MacBook Battery Replacement Requires Admin Credentials?

Over the weekend, I investigated the possibility of Apple replacing the tired battery in my four year old rMBP13. Yes, they can do it. It’s $199 for that particular model. But they also require an admin-level username and password for the device. Here’s an excerpt from the chat session.

Apple support rep:

What is the Admin Name and password for your Mac?

Me:

Will not share. Definitely should not be required for a battery replacement.

Apple support rep:

It is required. When the Mac goes to the repair depot that is required. You can remove that information so there is just an automatic log in. And you can set it up again when you get it back. We do not ask for any information that is not required.

Me:

Okay, then we’re done here. Thanks very much for your help!

An automatic log in, while an improvement from a certain point of view, isn’t a fix. No, you don’t have to know the user/pass now to access the system now, but you’re still on the system with admin-level credentials. Anyone with admin equivalent credentials to the system can, with a minimum of effort, get into whatever part of the file system Continue reading

An Engineer’s Top Six Reasons to Attend AnsibleFest Brooklyn 2016

AnsibleFest is coming to Brooklyn 

We've held two record breaking AnsibleFests this year with exceptional audiences and technical content. Rolling forward, there are going to be some great resources for engineers and infrastructure managers at Brooklyn on October 10 and 11th.

Whether you are an Ansible contributor or a user, there will be content for you. For contributors, the Ansible Contributor Summit on the October 10th is a wealth of information. If you are a user, you’ll have fantastic opportunities to speak with people along the entire spectrum of the Ansible DevOps and development experience both from Ansible core engineers to engineers and managers from other companies using Ansible. So let’s talk about six great reasons to join us at AnsibleFest in Brooklyn on October 11th:

Brooklyn is a great hub of technology. Companies such as Bank of America, Comcast, HBO and J. Crew will be in attendance. Presentations will cover everything from the greenfield world in which companies began DevOps and Ansible to technical deep dives into issues and solutions. It’s likely that if our presenters have done it, there are lessons to be learned from their experience, and their experiences will be on display.

2) Ask an Expert

Continue reading

SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — August 2016

Cisco Layoffs, SD-WAN startups worth watching, and more.

Stealthy, tricky to remove rootkit targets Linux systems on ARM and x86

Security researchers have identified a new family of Linux rootkits that, despite running from user mode, can be hard to detect and remove.Called Umbreon, after a Pokémon character that hides in the darkness, the rootkit has been in development since early 2015 and is now being sold on the underground markets. It targets Linux-based systems on the x86, x86-64 and ARM architectures, including many embedded devices such as routers.According to malware researchers from antivirus firm Trend Micro, Umbreon is a so-called ring 3 rootkit, meaning that it runs from user mode and doesn't need kernel privileges. Despite this apparent limitation, it is quite capable of hiding itself and persisting on the system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Stealthy, tricky to remove rootkit targets Linux systems on ARM and x86

Security researchers have identified a new family of Linux rootkits that, despite running from user mode, can be hard to detect and remove.Called Umbreon, after a Pokémon character that hides in the darkness, the rootkit has been in development since early 2015 and is now being sold on the underground markets. It targets Linux-based systems on the x86, x86-64 and ARM architectures, including many embedded devices such as routers.According to malware researchers from antivirus firm Trend Micro, Umbreon is a so-called ring 3 rootkit, meaning that it runs from user mode and doesn't need kernel privileges. Despite this apparent limitation, it is quite capable of hiding itself and persisting on the system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Noction announces the release of a “Lite” version of the Intelligent Routing Platform

We are pleased to announce the release of  Noction IRP Lite – a limited version of the IRP platform available at no

The post Noction announces the release of a “Lite” version of the Intelligent Routing Platform appeared first on Noction.

Big Data Rides Up The Cloud Abstraction Wave

There is no workload in the datacenter that can’t, in theory and in practice, be supplied as a service from a public cloud. Big Data as a Service, or BDaaS for short, is an emerging category of services that delivers data processing for analytics in the cloud and it is getting a lot of buzz these days – and for good reason. These BDaaS products vary in features, functions, and target use cases, but all address the same basic problem: Big data and data warehousing in the cloud is deceptively challenging and customers want to abstract away the complexity.

Data …

Big Data Rides Up The Cloud Abstraction Wave was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

SSH Agent on OS X

There’s a lot of information on the intertoobs about getting ssh-agent “working” in OS X and even more articles about when and how the stock behavior of ssh-agent changed (mostly with respect to how ssh-agent interacted with the Keychain).

This article doesn’t cover or care about any of that.

This article is concerned with:

• Enabling ssh-agent in such a way that I can “ssh-add” in one terminal window and that same agent (and the loaded keys) is available in all of my other terminal windows.
• Enabling use of ssh-agent from MacPorts and/or Homebrew and not the older ssh-agent that OS X ships with in /usr/bin.
• To avoid having to put my keys in the Keychain (just a matter of preference).

Compatibility

Beware, reader. There’s an awful lot of outdated, inaccurate information out there on how to modify ssh-agent behavior on OS X. Guess what? OS X changes from version to version! Many articles out there cater to older versions of the OS and are either no longer applicable (due to changes in OS X behavior) or plain don’t work (due to functional changes in the software).

The steps below have been tested with OS X El Capitan (10.11).

What’s Continue reading

How blockchain will disrupt your business

Like mobile and cloud, blockchain — first implemented in the original source code of bitcoin in 2009 — stands poised to profoundly disrupt business. If it lives up to its promise, it won't just be financial institutions that are disrupted."If you can transfer money or something of value through the internet just like another form of data, what else can you do with it? It provides a way to establish trust in the digital world," says Angus Champion de Crespigny, Financial Services Blockchain and Distributed Infrastructure Strategy Leader, Ernst & Young. "How do you ensure something is the original copy of something on the internet? Prior to blockchain technology, you couldn't."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 tips to better understand millennial managers

Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, which means they're quickly infiltrating every rank in corporate America -- especially middle management. While millennials want much of the same things as previous generations, they also have different values and expectations for their employers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 tips for making a good impression at your new job

The first month in a new job is arguably one of the most critical, as it can set the tone for your entire tenure with the company. Your actions and reactions can make or break your reputation at your new company and can impact your entire career, says Todd Dean, co-founder and CMO of mobile employment app Wirkn. Here are Dean's six tips for making your first month at a new role one of your best.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How to control your privacy in Chromebooks vs. Windows 10

When it comes to privacy, both Google’s Chrome OS and Microsoft’s Windows 10 take an “opt-out” stance.By default, both platforms collect a variety of data about your usage, but the way they go about it is often different. While Microsoft presents users with a long list of privacy-related toggles, Google’s controls are less granular. Both companies, however, make you jump through additional hoops to disable the kind of personalized ads that help them turn a profit.PCWorld recently broke down all the ways Microsoft grabs at your data in Windows 10, so it’s only fair we compare that to Google’s computing platform. Here’s how Chrome OS and Windows 10 measure up on privacy and data collection.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Essential certifications for smart security pros

If you’re pursuing a career in IT security, certifications can only help you. Certification-critics often say a certification means nothing, and acumen and experience are the true differentiators, but as a holder of dozens of IT security certifications, I beg to differ. So do employers.A particular certification is often the minimum hurdle to getting an one-on-one in-person job interview. If you don’t have the cert, you don’t get invited. Other times, having a particular certification can give you a leg up on competing job candidates who have similar skill sets and experience.[ Deep Dive: How to rethink security for the new world of IT. | Discover how to secure your systems with InfoWorld's Security newsletter. ] Every certification I’ve gained took focused, goal-oriented study -- which employers view favorably, as they do with college degrees. More important, I picked up many new skills and insights in IT security while studying for each certification test. I also gained new perspectives on even familiar information I thought I had already mastered. I became a better employee and thinker because of all the certifications I have studied for and obtained. You will too.To read this article in full or to Continue reading

Essential certifications for smart security pros

If you’re pursuing a career in IT security, certifications can only help you. Certification-critics often say a certification means nothing, and acumen and experience are the true differentiators, but as a holder of dozens of IT security certifications, I beg to differ. So do employers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How to create a data-centric security infrastructure

Data everywhere Image by ThinkstockFirewalls, APT protection, antivirus, etc., are all necessary to protect an organization’s integrity. But when you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s about the data – the intellectual property, the customer PII, the M&A info, your customer data and all the information that keeps the business running. With today’s multiplatform environment, your sensitive information may no longer completely be under your control. It could be on any device, shared in unauthorized locations, or accessed by the right people the wrong way. You need to manage every facet of what is being accessed, by whom, when, where, and how.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to create a data-centric security infrastructure

Data everywhere Image by ThinkstockFirewalls, APT protection, antivirus, etc., are all necessary to protect an organization’s integrity. But when you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s about the data – the intellectual property, the customer PII, the M&A info, your customer data and all the information that keeps the business running. With today’s multiplatform environment, your sensitive information may no longer completely be under your control. It could be on any device, shared in unauthorized locations, or accessed by the right people the wrong way. You need to manage every facet of what is being accessed, by whom, when, where, and how.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Wi-Fi features in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Last month Microsoft debuted its first major update to Windows 10, technically called version 1607 but generally known as the Anniversary Update. You may have seen stories around the web delving into the update's general improvements including a smarter Cortana, Edge extensions and Windows Ink, but rarely have the Anniversary Update's new Wi-Fi and networking features and interfaces been discussed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

New Wi-Fi features in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Last month Microsoft debuted its first major update to Windows 10, technically called version 1607 but generally known as the Anniversary Update. You may have seen stories around the web delving into the update's general improvements including a smarter Cortana, Edge extensions and Windows Ink, but rarely have the Anniversary Update's new Wi-Fi and networking features and interfaces been discussed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How to get a job at Apple: What it’s really like working in the Apple Store

How do I get a job working for Apple?Having Apple on your CV is quite a coup, and it's no surprise that many people want to work for the world's best tech company.Apple is famous for being secretive, and its ability to maintain secrets extends to what it's like to work for Apple. However, as the company has expanded (it now has more than 100,000 employees) it's become easier to get a clear idea of what Apple is looking for.How to get a job working for Apple: different areas of employment There are different areas of Apple listed on Apple's website:Jobs here typically include Marketing, Software Engineering, Finance or Sales. They are mostly based in London (at Apple's headquarters in Hanover Street). Although Apple also has Software and Hardware Engineering roles in Cambridge. Apple Store. Various roles inside Apple's Retail stores are available. This is where we expect most people are looking. Roles typically are listed as Creative, Expert, Genius and Specialist (or Inventory Specialist). Many employees start as specialists before moving on to other roles (such as Creative or Genius). At Home Advisor. Work for Apple, from your own home. These are roles where you Continue reading

What this expensive ‘secure’ phone tells us about mobile hacking

Mobile security is a bit of a misnomer. Few of us can say we’ve been attacked by a piece of malware or have quarantined an actual virus. The odds are stacked against us. Mobile operators like Verizon and Sprint routinely scan for threats, and both Google Android and the Apple iPhone include multiple security measures on their devices, from fingerprint scanners to full encryption.Yet, there’s a sneaking suspicion that mobile security is a bigger concern. According to one HP report, 67 percent of employees in the U.S. now work remotely. We’re relying on phones more and more. We store sensitive business documents on them and use them to make purchases.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here