Wednesday speech, Pai will reportedly announce that he is scheduling a vote for the FCC's May 18 meeting to begin the process of repealing the rules.Pai has called the net neutrality rules a mistake that "injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market." President Donald Trump, who appointed Pai as the FCC's chairman, has also criticized the regulations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How your company needs to train workers in cybersecurity

With workplace cyberattacks on the rise, industry experts are pressing businesses to train their workers to be more vigilant than ever to protect passwords and sensitive data and to recognize threats.“It is imperative for organizations of all sizes to instill among employees the critical role they play in keeping their workplace safe and secure,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, a group that promotes education on the safe and secure use of the internet. The group's members include such major technology companies as Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How your company needs to train workers in cybersecurity

With workplace cyberattacks on the rise, industry experts are pressing businesses to train their workers to be more vigilant than ever to protect passwords and sensitive data and to recognize threats.“It is imperative for organizations of all sizes to instill among employees the critical role they play in keeping their workplace safe and secure,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, a group that promotes education on the safe and secure use of the internet. The group's members include such major technology companies as Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DockerCon 2017 Day 2 Highlights

Following the general session highlights from DockerCon Day 1, we’re happy to share with you the video recording from general session day 2. All the slides will soon be published on our slideshare account and all the breakout session video recordings available on our DockerCon 2017 youtube playlist.

DockerCon 2017 Day 2 Highlights

Here’s what we covered during the day 2 general session:

  • 14:00 Docker Enterprise Edition at Visa
  • 30:00 Securing the Software supply chain
  • 65:00 Oracle applications now available on Docker Store
  • 75:00 Modernize your Traditional Apps Program with Docker

Docker Enterprise Edition at Visa

Ben started off his DockerCon Day 2 keynote with key facts and figures around Docker Commercial Adoption. To illustrate his points Ben invited on stage Swamy Kochelakota, Global Head of Infrastructure and Operations at Visa to talk about their journey adopting Docker Enterprise Edition to run their critical applications at scale in a very diverse environment.

Securing the Software supply chain

During the day 2 keynote, Lily and Vivek reprise their 2016 roles of dedicated burners, finally returning from Burning Man to get back to their jobs of enterprise dev and ops.  Ben returns as clueless business guy, and decides to add value by hiring a contractor, who Continue reading

IBM applies AI to factory QA

IBM's Watson artificial intelligence technology has found plenty of white-collar work in places like hospitals and banks, but soon it will be off to get its hands dirty on the factory floor.Working with ABB, a maker of industrial plant, IBM has developed a new AI assistant to help factory workers spot manufacturing defects on the production line.Connected to an existing industrial monitoring system, ABB Ability, it will help manufacturers improve speed, yield, and uptime, according to ABB.The Cognitive Visual Inspection system, as IBM calls it, pipes images from a UHD (ultra-high-definition) camera to an instance of IBM's Watson software that has been trained to detect and classify production faults in real time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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