NSF investing $12M in quantum systems to secure networks

While some are focused on threats to IT security posed by coming quantum computers, the National Science Foundation is putting $12 million into developing quantum technologies designed to protect data traversing fiber-optic networks. The NSF will support six interdisciplinary teams consisting of 26 researchers at 15 institutions to perform fundamental research under the Advancing Communication Quantum Information Research in Engineering (ACQUIRE) area within the NSF Directorate for Engineering's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

NSF investing $12M in quantum systems to secure networks

While some are focused on threats to IT security posed by coming quantum computers, the National Science Foundation is putting $12 million into developing quantum technologies designed to protect data traversing fiber-optic networks. The NSF will support six interdisciplinary teams consisting of 26 researchers at 15 institutions to perform fundamental research under the Advancing Communication Quantum Information Research in Engineering (ACQUIRE) area within the NSF Directorate for Engineering's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT’S ALIVE! DARPA looks to build programmable, self-healing, living building materials

Perhaps one day we’ll see bridges that repair themselves or houses that could restore walls after a fire.Sounds a bit like science fiction yes but a new program announced by the masters of making science fiction fact, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, this week announced a program that would combine the structural properties of traditional building ingredients with attributes of living systems to offer a class of living material that could be grown where needed, self-repair when damaged and respond to changes in their surroundings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT’S ALIVE! DARPA looks to build programmable, self-healing, living building materials

Perhaps one day we’ll see bridges that repair themselves or houses that could restore walls after a fire.Sounds a bit like science fiction yes but a new program announced by the masters of making science fiction fact, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, this week announced a program that would combine the structural properties of traditional building ingredients with attributes of living systems to offer a class of living material that could be grown where needed, self-repair when damaged and respond to changes in their surroundings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Black Hat and DEF CON: The song remains the same

Yes, history repeats itself. I’m looking at the July 20-27, 2009, issue of Network World.The front page headlines are:- Black Hat to expose attacks- Microsoft’s embrace of Linux seen as strategic- Data Loss Prevention Clear Choice Test- Burning Questions:1) Are mobile Web apps ever going to grow up?2) How much longer are you going to hang onto that Ethernet cable?3) Do you have any idea how much money you’re wasting on international wireless services?I saw Network World's Tim Greene, author of the 2009 Black Hat article, sitting in the working press area, seven years later, typing furiously.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Black Hat and DEF CON: The song remains the same

Yes, history repeats itself. I’m looking at the July 20-27, 2009, issue of Network World.The front page headlines are:- Black Hat to expose attacks- Microsoft’s embrace of Linux seen as strategic- Data Loss Prevention Clear Choice Test- Burning Questions:1) Are mobile Web apps ever going to grow up?2) How much longer are you going to hang onto that Ethernet cable?3) Do you have any idea how much money you’re wasting on international wireless services?I saw Network World's Tim Greene, author of the 2009 Black Hat article, sitting in the working press area, seven years later, typing furiously.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

33% off Kinsa Smart Thermometer – Deal Alert

Kinsa Smart Thermometer takes accurate readings in just 10 seconds. It is also incredibly durable, comfortable, and easy to use.  With the free iOS & Android app it remembers and records fever, symptoms and medications for each family member on your phone so you don’t have to. Keep track for yourself, another caregiver, or your doctor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adware turns a tidy profit for those who sneak it into downloads

If you've ever downloaded software, chances are you've experienced an all-too-common surprise: ads or other unwanted programs that tagged along for the ride, only to pop up on your PC uninvited. Turns out there's a highly lucrative global industry making it happen, with "layers of deniability" to protect those involved.That's according to researchers from Google and New York University's Tandon School of Engineering, who will present this week what they say is the first analysis of the link between so-called "pay-per-install" (PPI) practices and the distribution of unwanted software.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

90% off Become an Ethical Hacker With This Complete eLearning Bundle – Deal Alert

With cyberattacks putting everyone on edge, companies are looking for ethical hackers--IT pros paid handsomely to hack their network, expose security flaws, and fix them before someone else breaks in. Learn the tools of the ethical hacking trade with the Become an Ethical Hacker Bundle, now only $44.99 for a limited time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T fined after suspected drug traffickers slip charges into phone bills

AT&T will pay a $7.75 million fine for allowing suspected drug traffickers to add millions of dollars in bogus directory assistance charges to its customers' land-line bills.The extra charges of about $9 a month were discovered during an investigation of two Cleveland-area companies for drug-related crimes and money laundering, the Federal Communications Commission said Monday."A phone bill should not be a tool for drug traffickers, money launderers, and other unscrupulous third parties to fleece American consumers," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement. The settlement will allow AT&T customers "charged for this sham service" to get their money back, he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Riding the Wave of Linux Greatness

We at Cumulus Networks firmly believe that Linux networking is awesome, as it provides a high function, extensible platform for networking. Linux has always been the platform of choice for decades; every system today starts with Linux as its base and builds around it.

With the advent of the virtual machine and container networking, the constructs that used to be relegated to physical switches are applicable on servers, we thrive on the fact that Cumulus Linux networking IS Linux networking.

So, what does it take to bring that the greatest and latest in Linux to you? It takes two things really:

  • The latest Linux kernel, with all the new features and facilities.
  • The latest system libraries that enable those features for applications and the latest versions of the huge ecosystem of Linux software packages.

Kernel at the Core

The kernel is the center of the Linux operating system. We work closely with the Linux kernel community to add new networking features or extend Linux networking APIs for NOSes. With Cumulus Linux 3.0, we started with Linux kernel version 4.1 and networking patches from even more recent kernels. This provides networking applications with the latest Linux APIs, Continue reading

The Middle Ground for the Nvidia Tesla K80 GPU

Although the launch of Pascal stole headlines this year on the GPU computing front, the company’s Tesla K80 GPU, which was launched at the end of 2014, has been finding a home across a broader base of applications and forthcoming systems.

A quick look across the supercomputers on the Top 500 list shows that most sites are still using the Tesla K40 accelerator (launched in 2013) in their systems, with several still on the K20 (emerged in 2012). The Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (sports 2 K80s across 36 out of 1944 system nodes), an unnamed energy

The Middle Ground for the Nvidia Tesla K80 GPU was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

snaproute Go BGP Code Dive (7): Moving to Connect

In last week’s post, we looked at how snaproute’s implementation of BGP in Go moves into trying to connect to a new peer—we chased down the connectRetryTimer to see what it does, but we didn’t fully work through what the code does when actually moving to connect. To jump back into the code, this is where we stopped—

func (st *ConnectState) processEvent(event BGPFSMEvent, data interface{}) {
  switch event {
  ....
    case BGPEventConnRetryTimerExp:
      st.fsm.StopConnToPeer()
      st.fsm.StartConnectRetryTimer()
      st.fsm.InitiateConnToPeer()
....

code-diveWhen the connectRetryTimer timer expires, it is not only restarted, but a new connection to the peer is attempted through st.fsm.InitiateConnToPeer(). This, then, is the next stop on the road to figuring out how this implementation of BGP brings up a peer. Before we get there, though, there’s an oddity here that needs to be addressed. If you look through the BGP FSM code, you will only find this call to initiate a connection to a peer in a few places. There is this call, and then one other call, here—

func (st *ConnectState) enter() {
  ....
  st.fsm.AcceptPeerConn()
  st.fsm.InitiateConnToPeer()
}

The rest of the instances of InitiateConnToPeer() are related to the definition of the function. Continue reading

DARPA wants to build very low frequency wireless systems

Wireless transmitters that operate at very or ultra low frequencies (0.3‐30 kHz) typically require some big antenna complexes to handle their communications. Scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said they are interested looking to eliminate that issue and develop smaller physical structures that could handle new long-distance communication applications. + DARPA wants huge Holy Grail of mobile ad hoc networks DARPA in search of a 100 Gb/sec wireless technology that can penetrate clutter+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

I gamergate Meredith Mciver

One of the basic skills of hackers is "doxxing". It's actually not a skill. All you need to do is a quick search of public records databases through sites like Spokeo, Intelius, and Ancestry.com and you can quickly dox anybody.

During the Republican convention, Trump's wife plagiarized Obama's wife in a speech. A person in the Trump organization named "Meredith Mciver" took the blame for it. Trump haters immediately leapt to the conclusion that this person was fake, pointing out her Twitter and Facebook accounts were created after the controversy started.

So I'm going to go all gamergate on her and see what I can find.

According to New York public records, somebody named "Meredith Mciver" has been working for a company called the "The Trump Organization" as "Staff Writer" for many years. Her parents are Phyllis and James Mciver. Her older sister is Karen Mciver. She has an apartment at  588 W End Avenue in Manhattan (though I won't tell you which apartment -- find out for yourself). Through Ancestry.com, you can track down more information, such as her yearbook photo from 1962.

Now, all these public records could be fake, of course, but that would require Continue reading