Firepower Threat Defense — DNS Sinkholing

A few days ago I wrote an article that described Firepower DNS Policies. One item that probably warrants a little more discussion is DNS Sinkholing. Although the title of this article indicates Firepower Threat Defense, this will also work with Firepower and Firepower Services.

For this article, I would like to first share some of the challenges around getting security intelligence visibility from DNS requests. A typical enterprise environment will have an internal DNS server. So even though we know we can return “Domain Not Found” with an FTD DNS policy, that might not give us the visibility necessary to remediate a problem.

So if the host in the diagram below makes a DNS request for bad.site.com, what happens? Basically that request is sent to the DNS Resolver. The DNS Resolver will look to the Root Hints and eventually get the request to an Internet based DNS server that has the appropriate domain ownership. The problem with this is that the only request seen by the Firewall (FTD in our example) is the one made by the DNS Resolver. The problem here is that there is no way the Firewall can tell which host needs to be scrubbed by Continue reading

You can now send files with Skype when the recipient is offline

Microsoft stepped up its battle with the armada of mobile messaging apps on Tuesday, announcing that Skype users can now send files to each other without the recipient needing to be online.That means a user could tweak a presentation and send it to a colleague over the weekend, and have it waiting for them when they log into Skype on Monday morning.It's a big improvement over the previous functionality, which required both parties to be online. The new approach also lets users access the file across multiple devices, which means they can read the same document on their phone, computer or tablet, without having to request it over and over again.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adultery website Ashley Madison is being investigated by the FTC

Ashley Madison encouraged its users to cheat on their partners. But did it also cheat its own customers? The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating the service, which suffered a devastating hack last year that exposed details of millions of customers who signed up in the hope of engaging in extramarital affairs. Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, told the New York Times Tuesday it doesn't know the focus of the inquiry. But the company said it's been sharing information with the the FTC since last August when the breach took place.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adultery website Ashley Madison is being investigated by the FTC

Ashley Madison encouraged its users to cheat on their partners. But did it also cheat its own customers? The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating the service, which suffered a devastating hack last year that exposed details of millions of customers who signed up in the hope of engaging in extramarital affairs. Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, told the New York Times Tuesday it doesn't know the focus of the inquiry. But the company said it's been sharing information with the the FTC since last August when the breach took place.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SK Telecom & KPN Deploy Nationwide LoRa IoT Networks

LoRa networks will likely co-exist, not compete, with cellular IoT.

Testing the EIGRP Feasibility Condition (FC)

Last night I was going through some CCIE Routing and Switching VOD’s and found a statement I found interesting. Beyond the fact that I thought the content was far below the expert level (which is fine because a refresher or level-set is typically helpful), I believed it to be incorrect. The statement that was made is as follows:

“A neighbor meets the feasibility condition if the reported distance by the neighbor is the same as or smaller than the feasible distance of the router”

So what are my issues with this statement? First, I thought “feasible distance of the router” is ambiguous and could be assumed to be the advertised distance or the reported distance which is basically the feasible distance of the neighboring router. However, that was not my main problem with the statement. My main concern with this statement is that I have always learned that the feasibility condition is only met if the reported distance (RD) is strictly less than the feasible distance of the local route. So I set out to determine if I had a correct understanding or if the Feasibility Condition (FC) could really be met with a RD equal to the FD.

To test my theory, Continue reading

Deep learning wins the day in Amazon’s warehouse robot challenge

Amazon is always on the lookout for new robotic technologies to improve efficiency in its warehouses, and this year deep learning appears to be leading the way.That's according to the results of the second annual Amazon Picking Challenge, which has been won by a joint team from the TU Delft Robotics Institute of the Netherlands and the company Delft Robotics.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Telefónica Chooses Cisco’s Network Services Orchestrator

Cisco’s orchestrator uses YANG modeling from Tail-f.

Worth Reading: Little bits of security

Cloud environments have made some things much easier for development teams and IT organizations. Self-service portals have cut down the amount of “hands on” intervention to spin up new environments for new products. Provisioning of new infrastructure has moved from weeks or days to minutes. One thing that barely changed with this transformation is security. But new techniques and tools are starting to emerge that are moving security to the next level in the Cloud. One of these technologies is called micro-segmentation. -Cloud Security Alliance

The post Worth Reading: Little bits of security appeared first on 'net work.

Operationalizing Threat Intelligence

In 2015, I conducted some in-depth research around enterprise organizations’ consumption, use, and sharing of threat intelligence.  Time and time again, I heard cybersecurity professionals proclaim that their organizations had to do a better job “operationalizing” threat intelligence. Hmm, sounds like a worthwhile security management goal if I’ve ever heard one but what exactly does this mean?  Some ESG research may be helpful here (note: I am an ESG analyst).  ESG surveyed 304 IT and cybersecurity professionals working at enterprise organizations (i.e. more than 1,000 employees) and asked them to identify their organization’s top threat intelligence challenges.  The data reveals that:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Operationalizing Threat Intelligence

In 2015, I conducted some in-depth research around enterprise organizations’ consumption, use, and sharing of threat intelligence.  Time and time again, I heard cybersecurity professionals proclaim that their organizations had to do a better job “operationalizing” threat intelligence. Hmm, sounds like a worthwhile security management goal if I’ve ever heard one but what exactly does this mean?  Some ESG research may be helpful here (note: I am an ESG analyst).  ESG surveyed 304 IT and cybersecurity professionals working at enterprise organizations (i.e. more than 1,000 employees) and asked them to identify their organization’s top threat intelligence challenges.  The data reveals that:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Linux distros look to drop 32-bit support

Linux got its start in the 1990s as an alternative operating system for older PCs that didn't have the horsepower to run newer versions of Windows. So it seems a bit ironic, but not totally surprising, that one major Linux distro is looking to end support for 32-bit processors.Ubuntu’s Dimitri John Ledkov put out a proposal on the Ubuntu mailing list recently that the company will be winding down support for 32-bit processors. He notes that by 2018, it will be two years since major software vendors and products—Google, ZFS and Docker, specifically—ended their support for 32-bit processors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Like smartphones, IoT communications going long distance

The world's newest mobile telecoms network went into operation this week, but it's not for smartphones. The network, built by South Korea's SK Telecom, is dedicated to gadgets that connect to the so-called internet of things.Today, most of those devices communicate over Bluetooth or WiFi, which are low power but short range, or over conventional cellular, which has better coverage but is more expensive and consumes more power.The Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) network built in South Korea is deployed over the unlicensed 900MHz spectrum, and is based on specifications from the LoRa Alliance.SK Telecom has set up an IoT data plan much like smartphone contracts. The cheapest plan is priced at 350 Korean Won (US$0.30) for 100KB of data transfers, and it is targeted at metering and monitoring services. The most expensive plan is targeted at real-time monitoring, and is priced at 2,000 Korean Won (US$1.75) for 100MB of data.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

As Windows 10 free deal nears end, growth slows slightly

Windows 10 growth slowed slightly last month but remained robust enough to push the nearly-one-year-old OS over the 21% share bar, according to new data from metrics vendor Net Applications.In June, Windows 10 powered 21.3% of all Windows PCs, a 1.9-point increase over May. Net Applications measures user share -- an estimate of the percentage of the global personal computer inventory that runs a particular operating system -- by tallying unique visitors to clients' websites.June's gain was less than May's impressive 2.2-point jump, but still the third-largest, one-month increase since August 2015.INSIDER Review: Enterprise guide to Windows 10 With less than a month left before the free Windows 10 upgrade offer expires, the OS is on pace to post a user share mark of 23% of all Windows PCs by the end of July. If so, Windows 10 will have bested Microsoft's 12-month uptake record holder: Windows 7 clawed its way to 20% in its inaugural year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft gives businesses a free tool for online meetings

Microsoft is giving small businesses a new way to hold meetings online with the launch of a free Skype Meetings product that's aimed at providing professional communication tools for free.Skype Meetings is free to use, and people can launch meetings for up to 10 people during their first 60 days of using it. After that, they're limited to only hosting meetings for three or fewer people. Those meetings can take advantage of a bunch of features, including the option to bring in participants using a hyperlink and present a PowerPoint slide deck live.The new service is something of a gateway drug to try and get people hooked on Skype for Business. That's why Microsoft imposed its user limit restrictions -- super-small businesses can use Skype Meetings without paying, and growing companies are encouraged to buy an Office 365 subscription to hold big meetings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Your Docker Agenda for July

Weren’t able to attend DockerCon 2016 last month? Don’t worry, there are several DockerCon recap meetups scheduled this month all over the world!

Have you signed up yet for the Docker 1.12 Hackathon? Teams of up to three individuals will hack the new features included in Docker 1.12 including Swarm Mode, cryptographic node identity, service API, and built-in routing mesh to win some awesome prizes. Submissions are due by July 25th so register your team today and start hacking!

Take a look at this month’s agenda including Docker trainings and meetups in your community.

Continue reading

Geek-themed Meme of the Week: photo fail

I realize this meme features the advice mallard and not the confession bear, but here goes anyway: I am a lousy photographer, so I have no doubt that the following advice from a Redditor is spot-on. Reddit I am even lousy at taking selfies, which is why I’m particularly proud of this one that shows my son Max and me being photobombed by Abe Lincoln.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple to encourage organ donation with upcoming iOS 10 update

As part of Apple's longstanding commitment to improving user health, the company will reportedly encourage iOS users to become organ donors when it rolls out an update to its Health app once iOS 10 is released to the public later this year.Once available, user's will be able to seamlessly sign up via the Donate Life America's organ donation registry. That Apple would choose to include such an option isn't at all surprising given that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was himself saved by an organ donation late in life when he was the recipient of a liver transplant.+ Also on Network World: 20 reasons to get excited about iOS 10 +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Fearing surveillance, man allegedly shot at Google and set self-driving car ablaze

A man who told police he feared surveillance by Google has been arrested and charged with arson after one of the company's self-driving cars was destroyed in an attack in June.Raul Murillo Diaz of Oakland was stopped by police after Google security spotted him driving around the company's headquarters campus in Mountain View, California, just after midnight on June 30. They became suspicious because his car matched that spotted at the scene of several attacks on the company over the preceding six weeks.The first, on May 19, saw several Molotov cocktails thrown at a Google Street View vehicle that was parked in a company lot in Mountain View. The resulting fire didn't damage the car because the bottles bounced off it, but the ground nearby was burnt.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Raspberry Pi roundup: The Raspberry Baron takes to the skies; big talk about voice; thin client scuttlebutt

In possibly the coolest news for aviation geeks who cover the technology sector – so, you know, basically just the author of this article – a former University of Cincinnati doctoral candidate has created a Raspberry Pi-powered AI that can fly simulated fighter aircraft.ALPHA, according to retired Col. Gene Lee, is “the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I’ve seen to date.” Lee, according to the University of Cincinnati magazine that originally publicized the research, has yet to defeat ALPHA in simulated aerial combat.+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD:Ultimate guide to Raspberry Pi OSes +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here