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Control with Ansible Tower, Part 2

This is the second in a series of posts about how Ansible and Ansible Tower enable you to manage your infrastructure simply, securely, and efficiently.

When we talk about Tower, we often talk in terms of Control, Knowledge, and Delegation. But what does that mean?  In this series of blog posts, we'll describe some of the ways you can use Ansible and Ansible Tower to manage your infrastructure.

In our first blog post, we described how Ansible Tower makes it easy to control the way your infrastructure is configured via configuration definition and continuous remediation.

But controlling the configuration of your infrastructure is just one step. You also need control of the components of your infrastructure - your inventory. You need to do day-to-day management tasks on demand. And Ansible Tower makes those easy as well.

INVENTORY - THE BASICS

If you’ve used Ansible, you know about the basics of inventory. A static Ansible inventory is just an INI-style file that describes your hosts and groups, and optionally some variables that apply to your hosts and groups. Here's an example from the Ansible documentation.

{% raw %}

[atlanta]
host1
host2

[raleigh]
host2
host3

[southeast:children]
atlanta
raleigh

[southeast:vars]
nameserver=dns.southeast.example. Continue reading

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Biogen: Data Science and Docker Swarm

written by Theo Platt, Associate Director, Biogen and Karl Gutwin, Senior Data Architect, Biogen The Data Sciences department at Biogen has been using Docker and watching the (r)evolution for a couple of years. Last year, as our experience with Docker grew and … Continued

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When You’re Serious About Wireless Performance

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IDG Contributor Network: Was that a tremor?

There’s a 62 percent chance of an earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area in the next 30 years, according to the U.S. Geological Service. But no one knows when or where the next big one might be. So, when I heard of startup offering an early-warning service for earthquakes, I wanted to learn more.It’s a tough problem to solve. Thousands of widely dispersed sensors are needed, as an earthquake could originate anywhere. To be effective, an early-warning service also needs a dependable communication network and fast analysis. Take a look at what happened when the last "big one" struck the San Francisco Bay Area.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Bangladesh Bank cyber-heist hackers used custom malware to steal $81 million

Hackers behind the Bangladesh bank heist created malware to compromise the SWIFT financial system. Security researchers said the malware allowed attackers to modify a database logging the bank’s activity over the SWIFT network, to delete records of outgoing transfer orders and to intercept incoming transfer confirmation messages, and to manipulate both account balance logs and a printer used to make hard copies of the transfer orders.The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a cooperative owned by 3,000 financial institutions. SWIFT software is supposed to securely send and receive information about financial transactions; the messaging platform is reportedly used by 11,000 banks worldwide. SWIFT admitted to Reuters that it was aware of malware targeting its client software “Alliance Access,” which is not used by all 11,000 banks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Bangladesh Bank cyber-heist hackers used custom malware to steal $81 million

Hackers behind the Bangladesh bank heist created malware to compromise the SWIFT financial system. Security researchers said the malware allowed attackers to modify a database logging the bank’s activity over the SWIFT network, to delete records of outgoing transfer orders and to intercept incoming transfer confirmation messages, and to manipulate both account balance logs and a printer used to make hard copies of the transfer orders.The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a cooperative owned by 3,000 financial institutions. SWIFT software is supposed to securely send and receive information about financial transactions; the messaging platform is reportedly used by 11,000 banks worldwide. SWIFT admitted to Reuters that it was aware of malware targeting its client software “Alliance Access,” which is not used by all 11,000 banks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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IDG Contributor Network: Cyberattack prediction to improve drastically

False positives are a scourge in cyberattack detection partly because of the way machine learning detects attacks. It’s done through what’s called anomaly detection where the artificial intelligence (AI) searches for code that isn’t as expected.That “tends to trigger false positives,” says MIT News, writing about a new AI platform that its scientists say will alleviate the trip-ups.The way they want to do it is to simply add humans to the mix. “Distrust of the system” means results have “to be investigated by humans, anyway,” MIT News says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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17% off FitBit Aria WiFi Smart Scale – Deal Alert

Fitbit's Aria WiFi smart scale is a great add-on for anyone using a Fitbit to track progress towards their fitness goals. The current 17% discount shaves $22.64 off its regular $129.95 list price, so you can buy it now on Amazon for $107.31 (see this item on Amazon). The Fitbit Aria will accurately track weight, % body fat, and Body Mass Index (BMI) for up to 8 users. Using WiFi, data is automatically uploaded to your Fitbit account, so you can graph and track your progress easily and privately online.The product averages 3.5 out of 5 stars from over 4,500 people on Amazon (see reviews). Click over to Amazon for more information and to review buying options for the discounted Fitbit Aria smart scale.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Raspberry Pi beret: An ode to Prince

Confirming that there really are no original ideas left, I had the thought that the Raspberry Pi Foundation might want to come out with Raspberry Pi berets to honor the musician Prince (and his song "Raspberry Beret") in the wake of his recent death. But sure enough, a Google search reveals that someone already came up with this idea a year ago. MORE: RIP Prince, a legendary musician with a complicated Internet history Albeit, the idea was actually a 2015 April Fool's joke on the website Hackaday. "Now, the partnership we’ve all been waiting for: the Raspberry Pi Foundation and [The Artist Formerly Known As... ] are teaming up to produce a line of Pi-based wearable electronics. The first product from this new, fashionable line of electronics is beyond anything you would expect. It’s called the Raspberry Beret, and it’s shaping up to be a Revolution in wearables."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Cool products at OpenStack Austin Summit

New productsThe open source cloud computing market descends on Austin, Texas, this week for the OpenStack Summit, the twice a year conference that showcases the platform and plans for its future. Check out some of the coolest products and services from the show.HPE Helion OpenStack 3.0Key features: Helion OpenStack 3.0, HPE’s latest OpenStack platform release, features enhancements designed to deliver improved configurability and tighter controls to maximize operational efficiency, without vendor lock-in, for easier private cloud deployment. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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New security fabric to unite Fortinet gear with that of other vendors

Fortinet is embarking on a mission for some of its firewalls and other products and those of third-party vendors to work together to boost security across core networks, remote devices and the cloud.Called Fortinet Security Fabric, the architecture relies on direct communications inherent among certain of its own products (such as the FortiGate next-generation firewall, FortiWeb Web application firewall, FortiMail email security and FortiSandbox advanced threat protection system) as well as with those of other vendors via APIs.Each third-party device can participate in sharing information depending on the capabilities of its API, says John Maddison, Fortinet’s senior vice president of products and solutions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Bangladesh Bank attackers used custom malware that hijacked SWIFT software

The hackers who stole US $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank likely used custom malware designed to interfere with the SWIFT transaction software used by many financial institutions.The attackers attempted to transfer $951 million out of Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February, but most of the transfers were blocked before completion. The attackers did manage to send $81 million to accounts in the Philippines, and that money is still missing.Researchers from BAE Systems have recently come across several malware components that they believe are part of a custom attack toolkit that was likely used in the heist.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Bangladesh Bank attackers used custom malware that hijacked SWIFT software

The hackers who stole US $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank likely used custom malware designed to interfere with the SWIFT transaction software used by many financial institutions.The attackers attempted to transfer $951 million out of Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February, but most of the transfers were blocked before completion. The attackers did manage to send $81 million to accounts in the Philippines, and that money is still missing.Researchers from BAE Systems have recently come across several malware components that they believe are part of a custom attack toolkit that was likely used in the heist.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Empty DDoS Threats: Meet the Armada Collective

Beginning in March 2016, we began hearing reports of a gang of cybercriminals once again calling themselves the Armada Collective. The calling card of the gang was an extortion email sent to a wide variety of online businesses threatening to launch DDoS attacks if they weren't paid in Bitcoin.

From The Wizard of Oz (1939)

We heard from more than 100 existing and prospective CloudFlare customers who had received the Armada Collective's emailed threats. We've also compared notes with other DDoS mitigation vendors with customers that had received similar threats.

Our conclusion was a bit of a surprise: we've been unable to find a single incident where the current incarnation of the Armada Collective has actually launched a DDoS attack. In fact, because the extortion emails reuse Bitcoin addresses, there's no way the Armada Collective can tell who has paid and who has not. In spite of that, the cybercrooks have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in extortion payments.

The Threat

The extortion emails sent by the Armada Collective have been remarkably consistent over the last two months. Here's an example:

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Using MEDs to optimize internet exchange paths

The post Using MEDs to optimize internet exchange paths appeared first on Noction.

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15 ways to not get fired from your dream job

This week a famous pitcher who clearly should have known better, lost his very high paying job at ESPN. It reminded me how many kids fresh out of college undid all of those years in school by getting fired for doing something similar.9. Avoid being a prankster. Every office has one and every once in a while things go terribly wrong. There are some legendary pranks like taking one CEO’s Ferrari apart and then reassembling it in his office.   I’m still a little bit awed about that one; and if you are part of a team of top engineers in the company you might get away with it, if you are a first year employee and you even scratch said Ferrari you’ll likely be toast. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen someone being escorted off campus saying something to the effect of, “it was just a prank.”  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

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Software audits: How high tech plays hardball

When the software audit request came from Adobe two years ago, Margaret Smith (not her real name) thought it was business as usual. As a governance risk and compliance specialist for a Fortune 500 company, she was used to getting audited several times each year.“Usually these things start out friendly,” she says. “We get a request for an audit, and there’s some negotiation involved. They want do an on-site audit or request specific employee IDs, and we say no. But this time they came out swinging. Within two weeks they were threatening to bring in the lawyers.”[ To build or to buy IT applications? InfoWorld sheds light on this eternal questions. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. ] Smith’s firm, a maker of consumer goods, had licensed at least 55 different Adobe products in offices around the globe. Now the software maker was accusing her firm of using far more software than it had a right to.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Feds seek public input on the future of IoT

The U.S. government believes the Internet of Things (IoT) has enormous economic potential across all industries. Its machine-to-machine technologies can reduce automobile-related injuries, usher in an era of precise weather forecasting and automate all types of processes.But what impact will IoT have on jobs? Will it create more than it destroys? And what happens to all the data devices generate?With those kinds of issues at stake, the U.S. Department of Commerce is now seeking public comment on the "benefits, challenges and potential roles for the government in fostering the advancement of the Internet of Things." There are 28 questions, and multiple sub-parts to some questions. It's a long list.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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4 tech nightmares keeping IT leaders up at night

Being a CIO isn't an easy job, not when hackers are coming at you from all sides trying to get their hands on that sweet, sweet data. It’s especially nerve-racking because one breach can turn a company from a respectable business to one that looks like it protects its information with a layer of Swiss cheese. Here are four things keeping CIOs up at night – and ways to help them fall back asleep again – or at least into a light doze instead of staring at the ceiling waiting for a hacker to break through.1. Dude, where's my data? Andrew Hay, CISO for DataGravity, says one concern might seem a simple one: "the lack of data awareness that organizations have in terms of where information is stored and what type of sensitive information is accessible by people who shouldn't have it," he says. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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First Steps In The Program Model For Persistent Memory

In the previous article, we left off with the basic storage model having its objects first existing as changed in the processor’s cache, then being aged into volatile DRAM memory, often with changes first logged synchronously into I/O-based persistent storage, and later with the object’s changes proper later copied from volatile memory into persistent storage. That has been the model for what seems like forever.

With variations, that can be the storage model for Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s The Machine as well. Since The Machine has a separate class of volatile DRAM memory along with rapidly-accessible, byte-addressable persistent memory accessible globally, the …

First Steps In The Program Model For Persistent Memory was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.