Cloud giveth and cloud taketh away: Rackspace edition

Hosting firm Rackspace has been a well-known name in the cloud industry for a long time, but lately the company has been struggling to keep up in the core cloud computing competition.Instead, the firm has concentrated on becoming the “#1 managed cloud company,” mixing its own hosting services and cloud offerings while also cutting deals to provide “fanatical” service and support to users of market leaders like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.It seems that strategy wasn’t enough, at least not by itself.Even as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform have been posting quarter after quarter of amazing growth that help cement their economies of scale, Rackspace’s stock stumbled, (the company had lost half of its market value before talk of a possible sale) which constrained its ability to find a better market position.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

St Jude calls easily hackable pacemaker claims ‘false and misleading’

After MedSec revealed remotely exploitable flaws in St. Jude pacemakers and defibrillators to financial research firm Muddy Waters, choosing to profit by how far St. Jude stock fell after the report (pdf) was made public instead of taking a “responsible disclosure” path, St. Jude struck back by basically calling Muddy Waters’ claims a bunch of lies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

St Jude calls easily hackable pacemaker claims ‘false and misleading’

After MedSec revealed remotely exploitable flaws in St. Jude pacemakers and defibrillators to financial research firm Muddy Waters, choosing to profit by how far St. Jude stock fell after the report (pdf) was made public instead of taking a “responsible disclosure” path, St. Jude struck back by basically calling Muddy Waters’ claims a bunch of lies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Digify for Gmail: Mission Impossible for your email attachments

File sharing and the control over the data within file sharing sits on a continuum. On one end are the consumer offerings that are incredibly easy to use and come with enough, but not too much, functionality. That is the world Box, Dropbox and Google started with. And while these vendors have been moving towards higher-level features, it's fair to say that their start was in the ease-of-use court. At the other end, we have the solutions that are enterprise-focused. These solutions tend towards big, heavy, monolithic structures and myriad levels of control. They're all about ticking the boxes for enterprise security departments, and while they're certainly robust, they're not exactly known for user-friendliness. Indeed, the so-called "Dropbox problem" where enterprises see high levels of nonmandated solution use, came about largely because enterprise solutions are often so awful to use.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Digify for Gmail: Mission Impossible for your email attachments

File sharing and the control over the data within file sharing sits on a continuum. On one end are the consumer offerings that are incredibly easy to use and come with enough, but not too much, functionality. That is the world Box, Dropbox and Google started with. And while these vendors have been moving towards higher-level features, it's fair to say that their start was in the ease-of-use court. At the other end, we have the solutions that are enterprise-focused. These solutions tend towards big, heavy, monolithic structures and myriad levels of control. They're all about ticking the boxes for enterprise security departments, and while they're certainly robust, they're not exactly known for user-friendliness. Indeed, the so-called "Dropbox problem" where enterprises see high levels of nonmandated solution use, came about largely because enterprise solutions are often so awful to use.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Classic DC and M-LAG

In the pervious post we talked  about BGP in Data Center and how it is a topic of discussion in between the DC and the SP arenas. In this post I will start explaining some classic DC design and laying its shortage which will engage the SP gurus with us, as well it will make sure …

The post Classic DC and M-LAG appeared first on Networkers-online.com.

How software-defined everything will change outsourcing

Software-defined everything (SDE) -- the use of software to provision and manage pretty much all IT infrastructure -- is poised to make outsourcing much easier for some customers and for some workloads.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Top 10 free troubleshooting tools for Windows 10

Top 10 free troubleshooting tools for Windows 10Into every Windows 10 user's life a little rain must fall. Sometimes it comes down in buckets.Windows itself has many built-in troubleshooting tools, but they can be tricky to find and even trickier to harness in ways that'll help you solve a problem -- instead of simply sitting there looking pretty and/or perplexed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Are InfoSec vendors ‘sowing confusion’ and selling ‘useless’ products?

As a journalist, you know the drill at media briefings. Hosted and paid-for by a vendor, and with speakers from the company - as well as (usually) an end-user or an academic, the idea is to bring journalists together with the experts to discuss the prominent matters in the industry. And if those issues and industry challenges can be resolved with one of the vendor’s solutions then everyone’s a winner.The vendor gets the business, the press coverage and the thought leadership, while the journalist gets the story, the contacts and the free lunch. The speakers get some media air-time. It’s no surprise then, that these are usually enjoyable, if tame, affairs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 hidden Android Nougat features you should be using

Nougat is here—finally! And we’re not just talking about the opt-in beta. Google has finally released Android 7.0 Nougat for Nexus users. With it comes a slew of new features, tweaks, and changes that should help make your Android experience even better than before.There’s been plenty of information published on Nougat’s new offerings—like its support for split-screen apps and direct reply messaging—but there are also a number of smaller features that are just as helpful that haven’t been touted as loudly. Here’s a look at some of those hidden features you should be using if you’ve got Nougat running on your Android device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to spot signs your project is about to fail

Project management has many facets and anyone of them could derail even the best-laid plans. Recognizing the signs of an impending disaster can give a project manager the "heads up" before it happens. To help you spot the telltale signs, here are some of the more common signs grouped into three key categories.1. High-level objectives Missing strategic tie-in: Difficulty easily and clearly tie the project purpose and goals back to company-wide objectives is one of the biggest signals that project needs to be re-evaluated. Forging ahead without having a clear understanding of the project is beneficial to the company is a huge mistake in the making.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Technology that delivers less than its name promises

Invisibility cloaks sound like a lot of fun, and the good news is that they really do exist. But the reality, for now at least, is not nearly as fantastical as what you imagine.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

5 apps to help you get more done in less time

Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in a day? If you're looking to get more out of your work day, here are five apps -- recommended by Chris Battles, vice president and general manager, communications cloud division at Citrix, that he uses to improve his own productivity.Plan your days ahead of time According to best-selling time management author Brian Tracy, "The more time you take to make a list of everything you have to do, in advance, the more effective and efficient you will be." Battles suggests trying Wunderlist to help you stay organized during the week. You can create, organize and share your lists before you start your day -- from your daily to-do list to managing multiple, ongoing projects and goals -- ultimately helping you to stay on track and focused.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Deception technology grows and evolves

Deception technologies such as honeypots are becoming increasingly popular with enterprises as the products get more flexible and the tools allow security analysts swamped with incident reports to zero in on cases of actual ongoing infiltration.According to a report released in August by research firm Technavio, the deception technology market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent, and is predicted to reach $1.33 billion by 2020.The technology includes not only the traditional honeypots but also a new class of multi-layered, distributed endpoint decoys, according to Technavio analyst Amrita Choudhury.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Deception technology grows and evolves

Deception technologies such as honeypots are becoming increasingly popular with enterprises as the products get more flexible and the tools allow security analysts swamped with incident reports to zero in on cases of actual ongoing infiltration.According to a report released in August by research firm Technavio, the deception technology market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent, and is predicted to reach $1.33 billion by 2020.The technology includes not only the traditional honeypots but also a new class of multi-layered, distributed endpoint decoys, according to Technavio analyst Amrita Choudhury.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to stop social media from being the gateway for malware

Easy to access, widely used, and outside of enterprise control, social media sites are gold mines for malicious actors. People share a lot of seemingly innocuous information, which is exactly the kind of data that hackers love to collect and use in phishing or spear phishing campaigns. A recent NopSec 2016 State of Vulnerability Risk Management Report found that organizations use inadequate risk evaluation scoring systems. The report claimed that social media -- which often isn't included in any risk evaluation system -- is now a top platform for cybersecurity.So, what's the correlation between social media and the rise in malware?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sophisticated malware possibly tied to recent ATM heists in Thailand

Security researchers have found a sophisticated malware program that may have been used recently by a gang of hackers to steal more than US$350,000 from ATMs in Thailand.A sample of the new malware, dubbed Ripper, was uploaded to the VirusTotal database from an Internet Protocol address in Thailand last week, shortly before local media reported that hackers used malware to steal 12.29 million Baht from 21 ATMs in the country.The incident forced the state-owned Government Savings Bank to temporarily shut down all of its ATMs made by one vendor so they could be checked for malware, the Bangkok Post reported last week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sophisticated malware possibly tied to recent ATM heists in Thailand

Security researchers have found a sophisticated malware program that may have been used recently by a gang of hackers to steal more than US$350,000 from ATMs in Thailand.A sample of the new malware, dubbed Ripper, was uploaded to the VirusTotal database from an Internet Protocol address in Thailand last week, shortly before local media reported that hackers used malware to steal 12.29 million Baht from 21 ATMs in the country.The incident forced the state-owned Government Savings Bank to temporarily shut down all of its ATMs made by one vendor so they could be checked for malware, the Bangkok Post reported last week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Up to 45% off Waterproof Compression Dry Bags – Deal Alert

Infityle waterproof Dry Bag sacks & smart phone Case creates a perfect combination of waterproof bags for any adventurer, it's soft, flexible & strong, even in the harshest of conditions, whether you are in the freezing conditions of Alaska or in a desert keeping the dust out. Thermo welding technology ensures the strong seams are watertight. Reinforced construction at all stress points make it even tougher. Don't worry about your outdoor gears and fishing gear -- its taken care of. This bundle includes an Infityle Water proof dry tube, a waterproof smartphone bag, and a multifunction survival pocket tool. Averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from Amazon (read reviews). It's typical list price of $36.99 has been reduced by up to 45% depending on size and color. See the discounted compression bag bundle now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco DevNet Scavenger Hunt at GSX 17

At Cisco’s GSX conference at the start of FY17, the DevNet team made a programming scavenger hunt by posting daily challenges that required using things like containers, Cisco Shipped, Python, and RESTful APIs in Cisco software in order to solve puzzles. In order to submit an answer, the team created an API that contestants had to use (in effect creating another challenge that contestants had to solve).

This post contains the artifacts I created while solving some of the challenges.

Tools Used

• Postman
• Browser (for reading docs and such)
• Python 2.7 (for Challenge 2)

Challenge 2: UCS Manager API

Your customer has been asked by their Help Desk Manager to make it easier on his first line engineers when requests come in related to UCS Server problems. Today, they have to train engineers on UCS Manager to get details like blade status, firmware levels, and uptime.  He is asking how they could embed those details in their help desk system.  Create some sample code leveraging the Python SDK for UCS Manager.

• There is a Service Profile with a dn of org-root/ls-gsx-minihack1. Find its int_id.

Answer

Challenge 5: ACI REST API

Congratulations! Your customer has selected ACI Continue reading