NANOG 67 Social Information

 

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Sponsored by: EdgeConneX

Time: 6:30pm - 10:00pm

Location: Howl at the Moon

Address: 26 West Hubbard Street Chicago, IL 60654

Transportation: Sponsor to provide motor coach transportation to and from the venue.  Meet in Autolobby (B2 Level). 

 **NANOG Badge required for entry**

  

IDG Contributor Network: 7 potential security concerns for wearables

Wearables are rapidly invading the workplace in much the same way that smartphones did. Fitness trackers, smartwatches, head-mounted displays and other new form factors are beginning to capture the public imagination. Sales of wearable electronic devices topped 232 million in 2015, and Gartner forecasts they’ll rise 18.4% this year, when another 274.6 million devices are sold.These wearable devices represent some appealing opportunities for businesses to increase efficiency and gather data, but in the rush to win market share, security concerns are taking a backseat for many manufacturers and app developers. The potential ramifications of unchecked wearable device usage within the enterprise are alarming.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Embedded malware shipped on surveillance system sold via Amazon

There’s nothing particularly new about new products being shipped with malware, but if you are in the market for surveillance cameras and are looking for a good deal, then a security researcher warned that even products sold on Amazon come with embedded malware.Security researcher Mike Olsen found a decent deal on an outdoor surveillance CCTV setup, specifically six Sony HD IP cameras and recording equipment which are being sold on Amazon by a seller with “great ratings.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Embedded malware shipped on surveillance system sold via Amazon

There’s nothing particularly new about new products being shipped with malware, but if you are in the market for surveillance cameras and are looking for a good deal, then a security researcher warned that even products sold on Amazon come with embedded malware.Security researcher Mike Olsen found a decent deal on an outdoor surveillance CCTV setup, specifically six Sony HD IP cameras and recording equipment which are being sold on Amazon by a seller with “great ratings.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Welcome to NANOG 67!

 

EdgeConneX would like to welcome our fellow NANOG attendees to Chicago, IL the ‘Windy City’ and host city for the NANOG’s 67th meeting taking place June 13-15 2016.

We are excited to be your spring meeting host and we look forward to offering you an experience that you will never forget.  As avid advocates of the NANOG mission and vision, we are honored to once again bring together this rich community of the world’s leading network operations experts.  From networking, to educational sessions, panel discussions, presentations, and debates, NANOG 67 is not to be missed. 

The ‘Windy City’ is the third most populous city in the United States, with nearly 10 million people in the metro area.  Located off the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago has a rich history and is famous for outdoor public art and entertainment, Wrigley Field, Da Bears, the rock band Chicago and for being a major world financial center to name a few.  We hope that you will all join us for an eventful evening at Howl at the Moon, where EdgeConneX will be holding the social on Wednesday, June 15, from 6:30 to 10:30pm.  We are looking forward to Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Wi-Fi-based positioning improves access point security

Imagine if your router could detect a user’s location to within a few inches? For one thing, hotspot password protection becomes redundant because geographic authentication takes over—the router can be configured to only allow access from within a location, an apartment, say. In-café users could be allowed access without passwords, yet freeloaders on the street get blocked.Researchers think they’ve worked out how to do it.The system “locates users by calculating the ‘time-of-flight’ that it takes for data to travel from the user to an access point,” says Adam Conner-Simons in a recent MIT News article. And it does it with a single access point. That’s unlike other setups that require four or five access points for triangulation-like measuring. One access point determining a user’s position means costs should be lower, and individuals or small businesses can take advantage of the tech.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Wi-Fi-based positioning improves access point security

Imagine if your router could detect a user’s location to within a few inches? For one thing, hotspot password protection becomes redundant because geographic authentication takes over—the router can be configured to only allow access from within a location, an apartment, say. In-café users could be allowed access without passwords, yet freeloaders on the street get blocked.Researchers think they’ve worked out how to do it.The system “locates users by calculating the ‘time-of-flight’ that it takes for data to travel from the user to an access point,” says Adam Conner-Simons in a recent MIT News article. And it does it with a single access point. That’s unlike other setups that require four or five access points for triangulation-like measuring. One access point determining a user’s position means costs should be lower, and individuals or small businesses can take advantage of the tech.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumers want more value from home IoT products

U.S. consumers are slow to embrace home-based Internet of Things products, with many wary of their cost and usefulness, according to a new survey.Many consumers are skeptical about the value proposition behind home IoT products, according to the survey from market research firm IDC.Reliability was the top concern among those people who expressed interested in home IoT devices. On a one to 10 rating scale, reliability rated nearly a nine when people were asked what home IoT issues needed to improve before they would purchase a system.Following close behind were concerns about cost, with equipment costs, ongoing costs, installation costs, overall value, all scoring above 8.75. Ease of use and security or privacy concerns were also major concerns.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Sysdig and Mesosphere partner to monitor all of those containers

A new partnership being announced today sees Sysdig and Mesosphere getting cozy to enable a more consistent way of developing and delivering applications.These are two interesting vendors in different spaces. Sysdig calls itself a "container visibility company." Essentially what that means is that it offers a container-specific monitoring solution. One can think of it like New Relic and Boundary but with containers as a primary focus. Mesosphere, on the other hand, is the company that commercializes the Mesos open-source project to help scale and automate applications. Mesosphere offers the data center operating system (DCOS), which delivers a simpler administration model for data center operators.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ahead of Google I/O, Google previews new Android N Multi-Window support

Google released more information about Android N (referring to N as Not the real name). The preview of the mobile operating system gives the impression of a more in-depth system and user-level polish that has been Google’s obsession since Android 4.4 Kitkat.Multi-Window Support Multi-Window support stands out as the most important feature for users, consumers and developers. It allows apps to be opened in two separate windows and used on a split-screen display. User interest in Multi-Window has become increasingly important as mobile devices replace PC apps with mobile apps. When work moves to a mobile app, users want many of the same PC features, keyboards, split screens, drag and drop, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Serial numbers how I love thee…

No one really like serial numbers, but keeping track of them is one of the “brushing your teeth” activities that everyone needs to take care of. It’s like eating your brussel sprouts. Or listening to your mom. You’re just better of if you do it quickly as it just gets more painful over time.

Not only is it just good hygene, but you may be subject to regulations, like eRate in the United States where you have to be able to report on the location of any device by serial number at any point in time.

Trust me, having to play hide-and-go seek with an SSH session is not something you want to do when government auditors are looking for answers.

I’m sure you’ve already guessed what I’m about to say, but I”ll say it anyway…

There’s an API for that!!!

HPE IMC base platform has a great network assets function that automatically gathers all the details of your various devices, assuming of course they supportRFC 4133, otherwise known as the Entity MIB. On the bright side, most vendors have chosen to support this standards based MIB, so chances are you’re in good shape.

And if they don’t Continue reading

5 things you should know about the blockchain

Talk of blockchain technology is everywhere, it seems -- but what is it, and what does it do?1. Don't call it "the" blockchainThe first thing to know about the blockchain is, there isn't one: there are many. Blockchains are distributed, tamper-proof public ledgers of transactions. The most well-known is the record of bitcoin transactions, but in addition to tracking cryptocurrencies, blockchains are being used to record loans, stock transfers, contracts, healthcare data and even votes.2. Security, transparency: the network's run by usThere's no central authority in a blockchain system: Participating computers exchange transactions for inclusion in the ledger they share over a peer-to-peer network. Each node in the chain keeps a copy of the ledger, and can trust others’ copies of it because of the way they are signed. Periodically, they wrap up the latest transactions in a new block of data to be added to the chain. Alongside the transaction data, each block contains a computational "hash" of itself and of the previous block in the chain.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 things you should know about the blockchain

Talk of blockchain technology is everywhere, it seems -- but what is it, and what does it do?1. Don't call it "the" blockchainThe first thing to know about the blockchain is, there isn't one: there are many. Blockchains are distributed, tamper-proof public ledgers of transactions. The most well-known is the record of bitcoin transactions, but in addition to tracking cryptocurrencies, blockchains are being used to record loans, stock transfers, contracts, healthcare data and even votes.2. Security, transparency: the network's run by usThere's no central authority in a blockchain system: Participating computers exchange transactions for inclusion in the ledger they share over a peer-to-peer network. Each node in the chain keeps a copy of the ledger, and can trust others’ copies of it because of the way they are signed. Periodically, they wrap up the latest transactions in a new block of data to be added to the chain. Alongside the transaction data, each block contains a computational "hash" of itself and of the previous block in the chain.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Learning about SDP via Google BeyondCorp

I’ve been following Google’s BeyondCorp project for a while.  In fact, I was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal blog on this topic. If you are not familiar with BeyondCorp, it is Google’s spin on what’s become known as a software-defined perimeter (SDP).  SDP, also called a “black cloud” originated at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and is now being driven by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA).  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Minimizing cost of visibility

Visibility allows orchestration systems (OpenDaylight, ONOS, OpenStack Heat, Kubernetes, Docker Storm, Apache Mesos, etc.) to adapt to changing demand by targeting resources where they are needed to increase efficiency, improve performance, and reduce costs. However, the overhead of monitoring must be low in order to realize the benefits.
An analogous observation that readers may be familiar with is the importance of minimizing costs when investing in order to maximize returns - see Vanguard Principle 3: Minimize cost
Suppose that a 100 server pool is being monitored and visibility will allow the orchestration system to realize a 10% improvement by better workload scheduling and placement - increasing the pool's capacity by 10% without the need to add an additional 10 servers and saving the associated CAPEX/OPEX costs.

The chart shows the impact that measurement overhead has in realizing the potential gains in this example. If the measurement overhead is 0%, then the 10% performance gain is fully realized. However, even a relatively modest 2% measurement overhead reduces the potential improvement to just under 8% (over a 20% drop in the potential gains). A 9% measurement overhead wipes out the potential efficiency gain and measurement overheads greater than 9% result in Continue reading