Cisco Talos: Zeus spawn “Floki bot” malware gaining use, cyber-underworld notoriety

Cisco’s Talos security group this week warned that a variant of trojan monster Zeus has begun to garner a following in the cyber-underworld as a hard-to-detect attack mechanism.“[Floki bot] is based on the same codebase that was used by the infamous Zeus trojan, the source code of which was leaked in 2011. Rather than simply copying the features that were present within the Zeus trojan ‘as-is’, Floki Bot claims to feature several new capabilities making it an attractive tool for criminals,” Talos wrote.+More on Network World: 20 years ago: Hot sci/tech images from 1996+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IEEE-USA wants Trump to end H-1B lottery

The IEEE-USA intends to urge President-elect Donald Trump to quickly replace the random H-1B lottery with a system that gives priority to companies that pay the best wages.This proposal would also move large H-1B users to the back of the visa distribution line. For this to happen, all it would take is an executive order by the president, the engineering group says.Separately, the IEEE-USA also wants Trump to prod the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate what it claims is discrimination against U.S. workers by H-1B visa-using companies. This discrimination occurs when U.S. workers are replaced by visa-holding workers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Will the real edge computing please stand up!

In its simplest form, edge computing is basically about putting an extra layer of computing in the network between the end device and a centralized data center, which is commonly referred to as being located in the cloud. The “edge” moniker implies that this extra layer of computing is as close as possible to the end device.The primary reasons for deploying edge computing is to significantly reduce the network processing delay for time-critical applications, and to greatly reduce the amount of data that needs to be carried further upstream into the network.How it all started The idea of having computing at the edge of the network, such as a gateway in a remote enterprise office, has been around for a long time. However, typically these have been for very specific use cases and in comparatively low volumes. It has only been more recently, driven by newer uses cases and enabling technologies, that edge computing has taken on more significance and added value in the networking world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Russian cyberspies likely behind DNC breach move on to German election

A group of suspected Russian cyberspies blamed for interfering in the U.S. election is also attempting to influence the upcoming vote in Germany, according to the country's domestic intelligence agency.The Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bear or APT 28 has been targeting political parties in the country, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) intelligence agency said in a statement Thursday posted online by Politico.The hacking activities have led to a surge in spear-phishing email attacks directed at German politicians, the agency said.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Russian cyberspies likely behind DNC breach move on to German election

A group of suspected Russian cyberspies blamed for interfering in the U.S. election is also attempting to influence the upcoming vote in Germany, according to the country's domestic intelligence agency.The Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bear or APT 28 has been targeting political parties in the country, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) intelligence agency said in a statement Thursday posted online by Politico.The hacking activities have led to a surge in spear-phishing email attacks directed at German politicians, the agency said.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 ways to tighten enterprise social media security

Thumbs upImage by Umberto NURSSocial media has become the new cyber battleground. Not only is this landscape growing rapidly, but it also represents one of the most dynamic, unstructured and unregulated datasets anywhere in the digital world. In the wake of the social media revolution, cybercriminals exploit businesses and their customers at a massive scale.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 ways to tighten enterprise social media security

Thumbs upImage by Umberto NURSSocial media has become the new cyber battleground. Not only is this landscape growing rapidly, but it also represents one of the most dynamic, unstructured and unregulated datasets anywhere in the digital world. In the wake of the social media revolution, cybercriminals exploit businesses and their customers at a massive scale.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

9 big small business social media no-nos

These days, just about every business, regardless of size, has a presence on social media. It might be just a Facebook or a Pinterest page, but chances are if you are a small business owner, especially a retailer, you have an account on one of the major social media platforms. And while having a Facebook and Pinterest (as well Twitter and Instagram) page can be beneficial, it can negatively impact your business if you make one (or more) of these nine small business social media mistakes.[ Related: Facebook, Snapchat and the future of live video ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Docker Networking Cookbook is now available!

imageAs many of you have noticed I’ve been neglecting the blog for past few months.  The main reason for this is that the majority of my free time was being spent generating content for a new book.  I’m pleased to announce that the book, Docker Networking Cookbook, has now been released! 

Here’s a brief description of the book…

“Networking functionality in Docker has changed considerably since its first release, evolving to offer a rich set of built-in networking features, as well as an extensible plugin model allowing for a wide variety of networking functionality. This book explores Docker networking capabilities from end to end. Begin by examining the building blocks used by Docker to implement fundamental containing networking before learning how to consume built-in networking constructs as well as custom networks you create on your own. Next, explore common third-party networking plugins, including detailed information on how these plugins inter-operate with the Docker engine. Consider available options for securing container networks, as well as a process for troubleshooting container connectivity.  Finally, examine advanced Docker networking functions and their relevant use cases, tying together everything you need to succeed with your own projects.”

The book is Continue reading

AT&T to cough up $88M for ‘cramming’ mobile customer bills

Some 2.7 million AT&T customers will share $88 million in compensation for having had unauthorized third-party charges added to their mobile bills, the Federal Trade Commission announced this morning. The latest shot in the federal government’s years-long battle against such abuses, these refunds will represent the most money ever recouped by victims of what is known as “mobile cramming,” according to the FTC. From an FTC press release: Through the FTC’s refund program, nearly 2.5 million current AT&T customers will receive a credit on their bill within the next 75 days, and more than 300,000 former customers will receive a check. The average refund amount is $31. ...To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T to cough up $88M for ‘cramming’ mobile customer bills

Some 2.7 million AT&T customers will share $88 million in compensation for having had unauthorized third-party charges added to their mobile bills, the Federal Trade Commission announced this morning.The latest shot in the federal government’s years-long battle against such abuses, these refunds will represent the most money ever recouped by victims of what is known as “mobile cramming,” according to the FTC.From an FTC press release: Through the FTC’s refund program, nearly 2.5 million current AT&T customers will receive a credit on their bill within the next 75 days, and more than 300,000 former customers will receive a check. The average refund amount is $31. ...To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How to be a CTO in the age of digital disruption (and live to tell about it)

I’ve built my career in a field where trader voice technology has only improved incrementally over the past 40 years. After decades of building legacy technology, my co-founders and I set out to disrupt the industry we had helped build.Despite years of leading technology teams and large-scale product launches, I was presented with a unique opportunity to start from the ground up. I had to start from scratch with a new set of technology, build a team, create architecture that was future-proof, scalable, secure and compliant, and take on the task of educating our customers and my team about why WebRTC and the Amazon Cloud was the right technology for our stack. It was daunting task, but also a common set of circumstances for a modern startup CTO.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How to be a CTO in the age of digital disruption (and live to tell about it)

I’ve built my career in a field where trader voice technology has only improved incrementally over the past 40 years. After decades of building legacy technology, my co-founders and I set out to disrupt the industry we had helped build.Despite years of leading technology teams and large-scale product launches, I was presented with a unique opportunity to start from the ground up. I had to start from scratch with a new set of technology, build a team, create architecture that was future-proof, scalable, secure and compliant, and take on the task of educating our customers and my team about why WebRTC and the Amazon Cloud was the right technology for our stack. It was daunting task, but also a common set of circumstances for a modern startup CTO.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here