Security spring cleaning time

Get rid of that stuff collecting dustImage by ThinkstockAs new security threats continue to emerge and security teams find themselves stuck in the cycle of piling on new products and policies each time they receive an alert notification, true functions of security programs get lost in the clutter. As melting snow and longer days promise that spring is right around the corner, take this time to start fresh and “spring clean” your security ecosystems. To help get you started, these infosec professionals provide guidelines for what to check off on a security spring-cleaning list.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Understanding OpenStack: Capabilities & Challenges

10 SDN Startups Driving Innovation

Male computer programmers shown to be right up there with chefs, dentists on gender pay gap scale

Glassdoor Economic Research A deep dive into crowdsourced salary data from more than half a million employees shows that the gender pay gap is very real, and that male computer programmers make far more than their female counterparts.The Economic Research arm of online jobs marketplace Glassdoor has issued a report titled Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap that attempts to explain why males are making so much more than females across industries and countries. While the researchers have come up with explanations for much of the pay gap in the United States, about a third of the gap is unexplained and presumed to be due to factors such as intentional or unintentional bias as well differences in pay negotiations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Learn SDN And OpenFlow Fundamentals

I’m New to SDN. Where Should I Start?

One of my readers sent me this question:

Considering I know nothing about anything SDN-related (and considering it seems "SDN" means something different depending to whom you are asking), where should someone with no knowledge of SDN start?

The obvious answer: sdn.ipSpace.net. On a more serious note:

Network-CI Part 3 – OSPF to BGP Migration in Active/Standby DC

The final post in a series demonstrates how to use the network-ci tools to safely replace a core routing protocol inside a small Active/Standby Data Centre.

This bag of tricks may help stop a Locky ransomware infection

A malware researcher has found a few tricks to stop one of the latest types of ransomware, called Locky, from infecting a computer without using any security programs.Ransomware is malware that encrypts a computer's files. Users are shown instructions for how to pay a fee to get the decryption key. The costs can range from a few hundreds dollars to thousands, payable to cybercriminals in bitcoin.Locky is a relative newcomer to the ransomware scene, which computer security researchers first saw over the last few months. It is primarily distributed through spam messages that try to trick people into opening attachments, such as fake invoices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Syrian Electronic Army was careless with Gmail, Facebook

If you're a hacker, it's a good idea to stay away from Facebook and Gmail to communicate with your colleagues.Three men, who allegedly were part of a multi-year hacking campaign executed by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), left a long digital trail that didn't make them hard to identify, according to court documents.The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges on Tuesday against the men, who are accused of hacking companies and defacing websites.The SEA, which emerged around July 2011, claimed credit for prominent hacks that sought to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group targeted the White House, Harvard University, Reuters, the Associated Press, NASA and Microsoft, among others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Juniper Targets Tier 2s With IP & Optical Integration

It will integrate optical technology in its routers.

The Next Level: Mindfulness And IT

On this episode of the Next Level we talk about mindfulness and what it means to IT performance, and whether mindfulness benefits such as relaxation and focus can be separated from its spiritual context.

The post The Next Level: Mindfulness And IT appeared first on Packet Pushers.

The Next Level: Mindfulness And IT

On this episode of the Next Level we talk about mindfulness and what it means to IT performance, and whether mindfulness benefits such as relaxation and focus can be separated from its spiritual context.

The post The Next Level: Mindfulness And IT appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Include the why

I recently stumbled upon an interesting speech from 1984 by Charlie Munger of Bershire Hathaway fame. Charlie is Warren Buffet’s right-hand-man, and a straight talking genius in his own right. It’s a fairly long speech and Charlie has a few very interesting things to say, but one particular section on ‘explaining the why’ really struck home.
Here’s a brief quote:

….if you always tell people why, they’ll understand it better, they’ll consider it more important, and they’ll be more likely to comply. Even if they don’t understand your reason, they’ll be more likely to comply.
So there’s an iron rule that just as you want to start getting worldly wisdom by asking why, why, why, in communicating with other people about everything, you want to include why, why, why. Even if it’s obvious, it’s wise to stick in the why.

The ‘why’ is notably absent from most conversations in our high-tech sphere. I’ve wasted countless hours interpreting solutions to ill-defined or undefined problems. I’m guilty of writing many ‘why-less’ documents and emails also. Upon reflection, I can recognise the folly of not explaining the problem at hand before launching into the solution.
When I drop the reasoning and background and Continue reading

Include the why

I recently stumbled upon an interesting commencement speech by Charlie Munger of Bershire Hathaway fame. Charlie is Warren Buffet’s right-hand-man, and a straight talking genius in his own right. It’s a fairly long speech and Charlie has a few very … Continue reading →

The post Include the why appeared first on The Network Sherpa.

Startup Sigfox wins over a carrier as new radios battle for the future of IoT

Altice, a network operator active in the U.S. and across Europe, is betting on French company Sigfox to expand its machine-to-machine business even as it tests LTE-M, a narrowband version of the 4G standard slimmed down for the Internet of Things. One technology it won't touch, though, is LoRa, the fledgling standard backed by a number of mobile operators, including Orange and Bouygues Telecom, the main rivals of Altice's French subsidiary, SFR. Machine-to-machine communications already constitute a significant market for Altice, which connects 5 million machines or objects via its cellular networks and has 2,600 enterprise clients in this field, company executives said Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Starting a Blog on Open Software/Hardware + Networking

Today I’m jumping into water to start writing about some area where I have some half-decent background: the intersection of Open Software/Hardware and Networking.

Why?

You see, I’m a software guy. The pragmatical Linux/OpenSource fanboy kind. What that means? I have a formal degree on Computer Science, and wrote Linux drivers and software for embedded systems for 8 years. But I’m also a pragmatical guy: I know how to write kernel drivers, but I use a Mac laptop every day because I like things to work. For the last 4 years I have been learning a big from networking at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where I have worked on networking (SDN, ASICs), and more recently on the OpenSwitch project.

Worth Reading: The FCC’s subtractive privacy rules

Less is not more. That’s real “common sense.” When one’s actions demonstrably create a worse rather than better outcome net-net, like the FCC’s new Title II ISP privacy policy does, others would justifiably consider it a mistake. While the FCC obviously complied with President Obama’s call for regulating broadband as a Title II utility, the FCC obviously ignored President Obama’s 2011 call for a 21st century regulatory system, where he said we are “making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or are just plain dumb.” -via Somewhat Reasonable

The post Worth Reading: The FCC’s subtractive privacy rules appeared first on 'net work.

What People Get Wrong About Microsoft SONiC

Howdy. In my previous post, I mentioned doing a deep dive of SONiC, the recent software release from Microsoft. So without further delay, Software for Open Networking in the Cloud, or SONiC. What It Ain’t I’m sure y’all might have read this FAQ, but just in case, I’ll hit the main points: SONiC is not […]

The post What People Get Wrong About Microsoft SONiC appeared first on Packet Pushers.

What People Get Wrong About Microsoft SONiC

Howdy. In my previous post, I mentioned doing a deep dive of SONiC, the recent software release from Microsoft. So without further delay, Software for Open Networking in the Cloud, or SONiC. What It Ain’t I’m sure y’all might have read this FAQ, but just in case, I’ll hit the main points: SONiC is not […]

The post What People Get Wrong About Microsoft SONiC appeared first on Packet Pushers.

FBI grows “Cyber Most Wanted” list with Syrian Electronic Army members

The FBI today added two members of a Syrian hacker group to its Cyber Most Wanted list offering a reward of up to $100,000 each for information that leads to their arrest.+More on Network World: The FBI this week warned carmakers and owners that they need to pay much closer attention to automotive cybersecurity+According to the FBI, the new cybercriminals Amad Umar Agha22, known online as “The Pro,” and Firas Dardar,27, known online as “The Shadow,” engaged in a multi-year conspiracy that began in 2011 to collect usernames and passwords that gave them the ability to deface websites, redirect domains to sites controlled by the conspirators, steal e-mail, and hijack social media accounts. To obtain the login information they spear-phishing, where they tricked people who had privileged access to their organizations’ websites and social media channels into volunteering sensitive information by posing as a legitimate entity.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here