VPN provider cuts off service to Russia after servers seized

Private Internet Access, a provider of virtual private network services, has shut down its Russian gateways and won’t do business there any longer, as it believes some of its servers were seized by the government for not following new internet surveillance rules.The company said it had likely fallen foul of new rules that require providers to log local traffic for up to a year. Private Internet Access says it does not log traffic or session data.“We believe that due to the enforcement regime surrounding this new law, some of our Russian Servers (RU) were recently seized by Russian Authorities, without notice or any type of due process,” the provider said in a blog post Monday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BRKEWN-2019 – 7 Ways to Fail as a Wireless Expert

Presenter: Steven Heinsius, Product Manager, Enterprise Networking Group

I’m hoping the title of this session could also be “7 Ways to not be a TOTAL Wireless Noob” since that’s more my level. ?

The Basics

  • WiFI has been a standard since 1997

Taking a 100 employee company….

  • 1999: 1-2 clients on the network
  • 2005: 5 or 10
  • 2007: 25+ (802.11n came around)
  • 2010: 150 (smartphones in the office; laptops becoming the norm in the office)
  • 2013: > 200
  • 2016: > 300 (3 devices per person)

In 2007-2009, networks were designed for coverage. Those networks are still around and are being asked to support (on average) 3 devices per person.

WiFi is

  • Half duplex
  • A shared medium (like a hub!)
  • AP talks to one client at a time; airtime is time sliced amongst all clients
  • AP asks a client to ack every packet (?) it sends to a client
  • Acks are retransmitted if not answered which means all other clients have to remain silent (and lowers performance)

Distance vs modulation

  • When a client is farther away from the AP, the modulation is stepped down to increase the likelihood that the signal will make it
  • The trade off is that Continue reading

BRKIOT-2109 – Connecting Oil and Gas Pipelines


Presenters:

  • Rick Irons-Mclean, Oil & Gas and Energy Architecture Lead
  • Jason Greengrass, IoT Solution Architect


Connected Pipelines Validated Design: coming this week! Cisco.com/go/cvd > Oil & Gas area

  • This CVD was built with customer input (from around the globe) and Cisco account team input (including yours truly)
  • Next iteration of the CVD will contain more security, including providing better visibility into  traffic and events in the control center network

For those that aren’t familiar with the oil/gas business, there’s three areas:

  • Upstream: discovery and extraction
  • Midstream: storage and transport
  • Downstream: refining (turning it into product) and marketing/selling

Cisco can work and play in all three areas. Eg:

  • Connected Pipeline
  • Connected Refinery
  • Secure Ops (managed security services from Cisco)
  • Connected Oilfield

ISA95/99 (aka Perdue Model) – describes an architecture for different security zones within the industrial environment.

  • Bottom is Level 0 – where the process actually happens (valves, pumps, etc)
  • Top is Level 5 – the business/enterprise network

Operational principles (compare this with a typical enterprise environment and principles):

  • Continuous operation: 24×7, 365 days a year
  • Continuous visibility and control: operators need constant communication to the pipeline
  • Safety and compliance: pipeline integrity, safety, security and reliability

With respect to 24×7 Continue reading

Cisco brings some (real) friends to the chat-bot party

The next time you chat with someone on Cisco Systems’ Spark messaging service, that someone may not be a co-worker -- or even a person. Welcome to the world of bots.On Monday at the Cisco Live conference, Cisco said it’s working with the messaging company Gupshup so more developers can bring their bots into Spark. It also introduced a partnership with Api.ai, a natural-language software company, in part to help developers build interfaces where users can just talk to bots.Bots aren’t brand-new to Spark, but Gupshup prides itself on its chat-bot development platform, which is designed to make it easy to build bots and make them available through popular communications channels. The list already includes Facebook, Skype, Twitter and Slack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

China’s Triple Play For Pre-Exascale Systems

Before any country can deploy an exascale system, they have to get pre-exascale prototypes into the field to test out their underlying technologies and determine what approaches have the best chance of scaling up performance and being manufactured affordably. It looks like China is looking at three different pre-exascale systems, and none of them will deploy processors or accelerators made by US companies.

It is no secret that China has wanted to develop an indigenous capability to design chips and build supercomputer-class systems, and this was true even before the US government put the kibosh on selling Intel Xeon and …

China’s Triple Play For Pre-Exascale Systems was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Cisco Live: Cisco bolsters, integrates security products and services

At Cisco Live today the company is rolling out a set of new services and cloud-based security features that better integrate existing Cisco gear with products it acquired through acquisition. These products essentially grow the features of some existing gear and expand security coverage to devices not connected to the corporate network. +More on Network World: Cisco will need to tackle these high-tech issues in 2016+ The Cisco mantra is that there are too many point security products for businesses to effectively manage and that generate too much unanalyzed data to be used effectively. The company contends that adding one more security product can add just a small percentage of new capabilities but a vast amount of complexity and work to integrate the new product.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Live: Cisco bolsters, integrates security products and services

At Cisco Live today the company is rolling out a set of new services and cloud-based security features that better integrate existing Cisco gear with products it acquired through acquisition. These products essentially grow the features of some existing gear and expand security coverage to devices not connected to the corporate network. +More on Network World: Cisco will need to tackle these high-tech issues in 2016+ The Cisco mantra is that there are too many point security products for businesses to effectively manage and that generate too much unanalyzed data to be used effectively. The company contends that adding one more security product can add just a small percentage of new capabilities but a vast amount of complexity and work to integrate the new product.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Beyond games and roller coasters: Next steps for virtual reality

In our recent beginner’s guide to virtual reality, we showcased various Google Cardboard VR headsets and apps to try out on a limited budget. A lot of those apps were either gaming-based apps or ones that gave you an experience, like a virtual roller coaster ride or a view of 360-degree photos of a particular location (like New York City).If you’re not interested in those types of experiences, you might say, “Is that it?” and miss out on the next steps with VR, which could expand the use of the technology in your own life or as part of your business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The end of free Windows 10 upgrades may prop up PC shipments

Microsoft will end its free Windows 10 upgrade program on July 29, possibly giving an unexpected boost to PC shipments in the second half this year, according to IDC.Buyers may opt to buy a new Windows 10 PCs instead of upgrading existing PCs with a paid version of the OS. Many businesses are evaluating Windows 10 and could also upgrade.Windows 10 hasn't helped boost PC shipments so far. Instead of buying new PCs, people have been taking advantage of the free program and upgrading PCs from older Windows versions.The PC market is still in a slump, and that didn't change in the second quarter. But shipments were better than expected, and that sets the stage for a mini-recovery in the second half.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Who’s right behind Amazon in IaaS cloud revenue? Not Microsoft

Research firm IDC is out with its latest semi-annual tracking of IaaS public cloud vendors and while the top provider in this market – Amazon Web Services – will not surprise you, numbers two and three just might. IDC estimates that IBM’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud revenues are larger than those of Microsoft in this still-emerging market. +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Gartner says cloud will be “default” software deployment option by 2020 | Top 5 Storage vendors shows massive shift to cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New iPhone 7 leak provides our best look at Apple’s next-gen smartphone

With just about two months to go before Apple introduces the iPhone 7 to the world, recent product leaks have given us a pretty good idea of what to expect from Apple's next-gen smartphone—at least from a design point of view.Over the past few weeks, we've certainly seen no shortage of spy shots and blurry shots of iPhone casings. But a recent leak courtesy of Nowhereelse.fr has given us our clearest look yet at we can expect from the iPhone 7's design.As evidenced via the photo below, the antenna lines that we had to withstand on the iPhone 6 and 6s have thankfully been relegated to the sides of the device. In other words, the back of the iPhone 7 is incredibly smooth and sleek.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pluribus enriches virtual management system with central console, apps

Pluribus this week added a key piece to its virtual network management portfolio – a central management console and framework for helping customers better see and control their virtual network environment.The company announced VCFcenter, which it describes as a single pane of glass that will let customers comprehend business service flows and packets across their networks. VCFcenter is key because the company’s primary analytics application -- VCF-IA – will plug into the system as well as new reporting and deep packet analysis applications that combined offer a powerful management system for virtual environments the company says.+More on Network World: Cisco platform lets IT rein-in disruptive data center operations, security, applications+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Auto thieves adopting cybercrime-like tactics

In addition to recently publicized hacks of electronic auto ignitions with laptops, car thieves have several other high-tech techniques they’ve put to use—or will soon unleash upon their victims, according to stolen vehicle recovery firm CalAmp LoJack Corp.The lawlessness includes portable scanner boxes that exploit electronic key fobs; identity theft, where the Personally Identifiable Information data stored within the vehicle and in the vehicle computer is stolen; and car cloning, which is when a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is faked, allowing new documents to be produced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Auto thieves adopting cybercrime-like tactics

In addition to recently publicized hacks of electronic auto ignitions with laptops, car thieves have several other high-tech techniques they’ve put to use—or will soon unleash upon their victims, according to stolen vehicle recovery firm CalAmp LoJack Corp.The lawlessness includes portable scanner boxes that exploit electronic key fobs; identity theft, where the Personally Identifiable Information data stored within the vehicle and in the vehicle computer is stolen; and car cloning, which is when a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is faked, allowing new documents to be produced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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