Cables and chargers go big and long

As my family acquires more gadgets and devices that require recharging, I find myself experiencing a lot more drama when one of their devices goes dead and needs to be plugged in. This turns into a battle of “cable swapping”, in which one family member removes a cable from a device being recharged and plugs it into their own device, with the hope that family member #2 doesn’t notice the swap. Buying more cable chargers can help, but then the issue becomes the availability and location of power outlets. Nowhere is this more evident than in our vehicle (a 7-year-old minivan with a recharger port only in the front), which requires a bunch of different power recharging options for occupants in the van. The driver and passenger have priority, of course, as we utilize charging for our smartphones for GPS and music streaming purposes. It's good to be the parents.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Opportunistic Encryption: Bringing HTTP/2 to the unencrypted web

Encrypting the web is not an easy task. Various complexities prevent websites from migrating from HTTP to HTTPS, including mixed content, which can prevent sites from functioning with HTTPS.

Opportunistic Encryption provides an additional level of security to websites that have not yet moved to HTTPS and the performance benefits of HTTP/2. Users will not see a security indicator for HTTPS in the address bar when visiting a site using Opportunistic Encryption, but the connection from the browser to the server is encrypted.

In December 2015, CloudFlare introduced HTTP/2, the latest version of HTTP, that can result in improved performance for websites. HTTP/2 can’t be used without encryption, and before now, that meant HTTPS. Opportunistic Encryption, based on an IETF draft, enables servers to accept HTTP requests over an encrypted connection, allowing HTTP/2 connections for non-HTTPS sites. This is a first.

Combined with TLS 1.3 and HTTP/2 Server Push, Opportunistic Encryption can result in significant performance gains, while also providing security benefits.

Opportunistic Encryption is now available to all CloudFlare customers, enabled by default for Free and Pro plans. The option is available in the Crypto tab of the CloudFlare dashboard:

How it works

Opportunistic Encryption Continue reading

Education needs to study up on fighting ransomware

It should surprise no one that ransomware is on the rise, but it may be news that education -- not healthcare -- is outstripping other industries for rate of infection, according to a study by security ratings firm BitSight.Organizations in education had the highest rate of infection, with at least one in 10 experiencing ransomware on their networks, according to “The Rising Face of Cyber Crime: Ransomware” report.The study looks at businesses in finance, retail, healthcare, energy/utilities, government and education, which are listed in order from best to worst for ransomware infection rate. Education’s score is far behind that of the others, more than double that for government. The rate ranges from 13% of those in education down to 1.5% for those in finance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Education needs to study up on fighting ransomware

It should surprise no one that ransomware is on the rise, but it may be news that education -- not healthcare -- is outstripping other industries for rate of infection, according to a study by security ratings firm BitSight.Organizations in education had the highest rate of infection, with at least one in 10 experiencing ransomware on their networks, according to “The Rising Face of Cyber Crime: Ransomware” report.The study looks at businesses in finance, retail, healthcare, energy/utilities, government and education, which are listed in order from best to worst for ransomware infection rate. Education’s score is far behind that of the others, more than double that for government. The rate ranges from 13% of those in education down to 1.5% for those in finance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Assessing the current state of container security

Any rational organization that wishes to run mission-critical services on containers will at some point ask the question: “But is it secure? Can we really trust containers with our data and applications?” Amongst tech folks, this often leads to a containers versus virtual machines (VMs) debate and a discussion of the protection provided by the hypervisor layer in VMs. —The New Stack

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‘Digital laggards’ must harness data or get left behind

Consultants like to warn CIOs that if they don't embrace modern technologies to meet customer demands that they will be left in the dust by more nimble rivals. Such sky-is-falling proclamations have been taken lightly because they've been difficult to back up. However, new research from Harvard Business School (HBS) suggests that a divide is forming between organizations that have accelerated their digital transformations and those that are still figuring out a working digital model.Digital leaders, defined by HBS as companies that landed in the top quarter of its research, generate better gross margins as well as better earnings and net income than organizations in the bottom digital quarter. Leaders post a three-year average gross margin of 55 percent, compared to just 37 percent for the laggards. Leaders also outstrip laggards in three-year average earnings 16 percent to 11 percent. And in three-year average net income, leaders have the advantage 11 percent to seven percent.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple’s new macOS Sierra fixes over 60 security flaws

Apple launched its newest operating system, macOS Sierra 10.12, on Tuesday and aside from new and interesting features, it has a large number of important security fixes.The new OS patches 65 vulnerabilities in various core and third-party components. Some of these vulnerabilities are critical and can result in arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges.Flaws that allow local applications to execute malicious code with kernel or system privileges were fixed in Apple's HSSPI support component, AppleEFIRuntime, AppleMobileFileIntegrity, AppleUUC, the Bluetooth stack, DiskArbitration, the Intel Graphics Driver, the IOAcceleratorFamily and IOThunderboltFamily, the S2 Camera, the Security service and the kernel itself.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple’s new macOS Sierra fixes over 60 security flaws

Apple launched its newest operating system, macOS Sierra 10.12, on Tuesday and aside from new and interesting features, it has a large number of important security fixes.The new OS patches 65 vulnerabilities in various core and third-party components. Some of these vulnerabilities are critical and can result in arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges.Flaws that allow local applications to execute malicious code with kernel or system privileges were fixed in Apple's HSSPI support component, AppleEFIRuntime, AppleMobileFileIntegrity, AppleUUC, the Bluetooth stack, DiskArbitration, the Intel Graphics Driver, the IOAcceleratorFamily and IOThunderboltFamily, the S2 Camera, the Security service and the kernel itself.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco diversifies its internal innovation practices

Late last year, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins significantly restructured the company and was quoted as saying the company would no longer be using “spin-ins” to drive innovation. Based on conversations with Robbins and other members of Cisco’s executive team, I believe the media took his comments out of context. There are no immediate plans for another spin-in, but he hasn’t closed to the door to them either.Robbins reiterated these points in Michael Cooney’s post, Cisco CEO: Spin-in technologies aren’t dead at Cisco, in which he stated Cisco would consider that model if it made sense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco diversifies its internal innovation practices

Late last year, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins significantly restructured the company and was quoted as saying the company would no longer be using “spin-ins” to drive innovation. Based on conversations with Robbins and other members of Cisco’s executive team, I believe the media took his comments out of context. There are no immediate plans for another spin-in, but he hasn’t closed to the door to them either.Robbins reiterated these points in Michael Cooney’s post, Cisco CEO: Spin-in technologies aren’t dead at Cisco, in which he stated Cisco would consider that model if it made sense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple Watch Unlock, 802.11ac, and Time

applewatchface

One of the benefits of upgrading to MacOS 10.12 Sierra is the ability to unlock my Mac laptop with my Apple Watch. Yet I’m not able to do that. Why? Turns out, the answer involves some pretty cool tech.

Somebody’s Watching You

The tech specs list the 2013 MacBook and higher as the minimum model needed to enable Watch Unlock on your Mac. You also need a few other things, like Bluetooth enabled and a Watch running WatchOS 3. I checked my personal MacBook against the original specs and found everything in order. I installed Sierra and updated all my other devices and even enabled iCloud Two-Factor Authentication to be sure. Yet, when I checked the Security and Privacy section, I didn’t see the checkbox for the Watch Unlock to be enabled. What gives?

It turns out that Apple quietly modified the minimum specs during the Sierra beta period. Instead of early 2013 MacBooks being support, the shift moved support to mid-2013 MacBooks instead. I checked the spec sheets and mine is almost identical. The RAM, drive, and other features are the same. Why does Watch Unlock work on those Macs and not mine? The answer, it appears, is Continue reading

Cisco Debug Persists Through Reboot

Normal boot time messages from a C881 router look something like this:
 System Bootstrap, Version 15.4(1r)T, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)  
 Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport  
 Copyright (c) 2013 by cisco Systems, Inc.  
   
 Total memory size = 1024 MB  
 C881-K9      platform with 1048576 Kbytes of main memory  
 Main memory is configured to 32 bit mode   
   
 Readonly ROMMON initialized  
   
   
 IOS Image Load Test   
 ___________________   
 Digitally Signed Production Software   
 Self decompressing the image : ###<snip>### [OK]

But there's one router in the fleet which does this instead:
 System Bootstrap, Version 15.4(1r)T, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)  
 Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport  
 Copyright (c) 2013 by cisco Systems, Inc.  
   
 Total memory size = 1024 MB  
 C881-K9      platform with 1048576 Kbytes of main memory  
 Main memory is configured to 32 bit mode  
   
 Readonly ROMMON initialized  
 Using monlib version 2  
 Using version info 2  
   
  dfs_openfile: Opening file.....  
  dfs_openfile: Opened file / with fib = 4019e5c  
 Reading cluster = 126, offset = 0, nsecs = 8  
 Reading cluster = 133, offset = 0, nsecs = 8  
 Reading cluster = 17013, offset = 0, nsecs = 8  
 Reading cluster = 17458, offset = 0, nsecs = 8  
 Reading cluster = 18056, offset = 0, nsecs = 8  
 Reading cluster  Continue reading

ACLU: Cops accidentally recorded themselves making up bogus criminal charges

If cops are going to do something shady, something as unethical and illegal as violating a citizen’s First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against warrantless seizure, then they definitely don’t want their actions being recorded. Yet that is exactly what happened when Connecticut State Police troopers seized a camera belonging to a protestor and the camera continued to film while they conspired on which bogus charges to level against him.In September 2015, Michael Picard was protesting near a DUI checkpoint in West Hartford by holding up a big handwritten sign that read “Cops Ahead: Keep Calm and Remain Silent.” Picard, who was lawfully carrying a handgun, also had a camera that he was using to film the police—public employees on a public street.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ACLU: Cops accidentally recorded themselves making up bogus criminal charges

If cops are going to do something shady, something as unethical and illegal as violating a citizen’s First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against warrantless seizure, then they definitely don’t want their actions being recorded; yet that is exactly what happened when Connecticut State Police troopers seized a camera belonging to a protestor and the camera continued to film while they conspired on which bogus charges to level against him.In September 2015, Michael Picard was protesting near a DUI checkpoint in West Hartford by holding up a big handwritten sign which read “Cops Ahead: Keep Calm and Remain Silent.” Picard, who was lawfully carrying a handgun, also had a camera which he was using to film the police – public employees on a public street.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Start-up sells a stamp-sized Linux server for $5

A start-up has completed a crowdfunding campaign for a stamp-sized Linux server development kit that has integrated Wi-Fi and on-board flash storage for DIYers to build hardware or IoT applications.Boston-based Onion Corp. began its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in July and by Aug. 23 had already received more than $773,400 in pledged funding -- 4,400 times its funding goal.The Onion Corp. said its new Omega2 computer is compatible with a power-sipping Arduino motherboard but it also has the flexibility of a Raspberry Pi computer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Five technologies that will change our lives in five years

Analysts say a handful of technologies are poised to change our lives by 2021.While Forrester Research sees 15 emerging technologies that are important right now (see the full list here), five of them could shake things up in a big way for businesses and the public in general, according to Brian Hopkins, an enterprise architecture analyst with Forrester.Those five: The Internet of Things (IoT), Intelligent agents, artificial intelligence (A.I.), augmented reality (A.R.) and hybrid wireless technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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