BlackBerry shocks with Q4 profit but CEO Chen can’t stop sales slide

BlackBerry surprised Wall Street by getting its bottom line back into the black in the fourth quarter, but sales shrunk significantly again, putting in question CEO John Chen’s assertion that the company’s turnaround is on track.BlackBerry is trying to become less dependent on hardware, counting instead on software such as the BES12 enterprise mobile management platform, which can be used to manage not only the company’s devices but also iOS, Android and Windows Phone smartphones.During the quarter, which ended Feb. 28, software revenue grew 24 percent on a sequential basis and 20 percent year-on-year to US$67 million, the company said Friday morning before the U.S. financial markets opened.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Musing: HP Networking Futures after deals with Aruba & H3C

HP Networking will acquire Aruba and now it is selling 51% stake in H3C to a Chinese venture capital firm.  What could this mean for HP Networking customers ?  The sale of a controlling interest in H3C means that HP Networking has government support (blessing?) to sell products in China. The Chinese government has been […]


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Go Go Gadget Networking Lab!

For the last few years, if you wanted to set up a virtual network environment (for testing purposes, or setting up a lab, etc), it was more or less a manual process of installing software like the CSR 1000v from an ISO or OVA. Rinse and repeat. If you were fortunate enough to work at a company with decent virtual machine automation and infrastructure (and had access to it) then you could in theory make this a little easier, but it’s hardly portable. However, this is still much better than it was only a few short years ago, when many vendors simply did not offer a virtual machine version of their routers and firewalls.

The other day I was catching up on some Twitter feed, and I noticed a tweet from John Deatherage that caught my eye:

I’ve been using Vagrant for about a year, so I’ve got a bit of experience with it, but mostly with server operating systems. Seeing this tweet reference it’s use in the context of spinning up instances of a Continue reading

Go Go Gadget Networking Lab!

For the last few years, if you wanted to set up a virtual network environment (for testing purposes, or setting up a lab, etc), it was more or less a manual process of installing software like the CSR 1000v from an ISO or OVA. Rinse and repeat. If you were fortunate enough to work at a company with decent virtual machine automation and infrastructure (and had access to it) then you could in theory make this a little easier, but it’s hardly portable. However, this is still much better than it was only a few short years ago, when many vendors simply did not offer a virtual machine version of their routers and firewalls.

The other day I was catching up on some Twitter feed, and I noticed a tweet from John Deatherage that caught my eye:

I’ve been using Vagrant for about a year, so I’ve got a bit of experience with it, but mostly with server operating systems. Seeing this tweet reference it’s use in the context of spinning up instances of a Continue reading

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Friday, March 27

Twitter answers Meerkat with its own video streaming appTwo weeks after confirming it had acquired Periscope, Twitter has launched the live video streaming app to compete with buzzed-about Meerkat. Both apps post live-streamed video to your Twitter feed, but Twitter has now blocked the competitor from accessing follower/followed lists.UN to appoint privacy watchdogThe United Nations’ Human Rights Council has voted to appoint a watchdog—“special rapporteur” in UN-speak—to monitor privacy in the digital world. The post comes with mostly advisory powers, but the move, backed by Germany and Brazil, is seen as important amid concerns about surveillance by the U.S. and other countries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Friday, March 27

Twitter answers Meerkat with its own video streaming appTwo weeks after confirming it had acquired Periscope, Twitter has launched the live video streaming app to compete with buzzed-about Meerkat. Both apps post live-streamed video to your Twitter feed, but Twitter has now blocked the competitor from accessing follower/followed lists.UN to appoint privacy watchdogThe United Nations’ Human Rights Council has voted to appoint a watchdog—“special rapporteur” in UN-speak—to monitor privacy in the digital world. The post comes with mostly advisory powers, but the move, backed by Germany and Brazil, is seen as important amid concerns about surveillance by the U.S. and other countries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft wants to make Powerpoint more Web-friendly, buys LiveLoop

Microsoft has acquired LiveLoop and its technology for sharing PowerPoint presentations online more easily.The software giant didn’t reveal any financial details, but confirmed the deal via email saying the team from LiveLoop will help build great collaboration across Office applications, as part of the company’s strategy to reinvent productivity.Beyond that, MIcrosoft isn’t revealing what it plans to do with LiveLoop. The acquisition, however, fits well with its plan to make its applications and services available on as many devices as possible irrespective of the OS.LiveLoop’s technology converts PowerPoint files into URLs that can be viewed from computers and smartphones without installing any software, according to the company’s website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsegmentation in VMware NSX on Software Gone Wild

VM NIC firewalls have been around for years (they’re also the reason I got my first invitation to the awesome Troopers conference), but it sounds so much better when you call them Microsegmentation (not the one I talked about @ Troopers this year).

Marketing gimmicks aside, VMware NSX includes an interesting in-kernel stateful firewall, and Brad Hedlund was kind enough to explain the intricacies of that feature in Episode 27 of Software Gone Wild

UN to appoint watchdog to focus on privacy in digital age

The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has voted in favor of a resolution backed by Germany and Brazil to appoint an independent watchdog or ‘special rapporteur’ to monitor privacy rights in the digital age.The council said Thursday that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy.The proposed appointment of the rapporteur is likely to be mainly symbolic as the official’s functions will be mainly advisory. But it reflects continuing concerns around the world about privacy in the wake of disclosures of U.S. surveillance by former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

UN to appoint watchdog to focus on privacy in digital age

The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has voted in favor of a resolution backed by Germany and Brazil to appoint an independent watchdog or ‘special rapporteur’ to monitor privacy rights in the digital age.The council said Thursday that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy.The proposed appointment of the rapporteur is likely to be mainly symbolic as the official’s functions will be mainly advisory. But it reflects continuing concerns around the world about privacy in the wake of disclosures of U.S. surveillance by former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

At Facebook, a sharpening focus on virtual reality

In 10 years, there may be no need to check Facebook’s site to see what that friend overseas is up to. You might just pick up a pair of goggles, reach out and hold her hand at her birthday party.You won’t have to actually be there. The experience could be made possible through virtual reality.Facebook sees it as a radical and important technology that in the not-too-distant future could provide new ways to help people connect and transport them to places that are out of reach or don’t even exist. Providing those experiences is among Facebook’s ambitious long-term goals, along with providing Internet access through aerial drones and deepening its artificial intelligence technology to better understand what people want.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

An SDN vulnerability forced OpenDaylight to focus on security

Open-source software projects are often well intended, but security can take a back seat to making the code work.OpenDaylight, the multivendor software-defined networking (SDN) project, learned that the hard way last August after a critical vulnerability was found in its platform.It took until December for the flaw, called Netdump, to get patched, a gap in time exacerbated by the fact that the project didn’t yet have a dedicated security team. After he tried and failed to get in touch with OpenDaylight, the finder of the vulnerability, Gregory Pickett, posted it on Bugtraq, a popular mailing list for security flaws.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

An SDN vulnerability forced OpenDaylight to focus on security

Open-source software projects are often well intended, but security can take a back seat to making the code work. OpenDaylight, the multivendor software-defined networking (SDN) project, learned that the hard way last August after a critical vulnerability was found in its platform. It took until December for the flaw, called Netdump, to get patched, a gap in time exacerbated by the fact that the project didn’t yet have a dedicated security team. After he tried and failed to get in touch with OpenDaylight, the finder of the vulnerability, Gregory Pickett, posted it on Bugtraq, a popular mailing list for security flaws.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Go Go Gadget Networking Lab!

For the last few years, if you wanted to set up a virtual network environment (for testing purposes, or setting up a lab, etc), it was more or less a manual process of installing software like the CSR 1000v from an ISO or OVA. Rinse and repeat. If you were fortunate enough to work at a company with decent virtual machine automation and infrastructure (and had access to it) then you could in theory make this a little easier, but it’s hardly portable.

Go Go Gadget Networking Lab!

For the last few years, if you wanted to set up a virtual network environment (for testing purposes, or setting up a lab, etc), it was more or less a manual process of installing software like the CSR 1000v from an ISO or OVA. Rinse and repeat. If you were fortunate enough to work at a company with decent virtual machine automation and infrastructure (and had access to it) then you could in theory make this a little easier, but it’s hardly portable.

How to boot an encrypted system safely

These are my notes on how to set up a system securely, in a way that would prevent attackers from being capable of performing an “evil maid attack”.

The threat model

You have a Linux server that you want to protect against data theft and other backdoors. The attacker can get physical access to your hardware, for example by having access to the server room that houses your rack.

Your attacker is funded, but not super well funded. This will not protect you against intelligence agencies.

The attacker can buy a new server that looks just like the one you have. You will not be able to tell the difference from physical inspection.

You want to know that it’s safe to log in to your server after a suspicious power outage or reboot.

This solution assumes that once the system is booted and you log in, you have access to the secret data. In other words, this is not a protection for gaming consoles or kiosks.

Overview of the solution

First of all, full disk encryption using dm-crypt. Obviously. (other FDE also acceptable, of course)

Walking up to the server and typing the passphrase every reboot is not only tedious Continue reading

How to boot an encrypted system safely

These are my notes on how to set up a system securely, in a way that would prevent attackers from being capable of performing an “evil maid attack”.

The threat model

You have a Linux server that you want to protect against data theft and other backdoors. The attacker can get physical access to your hardware, for example by having access to the server room that houses your rack.

Your attacker is funded, but not super well funded. This will not protect you against intelligence agencies.

The attacker can buy a new server that looks just like the one you have. You will not be able to tell the difference from physical inspection.

You want to know that it’s safe to log in to your server after a suspicious power outage or reboot.

This solution assumes that once the system is booted and you log in, you have access to the secret data. In other words, this is not a protection for gaming consoles or kiosks.

Overview of the solution

First of all, full disk encryption using dm-crypt. Obviously. (other FDE also acceptable, of course)

Walking up to the server and typing the passphrase every reboot is not only tedious Continue reading