Docker containers vs. OpenStack clouds

Matt Asay has a smart piece over on InfoWorld about some ongoing struggles with OpenStack, as evidenced by Red Hat’s most recent earnings call.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: What broke Amazon's cloud +It begs the question: Are containers to blame?Here’s Asay: As big as the community behind OpenStack has been, [Red Hat CEO Jim] Whitehurst declared Docker the “single biggest topic that comes up among ... [Red Hat’s] leading [customers].” In fact, Whitehurst noted that he hears more from customers about Docker than OpenStack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ZingBox: Startup brings Cisco, Stanford pedigree to IoT security

ZingBox, an Internet of Things security startup whose founders have ties to Cisco and Stanford University, is working on software that guards IoT devices from threats on the Internet. May Wang The year-old company’s focus is upgrading routers and gateways with intelligence to detect when IoT devices are behaving abnormally, indicating that they might be compromised, says May Wang, CTO of the company and a co-founder who spent 14 years at Cisco in its office of the CTO where she was a principal architect.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Real Jobs for Real Robots

Real Jobs for Real RobotsImage by REUTERS/Issei KatoIt’s quite possible someday soon that robots may deliver food to your table in a restaurant or gather up your laundry and bring it to the laundry room – that is if some of the machines featured in this slideshow make it out of the research labs and into the real world. Here we take a look at 18 robots that are already functioning in a variety of real life jobs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The 25 most powerful enterprise networking companies

The bosses are here It’s the 25 companies that have the biggest effects on how U.S.-based enterprise networks operate. They’re a diverse bunch – some make switches, others chips. Some are big carriers, others are big fish in little ponds. And plenty aren’t, technically speaking, networking companies at all. Nevertheless, these are our picks for the biggest influencers on the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New malware program infects ATMs, dispenses cash on command

Security researchers have discovered a new malware program that infects automated teller machines (ATMs) and allows attackers to extract cash on command.The program is dubbed GreenDispenser and was detected in Mexico. However, it's only a matter of time until similar attacks are adopted by cybercriminals in other countries, researchers from security firm Proofpoint said in a blog post.GreenDispenser is not the first malware program to target ATMs. In October 2013, security researchers from Symantec warned about a backdoor called Ploutus that could infect ATMs when a new boot disk is inserted into their CD-ROM drives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dell expands campus, data center switches

Dell this week expanded its campus and data center switching lineup with products designed simplify topologies and support new data rates.In the campus, Dell unveiled the C9010 Network Director switch and the C1048P Rapid Access Node. These new switches are intended to flatten network topologies into two tiers but with logical connectivity to make those two tiers appear as one.+MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: Dell celebrates disaggregation’s first anniversary+The switches are based on Broadcom’s Trident II silicon, which incorporates a tagging mechanism for node-to-director connectivity and virtual grouping into a single management and administrative domain. Dell says this provides a single management view from access to core, and a single point of control for quality of service, policy provisioning, software upgrades, and programming software-defined attributes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Geek Speak Round Up – Network Management

Thwack Community

I mentioned a few months ago that I had been asked to write some thought-provoking blogs on the subject of network management for the Solarwinds Thwack Community “Geek Speak” area. I’ve now finished my six posts, and while they won’t be reproduced on movingpackets.net, I’m linking to them here as I think they touch on some subjects close to my Software Defined Heart.

Click da pic to read the article.

1. Do You Monitor Your Network Interfaces?

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2. The Perils of High Speed Logging

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3. Could SNMP Please Just Die Already?

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4. Keeping Your Secrets Secret

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5. DHCP As A Configuration Tool

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6. Network Management Isn’t Enough Any More

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I hope you find something to think about or react to there. I’ve tried to blend some hyperbole with a tablespoon of annoyance and a light dash of technical reality. If you have any specific comments on any of these posts, the right thing to do would be to login to Thwack and comment there, but I’ll take any feedback you want to give, wherever it is.

 

 

Disclosures

I am participating in the Solarwinds Thwack Ambassador program on a paid basis for July-September 2015. My posts Continue reading

Ransomware pushers up their game against small businesses

After extorting millions from consumers over the past few years, file-encrypting ransomware creators are increasingly focusing their attention on victims who are more likely to pay up: small and medium-sized businesses.Throughout June and July, over 67 percent of users who clicked on malicious links in CryptoWall-related emails were from the SMB sector, researchers from antivirus vendor Trend Micro found. An additional 17 percent were from within large enterprises.CryptoWall is one of the most widespread ransomware programs, infecting nearly 625,000 systems between March and August 2014 and many more since then. Researchers estimate that it has earned well over $1 million for its creators.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HP’s struggles reflected in CIOs IT purchasing plans

HP's plan to lay off 33,000 workers over the next three years -- the latest step in its massive restructuring -- underscores the challenges the tech giant faces as it seeks to adapt to changing demands in corporate computing.CIOs, many of whom are under pressure to inject digital capabilities into their businesses and support increasingly mobile workforces, are shifting spending away from enterprise hardware and services to cloud, mobile and analytics software. Incumbent vendors are scrambling to keep up, each in different ways. However, HP’s answer to the challenges is the most dramatic and headline-grabbing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple devs: Don’t let Apple’s Xcode validation scare you

The Apple App Store has long enjoyed a sterling reputation for screening out malware. But last weekend, the company pulled apps infected with XcodeGhost malware from the Chinese Apple App Store -- infected apps that had apparently been created with a counterfeit version of Apple's Xcode IDE by unsuspecting developers.As a precaution, Apple emailed its developers on Tuesday, recommending that they validate their installed version of Xcode using a simple procedure to ensure it wasn't a hacked version. The email also contained a reminder to "always download Xcode directly from the Mac App Store, or from the Apple Developer website, and leave Gatekeeper enabled on all your systems to protect against tampered software."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Privacy group calls for a boycott of tech companies supporting CISA

Privacy advocates are stepping up their lobbying efforts against the controversial cyber threat information sharing bill currently in Congress after several tech giants indicated their support.Activist group Fight for the Future criticized Salesforce for supporting legislation which would "grant blanket immunity for American companies to participate in government mass surveillance programs like PRISM, without meaningfully addressing any of the fundamental cyber security problems we face in the U.S." Accordingly, Fight for the Future said it will abandon the Heroku cloud application platform within the next 90 days and encourages others to follow suit. The letter to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was posted on the site YouBetrayedUs.org.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybersecurity hall of fame names inductees

Incoming class The National Cyber Security Hall of Fame has announced its recent class of inductees. In noting them we also highlight some of the past winners. The hall of fame recognizes the history and contributions of pioneers, innovators and educators who influenced the industry. The inductees are chosen by a board of advisers. Pictured from left to right are: Susan Landau, Steven Lipner, Cynthia Irvine, Ron Ross, and Jerry Saltzer is in front.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here