Work Smarter, Not Harder with Security Baseline Configuration Automation

Many security baseline processes are rife with challenges. Whether organizations use scripts to manually brute-force their system-level compliance baseline, or perhaps leverage the all-too-common “Gold Disk” approach, routine security baseline compliance remediation remains largely an unsolved and constant challenge even for the most mature of IT organizations.

Even for organizations that are using an existing management tool to help with their security baselining, issues frequently arise around how to identify systems that require baselining as they come online, and then immediately recognize what needs to be done on those systems in order to verify their compliance.

To add to the challenge, applying a baseline to a newly deployed server or application is one thing, but validating compliance throughout the server and application lifecycle typically requires a separate set of tools or processes, or at very least scripts that are smart enough to smartly change the existing state of a server or application without impacting its availability.

MindPoint Group knew there was a better way. The security folks at MindPoint group are leveraging the power and simplicity of Ansible to bring automation to the problem of security baselines. And thanks to Ansible’s design, the work that MindPoint group has done is Continue reading

Cheap mobile subscriptions the bait as Euro operators become more aggressive

Consumers seem to be coming out on top as a growing number of European telecom and cable operators offer discounted mobile subscriptions as a bonus for choosing other services.Bundles with broadband, telephony and TV across fixed and mobile networks are becoming increasingly important for operators across the continent. The latest example is British operator BT, which on Wednesday announced its return to the consumer mobile market.The expressed goal is to offer the best-value, 4G SIM-only mobile deals as a reward for its broadband customers. The cheapest plan costs £5 (US$7.40) per month and includes 500MB of data, unlimited texts and 200 voice minutes. BT’s broadband subscribers can also choose a plan with 2GB of data, unlimited texts and 500 voice minutes for £12 per month, the operator said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cheap mobile subscriptions the bait as Euro operators become more aggressive

Consumers seem to be coming out on top as a growing number of European telecom and cable operators offer discounted mobile subscriptions as a bonus for choosing other services.Bundles with broadband, telephony and TV across fixed and mobile networks are becoming increasingly important for operators across the continent. The latest example is British operator BT, which on Wednesday announced its return to the consumer mobile market.The expressed goal is to offer the best-value, 4G SIM-only mobile deals as a reward for its broadband customers. The cheapest plan costs £5 (US$7.40) per month and includes 500MB of data, unlimited texts and 200 voice minutes. BT’s broadband subscribers can also choose a plan with 2GB of data, unlimited texts and 500 voice minutes for £12 per month, the operator said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Nigeria joins list of African countries threatening prison sentences for mobile operators

Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecom market, has joined the list of countries on the continent that will impose prison sentences on officials at mobile operators that continually fail to deliver quality services to customers.Tanzania and Zambia are among African countries imposing prison sentences on mobile operators who do not provide quality telecom services.The Nigeria Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has warned mobile phone operators that it would soon start filing criminal charges against them as a way of whipping them to order. The consumer watchdog, supervised by the Nigerian government under the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, said lack of strict punishment for erring companies had led to a situation where consumers no longer get value for their money in the West African country.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hands on: AT&T Velocity hits the WiFi hotspot

AT&T Velocity I’m using the ZTE-built AT&T Velocity WiFi hotspot as I write up my quickie review of the device here, and sure enough it’s providing me with ample speed as I fact check on the web during this process. The basic purpose for the device is to provide you with 2.4- or 5-GHz WiFi Internet access – via an AT&T 4G LTE connection -- when you can’t find free or safe WiFi in the wild. You just need to make sure you’re not somewhere that blocks usage of such devices – a practice frowned upon by the FCC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US lawmakers push for auctions of gov’t spectrum

A group of U.S. lawmakers has reintroduced legislation aimed at encouraging government agencies to give up their spectrum by allowing the agencies to share in the profits when the spectrum is auctioned to commercial mobile carriers.The Federal Spectrum Incentive Act, introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives Thursday, mirrors legislation that was introduced in the House in 2013 but failed to pass. But the need for the bill is growing, sponsors argue, because of the skyrocketing consumer demand for commercial mobile and unlicensed WiFi spectrum.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech companies call on US to end bulk collection of metadata

A slew of tech companies have joined privacy groups in calling for the U.S. government to reform its surveillance practices.An open letter from the tech industry and privacy organizations urges the government to not renew the provision in the Patriot Act that allows for the bulk collection of metadata. That provision, called Section 215, expires in June.“There must be a clear, strong, and effective end to bulk collection practices,” reads the letter, which was signed by the industry group Reform Government Surveillance, whose members include including Apple, Facebook, Google, Evernote, Twitter and Microsoft. Any data collection efforts need to protect user rights and privacy, the letter said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Gold Apple Watch buyers will receive special treatment

When the upcoming Apple Watch goes on sale on April 24, it will be the most complex and downright confusing product Apple has ever released, by far. With an assortment of styles, bands, and materials, there will be a seemingly never-ending selection of options for users to choose from.At the same time, the Apple Watch will be the most expensive product Apple has ever released. While the Sport models will start at just $349 (for the 38mm version), the Edition models will start at $10,000 and range all the way up to $17,000. Naturally, not every Apple Store will carry the expensive gold Edition models. During Apple's most recent Apple Watch event, Tim Cook noted that only select stores will carry the device, and in limited quantities at that. What's more, it's been reported that the Edition Apple Watch models will be safely stowed away in secure safes in-store, much in the same way that boutique watch stores protect their most valued merchandise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ZTE’s Nubia Z9 Max phablet packs a powerful camera

Not to be outdone by the iPhone 6 Plus, Chinese vendor ZTE has come out with its own high-end phablet, the Nubia Z9 Max—an aluminum smartphone with a feature-packed camera.The Android phone, unveiled Thursday, is slated to come to China first, but the company plans to bring it to North America, Europe and emerging markets later.I tested the device and found it impressive. Chinese vendors are releasing more top-notch handsets, and ZTE’s Nubia team has added to the trend with the Z9 Max.The phone delivers what you would expect from premium handsets, some of which already feature metal frames, the latest Qualcomm chipsets, and 1080p displays.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge lead the Android pack

Samsung's new flagship Android smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, go on sale tomorrow at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless and ship on April 10. Fortunately, we managed to get our hands on the shipping hardware in advance. The results of our evaluation: Both devices are major steps up for the Android ecosystem, marrying enhanced hardware capabilities, better security, and a cleaner user interface with a strong design derived from both Apple's iPhone 6 and HTC's One. But as good as they are, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge come with a few quirks and one apparent bug.[ iOS vs. Android vs. BlackBerry vs. Windows Phone -- find out which platform provides the security you need. | Considering Samsung's Knox security? Discover how Knox compares to Google's Android for Work. | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobile Computing newsletter. ] Galen Gruman / InfoWorld The Samsung Galaxy S6 (left) takes numerous design cues from the Apple iPhone 6 (right).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Uber’s Amsterdam office raided by Dutch authorities

Uber keeps crashing into laws and regulations in Europe, but it’s keeping the foot on the accelerator.Following raids in Belgium and France, Dutch authorities raided Uber’s Amsterdam office on Thursday as part of an investigation into the ride-hailing service UberPop, which a court ruled illegal in the Netherlands.The raid’s main goal is to obtain records that show the size of the UberPop operation, a spokeswoman for the DutchHuman Environment and Transport Inspectorate said, adding that the authority, for instance, wants to find out the number of UberPop drivers. The raid is still ongoing and is being conducted by the inspectorate in cooperation with the police.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco patches autonomic networking flaws in IOS routers and switches

Cisco Systems released firmware updates for several routers and switches that run its IOS and IOS XE software in order to fix flaws in their autonomic networking infrastructure (ANI) feature.ANI is an automatic device management feature that allows Cisco IOS devices to securely join a domain and be configured without prestaging—setting up the necessary accounts in advance.Cisco’s new patches, released Wednesday, address three vulnerabilities in the way Cisco IOS and IOS XE devices handle autonomic networking (AN) messages.One vulnerability could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to force a vulnerable device to join a rogue autonomic domain by sending it specially crafted AN messages. This would give the attacker limited control over the device and would prevent it from joining the legitimate domain, Cisco said in a security advisory.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Will embedded OS and middleware help save Blackberry?

The financial news for Blackberry is potentially bad this week, as it has been for most of the past few years. Some analysts are predicting that the Canadian company will post losses of as much as 7 cents per share, though the consensus seems to be closer to 3 cents. If that happens, it’ll be Blackberry’s fourth quarter out of the last five to show a decline. Blackberry, as most know, has been suffering through an ongoing and painful fall from grace for quite a while now. In part, that’s because it’s had an awfully long way to fall – at its apex, Research in Motion was one of the most important technology companies on the planet, taking the business world by storm with its Blackberry handsets and doing at least as much as Apple – which gets the lion’s share of the credit these days – to popularize the idea of a phone that did much more than make calls and send texts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT could help give your local area its own power grid

The Internet of Things is mostly about achieving greater scale, but in the case of an upcoming demonstration project, it will show how electrical grids can work at a smaller scale.The testbed announced Thursday by the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) will bring together software and other components for microgrids, which link together local, alternative sources of power and energy storage. Those sources, including rooftop solar panels and wind turbines, can keep providing power even if the main grid goes down.Most power grids were built for producing energy in one place and distributing it to users over a wide area. They’re not all equipped to manage or take advantage of small power sources out at the edge of the grid. The IIC, which is trying to get big industries and tech vendors on the same page about the Internet of Things, formed the testbed to promote work on IoT components for microgrids.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VCDX-NV Interview: Greg Stemberger

Greg Stemberger is an IT professional who started working in networking in 2000. Working in network operations at Sprint, he managed some of the Greg-Stemberger-Force3largest enterprise networks in the world as the Managed Services Operations Engineer focused primarily on routing and switching. He managed more than 20,000 Cisco devices in his initial role at Sprint. Greg has three CCIEs: in route/switch, security, and service provider. He’s also a member of the first group of VCDX-NV certified professionals.

What excites you about network virtualization?

Virtualization is actually nothing new to me, to be honest, because I’ve been dealing with multi-tenancy, which really in my mind, started on the WAN side where VPNs were really one of the first early versions of introducing multi-tenancy and segmentation of the network, and leveraging virtualization-type technology on hardware. It’s just fascinating to see how much that’s evolved and taken off in the compute world. Now, we’re coming back together full circle with SDN. The network is now playing catch-up with how much agility and flexibility virtualization has provided to the compute world. I believe I have been doing virtual networking for a number of years now, but obviously it’s morphed into something much more powerful Continue reading

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Thursday, March 16

Facebook lawsuit says it stole data center designFacebook is being sued by a British engineering company that claims the social network stole its technique for building data centers and is encouraging others to do the same through the Open Compute Project. BladeRoom Group says it contacted Facebook in 2011 about using its method for constructing data centers in a modular fashion from pre-fabricated parts. It claims Facebook stole its ideas and used them to build part of a data center in Sweden, and is also sharing them via its OCP initiative.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

MLD Considered Harmful

Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) protocol is well hidden deep in the bowels of IPv6 protocol stack and most of us tend to gloss over it when we discuss IPv6 neighbor discovery process… until MLD raises its ugly head to bite an unsuspecting network administrator.

The problems with MLD are not new (and I wrote exhaustively about them a while ago), but it’s always nice to see other people raise awareness of broken IPv6 features like Enno Rey and his security team did during the IPv6 Security Summit (part of Troopers 15 conference).

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