Do We Need NAC and 802.1x?

Another question I got in my Inbox:

What is your opinion on NAC and 802.1x for wired networks? Is there a better way to solve user access control at layer 2? Or is this a poor man's way to avoid network segmentation and internal network firewalls.

Unless you can trust all users (fat chance) or run a network with no access control (unlikely, unless you’re a coffee shop), you need to authenticate the users anyway.

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Tech companies ask Senate to pass NSA reform bill

Reform Government Surveillance, an organization that represents large technology companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft, on Tuesday pressed the U.S. Senate not to delay reform of National Security Agency surveillance by extending expiring provisions of the Patriot Act.The House of Representatives voted 338-88 last week to approve the USA Freedom Act that would, among other things, stop the controversial bulk collection of phone records of Americans by the NSA, including by placing restrictions on the search terms used to retrieve the records.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

St. Louis Federal Reserve forces password change after DNS attack

A branch of the U.S.’s central bank is forcing a password reset after a cyberattack briefly redirected visitors to parts of its website to bogus Web pages.The Federal Reserve of St. Louis found on April 24 that DNS (domain name system) settings had been changed to redirect people to fake Web pages. The bank didn’t name its DNS provider. Those who visited those pages may have been exposed to malware or had their login credentials stolen.“If you attempted to log into your user account on that date, it is possible that this malicious group may have accessed your user name and password,” an advisory said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New encryption flaw, LogJam, puts Web surfers at risk

Computer security experts said they’ve found a new encryption flaw closely related to one found earlier this year that puts Web surfers’ data at risk.The flaw, called LogJam, can allow an attacker to significantly weaken the encrypted connection between a user and a Web or email server, said Matthew D. Green, an assistant research professor in the department of computer science at Johns Hopkins University.About 7 percent of websites on the Internet are vulnerable to LogJam along with many email servers. A website has been set up with more information.Green was part of a team including experts from the University of Michigan and the French research institute Inria who found LogJam a few months ago.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dropbox unleashes ‘universal app’ for Windows phones and tablets

Early this year, Dropbox released its cloud storage service on Windows phones and tablets, and on Tuesday the company followed up with a universal app that fleshes out the features for both types of devices.The update automatically adapts to the user’s screen size and delivers a number of new features, including the ability for Windows Phone users to upload videos directly from their devices.In the interests of multitasking, Windows Phone users can also now upload multiple files at once. And they can download files straight to their device or SD card, making it available for offline access; there’s a way to mark files as favorites for offline use as well.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CSC to split in two, spin off US public sector work

IT services vendor Computer Sciences Corp. plans to separate its $4.1 billion U.S. public sector business to form a new company, it said Tuesday.The move is the latest step in a restructuring that began three years ago and will see CSC’s mission divided between U.S. government clients and all others.The U.S. public sector business, expected to be operational by October, will target federal, state and defense customers and employ 14,000 people. That business generated $4.1 billion in revenue last year.CSC’s remaining 51,000 employees will focus on commercial customers, and public sector organizations outside the U.S. That business recorded revenue of $8.1 billion last year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Critical vulnerability in NetUSB driver exposes millions of routers to hacking

Millions of routers and other embedded devices are affected by a serious vulnerability that could allow hackers to compromise them.The vulnerability is located in a service called NetUSB, which lets devices connected over USB to a computer be shared with other machines on a local network or the Internet via IP (Internet Protocol). The shared devices can be printers, webcams, thumb drives, external hard disks and more.NetUSB is implemented in Linux-based embedded systems, such as routers, as a kernel driver. The driver is developed by Taiwan-based KCodes Technology. Once enabled, it opens a server that listens on TCP port 20005 for connecting clients.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Energy Dept. wants big wind energy technology in all 50 states

Bigger wind turbines and towers are just part of what the United States needs to more effectively use wind energy in all 50 states. That was the basic thrust of a future wind energy call to arms report called “Enabling Wind Power nationwide” issued this week by the Department of Energy which details new technology that can reach higher into the sky to capture more energy and more powerful turbines to generate more gigawatts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tutorial: Email server for a small company – including IMAP for mobiles, SPF and DKIM

For best article visual quality, open Tutorial: Email server for a small company – including IMAP for mobiles, SPF and DKIM directly at NetworkGeekStuff.

email_iconA few months back my wife started a small business. Of course I was the one to build the “IT stuff” here that included a website, some reservation system on it for customers (php programming here), local network in the office and customer area and other things. Most of that was all pretty common tasks for me with the exception of one, building an email system for a company emails. So I built it and since it was new and interesting experience for me, I will share here a quick tutorial (or better call this a cookbook?) to replicate the very minimum system.

Now also let me state here that I really missed somehow in my life running a real email system so far. And it was a little challenge to setup it properly for the first time. I always thought in the past that installing SMTP daemon in linux and activating it for all local users was all that I will ever need (because up to this point my needs were only to receive Continue reading

Tweets now appear in Google search results

Performing a search on Google now also displays relevant tweets from Twitter. The integration will widely distribute Twitter content beyond its own site and is also aimed at adding a new real-time element to Google search results.The changes, previously announced earlier this year, take effect starting Tuesday for Google’s search app on iOS and Android as well as the mobile Web, for U.S. users searching in English. A desktop version is coming shortly, Twitter said in a blog post. The feature will roll out to more countries in the coming months.Google has provided links to tweets in its search results for some time. But the new integration will display actual tweets, including photos contained in them. Searchers can also click on the tweets to view them within Twitter.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Energy servers bring eco fuel cells to Comcast, IKEA buildings

What do cable company Comcast and furniture seller IKEA have in common, other than that one of them requires the other's birch veneer entertainment center to hold its cable box?Both are using fuel cells to power some of their buildings.Social currency Bloom Energy, which makes fuel cell generators, is seeing interest in its carbon footprint-friendly electricity fuel cell systems as the corporate world clamors to obtain brownie points from the public looking to do business with socially aware companies. Fuel cells are clean, sometimes renewable energy sources.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

May Ansible Training Recording

Untitled_designWe held another free Ansible Training session today. These trainings are held online and are scheduled twice a month. If you haven't attended one yet, please register here. The trainings are free, run about two hours and cover a number of Ansible basics.

Here is the recording from today's session:

Feds slap PayPal with $25 million fine over credit service

The nation’s financial consumer protection watchdog has ordered PayPal to cough up US$25 million in fines for deceptive practices around the company’s credit service, which included signing up customers for the service without their consent.PayPal illegally signed up customers for PayPal Credit, formerly known as Bill Me Later, without their permission, made it their default payment method, and then failed to address disputes when customers complained, said Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray in the agency’s announcement Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The coolest smartphone not made by Apple is coming to America

Yota, the Russian smartphone maker with the dual-screen phone, announced this week that it will bring its YotaPhone 2 to the U.S. through an Indiegogo campaign to raise $50,000 to pay for certifications and regulatory fees in North America.And the crowd has delivered. As of this writing, Yota has raised $80,000 in just a few hours, well beyond what it needed. Now to clear the FCC hurdles.The YotaPhone 2 can be pre-ordered for $500, and you get a three-month subscription to BookMate as well as a Yota Bumper case. There is also the Yota Wireless Power Bank for wireless charging, which will cost $50.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft does something else right with Windows 10

Microsoft seems determined to do the right thing with the upcoming version of Windows. After decades of sticking it to loyal Windows users with pricey upgrades and short-term perspectives, Microsoft under Satya Nadella seems to have seen the light.See also: Microsoft does the right thing, makes Windows 10 a free upgrade Earlier this year, Microsoft made the enlightened decision to make Windows 10 a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, and it has recently become clear that Microsoft will take another step to support Windows 10 users. The company intends to bypass the mobile carriers and update Windows 10 mobile devices directly as well—at least for business users with its Windows Update for Business program.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Survey claims New York startup scene is more innovative

A new survey is attempting to kick-start a rivalry between New York and Silicon Valley, claiming tomorrow’s innovative tech companies will pick east over west to set up shop.Out of 318 executives surveyed, more picked New York over Silicon Valley as the superior place to start a business, due to factors such as growing interest from venture capitalists, support from city and state government, and the considerable talent pool from Wall Street firms and Fortune 500 companies in the city.The survey was conducted by a New York-based data analysis company, 1010data, so we should probably take the findings with a grain of salt. But it claims the executives surveyed, taken from its customer base, were from companies throughout the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

12 lesser-known Apple Watch tips and tricks you should know

It can even tell the time!Nearly four weeks after the Apple Watch first launched, it seems that Apple has finally gotten a grasp on supply issues. With the pool of Apple Watch users growing each and every week, it's high time that we focus on some of the cooler and lesser-known features of Apple's new wearable. While some basic features like checking text messages or answering calls are pretty well known, the Apple Watch, as with most Apple products, houses a number of compelling features underneath the surface which serve to make the device all the more useful.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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