Android app developers should update to Dropbox’s latest SDK

Android apps that use Dropbox for storage and are built using an older version of its SDK are vulnerable to an attack that can steal data, although Dropbox has released a fix, according to IBM security researchers.IBM’s application security research team said Wednesday they had found a way to link their own Dropbox account to an Android app on another person’s phone that connects to the storage service. After a successful attack, any data uploaded by the app is delivered to the attacker’s Dropbox account.Dropbox publishes an SDK (software development kit) for linking its service to an app. The flaw, nicknamed “DroppedIn,” affected Dropbox SDK versions 1.5.4 through 1.6.1 and was fixed in version 1.62, IBM said in a blog post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hillary Clinton’s email system was insecure for two months

The private email system used by Hillary Clinton when she was U.S. Secretary of State didn’t encrypt messages during the first two months of use, an Internet security company said Wednesday.That would have left emails sent and received by Clinton in early 2009 vulnerable to eavesdropping—just when British and American intelligence agencies were reportedly spying on world leaders.Internet records show the clintonemail.com domain was first registered on Jan. 13, 2009. Clinton became Secretary of State eight days later, but it wasn’t until March 29 that the first SSL certificate was issued for the domain, according to Venafi, a security company that analyzes encryption keys and digital certificates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google, Aopen’s new Chrome desktops targeted at digital signage

Google’s Chromebooks are popular in educational institutions, but the company is now looking at digital signage as the next big market for Chrome OS computers.The company has partnered with Aopen to develop a rugged Chromebox mini-desktop and two Chromebase all-in-ones designed to dynamically display information and advertisements.Google has been targeting the commercial market for a while. Chrome desktops are being tuned for videoconferencing and for use in classrooms. However, Google’s Chromeboxes haven’t found much adoption as desktops, and Chromebases have largely failed as all-in-ones. They could get a new lease of life in the digital signage market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Topology discovery with Cumulus Linux

Demo: Implementing the OpenStack Design Guide in the Cumulus Workbench is a great demonstration of the power of zero touch provisioning and automation. When the switches and servers boot they automatically pick up their operating systems and configurations for the complex network shown in the diagram.
REST API for Cumulus Linux ACLs describes a REST server for remotely controlling ACLs on Cumulus Linux. This article will discuss recently added topology discovery methods that allow an SDN controller to learn topology and apply targeted controls (e.g Large "Elephant" flow marking, Large flow steering, DDoS mitigation, etc.).

Prescriptive Topology Manager

Complex Topology and Wiring Validation in Data Centers describes how Cumulus Networks' prescriptive topology manager (PTM) provides a simple method of verifying and enforcing correct wiring topologies.

The following REST call converts the topology from PTM's dot notation and returns a JSON representation:
cumulus@wbench:~$ curl http://leaf1:8080/ptm
Returns the result: 
{
 "links": {
  "L1": {
   "node1": "leaf1", 
   "node2": "spine1", 
   "port1": "swp1s0", 
   "port2": "swp49"
  },
  ...
 }
}

LLDP

Prescriptive Topology Manager is preferred since it ensures that the discovered topology is correct. However, PTM builds on basic Link Level Discovery Protocol (LLDP), which provides an alternative method of topology Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Scaling networks for the web-scale effect

The world has gone web-scale crazy, but what does web-scale mean when we apply the term to networking? Isn't the network how we got the web in the first place? Unfortunately, many of today's networks leave a lot to be desired. For decades now, we've basically designed, built, and operated networks using a provision and monitor paradigm. WAN connections can take days, weeks, even months to correctly provision. If your connectivity needs were complex, timeframes could be even longer, if the desired services were available at all. Contrast this antiquated networking model with the real-time, on-demand environment that we have created for ourselves with applications, content, and businesses that can "go viral."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Code name found in Equation group malware suggests link to NSA

As security researchers continue to analyze malware used by a sophisticated espionage group dubbed the Equation, more clues surface that point to the U.S. National Security Agency being behind it.In February, Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab released an extensive report about a group that has carried out cyberespionage operations since at least 2001 and possibly even as far back as 1996. The report detailed the group’s attack techniques and malware tools.The Kaspersky researchers have dubbed the group Equation and said that its capabilities are unrivaled. However, they didn’t link the group to the NSA or any other intelligence agency, despite similarities between its tools and those described in secret NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook’s Open Compute Project starts to crack networking

The Open Compute Project says it has broken tight bonds between hardware and software that have kept networking closed for decades—and it took less than two years.Switches and routers traditionally have been “black boxes” with hardware and software from the same vendor and no way for others with new ideas to modify them. Networking is like Unix servers 15 years ago, with proprietary hardware and OSes ruling the day, said Omar Baldonado, Facebook’s manager of infrastructure software engineering. An OCP effort that began in May 2013 has now opened that world up a little bit, he told the OCP Summit in San Jose on Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Chrome app puts Act-On’s marketing automation tools front and center for SMBs

Few would dispute marketing automation’s potential to benefit corporate marketing efforts, but with all the many and varied tools out there, keeping campaigns coordinated and cohesive can be difficult.With such challenges in mind, Act-On Software on Wednesday launched Act-On Anywhere, an application that makes the engagement data, assets and functionality of the company’s SaaS platform available from anywhere within the browser.An explosion of stand-alone tools has created a marketing climate in which fragmentation is a major problem, said Act-On, which targets SMBs with its platform. In fact, a full 83 percent of marketers cite fragmented systems as one of their most troublesome challenges, according to a study the company recently conducted with Gleanster Research.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google picks London for its first shop-within-a-shop

Google has opened its first shop-within-a-shop in London, yet another retail experiment by the company, which already has counters in third-party stores.The London shop is located inside the Currys PC World store on Tottenham Court Road, and it features Google’s Nexus devices, Chromebooks and other products. Currys PC World is the biggest consumer electronics retailer in the UK.Google’s shop is not a full blown retail outlet like Apple’s huge and sophisticated stores, but more of a modest test balloon for the search giant. It builds on dedicated areas Google has already in big electronics stores.Although not very big, the shop is prominently located by the entrance of the Currys store, so it’s impossible to miss. Shoppers can test and buy Google’s Android phones and tablets as well as Android Wear smartwatches and Chromebook laptops from partners such as LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility, HP and Asus.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google picks London for its first shop-within-a-shop

Google has opened its first shop-within-a-shop in London, yet another retail experiment by the company, which already has counters in third-party stores.The London shop is located inside the Currys PC World store on Tottenham Court Road, and it features Google’s Nexus devices, Chromebooks and other products. Currys PC World is the biggest consumer electronics retailer in the UK.Google’s shop is not a full blown retail outlet like Apple’s huge and sophisticated stores, but more of a modest test balloon for the search giant. It builds on dedicated areas Google has already in big electronics stores.Although not very big, the shop is prominently located by the entrance of the Currys store, so it’s impossible to miss. Shoppers can test and buy Google’s Android phones and tablets as well as Android Wear smartwatches and Chromebook laptops from partners such as LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility, HP and Asus.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech groups renew push for cloud, email privacy protections

This may finally be the year that the U.S. Congress gives email and other documents stored in the cloud for several months the same privacy protections from police searches as newer files or paper records stored in a file cabinet, say backers of electronic privacy reform.A coalition of tech companies, digital rights advocates and other groups on Wednesday renewed their call for Congress to change a 29-year-old electronic privacy law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act [ECPA].Members of the Digital Fourth coalition have been pushing since 2010 for Congress to change ECPA by requiring law enforcement agencies to get a judge-approved warrant before getting access to a suspect’s digital files stored with a third party for more than 180 days.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

World’s Most Ethical Tech Companies: It’s all relative

T-Mobile is crowing about making a list as one of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies. My guess is that voting must have taken place after December, when the FCC announced that T-Mobile would be paying at least $90 for cramming -- that is, "for billing customers millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services."Then again, it's all relative. AT&T got whacked earlier last year by the FCC for $105M for doing something similar. The State of California also nailed AT&T late last year for almost $24M in a hazardous waste dumping case. Verizon paid up for privacy violations and Sprint got fined last year for not honoring the do-not-call rules. And of course take your pick with Comcast: How about "borrowing" customers' routers to use as WiFi hotspots?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

World’s Most Ethical Tech Companies: It’s all relative

T-Mobile is crowing about making a list as one of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies. My guess is that voting must have taken place after December, when the FCC announced that T-Mobile would be paying at least $90 for cramming -- that is, "for billing customers millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services."Then again, it's all relative. AT&T got whacked earlier last year by the FCC for $105M for doing something similar. The State of California also nailed AT&T late last year for almost $24M in a hazardous waste dumping case. Verizon paid up for privacy violations and Sprint got fined last year for not honoring the do-not-call rules. And of course take your pick with Comcast: How about "borrowing" customers' routers to use as WiFi hotspots?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Big data and battle tanks: Inside World of Tanks’ powerful infrastructure

Tracking the scores, progress and behavior of millions of players around the globe playing an online game is no laughing matter, according to T.J. Wagner, an executive producer and creative director for World of Tanks publisher Wargaming West, who spoke to Network World last week at PAX East.World of Tanks is a multiplayer-only online wargame, which features two teams of players duking it out in a vast array of mid-20th Century armored vehicles. Players gain access to more powerful tanks and better equipment by playing matches and, if they find the rate of advancement too slow for their taste, by paying real cash for in-game currency that can be used to purchase premium account status and new tanks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple’s app, iTunes, iBooks stores suffer outage

Some of Apple’s major online services for purchasing ebooks, music and apps were down as of Wednesday morning.Service for Apple’s App Store, iBooks Store, iTunes Store, and Mac App Store was lost around 2 a.m. U.S. Pacific time, and remained out as of 10:20 a.m., Apple posted on its system status page. Some users of these services worldwide may not be able to make purchases, downloads, or update apps.Service for Apple’s iCloud Mail and iCloud Account & Sign In was also lost around 2 a.m., but was restored by 6 a.m.It’s not clear what caused the outage. Apple did not immediately respond to comment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

First medical apps built with Apple’s ResearchKit won’t share data for commercial gain

As concern grows about data collection by mobile apps, Apple and companies involved with its new ResearchKit software development framework for medical studies say users of the first five apps have nothing to worry about.Access to health data collected by the apps will be restricted to approved medical researchers and barred from commercial use, and the apps won’t delve into the personal contents stored on a smartphone, according to the companies.Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofit biomedical research organization in Seattle, handles collecting, de-identifying and storing of the health data gathered from the five apps developed with ResearchKit, Christine Suver, principal scientist, head of open science data governance at Sage, said in an email interview.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

First medical apps built with Apple’s ResearchKit won’t share data for commercial gain

As concern grows about data collection by mobile apps, Apple and companies involved with its new ResearchKit software development framework for medical studies say users of the first five apps have nothing to worry about.Access to health data collected by the apps will be restricted to approved medical researchers and barred from commercial use, and the apps won’t delve into the personal contents stored on a smartphone, according to the companies.Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofit biomedical research organization in Seattle, handles collecting, de-identifying and storing of the health data gathered from the five apps developed with ResearchKit, Christine Suver, principal scientist, head of open science data governance at Sage, said in an email interview.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Outage hits Apple services, including iCloud and App Store

Reports of problems logging into a variety of Apple services, including the iOS and Mac app stores, iTunes, iCloud and even the company's support scheduler, washed across the Internet early Wednesday."I am trying to update one of my apps but when I get asked to sign into the Mac App Store I get a "Status_Code_Error" appear in red letters to the bottom of the login window," reported someone identified only as xXDivineSparkXx in the first message of a long thread on Apple's support forum, posted before 3 a.m. PT today.Several hundred others chimed in -- from locations across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia -- to report the same.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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