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LiDAR stands for ‘light detection and ranging’. An active form of remote sensing, LiDAR technology measures the distance between objects by hitting the target with a laser and analysing the reflected light. Using these systems, scientists and professionals can investigate natural and manmade environments with both precision and flexibility.
LiDAR sensors are most well-known for their association with autonomous vehicles, but they have many additional applications, across various industries and fields.
So here are 100 uses for this incredibly versatile technology.
Digital elevation models
Digital elevation models (DEMs) are used to create a 3D representation of a terrain’s surface. Before LiDAR, we relied on ground surveys or photogrammetry, both of which were relatively slow. LiDAR has since made this process quicker and easier.
3D LiDAR imaging is a fast-growing industry, with notable commercial interest for autonomous cars and robotics. But the possibilities for future use are endless, with a growing interest in LiDAR imaging for healthcare, smart devices, aerial surveys, geosciences and more.
Population growth has put pressure on agricultural production and the gathering of reliable harvest statistics worldwide. Accurate data on the state of fields and crop conditions at each stage of growth is critical to farmers achieving their goals. LiDAR can be used for topographic analysis and prediction of soil properties in agricultural landscapes. Using these insights, farmers can analyse, model and predict crop yields in any given place, maximising profits.
Additionally, with LiDAR technology, it is now much easier to categorise crops based on their characteristics and find the best places to plant them. A crop may thrive in one area of the farm, but may not do well in another area. The Department of Engineering at Aarhus University used UAV LiDAR to map crop fields growing wheat – see the video below.
LiDAR is also used to control crop yield through precision agriculture. The technology can be used to create an elevation map, which farmers can use to predict crop yield, determine which crops to plant in a given area, and save on expensive fertiliser.
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Did you know that LiDAR technology is used by NASA? During the Apollo program, retroreflectors were placed on the moon, which were used to reflect lasers beamed from observatories on Earth. LiDAR is also capable of mapping the surfaces of celestial bodies – it was used to generate a precise global topographic survey of Mars in 2001.
Topography of Mars
LiDAR technology was used to create a topographic map of Mars back in 1999. The laser pulses travelled at a very high speed to Mars, creating a 3D model of the planet and returning the data to earth. NASA’s Phoenix Lander also used LiDAR technology to detect snow falling. The Mars Meteorological LiDAR now provides cloud, fog and dust plume data, leading to a better understanding of the planet’s climate.
LiDAR has been used as an ongoing part of the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, measuring the distance between the surfaces of Earth and the moon. Laser light pulses are transmitted and reflected back to Earth and the round-trip duration is measured. The findings of this experiment have shown us that the moon is spiralling away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm/year.
LiDAR can be used to study atmospheric gases, aerosols and clouds. Molecular scattering decreases with increasing wavelength, allowing the system to build a ‘density map’. The data collected by LiDAR is highly accurate, giving an exact estimation of the molecules comprising any form of matter.
LiDAR can detect particles in both air and water, which makes it particularly adept at identifying pollutants like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and methane. Together with a building or terrain model, researchers can use this data to observe and reduce pollutant build-up in a given area.
Early LiDAR technology, known as ‘elastic backscatter LiDAR’, was developed for the study of aerosols and clouds, ideal for looking at atmospheric composition. DIAL is used to identify particular forms of gas in the atmosphere, while Raman LiDAR measures concentration and Doppler LiDAR measures wind speed.
DIAL can be used to measure atmospheric gases, aerosols, clouds, and temperature, as well as concentrations and fluxes of pollutants. Most often, it’s used to detect and measure potentially hazardous gases such as volcanic sulphur dioxide, atomic mercury and hydrocarbons.
LiDAR pulses are capable of penetrating the clouds. As such, they are used to measure cloud statistics, such as heights and phases. Researchers in the Australian Antarctic Science project collected aerosol data above the Southern Ocean to improve their understanding of the connection between clouds and climate change.
Aerosol distribution data
Atmospheric LiDAR uses laser light to study atmospheric properties, measuring the concentration and distribution of atmospheric gases and aerosols. It can be used to monitor air quality over urban or industrial areas, as well as forecasting of the dispersion of trace gases and aerosols in the first layers of the atmosphere.
Gas composition data
Differential Absorption LiDAR (DIAL) is used to measure particular gases in the atmosphere, such as ozone, carbon dioxide or water vapour. We can use LiDAR to study the gas composition of the atmosphere, necessary for weather forecasting, climate modelling and environmental monitoring.
This one comes as no surprise. LiDAR is becoming ever more popular as a guidance system for autonomous vehicles, thanks to its speed and accuracy, which allows the vehicle processor to ‘see’ obstacles and update its trajectory within seconds.
Collision avoidance systems are designed to – as the name suggests – prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. They operate using different sensors. LiDAR sensors determine the exact position of obstacles in the surrounding environment, generating data that will steer vehicles in the right direction to avoid making an impact. This technology is particularly useful for the development of autonomous and self-driving cars.
Autonomous cruise control
LiDAR has been used in adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems for automobiles. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a cruise control system for road vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. In vehicles with ACC, a LiDAR device mounted on the front of the vehicle is used to monitor the distance between that vehicle and any car in front of it.
Obstacle detection in autonomous vehicles
LiDAR enables a self-driving car to observe the world with 360 degrees of visibility and an accuracy of ±2cm. It continually fires off beams of laser light, and then measures how long it takes for the light to return to the sensor. LiDAR allows you to generate huge 3D maps, which you can then navigate the car predictably within.
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Biology and conservation
LiDAR remote sensing offers various practical uses in conservation and ecological research. It has been widely used to assess habitat quality for various species, as well as to map areas where flooding and drought might occur. In one study, LiDAR was used in the conservation management of red squirrels.
LiDAR remote sensing can be used to assess biodiversity by monitoring habitat structure; a key indicator of species diversity. Much like wildlife, the technology has evolved over the years to provide detailed information about the forest, looking at factors crucial to survival, such as vegetation structure.
There are two different types of LiDAR: topographical and bathymetric. The former uses an infrared laser to map the land, while the latter uses water-penetrating green light. In tandem, they can be used to form coastal surveys, giving maximum overlap between land and sea and in doing so, minimising data gaps.
Urban flooding is becoming more and more frequent. Buildings, roads and river banks all have a notable effect on flood dynamics. LiDAR data provides the advanced topographical information needed to create effective flood relief simulation software.
LiDAR data and imagery is sometimes used to conduct a post-earthquake assessment of building damage, allowing authorities to identify hard-hit buildings quickly. Timeliness in recognising damaged buildings after an earthquake can save lives – hastening rescues from compromised buildings.
Morphology is the branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of organisms. LiDAR may be used to investigate the evolution and characteristics of morphology and forecast future patterns of change. This enables widespread biogeomorphic characterisation along coasts, for example, benefiting both researchers and coastal managers alike.
As the need to address climate change becomes increasingly urgent, LiDAR technology has an important role to play collecting data around glacier level changes. This data tells experts how much of the glaciers have melted – and what this means for the rest of the planet.
Study of forest ecology
LiDAR has a lot of benefits in ecology – particularly forest ecology. While it can be difficult to obtain forest ecology data manually, LiDAR is able to collect vast amounts of detail on forest flora and fauna. Ecologists can use this data to design and implement effective conservation strategies.
In oceanography, LiDAR data is used to collect a range of details regarding the ocean, including depth, composition, general biomass and phytoplankton fluorescence. Researchers may also use LiDAR systems to find out what species exist in the deep sea – and in what numbers.
Beach and dune monitoring is a vital process necessary for understanding morphological changes in coastal environments. LiDAR can be used to monitor dune activities, including changes in size, shape and vegetation. Coastal surveying companies increasingly make use of both 3D laser scanning and high precision GPS, combining the methodologies into a single unified approach.
Tsunamis can claim thousands of lives and cause serious damage to infrastructure. LiDAR technology can be used to model and forecast the severity of an oncoming tsunami, helping scientists to understand which areas will be affected. DEM gives the elevation value of the seashore, while bathymetric data provides underwater elevation.
Watershed and stream delineation
DEMs generated from LiDAR can be used to establish watershed areas and stream line delineation using GIS software. This allows researchers to calculate the watershed for a given body of water and predict the likelihood of flooding.
Storm water management
Integrated Storm water Management Plan (ISMP) has become a popular alternative to traditional methods of storm water management. Its goal is to balance land use planning, storm water engineering, flood protection and environmental protection. LiDAR data is used to create an accurate and precise elevation map from which to work.
Estimation of carbon absorption
LiDAR technology can be used to gather accurate data regarding the forest, including the level of carbon absorption. Carbon absorption cannot be accurately determined using other forms of measurement. Differential Absorption LiDAR (DIAL) measures the exact amount of carbon absorption, helping to create a profile of the forest. This data is then used to determine the amount of carbon within specific locations, helping researchers make improvements.
Landslides occur on every continent, with some regions experiencing more landslides due to specific geologic and hydrologic conditions. Historically, researchers have relied on routine aerial and field patrols to obtain systematic landslide information. The advent of affordable aerial LiDAR and high-resolution DEM has made it possible to obtain accurate regional landslide information at a higher frequency, improving safety and asset integrity.
Measurement of water surface roughness
LiDAR may be used for water surface mapping to detect and evaluate roughness. Conventional LiDAR does not penetrate water bodies – additional bathymetric measurements are necessary to achieve this. Modelling water surface topography into a DEM is an important research area in fields connected with hydrology modelling.
LiDAR is used to assess the vulnerability of various risks facing humankind. It is now much easier to track and plan for disasters such as tornadoes, landslides and tsunamis, limiting damage and loss of life. Scientists may use LiDAR to support activities such as storm surge modelling, hydrodynamic modelling and shoreline mapping.
LiDAR has the uncommon ability to measure forest canopy structure, as well as the ground underneath. This allows for cost-effective, large-scale surveys that were not previously feasible. It can also be used to calculate fuel capacity and root expanse.
Precision forestry involves the use of intelligent forestry systems to make data-driven decisions. LiDAR provides a detailed reading of forest dynamics, enabling organisations to collect meaningful data.
Forest canopy measurement
LiDAR can be used to determine both canopy density (ratio of vegetation to ground) and canopy height (how far above the ground the top of the canopy is). Until now, forest canopy measurement was not easy, with previous techniques yielding largely inaccurate information. LiDAR solves this problem, offering data that determines the exact quality of the trees.
LiDAR technology has an important role to play in deforestation, identifying the areas of the forest affected by humans. It allows researchers to measure the three-dimensional structure of tree canopies, including their height and the diversity of canopy elements like leaves, twigs and branches. The data could prove critical to the United Nations’ REDD initiative; the biggest future source of funding to protect the planet’s tropical forest.
There is great potential to be explored when it comes to LiDAR-based timber growth monitoring and forest inventory. Terrestrial laser scanning provides more precise information on individual tree dimensions and the overall timber volume of a forest, compared to photogrammetry, which has limited canopy penetration. LiDAR 3D mapping allows environmental management organisations to gain better intelligence and improve monitoring techniques.
Forest fire management
Around the world, fire departments are discovering how to use LiDAR technology to manage forest fires. LiDAR data can be used to observe fire patterns and determine high-risk areas (known as fuel mapping), so proactive measures can be taken to circumvent a blaze.
Geology and soil science
LiDAR data has proved to be an essential tool for mapping, monitoring and managing natural hazards and resources, allowing geologists to study earth topology and its origin through a process known as geomorphology.
LiDAR sensors can capture high-resolution micro-topography of areas otherwise hidden by trees and greenery, penetrating through the forest canopy to detect the surface underneath. In 2012, it was used to find the legendary city of La Ciudad Blanca in Honduras.
LIDAR technology is able to determine the profile and roughness of different agricultural soil types, informing decisions about crop planting, tillage and which manure type to use for best results.
Scanning wind before it hits the wind turbine can help to maximise efficiency. LiDAR attached to the turbine itself is used to calculate the direction and strength of wind, and if necessary will change the direction of the blade to in order to generate more power.
Measurement of wind speed
Accurate measurement of wind speeds is crucial for effective siting of wind farms. LiDAR measures wind speed higher, further and faster than traditional met masts, calculated based on the scattering of beams. Sensors can be installed on top of a wind turbine to measure wind conditions in front and behind.
Solar energy planning
Solar energy is an increasingly popular source of renewable energy; using solar panels to absorb heat from the sun and convert it into electricity. LiDAR data helps to identify some of the basic requirements for solar panel installation, such as whether the roof is south-facing and minimum area requirements.
LiDAR has a wide range of applications in the field of law enforcement, from speed limit enforcement to 3D recording of accidents and crime scenes. It can be mounted on a patrol vehicle or deployed via UAV. LiDAR can also be used in forensics, even so far as blood splatter analysis.
LiDAR systems offer a simple and exact way of recording of accidents and crime scenes.
Ground-based LiDAR can be used to capture the scene of a car crash within a few minutes, preserving the evidence and noting its geographical location.
3D laser scanning is becoming increasingly popular in forensic examination, embraced by police departments, law enforcement agencies and government crime agencies. Forensic investigations always begin with the collection, review and analysis of evidence. LiDAR is an extremely useful tool for collecting detailed evidence quickly, obtaining tens of thousands of point measurements per second.
There are hundreds of reported techniques for fingerprint detection. Traditionally, fingerprint detection has been achieved through the use of chemical reagents, such as ninhydrin or diazafluorenone. As technology moves on, fingerprints can actually be visualised in 3D and without chemicals through the use of infrared lasers. These scanners may eventually do away with dusting altogether, as they are able to scan fingerprints in seconds.
One of the most common uses of LiDAR technology in law enforcement is speed guns, which use laser pulses to calculate the exact speed of a passing vehicle and determine whether the driver is exceeding the limit.
License plate recognition
Vehicle registration plates are an important part of traffic enforcement, and systems for automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) play a crucial role in many security applications. LiDAR technology is used for vehicle recognition and can reliably recognise license plates – even at high speeds and in heavy traffic.
Oil and gas exploration
Differential Absorption LiDAR (DIAL) offers a new method of oil and gas exploration that is still in development. As well as being used to detect gases and particles, LiDAR mapping also provides an accurate 3D model of the terrain, minimising the project’s environmental impact.
Quarries and minerals
LiDAR also has uses in quarrying. It can be used to detect air pollutants, as well as surveying the surrounding land and gauging the project’s environmental effects. Using LiDAR, existing quarry sites can conduct fast surveys accurate to within a few centimetres.
Calculation of ore volumes
LiDAR can be used in mining to calculate ore volumes, penetrating the Earth’s surface to gather data on what lies beneath. Scanning of the areas is most commonly done with UAVs.
Mine operators have long used LiDAR to assist with planning and slope stability assessment.
But LiDAR has other uses in the mining industry: to determine what minerals lie beneath the surface of the earth, and in the analysis of mine structure to prevent them from collapsing.
Gesture recognition requires a fast response time. By measuring how far away an object is to the sensor, LiDAR can determine any object’s position in 3D space, measuring the distance a million times per second. This capability has automotive uses, for example, allowing the driver to use simple gestures to operate the vehicle’s infotainment system, as well as gaming uses.
Facial recognition developer Digital Signal Corporation uses LiDAR to produce 3D facial scans at a distance, designed to improve security at airports.
The analysis of dynamic 3D scenarios with multiple moving pedestrians has received great interest in various application fields, such as intelligent surveillance, video communication and augmented reality. In one study, a rotating multi-beam LiDAR sensor was used in gait analysis and activity recognition. In another, it was used for the motion estimation of vehicles, providing a complete strategy for urban traffic analysis using airborne LiDAR.
As LiDAR sensing becomes more advanced, we can use it for interpreting body language and face reading – including lip reading. But it’s still in the early stages; lip reading is not just a set of skills, it is an art. Some sounds and words look very similar, relying very much on the lip reader’s background knowledge of language.
Virtual 3D designs
LiDAR scanning is an invaluable tool for accurately representing buildings and interiors in vivid detail. Thanks to its efficiency, speed and accuracy, it’s becoming widely used in architecture, construction and design. Architects and designers can use LiDAR technology to create virtual 3D representations of the projects they want to build.
Mapping and cartography
With its high resolution and accuracy, LiDAR can be used in the creation of maps. Its 3D capabilities make it particularly adept at mapping terrain models, such as mountain topography, as well as producing high-resolution contour maps.
With LiDAR technology you can take two types of elevation model: first return and ground. The first includes forest canopies and buildings (DSM), whereas the second contains only topography (DEM). As such, LiDAR can be used to create a detailed map of any given terrain, allowing scientists to study changes in slope and landform breaks.
Most of the initial uses of LiDAR were for measuring water depth. Depending upon the clarity of the water, bathymetric LiDAR can measure depths from 0.9m to 40m with a vertical accuracy of 15cm and horizontal accuracy of 2.5m. A green laser pulse is transmitted to the water surface where a portion of the energy is returned to the airborne optical receiver, while the remainder continues to the bottom and is subsequently reflected back to the receiver.
In terrestrial laser scanning applications, LiDAR is used to create a three-dimensional point cloud containing coordinate information from the entire details of an object. Hundreds of point clouds per square metre are produced from the scanned surface. These point clouds make it possible to produce accurate vector data for architecture and engineering projects.
Aerial LiDAR has many applications, from infrastructure and civil engineering surveys to agriculture, forestry, mining and quarrying. LIDAR systems used to be heavy and were previously only operated from manned planes or helicopters. However, manufacturers have now started developing compact, lightweight versions. UAV LiDAR has been one of the most eagerly anticipated technologies of the last 10 years, changing the way surveyors capture data and significantly reducing costs.
Ecological & land classification
ELC is short form of ecological and land classification that provides physical and biological information about a given landscape to help with sustainable management. LiDAR technology is an ideal tool, since it can map virtually any kind of physical environment, building the ultimate map and providing accurate data for civil engineering works.
As sea levels rise and natural disasters become more extreme, there has been a renewed push to improve our understanding of the coastal zone. Bathymetric LiDAR is used to capture geospatial data of the coastline and shallow waters, facilitating efficient creation of hydrographic data. These survey systems are typically aircraft-mounted to provide seamless coverage between land and sea.
Bathymetric LiDAR systems use a green wavelength to penetrate underwater. As such, they can measure aspects of river data such as depth, length and flow. This helps in understanding the nature of the river, as well as planning to avoid potential floods.
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Urban planning and surveying
LiDAR data can be used to obtain digital models of the earth’s surface, which can be used in land use planning to create detailed city models. What’s more, these large area models can be generated at relatively high speed, compared to other techniques.
Ground-based LiDAR is an ideal tool for designing and constructing new buildings, generating high-speed surveys that offer a precise digital map of the terrain and surrounding locality.
Additionally, with a ground-based LiDAR survey, it’s possible to capture the tiny details in building facades with great accuracy. This provides a valuable record of the present condition of the building. Sensors may also be used indoors to determine where things should go and act as proof of compliance with licensing regulations.
LiDAR technology is used to collect information about structures and identify potential deformations. The pulses penetrate deep into structures to identify faults that would otherwise go unnoticed. The end product is a 3D parametric model of the deformed structure, which contractors can use to make corrections.
Sewer and manhole maintenance
Using LiDAR sensors mounted on robotic vehicles, we can take surveys of high-risk areas that would be dangerous territory for humans – inside sewer systems, for example – while also simultaneously measuring airborne pollutants.
LiDAR is used for drainage analysis in large scale developments. Underground drainage is often difficult to map out using other survey methods, whereas LiDAR pulses can penetrate both walls and surface to reveal the drainage structure underneath. LiDAR provides particularly valuable detail in areas of modified terrain, such as roads, offering particular benefits for road building projects in flood-prone areas and areas with relatively flat terrain.
A viewshed dictates surrounding areas as visible or non-visible from an observer POV. These analyses are a common function of GIS software. LiDAR technology can be used to create a DEM, from which one can conduct a viewshed analysis on any given piece of land to determine what will be visible from various different angles – helpful when planning new buildings or infrastructure.
Light levels in our homes and workplaces can make a difference to the way we feel and even affect our health. LiDAR technology is used by residential lighting experts to redirect sunlight, ensuring that enough light reaches all houses within a given area.
Traditional methods of bridge inspection can be tricky and dangerous. Reliable inspection data is needed to make accurate performance predictions. LiDAR pulses can penetrate bridges to identify potential faults before, during and after construction. Due to its efficiency, LiDAR is now one of the cheapest and easiest ways to inspect bridges under development.
LiDAR technology can be used to map out airport infrastructure and features like the runway, terminal building and hangar – pinpointing their exact location. This information is essential to airport security, preventing infiltration and accidents.
Underground conditions are rarely suitable for conducting measurements – especially in areas that are not easily accessed by humans. This is where LiDAR comes in handy, allowing companies to take accurate and detailed measurements that can be used for analysis, assessment and modelling.
Using the spatial information contained within LiDAR data, we can detect and analyse objects and the edges of objects, such as bridges, buildings and roads. Road-edge detection, in particular, is an essential capability for autonomous vehicles. Similarly, edge detection may be used in bridge maintenance to identify a damaged beam or joint area, for example.
LiDAR’s high spatial resolution and mapping accuracy make it an ideal solution for planning of transport and road networks. Airborne and ground-based LiDAR may be used in combination to capture data over large areas, as well as in fine detail.
LiDAR technology can be used in autonomous vehicles to utilise and allocate parking spaces in a parking lot. In cases where parking spaces are limited and the vehicle needs to fit into a smaller parking space, a LiDAR sensor can guide the vehicle in safely.
Traffic congestion, which causes environmental problems and accidents, is becoming increasingly acute. LiDAR sensors are used to monitor traffic congestion on roads and offer advice on alternative routes to be used. One of the goals of autonomous vehicles is reducing traffic congestion and pollution using these types of sensors.
Laser scanning technology can be a game-changer when it comes to planning and executing transportation projects. Traditionally, railway track measurement was done by regular survey system. Now LiDAR can perform the measurements in a fraction of the time: a fast, accurate and cost-effective solution to map complete railway networks.
It is therefore no surprise that LiDAR technology is commonly used in the designing of new urban and rural roadways. LiDAR data can be used to map out the exact road design, helping to create a stable road free of any design flaws and minimising the impact of new road construction and maintenance. This is particularly invaluable in high-risk areas with hilly, unstable terrain.
LiDAR has proved invaluable to archaeologists, helping them to plan field campaigns and observe patterns not visible from the ground. DEMs can also reveal micro-topography hidden by trees and shrubs. LiDAR data is easily integrated with modern geographic information systems (GIS) for further analysis.
The military uses 3D data capture for a number of applications. The detailed mapping of urban and non-urban terrain can greatly benefit military operations, both from the air and semi-autonomous vehicles. Among other things, it can be used for air defence, air traffic control, ground surveillance, navigation, search and rescue, fire control radars, and identification of moving targets.
Using LiDAR, you can digitally recreate any physical object, rendering detailed, accurate models in very little time. In gaming, this opens a world of possibilities, allowing developers to recreate entire cities and locations almost identical to the real world.
Mobile network planning
One of the benefits of LiDAR is its ability to gather large amounts of high-resolution data in a short space of time. This makes it ideal for cellular network planning; determining the line of sight and viewshed for prospective cellular antenna – reducing costs in the process.
Mapping of wireless signal
LiDAR technology also has uses in wireless signal mapping, making it is easier to plan where each of the wireless transmitters will be positioned and to assess the strength and radius of the signal. LiDAR has been used in wireless communication system design, emerging as an alternative to the traditional method of digital orthophotography.
Cost-effective 3D LiDAR imaging is a real boon for healthcare. New imaging modalities are continually sought after – in fact, Navy researchers have applied LiDAR in combination with radar to identify tumours in the body.
Cancer image analysis
A hybrid LiDAR-radar system may be used for detecting the presence of objects, such as cancerous tumours, within tissues by detecting reflected signals from the tissue. This technique better discriminates scattered light associated with a cancerous mass from the diffuse scattered or backscattered light associated with healthy tissue.
LiDAR has been used to record music videos without a camera, most notably for the song ‘House of Cards’ by Radiohead.
Tourism and park management
LiDAR data is indispensable for tourism and park management; data analysis determines the best areas to use for various functions, such as where to build playgrounds, rides and footpaths.
Perceptual organisation deals with grouping sensory inputs that originate from the same object. It offers a promising intermediate process toward object recognition and reconstruction from 3D surface points, which can be derived from LiDAR data. However, despite intensive research on 2D data, perceptual organisation of 3D entities is still in its infancy.
LiDAR is used in the laboratory testing of factors such as signal strength and fluid concentration. Being swift and precise, it offers an efficient way to measure test results.
360° and virtual tours are becoming increasingly popular online. LiDAR pulses can be used to create virtual 3D and 2D representations of an area, which can be used to create virtual tours. Unlike other methods of survey, LiDAR generates a precise representation of an area. This is a particularly useful function for generating interest in tourist attractions.
3D laser scanning technology could help to solve the airline industry’s lost luggage problem. Heathrow airport now has an autonomous dolly that moves bags from planes to luggage halls, providing a faster and more flexible loading process. If items are with an autonomous dolly, then everything can be accounted for more easily.
So there you have it... 100 real-world uses for LiDAR.
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Data and communications security is critical on today's networks. Hackers, Internet intruders, eavesdroppers, forgers, and other attackers are everywhere. Few people have not heard of some sort of computer and network attack. Many are victims.
An entire volume could be written on security issues. This section outlines general topics and points you to resources where you can further your research. Some security topics are covered under related topics. You may want to open RFC 2828 (Internet Security Glossary, May 2000). It provides a useful glossary of security terms.
Security Threats and Vulnerabilities
Network security threats are everywhere. Your internal users may be stealing data or inadvertently revealing sensitive passwords or other material to people who are attempting to infiltrate your organization. Attackers from the outside may be gaining access through dial-up Internet connections or external server-to-server connections.
I refer to attackers as hackers. This is common in the security community. The opposite of hackers is a "good citizen." Refer to "Hacking and Hackers" for more details.
An attack is an attempt to take control of a system (a computer, network server, Web site, and so on) using a variety of methods with the intent to take over the system, or simply to shut it down or prevent other people from accessing it (a denial-of-service attack). Attacks may also take place on cryptographic systems information that has been encrypted, such as password files, secure data files, and so on. There are two primary types of attacks:
Hackers may monitor the sessions of other users (passive attack) and attempt to take over the session (active attack). In a replay attack, the attacker uses previously gathered information to gain access to a system by "replaying" it to the system, which thinks that it is dealing with a valid session.
An interesting paper related to this topic is "Simulating Cyber Attacks, Defenses, and Consequences," by Fred Cohen. It is available at http://all.net/journal/ntb/simulate/simulate.html. Also see "Security Auditing" for information about tracking and handling security incidents.
Security Concepts and Mechanisms
"Security" is an all-encompassing term that describes all the concepts, techniques, and technologies to protect information from unauthorized access. There are several requirements for information security:
Trust is an important aspect of security. There are many different forms and levels of trust between people and computer systems. Many exchanges and transactions on the Internet take place between people who have never met. A third party can provide this trust by verifying the authenticity of parties in an exchange. Traditionally, banks and escrow companies have provided this trust. On the Internet, it is provided by CAs (certificate authorities).
Trust management systems provide security services for users and free up applications from having to provide their own mechanisms for interpreting credentials, authentication, and policy. A trust management system can be queried by an application with questions about how trust should be handled. The KeyNote Trust Management System is discussed under the topic "Trust Relationships and Trust Management."
Security policies are an essential part of an organization's general operations. The often- quoted rule of "denying what is not specifically permitted" provides a good basis for defining any security policy. While this rule usually applies to firewalls, it also provides a good approach to overall security.
Physical Security Management
While security is usually associated with some form of cryptography, physical systems must be protected from theft, damage, and corruption. Data must be backed up. In addition, the availablity of data is important. Systems must be kept online, even in the event of fires, floods, and earthquakes. Therefore, some means of replicating systems to other sites is often necessary. Refer to "Backup and Data Archiving," "Data Protection," "Disaster Planning and Recovery," "Fault Management," "Fault Tolerance and High Availability," "Power and Grounding Problems and Solutions," and "Replication."
Cryptography, Keys, and Certificates
There are a number of security mechanisms, most of which are based on some form of cryptography. These mechanisms allow secure data exchange over corporate networks and the Internet. They can be used to hide data, ensure the integrity of messages, and authenticate users or systems.
Cryptography provides the basis for securing data. An encryption algorithm is a mathematical routine that scrambles data, based on a user key, in a way that can be recovered with the same key or key pair. There are two types of encryption algorithms. There are symmetric secret-key algorithms and asymmetric public-key algorithms. These are discussed under "Cryptography" and "Public-Key Cryptography."
The advantage of the public-key scheme is that it eliminates the problems of key exchange. A trusted third party holds the public key and makes it available to other people in the form of a certificate. Certificate authorities bind a person's public key with validated information about that person, thus creating a digital certificate. The structure of the certificate itself (layout and format) is defined by an international standard called X.509. See "Certificates and Certification Systems" and "X.509 Certificates."
Certificates (and their keys) can be used to digitally sign messages. A signed message provides proof that a message is authentic, that it has not been tampered with, and that it has no errors. See "Digital Signatures" and "Hash Functions" for more information.
The public-key cryptography scheme is an essential part of doing business on the Internet. By putting public keys in certificates, it is possible for parties who don't know each other to establish secure trusted connections. If both parties trust the certificates issued by a particular CA, then they trust the contents of those certificates. The public keys can then be used for authentication and to establish encrypted communication sessions. A PKI (public-key infrastructure) is an organized hierarchical structure (potentially global) for creating, managing, and distributing certificates. See "PKI (Public-Key Infrastructure)" and "Key Distribution and Management."
AAA (authentication, authorization, and accounting) schemes are required to verify the authenticity of users, and control and track how they access secure systems. There are basic authentication schemes such as shared secret authentication methods, as described under "CHAP (Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol)." The public-key scheme provides asymmetric (two-key) authentication. Symmetric (secret key) authentication is accomplished with systems such as Kerberos. See "Kerberos Authentication Protocol."
See RFC 2903 (Generic AAA Architecture, August 2000) for information about the AAA architectures. Also refer to "Access Control," "Authentication and Authorization," "Biometric Access Devices," "One-Time Password Authentication," "PAP (Password Authentication Protocol)," "Smart Cards," and "Token-Based Authentication."
A number of protocols exist to secure the connection between systems. Some of these protocols also provide authentication features. For example, PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) includes the ECP (Encryption Control Protocol), which provides a method to negotiate an encryption method between the two points. See "PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)" for more information. Secure connections across the Internet can be implemented with VPN technology. IPSec (IP Security) has emerged as the most important protocol for establishing secure connections. See "VPN (Virtual Private Network)" and "IPSec (IP Security)" for more information.
Additional protocols that provide secure links, secure transactions, or tunneling/VPN (virtual private networking) capabilities include "S-HTTP (Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol)," "SSH (Secure Shell)," "SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)," "TLS (Transport Layer Security)," "L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol)," "S/WAN (Secure WAN)," and "SET (Secure Electronic Transaction)."
Other Security Topics
There are a number of other security-related topics, including "Firewall," "Proxy Servers," "NAT (Network Address Translation)," "RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service)," "Virus and Antivirus Issues," "Security Auditing," "OPSEC (Open Platform for Security)," and "CDSA (Common Data Security Architecture)."
There are a variety of security specifications and initiatives, some developed by vendors and some developed by consortiums. Governments also define security specifications. Refer to the following sites.
IETF Working Groups and Important RFCs
There are a number of IETF working groups developing security specifications and protocols. Refer to the IETF Web site at http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/wg-dir.html and jump to the Security section. Following are some of the more general security RFCs available on the included CD-ROM. Refer to the individual security topics mentioned earlier for more specific RFCs.
Copyright (c) 2001 Tom Sheldon and Big Sur Multimedia. | <urn:uuid:263d28a5-ca4e-4724-a55f-6df3126c128d> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.linktionary.com/s/security.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030336978.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001230322-20221002020322-00404.warc.gz | en | 0.926893 | 1,992 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Discover Your Exposure So You Can Protect It
Request a free hyper external attack surface scan today.
In the past, the attack surface was defined and protected by the boundaries of the organization’s physical network (aka the LAN). Using physical security methods, firewalls, and careful monitoring, organizations kept their data, endpoints, and networks secure. The entire attack surface was internal, within a well-defined and fortified perimeter.
Today, interactions between employees, customers, and the organization are increasingly taking place online via web-based SaaS applications and cloud services. Such digital-transformation initiatives cause organizations to increase their online presence, multiplying the connections to external digital resources including cloud infrastructure, open-source software, and web applications from third-party vendors. The shift towards work-from-home (WFH) and hybrid work models is further distributing applications and data, and increasing internet exposure. For most organizations, the external attack surface, which comprises all internet-facing assets and connected digital supply chains, is now at least 3x larger than the internal one – and it is growing. Cyber teams need to expand their scope and protection.
The digital attack surface, with its maze of interconnected online assets and sprawling digital supply chains, is a popular target for cyber criminals. As a result, new risks and vulnerabilities have taken center stage. Here are the seven most popular.
Public and private cloud environments offer a fast, simple, and inexpensive path for organizations to grow their digital infrastructure. Constantly adopting new Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings, organizations are willfully spreading their compute and data well beyond the reach of their own IT departments. While these “ex-IT” initiatives enhance business operations, the new cloud environments also give rise to new vulnerabilities.
Misconfiguration is the most common cloud-security vulnerability according to the National Security Agency. Even unsophisticated hackers are finding cloud misconfigurations attractive and relatively easy to exploit.
With their shared responsibility model, cloud service providers (CSPs) go only part way to providing adequate security services, leaving significant responsibilities up to their customers. Many such customers don’t know about or fail to follow cybersecurity best practices and inadvertently expose their data and credentials to attack.
Furthermore, cloud architectures are not standardized. The three major public cloud providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, implement foundational cloud services differently. Customers who use more than one public cloud may be unaware of the differences and thus fail to apply the requisite security configurations across their multi- and hybrid clouds.
Inadequate restrictions and safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to cloud infrastructure can put the organization at risk. For example, unsecure cloud storage buckets can allow attackers to gain access to stored data.
The cloud providers have a track record of inadequate protection mechanisms. In its early days, top cloud provider, AWS, left S3 buckets completely open by default, inviting a plethora of data breaches!
While all the cloud providers have tightened their security over time, there are still myriad ways for attackers to find and exploit vulnerabilities. For example, weak authorization methods may enable attackers to elevate privileges and thereby gain access to sensitive data.
Many web applications manipulate sensitive personal and/or business data such as passwords, email addresses, and credit card numbers. Attracted by potential lucrative gains, attackers look for attack vectors that exploit web application vulnerabilities in order to exfiltrate data.
Today’s web applications share data with multiple, interconnected third-party services or systems. In turn, each of the third-party services may be interconnected with its own third-party services. Attackers pay close attention to these interfaces, seeking out potential vulnerabilities through SQL injections, authentication flaws, and privilege escalation – in your direct or indirect digital supply chain.
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a central part of our online communications. Since the technology was created in an era when security wasn’t the top priority, it is inherently vulnerable to cyberattacks and needs special protection. The immense danger of highjacks lies in the central internet role that DNS plays.
Today, virtually every organization is exposed to multiple DNS servers in its digital supply chain. They are the weakest link in the chain. When a cybercriminal exploits a vulnerability to highjack the DNS server, he gains an ‘insider’ position of trust from which to launch any number of cyberattacks.
Email is a trusted method of communication between the organization and its employees, customers, partners, and suppliers. Email is designed to allow people to send messages back and forth with little friction. It is this relatively open and free modus operandi that makes it so vulnerable to attack.
Since most companies use multiple internal and external email servers to route their daily communications, security requirements and configuration best practices vary greatly. Experienced cyber attackers are skilled at recognizing the email servers that are vulnerable to takeover. Once inside, they can easily ruin the organization’s reputation by launching a multitude of email-based phishing attacks against partners, suppliers, and customers.
Shadow IT is the term that defines the use of information technology systems, devices, software, applications, and services without explicit IT department knowledge and approval. In recent years, the growing adoption of “rogue” cloud services in organizations has made Shadow IT initiatives key targets for cybercriminals.
Any employee can create a public cloud account to quickly provision services and migrate workloads and data. But there is a price to pay. Non-IT-savvy employees who are not well-versed in security standards are prone to misconfiguring vital security options, leaving exploitable cloud vulnerabilities all over.
Since IT and security departments are oblivious to the “rogue” assets, they will be unaware of attempted and successful breaches until long after damage has been done.
The speed with which business is conducted in the cloud and across supply chains often leaves behind the carnage of neglected assets and interconnections – easy pickings for cyber attackers. These can be authorized connections from enterprise applications to third-party suppliers who have been replaced. They can also be internal links to company IP or storage domains that have expired.
Many organizations still own servers, applications, and systems that no one has touched in months or even years. These unmanaged assets invariably run outdated software with known vulnerabilities that have never been patched – a veritable feast for the cybercriminal.
As the digital attack surface invariably continues to expand, so does the risk of cyberattack. To identify and prevent critical threats across the entire attack surface, you need effective External Attack Surface Management tools in your cybersecurity arsenal.
Cyberpion’s complimentary assessment of your organization’s external attack surface. You will gain visibility into your internet-facing assets and vulnerabilities that could pose a threat. Get a free risk assessment today. | <urn:uuid:d2559ae8-981e-49a9-bb65-5ce83cb1eed6> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cyberpion.com/blog/digital-attack-surface-the-top-7-vulnerabilities/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337404.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003070342-20221003100342-00404.warc.gz | en | 0.933191 | 1,395 | 2.59375 | 3 |
When is an IP address not actually the person, country of origin or device you thought? From Klingons, to Harry Potter, to Xbox Halo’s Master Chief, the world has dreamt up scores of science fiction stories around the concept of visually cloaking someone in plain sight.
Now hackers have come up with virtual ways to be transparent – at least to the law: cyber cloaks. Cyber cloaks are most powerful for those engaged in criminal cyber activity, as it offers the freedom from consequence of persecution.
In general, the cloak consists of one or more of five core ingredients, and there are almost immeasurable ‘flavors’ that can be combined with great care and precision. I will not go into great detail as not to promote specific attacks, however the notion of how these techniques work is most important to help protect your organization against their use.
Cyber cloaking ingredient one: The attack originates from a domicile with poor-to-no law enforcement agreements with the domicile of your intended victim
The world has settled into a mode whereby cyberattacks are commonplace and almost ordinary. In fact, in many ways, the only news in cyberattacks is that they are actually accelerating in both rates of incidents and varied types of techniques.
What is new is the process of appropriately choosing the host country / area / domicile for your attack. Picking a country to best place your cyber weapon will incredibly complicate the legal ability to act upon the perpetrated act.
There are many places in the world where there is either no functioning jurisprudence system or even outright hostility for the intended victim country in which to conduct any after-action legal forensics or investigations. So, the first main ingredient in any cyber cloak is to properly pick a domicile to attack. This area would have the desirable attribute of complicating a legal trail by being hostile to the authorities of the intended victim in which you want to attack. Simply put, never attack from a country or land with good relations with the legal system of your intended target. Moreover, only amateurs attempt to attack a target within the same country in which the attack originated.
Cyber cloaking ingredient two: Anonymize your attack numerous times
There is no better way to introduce doubts and complicate authorities than by developing a robust plan for anonymizing yourself. There are five broad ways to anonymize your attack and the more you can combine these techniques, the longer the trail will flow and be complicated. These are as follows:
1. Make certain your are leveraging dynamic IP addresses: Today’s reality is that many users access the Internet through providers using dynamic hosting configuration that results in a new IP address each time they access the Internet. When you combine this with the increased mobility of today’s user, organizations are quickly faced with a challenging situation with regard to user identification.
2. Originate your attack from behind a carrier-grade NAT: Users accessing the NAT devices result in many devices sharing the same IP address, making it difficult to block IPs without potentially blocking legitimate users/devices. If you can originate your attack from behind one of these large proxies, it makes it hard to mitigate, as the victim often requires the service you are attacking from. It also makes it complicated to translate to a specific device behind the NAT because it requires access to the NAT tables from the proxied company.
3. Browsing through anonymous proxies: A large number of anonymous proxy services have cropped up in recent years, largely in response to privacy advocates seeking ways to avoid personal identification of users. Trouble is, they also provide an excellent cover for bad actors. Some of these networks are freely available such at TOR network, while others are for-fee and are claimed to be as innocuous as ‘ad blockers.’ Regardless, these proxies can really complicate legal and forensic trails in immeasurable ways.
4. IP Spoofing: Any number of tools are readily available that enable users (including criminals) to modify or forge the header of an IP packet to include a false source IP address. This tactic can be used to seek high levels of access when spoofing IPs of trusted machines, or simply to evade detection based on IP addresses previously blacklisted.
5. Accessing origin servers through a CDN: Content Delivery Network services have grown to support a high percentage of ecommerce traffic on the Internet. For all their benefits related to acceleration of browsing, CDNs create a number of security challenges, including the challenge of needing to whitelist IPs of the CDN in order to ensure access to origin server content. Criminals often exploit this by making multiple, malicious login attempts while masking their IP addresses.
Cyber cloaking ingredient three: Leverage numerous out-of-band communication techniques
In tracking down a perpetrator of an act, it is one thing to understand there is a smoking gun, but it is quite another to understand who directed the shot and why. To cloak themselves, perpetrators are ensuring techniques to have multiple bands of communications to severely complicate tracking technologies which may be advanced in one area (i.e. in HTTP), but less sophisticated in other areas (i.e. MP4 or SIP embeds, Bluetooth or Zigby communications). There is no better way to complicate the picture than to break communication up into separate, almost unforecastable communication bands and drive the nefarious actions in this manner.
Cyber cloaking ingredient four: Leverage hard-to-forensically uncover technologies
When choosing technology platforms from which to perpetrate an act, one way “bad guys” get around law enforcement environments is to pick devices with little capabilities to audit or otherwise record the actions of the perpetrators (e.g. think IoT or Raspberry Pi, etc.). The simpler the box or system conducting the attack, the less likely the device has strong native controls or the ability to augment with any more security. If the device is not good at auditing or controlling then the forensics will likely suffer and cause the perpetrator to be obfuscated or cloaked.
Cyber cloaking ingredient five: Spoof your IP & desktop images frequently
Last but not least, make your IPs more dynamic. Make sure you change them every session, and while you are at it, change your operating environment with each attack too. You can do that by leveraging virtual environments and cloud delivered services so that an attack can essentially be hosted by an innocuous third party and leveraged in a crime (much like how criminals use pre-paid cell phones).
Each of the five techniques listed above carry the ability to cloak a perpetrator’s real identity from a legal perspective. Yes, it’s true that there are ways to find out who perpetrated the act beyond legal methods and mitigating the perpetrators, but these techniques are generally only available for national self-defense, and even those are highly restrictive. It’s high time that the legal and security community understand that the IP address is dead for legal purposes and begin to work on rational ways to uncover malicious folks through the fog of technology and regional borders.
The answer to this cloaking malaise is to leverage enterprising technologies, such as fingerprinting and other fraud-like enumerations, which expose the perpetrator and provide an indelible mark from which to arrest them. Legal teams and security professionals alike must get beyond the lay of security technology and reach into the next generation to find answers. | <urn:uuid:fd0fc834-cb34-46c2-a167-249dd8dc2722> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2015/11/09/evading-cyber-legislation-jurisprudence-cloaking-is-the-future-of-cyber-warfare-2/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338001.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007080917-20221007110917-00404.warc.gz | en | 0.943169 | 1,521 | 2.546875 | 3 |
What Is Election Security?
Elections are central to maintaining free and fair societies in the United States and other countries worldwide. Therefore, election security and ensuring the processes involved are fair, resilient, and safe is paramount to maintaining public trust in the democratic function.
Election security protects all elements of election infrastructure—including election officials, federal partners, state and local government agencies, voting equipment and technology, and the vendor community. It prevents possible election cybersecurity issues and helps mitigate election security threats.
Why the Election Infrastructure Needs Security
Securing election infrastructure is vital to maintaining public trust in the election process and system. In January 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated election infrastructure as a "subsector of the existing Government Facilities critical infrastructure sector," a move that highlights the importance of election security. The destruction or incapacitation of election infrastructure would devastate the American way of life.
Election databases contain the personal data of the voting population within a state, making them extremely appealing to cyber criminals. Failing to prevent election cybersecurity issues can enable hackers to shut down IT systems and demand ransom fees, steal data and make it available on the dark web, and wreak havoc on local and state IT systems.
Election security issues can impact the equipment and systems voters use to register. These registration systems, such as e-poll books, contain information like driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and political affiliations. Altering, hacking, or publishing these records could result in significant data breaches and potential voters being ineligible to vote on election day.
Top Cyber Attacks on Election Campaigns
Several cyber attacks that occurred during election campaigns underscore the critical role election security plays. Some of these cyberattacks include:
- 2016 U.S. election: During the 2016 U.S. election, Russian hackers known as APT28 or Fancy Bear hacked into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the campaign of candidate Hillary Clinton to leak secrets. The attack forced the DNC to decommission over 140 servers and 180 computers and rebuild more than 11 servers, which cost them over $1 million. The Russian hackers were able to steal several gigabytes of data and gained access to backup servers, email systems, internal chat messages, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls. The National Security Agency (NSA) also revealed Russian hackers targeted a voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to over 100 local election officials.
- Georgia voter database: In August 2016, a security failure in the Georgia voter registration database left the records of more than 6.7 million people vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches.
- California primary hack: In 2016, hackers gained access to voter registration data and changed voters' party affiliations. This left people unable to vote in the California primary, causing heated exchanges with poll workers.
- McCain and Obama's campaigns: Chinese hackers gained access to internal data from Barack Obama and John McCain’s campaigns in the build-up to the 2008 U.S. election. The hackers had reportedly been searching for information about the candidates’ political positions on China. The hack led Obama’s campaign team to hire security experts to investigate the data breach, which was instigated by a highly sophisticated phishing campaign that spread a virus through malicious attachments.
Role of White Hat Hackers in Election Security
Isolating the ransomware is the first step you should take. This can prevent east-west attacks, where the ransomware spreads from one device to another through their network connections. You should first shut down the system that has been infected. Shutting it down prevents it from being used by the malware to further spread the ransomware.
You should also disconnect any network cables attached to the device. This includes anything that connects the infected device to the network itself or devices on the network. For example, your device may be connected to a printer that is linked to the local-area network (LAN). Unplugging the printer can prevent it from being used to spread the ransomware.
In addition to hardware cables, you should also turn off the Wi-Fi that serves the area infected with the ransomware. The Wi-Fi connection can be used as a conduit to spread the ransomware to other devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Shutting it down can stop this kind of east-west spread before it begins. However, if it has already begun by the time you realize the computer has been infected, cutting off Wi-Fi can prevent it from spreading further.
Storage devices connected to the network need to be immediately disconnected as well. The ransomware can potentially find the storage device and then infect it. If that happens, any device that connects to the storage system may get infected. This may happen immediately or at some point in the future. Therefore, if you have been a victim of a ransomware attack, it is important to assume each storage device has been infected and clean them before allowing any devices in your network to attach to them.
How To Protect the Election Infrastructure from Cyber Threats
The election infrastructure faces a multitude of challenges from cyber criminals bent on destroying the integrity of the electoral system by taking advantage of common election security issues to cause data loss and affect votes.
Challenges in Election Security
Breaches of voter registration databases and systems represent the biggest challenges in election security. These include attacks targeting the IT infrastructure used to manage election processes, storage systems that contain voting data, and polling locations.
Election Cybersecurity Considerations
Election security needs to be a partnership between federal departments, state and local government agencies, election officials, and more.
Key considerations for all these organizations include:
Election officials are often the frontline of campaigns, which makes them prime targets for cyberattacks such as targeted phishing. However, an NBC News survey found only 15% of counties (15 out of 97) in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania had provided cybersecurity training for their officials. Agencies involved in election processes should ensure all officials have regular cybersecurity training that empower them to recognize potential security risks.
Many U.S. states have established response plans that enable them to correctly handle cybersecurity incidents. However, few states enact standards that specifically address the protection of election systems. It is now essential to implement measures that safeguard voter registration systems, voting machines, and officials’ training programs.
CISA Resources and Assets
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) provides a range of resources that help ensure election security. This includes:
- Providing local and state governments with cybersecurity advisors and private sector partners who help businesses prepare for and protect against threats
- Exercises to help businesses identify areas for improvement and understand election security best practices, such as software updates, patch management, and log management
- Access to technology, resources, and processes like cybersecurity assessments, cyber hygiene scanning, incident response, network baselines, network segmentation, security policies, threat hunting, detection and prevention, and vulnerability assessments
Information Awareness and Sharing
Information sharing between agencies and organizations is vital to preventing election security issues. For example, DHS provides an information network portal, and the National Cyber Awareness System (NCAS) shares advisories and specific threat alerts.
Agencies and organizations need to ensure they have access to the right security skills when they need them. CISA offers access to training and workforce development programs that help the nation become more cyber aware, including the Federal Virtual Training Environment and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies Catalog.
How Does an Election Infrastructure Work?
- Registration: Registration ensures voter records are kept in databases, and this information is used to determine whether they can vote and where.
- Electronic poll books: These are connected to additional voter databases or servers and include voter information from the registration databases.
- Voting machines: These include electronic voting terminals, paper ballot scanning and tabulation devices at polling places, and equipment for scanning mail-in ballots.
- Tabulation: The tabulation element of the infrastructure comprises tools and procedures used to count the votes cast at voting machines.
- Websites: There are official election websites that provide details on how to vote and register, as well as the results of the election.
How Fortinet Can Help?
Through its State and Local Government Cybersecurity solutions, Fortinet allows agencies to:
- Protect sensitive data across their entire attack surface
- Secure employee and contractor access to applications and systems
- Enhance security operations
These solutions enable agencies to protect their critical infrastructure, such as election systems, public transportation, and water and sewage systems.
Fortinet also provides industry-leading threat intelligence so local and state governments are constantly aware of the latest cyberattacks, including the risk of insider threats.
What are election security best practices?
Election security best practices help agencies detect, manage, prevent, and respond to cyber threats. They include processes and technologies like credential management, log management, network baselines, network segmentation, security policies, software updates and patch management, and threat detection and prevention.
What are election cybersecurity issues?
Election cybersecurity issues include attacks on state websites, voter registration system breaches, and theft of voter data records. | <urn:uuid:27fd221f-d57e-4ea8-8a2b-7d36d1f35839> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.fortinet.com/ru/resources/cyberglossary/election-security | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334915.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20220926175816-20220926205816-00604.warc.gz | en | 0.937245 | 1,881 | 3.171875 | 3 |
#infosec #DDoS #webperf NTP is rarely mentioned as a protocol of importance, but without it, high availability would be nigh unto impossible and performance enhancing services would be crippled
Krebs (on Security) writes about the recent NTP-based DDoS attacks in "The New Normal: 200-400 Gbps DDoS Attacks" and as is the case with most coverage of the attack, describes NTP as basically the Internet's time keeper. Which it is.
While generally described to broader audiences as "that server that keeps your computer up to date", it's less frequently (i.e. almost never) that the importance of NTP to modern infrastructure architectures is conveyed. In fact, it's so misunderstood that it was described as "aging" by one author with an almost derisive comment that it was "still employed by nearly every Internet-connected device."
Which is true - it is - but there's good reasons for that, reasons that go beyond simply being in sync with the Internet's internal clock.
The way in which high availability architectures work is fairly rudimentary: keep tabs on the resource required to maintain availability and if it suddenly becomes unavailable, do something about it.
In cloud architectures this might be launch a new instance of the resources. In traditional multi-site architectures it might be redirect users to the secondary (failover) site. Within a network architecture it's definitely make the secondary (often the standby device in a redundant pair) the primary.
How the actual failover happens is dependent on what resource or network element has failed and how it's configured, but suffice to say it happens and that's what's important to this discussion. Of increasing importance is how quickly it's noticed that a device or resource has failed. The faster you recognize something has failed (or is about to fail, if you're lucky) the faster you can react and restore availability (or avoid it altogether, which is really the optimal goal).
Now, the question should be at this point, how does the system become aware that a device or resource has failed?
One of the primary methods is to use ICMP (for network-only elements) and TCP along with HTTP content verification checks for application elements. Regardless of the protocol used, they all carry with them an interesting little bit of information that is often ignored: a timestamp.
That timestamp is derived from the underlying operating system, which in turn is synchronized by - yes, you guessed it - NTP.
This timestamp is used for a variety of purposes in infrastructure elements. Availability is one of them, as most devices configured in a redundant pair or increasingly as part of a larger fabric need to be time synced as part of the configuration. Heartbeats and "status checks" between infrastructure elements uses this timestamp to determine whether or not other infrastructure elements are active. If the timestamp drifts or is markedly different, this can cause the infrastructure to believe something is wrong and take action - including failing over to its own secondary, initiating the provisioning of additional application instances, or simply marking application or infrastructure resources as "offline and unavailable." None of these are acceptable scenarios unless they are actually happening. NTP ensures that all systems - and thus timestamps - are accurate. When you're counting microseconds, that's a critical dependency.
But perhaps more important (and relevant to more people) is the impact of timestamps on performance-related services, such as caching. Cached content carries with it the notion of expiration, that the content should only be cached for X amount of time before it's refreshed from the origin. That time is determined by, you guessed it, timestamps.
Web performance monitoring systems, too, may be relying on those timestamps to document (in the office, permanent application record) the responsiveness of applications and services. More disturbing, perhaps, is the reality that a time-drift due to a non-synchronizing NTP service might be the difference between meeting an application performance SLA and, well, not meeting it.
Time synchronization is a key component to a well-oiled data center. More network and application elements depend upon this "aging" protocol than is apparent on the surface. And as we continue to adopt technologies that rely on the use of automation and orchestration to streamline processes - processes that often rely on timing - synchronization of time across the data center is going to continue to be an integral component.
So we shouldn't dismiss NTP because it's aging (so is IP, TCP, BGP, and DNS for that matter, but they're still the critical underpinnings of every network today) nor should we imply organizations should not continue to use it. Rather it's important to recognize and understand why organizations still rely on NTP and what capabilities it is enabling under its admittedly simple purpose, as well as why we will continue to rely on it until some other means of measuring and synchronizing time across systems, devices, and networks is discovered. | <urn:uuid:e5b1a417-81c1-4828-a90c-0ee46201678e> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://community.f5.com/t5/technical-articles/aging-network-time-protocol-ntp-is-critical-to-modern/ta-p/288194 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335350.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929100506-20220929130506-00604.warc.gz | en | 0.958812 | 1,025 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Elements of Risk Management – The Basics
This courseware is available in a Virtual Classroom configuration.
In today’s global economy, every organization has a mission. In this digital era, as organizations critically depend upon information technology (IT) systems to process their…Read More
|Delivery||Blended, Classroom, Virtual Classroom|
What is included in Elements of Risk Management – The Basics
In today’s global economy, every organization has a mission. In this digital era, as organizations critically depend upon information technology (IT) systems to process their information for better support of their missions, risk management plays a critical role in protecting an organization’s information assets, and therefore its mission, from IT-related risk. An effective risk management process is an important component of a successful IT security program. The principal goal of an organization’s risk management process should be to protect the organization and its ability to perform their mission, not just its IT assets. Therefore, the risk management process should not be treated primarily as a technical function carried out by the IT experts who operate and manage the IT system, but as an essential management function of the organization.
Risk is the net negative impact of the exercise of a vulnerability, considering both the probability and the impact of occurrence. Risk management is the process of identifying risk, assessing risk, and taking steps to reduce risk to an acceptable level. This course provides an overview into the specific criteria, steps and actions necessary to implement and sustain a comprehensive Information Risk Management program.
Duration: 1 Day
Domain: Project and Program Management
Delivery Method: Blended, Classroom, Virtual Classroom
Available Languages: English
Purchase Options: Customizable Courseware, Pay Per Use Courseware
This workshop is intended for:
- Internal and external auditors (IT, financial, operational)
- Risk Compliance Officers
- Professionals involved in organizational or IT GRC strategic initiative
- Management consultants
- Directors of Human Recourses
- Facilities Managers
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Address various risk methodologies and assess application to individual enterprise environments.
- Explain and utilize risk assessment and analysis methodologies.
- Identify significant components of risk and their respective definitions.
- Define risk management goals and objectives.
- Document risk practices and risk types.
- Recognize the ISO principles of risk management.
- Understand the COBIT 4.1 and COBIT 5 elements related to IT risk identification and management.
- Apply the nine (9) steps of the NIST IT risk assessment methodology to an enterprise-wide risk assessment project.
- Prepare and evaluate a Statement of Risk Management.
- Describe the role and value of IT risk management as a basis of proactive corporate governance.
Module 1: RISK MANAGEMENT DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES
Module 2: RISK MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS
Module 3: DEFINING RISK MANAGEMENT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Module 4: NIST ASSESSMENT PROCESS – A BEST PRACTICE
Module 5: COURSE LEARNING SUMMARY
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This article is part of Demystifying AI, a series of posts that (try to) disambiguate the jargon and myths surrounding AI.
Passport checks at airports and border gates present a special challenge: How do you tell if the person standing in front of you is the same person whose picture is in the passport? Border and customs officers solve this problem using the complex mechanisms ingrained in the human visual system through billions of years of evolution.
It’s not a perfect process, but it works well most of the time.
In the realm of artificial intelligence, this is called the “one-shot learning” challenge. In a more abstract way, can you develop a computer vision system that can look at two images it has never seen before and say whether they represent the same object?
Data is one of the key challenges in deep learning, the branch of artificial intelligence that has had the most success in computer vision. Deep learning algorithms are notorious for requiring large amount of training examples to perform simple tasks such as detecting objects in images.
But interestingly, if configured properly, deep neural networks, the key component of deep learning systems, can perform one-shot learning on simple tasks. In recent years, one-shot learning AI has found successful applications including facial recognition and passport checks.
Classic convolutional neural networks
One of the most important architectures used in deep learning is the convolutional neural network (CNN), a special type of neural net that is especially good at working with visual data.
The classic use of CNNs is to set up multiple convolution layers (with some other important components in-between and after), specify an output goal, and train the neural network on many labeled examples.
For instance, an image classifier convnet takes an image as input, processes its pixels through its many layers, and outputs a list of values that represent the probability that the image belongs to one of the classes it detects.
The neural network can be trained on one of several public datasets such as ImageNet, which contains millions of images labeled with more than a thousand classes. As the convnet iterates through the training images, it tunes its millions of parameters to be able determine the class of each image.
One of the interesting features of convnets is their ability to extract visual features from images at different levels. A trained convolutional neural network develops a hierarchical structure of features, starting with smaller features in first layers and larger and higher-level features in the deeper layers.
When an image goes through the CNN, it encodes the image’s features into a set of numerical values and then uses these values to determine which class the image belongs to. With enough training examples, a convnet can generalize the feature encoding process well enough to be able to associate new images to their proper class.
Most modern computer vision applications use convolutional neural networks.
Instead of ImageNet (or other public datasets), developers can use their own curated training data. But due to the costs of gathering and labeling the images, they usually use a public dataset to train their model, and then finetune it on a smaller dataset that contains the images specific to their problem.
Repurposing CNNs for one-shot learning
One of the key problems in many computer vision problems is that you don’t have many labeled images to train your neural network. For instance, a classic facial recognition algorithm must be trained on many images of the same person to be able to recognize her.
Imagine what this would mean for a facial recognition system used at an international airport. You would need several images of every single person who would possibly pass through that airport, which could amount to billions of images. Aside from being virtually impossible to gather such a dataset, the notion of having a centralized store of people’s faces would be a privacy nightmare.
This is where one-shot learning comes into play. Instead of treating the task as a classification problem, one-shot learning turns it into a difference-evaluation problem.
When a deep learning model is adjusted for one-shot learning, it takes two images (e.g., the passport image and the image of the person looking at the camera) and returns a value that shows the similarity between the two images. If the images contain the same object (or the same face), the neural network returns a value that is smaller than a specific threshold (say, zero) and if they’re not the same object, it will be higher than the threshold.
Siamese neural networks and the triplet loss function
The key to one-shot learning is an architecture called the “Siamese neural network.” In essence, the Siamese neural network is not much different from other convolutional neural nets. It takes images as input and encodes their features into a set of numbers. The difference comes in the output processing.
During the training phase, classic CNNs tune their parameters so that they can associate each image to its proper class. The Siamese neural network, on the other hand, trains to be able to measure the distance between the features in two input images.
To achieve this goal, we use a function called “triplet loss.” Basically, the triplet loss trains the neural network by giving it three images: an anchor image, a positive image, and a negative image. The neural network must adjust its parameters so that the feature encoding values for the anchor and positive image are very close while that of the negative image is very different.
Hopefully, with enough training examples, the neural network will develop a configuration that can compare high-level features between APN trios. For instance, in the case of the facial recognition example, a trained Siamese neural network should be able to compare two images in terms of facial features such as distance between eyes, nose, and mouth.
Training the Siamese network still requires a fairly large set of APN trios. But creating the training data is much easier than the classic datasets that need each image to be labeled. Say you have a dataset of 20 face images from two people, which means you have 10 images per person. You can generate 1,800 APN trios from this dataset. (You use the 10 pictures of each person to create 10×9 AP pairs and combine it with the remaining 10 images to create a total of 10x9x10x2 = 1800 APN trios)
With 30 images, you can create 5,400 trios, and with 100 images, you can create 81,000 APNs. Ideally, your dataset should have a diversity of face images to better generalize across different features. Another good idea is to use a previously trained convolutional neural network and finetune it for one-shot learning. This process is called transfer learning and is an efficient way to cut down the costs and time of training a new network.
Once the Siamese network is trained, if you provide it two new face images (e.g., passport and camera input), it should be able to tell you if they are similar enough to be the same person or not.
So you no longer need to train your facial recognition deep learning model on all the faces in the world.
The limits of one-shot learning
Although very attractive, one-shot learning does have some limitations. Each Siamese neural network is just useful for the one task it has been trained on. A neural network tuned for one-shot learning for facial recognition can’t be used for some other task, such as telling whether two pictures contain the same dog or the same car.
The neural networks are also sensitive to other variations. For instance, the accuracy can degrade considerably if the person in one of the images is wearing a hat, scarf, or glasses, and the person in the other image is not.
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Do we need a password manager ?
The proliferation of technology has paved way for us to consume various services from ordering food online, to communicating with our loved once via social media. As all of the services we access via the internet are usually separate entities, we need to provide password for every website. Although many sites allows us to access their services using a common authentication mechanism like OAuth but they are not as popular as expected because of the growing privacy concerns which have refrained many users from using this feature.
From a security perspective, it is not advisable to use the same email and password combination for multiple websites. The primary reason behind this is, if a data breach occurs in one of those websites, all other accounts could be compromised. An attacker can gradually work their way in to other sensitive sites like bank account and social media. Such activity by an aggressor can cause significant discomfort and lead towards various complications. The outcome of using same email and password combination for every site could be severe if the user is unaware of a certain data breach and does not take any precautions.
Some users like to keep a spreadsheet or text file to keep track of their authentications for various sites. This method has its own flaw as well. If the user’s workstation becomes inoperable or even worse, stolen, all the precious data can either be destroyed or fall into the wrong hands. With such file at the attackers disposal, he or she will be able to control various aspects of a persons digital life.
Many other users also likes to keep their private information stored in a physical place like diary or notebook. Although considered quite safe because they are not digitally stored and have less dependency on electronic devices, it also have many potential downfalls like updating the information and portability. This is why most of us do not consider this method to store all of our credentials.
All of these problems are solved by password managers. They are a program with allows a user to store his or her password safely. As the access to this application will controlled by a single password, it should not be difficult for a person to remember one password to unlock the manager and use random passwords for every other websites. Such systems can now be installed on system, loaded in the browser and can even be accessed using mobile phone using app. The primary purpose of this application is to provide a mechanism by which a user can store password safely and retrieve easily.
Advanced features like autofill, autosave, password generator etc is also seen in many of these applications. Such features provide its users with a mechanism by which the user can easily fill login using a single click or save the entered password in the form.
In recent times, the cloud versions of password managers are gaining popularity because of their features and synchronization between multiple devices in different platforms. It is now possible to manage hundreds access to various sites easily because of cloud edition.
The security of the password manager is also being asked by many as all of the authentication data will be stored in a central location. Will the developer of that application view and can it be hacked? Undoubtedly, no system is considered fully secure and an attacker might gain access to the data stored in the server. Fortunately, all the passwords are encrypted using strong encryption algorithm prior to storing them on their servers. Thus even if the developer were to gain access to the data, they will view it as encrypted and without the decryption key, they are inoperable.
Moreover, two factor authentication is being used by many of these applications thus making it more difficult for an attacker to gain access to your password vault even if the password is compromised.
Regarding cost, basic features are usually free for most of them and for advanced services, subscription is required. There are also services which are available in the market including open source. Open source products allows you to look into the source code and check whether the developer has written down the codes which he have promised.
Each of the product has specific features suited for a particular need. You can read more about them in their website and name of some of the most popular password managers are given below:
Using a password manager is highly recommended because it not only makes your life easier but also secure.
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Following Monday’s tragic terror attack at the Boston Marathon, it was reported that cellular phone service was intentionally shut off to prevent any possible activation of other explosive devices remotely via mobile phones. As details emerged, it became clear that no shutdown was actually ordered.
Although heavy usage did overload cellular systems, service did remain available throughout the day, the mobile carriers said. In fact, cellular providers had actually increased network capacity in advance of Monday’s Boston Marathon, but even that extra capacity left many unable to connect with friends and family following the bombings.
“For personal communication, most of us are at the mercy of cellular and Internet providers,” said Jon Seals, editor-in-chief of the Disaster Recovery Journal.
Service interruptions or slowdowns can be especially disheartening for those who’ve become accustomed to constant tweets, texts and emails in addition to good old voice calls. When disaster strikes, users may find themselves suddenly cut off — but it doesn’t have to be this way.
“There are a number of emergency notification vendors that service businesses, municipalities and other organizations,” noted Seals. “Aside from communicating through the same cellular and Internet providers, many of those vendors also offer satellite technology and other dedicated channels of crisis communication.”
While the media often respond to tragic events at lightning speed, providing a constant stream of updates — even when little information is available — these snippets of information often serve to exacerbate the worries of those watching, listening or reading at home who are unable to reach loved ones in the epicenter of such an event.
“There always seem to be outages during a crisis,” said telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan. In this case, it seems the networks were not shut down. Rather, they were just overloaded. Overloading can happen during a crisis or any other time there is a sudden wave of calls.”
Whenever an outage occurs, it creates high anxiety, as people have become used to being in the information loop. In the event of an emergency, that anxiety takes on greater urgency.
“Cellphones not working during the height of a crisis or disaster appears common,” noted David M. Neal, Ph.D., director of the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events at Oklahoma State University.
“In the case of the bombing, carriers can bring in additional towers to alleviate the problem — they often do this for other large sporting events, such as football games. In broader scale events, such as hurricanes, the problem is more profound and takes longer to fix,” he told TechNewsWorld.
One problem with voice calls is that they take a lot of bandwidth, but in many cases even when the networks are overloaded for voice, data can still flow. The key here is to avoid contributing to the problem.
“In California, for example, wireline phone service used to be briefly blocked after an earthquake, because so many people picked up at their phones at once,” said telecommunications analyst Stephen Blum of Tellus Ventures Associates.
At these times, looking for alternative means to communicate is a better way to go.
“About six years ago, a freeway bridge collapsed in Minneapolis and the same sort of immediate congestion happened,” Blum told TechNewsWorld. “People there jumped on a partially built WiFi network to communicate. Because it was new, not many people were using it, so it probably performed better than the mobile networks at that moment. Workarounds like WiFi do help.”
There are options today that weren’t available a few years ago.
“There are social networks like Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn,” noted Kagan, that can be used to broadcast one’s safety.
However, these systems can be overloaded as well, if too many people turn to whatever channels are open.
“Skype or related technologies would have the same bandwidth type of issues,” Neal pointed out. “We need to think about more retro or analog means to communicate during the initial response phase.”
Too Much Information
What complicates communications in difficult situations is that many people on the ground try to share too much information when they should just report that they are safe and out of immediate danger. Although the media are already reporting all the details, many at the scene might try to convey the same information via their phones, clogging the networks.
“If you are in an emergency area and if you are not in danger, just text a message to a few people that you are safe,” suggested Oklahoma State University’s Neal. “A text message takes a lot less bandwidth than a phone call, emailing a message and a photo, or downloading files. This is a matter of public education that should be done in advance.”
However, this could be less of a problem in the future, as network capacity increases and new methods are offered for sharing of information during a crisis. Even with networks in Boston congested, the communications situation could have been far worse.
“If something like this happened 30 years ago, people would have been lined up around the block waiting to use payphones,” said Blum. “Going forward, a couple of things will continue to improve immediate emergency communications.”
First, more and more mobile bandwidth is being deployed.
“Usage is growing even faster for the present, but just having more bandwidth generally available will give mobile networks greater ability to absorb sudden traffic surges,” Blum noted. “Second, the software and equipment being deployed is getting better, and over time techniques will be developed to deal with surges automatically. Delays will [not] ever be eliminated in an emergency situation, but the problem will continue to decrease over time.”
For now however, planning ahead might be the best advice of all.
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Microsegmentation in cybersecurity creates small zones within or adjacent to existing network segments to make it harder for malicious communications and activity to move throughout the network. By preventing lateral movement within zones protected by a firewall, network microsegmentation can limit the impact of external attacks, malware infections, and unauthorized internal user access. To be effective, microsegmentation requires visibility of all devices and communication in the environment.
Microsegmentation is one of the key principles for implementing Zero Trust network security. Even within an organization with a presumably secure perimeter, reducing network segments to the smallest possible size can sharply limit the ability of attackers and unauthorized users to move laterally through a network.
With security policies limiting access privileges by microsegment and real-time threat monitoring and response, microsegmentation can play an important role in protecting sensitive data, devices, and systems. These same practices can help organizations comply with strict data-protection requirements, including HIPAA in healthcare and PCI-DSS in card payment acceptance.
To get a sense of how microsegmentation can protect an enterprise, consider the URGENT/11 suite of VxWorks vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities only target devices that traditional security agents can’t secure, and these devices often play critical roles in healthcare, manufacturing, and industry. The kinds of attacks that URGENT/11 vulnerabilities enable are also hard for some network solutions to detect.
Protecting devices running VxWorks requires identifying and patching devices as needed. Network segmentation is another best practice for placing a barrier between vulnerable devices and the internet. Because most affected devices aren’t internet-connected, another segmentation strategy to protect against URGENT/11 is “isolating vulnerable devices within a small subnet.” That way, even if another device on the local area network is compromised, malicious broadcast packets from that device can’t reach other devices that are protected within their own subnet.
The Armis platform identifies, assesses, and monitors every device in an organization’s environment. Armis also shows every connection among devices, including connections that pose security risks, such as communication through unauthorized channels and with high-risk devices. With this information, security teams can review, assess, and improve their network segmentation strategies.
Armis also supports automated enforcement of segmentation rules, including device blocking, quarantining, and segmenting based on the organization’s infrastructure, Network Access Control (NAC), firewalls, and switches. Enabling dynamic security with real-time remediation increases security team efficiency. | <urn:uuid:7523c2ae-6c45-450a-bc55-0e3d6d4fcd3d> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.armis.com/home-faqs/what-is-microsegmentation/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334591.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925162915-20220925192915-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.911848 | 529 | 2.640625 | 3 |
What is a data breach?
A data breach is also known as a data spill or data leak.
According to Techopedia, a data breach is “an incident which involves the unauthorized or illegal viewing, access or retrieval of data by an individual, app, or service”.1 This type of security breach is specifically for stealing sensitive information and can be performed physically by accessing a computer or network, or remotely by bypassing network security.
Data breaches commonly occur after a hacker or similar unauthorized user accesses a secure database or data repository. Frequently conducted via the internet or a network connection, data breaches usually revolve around the pursuit of logical or digital data.
According to Symantec, the most common form of data lost to data breaches was personally identifiable information—such as full names, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers—with personal financial information close behind.2
After they have acquired this data, hackers may use it to commit identity theft and other cybercrimes, including applying their stolen information and gaining administrator access to your entire network.
In addition to data loss, a data breach harms a business and its customers in other ways. The damage extends to the cost to boost cybersecurity, and repair and update the exploitable vulnerability, as well as the long-term damage to the enterprise’s reputation and its customers who had their private information stolen.
How does a data breach occur?
Multinational cybersecurity and defense company Trend Micro argues that data breaches are a four-step process that includes the following actions for a general data breach:
- Research. The hacker probes the computer or network for vulnerabilities.
- Attack. The hacker begins the attack, making contact using a network or social attack.
- Network attack. This attack involves network manipulation. The hacker uses infrastructure, system and application weaknesses to infiltrate the victim’s computer or network.
- Social attack. This attack involves social manipulation. The hacker tricks or baits employees into giving them access to the computer or network. This method includes tricking an employee into revealing login credentials or duping the employee into opening a malicious attachment.
- Exfiltration. Once they have broken into a computer, hackers can then attack the network or pilfer the company’s data. After the network is damaged or the data is extracted, the attack is considered successful.3
Why do data breaches occur?
An anti-malware software manufacturer Malwarebytes argues that “a data breach isn’t a threat or attack in its own right and instead comes as a result of a cyberattack that allows hackers to gain unauthorized access to a computer system or network and steal its data”.4 As the process of digitizing content rises and the cloud continues to grow, data breaches will continue to occur.
Targeted data breaches typically occur for the following reasons:
- Exploiting system vulnerabilities
- Weak passwords
- Structured Query Language (SQL) injection
- Drive-by downloads
- Broken or misconfigured access controls
Exploiting system vulnerabilities
Hackers use exploits of systematic vulnerabilities in software or systems to gain unauthorized access to a computer or network and its data. Exploits are commonly found in operating systems, internet browsers, and a variety of different apps.
Hidden within a system’s code, these vulnerabilities are sought out by hackers, as well as cybersecurity experts and researchers. For example, older operating systems can, unfortunately, have built-in vulnerabilities that today’s hackers can easily exploit to access a computer’s data.
While the hackers want to use the exploits for their own malicious gain, the cyber security agents want to better understand the exploits and how they can be patched or otherwise modified to prevent data breaches and boost cybersecurity.
To make their dubious work easier, some cybercriminal groups will package different exploits into automated kits. These kits allow criminals with little technical knowledge to take advantage of exploits.
As its name implies, a weak password is a password that is easy to determine by humans and computers. These passwords often contain the name of the user’s spouse, children, pets or address, since they’re easy for the user to remember. The passwords may not be case sensitive or just generally fail to use capital letters or symbols.
Weak passwords are easy for hackers to guess or use in brute force attacks or spidering to figure out a user’s password. Also, never have your password written down on your desk or be aware of anyone who makes be “shoulder surfing” when you’re entering a password.
SQL injection attack
Structured query language (SQL) injection attacks exploit the vulnerabilities in an unsecured website’s SQL database management software. To execute a SQL injection attack, a hacker embeds malicious code into a vulnerable site or application, then pivots to the backend database.
For example, a hacker changes the code in a retailer’s website so that when they perform a search for “best-selling headphones,” instead of yielding results for great headphones, the retailer’s website provides the hacker with a list of customers and their credit card information.
A less sophisticated type of cyberattack, SQL attacks can be performed using automated programs similar to those used for exploits.
Spyware is malware that infects your computer or network to “spy” on you and otherwise gather information about you, your computer, and what websites you visit.
Victims often are infected by spyware after downloading or installing something that seems benign, only to have spyware bundled together with it. You can also get spyware by clicking on a malicious link or as a secondary infection from a virus.
Alternatively, spyware can make its way onto your computer as a secondary infection via a Trojan like Emotet. As reported on the Malwarebytes Labs blog, Emotet, TrickBot, and other banking Trojans have found new life as delivery tools for spyware and other types of malware. Once your system is infected, the spyware sends all your personal data back to the C&C servers run by the cybercriminals.
After your computer has been infected with spyware and it collects information about you, it then forwards this information to a remote location, such as command and control (C&C) servers or a similar repository where cybercriminals can access it.
Phishing attacks usually use social engineering to manipulate its victims’ emotions against logic and reasoning and get them to share sensitive information. They are often performed using email spoofing-based attacks or cloned website-based attacks that function similarly.
Attackers employing phishing and spam email tactics will trick users into doing the following:
- Revealing their user and password credentials
- Downloading malicious attachments
- Visiting malicious websites
For example, you could get an email that looks like it’s from your credit card company, asking you to verify made-up charges to your account, and prompting you to log in using a link to a fake version of the credit card site. Unsuspecting victims attempt to log in to the fake site using their real usernames and passwords. Once hackers have that information, they can log in to and access your credit card account, and use it for identity theft and similar cybercrime.
Drive-by downloads are cyber attacks that can install spyware, adware, malware, and similar software onto a user’s computer without the user’s authorization. They allow hackers to take advantage of exploits and security flaws in browsers, applications, and operating systems.
This cyber attack doesn’t necessarily need to trick the users into enabling it. Unlike phishing and spoofing attacks where the user needs to click a malicious link or download a malicious attachment, drive-by downloads just engage with a computer or device without the user’s permission.
Broken or misconfigured access controls
If a website administrator isn’t careful, the administrator could establish access controls that would make parts of a system that are meant to be private able to be accessed by the public. This misstep could be something as careless as neglecting to set certain backend folders that contain sensitive data to private. General users tend to remain unaware of broken or misconfigured access controls. However, hackers that perform specific Google searches can locate these folders and access them. A good comparison to this situation is a burglar entering a house through an unlocked window as opposed to a burglar breaking into a house through a locked door.
Benevolent hackers and data breaches
A data breach, similar to most types of cyber thefts, involves hackers attempting to gain unauthorized access to your computer or network and steal your private information. However, there are some instances where this theft is performed with benevolent intentions.
Like many cybersecurity researchers, “white hat” hackers and other benevolent hackers will attempt to break into your computer or network to discover exploits and vulnerabilities, and then make others aware so that they can create a solution that remedies the exploit.
For example, after nine months of reverse engineering work, an academic hacker team from KU Leuven University in Belgium published a paper in September 2018 that revealed how it defeated Tesla’s encryption for the Model S.5 The team’s work helped Tesla create new cybersecurity technology for its vehicles that remedied the exploit the KU Leuven team discovered and used it to clone the Model S’s key fob.
How can you detect a data breach?
Unlike many common types of cyber attacks, data breaches are notoriously hard to detect and it’s very common for organizations to discover the breach days or weeks, sometimes even months after it has occurred. This large gap between when the data breach occurs and discovery is incredibly problematic, as hackers will have a large head start on using or selling the data they’ve stolen. Once the data breach is finally discovered and the vulnerability that allowed it is fixed, the damage has already been done.
In his article for SecurityIntelligence, Koen Van Impe notes that there are two signs of a data breach:
Precursors signal an imminent threat based on public information, such as security blogs, vendor advisories, and similar information from threat analysis and intelligence sources or threat detection. Cybersecurity professionals use precursors to prepare for an anticipated cyber attack and to adjust their systems’ security and cyber resilience according to the threat level. Precursors tend to occur rarely, especially when compared to indicators.
Indicators display that a data breach may have happened or one is currently happening. Security alerts, suspicious behavior, and reports or alerts submitted by people from inside or outside a business are all examples of indicators. Indicators frequently occur at a high volume — a factor that contributes to the incident response process’s inefficiencies.
What indicators should you look for?
Here are several indicators that you should be aware of in the event of a possible data breach or similar cyber attack:
- Irregularly high activity for your system, disk, or network. This increased activity is particularly worrisome if it occurs during what would normally be an idle period.
- Activity on network ports or applications that are usually inactive. An unusual activity where the ports or applications are listening to network ports that they wouldn’t usually be listening to.
- Unrecognized software is installed or odd system preferences are established.
- Unrecognized and untraceable system configuration changes, including firewall changes, services reconfigurations, new startup program installations, or scheduled tasks.
- Spikes in activity in a cloud services “last activity” overview that tracks abnormal behavior. This activity includes logging in at unusual times, from unusual locations, or multiple locations in a short time period and other abnormal user activity.
- Unanticipated user account lockouts, password resets, or group membership deviations.
- Frequent system crashes or application crashes.
- Alerts from malware or antivirus protections, including notifications that they have been disabled.
- Frequent pop-ups or unexpected redirects while browsing the internet, or browser configuration changes, such as a new home page or search engine preferences.
- Contacts report receiving unusual emails or direct messages from social media from you that you didn’t send them.
- You receive a message from an attacker demanding money, such as from ransomware.
What can you do to detect and respond to a data breach?
In addition to the precursors and indicators, here are several guiding principles that can bolster your ability to detect and respond to an intrusion into your system:
1. No changes, no red flags
Avoid making any changes to your computer or network. Making changes in a system where there’s a suspected intrusion risk damaging or destroying evidence, or even worsening the situation. The obvious trade-off here is the weight of the incident and the hacker’s intent, as well as your business objectives and the breach’s impact on them.
2. Gather evidence
Be sure to collect evidence of what you suspect to be an intrusion and ensure that the evidence is stored somewhere with little risk of data loss. This process will help with incident analysis and post-incident decision-making, as well as forensic data collection.
Log files, disk and memory information, malware samples, running process lists, user activity lists, and active network connections are all data that can be collected for evidence.
In adhering to the no changes, no red flags rule, don’t make any changes to the system while collecting this information. And as with the first rule, consider your situation, the weight of the incident, and other relevant factors when weighing the advantages or disadvantages of your actions.
If you can access them, consider using remote forensics tools and work closely with your IT operations or cybersecurity team. If central logging isn’t something that you have, then ensure that logs are copied to a read-only location on a different computer or system from the attacked one.
3. Record everything
Note-taking during incident response can provide a treasure trove of data. Try to record every action that’s taken, including the verification, correlation, and pivoting actions. Ensure that you haven’t missed anything now that might be important later. Your notes can help establish timelines and determine system areas that need support.
4. Confer with your peers
Once you have established a general understanding of everything that’s occurring with your system, confer with your peers and verify your findings. This process includes referencing threat intelligence sources, as well as industry information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs) and national computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs). This step helps you establish what others have already done and what steps need to be done to contain the intrusion, and how to reverse the damage it caused.
5. Create an internal report
In addition to reporting observed incidents, you should also report any critical ongoing incidents that may impact your business to your stakeholders. A high-level analysis of the attack should include the following facts:
- Whether the attack was targeted
- Whether the attack was observed before
- Whether other companies or organizations have experienced similar attacks
- What damage it has caused to date and the damage it’s expected to cause in the future
- What was the intent of the attack?
6. Spread awareness about reports
Indicators can include reports from people within your organization. These internal reports can supply essential information for raising awareness of unusual behavior or situations. Streamline the reporting process and spread awareness about the reports among your employees. Consider establishing a “report an incident” button on your organization’s internal homepage.
Make sure that your employees are aware of your cybersecurity team or IT support team. Be sure your employees can easily contact these teams if they have any questions or suggestions. Create help desk questions for these teams to ask to help them collect information.
Foster transparency and a sense of ownership with the reports. This process can mean following up with each individual that submitted a report and providing an update regarding the incident specific to each individual’s report.
By incorporating this process into your workplace, not only will you help to cultivate an IT security culture and potentially boost your cyber resilience and security, but employees will be more likely to report anything they feel is unusual. This combined process and culture can help you shut down intrusions when they start.
Be sure to include in your report any mitigation actions that were taken, if they were effective, and what additional actions you can expect to take in the future. While it behooves you to include the appropriate technical details, be sure to focus on how this attack will impact the business and its employees.
What can I do to prevent a data breach?
There’s no perfect solution for preventing a data breach outside of never going on the internet, never booting up your computer, or never getting your network online. Obviously, they aren’t acceptable solutions for anyone.
Fortunately, when reducing the risk of a data breach, there are several steps you can take to bolster your cybersecurity and cyber resilience.
- Use strong passwords. Consider using a password generator that creates random combinations of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Consider using a password tracking program that helps manage these passwords for you.
- Monitor your finances. Regularly review your bank and similar financial account activity. If possible, use activity alerts that inform you of any unusual activity.
- Monitor your credit report. If someone tries to use your private information to open a credit card or bank account using your name, the credit report will show it. A variety of sites such as Credit Karma offer credit reporting at no charge.
- Act immediately. As soon as you see any unusual activity, take immediate action and contact the respective credit card company, bank, or similar financial institution. If you were the victim of a data breach, then be sure to inform them of this fact.
- Make your phone secure. Always create either a short numerical password or a swipe password for your phone. If you have a fingerprint scanner on your phone, then you should use that, too. Using these security features provides a line of defense against unauthorized access to your phone and all the personal information stored on it in the event that it’s lost or stolen.
- Pay attention to URLs. Try to only use secure URLs. Secure URLs begin with “https://”. The “s” stands for secure and the HTTP request uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a protocol used for secure communication between two parties.
- Install up-to-date antivirus software. Depending on what software you are using and how your network is set up, it may also include a firewall. It should go without saying that having reliable antivirus software with up-to-date definitions generally boosts your cybersecurity and cyber resilience, and generally improves your resistance to cyber attacks.
- Regularly back up your files. Establish a regular schedule for backing up your files and storing these backups in a secure environment. This process will help you with creating recovery point objectives (RPOs) in the event of data loss or corruption.
- Format or destroy your old hard drives. If you are retiring old systems and you’re planning on cannibalizing the components, then be sure to format the hard drives before installing them into new computers. If you’re simply getting rid of these systems and don’t plan on reusing the components, then first make sure that you have backed up your files. Secondly, dispose of your hard drives in such a way that it ensures no one will be able to make use of them. The simplest solution is often to take a hammer to them.
- Don’t post important information online. This step is a practical one that shouldn’t require much explanation. Don’t post private, sensitive, or otherwise very important information online, including on your social media accounts. It’s also generally a good idea to set your social media accounts to “private” to limit who can view your social media account’s content.
- Enlist identity theft protection and credit monitoring services. Consider using identity theft protection and credit monitoring services, as they help prevent identity theft and can notify you in the event it occurs.
- Use secure payment services. Paypal is a great example of a secure payment service, as it doesn’t require you to give your credit card information to make a payment. Instead, it helps you make secure payments using your accounts and without requiring you to input sensitive information.
2018: Year of the data breach
Because of the vast amount of data they contain, enterprises and large organizations are exceptionally attractive targets for cybercriminals who are looking to steal data.
In the Malwarebytes Lab blog post 2018: The year of the data breach tsunami, author Logan Strain notes that more data breaches occurred during 2017 than in 2018. However, the 2018 data breaches were more massive in scale and featured victims that included some of the biggest tech companies, retailers, and hospitality providers, such as Facebook, Under Armor, Quora, and Panera Bread.7
Due to the massive amounts of data they contain, corporations and businesses are attractive targets for cybercriminals looking to steal large amounts of private data. According to the Ponemon Institute’s 2018 Cost of a Data Breach study, a data breach goes undiscovered for an average of 197 days. The study argues that the average total cost to a company of a data breach is USD 3.86 million, a 6.4 percent increase over 2017. The global average cost for each lost or stolen record is also increased by 4.8 percent and averaging approximately USD 148 per record.8
The amount of data lost is further compounded by data breaches being notoriously difficult to detect, often going undetected and once detected, taking an additional 69 days to reverse the damage and recuperate from the losses.
Facebook data breaches, exposures, and cyber attack
Facebook experienced several data breaches and exposures, and cyber attacks that were made public during 2018 and 2019. Facebook’s data exposures involve data stored online and publicly without a password. These exposures don’t necessarily involve malicious intent, such as a data breach or cyber attack, and are instead tied to human error and represent a security problem.
The first data breach
When did the breach occur? Between 2013 and 2015
When was the breach discovered? Unknown
What was stolen?
- Facebook user profile data
- Facebook user preferences and interests
Although it was initially reported that 50 million Facebook profiles were accessed by Cambridge Analytica, multiple reports later confirmed that the figure was actually closer to 87 million profiles.
How did the data breach occur? A loophole in Facebook’s application programming interface (API) allowed third-party developers to collect data. Cambridge Analytica exploited this loophole and was able to steal data from Facebook app users, as well as all the people in those users’ friends network on Facebook.
Technicality. Technically, this event isn’t a data breach and, instead, a misuse of user data.
The second data breach
When did the breach occur? The second breach took place between July 2017 and the end of September 2018.
When was the breach discovered? The breach was discovered on 25 September 2018.
When was the breach made public? This breach was publicly disclosed on 28 September 2018.
What was stolen?
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Other personal information
How much data was stolen? Facebook initially reported that the breach exposed the information of approximately 50 million profiles, a figure that was later revised 30 million users with 14 million having their respective usernames and Facebook search history accessed.
How did the data breach occur? Using a flaw in the code for Facebook’s “view as” feature, hackers stole Facebook access tokens, then used the tokens to access users’ accounts, potentially gaining control of them.
What happened to the data? Cambridge Analytica used the data from these profiles to help identify swing voters in the 2016 US presidential election.9
The Instagram Nasty List attack
When did the attack occur? Unknown
When was the attack discovered? During March and April 2019
When was the attack made public? 8 April 2019
What was stolen?
- Instagram login information:
- Usernames and passwords
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
How did this attack occur? First reported on Reddit, compromised Instagram accounts would message noncompromised accounts that they followed, prompting them that they were on a “Nasty List” or something similar, and including a malicious link. A phishing attack, this malicious link would take the user to a cloned or otherwise fake Instagram page and prompt them to log in.
How much data was stolen? The amount of stolen Instagram user information as a result of this attack is unknown.10
Instagram passwords plaintext file data exposure
When did this data exposure occur? Unknown
When was this data exposure discovered? During March and April 2019
When was this data exposure made public? 18 April 2019
What may have been exposed? Millions of Instagram passwords
How did this data exposure occur? Following the Instagram Nasty List attacks, Facebook confirmed more password security issues, noting that millions of Instagram accounts’ passwords were being stored in a plaintext file. Although Facebook said “our investigation has determined that these stored passwords were not internally abused or improperly accessed”,11 users whose information was on the plaintext file were encouraged to perform a password reset.
Facebook unsecure databases data exposure
When did this data exposure occur? Unknown
When was this data exposure discovered? Unknown
When was this data exposure made public? 4 September 2019
What may have been exposed?
- Phone numbers linked to 419 million user accounts from multiple databases across several geographies, including:
- 133 million records of US-based Facebook users
- 18 million records of users in the UK
- More than 50 million records on users in Vietnam
- In addition to Facebook user IDs and phone numbers, information about each account’s username, gender, and country location were included.
How did this data exposure occur? Unsecure databases across several countries contained Facebook account IDs, phone numbers and additional user information.12
- Data Breach, Techopedia, 5 September 2018.
- What is a data breach, Norton, 10 March 2020.
- Data Breaches 101: How They Happen, What Gets Stolen, and Where It All Goes, Trend Micro, 10 August 2018.
- Data Breach, Malwarebytes.
- Andy Greenberg, Hackers Can Steal a Tesla Model S in Seconds by Cloning Its Key Fob, Wired, 10 September 2018.
- Koen Van Impe, Don’t Dwell On It: How to Detect a Breach on Your Network More Efficiently, SecurityIntelligence, 22 October 2018.
- Logan Strain, 2018: The year of the data breach tsunami, Malwarebytes Labs, 4 April 2019.
- Ponemon Institute’s 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study: Global Overview, Ponemon Institute, July 2018.
- Eitan Katz, The 20 Biggest Data Breaches of 2018, Dashlane blog, 2 January 2019.
- Davey Winder, Hackers Are Using Instagram 'Nasty List' To Steal Passwords -- Here's What You Need To Know, Forbes, 14 April 2019.
- Keeping Passwords Secure, Facebook, 21 March 2019.
- Davey Winder, Unsecured Facebook Databases Leak Data Of 419 Million Users, Forbes, 5 September 2019. | <urn:uuid:5f40b7c2-4e89-4964-a895-7aa4c58d703b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.kyndryl.com/nz/en/learn/data-breach | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334974.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927002241-20220927032241-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.931117 | 5,763 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Improving Energy Storage Technologies
According to a new report, “Future of Energy Storage,” published by the MIT Energy Initiative, different energy storage technologies can make more optimal use of increasing levels of intermittent renewable energy, with the combined resources replacing fossil-fueled generation systems by 2050. The almost 400-page report provided a blueprint for supporting and using existing and emerging grid storage technologies to reduce emissions in affordable ways.
The study, in specific, looked at the Northeast, the Southeast, and Texas, each of which reflects a different demand portfolio and different levels of wind and solar. It analyzed strategies for capitalizing on various grid storage technologies, including electro-chemical, thermal, chemical, and mechanical.
The report noted that, as grid storage increases in usage, policies must be adjusted in order to: avoid excess and inequitable burdens on consumers, encourage electrification for economy-wide decarbonization, and enable economic growth.
In addition, assuming that wind and solar technology costs continue to decrease, the study’s modeling identified cost-effective pathways for decarbonizing electricity systems, which could reduce emissions by 97 to 99 percent, relative to 2005 levels. The report added that efficient decarbonization will require substantial investments in multiple energy storage technologies, as well as in transmission, clean generation, and demand flexibility.
The report also noted that today’s dominant grid storage is provided by lithium-ion batteries, which typically have a maximum output of only four hours. However, storage providing many more hours of power duration will be needed in order to meet different grid demands, including weather and seasonal-related demands. In specific, the report called for more support of longer duration storage technologies, particularly electro-chemical, that use widely-available earth materials, including those derived from second-use batteries and recycling.
Furthermore, it emphasized that enabling a climate-friendly grid in the U.S. requires changes in planning and operational tools that can reflect the transitioning system that is necessary in order to fight climate change. It also recommended increasing fixed charges in order to make energy storage financially-viable.
The report also recommended modifying the federal government’s current practice of granting intellectual property rights to private sector partners who share the costs of technology demonstration projects, noting that public investment in technology demonstration and early deployment activity is designed to disseminate knowledge.
In addition, according to the report, more government financial aid for storage with at least 12 hours of output is necessary, because this type of storage research is not being backed by substantial private investment, unlike like lithium-ion batteries that do have this private investment. And, on this front, the report noted, the U.S. Department of Energy is currently working on a research goal to help reduce the cost of 10-hour plus energy storage, and recently approved $505 million as a way to advance multi-hour storage paired with renewables.
And another reason for optimism: According to the report, private financing for energy-dense, low-cost batteries in electric vehicles has significantly improved prospects for short-duration electricity system storage. | <urn:uuid:3d22f1a7-32fa-4462-88ae-bd703254487f> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://finleyusa.com/improving-energy-storage-technologies/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335190.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20220928082743-20220928112743-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.938494 | 625 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Data Integrity and Privacy in Smart Cities: Standardization and Collaboration is Key
by Juhi Fadia
According to the United Nations Population Fund, more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and it is predicted that approximately 66 percent of the world’s population will live in an urban environment by 2050.
Massive efforts are underway today, designed to address the consequences of this surge, which, left unmanaged, would result in climate, energy, environment, and living conditions in the cities of the future.
Citizen engagement is mission-critical to achieving true Smart Cities, which can improve the lives of those who live, work and play in modern cities, but with this comes the important resolution of data security and privacy.
Today, the physical and digital infrastructures of cities are embedded with billions of devices at the edge, part of a “layered” approach to Smart City solutions. We have already witnessed attacks, including unauthorized access to sensitive data and denial of service (DoS), which can quickly nullify the benefits of connected systems designed to support those who live in urban areas.
Even as early as 2015, nearly a quarter of a million citizens living in Ukraine suffered a long period of electricity disconnection because the power grid system was attacked by hackers.
Fast-forward to 2021, and now that many Smart City systems have been implemented, security and privacy issues have become a major challenge that requires effective countermeasures. The challenges are great when we add cameras, people counters, and other applications as traditional cybersecurity protection strategies cannot be applied directly to these given the heterogeneity and ever-evolving characteristics of smart cities.
For people to trust sophisticated Smart City solutions, we must address security and privacy threats when designing and implementing new mechanisms or systems.
We caught up this week with Avner Ziv, CEO of Cloud of Things, at the Frontier Conference, where Ziv spoke on a panel discussing the value, integrity, management, and security of big data lakes where sensor-generated information is stored and analyzed.
“Citizen concerns are very real,” Ziv said, “since, given the rapid development of information technologies including AI, machine learning, and data mining, adversaries are developing the ability to bypass the current detection mechanisms. Security and privacy are the only way to get to trust in Smart City applications, and so we are spending a great deal of time understanding and addressing the gaps.”
Ziv explained that there is no uniform IoT architecture; however, the Industrial IoT community and global ecosystem are heading in that direction. “The sensing layer is used for data collection from things, and that layer must be fully secured, from hardware and firmware to edge compute software. The network layer is the core layer in physical/digital architectures, and it must also be fully secured, whether the data is traversing the public Internet or private networks that connect smart things, network devices, and servers and ship data to the cloud through gateways.”
Ziv explained Smart City IoT as more of an Industrial IoT category, including additional layers for support, which works very closely with the application layer, and provides support for the requirements of diversified applications via intelligent computing techniques (edge, fog, and cloud).
“It is in the highest layer, the application layer, where we find the most challenges in terms of trust, as this layer provides intelligent and practical services or applications to users based on their personalized requirements,” Ziv said. “For example, a citizen within a Smart City may wish to understand and manage their energy consumption with smart meters, but they may be worried about the kind of behavioral data collected about their energy consumption at any hour of the day. We are observing a movement toward citizen engagement that enables individuals and families to contribute to carbon reduction, alongside the utilities, but are also seeing concerns about what that practically means.”
Ziv, whose company based in Israel is supporting certain government and service provider initiatives, also pointed out that smart government needs to manage data – interconnecting it across systems, institutions, digital and physical infrastructure management.
“We are seeing more and more demand for data ownership solutions – including the secure routing of data to more than one application or cloud,” Ziv said. “Citizens may trust more if they are aware that their data is not being used by special interests and that their data is being secured by government agencies on highly protected edge, network, and cloud application layers. Cloud of Things offers its customers the option to securely send data from their devices in the field directly to their private cloud tenant, while still enjoying our advanced device management features.”
Standardization and interoperability are also important areas to tackle, Ziv said. “Intelligent public transportation networks can enhance the safety, speed and reliability of light rail and traffic and parking management can benefit those who choose to use their private vehicles when they are in the city, but without a common understanding of how the collection, analysis, and activation of near-real-time systems works, natural concerns rise – for example, the government ‘tracking’ the moves of individuals and organizations.”
Ziv applauded the efforts of organizations like The Linux Foundation and their LF Edge projects which aim to build standards that will drive trust in the future. “We are already a highly connected society, and now a hyper-connected society,” Ziv said. “Only by collaboration, by bringing together public and private organizations, and by engaging individuals and businesses in the discussion can we sustainably develop solutions that provide personalized services but not at the risk of invasion of privacy and threats to freedom and democracy.”
Ziv presented at The Frontier Conference this week as part of a panel, “Data is the True Currency of Connected Industrial Solutions,” sponsored by Rocket Wagon Venture Studio and moderated by Don DeLoach. Chris Swan of Dispersive is also on the panel.
Originally published on IoT Evolution World
With More Funds Being Invested in Improving Public Infrastructure, Embedding Connected Field Service is Strategic
As part of the global economic recovery, many nations are expected to invest trillions of dollars to improve roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, ports, public transportation hubs, and smart communities from rural towns to the largest cities and counties.
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is trending, especially in the context of the ongoing battle against COVID-19. Why shouldn’t we provide devices to patients in their homes so their care teams can monitor everything from their oxygen levels to the heart rates and blood pressure without their having to visit a medical office?
As we head into the New Year, it is that time of year for planning and predictions, and this year, creating strategies in the midst of what could be a second wave of the global pandemic makes the process for businesses even more challenging. | <urn:uuid:97dbab4c-e770-46f4-b6f7-3a97105c6af7> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cloudofthings.com/data-integrity-and-privacy-in-smart-cities-standardization-and-collaboration-is-key/page/3/?et_blog | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335190.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20220928082743-20220928112743-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.949916 | 1,427 | 2.625 | 3 |
How To Keep Email Private with TLS
- by Brittany Day
It is no secret that email is the preferred method of communication for businesses - a trend that has only been magnified with the increase in remote workers brought on by the pandemic. That being said, email is effectively a plaintext communication sent from email clients to receiving email servers or from one server to another, leaving the content of messages in transit vulnerable to compromise without additional protection via encryption technology such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard.
Learn how TLS works to help secure email communications, and how to securely implement TLS in the Postfix mail transfer agent (MTA), Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace to help fortify email against spoofing and data theft.
TLS Basics: What is Transport Layer Security (TLS)?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that offers end-to-end encryption technology for messages “in transit” from one secure email server that has TLS enabled to another, helping to protect user privacy and prevent eavesdropping or content alteration. TLS is the successor protocol to SSL. It works in much the same way as the SSL, using encryption to protect the transfer of data and information. TLS is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard protocol that provides authentication, privacy and data integrity between two communicating computer applications. For optimal security and privacy of message content, TLS is required between all servers handling email communications (including hops between internal and external servers). It is recommended that all clients and servers insist on mandatory usage of TLS in their email communications - preferably the most recent version, TLS 1.3.
TLS is used by leading email providers and ISPs including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Comcast, and is also used to secure web communications via HTTPS.
How Does TLS Help Secure Email Communications?
TLS secures email communications by encrypting messages from mail server to mail server, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept and read messages. The TLS protocol uses a combination of symmetric cryptography - where data is encrypted and decrypted with a secret key known to both sender and recipient - and asymmetric cryptography - which uses a public and private key pair to encrypt and decrypt data - to maintain a balance between performance and security. TLS supports the use of digital certificates to authenticate receiving servers (authentication of sending servers is optional), helping to prevent email fraud and data compromise by verifying that receivers (or senders) are in fact who they claim to be. “Opportunistic TLS” describes a scenario in which TLS is used by both sending and receiving parties to negotiate a secured session and encrypt a message, and represents the most secure implementation of the TLS protocol.
The widely used open-source Postfix mail transfer agent (MTA) - which has earned a reputation of being highly secure - can be configured to support TLS, giving Postfix users the ability to encrypt mail and to authenticate remote SMTP clients or servers.
Get simplified instructions on how to configure TLS for Postfix here.
How To Setup Enforced TLS in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online?
Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers TLS support; however, it must be set up to enforce TLS. Luckily, setting up enforced TLS in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is quick and easy, and only requires the domain name of the organization you wish to establish enforced TLS with and a valid email address from that domain To set up enforced TLS with a vendor, that vendor will need to configure their email server to enforce TLS as well. This mutual configuration assures that all email is encrypted and sent securely across the Internet.
The process of setting up enforced TLS in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Is broken up into two steps: creating an outbound TLS connector and creating an inbound TLS connector.
You can find the steps for setting up connectors for secure mail flow with another organization in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online here.
How To Set Up TLS Compliance in Google Workspace?
Google Workspace supports TLS; however, for a secure TLS connection, TLS compliance must be set up by both the sender and the recipient. If the receiving server doesn't use TLS, Gmail still delivers messages - but the connection is not secure. By adding the Secure transport (TLS) compliance setting, Gmail always uses a secure connection for email sent to and from specified domains and email addresses.
Learn how to set up TLS compliance in Google Workspace here.
Using and enforcing the use of TLS in your email communications must be viewed as an important part of a defense-in-depth approach to securing business email and protecting sensitive information.TLS is used by almost all leading email providers and ISPs; however, the protocol must be properly set up and configured to provide optimal security. In this article, you learned the basics on implementing TLS for Postfix, as well as in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace, to help secure against sender fraud and data compromise. If you are using another MTA or email provider, would like further details, or have additional questions, a Guardian Digital email security expert would be happy to assist.
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- Apache SpamAssassin 3.4.6 Release Fixes Two Potentially Aggravating Bugs | <urn:uuid:b3859ce2-4360-47c7-bf46-200c4df2f22b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://guardiandigital.com/resources/blog/tls-email-encryption | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335362.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929163117-20220929193117-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.890766 | 1,286 | 2.953125 | 3 |
5 Dangerous Phishing Tactics Used in Text Messages
Less than 35% of the population knows what “smishing” is. Smishing is a dangerous new form of phishing that’s been running rampant. It’s when scam messages are sent to you via text message.
These messages are often brief and contain some type of link that you’re encouraged to click. The link can take you to the same type of malicious phishing site as an email phishing message can.
A smishing message might also pretend to be from a company setting up some type of appointment or government authority looking to approve you for a tax incentive program. These forms of SMS phishing will ask you for personal details that can then be used for identity theft.
Text-based phishing is a growing danger to business network security. We are all so connected through work apps and syncing cloud platforms that if one of your employees’ devices is infected with malware, it can quickly spread throughout your network, cloud storage, and other endpoints.
If you don’t address the fact that phishing is now coming into their mobile via text message with your employees, it could put you at high risk of becoming a phishing victim.
People tend to trust messages received via text more than those through email. Here are several types of text messages that everyone needs to watch out for because these are popular smishing attacks.
“Thanks for Your Payment. Here is A Free Gift”
One phishing scam does not identify where it comes from. It simply thanks the recipient for a recent payment and gives them a link to claim a free gift.
Most people will have made some type of online payment recently. They may have even signed up for SMS notifications from somewhere like a utility or insurance company. So, getting a “thank you for your payment” text might not seem strange.
But beware of the text offering a free gift. This is a common scam to lure you over to a phishing site.
“We Have a Delivery for You, But Need More Details”
People were already getting all types of packages in the mail before the pandemic. And the pandemic caused online shopping to skyrocket even more.
This is another scam that uses a common type of text someone may get from a legitimate service provider or retailer. This makes them suspect it less as a phishing scam.
It purports to have a delivery that needs more details so it can be delivered. This type of scam often collects personal details on a form that can then be sold. It may even ask the person to pay a small fee of a few dollars to get the “package,” with the goal being to steal their payment card information.”
Fake Installation Appointment Setup
This scam is pretty scary because it happened in conjunction with a real event. The fake SMS impersonated AT&T and stated it was to schedule an installation appointment for the company’s new fiber internet service.
The thing that makes this scary is that the neighborhood just had AT&T fiber lines installed during a month-long construction project. At least one person (and most likely more) that had actually signed up for the new service and were awaiting a real installation appointment received this smishing fake.
A few things that were “off” about the message alerted one careful homeowner, who confirmed the message was not from the internet provider. This just goes to show that a lot of details are available online these days that cybercriminals can use to trick you.
“There Was a Suspicious Login Attempt on Your Account”
Because password theft is so common now, many cloud services, like Google, Netflix, and others, will alert you if there are any sign-ins or sign-in attempts on your account that are from an unknown IP address.
Scammers use this to disguise this smishing message. It claims that you need to change your password to secure your account. If you click the link, it may take you to a page that looks exactly like the same sign-in page you’re used to. But the URL will often be slightly different.
COVID Contract Tracing Scam
Cybercriminals have taken advantage of the disruption of the pandemic. Milking it for every scam they can think of. In the early days, fake texts and emails offered masks, gloves, and other hard-to-find safety items.
Now that the pandemic has moved to a different phase, smishing attacks are using COVID contract tracing to strike fear into people. Messages will state that the recipient recently came into contact with someone that tested positive for COVID. It will then give a link to learn more information.
Is Your Extended Network Secure Enough?
Smishing scams coming into mobile devices is just the latest threat to corporate networks. AhelioTech can help your Columbus area business with a full IT security assessment and a roadmap for better network security.
Contact us today to learn more. Call 614-333-0000 or reach out online. | <urn:uuid:8249b7a5-b102-4b3d-bd31-9e5bbec6839f> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.aheliotech.com/blog/phishing-tactics-text-messages/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335362.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929163117-20220929193117-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.95185 | 1,044 | 2.609375 | 3 |
“Logins are becoming more secure thanks to selfies, fingerprints and other biometric sensing.” This is what many people apparently believe or are led to believe. Let us analyze how certain we can be.
Blind Spot in Our Mind & Eye-Opening Experience
Let us imagine that we are watching two models of smart phones – Model A with Pincode and Model B with Pincode and Fingerprint Scan. Which of the two models do you think is securer?
- When you hear that Model A is protected by Pincode while Model B is protected by both Pincode and Fingerprints
- When you hear that Model A can be unlocked by Pincode while Model B can be unlocked by both Pincode and Fingerprints
- When you hear that Model A can be attacked only by Pincode while Model B can be attacked by both Pincode and Fingerprints
Is your observation the same for all the 3 situations?
Now let us imagine that there are two houses – (1) with one entrance and (2) with two entrances placed in parallel. Which house is safer against burglars?
Every one of us will agree that the answer is plainly
(1). Nobody would dare to allege that
(2) is safer because it is protected by two entrances.
Similarly, the login by a Pincode/password alone is securer than the login by a biometric sensor backed up by a fallback Pincode/password.
Both of the two or Either of the two?
Biometric products could help for better cyber security ONLY WHEN it is operated together with a password by AND/Conjunction (we need to go through both of the biometrics and the password), NOT WHEN operated with a password by OR /Disjunction (we need only to go through either of the two) as in the cases of the abovementioned house with two entrances and most of the biometric products on the market.
Biometrics and passwords operated together by OR/Disjunction only increase the convenience by bringing down the security. Mixing up the case of OR/Disjunction with that of AND/Conjunction, we would be trapped in a false sense of security (We wrongly feel safer when we are actually less safe)( *).
Two factor authentication or “below-one” factor authentication?
Biometric products operated together with a fallback password, which can be compared to a house with two entrances placed in parallel (not in tandem), may be defined as a “below-one” factor authentication because they offer the level of security lower than a password-only one factor authentication.
There is nothing wrong in saying that a house with two entrances is more convenient than a house with one entrance. But alleging “A house with two entrances is safer against burglars than a house with one entrance” would be just silly.
Similarly, there is nothing wrong with a biometric product operated with a fallback password when the product is offered as a tool for increasing convenience. However, it would not be just silly but unethical and antisocial to make, sell and recommend those products as a tool for increasing security and spread a false sense of improved security.
This misconception is sadly supported and spread d by a number of big businesses, leading financial institutions and government agencies as well as not a few security professionals and globally known media. They are misled and in turn misleading, with the chains of vicious cycles growing exponentially.
This is not an issue of the relative comparison between “good” and “better”, but the absolute judgment of “harmful” against “harmless”. Something must be done before such critical sectors as medicine, defense and law enforcement get contaminated in a horrible way.
More about “OR/Disjunction”
Biometric sensors and monitors, whether static, behavioral or electromagnetic, can theoretically be operated together with passwords in two ways, (1) by AND/Conjunction or (2) by OR/Disjunction. The cases of (1) are hardly known in the real world because the falsely rejected users would have to give up the access altogether even when they are able to feed their passwords.
Most of the biometric products are operated by (2) so that the falsely rejected users can unlock the devices by registered passwords. This means that the overall vulnerability of the product is the sum of the vulnerability of biometrics (x) and that of a password (y). With (x) and (y) being between 0 and 1, the sum (x + y – xy) is necessarily larger than the vulnerability of a password (y), i.e., the devices with biometric sensors and fallback passwords are less secure than the devices protected by a password-only authentication.
Incidentally some people argue that the presence of a backdoor would not make a problem if it is stronger than the front door. Let us think of a very weak fallback password (Y1) and a very strong fallback password (Y2). We will then get to (x + y1- xy1) > (y1) and (x + y2 – xy2) > (y2), which means that we are safer when we use only the weak password than when we use the biometrics with the weak fallback password, and that we are also safer when we use only the strong password than when we use the biometrics with the strong fallback password.
We could consider the comparison between (x + y2 – xy2) and (y1) but it could lead us nowhere. Whoever can manage a strong password Y2 together with biometrics must be able to manage Y2 on its own. Then, again, we are safer when we use only the strong password Y2. Moreover, rarely used/recalled passwords tend to be very weak, i.e., what we actually get would be (x + y1 – xy1) >>> (y2).
As such it is not possible to count a case that the biometrics used together with a fallback password is stronger than a password used on its own.
By the way, it would be fruitless to spend time for comparing the strength of biometrics used on its own with that of passwords used on its own. There are no objective data on the vulnerability of biometric products (not just false acceptance rate when false rejection is sufficiently low but also the risk of forgery of body features and the risk of use when the user is unconscious) and that of the passwords (not only that the entropy may be as low as 10 bits or as high as 100 bits but also that it can be stolen and leaked.)
Backdoor to Smartphone
It appears that something crucial is overlooked in the heated debates about the backdoor on smartphones, which is the focus point of the recent events with Apple and the FBI that have drawn a lot of attention worldwide.
I would like to point out that there already exists a backdoor on many of the latest smartphones, namely, a fingerprint scanner or a set of camera and software for capturing faces, irises and other body features which are easily collected from the unyielding, sleeping, unconscious and dead people.
As stated above, the authentication by biometrics in cyber space comes with poorer security than Pincode/password-only authentication in most cases. A false sense of security is often worse than the lack of security. I would like to put forward the suggestions.
- The vendors of those smart devices, who are conscious of privacy and security of consumers, could tell the consumers not to turn on the biometric functions.
- Consumers, who are concerned about their privacy and security, could refrain from activating the biometric backdoors.
- The deployment of biometric solutions could instead be recommended where consumers can accept “below-one” factor authentication in return for better convenience as the case may be.
Appendix: Statistics on Rampant False Sense of Security
Quoted below is the outcome of a brief survey on the perception of identity verification.
Two university researchers in Japan carried out a brief survey in November 2014 about how the security of (1) PKI, (2) fingerprint scan and (3) onetime password are perceived by 49 university students in science and technology sectors. Below is the result. (In the brackets are the numbers of students who are learning information security.)
(1.) Do you know PKI? Yes：34 (31), No：15 (0)
(To those who answered Yes) Do you think that a PKI-loaded IC card provides higher security than a password? Yes：12 (12), No：1 (1), No change：4 (4), Do not know：12 (9), Depends：4 (4), No Answer：1 (1)
(2) Do you know of the fingerprint scanners loaded on smart devices? Yes：44 (28), No：5 (3)
(To those who answered Yes) Do you think that a fingerprint scan provides higher security than a password? Yes：16 (11), No：7 (5), No change：4 (2), Do not know：12 (8), Depends：5 (2)
(3) Do you know OTP (onetime password)? Yes：39 (30), No：10 (1)
(To those who answered Yes) Do you think that a onetime password provides higher security than a remembered password? Yes：17 (5), No：1 (1), No change：3 (2), Do not know：10 (8), Depends：7 (6), No Answer：1 (1)
The answers we expected were either “Do not know” or “Depends” for all the 3 questions, preferably followed by “because there are no objective data that enable us to directly compare the security of PKI/OTP/Finger-Scan operated on its own and that of the password operated on its own. And, PKI/OTP/Finger-Scan operated with a password by AND/Conjunction (we need to go through both the former and the latter) is securer than the same password alone, but PKI/OTP/Finger-Scan operated together with a password by OR/Disjunction (we need only to go through either the former or the latter) is less secure than the same password alone.”
That many students gave (Yes) to (1) and (3) is somehow understandable because PKI and OTP are generally operated with a password by AND/Conjunction. But it is very worrying that so many students learning information security (11 out of 28) gave (Yes) to (2). For Apple’s Touch ID and most other finger-scanners on the market are operated together with a backup/fallback password by OR/Disjunction in case of the false rejection.
This survey is not large enough to extract a decisive conclusion, but we could well imagine that this chilling false sense of security is even more rampant among the people who have not learnt or are not learning information security as a major subject. I am very interested to know how things are like in other countries. Readers’ feedback would be very much appreciated.
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Despite its potential to provide a more effective security posture for a host of commercial and government applications, biometrics is often misunderstood, thanks in part to the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters and science fiction novels.
From the early fingerprint scans used by James Bond to the Minority Report’s Tom Cruise character replacing his own eyeballs to avoid identification via iris scanners, the most extreme biometric fears typically involve identity information used for nefarious purposes.
Yet there are other misconceptions surrounding biometrics related to cost, privacy, and even fear of physical harm. These common myths can cloud an organization’s ability to see the full potential of biometrics to dial up defenses at a time when state-of-the-art security measures are more critical than ever.
Consider one of the more common biometrics myths—that the technology impinges privacy and promotes information over-sharing. Thanks to unrealistic and overly simplistic depictions in the movies, many believe a fingerprint or an iris scan can open a Pandora’s box of secret data. The truth is, if deployed properly, biometric solutions can enhance secure access to critical information.
There is similar argument for concerns about biometrics and privacy violations. With the right protections to ensure applications conform to pertinent legislation, biometrics will enhance privacy by providing more secure and controlled access to personal information.
Similarly, while there have been isolated reports of biometrics spoofs—attackers stealing fingerprint data from mobile devices or mimicking a person’s voice, for example—the idea that biometrics puts people at greater risk of identity theft is another misguided concern. In truth, biometrics is far harder to attack than traditional identification documents and passwords, which can easily be copied, lost, or stolen. Moreover, there is negligible risk of false identification with biometrics, which are far more accurate for high-security applications in areas like border control or building access.
There are also misconceptions around the cost of biometrics. Many people equate biometric technology with expensive and overly complex high-tech equipment, assuming the combination puts a solution out of range for budget-conscious businesses or government agencies.
On the contrary, prices on different biometric solutions are trending down, and vary depending on application and demand. Because fingerprint readers used on smartphones and laptops are produced in very high volumes, they are typically less costly than other sensors such as iris sensors, which also require an infrared illuminator. Organizations should select the appropriate biometric modality based on a variety of factors, cost among them. There are also cloud-based services that can reduce the upfront cost and complexity of implementing the technology.
No longer the stuff of science fiction, today biometric solutions are real and widely accessible. That means the time has come for organizations to cast common myths aside and consider addressing the challenges of modern-day security with any number of efficient, cost-effective, and high-performance biometrics options.
To learn more about biometrics, click here. | <urn:uuid:c6fa85f3-d7e6-45b7-b484-919dffc3f881> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cio.com/article/230009/debunking-common-biometrics-myths.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337307.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002083954-20221002113954-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.919288 | 614 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Extending Scapy by a GSM Air Interface and Validating the Implementation Using Novel Attacks
Laurent ‘kabel’ Weber
Until now it’s been really hard for security researchers to dig into GSM security topics. This has been slowly changing because of tools like the USRP. However there is no other tool available to perform these kind of security tests. Hence the research.
Structure of a GSM network
Scapy is a powerful interactive packet manipulation program, using the Python interpreter as a basis. Scapy allows for new protocols to be simply added.
- Generate Packets
- Manipulate Packets
- Network Scanning
- Network Discovery
- Packet Sniffing
- Create smallest valid messages possible (Optional values are excluded)
- Optional Information Elements (IE)
- Optional fields
- Every possible message can be created
- Add IE’s by setting in code
- Scapy GSM-um allow us to:
- Create Layer 3 messages on a command line
- Send Layer 3 messages from BTS to MS
- And from MS to BTS
- Limited SMS support
Sending the message
Normally Scapy is able to send data directly out on the wire. This is not so easy with GSM.
- We need a method to send raw bytes to a device
- Added different sockets to Scapy:
- UDP socket (i.e USRP)
- TCP socket (i.e nanoBTS)
- Unix Domain Socket (i.e osmocomBB)
- Offers most flexibility and easy to use with your chosen hardware
Example message from testing phase
Performing a call
After testing messages using Scapy GSM-um and Wireshark, it was time to make a call.
>>> sendum ( setupMobileOriginated() )
>>> sendum ( connectAcknowledge() )
< LIVE CALL DEMO >
Well known and documented attacks.
IMSI DETACH INDICATION message
Most of the payload is already set in the specification, so there is no need (outside of fuzzing) to set these details. The only bytes needed are the mobile identity.
Sending this will result in the mobile being targeted being de-registered from the network. The mobile will still show as connected, but will not receive calls/texts and any active calls are disconnected.
Authentication reject attack
Disconnects the targeted mobile form the network. The user will receive a “SIM card registration failed” message and will need to restart to connect to a GSM network.
< LIVE AUTHENTICATION REJECT ATTACK DEMO >
Attacks never done before on the GSM network. Attacks may be known, but not specifically applied to GSM.
State-machines in GSM
Available in the specification (04.08 sect. 5.1 for MS side)
Test the correct behaviour of the implementation by sending the correct messages but in the incorrect order
Call Clearing (work in progress)
Used to signal that one party on the conversation has hung-up
Idea: Make the remote end believe that you’ve hung-up
Goal: Maintain a connection although the second party things the line is inactive (eavesdropping)
Test cases to achieve this were built from valid packets, but it was not possible to achieve the desired effect
There are more possible novel attacks that look promising
Now merged into Scapy
hg clone http://hg.secdev.org/scapy my-scap
- Extending Scapy by a GSM Air Interface –> Overview
- Scapy GSM-um how-to–> Link
- Extending Scapy by a GSM Air Interface Whitepaper –> PDF
- Extending Scapy by a GSM Air Interface Slides –> PDF
- Laurent ‘kabel’ Weber Twitter Feed –> Link | <urn:uuid:34842dc3-eae5-4ac3-9027-97883154cefc> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://blog.c22.cc/2011/11/17/deepsec-extending-scapy-by-a-gsm-air-interface/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337428.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003164901-20221003194901-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.857232 | 857 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Learn about the benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure, how it works, typical use cases, and vendors in the marketplace.
What is Hyperconverged Infrastructure?
Hyperconvergence is an IT framework that unifies computing, storage, networking and software into a single system in an attempt to minimize data center complexity and increase scalability. Platforms that meet this description are called hyperconverged, which is a software-centric architecture that tightly integrates and virtualizes all these resources in a single system that usually consists of x86 hardware.
Hyperconverged platforms include a hypervisor for virtualized computing, software-defined storage, and virtualized networking, and they typically run on standard off-the-shelf servers. This 4-layer stack provides lots of performance power, cost savings and saves rack space, while removing the need for an external SAN. This is a true software-defined data center (SDDC) design. That’s why it is also referred to as hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI).
A hyperconverged system can be a fully integrated appliance solution from a single vendor or it can also be purchased as standalone software that can be installed on your existing x86 servers. Both options (hyperconverged appliance and standalone software) can equally provide a full array of features and benefits. The main differences are related to costs, benefits, and deployment options.
Benefits of Hyperconverged Infrastructure
HCI offers plenty of flexibility for your budget. However, the benefits you gain will fluctuate according to your level of investment. Typically, the hardware will comprise 80% of your total investment, while software can entail around 20%. These factors allow you to be creative and mix the right hardware and software according to your needs.
Therefore, the amount of performance you want to generate out of this hyperconverged infrastructure model is totally up to your business goals and application requirements. You have a world of possibilities within a box capable of running your highest workloads better than your traditional SAN/host design, and each vendor will present you solutions starting from entry-level HDD appliances to high-end all-flash HCI appliances.
Another one of the benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure is the ability to stack up appliances, also called “nodes,” while gaining both compute power and storage capacity simultaneously. This is convenient for scaling as your business grows. It truly simplifies your budget projections for the next year because you know exactly how many nodes you will need to acquire according to your growth rate.
When it comes to the SAN-like functionalities, HCI is just as capable while eliminating the latency hiccups found with traditional host-to-SAN connectivity requirements. With hyperconverged solutions, both the storage and hosts reside in the same physical box, augmenting response time.
Therefore, there is more to gain by switching to hyperconverged solutions than staying put with a traditional SAN—not only is it easier to scale out with HCI, but you can also spread the data across multiple nodes for higher redundancy. In some cases, you can have 2 or 3 replicas of the same data distributed. However, having more replicas of your data will reduce the total usable space available in your hyperconverged cluster.
Learn More About DataCore’s Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution
Hyperconvergence allows the integrated technologies to be managed as a single system through a common toolset. Most hyperconverged integrated systems require a minimum of three hardware nodes for high availability and can be expanded through the addition of nodes to the base unit. A grouping of nodes is known as a cluster.
What is hyperconvergence? To fully understand how it works, you need to create a mock-up design of your own environment to have a more realistic idea. You must start by asking yourself some basic questions:
How much compute power do I need (CPU and memory for VMs)?
How much usable storage capacity do I need in total (across the HCI cluster)?
How many replicas of my data do I want actively available (for high availability)?
Do I need to spread the data across two separate data centers for greater redundancy (metro-cluster)?
How many hypervisor flavors do I have (ESXi, Hyper-V, XenServer, etc.)?
Based on your answers, you will need to do some basic math to figure out the hardware specs for each node in your HCI cluster. You can also contact our technical experts to help you make these calculations to build out the exact hardware specs per node.
Once you determine your hardware requirements, your next step is to figure out how many nodes will be required to keep your VMs running around the clock, even if there is an unexpected disaster and you lose a few nodes. The number of nodes that can fail within a cluster varies across different HCI vendors.
Each node will need a hypervisor installed and configured. Next step is to also configure the internal networks for VM traffic, storage I/O traffic and VM management. The best practice is to separate all the different types of traffic and not try to push them through one or two network links. It will simply get oversaturated at some point and will cause major latencies.
If you are buying a hyperconverged appliance, it will likely come pre-installed with virtual SAN controllers on each node, which controls the local storage and handles the I/O traffic using the internal virtual network paths. Each virtual SAN controller is essentially a regular VM running in your hypervisor, and it manages the local node hardware resources.
Normally, there is a single management console that connects to all nodes in the cluster and allows you to manage every virtual SAN controller. This makes it easier to execute daily tasks from one window instead of needing to log in to multiple SAN environments.
If you were to go with the software-only approach, you will need to verify your existing servers can meet the minimum requirements before you install the software on such hosts. Hyperconverged software is a flavor of SDS (software-defined storage), and it needs the proper hardware to maximize the benefits it provides.
Typical Use Cases of Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Hyperconvergence began in smaller use cases, such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), but enterprises now commonly use the technology to simplify the deployment, management and scaling of IT resources and to reap CapEx and OpEx advantages.
Many major database systems have begun to certify their database software to run on hyperconverged appliances. Big-name players like SAP, Oracle, Hadoop, Splunk, and Microsoft SQL Server have all approved several hyperconverged solutions. These architectures require high-end hardware to meet the high-workload demands by big data applications.
If HCI can handle OLAP and OLTP workloads, then it can pretty much handle just about any other application workload. This can include CRM software, email servers, web servers or even EMR/EHR systems. The road to scalability has become clear through the adoption of hyperconverged infrastructure across all verticals and environments.
Hospitals are gradually implementing HCI or converting small departments as a testing phase before doing a full migration. Even Wall Street has gotten involved in the action by ways of NASDAQ turning to hyperconverged systems to meet its operational demands. Also the MLB Networks has adopted the hyperconverged model to improve their media and entertainment environment.
How Hyperconverged Infrastructure Is Different from Converged Infrastructure
Potential adopters sometimes get hyperconverged and converged solutions mixed up. There are several similarities that make both solutions extremely attractive depending on your environment requirements. However, the main fundamental difference is that converged solutions are hardware-focused and hyperconverged has a software-defined focus.
Converged appliances unify compute and storage from a hardware perspective, which also provides the benefit of running applications locally for better performance. These applications can range from relational databases, Exchange, file servers, to web servers and even VDI. Nonetheless, this option offers zero integration between the host and the storage layers.
Hyperconverged infrastructure, on the other hand, provides tighter integration between the multiple layers and components within the box through software. This makes the management of your whole environment much more practical and efficient. You have a full view of all your storage free space, and you can decide to move virtual disks from one node to another node in the cluster without interrupting active VMs. This is a fully integrated system that makes admin tasks easier to execute.
Hyperconverged infrastructure began as the domain of startups such as Maxta, Nutanix, Pivot3, Scale Computing, and SimpliVity. As a sign of HCI’s maturity, larger server and storage vendors such as Cisco, Dell EMC (including VMware), HPE, Lenovo, and NetApp have moved into the market. Over the past several years, some of the larger vendors have acquired a few of the HCI startups. Not only did they buy the smaller companies, but they have developed HCI-branded products of their own as well.
In other cases, the HCI software-only companies have created partnerships with the server hardware giants to create appliances. Such alliances have made it easier for the consumer to pick a preferred HCI software and deploy it on top of any HP, Dell, Lenovo, or Cisco server. This is true flexibility and agility that only software-led initiatives can offer.
The most popular hyperconverged vendors are DataCore, Nutanix, HPE SimpliVity, VMware vSAN, Dell/EMC VxRail, and Pivot3. When it comes to making your final decision on who to choose from this pool of vendors, you will first need to determine if you want a turn-key HCI appliance or go with the HCI software-only approach. They each present multiple pros and cons, which you will need to consider, depending on your short-term and long-term goals.
If you decide to give HCI software-defined a try, consider looking into DataCore SANsymphony.
Why Choose DataCore SANsymphony?
DataCore’s hyperconverged software-defined solution gives you maximum hardware flexibility and CapEx/OpEx savings. Freedom to go all-flash or hybrid with any server manufacturer. You can even mix servers from different vendors without experiencing compatibility issues.
DataCore SANsymphony is completely hardware-agnostic and works with any off-the-shelf hardware or any preexisting hardware inside your own data center. | <urn:uuid:a2faf1c0-2cae-428e-87c3-753f949ddc9e> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.datacore.com/hyperconverged-infrastructure/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337803.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006092601-20221006122601-00004.warc.gz | en | 0.932866 | 2,202 | 2.90625 | 3 |
COVID-19 has dominated headlines for almost two years and hackers continue to exploit the pandemic in their attacks. Back in March 2020 COVID-19-related phishing attacks jumped 667% and then as vaccination programs rolled out so did the new wave vaccine-related email threats. The latest omicron variant led to another spike in COVID-19 cases — as well as phishing attacks.
As demand for COVID-19 tests increased in recent weeks, the number of scams exploiting the scarcity of tests also went up. Our researchers saw an increase in COVID-19 test-related phishing attacks over the past couple of month. Between October 2021 and January 2022, the number of COVID-19 test-related scams increased by 521%. The daily average peaked in early January, declining recently before starting to trend upward again.
COVID-19 test-related phishing attacks — Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the heightened focus on the COVID-19 testing and the current scarcity of tests to launch phishing attacks.
Scammers are using different tactics to get the attention of their victims. Some of the most common scams included:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General alerted the public earlier this month about the rising number of fraud schemes associated with COVID-19 and COVID-19 tests in particular. They warn of scammers who try to sell at-home COVID-19 tests in exchange for personal or medical information. The U.S. government launched a program recently allowing people to request up to four free at-home tests per household and cybercriminals are bound to take advantage of the opportunity.
COVID-19-related scams continue to target individuals and businesses. As some organisations try to get their staff back to the office, they send out updated policies or request information on employees’ vaccination status. Hackers hijack these conversations. In one specific example found in Barracuda’s research, cybercriminals impersonated an HR department and shared a file hosted on a phishing site with employees in hope of stealing their account credentials. The attackers went as far as impersonating the Office 365 logo and stating that the document has already been scanned for virus and spam content.
Protecting against COVID-19 test-related phishing
• Be skeptical of all emails related to COVID-19 tests
Some email scams include offers to purchase COVID-19 tests, provide information on testing sites with immediate availability, or share test results. Don’t click on links or open attachments in emails that you did not expect, as they are typically malicious.
• Take advantage of artificial intelligence
Scammers are adapting email tactics to bypass gateways and spam filters, so it’s critical to have a solution that detects and protects against spear-phishing attacks, including brand impersonation, business email compromise and email account takeover. Deploy purpose-built technology that doesn’t rely solely on looking for malicious links or attachments. Using machine learning to analyse normal communication patterns within your organisation allows the solution to spot anomalies that may indicate an attack.
• Deploy account-takeover protection
Don’t just focus on external email messages. Some of the most devastating and successful spear-phishing attacks originate from compromised internal accounts. Be sure scammers aren’t using your organisation as a base camp to launch these attacks. Deploy technology that uses artificial intelligence to recognise when accounts have been compromised and that remediates in real time by alerting users and removing malicious emails sent from compromised accounts.
• Train staffers to recognise and report attacks
Educate your users about spear-phishing attacks. Provide employees with up-to-date user awareness training about COVID-19-related phishing, seasonal scams and other potential threats. Ensure staffers can recognise the latest attacks and know how to report them to IT right away. Use phishing simulation for email, voicemail and SMS to train users to identify cyberattacks, test the effectiveness of your training and evaluate the most vulnerable users.
• Set up strong internal policies to prevent fraud
All companies should establish and regularly review existing policies, to ensure that personal and financial information is handled properly. Help employees avoid making costly mistakes by creating guidelines and putting procedures in place to confirm all email requests for wire transfers and payment changes. Require in-person or telephone confirmation and/or approval from multiple people for all financial transactions.
This Threat Spotlight was authored by Olesia Klevchuk with research support from Tanvee Desai, Data Analyst.
For more information, visit: www.barracuda.com | <urn:uuid:b775f131-9ddd-41cf-8797-5110a3349e61> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://internationalsecurityjournal.com/threat-covid-test-email-scams/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335254.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20220928113848-20220928143848-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.938006 | 957 | 2.703125 | 3 |
5G dangers are a concern for many – whether they're brought on by health concerns, or issues with security – and in this post we review the different 5G dangers as they hit the news.
5G technology - promising high speeds, lower latency, and the activation of the Internet of Things (IoT) - is still hugely controversial. Citizen groups and some scientists argue that radio frequency (RF) energy exposure - particularly the high-frequency part of the spectrum used by 5G – is dangerous to people and the environment.
But it's worth stating that many credible scientific bodies, journalists, and technology experts are exasperated by any claims arguing that the science just doesn’t stand up. And that's before you get to the information from many networks operators that say the situation is overblown and dangers are limited or non-existent.
"Twenty years of research should reassure people there are no established health risks from their mobile devices or 5G antennas," says GSMA chief regulatory officer John Giusti.
Can industry bodies and scientists be right when so many parties are worried, and, if so, how did fears about 5G become so prevalent?
Concern surrounding 5G dangers
5G networks employ low (0.6 GHz – 3.7 GHz), mid (3.7 – 24 GHz), and high-band frequencies (24 GHz and higher) to deliver their services. Speaking generally, it is the high band frequencies that have caused most concern, although ongoing worries about 2G, 3G and 4G, which use the low and mid part of the range, have not subsided.
Concerns around 5G fall into two categories: first, that the millimeter wave (MMW) spectrum used by 5G and transmitted via the 30-300 Ghz part of the spectrum, are more likely to cause cellular damage than lower frequency waves. Second, these short waves do not travel far meaning more small cell transmitters are required to provide full coverage - the number of transmitters needed is worrying some groups.
Impact of MMW on cells
One concern about MMWs is that because they lie between microwaves and infrared waves on the RF spectrum, they pose heating dangers. Some argue that this will cause cell breakdown.
And some studies seem to show that MMW exposure may affect cell structure. A blog (opens in new tab) by Joel Moskowitz, director of the centre for family and community health, University of Berkeley, argues that MMWs can affect the cell’s plasma membrane, either by modifying ion channel activity or by modifying the phospholipid bilayer. He says: “Skin nerve endings are a likely target of MMWs and the possible starting point of numerous biological effects”.
However, many scientists argue that 5G radiation (the RF sort emitted by a 5G infrastructure) simply can’t harm human cells this way.
On the American Council for Science and Health site, Alex Berezow quotes (opens in new tab) astrophysicist Dr. Ethan Siegel when attempting to explain how to determine whether a source of radiation is dangerous. Siegel argues that there are three considerations: the energy per photon, the total amount of energy, and the ability of the exposed object to absorb the radiation.
He argues that the photons associated with the radio spectrum are too weak to cause cancer; the total amount of energy to which our bodies are exposed by RF radiation is low; and that our bodies don’t absorb it well anyway.
In March 2020 it was announced that the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP (opens in new tab)) has formally deemed 5G to be safe as a result of extensive research. The body says there is “no evidence” 5G networks have the potential to cause cancer or other illnesses.
The research considered other types of effects, such as the potential development of cancer in the human body as a result of exposure to radio waves.
“We know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G, and we hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease," said Dr Eric van Rongen, chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
“We find that the scientific evidence for that is not enough to conclude that indeed there is such an effect,” concluded van Rongen.
The ICNIRP has spent the last seven years working on new guidance for the mobile industry and, while 5G networks were within existing 1998 guidelines, they weren't explicit about high-frequencies above 6GHz, so this has been clarified.
"They provide protection against all scientifically substantiated adverse health effects due to EMF exposure in the 100 kHz to 300 GHz range," says the ICNIRP.
And in the UK the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has carried out the UK’s first safety tests on 5G base stations and has found no identifiable risks since 5G technology was deployed and that radiation levels are at ‘tiny fractions’ of safe limits.
Measuring 16 5G sites in 10 towns and cities across the UK, the regulator focused on areas where mobile use is likely to be highest. At every site, Ofcom found emissions were a small fraction of the levels included in international guidelines, as set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Non-ionizing refers to the type that doesn’t damage DNA and cells. The maximum measured at any site was 1.5% of those levels.
Despite these findings, though, it has been announced that new guidelines will be introduced to increase protection for emerging 5G technology, which operates on higher frequencies. This is significant, as it’s the first time since 1988 that guidelines protecting humans from mobile radiation have been updated. But the new rules won’t apply to 5G phone masts, focussing specifically on 5G phones and devices.
Are there 5G dangers from radiation?
Despite all of the current evidence to the contrary, though, there are still some scientists that are sceptical of the quality of research into the harmful impact of 5G.
Kenneth R Foster, professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania is one. In a recent Scientific American blog (opens in new tab) he said: “many of the studies [around the harmful effects of RF and 5G] are exploratory in nature, and lack elementary precautions to ensure reliable results (opens in new tab).”
A more balanced approach towards whether 5G will cause harm is given by bodies such as the US-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). A spokesperson for the group said that they don’t yet know what the impact of exposure to RF will be on biological tissues, and that the range of frequencies utilised by 5G complicates issues further.
She added: “We do know that absorption of RF at higher frequencies differs significantly from absorption at lower frequencies in that shorter wavelengths cannot penetrate nearly as deep into the body. This means that much of the higher frequency absorption occurs in the skin and would not penetrate deep enough to reach the heart, brain, or adrenal glands.”
She continued: “At this point, it is unclear exactly whether, or to what degree, human exposure to RF will change with 5G. What is known, however, is that while continuing to be exposed to the current frequencies, wireless consumers will be exposed to the higher frequencies as well.”
In a 2018 review (opens in new tab), the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority was similarly circumspect. It argued that although there is no established mechanism for affecting health with weak radio wave exposure there is need for more research covering the novel frequency domains used for 5G.
Critics of 5G often cite a 2011 study (opens in new tab) by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer which classified RF radiation as "possibly carcinogenic to humans". However, to put this into perspective, the agency also categorised 5G alongside using talcum powder and eating pickled vegetables.
And in a later report (opens in new tab) in 2014, the World Health Organization explicitly stated that "no adverse health effects" occurred from the use of mobile phones.
Could 5G dangers be a cancer risk?
One way that many scientists attempt to understand the harmful consequences of 5G radiation is by considering its properties. High-energy radiation (including x-rays and gamma rays (opens in new tab)) has an ionizing impact.
This means it has enough energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule and can damage cell DNA, potentially leading to cancer. However, according to Professor Rodney Croft (opens in new tab), adviser to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) there is no 5G cancer risk, as the levels of MMW used for 5G (and earlier mobile technologies) are so low that the heating effects are not harmful.
David Robert Grimes, physicist and cancer researcher argues similarly: “The radio wave band used for mobile phone networks is non-ionising, meaning it lacks sufficient energy to break apart DNA and cause cellular damage."
The second major 5G concern is the density of the small cell infrastructure. Increased proximity to these cells versus 4G transmitters is inevitable since they will be mounted on street signs and in buildings.
However, a spokesperson for the US-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences explained that RF exposure might actually be lower with 5G. She said: “the proximity of humans to cells may increase, potentially leading to higher exposure but the antennas will be widely dispersed meaning the RF given off by 5G may be lower than that currently transmitted by 2G, 3G, and 4G.”
Australian experts review 138 studies
In March 2021 a review (opens in new tab) of 138 studies was carried out by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and Swinburne University of Technology, which found no evidence of adverse health effects from the radio waves used in 5G.
“In conclusion, a review of all the studies provided no substantiated evidence that low-level radio waves, like those used by the 5G network, are hazardous to human health,” said Dr Ken Karipidis, assistant director of assessment and advice at ARPANSA.
The research review, which included 107 experimental studies, looked into the potential effects of 5G technology, finding no significant evidence of a health risk.
According to ARPANSA, the findings of these reviews remain “consistent with national and international radiation health and safety guidelines”, which have already deemed that low-level 5G radio waves are safe for public exposure. However, it did recommend that the quality of the research it reviewed varied, and that future experiments into 5G dangers should be improved upon.
Landowners are warned about 5G masts
Landowners in the UK have been warned to be wary of having 5G towers on their land. That's because 'radiation exclusion zones' around masts are bigger than those for 4G. The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) is, however, careful to point out (opens in new tab) that these exclusion zones - set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) - are mandatory and standard depending on mast height and power.
However, operators are only required to confirm the mast will comply with International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) guidelines and do not have to disclose the boundaries - therefore, says the CAAV, landowners should check to ensure they know the area involved as it could affect things like future building plans or other factors.
Deloitte report debunks dangers
A report (opens in new tab) from Deloitte – titled Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions 2021 – has focussed specifically on perceived 5G dangers, having discovered in 2020 that up to one fifth of people in ‘advanced economies’ believe 5G comes with associated health risks.
“Unfortunately, while extensive scientific evidence proves that mobile phone technologies have no adverse health impacts, not just for 5G but also earlier generations, we also predict that between 10% and 20% adults in many advanced economies will mistakenly equate 5G with possible harm to their health,” the report explained. “A Deloitte consumer poll in May 2020 found a fifth or more adults in six out of 14 countries surveyed agreed with the statement: “I believe there are health risks associated with 5G”.”
According to the report, as 5G has become more widespread, there has been a growing concern about its supposed health hazards.
Deloitte says that, based on numerous studies, both of these fears are “grossly overblown”. And the research company predicts that in 2021, it is “very unlikely” that the radiation from 5G networks and 5G phones will affect the health of a single individual.
“5G does generate radiation, but at very safe levels, and none of it is radioactive radiation,” the report explained. “5G base stations and phones, and the frequency ranges within which 5G operates, are very likely to be operating well within safe parameters in 2021 and throughout 5G’s lifetime.”
Deloitte also points out that mobile phone technology, including the 5G standard, is based on the same underlying transmission methods that have been used for decades.
“Content is created, relayed over radio waves, and received – a technique that has been delivering content wirelessly for more than 100 years,” said the report. “5G has been designed to use less power than previous generations to reduce operational costs. 5G also incorporates a technique known as beamforming … [Beamforming] not only enables higher connection speeds, but also leads to lower radio wave exposure than prior network generations.”
Taking all this into consideration, Deloitte is hoping to quell any remaining fears that people may have over the adoption of 5G technology, but with conspiracy theories continuing to spread across social media, it may be years before concerns drop to expected levels.
“It may not be possible to persuade everyone that 5G is safe,” Deloitte concluded. “There is likely to be a niche – perhaps less than 1% of the population – that will remain convinced not just that wireless technologies are harmful.”
Are drones flying over California a 5G danger?
Other health concerns have come from more unexpected sources, such as 5G drones being flown in the skies over California.
The HAWK30 is a solar-powered 5G drone – also known as a high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) – currently being tested as a way to provide 5G to remote areas. Flying non-stop for six months at a time, these drones beam 5G back to Earth.
However, local tensions have been heightened, following health scares surrounding 5G dangers. And a campaign is building to ground the project, amidst fears that it may cause harm to the local community of Lana’i (opens in new tab).
Elsewhere, concern about 5G drones focusses on the fact that they may interfere with existing flight paths, or simply fall out of the sky in highly populated areas, causing injury or damage. However, a number of companies are working systems known as 'sky corridors', which will be vital if 5G drones become mainstream.
Lessening the 5G dangers of drones
Vodafone and Ericsson have successfully (opens in new tab) tested safe sky corridors for drones at Vodafone’s 5G Mobility Lab in Aldenhoven, Germany, as the two companies move a step closer to enabling real-world use cases for 5G drones.
In a proof of concept trial, which was recently conducted at Vodafone’s 5G Mobility Lab in Aldenhoven, Germany, Ericsson and Vodafone used data intelligence to produce coverage maps, which meant that drones could be operated safely, avoiding other objects, so long as they retained a connection to the network.
“The mobile network is a data-rich asset that can be responsibly and securely utilised to aid society,” said Vodafone Group’s CTO Johan Wibergh. “We are evolving our software-driven, intelligent network into a powerful platform that can deliver new digital services. The responsible use of drones is just one such example but there will be many more.”
Is there a concern about 5G security?
5G dangers come in many forms, and its clear that governments are concerned about the security of 5G, and the impact on data sharing down the line, dictated by the choices they're making now.
In October 2019, the AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report in the US suggested that businesses aren’t yet ready for 5G. While nearly all of the 704 respondents expected to make 5G-related security changes within the next five years, only 16 percent had started preparing.
Participants were also concerned about the greater potential for attacks as well as the increased number of devices accessing the network.
These reports highlight why it is important to not be under the illusion that, although operators have begun going live with the next-generation network, we are not achieving the full breadth of what 5G has to offer. We still have a long way to go. Achieving its full potential is not a simple case of out with the old and in with the new.
Will IoT open up new 5G dangers?
Security challenges can also stem from the need for 5G networks to support a massive number of connected devices. Gartner predicts a huge growth in adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). With 25 billion IoT devices expected to be connected by 2021 (opens in new tab), its implementation is set to unleash a highly complex threat landscape, significantly different from previous networks.
As it becomes more widespread, the IoT phenomenon continues to expose more vulnerabilities and security challenges. Device protection is poor - many manufacturers build in only the most basic security provisions from the outset - and malware distribution is easily scalable. Our researchers found that the number of malware campaigns targeting IoT devices grew by an incredible 50 per cent over the last year, during which time we identified more than 1,100,000 vulnerable devices (opens in new tab).
The massive DDoS attack carried out by the Mirai botnet (opens in new tab) which, in 2016, left much of the internet inaccessible on the US east coast, serves as an example of the large-scale damage that can result from exploiting such devices. And to avoid a repeat of such an attack, in which regular users can be left without communication, 5G network operators will have to develop new threat mitigation models more attuned to diverse types of devices.
Despite fears, 5G will improve health and safety
In the health sector, 5G will enable remote diagnosis and operations, as well as e-health and responsive wearables, and AI assistants might help people with disabilities. Companies such as the interactive physiotherapy specialist Immersive Rehab (opens in new tab) are already looking at how 5G can improve their offering, and 5G is being used in various trials such as the Liverpool 5G Testbed (opens in new tab). And 5G has even made its way into the operating theatre, when Telefónica, with the help of a hospital in Malaga, presented the first assistance system for surgery, that runs entirely on 5G technology. Elsewhere, O2 has developed a deal with Samsung and the NHS to test out “smart ambulances” equipped with 5G.
Beyond healthcare, 5G will enable safer working environments, via technologies like 'digital twin'. Digital twin technology, as it sounds, enables you to create a digital version of a physical object or environment, which can then be interacted with remotely. This could entail the virtual recreation of a work space, where people could train safely using VR equipment, or help highlight when certain workspaces might become dangerous to work in.
Another area where 5G is certain to save lives is in the realm of autonomous vehicles, where sensors will be used to detect pedestrians and dangerous incidents, enabling AI-driven vehicles to avoid them.
And on the other side of the windscreen, cyclists are also likely to benefit, as evidenced by Australian company Telstra, which has partnered with Australian cycling start-up, Arenberg, to create a 5G-enabled helmet that can see around corners. The helmet prototype features a 5G connection, which passes video, GPS and other data up to a data processing and analytics cloud, as well as Telstra’s V2X program, which gathers data from connected cars on the roads.
And so, despite all the fake news, conspiracy theories, and unfounded claims surrounding 5G dangers, the reality is that the next generation of mobile communications will actually save and protect lives, not take them. | <urn:uuid:c734db96-b5d8-4c7a-8436-3e2a142aa78b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.5gradar.com/features/5g-dangers-discover-the-fact-and-the-fiction | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337432.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003200326-20221003230326-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.955923 | 4,383 | 3 | 3 |
NEOM is more than just a futuristic city; it is significant to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Using clean energy and innovative technology, the project aims to introduce a new way of urban living and sustainability.
Announced earlier this year, a new 397,000 sqm sustainable city will be built on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The new city will include green practices such as car-free residential clusters, recycling facilities, and indoor vertical farming.
But how do we differentiate a sustainable city from cities where some of us enjoy fresh air, clean water and green spaces?
What does a sustainable city look like?
Today when you look up the definition of a sustainable city or eco-city, you will find one underlying factor that is consistent, which is the use of technology to help achieve the sustainability goals. ‘Green technology’ is a 2022 ubiquitous buzzword, and it means any technology designed to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the environment.
Green technology is key in city planning which includes transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications and energy. From energy-saving buildings (green buildings) to water conservation to waste management and recycling, the use of green tech helps to reduce the adverse effects on the environment using AI, sensors and data analytics.
For example, the UAE is striving to diversify its income resources by moving away from oil which is a non-renewable energy resource. As part of UAE’s sustainable development to promote a greener economy, one of the key initiatives aims to promote the production and use of renewable energy. According to GlobalData, UAE plans to rely on new renewable methods to produce 30% of power by 2030. Currently, the UAE mainly depends on thermal power to generate most of its electricity, with 92.6% of its total electricity produced from thermal power in 2021.
Green technology, which is closely connected with smart city is imperative to a sustainable future, and making sure we are leaving precious resources for the generations to come.
Powering sustainability with connectivity
To achieve the sustainability efforts, connectivity is driving it. With 5G and Internet of Things (IoT), we can deploy technology to help protect and preserve our environment and support a greener future.
During GITEX Technology Week 2022, CommScope will highlight its latest solutions to enable a smart and sustainable future for network operators across the region:
- Fiber for High-Speed and Robust Connectivity: Smart cities will be built on fiber. CommScope will be demonstrating fiber technologies for faster connectivity in buildings, the data center and central office.
- Fueling Faster Connectivity for Smart Cities: 5G has the potential to reduce environmental impact by enabling new technologies. With more devices and sensors connect to the network, 5G will help to accelerate IoT applications from smart energy management to air quality monitoring. CommScope’s Mosaic platform makes it simple, efficient and fast for network operators to deploy 5G while maintaining legacy network coverage and footprint.
- Empowering Data-driven Sustainability: Smart or green cities generate a lot of data today, with more IoT devices deployed to provide valuable insights to government agencies and organizations. Data Center is the backbone of a smart city, but it also contributes to carbon emissions. One way to improve data center sustainability is to bring data closer to the edge. CommScope’s high-speed fiber platform Propel not only help data center migrate to faster speeds, it also enables faster, more-efficient access to data, and in turn, help to minimize energy consumption.
Come say hello to our CommScope’s experts during GITEX in Dubai between 10th and 14th October, at Stand # H5-A30! | <urn:uuid:4befeb38-fa72-4cbb-8a37-bdb5ebc6472c> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.commscope.com/blog/2022/powering-middle-east-with-connectivity-for-a-more-sustainable-future/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337432.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003200326-20221003230326-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.92069 | 756 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch: Which One Do You Need?
Generally, a Layer 2 switch is one of the basic equipment used to connect all network and client devices. But for now, layer 3 switch is thriving in data centers, complicated enterprise networks and commercial applications with the growing diversity of network applications and the converged network implementations. There comes the question: layer 2 vs layer 3 switch, which is the network switch of choice?
Layer 2 Switch and Layer 3 Switch: What Are They?
Layers 2 switch and layer 3 switch are adopted in the Open System Interconnect (OSI) model, which is a reference model for describing and explaining network communications. The OSI model has seven layers: application layer, presentation layer, session layer, transport layer, network layer, data link layer and physical layer, among which layer 2 and layer 3 refer to the data link layer and network layer respectively, and the switches working in these layers are called layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch.
Figure 1: Layer 2 & Layer 3 in OSI model.
Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch
The layer 2 and Layer 3 differs mainly in the routing function. A Layer 2 switch works with MAC addresses only and does not care about IP address or any items of higher layers. Layer 3 switch, or multilayer switch, can do all the job of a layer 2 switch and additional static routing and dynamic routing as well. That means, a Layer 3 switch has both MAC address table and IP routing table, and handles intra-VLAN communication and packets routing between different VLANs. There is also layer 2+ (layer 3 Lite) switch that adds only static routing. Other than routing packets, layer 3 switches also include functions that require to understand the IP address information of data entering the switch, such as tagging VLAN traffic based on IP address instead of manually configuring a port. Layer 3 switches are increased in power and security as demanded.
When lingering between Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches, you should think about where it will be used. If you have a pure Layer 2 domain, you can simply go for Layer 2 switch. A pure Layer 2 domain is where the hosts are connected, so a Layer 2 switch will work fine there. This is usually called access layer in a network topology. If you need the switch to aggregate multiple access switches and do inter-VLAN routing, then a Layer 3 switch is needed. This is known as the distribution layer in the network topology.
Figure 2: when to use Layer 2 switch, Layer 3 switch and router?
|Item||Layer 2 Switch||Layer 3 Switch|
|Routing Function||Mac address only||Supports higher routing such as static routing and dynamic routing|
|VLAN Tagging Based on IP Address||No||Yes|
|Using Scenario||Pure Layer 2 domain||Aggregate multiple access switches|
Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch: Key Parameters to Consider When Purchasing
If you are buying a Layer 2 or Layer 3 switch, there are some key parameters that you should check out, including the forwarding rate, backplane bandwidth, number of VLANs, memory of MAC address, latency, etc.
The forwarding rate (or throughput rate) is the forwarding capabilities of a backplane (or switch fabric). When the forwarding capabilities are greater than the sum of speeds of all ports, we call the backplane non-blocking. The forwarding rate is expressed in packets per second (pps). The following formula gives how to calculate the forwarding rate of a switch:
Forwarding Rate (pps) = number of 10Gbit/s ports * 14,880,950 pps + number of 1 Gbit/s ports * 1,488,095 pps + number of 100Mbit/s ports * 148,809 pps
For example, FS S5850-32S2Q has 32 10 Gbit/s ports and 2 40 Gbit/s ports, so its forwarding rate is:
32 * 14,880,950 pps + 2 * 4 * 14,880,950 pps = 595,238,000 pps ≈ 596 Mpps
The next parameter is the backplane bandwidth or switch fabric capacity, which is the sum of speeds of all ports. The sum of speeds of all ports are counted twice, one for Tx direction and one for Rx direction. Backplane bandwidth is expressed in bits per second (bps or bit/s).
Backplane Bandwidth (bps) = port number * port data rate * 2
So the backplane bandwidth for S5850-32S2Q is:
(32 * 10 Gbps + 2 * 40 Gbps) * 2 = 800 Gbps
Other important parameters are number of VLANs that can be configured. Generally, 1K = 1024 VLANs is enough for a Layer 2 switch, and the typical number of VLANs for Layer 3 switch is 4k = 4096. Memory of MAC address table is the number of MAC addresses that a switch can keep, usually expressed as 8k or 128k. Latency is the delay time that a data transfer suffers. It requires to be as short as possible, so the latency is usually expressed in nanosecond (ns).
This post has explained the differences of Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch. The comparison of their functions is also made, in the hope of solving the problem of deciding between these devices. Also key parameters for measuring a Layer 2 or Layer 3 switch are also discussed. It is not always the case that more advanced device is better, but it is right to choose the most appropriate one for your specific application. | <urn:uuid:59ebbca9-bfa4-4ca3-8db2-173ec7310b64> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://community.fs.com/blog/layer-2-switch-vs-layer-3-switch-which-one-do-you-need.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337836.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006124156-20221006154156-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.889233 | 1,175 | 3.359375 | 3 |
The essence of cognitive confrontation is knowledge confrontation and intellectual competition. Adversaries need to have full cognition, deep understanding and rapid response to the cyber environment, threats, targets, and opponents, and the analysis, judgment, decision-making, will and other cognitive level. We will cover concepts in Cognitive Warfare, Grey Zone Tactics, Disinformation, Influence Operations, Information Operations, Color Revolutions, Neuro-Linguistic Program, Private Intelligence Firms, and more.
Ability, will directly affect cyber confrontations, the organization of the campaign, the decision of the strategy, and the trend and success or failure of the engagement. The concept of winning and losing in cognitive warfare has expanded from “hard damage to compete for battlefield space and focus on destroying the enemy’s living forces” to “soft penetration affecting morale and people’s hearts, and cognitive games interfering with the adversary’s command and decision-making”. Cognitive confrontation in human warfare will be upgraded from intellectual competition and knowledge confrontation between people to AI. But first, we as humans need to learn all we can about cognitive warfare.
We include review of cognitive warfare approaches, a potential framework, historical examples, rational processes, bias in perception and cognition, decision making and time pressures, domains of conflict and combatants, factors influencing decisions, speed and overload, manipulating situational awareness, inducing behavioral change using deception, distraction, distrust, chaos, and confusion.
Students learn to assess adversaries for susceptibility to cognitive weapons and what to observe for potential impacts. Students will learn methods of deception to deceive adversaries, distraction tactics, content creation for distrust, as well as methods of deployment. These methods are included in student created cognitive campaigns that are continuous from multiple vectors. Students will learn cognition of targets while understanding worlds of social media, information, intelligence, and other online vectors. We also cover the issues associated with measuring campaign effectiveness and influence analysis
Validated and registered students receive preparation information 1 week prior to class start. | <urn:uuid:205c4925-2ed6-45b0-abe7-b67729c7f1bd> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://cybershafarat.com/2022/08/16/cognitive-warfare-training/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338280.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007210452-20221008000452-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.923626 | 403 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Not only will Microsoft be releasing critical patches later on Tuesday (including the last ever security patches for Windows XP), but there now comes the potentially disastrous news that a serious security flaw has been uncovered in versions of OpenSSL’s transport layer security (TLS) protocols.
In case you’re not aware, OpenSSL is the open-source software widely used to encrypt web communications, and a security flaw like that could be used by attackers to reveal the contents of a “secure” message, such as your credit card details shared with an online store via HTTPS.
But more than that, it could also disclose the secret SSL keys themselves. These are the “crown jewels”, and could be used by malicious hackers to do even more damage, without leaving a trace.
Finnish security experts Codenomicon say in an excellent write-up of the issue, that large numbers of private keys and other secret information has been left exposed for long periods of time as a result of the programming screw-up.
Bugs in single software or library come and go and are fixed by new versions. However this bug has left large amount of private keys and other secrets exposed to the Internet. Considering the long exposure, ease of exploitation and attacks leaving no trace this exposure should be taken seriously.
The advice is to update to the just-released OpenSSL 1.0.1g immediately, and regenerate your private keys.
If it’s not possible to update to the latest version of OpenSSL, software developers are advised to recompile OpenSSL with the compile time option OPENSSL_NO_HEARTBEATS.
Which versions of OpenSSL are vulnerable?
- OpenSSL 1.0.1 through 1.0.1f (inclusive) are vulnerable
- OpenSSL 1.0.1g is NOT vulnerable
- OpenSSL 1.0.0 branch is NOT vulnerable
- OpenSSL 0.9.8 branch is NOT vulnerable
For more guidance and further reading:
Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter to read more of the exclusive content we post. | <urn:uuid:3c42f51b-3d59-44b1-b06e-88be0507da65> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://grahamcluley.com/heartbleed-bug-serious-vulnerability-found-openssl-cryptographic-software-library/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338280.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007210452-20221008000452-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.930147 | 439 | 2.578125 | 3 |
How can people, systems, and machines interact?
In the past, the interactions of people were society’s economic focus, then it became the interactions between people and machines, and today, focus is shifting to the interactions between people and systems.
For example, the process of signing contracts has changed a lot. In the past, things were bought and sold from person to person in a market or shop. Nowadays, people order many things online, resulting in a human-system interaction.
Interactions between people and systems occur, for example, wherever a person operates a computer to sell goods or services, create digital models, or write an email. People can interact with systems in the work environment or in their free time. And thanks to laptops, smartphones, and the cloud, these interactions are not location dependent.
However, interactions between people and industrial machines such as robots, presses, or even production lines tend to take place mainly in the work environment. Some machines work without any intervention or interaction with humans, apart from initial set-up interactions or repair work (for example, fully automated machines for the production of confectionery).
However, there are also systems, machines, and production plants that only function in interaction with humans. An example of this is the production of automobiles. In this very production, some steps are taken over by machines, often robots. Such steps are, for instance, the assembly of the wheels or the installation of the windows. Other steps, such as laying the cables or installing the wiring harness, still have to be performed by humans. However, all these steps are necessary to create a functioning car. This process cannot be completed without the cooperation of humans, so a human interaction workflow is needed. | <urn:uuid:a72f399d-ac8e-4d1d-b27c-f0f99fe958b2> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://appian.com/process-mining/human-interaction-workflow.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030331677.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220924151538-20220924181538-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.961822 | 352 | 3.359375 | 3 |
This post is about some new (or sort of new) elliptic curves for use in cryptographic protocols. They were made public in mid-December 2020, on a dedicated Web site: https://doubleodd.group/
There is also a complete whitepaper, full of mathematical demonstrations, and several implementations.
Oh noes, more curves! Will this never end?
It is true that there is no shortage of elliptic curves in use in cryptography. In the 1990s, various proposals were floated around, and picked up by standardization bodies, in particular NIST. In FIPS 186, some 15 “standard curves” were described; the most famous of them is P-256. Another well-known curve is Curve25519 (which has another equivalent form called Edwards25519). Using these curves, computers routinely perform key exchange and signature protocols, e.g. as part of SSL/TLS. This works well enough in most cases; almost everything on the Web nowadays uses HTTPS, and while elliptic curve cryptography is the foundation of the security of most of these connections, its computational cost is negligible (when using modern computers and smartphones) and is not a common source of security issues.
However, there still are situations where the exact curves you use matter, and the current solutions are not perfect. In particular, small embedded systems with severe constraints on power, RAM and CPU abilities would benefit from curves allowing faster and cheaper implementations. Also, protocols more advanced than classic key exchange and signature may require curves that have some more specific properties. In these areas, there is still room for improvement.
What’s wrong with P-256 or Curve25519?
Classic curves (usually called short Weierstraß, from their equation shape, first described by Karl Weierstraß), such as P-256, have incomplete formulas: when computing over these curves, there are special cases to take into account. In particular, when adding two points together, the addition formulas don’t work if the two input points are, in fact, the same point. That situation must be detected, and appropriate alternate formulas used in that case. The natural way to handle this is to have some runtime test and conditional execution, which leads to timing attacks and can endanger security. Another method is to trust that such a situation does not happen, based on some prior mathematical analysis, which is easier said than done; any mishap in that analysis tends to translate into exploitable protocol flaws. Complete formulas that avoid these issues have been published, but they induce some extra cost (typically about +40% or so), which is a problem for small embedded systems.
Twisted Edwards curves (like Edwards25519) have efficient complete formulas, with no exceptional case, sidestepping this issue. However, they introduce another problem, which is the cofactor. Namely, cryptographic protocols normally need a group with a prime order, and the number of points on a twisted Edwards curve cannot be prime, since it is always a multiple of 4. At best, one can have a curve with 4n elements, with n being prime. The ratio between the total number of points on the curve, and the (prime) size of the interesting subgroup, is called the cofactor. Protocols strive to remain in the prime order subgroup. However, when a point is received from the outside, ascertaining whether that point is in the right subgroup is too expensive to be done systematically. The non-trivial cofactor is a known source of flaws in protocols that build upon such curves. Such issues can usually be mitigated in the protocol with some extra operations, but that complicates design and analysis, and it is hard to know whether all cofactor issues have been properly exorcised.
What about Decaf / Ristretto?
Decaf and Ristretto are a very nice solution for the cofactor issues, when working with twisted Edwards curves with cofactor 4 (for Decaf) or 8 (for Ristretto). Internally, they work with the “normal” twisted Edwards curve, using the efficient and complete formulas; but when encoding to bytes, or decoding from bytes, special maps are applied, which ensure a sort of canonicalization, to the effect that, from the outside, one obtains a prime order group, and all cofactor issues disappear. In practice, curve Edwards25519 has cofactor 8, and when Ristretto is applied on it, the result is a prime order group called ristretto255. The group order is a prime integer slightly above 2252, and elements are encoded over 255 bits (in low bandwidth situation where every bit matters, it is possible to encode ristretto255 elements over 254 bits).
Ristretto is technically neat and it is recommended to use it for new cryptographic protocol designs that need a prime order group. It is not perfect since the encoding and decoding maps have a slight overhead in computational cost. My work on double-odd elliptic curves is the exploration of an hitherto neglected alternative method, which turns out to have some potential benefits, notably in terms of performance (especially on small embedded systems).
So what are these newfangled “double-odd” curves?
First, they are not really new. All elliptic curves can be represented with a short Weierstraß equation, so, in a sense, they were already all described when curves where first proposed to be used for cryptography, in the 1980s. Maybe more importantly, all the security of such cryptography relies on the idea that for most curves, the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem is hard (i.e. given points G and kG for some unknown k, it should be computationally infeasible to find k). We can piggyback on that standard assumption as long as whatever curve we propose is from a class of curves large enough that it is included in that notion of “most curves”. In other words, there might be some special curves which are weak, but they are rare, and any proposal for “new” curves should fare fine as long as that proposal is for enough curves that they are, indeed, not so new.
This is the case for double-odd elliptic curves. They are the curves whose order (number of points on the curve) is the double of an odd integer; hence the name. About 1/4th of all curves are double-odd curves: this is a large class of curves. This is easily seen as follows: for a given base field, the orders of curves defined over that field are mostly uniformly distributed over a given range; half of them will be even, and half of these will be double-odd (i.e. even but not multiple of 4).
Such curves have nominally been supported by generic standards such as ANSI X9.62 (ECDSA signatures over any curve) for the last two decades. They have been somewhat neglected, because when you use a classic short Weierstraß equation you can simply choose a curve with a prime order (no cofactor, by definition), and if you accept a non-trivial cofactor then you can go straight to Montgomery / twisted Edwards curves (cofactor at least 4).
But then, double-odd curves have a cofactor (of 2); so, what is the point?
They indeed have a cofactor of 2; but one can make a prime order group out of them with a proper encoding/decoding process. The main trick is that if a curve has order 2r for some odd integer r, then there is a reasonably efficient way to verify that a given point is in the subgroup of order r. This allows maintaining the “prime order group” abstraction, i.e. no cofactor issue.
But we also get some other nice features:
- Encoding is “economical”: for a prime order group of order about 2n, encoding uses only n+1 bits.
- We can use the unique point of order 2 on the curve as a pivot to perform point additions with a sort of skew that removes the exceptional case of adding a point to itself. With a bit more work and an appropriate system of coordinates, we get comfortably complete formulas, with no exceptional case at all.
- These complete formulas are fast. Notably, when computing a sequence of successive doublings (a common operation when multiplying a point by a scalar), the per-doubling cost can be as low as 6 multiplications, while twisted Edwards curves need at least 7.
- Last but not least, the class of double-odd curves includes some curves which were previously described in 2001 by Gallant, Lambert and Vanstone; namely, curves with equation y2 = x3 + bx. These “GLV curves” have some special extra structure (an easily computed endomorphism on the curve) that can be leveraged to speed some operations up (e.g. point multiplication by a scalar). Two decades after that publication, no way to leverage that structure for attacks was found, so this seems to be safe. The GLV method was long rumoured to be patented, but the commonly quoted patent references supporting that rumour are now listed as “expired”.
This is confusing. Is there a more visual way to describe double-odd elliptic curves?
Yes! The double-odd curves site includes a geometrical introduction with pictures.
Are double-odd elliptic curves faster than twisted Edwards curves?
Sort of. It depends. Yes on small embedded systems.
Specifically, we define two specific sets of parameters, for curves do255e and do255s. Curve do255e is a GLV curve, and is the one most recommended. Curve do255s is a “normal curve” with no GLV endomorphism; its role is to show that even without the endomorphism, double-odd elliptic curves are still a quite acceptable tool. On an ARM Cortex M0+ embedded CPU, our implementation (which is fully constant-time) can do a key exchange with do255e in 2.6 million cycles. By comparison, with Curve25519, the best reported performance is 3.2 million cycles; moreover, with do255e, you also know whether the input point was correct (in the right subgroup of the right curve), while Curve25519 does not provide that information. For signatures, our code can produce a signature in 1.5 million cycles, and verify it in 3.3 million cycles, which is again faster than Edwards25519 performance.
On large architectures (recent x86 CPUs in 64-bit mode), we also get very decent performance. For instance, with do255e, we can sign in 54000 cycles and verify in 112000 cycles. The verification figure includes the cost of decoding the public key used for verification; without that decoding, the verification cost is about 94000 cycles. By comparison, the well-known curve25519-dalek implementation for Edwards25519 needs 110000 cycles for a signature verification (again not counting public key decoding cost). I am a bit cherry-picking figures here, because curve25519-dalek also includes a batch verification procedure (applicable when verifying many signatures at the same time) which has a lower per-verification cost (about 61000 cycles), but the same procedure should conceptually be applicable to double-odd curves. Batch signature verification and optimized implementation of double-odd elliptic curves with SIMD instructions (e.g. AVX2) are still unexplored subjects.
I must insist that the point of double-odd elliptic curves is to provide a safe structure, amenable to building cryptographic protocols on top of the “prime order group” abstraction. However, the obtained performance is still neat. This avoids creating a trade-off between security and speed; we can get both.
Isn’t all of this pointless since elliptic curves will be utterly annihilated by quantum computers?
In truth we do not know. I do not know whether quantum computers will ever work. I can argue that nobody else knows either. A characteristic of research on quantum computers is that it is expensive science. People trying to build better prototypes need to convince fund providers to pay for the experiments, which are already in the billion of dollars range; for that, they must remain optimistic at all times, because nobody is going to drop a billion dollars on an experiment whose predicted outcome is that it won’t work. Thus, nobody can express a really independent and objective assessment on the ultimate workability of the endeavour, let alone on an achievement date prediction. This is a situation quite similar to that of controlled nuclear fusion: a perfectly sound and solid scientific concept, large-scale experiments that show that things work as expected, but a never-ending succession of technological issues that always keep success at least ten years away, while development budgets keep rising.
Even if a truly functioning quantum computer were to be build one day, with enough quantum bits and gates to break discrete logarithm on practical curves, then the sheer initial price of that first machine would be such that there would be a delay of at least a few years until one may assume that potential attackers have enough resources to build a similar computer.
Thus, it is reasonable to assert that elliptic curve cryptography has still at least one or two decades of useful life, at least for short-term usage (e.g. authentication, where there is no long-term encrypted secret data), which is enough to make this research relevant. It is, of course, a very good idea to develop new “post-quantum” algorithms that will ensure security even against quantum computers; but that does not make elliptic curves immediately obsolete. | <urn:uuid:eb490224-a2a8-4a50-ae92-6090fe8400ea> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://research.nccgroup.com/2021/01/06/double-odd-elliptic-curves/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030331677.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220924151538-20220924181538-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.948539 | 2,857 | 2.71875 | 3 |
By: Muskaan Chopra, Sunil K. Singh
While discussing AI, we typically examine data pre-preprocessing, perceptions, and model structure however altogether less routinely, the innovation is referenced as far as execution and arrangement! Figure 1 illustrates the blend of the various domains in MLOps.
With the interesting mix of terms “AI-ML” and “Development Operations,” it is an assortment of methods, that is utilized for AI and its life cycle computerization and its calculations in execution for enormous scope. It clears a smooth way for a coordinated effort between an information researcher and IT proficient, and consequently goes about as a scaffold between the abilities, methods, and apparatuses utilized in information designing, AI, and DevOps. There are various benefits of MLOps which incorporate Extended time for growing new models: Using it, Developer activity experts are answerable for the creation climate, while, meanwhile, Data Scientists can zero in on the primary information and data tasks; Fast promoting of ML Models: MLOps additionally works with model learning by giving computerization and holding. It builds СI/CD for carrying out, sending, and refreshing AI pipelines. More precise gauges and forecasts: MLOps thinks about information and model approval, assessment measurements underway, and preparing the model again against new and new datasets. This load of result in the decrease in dangers of incredible experiences and guarantee that you can believe results delivered by your calculation when settling on significant choices.
MLOps is considered DevOps often. It obtains a ton of provisions from DevOps, however here are a few contrasts between the two-Besides code forming, you need a spot to save information and model forms: a ton of testing is engaged with ML and AI, which makes information researchers train models on different informational indexes and get various yields. Thus, notwithstanding code adaptation control utilized in DevOps, MLOps needs a bunch of explicit instruments for saving information and reuse of model variants; Monitoring models after some time for corruption: “Everyday routine changes thus encounter information our model takes in”- and it brings about model debasement by diminishing the exactness of the model. Endless preparing: Once the debasement is seen in a model, it must be retrained by utilizing new and late information. The constant preparation and in MLOps replaces the testing acted in DevOps.
Vijaysinh LendaveVijaysinh is an enthusiast in machine learning and deep learning. He is skilled in ML algorithms, & Lendave, V. (2021, September 9). A beginner’s guide TO MLOPS. Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://analyticsindiamag.com/a-beginners-guide-to-mlops/.
Google. (n.d.). MLOPS: Continuous delivery and automation pipelines in machine learning. Google. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://cloud.google.com/architecture/mlops-continuous-delivery-and-automation-pipelines-in-machine-learning.
ml-ops.org. ML Ops. (2021, July 13). Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://ml-ops.org/.
Cite this article:
Muskaan Chopra, Sunil K. Singh (2021), MLOps: A New Era of DevOps, Powered by Machine Learning, Insights2Techinfo, pp. 1 | <urn:uuid:3daab03e-423d-4006-9450-dff2d4bcf0c9> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://insights2techinfo.com/mlops-a-new-era-of-devops-powered-by-machine-learning/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334992.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927064738-20220927094738-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.908637 | 724 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Creating Pivot Tables on the iSeries
May 25, 2005 Bruce Guetzkow
The code for this article is available for download.
If you’ve ever used spreadsheet software, there’s a good chance that you’ve created a pivot table. Pivot tables allow you to convert rows of data into columns of data, which may be more meaningful to the end user. Creating pivot tables on the iSeries can be a complicated process. The commands demonstrated here will greatly simplify that task.
A Pivot Table Scenario
Before we get to the commands, let’s first describe a situation where a pivot table comes in handy. Suppose that you have a Sales History file with the following data elements:
- Date Sold
- Sales Region
- Sales Quantity
- Sales Amount
I’ve kept the file simple for illustration purposes. If you were to create a report using RPG or Query/400 you would most likely see the data listed exactly as it appears in the database, with a single report line for each date and region, or possibly summarized by date and region. While this information is valuable, it might be more valuable if you could see the region totals side-by-side for each date. A pivot table allows you to summarize the sales information and create quantity and amount fields for each region, based on the number of regions in your data sample.
If your data had sales history for four regions, you could then create a report with the following columns:
- Date Sold
- Sales Quantity–Region 1
- Sales Quantity–Region 2
- Sales Quantity–Region 3
- Sales Quantity–Region 4
- Sales Quantity–Total for All Regions
- Sales Amount–Region 1
- Sales Amount–Region 2
- Sales Amount–Region 3
- Sales Amount–Region 4
- Sales Amount–Total for All Regions
With information presented in this fashion it would be easy to see region comparisons to make business decisions based on sales information. If at some point another region is added, recreating the pivot table to include data referencing all five regions would add columns for quantity and amount for the new region.
The CRTPVTTBL Command
In order to create a file to hold the pivoted data, you need to know how many regions are represented in the data sample and create the appropriate DDS. You then need to create a program or collection of SQL statements to summarize the information into the new file. The CRTPVTTBL (Create Pivot Table) command does all of that for you.
The CRTPVTTBL command has the following parameters:
- SRCDTA (Source Data File): This is the input file that you have selected to pivot. It can be any physical or logical file.
- SRCDTAMBR (Source Data Member): For multi-member files, you can specify the member to use as input.
- ROWFLDS (Row Fields): You can specify up to three fields to summarize your data by.
- COLFLDS (Column Fields): This is the field that the source data is pivoted on.
- DTAFLDS (Data Fields): Up to five data fields can be specified that will be summarized. In addition, you can specify a heading to be used for each field.
- PVTTBL (Pivot Table File): This is the name of the file that will be generated as a result of this command.
- PVTTBLRPL (Pivot Table Replace): If you have already created a file named as indicated in the previous parameter, you can indicate that the file is to be deleted and recreated (*YES). Specifying *NO will prevent you from continuing if the file already exists unless you also change the file name.
- LODTBL (Load Pivot Table Source): Specify a source file name to contain SQL statements used in loading data from the source data file into the pivot table file. The default is QTEMP/QSQLSRC, which will be deleted at the end of the current job (batch or interactive).
- LODTBLMBR (Load Pivot Table Member): This is the source member that will hold the SQL statements. The default is *PVTTBL which will be replaced with the pivot table file name.
- LODTBLRPL (Load Pivot Table Member Replace): You can indicate whether to replace an existing source member (*NO). As with the previous “replace” parameter, if the source member already exists, you cannot execute the command if you specify *NO.
- LODPVTTBL (Load Pivot Table with Data): Specify whether to load data into the pivot table after it is created (*YES).
Do not confuse the term “source data” with source code that is stored in source physical files. When speaking of pivot tables, “source data” refers to the data from which the pivot table is generated.
Let’s see how to create the pivot table described above using the CRTPVTTBL command. The Source Data File is the Sales History file. You can leave the default (*FIRST) for the Source Data Member, or specify any member in the file if there is more than one. We have a single Row Field, Date Sold. The Column Field is the Region field. For Data Fields specify Sales Quantity and Sales Amount.
You can specify any valid OS/400 file name for the Pivot Table Name, in any library. If the pivot table file does not exist, the Pivot Table Replace parameter is ignored. If you plan to keep the SQL statements generated, specify a source file other than one in QTEMP and any member name that you find appropriate. I chose a default member name the same as the pivot table being created as an obvious link. Again, the Replace parameter is only used if the source member already exists.
The resulting command would be something like this:
CRTPVTTBL SRCDTA(library/SALESHIST) SRCDTAMBR(*FIRST) ROWFLDS(DATESOLD) COLFLDS(REGION) DTAFLDS((SALESQTY 'Sales Qty') (SALESAMT 'Sales Amt')) PVTTBL(library/SALESPVT) PVTTBLRPL(*NO) LODTBL(library/QSQLSRC) LODTBLMBR(*PVTTBL) LODTBLRPL(*NO) LODPVTTBL(*YES)
Under the Covers
The command processing program (CPP) for this command is CLLE source member CRTPVTTBL. It begins by parsing input parameters for the Source Data, Pivot Table and Pivot Table Source files. It then resolves the LODTBLMBR parameter if *PVTTBL was specified. Next each of the field names are placed into their own data fields.
An OVRDBF (Override Database File) command makes sure that the correct source file and member are referenced from this point forward. Two Query Management Queries (QMQRY) are run to count the number of column values and then to create a file containing those values. If an existing pivot table is to be re-created, it is now deleted.
A source file is created if library QTEMP has been specified. A member is added and text is specified. This will be explained a bit later. Now it’s time to create the pivot table.
REXX to the Rescue
I’ve used REXX (REstructured eXtended eXecutor language) to dynamically build and execute SQL statements to create the pivot table and add field text and column headings. Unlike languages like RPG or COBOL, REXX is not compiled and does not rely on predefined variable lengths. Each execution of the REXX procedure adapts the variables to whatever size is needed. It can also execute CL commands or SQL statements.
Executing SQL makes REXX a very powerful tool; however it has some restrictions on the SQL statements that are allowed. I initially thought that these restrictions were a limitation, but they ended up being an unexpected advantage. While the CREATE TABLE and LABEL ON statements used to create the physical file and add headings work fine from within REXX, INSERT and UPDATE statements needed to load data into the pivot table need special consideration.
I found that it was much easier to write the INSERT and UPDATE statements to a source member and execute them using the RUNSQLSTM (Run SQL Statements) command. By saving these statements in the source file and member specified in the LODTBL and LODTBLMBR parameters, the pivot table can be reloaded at a later date without the overhead of physically creating the pivot table file.
For this reason I split out loading the pivot table with data into its own command: LODPVTTBL (Load Pivot Table). Executing this command is the last step in the CRTPVTTBL CPP, if *YES is specified on the LODPVTTBL parameter.
Loading the Pivot Table
The LODPVTTBL command has the following parameters:
- LODTBL (Load Pivot Table Source): Specify a source file name that contains SQL statements used in loading data from the source data file into the pivot table file.
- LODTBLMBR (Load Pivot Table Member): This is the source member that holds the SQL statements.Sales Region
If you specified a source file in library QTEMP on the CRTPVTTBL command, it will be deleted at the end of the command and will not be available for subsequent loads of the pivot table. Also, the LODPVTTBL command does not clear the pivot table before loading. You will need to do that yourself.
Putting it together
Both commands have validity checker programs to ensure that all values are valid. I suggest creating the commands before creating the program objects as the CRTPVTTBL program references the LODPVTTBL command. If the command does not exist, program CRTPVTTBL will not compile.
Here are the steps needed to create the objects:
CRTCMD CMD(library/CRTPVTTBL) PGM(*LIBL/CRTPVTTBL) SRCFILE(library/QCMDSRC) SRCMBR(CRTPVTTBL) VLDCKR(CRTPVTTBLV) CRTCMD CMD(library/LODPVTTBL) PGM(*LIBL/LODPVTTBL) SRCFILE(library/QCMDSRC) SRCMBR(LODPVTTBL) VLDCKR(LODPVTTBLV)
Before compiling source members CRTPVTTBL and CRTPVTTBLV, change the value of variable &REXSRCLIB in each to specify the library where your REXX source is located.
CRTBNDCL PGM(library/CRTPVTTBL) SRCFILE(library/QCLLESRC) SRCMBR(CRTPVTTBL) CRTBNDCL PGM(library/CRTPVTTBLV) SRCFILE(library/QCLLESRC) SRCMBR(CRTPVTTBLV) CRTBNDCL PGM(library/LODPVTTBL) SRCFILE(library/QCLLESRC) SRCMBR(LODPVTTBL) CRTBNDCL PGM(library/LODPVTTBLV) SRCFILE(library/QCLLESRC) SRCMBR(LODPVTTBLV) CRTQMQRY QMQRY(library/CRTPVTTBL1) SRCFILE(library/QQMQRYSRC) CRTQMQRY QMQRY(library/CRTPVTTBL2) SRCFILE(library/QQMQRYSRC)
Remember, the REXX source does not need to be compiled.
Points to Ponder
Creating pivot tables can be a great way to look at data in a new way. However, be careful what you ask for . . . you just might get it. Remember that the number of fields in your pivot table is equal to:
(number of row fields + (number of data fields * (number of unique values for column
field + 1) ) ).
If you specify 3 row fields and 5 data fields and there are 100 unique values for your column field, your pivot table will contain 508 fields, so be sure that you want what you are asking for.
Bruce Guetzkow has programmed on the AS/400 and iSeries since 1990, in manufacturing, distribution, and other industries. He is currently the IS director at United Credit Service in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Click here to contact Bruce by e-mail. | <urn:uuid:788f2233-d8c8-4a7c-8e40-360ea141764b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.itjungle.com/2005/05/25/fhg052505-story01/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334992.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927064738-20220927094738-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.856774 | 2,710 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Application layer security refers to ways of protecting web applications at the application layer (layer 7 of the OSI model) from malicious attacks.
Since the application layer is the closest layer to the end user, it provides hackers with the largest threat surface. Poor app layer security can lead to performance and stability issues, data theft, and in some cases the network being taken down.
Examples of application layer attacks include distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) attacks, HTTP floods, SQL injections, cross-site scripting, parameter tampering, and Slowloris attacks. To combat these and more, most organizations have an arsenal of application layer security protections, such as web application firewalls (WAFs), secure web gateway services, and others. | <urn:uuid:865cd945-05dd-4bd4-9383-ab7f378d2b7b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.f5.com/services/resources/glossary/application-layer-security | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335396.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929225326-20220930015326-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.87714 | 152 | 3.109375 | 3 |
How to Use Big Numbers #OOW11
In case you are having trouble getting your head around some unfamiliar terms for very large numbers coming out of Oracle OpenWorld this week, I wish to provide some assistance. The large numbers reference the amount of data we collectively and even individually capture and need to store to live our lives and do our jobs. They make it possible for us to see important things like cats behaving strangely on YouTube.
We are all fairly familiar with millions, billions and trillions. Governments these days have spent millions, borrowed billions and we collectively owe trillions. From this you probably already know that one trillion is a 1 with 12 zeroes after it and it looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000.
In the world of large numbers this barely gets the attention of the experts who typically write it in scientific notation as 1012. By the way, a trillion bytes of data is expressed as a terabyte and while that was once considered huge, you can buy a device that stores a terabyte, sits comfortably on your desk and looks about the size of a pocket dictionary.
Social media and video are two phenomena that generate scads of data and drive a need for mega storage, or actually zetta storage for which Oracle has this nifty device called Exadata. The world will need many of these and Oracle shareholders will be pleased about this.
Next stop is a petabyte, (1015 ) then Exabyte (1018) and only then do we get to (1021) or the zetabyte. Don’t worry the Greeks and Romans had lots of words that can be turned to numeric prefixes and there is no danger of us running out though next in line, the yottabyte (1024) sounds more like something out of Seinfeld.
Perhaps at some future OpenWorld we’ll hear Larry Ellison say, “yadda, yadda, yadda” and we’ll all know precisely what that means. | <urn:uuid:d3e5d07f-bd61-40a1-97d1-1b556679e4ce> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | http://beagleresearch.com/how-to-use-big-numbers-oow/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335573.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001070422-20221001100422-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.939522 | 409 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Introduction : Positive Security Model & Negative Security Model
Achieving highest level of security and being one step ahead from the hackers has always been a significant challenge for any IT company. Security is always a hot discussion topic whenever an IT administrator contemplates on secured communication across organizational assets.
There has always been a balance to be maintained between security and convenience for the users. Setting up a right level of security can be a constant challenge. Most of us have seen that most of social sites and ones containing threads to our network are restricted, users feel that it is an inconvenience rather than something worthwhile or beneficial for business.
There are many methods by which we can provide security in the organizations, but most common solutions are Positive and Negative security models. Both these models have the same base structure, and both operate according to a set of simple rules. These rules can be Access control lists (ACL’s), Antivirus signatures etc. Both the model’s way of working is entirely different/ opposite.
Positive Security model
- It is also called a “whitelist model”.
- The Positive Security model starts with the approach of “block everything” in the start and what you allow is positive. This model builds upon by permitting specific, approved traffic, action and other functions. Due its positive behavior and allowing only that traffic “which is positive” this model is mostly used by operating systems and firewalls and they feel safer.
- Positive security model also helps to curb zero-day attacks.
- Allow wanted Transactions
- Everything else is Denied
- For better understanding of Positive model think of a private party where only guests are invited. The people invited by the host are allowed in, anyone else is not. This would be the positive model.
- Positive model is useful when you know what type of content you offer and you are well aware that what you need to allow HTTP or HTTPS for your webserver of FTP for your file transfer server and these content on their servers never changes so that why a positive security model is used.
- A positive security model that’s gets more functional will slowly become a negative model.
Negative security model
- It is also called a “blacklist model”.
- A negative security model Is completely opposite to the positive security model, here in negative security model “allow everything” in the beginning and then further constructed by blocking functions based on Known previous attacks and unwanted content and behaviors.
- Security increases when a rule gets added into the policy. In the start negative security model will allow the traffic and as more restrictions are added, security increases. The traffic that passes through will be matched against a “bad” filter (a blacklist) and if there is a match it will be blocked and if not, it will be permitted.
- Lock unknown attacks
- Everything else is allowed
- Block only known bad traffic
- For better understanding of negative model think you were in a public bar and everyone is be invited. As long you are not making any trouble you could enter and leave anytime, if you start causing problems you would be thrown out and banned entering the bar again. This would be a negative model.
- Negative security model is useful when you have an R&D department which introduces new services on new ports daily basics, If all those requests are denied from the start then every time new network changes are required, In such cases negative model is best to use as attacks that are known to the network will continue to be blocked and department doesn’t have to request changes all the time.
- The Negative model is most efficient for anti-virus, anti-spam and environments that’s changes a lot.
- A negative security model when more secure will gradually become positive security model
Security experts’ arguments on these models are always a debatable, some experts things that Positive Model is preferred as it started with most secure posture and gradually increases its functionality, where as some experts claim that Negative model is preferred because it starts off from the most functional posture and slowly increases its security. | <urn:uuid:5d232373-3589-4460-91de-002c2a077260> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://networkinterview.com/positive-security-model-vs-negative-security-model/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337338.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002150039-20221002180039-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.9503 | 846 | 2.65625 | 3 |
School children will have to take the “P” out of whatever mnemonic they use to help them remember the solar system’s planet lineup. That’s because astronomers decided on Thursday to nix Pluto from the group of nine planets under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system.
The International Astronomical Union withdrew Pluto’s planetary status in a true clash of the cosmos that came in the form of a week-long debate. Pluto has been considered a planet since 1930.
Three new planetary contenders were introduced into the debate that also didn’t make the cut: Ceres, Charon and 2003 UB313, currently nicknamed “Xena.”
Rise of the Dwarfs
New rules outlined by the group this week define a planet as “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a … nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.”
Pluto was disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune’s. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune remain planets under the group’s standards.
Pluto has been officially designated a “dwarf planet,” similar to what the astronomers have called “minor planets.” The new definition also makes room for a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun called “small solar system bodies.” These include asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.
The 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries are split over the controversial decision, and the sometimes-hostile debates between groups that took a stand for or against Pluto have not ended.
Now, marketers and educational companies are staking stands of their own. Some have asserted that Pluto’s demise is based on a desire on the part of publishers to sell more textbooks.
“The International Astronomical Union decides on the gold standard in naming heavenly bodies. I am sure there will be people who say this is foolish and arbitrary, but the astronomers know better than us why they are doing this,” Carl Benoit, Learning Resources editorial director and former national science consultant, told TechNewsWorld.
Even though it means revamping several solar system products, Learning Resources likes the idea of reshaping the solar system.
“Anything that sparks excitement about science, math, and technology in U.S. children is tremendous,” Benoit said. “We need more students to think about a career in these important subjects and today’s proposed addition of new planets to the solar system will have children and their parents and teachers talking about space science as the school year begins.”
Strengthening America’s Education
Indeed, recent studies have shown that America’s science and math education efforts could use some help. A Raytheon survey of 1,000 11-to-13-year-olds released in January found that 84 percent said they would “rather clean their room, eat their vegetables, go to the dentist or take out the garbage than learn math or science.”
That distaste for math and science could be why U.S. 12th-graders recently tested below the international average in those subjects. About one-third of the fourth-graders and one-fifth of the eighth-graders cannot perform “basic mathematical computations,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics. | <urn:uuid:a9b3e6e9-15b6-4ac7-a28d-45412b007bb4> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/pluto-fails-to-survive-planetary-cut-52613.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337338.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002150039-20221002180039-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.96168 | 732 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Recent advances in technology, especially artificial intelligence and automation, have lead to a growing belief that in a few decades there won’t be enough opportunities to satisfy the workforce. A shrinking middle class and growing income inequality, coupled with a virtual abundance of goods and services in the future thanks to automation and artificial intelligence have prompted many leaders of different types, including distinguished names in the technology sector, to come up with new ideas or revive some old ones to tackle the situation.
Most prominent among these ideas is Universal Basic Income. In simple terms, Universal Basic Income is a form of unconditional money handed out to every citizen, regardless of your income, social status, education, or whatsoever.
But wait a minute! Cash handed out to every citizen unconditionally? Sounds more like a far-fetched idea out of a science fiction book. Well, not entirely. Let’s look at the whole picture summed up in a few hundred words.
UBI or Utopia
As a kid, I used the notion Utopy as something fantastic in the sense of being totally remote from reality. It also conveyed a sense of naivete on the part of the believer to accept such a “Utopian” idea.
Later on, I read the book Utopia, by Thomas More, written 500 years ago, which is maybe the first notion of Universal Basic Income (UBI) in history. Further studies made me familiar with the fundamental Idea of a Social Welfare System, Guaranteed Minimum Income and the many underlying philosophical tenets and political views that lead to a colorful spectrum of flavors.
But some of the most fundamental characteristics of human nature, like the need for reward when taking risks or working hard, made all of these ideas, well, Utopian.
And as the Eastern Bloc has shown flagrantly, the mere idea of eliminating reward and the artificial creation of an equal society with coercive power can only lead to a totalitarian regime where basic human rights are disregarded, innovation is devastatingly curbed, and the overall living standards downgraded. So then, is Universal Basic Income any different?
Universal Basic Income
A Basic Income, also called Citizen’s Income, Basic Income Guarantee or similar names, is basically a guaranteed minimum income with no strings attached. Contrary to current welfare systems, the beneficiaries include every citizen of a particular state or the world. The amount of Basic Income or eligibility for receiving it does not depend on recipients’ general income level or their active pursuit of working opportunities. In a nutshell, no questions asked, no forms filled. Or more formally as BIEN, the Basic Income Earth Network puts it, “a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement”.
A little bit of history
The first notion of basic income appeared in a novel written by Thomas More, an English lawyer, statesman and counselor to Henry VIII. The novel, prominently called Utopia, plays out on a fictional Island with the same name where the society shares income equally among its citizens.
In the 1790s, Thomas Paine, one of America’s Founding Fathers, proposed the idea of a “citizen’s dividend” in his work “Agrarian Justice”. It was basically a payment to all citizens, financed by a tax on landowners.
Milton Friedman was famously a prominent advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan. But surprisingly, he had been a vocal advocate of a form of basic income, since 1962. He claimed that it would be economically more feasible than the current welfare bureaucracy.
In his fight for racial equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to the conclusion that racial and economic equality are fundamentally intertwined. In his last book, Where Do We Go From Here?, Dr. King called for a basic income “pegged to the median of society.”
From 1968 to 1971, Richard Nixon’s administration ran several UBI pilot projects in different states.
Approximately at the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s administration launched the Mincome experiment that continued through the Edward Schreyer’s government and was finally closed down in 1979.
Recent attraction and popularity of Universal Basic Income
Many industry leaders and politicians have added their support for some sort of basic income. Hillary Clinton in her new Book, “What Happened,” laments not having proposed bold ideas in her campaign, including a form of Basic Income. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg believes that UBI would encourage innovation, and the famous Elon Musk says that “There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation.”
Earlier this year, Y Combinator’s Sam Altman wrote, “I’m fairly confident that at some point in the future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional jobs and massive new wealth gets created, we’re going to see some version of this at a national scale,” while their new research project on the subject.
Is Universal Basic Income socialism?
Well, absolutely not. Basic Income is a form of redistribution of wealth that does not alter the form of production and resource ownership. You can definitely say that UBI maintains—and even strongly promotes—the notion of private property. In addition, under UBI, citizens have more freedom in making their financial decisions (compared to current welfare systems). In a nutshell, centralization and government are reduced. Looking at some of the conservative and new liberal advocates of UBI, like Milton Friedman or Friedrich Hayek, both considered fathers of free-market economics, or more recently the Adam Smith Institute gives ample indication that Basic Income is in no way socialism.
How Does Universal Basic Income work from a financial point of view
There isn’t a silver bullet solution on how to finance Basic Income. On one hand, there are too many local economic and political parameters. In addition, data and experiments are nearly not enough to come to a decisive conclusion. And like all socio-political problems, there isn’t a mathematically provable solution. It also depends on the level of the agreed basic income, how widespread and inclusive it actually would be, and whether it substitutes current welfare benefits or is added to it, to name just a few variations.
The proposed solutions and estimates differ wildly and while there are those who believe it would lead to huge tax increases and inflation, others show that UBI not only helps the economy to stay healthy but would grow it, in the case of USA, by 2.5 trillion dollars.
Recent Universal Basic Income Projects
- Kenya: GiveDirectly, a US-based charity, has financed direct cash transfers to poor villages in East Africa since 2008. In October 2016, the charity started a small-scale initial project including just one village. Beginning in November, the experiment has scaled up dramatically, including about 300 villages, with different levels of cash payouts and duration to help the study.
- Oakland, California: Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley most prominent VC, has started a large-scale project to give insight into the dynamics and effects of universal basic income.
- Ontario, Canada: This year, the Canadian government has started a basic income experiment that ultimately will include 4000 people. In October 400 people received their first paychecks. It is notable that this project is not a pure basic income experiment since for every additional dollar earned, the recipient’s basic income will decrease by 50 cents.
- Finland: Kela, Finland’s Social Insurance Institution, has started a UBI experiment since 1st January 2017 that will continue until end 2018. The project entails 2000 randomly selected individuals that are eligible for social assistance. The basic income is exempt from taxation.
As history has shown time and again, it wouldn’t be prudent to predict the future with exact blueprints and solutions; the most game-changing ideas were those least anticipated. So predicting that Universal Basic Income is the one and only viable solution to a mounting sociopolitical problem, and the inevitable disruption of the job market by artificial intelligence and automation is not only naive but also narrow-minded.
But there is no question that the underlyings are changing fundamentally and the current status quo will become more and more unsustainable. So, instead of trying to forecast definite outcomes, I will rather anticipate the bigger trend and embrace change as it comes, believing that an open mind gives me the courage to put unforeseeable opportunities to good use while adding my share as a human being to the common progress of my species.
Feel free to comment. Would love to hear your feedback. | <urn:uuid:ef8601c8-3137-4a03-a5e2-619582cfe750> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://bdtechtalks.com/2017/12/19/what-is-universal-basic-income-ubi/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337446.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003231906-20221004021906-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.951238 | 1,788 | 2.90625 | 3 |
This blog will focus on the lighter side of IT Network. As everyone knows, technology and social media have become an integral part of our everyday lives. The following are some fun facts and a Tech Quiz to help keep you informed and amused.
The definition of a computer is a machine that can be programmed to complete tasks and process information. There are many computers, including personal computers (desktops and laptops), workstations, mainframe computers, and supercomputers. Smartphones and tablets are also considered to be types of computers.
Did you know that the first digital computer built in the United States was the ENIC-Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer? It was built in 1945! It may surprise you that the digital age actually began following WWII. However, it wasn’t till the mid-1970’s that the first personal computer was built and sold exclusively for home users by Apple, called the Apple II.
This ushered in today’s widespread popularity of the personal computer, specifically designed for personal use at home. At about this time, businesses started to use workstations for business communication. Large scale mainframe computers were introduced to handle extensive data processing and other mathematical and statistical calculations.
Today, computers are designed with four basic components: CPU, motherboard, memory (RAM), and storage. The CPU is the central processing unit that transfers instructions from a computer program. The motherboard is what connects and enables all the parts of a computer to operate together. RAM is the random-access memory that allows temporary data to be read and written at the same time. Storage, also known as the hard drive, is where all the long term data is kept.
The computer monitor is used to display video received. The computer keyboard is where numerical, alphabetical, and special characters are input to a computer. The mouse moves a pointer icon on the monitor and has buttons to execute functions on the computer. Other devices, known as peripheral devices, can be added to a computer, such as a printer, web camera, headphone speakers, microphone, and an image scanner.
Many companies are beginning to use cloud solutions for their data storage. This means that instead of owning their own computer networks or data centers, companies can rent access to their data, which is stored virtually by a digital cloud provider. One significant advantage of cloud computing is that businesses can avoid the initial expense and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT network system. Instead, they simply pay for data they use as they need it.
There are various ways cloud solutions might benefit your business. Many businesses find that a significant benefit of keeping data on the cloud is that storage and processing power computing services provided over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis are more cost-effective than maintaining a physical network infrastructure.
Malware is a type of cyber-attack software that insidiously causes damage to a computer or network. Businesses need to have cybersecurity protection, which prevents malware, ransomware, and other viruses from infiltrating your computer network. It’s advisable to utilize top-performing anti-virus software and vigilantly monitor your work stations around the clock.
In our modern world, we rely on E-mail communications as a vital aspect of a business. There are numerous external e-mail threats, such as CEO fraud or phishing. One of the most harmful cyber-crimes is Ransomware. With Ransomware, the company is literally prevented from functioning until a ransom is paid to the attackers. Workers should be offered opportunities to take cybersecurity training where they will learn to detect fraudulent e-mails.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is transmitted over the Internet rather than a basic analog telephone line. Many VoIP services provide a large variety of features, including call forwarding, automatic attendant, call waiting, voice mail, and call conferencing.
Now that you know the basics, do you want to try taking a brief 8 question quiz to see how much of a Tech Rock Star you are? This is a fun way to check your tech-savvy status. In our modern era, we are continuously bombarded with information coming at us from all directions. It’s often hard to process all this data and make sense of it.
Try answering the 8 question quiz below, and see if you qualify as a tech rock-star!
- What technology allows telephone calls to be made using the internet?
2. What kind of malware requires payment to have access to the stolen data?
a. Zero-day exploit
d. Trojan horse
3. Which emoticon was the first to be used?
4. What is one of the main benefits of using the cloud to store data?
a. Keeps cloud storage organized
b. Scales with business as it grows
c. Access files 24/7
d. Lease bandwidth space instead of maintaining it yourself
e. All of the above
5. What tool reduces the size of a digital image?
6. What type of file format produces a compressed digital archive?
7. Which of the following terms is a vital step towards a paperless approach?
8. Which term is closely related to Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
a. Virtual reality
b. Machine learning
How did you do? If you’re thinking about upgrading your business IT network, contact us for a free network assessment. As an MSP with over 20 years of experience in the tech space, Kustura has developed proven expertise in everything IT. Our techs are trusted experts in managing computer networks, offering cloud-based solutions, providing state of the art VOIP phone systems, and various other IT and software services. To learn more about how Kustura Technologies can help your company achieve IT excellence, please visit our website.
Answers: 1- D, 2-C, 3-B&C, 4-E, 5-D, 6-C,7-B, 8-B | <urn:uuid:2a4f9a31-80d6-4864-bbc6-2d37f1db667b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.kustura.com/tech-trivia-computers-it-networks-and-technology/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337446.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003231906-20221004021906-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.936844 | 1,345 | 3.296875 | 3 |
NIST Continues The Search For Post-Quantum Encryption
With the potential to break all existing forms of encryption, quantum computing poses a unique challenge…
An article review.
While quantum computing has been a buzzword for some time now the technology remains largely theoretical, with small scale proofs-of-concept that still suffer from serious limitations. That hasn’t stopped security researchers from worrying about the technology’s potential impact on encryption though, as in theory quantum computing could break all existing algorithms.
Realizing that threat, NIST began evaluating next-generation encryption algorithms that could withstand an attack from a quantum computer in 2016, and the process has reached its final stage…though not without some headaches. Just months before NIST was to announce the finalists in its competition, it was discovered four of the algorithms could be broken with currently existing computers.
We’re likely quite some time away from the deployment of practical quantum computing, with some experts claiming it may not ever be made practical. Despite this uncertainty NIST is attempting to make sure what’s encrypted today can remain encrypted tomorrow, regardless of what developments may arise.
Original article by Bruce Schneier writing for Schneier.com. | <urn:uuid:2baea719-86ec-47db-818a-6461c8f7ead4> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://my.infotex.com/nist-continues-the-search-for-post-quantum-encryption/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335004.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927100008-20220927130008-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.933346 | 247 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Python Basics technical training offers professionals the basic knowledge of Python 3. This program will help professionals know about the conditional execution and iterations of Python as control structures. In this course, a professional will program a turtle on the screen to draw pictures. However, the course also teaches professionals about reference diagrams. The reference diagrams enhance professionals program executions and make them stronger in their debugging skills. Further, the course has no prerequisites. Reading this course will help professionals know the fundamentals of python programming.
Professionals who are new to Python and scripting.
This is a lab-intensive hands-on course with engaging instruction, demos, and discussions.
For many years, Microtek Learning has been helping organizations, leaders, and professionals to reach their maximum performance by addressing the challenges they are facing. | <urn:uuid:cd473316-48e1-427e-a7a6-a8c71a179023> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.microteklearning.com/python-basics-training/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335004.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927100008-20220927130008-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.924484 | 168 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Information About Address Resolution Protocol
The address resolution protocol (ARP) is a protocol used by the Internet Protocol (IP) [RFC826], specifically IPv4, to map IP network addresses to the hardware addresses used by a data link protocol. When a wireless client sends an ARP request for an IP address of interest, the controller performs a search for that address in its database. If an entry is found in the controller database, then the ARP is converted to unicast and forwarded to that particular client. If there is no entry in the controller’s database, the ARP request is flooded out to the VLAN wired ports. | <urn:uuid:38d5ee12-ef5d-4ee5-983a-054c6ca50a12> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/17-3/config-guide/b_wl_17_3_cg/m_arp_proxy.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335424.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930020521-20220930050521-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.896316 | 130 | 3.40625 | 3 |
DHCP vs RARP
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) both are IP address assignment standards (RFC2131 for DHCP and RFC903 for RARP). While RARP is pretty simple and old, it has been taken over by BOOTP and later DHCP which is the latest and advanced protocol.
Related- DHCP Interview Questions
RARP was designed to support booting of diskless workstations and had major challenges like the limitation of Client and server being in same subnet hence very limited scalability. In fact, RARP only is limited to providing an IP address to the client and can’t provide Default Gateway and name server details. Additionally, implementation of RARP is pretty complex and high skill job. All the above-shared limitations of RARP have been addressed by the DHCP protocol.
Below table enumerates the difference between DHCP and RARP –
Related- ARP vs RARP
Related- DHCP Snooping | <urn:uuid:406b7b95-139b-4c80-8206-c6a44e1e3654> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://ipwithease.com/dhcp-vs-rarp/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337339.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002181356-20221002211356-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.93873 | 204 | 2.734375 | 3 |
While the price of cryptocurrencies such as the Bitcoin continues to increase the interest of investors and crooks in this new industry is demonstrated by disconcerting data that I’m going to share with you.
According to new research conducted by energy tariff comparison service PowerCompare.co.uk, the electricity used to mine Bitcoin this year is bigger than the annual usage of almost 160 countries. The energy consumption has already exceeded the amount used on average by states such as Ireland and most African nations.
“That’s the equivalent of 0.13% of total global electricity consumption. While that may not sound like a lot, it means Bitcoin mining is now using more electricity than 159 individual countries (as you can see from the map above). More than Ireland or Nigeria.”
Bitcoin transactions use so much energy that the electricity used for a single trade could power a home for almost a whole month, according to a paper from Dutch bank ING.
“By making sure that verifying transactions is a costly business, the integrity of the network can be preserved as long as benevolent nodes control a majority of computing power,” wrote ING senior economist Teunis Brosens.
“Together, they will dominate the verification (mining) process. To make the verification (mining) costly, the verification algorithm requires a lot of processing power and thus electricity.”
Comparing the amount of energy used for a Bitcoin transaction to run his home in the Netherlands, Brosens says: “This number needs some context. 200kWh is enough to run over 200 washing cycles. In fact, it’s enough to run my entire home over four weeks, which consumes about 45 kWh per week costing €39 of electricity (at current Dutch consumer prices).”
It is amazing if we compare this data other payment systems, for example Visa takes about 0.01kWh (10Wh) per transaction which is 20000 times less energy.
The following graph shows the 159 countries whose energy usage is less than bitcoin-mining consumption.
Which is the concept behind the mining process?
To prevent the falsification of the records or the ownership changing, participants of the Bitcoin network must sign off on transactions in “blocks”.
The process requests a significant computational capability and involves several computers to solve complex cryptographic problems, people who verify blocks are rewarded with freshly created bitcoin. This process is known as Bitcoin “mining.”
According to the initial design of the Bitcoin virtual currency scheme, it limits the overall number of coins in circulation to 21 million, this is possible because the cryptographic problems involved in the mining process get progressively harder.
On the other side, miners are turning to more powerful computers to solve the complex problems behind the mining process.
The vast majority of “mining” activities is done in China because the energy costs are cheaper compared to Europe or US.
“The top six biggest mining pools from Antpool to BTCC are all largely based in China,” said Mati Greenspan, an analyst with trading platform eToro. “Some rough estimates put China’s hashpower at more than 80% of the total network.”
Of course, the environmental impact of all this electric usage is not negligible, don’t forget that the electricity generated in China comes from CO2 emitting fossil fuels.
Below a few other interesting facts about Bitcoin mining and electricity consumption published:
(Security Affairs – pollution, mining) | <urn:uuid:f60de8e4-6660-4cc6-86b9-9bea9f27bf53> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/66048/digital-id/bitcoin-minining-energy.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337339.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002181356-20221002211356-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.933407 | 714 | 2.8125 | 3 |
How long does it take to spot a bug in an operating system? The answer, it seems, can be as long as 33 years. At least, that was the case with a recently discovered bug in the yacc parser generator originally developed at AT&T back in the 1970s and discovered recently by OpenBSD developer Otto Moerbeek.
“Funny thing is that I traced this back to Sixth Edition Unix, released in 1975,” says Otto Moerbeek, the OpenBSD developer who discovered the bug.
This makes the 25 year old bug BSD bug discovered a couple of months ago by Marc Balmer, another OpenBSD developer, seem comparatively young. That particular bug, which he discovered when investigating mysterious SAMBA crashes, can be traced all the way back to 4.2BSD released in 1983, Balmer says.
Why has it taken so long to spot the yacc bug? Probably because there was nothing to indicate there might have been a problem back in 1975. Moerbeek discovered it only during the testing of a new version of a memory allocator he was working on. And it appears only on Sparc64 systems.
This illustrates rather nicely the fact that every operating system, however venerable, still has plenty of bugs waiting to be found: Every non-trivial body of code is bound to. No matter how many eyes review the code, many of these bugs will not be spotted until the code is examined in the context of its interaction with another piece of code. All this is a fancy way of saying that Harry’s not a problem by himself, and Sally’s not a problem by herself. It’s only when Harry meets Sally that there’s really a problem. And if Sally hasn’t been born yet, well then how is anyone to spot that anything is going to be amiss?
This has some obvious implications for security. No matter how tried and tested an operating system, no matter how open the source code, no matter how well it is reviewed, we can be sure it will always have a few critical vulnerabilities that haven’t yet popped their nasty little heads above the parapet. So Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 code has been tried and tested in Vista (with which it shares the same codebase) for 18 months? It’s a start, but there will still be bugs in there waiting to be found in 18 years. And 33 years.
When it comes to operating systems, the best advice is probably: Trust none. Suspect them all. And patch immediately.
But even if we reviewed all the code running on a machine — OS and applications — and found every single bug, would it really help? Whatever the operating system, it still has to run on something. Independent security researcher Kris Kaspersky reckons flaws in Intel’s chips — known as errata — can be huge security vulnerabilities in and of themselves. He says the Intel Itanium, for example, has over known 230 bugs. He plans to demonstrate some attacks at October’s Hack In The Box conference in Malaysia in a presentation called “Remote Code Execution Through Intel CPU Bugs.”
“Some bugs ‘just’ crash the system (under quite rare conditions) while the others give the attackers full control over the machine,” he says in his presentation abstract. “In other words, Intel CPUs have exploitable bugs which are vulnerable to both local and remote attacks which works against any OS regardless of the patches applied or the applications which are running.”
Kaspersky may have developed his proof of concept code to work on Intel chips because they are ubiquitous, but you can bet your bottom dollar there are plenty of exploitable errata on any other chip you’d care to mention. It’s just that since they’re not as widely used as Intel chips, Kaspersky (or anyone else) hasn’t got around to writing exploits for these chips. Yet.
So, hats off to OpenBSD developers Otto Moerbeek and Marc Balmer then, for getting to the bottom of the two bugs many years after the seeds for them were sown. Branding the OpenBSD crowd “a bunch of masturbating monkeys,” for concentrating too much on security bug, as Linus Torvalds reportedly did last week, does seem a trifle harsh.
Paul Rubens is an IT consultant and journalist based in Marlow on
Thames, England. He has been programming, tinkering and generally
sitting in front of computer screens since his first encounter with a
DEC PDP-11 in 1979.
This article was first published on ServerWatch.com. | <urn:uuid:c5f8745f-09f8-4a88-a655-1677d3ee125b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.datamation.com/open-source/os-roundup-bsd-bug-emerges-from-chrysalis/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337473.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004023206-20221004053206-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.961757 | 976 | 2.90625 | 3 |
If technology wasn’t confusing enough for most people, ransomware and cybersecurity are compounding the problem. Employees are required to know how to identify “fake” emails and “scams.” When an email shows up marked urgent from your boss to handle something, you must stop and make sure it really is your boss sending you the request. Oops, you clicked on the link or opened an attachment by accident. Your browser opened, but you quickly closed it. Phew, oh good, nothing happened. Maybe it was a resume you opened since you work in HR. Or a vendor invoice if you work in AP. The scenarios are endless, the results are the same. Your account has been compromised.
You don’t know it yet and it may be weeks or months before the “bad people” (threat actors, a fancier name) make their move. In the meantime, they’ve been collecting your usernames and passwords for all your accounts including banks, credit cards and who knows what else. How can you stay protected when these threat actors have your passwords or pin codes you use every day on so many sites?
The answer is additional layers of security beyond just a password. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an example of this layer of security. Geo-fencing is another example. Let’s stay with MFA for now since that’s today’s topic. You may hear people talk about “Two Factor Authentication (2FA)” as well. Multi means two or more! So, let’s count the “factors”. The first one is the password you thought was secure. That’s one factor. Let’s add something you know – the security question. Where were you born? That’s a second factor. But wait, is that secure? Not with social media these days! What’s another factor? How about a 6 digit code sent to your cell phone via text message? What about a mobile app on your phone that provides you with a security code?
The optional code is an additional factor since a password is something you know and the code on the phone is something you have. A CAC card (smart card with a chip) is something the military uses. So, let’s try that out. You use the CAC card at your computer AND enter a password. This includes both something you know and something you have. Add in a PIN being sent to a fob or smartphone, and you have an additional factor. Biometrics – reading your fingerprint, retinal scanner, facial recognition, voice recognition are all examples of “multi-factor” options.
A hacker who might have your password won’t have access to your cell phone, CAC card, your eye, or your fingerprints. MFA should make losing your password to a hacker a non-event. All you must do is change your password after a known breach event.
Can MFA be hacked? Well, unfortunately, yes. If your phone has been hacked, they can intercept the code coming to your phone. Are your fingerprints in a database somewhere? Security is not perfect but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add additional layers of protection. That’s why we must always stay vigilant!
About the Author
As the Vice President, David Wolf is a technology visionary and serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. David has achieved the highest industry security certifications of CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker), and CCISO (Certified Chief Information Security Officer). He enjoys using his technical expertise to help fellow business owners get the most out of their IT. | <urn:uuid:cd1a7c0f-fc02-438d-b2c6-22ba0de33e9d> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.justinc.com/blog/what-is-mfa/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337473.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004023206-20221004053206-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.94942 | 781 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Secure e-mail protocol. See POP.
- ASP / .ASP (Active Server Pages)
ASP has come to have numerous meanings in the technology/computing/internet world. ASP is a term for application service provider, and is a new term meaning to provide a hosted application. An application might be to run a virus application from a website which in turn scours your local hard drive. The application is never installed on your machine. Another might be to provide accounting or billing or warehouse software from a remote location.
Amount of data you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second (bps).
- CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine
Any software application connected to the server and used to send/retrieve data, such as a web browser. This relationship between the "client" and the "server" is often referred to as a "client server relationship."
Refers to having a server that belongs to one group physically located on an Internet-connected network that belongs to another group.
- Data Transfer
Amount of data that you are allowed to transfer with your account – usually images and text. Typically refers to a data transfer allotment, most often in GB (gigabytes).
- Disk Space (Storage Space)
Amount of hard disk space available for storage of all Web pages, HTML, CGI-bin programs, e-mail, log files, images, sound clips, audio, video clips, etc.
- Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site.
- Domain Name Registration
Refers to registering a name which can be used for hosting a domain name, such as www.yourname.com.
- E-Mail Aliases/Forwarders
E-mail forwarders and aliases are e-mail addresses such as firstname.lastname@example.org which do not have a username/password. Instead, you would set up email@example.com to forward to a real account such as firstname.lastname@example.org.
- File Extensions
Almost every file must have some kind of extension. The operating system needs an extension in order to determine what kind of file it is, and what to do with it when it is activated.
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
A method for transferring data to/from web servers. FTP software is used to upload files to your virtual, shared, or dedicated web server site. FTP access to a web server requires a password and username in order to gain access to the file/folder directories of a virtual domain.
- FTP Client
Software needed by the customer to upload content files to their Web site.
- Hosting Provider
An institution that provides Web space to companies or individuals.
Hyper-Text Markup Language. The basic page instruction language used to create web pages.
Text which links to other content by being an in-context link.
- IP Address
Internet Protocol address. A number analogous to a street address on the Web.
- IP Number (Internet Protocol Number)
A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 188.8.131.52
Internet Service Provider who creates the connection from your home or office to the Internet.
- Megabyte (MB)
A million bytes.
- NOC (Network Operation Center)
A secure, managed network environment which may house tens or thousands of Web servers with power backup and high-speed connections to the Internet Backbone.
- POP (E-MAIL)
A protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. POP stands for post office protocol. A pop account is any real e-mail account which uses a password and username to retrieve mail from a virtual server.
- Secure Server (SSL)
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. Requires use of a certificate for secure access. A Secure Socket Layer does not provide for credit card clearing or any other form of payment processing. It only provides a facility for secure transactions across the Internet.
In a modern computing environment there are usually two kinds of computer classifications when more than one is connected together to create a network. The server is the computer which provides data and is the central repository, and/or gatekeeper between multiple client computers.
Total amount of data transferred from the customer's Web site to clients. Includes all HTML, Web pages, images, sounds, videos, etc.
- URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet.
- Virtual Hosting
A remote web server which is host to numerous domain names, where each domain name owner has all of the features of having a dedicated server. Virtual hosting provides for most of the same features of a dedicated server but is located in a high speed dedicated data center.
- Web Server
A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers.
- Web Site Traffic Reporting
Reporting software to provide information such as the frequency of hits, page views, amount of data transfer, and total transfer sizes. | <urn:uuid:9822dfbb-ac52-4c1f-942f-d2852332396d> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.grittechs.com/resources/it-dictionary/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337625.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005105356-20221005135356-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.873941 | 1,104 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Secure your business with CyberHoot Today!!!
Remote Code Execution (RCE) is an attack that allows hackers to remotely execute malicious code on a computer. The impact of an RCE vulnerability can range from malware execution to an attacker gaining full control over a compromised machine. RCE attacks can achieve a variety of hacking goals including:
- Initial Access: RCE attacks commonly begin as a vulnerability in a public-facing application that grants the ability to run commands on the underlying machine. Attackers can use this to gain an initial foothold on a device to accomplish these attacks listed next.
- Escalation of Privileges: Many times, internal vulnerabilities within a server remain unpatched. This may not put system at risk to external hackers, but when an adversary gets an interactive login via an RCE exploit, they can then try to escalate privileges from within the server or system as explained in this Linux hacking article.
- Information disclosure: RCE attacks can be used to install data-stealing malware or to directly execute commands that extract and exfiltrate data from the vulnerable device. This can be simple unencrypted data exfiltration to sophisticated memory scrapping malware looking for passwords in memory.
- Denial of Service: An RCE vulnerability allows an attacker to run code on the system hosting the vulnerable application. This could allow them to disrupt the operations of this or other applications on the system.
- Cryptomining: Cryptomining or cryptojacking malware uses the computational resources of a compromised device to mine cryptocurrency. RCE vulnerabilities are commonly exploited to deploy and execute cryptomining malware on vulnerable devices.
- Ransomware: Ransomware is malware designed to deny a user access to their files until they pay a ransom to regain access. RCE vulnerabilities can also be used to deploy and execute ransomware on a vulnerable device.
While these are some of the most common impacts of RCE vulnerabilities, an RCE vulnerability can provide an attacker with full access to and control over a compromised device, making them one of the most dangerous and critical types of vulnerabilities.
What does this mean for an SMB or MSP?
Additional Cybersecurity Recommendations
Additionally, these recommendations below will help you and your business stay secure with the various threats you may face on a day-to-day basis. All of the suggestions listed below can be gained by hiring CyberHoot’s vCISO services.
- Govern employees with policies and procedures. You need a password policy, an acceptable use policy, an information handling policy, and a written information security program (WISP) at a minimum.
- Train employees on how to spot and avoid phishing attacks. Adopt a Learning Management system like CyberHoot to teach employees the skills they need to be more confident, productive, and secure.
- Test employees with Phishing attacks to practice. CyberHoot’s Phish testing allows businesses to test employees with believable phishing attacks and put those that fail into remedial phish training.
- Deploy critical cybersecurity technology including two-factor authentication on all critical accounts. Enable email SPAM filtering, validate backups, deploy DNS protection, antivirus, and anti-malware on all your endpoints.
- In the modern Work-from-Home era, make sure you’re managing personal devices connecting to your network by validating their security (patching, antivirus, DNS protections, etc) or prohibiting their use entirely.
- If you haven’t had a risk assessment by a 3rd party in the last 2 years, you should have one now. Establishing a risk management framework in your organization is critical to addressing your most egregious risks with your finite time and money.
- Buy Cyber-Insurance to protect you in a catastrophic failure situation. Cyber-Insurance is no different than Car, Fire, Flood, or Life insurance. It’s there when you need it most.
All of these recommendations are built into CyberHoot the product or CyberHoot’s vCISO Services. With CyberHoot you can govern, train, assess, and test your employees. Visit CyberHoot.com and sign up for our services today. At the very least continue to learn by enrolling in our monthly Cybersecurity newsletters to stay on top of current cybersecurity updates.
To learn more about Remote Code Execution (RCE), watch this short 3-minute video:
CyberHoot does have some other resources available for your use. Below are links to all of our resources, feel free to check them out whenever you like:
- Cybrary (Cyber Library)
- Press Releases
- Instructional Videos (HowTo) – very helpful for our SuperUsers!
Note: If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter, visit any link above (besides infographics) and enter your email address on the right-hand side of the page, and click ‘Send Me Newsletters’. | <urn:uuid:e6a6ba39-1fd2-43a3-a48c-311c34f79429> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://cyberhoot.com/cybrary/remote-code-execution-rce/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337855.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006191305-20221006221305-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.902433 | 1,036 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Every cool beverage, glowing screen, or warm bed is brought to us by Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS). These marvelous transformative systems enable our economy and way of life; without these systems, we would find ourselves living in a far less desirable post-apocalyptic world.
Dellfer for Industrial Controls IoT
Dellfer takes a unique approach to protecting IoT devices. Conceptually, it is simple. Dellfer essentially takes a fingerprint of the software used to run an IoT device, then sets up detection mechanisms that trigger defenses if any changes appear. For instance, if malware is injected into the software, Dellfer detects it and quarantines it. Or, if the software is altered to behave differently, Dellfer identifies the source of the issue and neutralizes it.
Highest Safety CertificationDellfer Developer Toolkit is qualified to be used in safety-related software development according to IEC 61508 for any SIL.
Expanding Critical Infrastructure
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
“In an increasingly interconnected world, where critical infrastructure crosses national borders and global supply chains, the potential impacts increase with these interdependencies and the ability of a diverse set of threats to exploit them.”
Increasing Connectivity for Industrial Controls
According to Justin Sherman, Cybersecurity Policy Fellow, New America:
“In the next 5–10 years, industrial systems are going to become increasingly connected to the internet as the IoT becomes more and more essential to industrial operations, and as those systems are also hooked into 5G cellular networks—which are promising much lower communication delays between devices. IoT device security is usually terribly weak right out of the box, so this will be a serious challenge for industrial systems to manage when IoT devices are deployed at scale.”
Risks to Connected Industrial Controls
- The average cost of a security incident impacting industrial control systems (ICS) or other operational technology (OT) systems is roughly $3 million.
- 48% of manufacturing industries have suffered a cyberattack.
- ICS vulnerability disclosures grew 110% since 2017, with a 25% increase in the second half (2H) of 2021.
- 71% of the OT cybersecurity threats go unattended for up to 3 months.
The Importance of Cyberlearning
IACS requires connectivity, while connectivity supports innovation; connectivity also opens a system to new threats. As we have seen, with every connected device, there is a cyberlearning development curve. We have learned repeatedly the hard way that shipping a zero-defect secure connected device is remarkably challenging. IACS has more significant challenges than a typical connected device, as IACS by design requires orchestration between various connected devices to solve complex interactions, making decisions beyond superhuman speed. Security, mitigation, and resilience must be built-in to meet these demanding challenges.
Industrial Connected Devices Under Attack
A disgruntled job-seeking applicant in Australia using a network-based attack caused massive ecological damage by dumping more than 264,000 gallons of raw sewage in neighboring waterways. The infamous Stuxnet malware disrupted and damaged the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The unsuccessful Russian Triton malware targeted the Saudi Arabian petrochemical plant with the intent of causing massive physical damage and loss of life. The Russians have attacked the Ukrainian power grids with severe specialized malware targeting multiple classes of systems.
Industrial Automation Challenges
Attribution is a severe challenge of industrial automation control systems. Identifying a hardware failure from malicious actors may not be possible. If the Russian Triton attack had not failed, it’s unlikely investigators searching the rubble of a destroyed petrol plant could uncover any malware. An industrial automation system failure often leads to catastrophic outcomes.
Potential Loss of Life
China’s Wenzhou bullet trains failed communication systems resulted in collision and derailment, killing 40 people and injuring 190. Russia’s Sayano-Shushenskaya power station failed catastrophically, killing 75 people and destroying the station. The hydro turbine’s 920-ton rotor cover shot up, the rotor broke free from its seat, rising 9 feet. The San Bruno natural pipeline explosion killed eight people and leveled 35 homes. People would be disturbed to learn that catastrophic hardware, architectural, or maintenance failures can be spurred or faked with a cyberattack. | <urn:uuid:8b6fe635-15ee-44da-a490-05f6368bba55> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://dellfer.com/industries/industrial-automation/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337855.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006191305-20221006221305-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.916728 | 895 | 2.53125 | 3 |
When ransomware encrypts a computer file system it can cause irreversible data loss. Even more alarming, cybercriminals are increasingly using ransomware to freeze systems and extract money from their victims. Ransomware losses for businesses average $2,500 with some organizations willing to pay $1 million or more to decrypt their data.
Sometimes the most expensive part of a ransomware attack is not the ransomware demand, but the loss in infrastructure and time:
In 2019, the Baltimore government’s computer system was hit by ransomware that crippled the city for over a month. Recovery cost estimates were over $18 million. The cybercriminals demanded $76,000 in Bitcoin, but the attack impacted every aspect of its citizens’ daily life, including ATMs, airports, and hospitals.
In 2017, the Atlanta city government spent over $17 million to recover from a ransomware attack. Again, the large amount wasn’t due to the ransom demand of $52,000 in Bitcoin, but the cost to recover.
In 2017, despite FedEx’s knowledge of a threat to its Dutch subsidiary’s (TNT Express) systems, the company took a $300 million loss due to ransomware. The cost wasn’t a result of paying the ransom, but primarily how it impacted the company’s operations across Europe. Also of note is that FedEx did not have cybersecurity insurance in place to cover the loss.
As you can see, in many situations the ransom demand isn’t the biggest cost to your business – it’s the disaster recovery and system downtime costs.
Ransomware is an easy way for cybercriminals to make money. According to McAfee, ransomware grew by 56 per cent in the last four quarters.
Dharma and Ryku ransomware are now the most-common variants and will continue to be the most common in 2019. (Source: Coveware)
McAfee predicts some common ransomware targets will decrease. However, the company suggests cybercriminals will target less-common and more-vulnerable victims, including individuals with high-net values and connected devices (IoT).
MIT predicts cloud-computing companies will see increased attacks against their systems. (Source: Computer Weekly)
Contact us to protect your small- to medium-sized business
An IT provider understands how to secure your systems and when you are vulnerable; knowing these things is key to protecting your organization’s bottom line. Should the worst happen, it’s also important to ensure you have the proper cybersecurity insurance in place to cover any recovery cost.
If you have questions about your organization’s security, we can help. Contact Michael Anderson.
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Check Out 365 Technologies Most Recent Tech Articles | <urn:uuid:ddce53b4-cefb-4f53-a67f-f9f23a52e9e5> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.365tech.ca/ransomware-stats-and-facts-2019/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334855.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20220926082131-20220926112131-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.931321 | 625 | 2.578125 | 3 |
By now, pretty much anyone who uses email is familiar with the term “phishing,” and is aware of the prevalence of phishing scams. However, the term “spear phishing”—and what it means exactly—might be a bit more elusive.
Essentially, spear phishing is a more targeted and socially engineered version of a spray-and-pray, bait-and-hook, phishing email. If you think some phishing emails are hard to decipher from legitimate ones, you’d be amazed at the cunning deceit and trickery involved in a cybercriminal’s crafting of a spear phishing email.
Spear Phishing – Establishing the Ruse
Bad actors go to great lengths to research and craft their phishing lures with details and specifics that make an email in a key employee’s inbox appear genuine and deserving of a response. They research their targets—ones who typically have access to valuable data, finances, and the authority to make things happen—via social engineering sites as well as pages across the web and elsewhere in the public domain to put together a convincing story, or at least a convincing request, that increases the likelihood a recipient will be fooled by the proposal and act to their own detriment.
The consequences can be catastrophic. Check out this microlearning session to see how the USAID spear phishing attack led to a widespread malware attack.
What’s the Difference Between Spear Phishing and Phishing?
How do spear phishing attacks differ from standard phishing attacks?
While phishing is a general term that can apply to all forms of phishing, it is most often used to describe the generic approach cybercriminals use to lure in their victims.
Threats actors will often cast a wide net using a seemingly endless list of emails at their disposal, without focusing on any individual or group. This requires they use generic language that avoids specifics.
For example, saying, “You’ve won!” or “Your device is infected” doesn’t reveal any particular information that proves the sender is speaking to you, the reader, specifically. It doesn’t share where you entered the drawing or contest, and the warning message doesn’t identify what type of device you have. In typical phishing attacks, such details are left out so the messages will appeal to as wide and general an audience as possible.
Spear phishing, on the other hand, relies on the details of carefully crafted messages. It entails more work as each email that gets sent requires attacks to conduct enough research to customise their email missives to the extent they appear authentic. While a lot more toil is involved the diligence is often worth the reward.
Spear phishing vs. phishing is a case of quality over quantity, and the quantity can come in the form of tens of thousands of dollars if things go right and the target is, for example, a high-profile figure in a large enterprise firm’s accounting department.
So, where’s the greater payoff between the two? Well, cybercriminals don’t have too strong a preference and constantly employ both methods. They use mass phishing to try to increase their overall odds of success. And they employ spear phishing to increase their odds within a targeted group.
The more specifics an attacker includes, the more a general selection of recipients will immediately recognise the email as fraudulent or—at least—not pertaining to them. However, by the same token, the greater the detail the more likely a select group of recipients will view the email as legitimate and react according to the attacker’s wishes.
What to Know about Whaling
While spear phishing is a form of phishing, whaling is a form of spear phishing. In this case, the attackers are like Captain Ahab, the spear is a harpoon, and the target is Moby Dick.
Well, not exactly. But whaling attacks do focus in on sizable victims, such as C-level executives and those who hold the purse strings of successful corporations. Anyone who, because of their position, network, or authority to approve big dollars, is seen as a lucrative target.
Essentially, whaling is an even more specified form of spear phishing, that requires a bad actor to conduct a good deal of research and social engineering to produce a convincing ruse that compels the victim to act. That may entail providing funds, giving up their online credentials, or some other action that whaler is after. Whatever the case, the payoff can be eye-popping.
Understanding the Specifics of Spear Phishing
In spear phishing, there are three main areas where a bad actor uses specifics in an attempt to convince you of their credibility:
1. They are specific about whom they impersonate.
They may claim they are a title, i.e., your manager, or use a specific name after conducting online research of org charts. They may even use an email address that fools you into thinking they are who they say they are.
2. They are specific about their target.
Phishermen may choose a specific place of business, a team within that business, or an individual to directly attack. Through their research, these attackers may be able to persuade target recipients into trusting them enough to provide the information or take the action they seek.
3. They are specific about their request.
A spear phishing email will typically include an urgent call to action. For instance, it might implore you to update a password for a particular software program. If you use that software, you may unwittingly act quickly so you can continue working. And once you’ve taken the bait, attackers reel you in and do their damage.
How Can You Protect Yourself from Phishing?
There are several things you can do to stay safe from spear phishing attacks:
1. Phishing Simulations and Lessons (Top Priority)
Teach and train your employees to properly identify phishing and spear phishing emails. Utilise phishing simulations that are directly paired with specific education about the test email they received so employees can learn what to watch out for.
2. Ongoing Security Awareness Training (Top Priority)
Teach and train your employees about the latest scams infiltrating inboxes in your industry. If your security awareness training is still referencing the Target breach of 2014 as a “current event,” you’re way past due for an update in training content.
3. Enable “Outside Your Network” Banners/Labels in Your Email System.
Labeling emails that come from outside your network can help employees be wary of a sender’s email that falsely claims to come from a fellow employee or internal department.
4. Effectively Communicate Change Management Rules
Develop firm instructions on how you will communicate any changes to employees. For example, language such as “We will never ask you to share your info/update your password in the following way…” That way if they receive instructions through a phishing email that deviate from your established practice, your employees will be suspicious and not fall for the ruse.
5. Embrace Person-to-Person Confirmations
Many spear phishing attempts focus on finance teams in efforts to have them wire money or send payments. Threat actors will impersonate customers, vendors, or fellow employees.
While it may be easy to impersonate someone via email, it’s much harder to impersonate them face-to-face. To better protect your organisation, develop policies and follow practices that require person-to-person confirmation, such as approvals for wire transfers or invoice payments above a certain amount.
6. Don’t Overshare
Avoid oversharing details about things like your company’s org chart, which gives cybercriminals insight into your organisation’s structure and informs them on whom they should attempt to impersonate.
Employees often overshare via email, particularly with “Out of Office” replies. These often include the contact information of others in the employee’s absence, and typically the dates the employee will be gone. This gives a threat actor an opportunity to pose as that employee on vacation using a “personal email” and appeal to the contact to help them immediately rectify an urgent matter.
The same goes with too much information sharing on LinkedIn, your corporate website, and other public venues where information on your org chart and other insider details might be leveraged for spear phishing attacks when fallen in the wrong hands.
7. Monitor for Account Takeovers
If your organisation is like most, you have compromised usernames and passwords floating around on the dark web—and you may not even know it. For now, you may not notice any suspicious activity with the account, yet cybercriminals could be lying in wait for the right moment to make their attack.
As a result, it’s vitally important to implement account takeover monitoring within your organisation’s IT security processes. Quickly discovering and updating an account once it’s been compromised can be the difference between thwarting an attack and having to recover from an incredibly painful and costly ransomware battle.
How to Stay Safe from Spear Phishing, Phishing, and Whaling
Sound cybersecurity policies and documented practices are great start to fending off the various forms of phishing attacks, but they don’t hop off the page, tap your employees on the shoulder, and warn them when they are being attacked.
To keep employees engaged and ensure they know of what to be wary, you need ongoing security awareness training on current threats, scams, and trickery. Only then will employees remain prepared to identify these tricks and effectively defend against them.
If you’d like to see how an ongoing security awareness program can empower employees to better defend themselves against attacks like spear phishing, have a look at Arctic Wolf Managed Security Awareness® | <urn:uuid:173ad9d9-5950-4ad6-b462-6f77d9841208> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://arcticwolf.com/resources/blog-uk/spear-phishing-everything-to-know/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335054.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927162620-20220927192620-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.940283 | 2,062 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The computer crimes we most often hear about involve fraud, extortion and child abuse but the problematic offences of hacking and viruses, set out in the 1990 Computer Misuse Act, are on the increase.
Computers and networks, and the degree to which we rely on them, have changed almost beyond recognition since 1990, but the framework of the Act remains effective. But to reflect the changed environment, the government is proposing to increase the penalties for unauthorised access and modification of computers in the Police and Justice Bill currently before Parliament.
Hacking and malware have also expanded and, more worryingly, in recent years we have seen an explosion in the availability of hacking tools and services and their use by organised criminals. To target them, we are proposing a new offence to criminalise those individuals who make and distribute hacking tools.
It is important to stress that the new offence does not affect those that use the tools, but covers those who make or distribute them.
There is wide support for a law criminalising individuals who distribute and supply these tools for unlawful means, and the Cybercrime Convention obliges countries to do this. Concerns have rightly been raised about whether the new offence will criminalise IT professionals who make and distribute these tools for legitimate purposes, such as penetration testing or identifying vulnerabilities.
The test for the offence will be whether the person believed at the time that the tool would be used more criminally than legitimately so will not affect them. In a case, the prosecution would need to prove that the accused believed that the hacking tool was likely to be used to commit an offence under section 1 or 3 of the Computer Misuse Act.
In the case of the producer of the hacking tool, it would not be sufficient for the prosecution to show that the tool has been used for illegal purposes on some occasions because that does not prove a belief that the hacking tool in question will definitely be used for criminal means.
On the contrary, the producer would be taken to believe that the hacking tool would be used honestly, as it is in the majority of cases. In the case of a supplier, the prosecution may well need to prove that the supplier knew something about the person to whom he supplied the article on which to base a belief of dishonest use.
It is important that we get the balance right between protecting IT security professionals and those who work to improve the security of products and systems and criminalising those who deliberately develop or supply tools for criminal use. The changes to the Act strike that balance.
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Secrecy around EncroChat cryptophone hack breaches French constitution, court hears | <urn:uuid:5c96f17e-924f-4575-b73d-41770e6f89b4> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240063079/Computer-Misuse-Act-update-Get-the-balance-right | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335054.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927162620-20220927192620-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.946553 | 662 | 2.71875 | 3 |
What is an embedded system?
We explain the key characteristics of an embedded system, their benefits and challenges
A microcontroller that sits inside a device to control a specific function within it is what we know as an embedded system. This could be, for example, your home’s central heating which is considered to be a type of embedded system.
Embedded systems feature prominently in consumer products and many household machines like toasters, washing machines and microwaves, but they are an essential part of most modern technologies.
Usually, embedded devices are not programmable as they are often designed with a single function in mind. However, depending on what the device is, the software can be upgraded. For example, fitness trackers can be upgraded by connecting them to a laptop or PC.
Because of this, embedded systems must be reliable, since a fault will probably result in the failure of a wider system function or an app, and fixing this can be a challenge.
Hardware foundations of an embedded system
Even though embedded systems used to be based on simple microprocessors, modern ones are usually designed from microcontrollers that come with a specific amount of built-in memory. The difference is that microprocessors only contain a central processing unit, which means that ROM and RAM must be added externally.
These systems appear in a number of forms, with some being stand-alone systems that don’t even have a host, like a video games console. They run certain tasks to a fixed schedule and are a real-time embedded system. A “Network-embedded” system is another example which, as you can probably guess from the name, is a device with a network connection like a mobile phone.
Key features of an embedded system
Embedded systems are typically designed to perform a single repeated function, although it’s true that some can be designed to control the entirety of an operating system. However, regardless of the function involved, they will very rarely be required to do anything more than this task – this makes it an exceptionally reliable component.
They’re described as ‘embedded’ because the component is fixed, and is critical to the overall operation of the system. Those that aren’t critical are described as modular, and can be swapped in and out to allow for new functionality.
Embedded systems are also characterised by their reactive nature. They communicate entirely through sensors or actuators, and if the right response isn’t provided in real-time, the response is considered incorrect and they will not function.
Examples of embedded systems
Examples of embedded systems aren’t hard to find – chances are that you interact with at least a few of such devices on a daily basis. This is because embedded systems are seen in an overwhelming majority of consumer products, from something as small as your Fitbit watch, to your home’s central heating system.
Imagine a typical morning: you are woken up by your alarm clock and make your way to the kitchen, where you set your smart coffee machine to make you an espresso and throw some clothes in the washing machine. You take your car to work, and check the best route according to your GPS navigation system. During lunch break, you heat up your meal in the office microwave. An electronic calculator helps you work out some numbers which you need for a work report, which is in turn sent to your boss thanks to the Wi-Fi provided by your office router. At the end of the day, you check your watch to see whether you can get away with leaving five minutes early. On the way home, you stop by the gym, where your fitness tracker helps you determine your heart rate and the number of calories burnt during your workout. At home, you find some time at the end of the day to play video games on your console because, apparently, it can help level up your career.
All of the devices mentioned above are examples of embedded systems in everyday life. Although they might have different uses and are often sold in different stores, the mechanics behind them are actually pretty similar.
What are the benefits of an embedded system?
Embedded systems usually only have a single function, which means they are able to operate using very little power. They’re also usually very small, and can be crammed in alongside other components relatively easily. Combine all of this with the fact they’re relatively cheap, embedded systems are a hugely efficient means of controlling devices.
As you might have guessed, embedded systems are also incredibly low maintenance, and rarely require direct management, whether that’s changes at the hardware level or in programming.
A component that’s incredibly small, cheap, easy to maintain, and fantastic at doing a single task repeatedly, is the perfect fit for any ‘fire and forget’ devices – those that are required to operate with little fuss and intervention. A handy example of this are the entertainment systems in passenger planes, which were able to function using Windows XP for far longer than a commercial laptop.
What are the downsides of an embedded system?
Despite their invaluable benefits, embedded systems also come with some disadvantages that you should be aware of prior to investing in them. In that way, you can eliminate the element of surprise if something goes wrong, and even opt for a backup plan in case your business is reliant on an embedded system.
For one thing, it’s important to know that embedded systems tend to be difficult to upgrade to a new software or even fix in the event of a malfunction. This is due to the ‘embedded’ part of their nature, which translates to crucial parts being situated deep within the overall machine, and even the smallest change will massively impact the rest of the system.
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This means that embedded systems often are hard to successfully debug or fix, which often makes it necessary to deconstruct the entire device, removing the majority of components just to replace one part. In fact, the process can be so convoluted and tiresome that it’s often simpler and cheaper to simply replace the entire machine, which can still entail higher costs than anticipated for something which originally seemed like a ‘quick fix’.
However, the embedded systems’ component interdependability also means that, in some cases, tweaks can be applied to other, more accessible parts, which will then bring the device back to life or original purpose. This is why it’s important to have an understanding of how your embedded system works, as well as a trusted specialist who will be able to recognise the root cause of the problem.
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Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is the code or language by which databases and systems communicate and match data points and criteria to authenticate and validate data. It is an open protocol that allows for communication across distributed directories and servers, including cloud-based ones.
LDAP is a customizable option for creating and setting communications and processes to match and validate user data, authenticating the data, and enabling access using both encrypted and unencrypted ports for communication. It is foundational to user authentication and management practice.
At its core, LDAP is the process that allows existing directories to search, match, and generally communicate with each other and makes them searchable.
The LDAP server is where your core information is stored, such as usernames, passwords, credentialing data, device access, and more, and keeps it structured in a way that your users and business can use the information and access the search criteria. The LDAP server serves as the starting point to bridge the communications between the user and the distributed services and databases, providing a single access point to gather and verify dispersed information and data.
It helps connect businesses to organizational servers and networks, both internally and externally. Using LDAP servers also enables more control and management over the data and, therefore, the company's access and user management.
By that very nature, it offers more security and protection for businesses, users, and data.
LDAP isn’t just a search structure. It’s a protocol that allows diverse systems and platforms to communicate and authenticate information users for actions and processes, such as logging in, determining access rights, and managing secure data.
At the most basic level, it checks an input username and password against the credentials stored in the database. If they match, user authentication is approved. If not, authentication is rejected, and the user either receives a message noting denied access or that the username and password don’t match what is on file.
There are additional measures of authentication that LDAP can offer as well.
The LDAP server can determine some contextual authentication by validating the device accessing the system, even before the login request is submitted . When accessing a secure network, you may see the notification message that the system is validating your device. This likely happens on workstations or pre-registered devices.
It can also determine access rights based on location or situation. For instance:
- Are you in a country that restricts access to specific sites or content?
- Are you on an open network connection and trying to access services that require private connections?
- Are you using a browser not recommended for the site, app, or service you are trying to access?
- Are you using an operating system or version that isn’t compatible?
IT can customize their authentication protocols based on their company’s services and network’s requirements.
As an active directory protocol, LDAP can also be used with other services, such as the LastPass LDAP Directory Connector, to further integrate authentication and authorization processes, manage users and data, and offer single sign-on and passwordless authentication to users. | <urn:uuid:68ab932f-f406-470b-8677-d87b265b7169> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.lastpass.com/nl/resources/learning/what-is-ldap | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335303.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929003121-20220929033121-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.913028 | 651 | 3.625 | 4 |
Data and smart cities have opened up endless possibilities for managing urbanization challenges. The pre-requisite technologies for smart cities have also opened up endless possibilities for watching people, monitoring them, and perhaps giving authorities just a little bit of too much control over residents. For example, China is building hundreds of smart cities where data on the people and their movement is brought together to manage traffic congestion to rubbish collection, shopping, and suspicious behavior. But, at what point does efficiency become something more intrusive.
Advances in artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and big data in smart cities lead us to unprecedented surveillance levels. London used to be the most surveilled city globally, but today that title is held by Taiyuan in China with 120 public surveillance cameras per 1,000 inhabitants. 9 out of 10 of the most surveilled cities in the world are located in China.
(Image source: Statista.com)
While data and smart cities promise to make lives more comfortable and our societies better, is surveillance overreaching its limit by tracking, rating, and analyzing our every move? And, is the data of billions of people safe from criminals? Other key legal issues include:
- The lack of opportunity in a smart city environment for individuals to give explicit and meaningful consent to the processing of their personal information.
- The degree to which intelligent cities gather private information from unavoidable public interactions.
- The “privatization” of infrastructure and data ownership.
- The repurposing of “big data” extracted from the Internet of Things (IoT).
- Data storage in the Cloud.
Positive Aspects of Data and Smart Cities
There is no question that data and smart cities’ positive aspects far outweigh the privacy concerns. Numerous examples are available to demonstrate this fact.
In 2016, Hangzhou City implemented a system that can predict traffic flow ten minutes in advance with an accuracy of 90%. The traffic system also responds by switching traffic light patterns to reduce congestion and even sends SMS’s to commuters to help them with route planning. It also helps law enforcement track down criminals.
In the US and the UK, predictive police technics are being implemented. They use big data to forecast high crime probability areas and lamp posts equipped with microphones to listen to conversations. They can recognize trigger words and sounds and direct cameras to zoom in on the speakers.
One of the pioneers of this kind of technology was Xjera Labs in Singapore. In 2017, the company built a neural network that could find any individual, car, and object from video footage with a 97% accuracy within seconds.
Before data and smart cities, crime prevention was a nightmare. For example, surveillance involved a lot of human resources. Two or three men would follow individuals around, and they would rely on their ability to do that in real-time.
And, the benefits are in many areas, including health. For example, a few years ago, India started using smart city data management to locate infant mortality incidents in some of its cities. They then used this data to situate ambulances in strategic places and regions to take pregnant and nursing mothers to hospital in time. In doing so, they managed to decrease infant mortality by 50%.
Negative Aspects of Data and Smart Cities
Human rights groups in China’s Xinjiang region have raised concerns about surveillance. According to residents, all the surveillance measures have alienated the population rather than integrating it into Chinese society. Residents must install an app on their phones that scan for inappropriate content. China wants to implement a social credit system that sources citizens data-tracking what they buy, payback in loans, and post online. It accesses their integrity based on their daily activity.
Also, in the UK, despite data being successful at solving crime, there have been issues with civil liberties. For example, in Alum Rock, Birmingham, which has a sizeable Muslim population, the local West Midlands police spent millions of pounds on CCTV cameras, which were then targeted at Muslim areas. When the community found out, there were up in arms because the cameras breached their right to privacy under the Human Rights Act.
Still in the UK, the Government’s Prevent Campaign that was part of its counterterrorism strategy funded crime prevention cameras that were then used for surveillance purposes in mosques in Birmingham. This action has continued to create suspicion and friction between the government authorities and city residents – when you Google “Toxic Brand,” one of the top results is a news report about the UK government’s Prevent Strategy.
The problem with data privacy isn’t just about how the data is used; it’s also about how the information is stored and secured. It isn’t only the good guys becoming more sophisticated; bad guys are upping their game. In a highly interconnected world, the risk of data loss accidentally or through crime multiplies exponentially. And, it goes just beyond stealing financial data from individuals.
The consequences of a city-wide hack could have world-ending repercussions. Terrorists could steal access codes to a Nuclear power station and overheat the reactor till it blows, or they could attack a rail transport system and send trains crashing into each other.
According to ABI Research, by 2024, there will be over 1.3 billion wide-area network smart city connections. Smart cities should incorporate the following features into their cybersecurity program:
- Data encryption: Encryption should not be an option; it must be mandatory. Encryption scrambles data rendering it useless and unreadable unless the user has the decryption key. So if criminals gain access to sensitive data, they cannot make head or tail. It is also best to implement multi-factor authentication together with encryption.
- Monitor security regularly: Security monitoring demands a dedicated team to monitor traffic and search for security anomalies. Security software can automate this by analyzing bulk data and scouting for compromise indicators. Upon risk detection, potential risk areas are isolated, blocking any data breaches.
- An extensive support platform: Any new support platform must secure a broad range of connected environments and devices. As smart cities consist of a myriad of networks, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and cloud environments, security administrators should deploy a single comprehensive security system to ensure coverage of all security protection aspects.
Striking the Right Balance Between Data Privacy and Smart City Benefits
Data and smart cities can only have negative outcomes depending on the legal structures and the political structures. The starting point must always be that personal data is sacrosanct and must be protected. The system must make it possible for private citizens to give explicit consent whenever their data is used or processed. Data processors and controllers in a smart city environment must put in place measures that ensure the security and integrity of data. The legal system must impose stiff sanctions on any person or entity that violates privacy laws or, through negligence, allows personal data (including private organization data) to fall into the wrong hands.
In all instances where there has been a problem with data privacy and smart cities, it can be traced to a weakness in the legal system, lax security measures, or a repressive government, as aptly captured in the dystopian social science fiction novel by George Orwell, 1984. But, in an interesting twist, while the novelist had totalitarian governments in mind, regimes that don’t tolerate opposition and dissent of any kind, modern-day data privacy violators include democratic superpowers such as the US and UK, as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. This recent trend calls for civic action to hold governments accountable and ensure that data privacy takes the central stage in policy making as the world transitions to smart cities. | <urn:uuid:845de0b1-966a-4289-ac8a-39cb87ece086> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://itchronicles.com/smart-city/is-there-privacy-of-data-in-smart-cities/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337490.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004085909-20221004115909-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.940929 | 1,570 | 2.796875 | 3 |
By the year 2024 NASA is planning to send astronauts to the moon for a couple of years of stay; after scientists found in 2002 that the moon has a conducive environment for humans to live. The space station has given a scientific name to this stay called the “Artemis Program” where the skilled crew is sent to the astronomical body for 600 days stay.
On June 13th,2019 Jim Bridenstine, the administration chief at NASA confirmed that the mission was on and could cost the agency a total of $20-$30 billion for a 2-year expedition to Lunar South Pole of the moon where water has been found.
But now the scientists fear that Artemis Program might be plagued with cyber threats as hostile nations and organized cyber crooks would like to attack and exploit NASA and its commercial partners for financial gain.
NASA spokesperson Bob Jacobs said that the expedition to the moon might get degraded by nations who like to disrupt the lunar mission of United States for Geo-political reasons.
It can take place as the IT in cyberspace is interconnected and any possible attack on the network could jeopardize the operations of Artemis Program.
However, not all seem to be bad at this juncture as NASA has already outlined certain defensive measures to safeguard the lunar campaign from possible cyber threats.
As the white house has allocated sufficient funds for the Lunar Gateway- the only staging point for the mission to the moon, the internationally renowned space station says that the mission will be an absolute success as the resources can prove more than sufficient if smartly utilized.
Note- NASA named the human’s mission to the moon as Artemis as she was supposed to be the Olympian goddess of Moon, Chasity, and Hunt- according to Greek mythology. She was a sister to Apollo and was tricked to killer her lover Orion by her own brother i.e Apollo. | <urn:uuid:8579d0dc-7aa3-40fa-a26e-27fc36742976> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/nasas-artemis-program-plagued-by-cyber-threats/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337663.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005172112-20221005202112-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.965667 | 377 | 2.9375 | 3 |
What the heck is ‘Blind’ SQL injection?
This section describes situations when Blind SQL Injection occurs and explains its basic exploitation technique. If you are already familiar with this stuff and understand what a binary search is, feel free to proceed to the next section.
A Blind SQL Injection occurs when you cannot retrieve data from an app directly, but can distinguish between two different states of the web app depending on the condition you have defined in an SQL query.
How Blind SQL Injection works
Imagine the following injection (for simplicity purposes, I use the PHP language, and MySQL serves as the DBMS):
$query = "SELECT id,name FROM products ORDER BY ".$_GET['order'];
order parameter, you can specify not only the column name, but some condition as well. For instance:
order=(if( (select 1=1),id,name))order=(if( (select 1=0),id,name))
Depending on the truth of the logical expression
(, the DBMS will sort the result either by the
id column or by the
name column. The response of the web app will show you which column the
products are sorted by, and you will be able to distinguish a true condition from a false one. This enables you to ‘ask questions’ to the DBMS and receive ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to them.
For instance, let’s ask the DBMS whether
information_schema. has more than 50 strings or not.
order=(if( (select count(*)>50 from information_schema.tables),id,name))
Speaking more formally, one query retrieves 1 bit of information from the database. To get text information, you can perform a full enumeration of all possible characters as follows:
order=(if( (select substring(password,1,1)='a' from users where username='admin'),id,name))order=(if( (select substring(password,1,1)='b' from users where username='admin'),id,name))order=(if( (select substring(password,1,1)='c' from users where username='admin'),id,name))...
But this will take a while: the number of queries is equal to the number of letters you want to retrieve. This is why, binary search is used to expedite the process.
Let’s convert a character contained in the target string into its ASCII code and make an assumption about the possible value of this character. For instance, you can assume that it’s located in the lower half of the ASCII table (i.e. its code is in the range from
0x7f). So, you divide this range into two halves and ask the database: which half of the range is the symbol in?
order=(if( (select ascii(substring(password,1,1))>0x3f from users where username='admin'),id,name))
If the character is greater than
0x3f, then the target range is narrowed to
0x40-0x7f; if less, to
0x00-0x3f. Next, you find the middle of the new range and ask the database again: is the target character greater or less than this median value? Then you narrow the range down again and continue this operation until exactly one value remains in the range. This value is the answer you need.
In this particular case, to find out the exact character value, you have to make queries.
Factors affecting the exploitation speed
Now let’s figure out what limits the injection exploitation speed:
The attacker exploiting Blind SQL injection sends queries to the same endpoint. Each such query is processed by the web server for some time. Let’s denote the average query execution time as . The spread in query execution times is usually small.
The web server can process a number of queries in parallel. This number depends on the number of physical web servers behind the load balancer, the number of web application threads, the number of cores on the DBMS server, etc. It can be found out experimentally. Let’s denote the number of queries to the web server by .
Therefore, the app won’t process more than queries per second. You can send more queries per second, but they will be put into the queue and wait for processing; so, the total query processing speed won’t exceed . This parameter may change depending on the current load on the app and may not be constant, but this is of no importance.
Conclusion: The data retrieval speed is ~= bits per second. This is the main limitation on the Blind SQL injection exploitation speed.
General optimization ideas
Manipulations with sessions
The web app might be unable to execute parallel queries within the same session (e.g. this is how PHP works). If you see that the search for a character is performed in one thread, you have to create one session for each search thread.
If a web app runs on multiple servers and uses Sticky Sessions load balancing, all queries made within a session are sent to the same server. You can create several sessions on different servers and distribute queries evenly between them. As a result, a larger number of servers will be involved in the processing of your queries, and will increase, as well as the overall attack speed.
There is no way you can get more than bits per second. However, you can wisely manage the available speed, thus, increasing the overall attack speed.
Usually, your goal is to retrieve several columns from one table (possibly using the
WHERE filter). The implementation of such a ‘head-on’ attack involves the following tasks:
- Determine the number of strings to be retrieved;
- For each string and column to be retrieved, determine the string length; and
- Search for each character in the target string. If you think that you only need standard characters from the lower half of the ASCII table (
0x00-0x7f), then you have to make 7 queries per character.
In a trivial ‘head-on’ implementation, parallelization is implemented only at the third stage. At the first and second stages, the search is performed in 1 thread, which means that the speed is queries per second instead of the available .
At the third stage, parallelization is implemented as follows. Let’s say your web app is processing simultaneous queries, and the string length is . This means that you can perform parallel tasks, and each task can be placed into a separate thread.
First, you determine the first characters in the string in parallel. Important: you cannot use all available threads to identify a single character since the binary search forms a new query only after receiving a response to the previous one.
When the search for the current character is complete, you launch new threads for subsequent characters contained in the same string. But since the query execution speed is approximately the same, you will launch new threads approximately when the first threads are completed, i.e. after seconds (if you are searching in the
If the string length is a multiple of , then everything is fine and all threads will be executed at the maximum speed. If not, then the last group after the multiplicity will be executed in threads. The rest of the threads will be idle. Finally, if the string length is random, then it’s obvious that the last group will run only at 50% of the maximum speed on average.
More high-performance variant
To increase the speed, it’s better to use parallelism: start the first thread to solve task 1, and immediately start the remaining available threads to determine string lengths for the first strings ( is the number of columns). If it turns out that the number of strings is less than you have defined, then some of the threads were executed meaninglessly. But otherwise, they would simply be idle; so, the attack speed won’t decrease anyway, but may increase.
You can go even further by assuming that the target strings are, for instance, at least 3 characters long. So, before completing either task 1 or task 2, you can start task 3 (i.e. start identifying the first 3 characters in the first target strings). After such a start, provided that you manage the threads correctly (e.g. you have already determined lengths of the next several strings), the overall speed may reach ~=.
Main exploitation objectives
This section addresses two typical objectives that arise when you exploit Blind SQL injection and effective ways to fulfil them: (1) determine the number of rows and the string length; and (2) search for integers.
Determining the number of rows and the string length
Determining the number of rows to be returned and the string length are similar tasks, but they aren’t as trivial as you might think.
Binary search can be used to find a value within a range that has the minimum and maximum values. For instance, when you identify characters, you know that they most likely are in the
0x00-0x7f range and exactly fall into
0x00-0xff (let’s put Unicode aside for now, although you can also set the maximum range limit for it).
But when you determine the number of rows and the string length, you don’t have such information: in theory, the target value can be anything.
Also note that the number of rows is determined once for each query. But the string length is determined multiple times; so, it’s a higher priority to optimize the string length determination.
Determining string length (a trivial way)
First, I am going to present a trivial algorithm that determines the string length. After reviewing it and understanding the related problems, you will be able to assess the effectiveness of such algorithms.
The first idea that comes to mind is to determine a value that is greater than the string length (further explanations pertain only to the string length; the logic used to determine the
row number is similar). After finding this value, you can run a binary search.
Since binary search is most efficient when you deal with ranges whose size is equal to an exact power of two (see below), you can start from a number representing an exact power of two (e.g. 256)
The resultant algorithm is as follows:
- Compare the string length with 256;
- If the length is less, then you run a binary search; it will require queries; and
- If the length is longer, then you have to increase the maximum range. For instance, you can multiply the old upper bound by and compare with it. If it’s less, then you run a binary search; if it’s more, then you multiply by again and so on.
To estimate the efficiency of such an algorithm, you have to make an assumption about the probabilistic distribution of lengths of target strings. Such an assumption isn’t easy to make since the string content strongly depends on its meaning. For instance, email addresses have one distribution, text posts have a different distribution, while password hashes always have the same length.
It’s also necessary to take into account standard real-life tasks. Blind SQL injection exploitation isn’t a quick process. Most likely, if you find a string 10,000 characters long, you won’t be interested in retrieving it in full – you just need to see its first 100 characters to understand what it contains.
In other words, if the string length is more than, let’s say, 128 characters, then you aren’t interested in its exact length: it’s possible to simply indicate in the output that the length is more than 128 characters and determine only these first 128 characters. Therefore, you have to make 7 queries to determine the string length – similar to determining 1 character. In my opinion, it’s quite acceptable.
Determining string length (an elegant way)
There is also a technique that doesn’t require to determine the string length at all.
The following construct is normally used to identify characters:
n is greater than the string length, then the
substring function will return an empty string, and the
ASCII function of an empty string will return
0x00 (this is true for MySQL and PostgreSQL). Accordingly, as soon as you find a null character, you conclude that you have found the last character, and there is no need to search further.
Using this approach, you search for a character after the last one; this operation requires an extra 7 queries. The cost is the same as the cost to determine the string length. Also note that in MSSQL and SQLite, the
substring function will return not an empty string, but NULL, like the
ASCII/ function. You can create special constructs that convert NULL into 0, but this increases the query length. In addition, you must carefully build parallelism: simultaneous identification of several characters can result in useless searches beyond the string end and unnecessary generation of queries.
If you still need to determine the exact string length (as well as the exact number of rows to be returned), applicable techniques are provided below.
Searching for integers
If the required column is integral, then the trivial way is as follows: convert the number into a string and get it as a string. You can also use binary search, but you still have to solve the above-mentioned problem: define the upper bound for binary search:
Assume that the number size is limited to 64 bits, and the number is not negative (unsigned). For signed numbers, you can apply the same logic, and the result will be the same.
The maximum 64-bit number is represented by a string consisting of 20 characters. Therefore, it takes 5 queries to determine the string length because is the closest from above exact power of two (actually a little less, as shown below, but for now let’s round it upwards).
Then you have to spend 3-4 queries for each digit depending on the string length (see the section “Narrowing search range” below). The string length is where is the required number.
Therefore, the total number of queries is .
The maximum number of queries for the maximum length is 73, while a trivial binary search for all 64 bits requires 64 queries regardless of the number size.
To improve the algorithm you can:
Determine how many bits are in the number (). These values range from 1 to 64 (i.e. you need 6 queries ().
Then, depending on the number of bits, you will need as many queries as many bits are in the number. The number of bits in the number is ; so, in total, it’s .
To compare the two variants, let’s remove rounding and convert the formula used to estimate the total number of queries to the binary logarithm:
As you can see, the difference between the formulas is mainly reflected by the fraction that does not differ much from . In other words, the two presented algorithms have approximately the same efficiency. It’s convenient to use the first algorithm when you don’t know the column type: you can convert all columns into a text type and deliver an effective attack (albeit at the cost of slightly longer queries).
This section discusses different approaches to Blind SQL injection exploitation that involve different search ranges.
Narrowing search range
As said above, 7 queries are required to determine one character. These 7 queries make it possible to determine a value from the range
0x00-0x7f (i.e. an alphabet whose volume is ) that corresponds to the lower (English) half of the ASCII table. To accelerate the procedure, you can search not the entire lower half of the ASCII table for target characters, but some of its subsets.
Let’s assume for instance that the target string consists solely of numbers and estimate the search speed.
The alphabet’s cardinality is 10. For exact powers of 2, you could simply take the binary logarithm of the alphabet’s cardinality. However, 10 is not a power of 2; therefore, it’s a little more difficult to determine the number of queries required to identify a symbol:
The first query will show whether the character is in the subset
0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
The second query will split the resultant group of 5 elements into subgroups consisting of 2 and 3 elements:
[for the first case; and
2, 3, 4]
[for the second case.
7, 8, 9]
The third query will find the value if the target character is in the ranges
2, 3, 4]
[, you can use one query to split them into subranges consisting of one and two characters:
7, 8, 9]
[is split into
2, 3, 4]
[is split into
7, 8, 9]
Therefore, the third query will find characters
If the target character is in
[, then you’ll need one more (fourth) query.
In other words, you make 3 queries for 6 possible values and 4 queries for the remaining 4 values. On average, you make 3-4 queries per character. This is more than twice better than a full binary search over a range of 128 possible values.
You can determine the average number of queries required to identify a character from the alphabet whose cardinality is N using the following formula:
where is the full power of 2 that is closest to N from below: .
from math import log,floordef questions(N):pow2 = 2**floor(ln2(N))return ((N-pow2)*2*(ln2(pow2)+1) + (pow2*2-N)*ln2(pow2))/Ndef ln2(x):return log(x)/log(2)
The function can be approximated as , but the real for N that is not an exact power of two will always be slightly larger than .
Assume that the target character is a lowercase English letter in the
Let’s search for the value of the respective ASCII code in the
97-122range of numbers. The middle of this range is at 109.5.
Determining whether the ASCII code of the target character is greater or smaller than 109.5:(ascii(substr(target_col,5,1)) from target_table limit 2,1)>109
If the ASCII code is smaller, then the target range decreases to
97-109; if it’s greater, to
- The new range is split into two parts and so on until the character is identified.
Therefore, the average number of queries is .
If your initial assumption that “the target character is a lowercase English letter” is incorrect, then the binary search will bring you one of the boundary values:
z. You won’t be able to distinguish such a result from the real “a” or “z” letters without additional queries. To solve this problem, you can add a canary character at both ends of the range; as a result, you will search for the target value not in the
97-122 range (as in the above example), but in the
96-123 range. If the search result is a canary value of
123, then you understand that your original assumption was incorrect.
This technique makes it possible to use a range search when you can assume with a good degree of probability what alphabet the target character belongs to – but aren’t 100% sure. Note that if you expand the range with canary characters, the average number of queries per character increases from to .
It’s also necessary to note that if the target character wasn’t in the search range, then you have to add to the already spent queries:
- if the value is less than 97; and
- if the value is greater than 122.
Assuming that characters are evenly distributed, the total number of queries is . This is much more than the original 7 queries. In other words, your assumption about the range must have a really high probability; otherwise, an attempt to accelerate the search may result in wasted performance.
Ranges with gaps
Now imagine that you have to search for the target character in a set of possible values that don’t form a continuous range in the ASCII table. For instance, your target is a hexadecimal string, the
[ set of values. Two techniques can be used to fulfil this task:
- an injection using the
- a search that ignores gaps.
Injection using the IN and NOT IN operators
The list of valid ASCII codes in this case is as follows:
[. You can split this list in half and ask the DBMS if the required character is in the first sublist. The condition will look something like:
(ascii(substr(target_col,5,1)) from target_table limit 2,1) in (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
If the condition is met, then the target value will be in the set
[. If not, in the set
[. Then you divide the resulting ranges in half step by step until you get the target value. queries have to be spent to identify one character.
It must be noted that the same problem (a potentially wrong assumption about the range) is present in this case as well: if you aren’t sure that your initial assumption about the search alphabet is correct, you won’t discover an error. To solve it, you can:
- add to the alphabet one pseudovalue, which will correspond to all characters not included in the alphabet at once; or
- use only the
NOTconstruct in your search.
Assume that the search alphabet consists of three values:
1, 3, 5]
After adding the N
[values, you have
1, 3, 5]
1, 3, 5, N]
Make the following query:
(. If you get
ascii( substr( target_col, 5, 1)) from target_table limit 2, 1) NOT IN ( 1, 3)
False, then the target character is either 1 or 3, and the next query will bring the exact answer. If you get
True, then either the answer is 5, or you made a mistake with the range.
Make an exact comparison with 5:
(. If you get
ascii( substr( target_col, 5, 1)) from target_table limit 2, 1) NOT IN ( 5)
True, then your initial assumption about the alphabet was incorrect.
This technique is better than the above-mentioned canary characters at the range bounds: using the
NOT operator, you can perform a binary search in ranges with gaps, and you have to increase the alphabet size by only 1 to discover an error. Disadvantages of this technique include longer queries because a half of the alphabet has to be listed in the parameter of the
Search that ignores gaps
There is another way to search in the
[ range with a gap: run a search ignoring the gaps:
Divide the range
[into two halves. The range border will be between the characters
48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102]
Make a query using the comparison operator:
(. The response makes it possible to select one of the halves of the original range.
ascii( substr( target_col, 5, 1)) from target_table limit 2, 1) > 55
This technique should be used until there is exactly 1 character left in the range. As a result, you will need queries.
This technique can be supplemented with canary characters to search for errors.
Add canary values to the list containing values you are looking for:
- one value less than the smallest one: 47;
- one value more than the largest one: 103; and
- one nonexistent value, e.g. 58.
Run a search in the same way as shown above. The list of possible values is
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103]
Find the middle of the range (
56) and perform the following comparison:
ascii( substr( target_col, 5, 1)) from target_table limit 2, 1) > 56
The execution of this query will bring you information that the target value is in one of the two sets:
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56]
57, 58, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103]
Select the middle of the range, send a query, split the set into two parts, and so on.
Ultimately, you will either get a value from the original search range (i.e. the answer) or one of the canary values:
58(any of them will indicate that the target character wasn’t in the range). You will also know whether the target character is greater than
102, less than
48, or falls within the
If the supposed range has more than one gap (let’s say, their number is ), then the number of canary characters increases: you have to use bounds.
The use of ranges with many gaps reduces the potential performance due to larger numbers of canary characters. Queries in such cases are shorter than those used with the
NOT operators. In case of an error, you receive additional information about the range containing the wrong symbol: to the left, to the right, or in one of the gaps.
Adjusting the search range
In addition to preset ranges, you can modify the search range during the attack (i.e. on-the-fly).
If you have already decoded several strings in a given column, and all these strings have a certain set of characters, then it’s logical to assume that subsequent strings in this column have the same set of characters. Therefore, you can dynamically assemble the range of used characters and then use this range to identify values in this column. Any potential errors in this assumption (e.g. if you had never encountered a symbol that, in fact, can be encountered) can be negated by using canary characters.
Some columns may contain characters rigidly set at specific positions. For instance, a GUID (example:
6F9619FF-8B86-D011-B42D-00CF4FC964FF) has a
- (minus) character at positions
[. You can check whether all characters at the respective positions in already decoded rows have the same value and, instead of a binary search, send just one query to check the value of this character.
You can go even further and assemble ranges based on the available statistics on the characters encountered – so that the identification of more common characters requires fewer queries. Formally speaking, you have to create an algorithm that minimizes the number of queries required to detect characters based on the available probabilistic distribution of characters. The optimal solution of this problem involves the H-tree used in the Huffman coding.
Indeed, the compression task is similar to your task: you want to find frequently occurring characters using fewer queries (i.e. spend fewer bits on them); while the purpose of the compression algorithm is to represent such characters with the minimum number of bits. Building such a tree requires a single review of all the collected information to obtain statistics. The construct itself has the complexity (where is the alphabet size), which isn’t too much for the alphabets in your task.
Let’s say you have decoded several strings and the character distribution statistics in them is as follows:
|Character||Number of occurrences||Probability|
The following optimal H-tree can be constructed for this statistics:
Different characters will require different numbers of queries:
- 1 query for
- 2 queries for
f, and `b; and
- 3 queries for
Mathematical expectation of the number of queries per 1 character:
For a standard range search, it would be: .
The H-tree can be rebuilt on a regular basis as new statistics become available. In this case, the search will often require gaps in the ranges; therefore, it’s preferable to use the technique involving the
Conclusion: it’s possible to create an algorithm that adjusts the search range automatically based on the available statistics; such an algorithm will significantly accelerate the search.
Other optimization ideas
Another optimization algorithm is based on the idea to combine the entire response into one string, separated by dividers. This allows to determine the string length once and save queries, but each divider increases the number of characters you have to identify.
To concatenate columns together, you can use the concatenation operation in the respective DBMS inserting a rarely used divider (e.g.
0x01) between them. You can also concatenate rows using special functions (
for0x01` divider will be used to separate the rows.
PostgreSQL). The same
Analysis of the response makes it possible to distinguish the beginning of a new row by counting the number of columns. You have to spend a little more queries to determine the string length. However, the number of queries is approximately equal to the logarithm of the string length; accordingly, it grows slower than the total number of queries you have to spend to determine the lengths of each string separately.
In this case, you can abstain from determining the string length: you simply detect characters until they run out (as described in the section “Determining the number of rows and the string length”). However, then you won’t be able to estimate how long will it take to obtain the required data, which is most likely unacceptable in real-life situations.
The number of queries to be spent to define dividers depends on the selection range you use. The divider itself is added as one character to the range. The total number of dividers is equal to the number of returned rows minus 1. In other words, you replace the cost required to determine string lengths with the cost required to define dividers.
Assuming that 7 queries on average are spent to determine the string length (as indicated in the section “Determining the number of rows and the string length”), this allows you to save queries per each string (where is the search range). You also spend extra queries per each character since a divider is added to the range.
You can use different ranges for searches in different columns only to a limited extent – because you use multithreading and cannot know in advance whether you would pass through a divider when you select the next character (and accordingly, get into another column) or not. Therefore, you either have to use wide ranges (which increases and reduces the gain from not determining the string lengths), or you can use ranges corresponding to the current column and get additional errors (i.e. search results are canary characters that require you to run another search).
Conclusion: this technique is applicable only in specific cases (e.g. when all target columns have a narrow range).
If the target text contains characters not included in the standard English ASCII table, then a DBMS is used to store Unicode. Some DBMSs (e.g. MySQL) use UTF-8 by default, while others (e.g. PostgreSQL) use UTF-16. In both cases, converting a character using the ASCII/UNICODE function results in a value greater than 128. Therefore, a value greater than 128 indicates that the string contains Unicode characters.
Unicode characters are language-specific. For instance, the first byte in Russian letters in UTF-8 is
0xD1. If you deal with UTF-8, you can assume that one UTF-8 character with a Russian letter can be followed be another one. Then you can effectively detect the first byte of this character using an alphabet consisting of two values
[, and for the second byte, you can limit the search only to values corresponding to Russian letters.
However, this approach is poorly compatible with multithreaded searches: the probability that a character located characters after the current one is also a Russian UTF-8 character decreases as goes up.
in UTF-8, every second character in a Russian word will be
0xD1. But after the end of the word, there will be most likely a single-byte character (a space or a punctuation mark). This reduces the likelihood that
0xD1 is located after an even number of characters following an encountered
Conclusion: if you deal with Unicode, a possible solution is to use one thread for each string.
Some DBMSs support built-in compression functions (e.g.
COMPRESS in MySQL and
UTL_COMPRESS. in Oracle). These functions make it possible to reduce the number of characters you have to determine. In addition, you don’t need to make assumptions about the alphabet used: the compression result is a BLOB. Let’s use the full range consisting of 256 values.
Note that compression functions add additional data at the beginning of the compressed BLOB: the size of the original row and the inverse transformation table. Therefore, the positive effect can be gained only for long strings; while for very short strings, the effect can be negative:
SELECT LENGTH(COMPRESS('123'))>> 15
Conclusion: this technique can be used in combination with string concatenation. The resultant concatenated string will be long, and compression algorithms will be able to compress it quite efficiently. However, you have to force the DBMS to compress a long string for each query, which can increase the execution time for each query.
What about sqlmap?
Sqlmap doesn’t use multithreading to determine the number of rows or string length. It searches only for characters in a single string at a time.
Determining the string length
Sqlmap searches for the string length if multiple threads are used. If a single thread is used, then it thinks that the string ends as soon as the first
0x00 character is encountered.
Search for characters
Sqlmap searches for characters using the following technique:
It searches for the first character by exhaustively enumerating the 128 characters (7 queries).
Then a character is selected based on the previous identified character, and the next search starts from it:
- if it’s a digit, then sqlmap selects
48(ASCII code of the minimum character, digit
- if it’s a lowercase letter, then it chooses
- if it’s a capital letter, then
- if it’s a digit, then sqlmap selects
Then a comparison is made with the selected number, and a standard binary search is performed in the remaining range. In other words, if the previous character is a letter, the program first compares the next character with
48, and if the target value is greater, a search is performed in the
The only exception is as follows: if there are no expected characters to the left of the current compared character, then sqlmap immediately passes to a comparison with 1. If a comparison with 1 shows that the target character is smaller, then sqlmap decides that it has found the end of the string and finishes the search.
Advantages of this approach include the effective detection of the string end, especially if the last character in this string is a digit. In such a case, the string end will be determined just in three queries. But this technique also has a disadvantage: low search efficiency in some cases.
Assume that the previous character was a digit. Then the first comparison is made with
48, and if the next character exists and is greater than
48 (which is the most likely situation), then a range of characters will be used to determine it, which translates into queries. In addition, one query has already been made to compare with
48; so, in total, sqlmap will send 7.4 queries (i.e. it’s quite possible that it spends 8 queries). However, if sqlmap had performed a full binary search, it would spend exactly 7 queries and nothing more.
Selecting character range
Sqlmap has a parameter,
--charset, used to set the range of characters for binary search.
Sqlmap can automatically detect non-single-byte characters, but works with them extremely slow. In my experience, it takes 34 queries on average to identify one Russian letter.
Other optimization variants described above are not implemented in sqlmap (at least, I didn’t find them).
This article provides a theoretical overview of techniques used to optimize the exploitation of Blind SQL injection. Some of them are more effective, some are less, but I tried to make it as comprehensive as possible. If you have other optimization ideas and techniques, write to my Telegram @sorokinpf, and I’ll be happy to discuss them.
Over time, I intend to implement some of the described techniques in my framework for Blind SQL injections: sqli_blinder. Currently, the framework implements a trivial binary search and supports SQLite, MSSQL, Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. To use it, you have to write one function in Python instructing the framework where to send queries and how to analyze responses. | <urn:uuid:bddcc86e-24c1-4846-aed7-2a2259bc9e44> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://hackmag.com/security/blind-sqli-optimize/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334514.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925035541-20220925065541-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.886966 | 8,422 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Published 2 Years Ago on Monday, Jun 29 2020 By Mounir Jamil
As the number of COVID-19 cases increased in Europe and North America during March, restrictive public health measures to avoid a worse pandemic were put in place. Measures included stay-at-home-orders, which were quickly adopted all across the world. As entire populations were ordered to quarantine and self-isolate, COVID-19 influences on environment were very noticeable at first, as road traffic reduced and airlines decreased scheduled flights by 60% to 95%.
While these developments have caused substantial economic and social shocks, the impact of COVID-19 on environment was noticed as production, consumption, and employment rates also decreased – associated with significant reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, air quality levels in the world’s major cities improved dramatically during the months of March and April.
During the same period global air traffic decreased by 60%. These emission reductions have led to a temporary dip in CO2 emissions from pre-crisis levels.
So long as economic activity remains slow, emissions will remain low. However, emissions will rise to previous levels (if not higher) when economic activity resumes.
Not all COVID-19 effects on environment are positive. The volume of unrecyclable waste has increased, there has been severe cuts in agricultural and fishery export levels that have led to the production of large quantities of organic waste, monitoring and maintenance of natural ecosystems has been halted. In addition, local waste problems have emerged as several municipalities have halted recycling activities over fears of the virus propagating in recycling centers. Furthermore, due to stay-at-home policies, several consumers have increased their consumption of takeaway food with single-use packaging.
With the emergence of import restrictions in export markets and the sharp decline in the availability of cargo services, the crisis has caused increased volumes of un-shippable agricultural and fishery commodities. Several export-oriented producers produce large volumes that are far too large for output to be absorbed in local markets, therefore organic waste levels have mounted substantially.
In addition, several natural ecosystems and protected species are at extreme risk during the crisis. Environmental protection workers at national parks and marine conservation zones are required to stay at home during lockdown, leaving these areas unmonitored and the animals unattended to. This absence has caused a rise in illegal deforestation, fishing and wildlife hunting. Many of the environmental challenges caused by the crisis will gradually resolve on their own as the crisis comes to an end and normal economic activity resumes. Also, the benefits of the air pollution reductions will be erased after the crisis ends. So overall, the coronavirus crisis will not have any permanent positive effects on the environment. However, what we have learned about environmental benefits/risks and the shift in global economic activity, will help us better understand the mechanics of environmental sustainability and will reveal more information on how we can reduce environmental damage in the future.
Even during its current winter state, the crypto world is still alive. New buyers are still coming in, maybe not as before, but still, some are committed to buying the dip. The Crypto wallet conversation is one to be had when venturing into the crypto world. Between the crypto physical wallet and its virtual counterpart […]
Stay tuned with our weekly newsletter on all telecom and tech related news.
© Copyright 2022, All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:aa408ae6-6578-41ab-a59e-c0bee261140c> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://insidetelecom.com/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-environment-not-all-positive/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335304.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929034214-20220929064214-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.96353 | 715 | 3.6875 | 4 |
Artificial intelligence could one day destroy the human race, but for now it will have to settle for removing bad Wikipedia edits.
The Wikimedia foundation is embracing machine learning to make the editing process more streamlined and forgiving for new contributors.
“Wikipedia is edited about half a million times per day, explains Wikimedia employee Aaron Halfaker. “In order to maintain the quality of Wikipedia, this firehose of new content needs to be constantly reviewed by Wikipedians. The Objective Revision Evaluation Service (ORES) functions like a pair of X-ray specs, the toy hyped in novelty shops and the back of comic books—but these specs actually work to highlight potentially damaging edits for editors. This allows editors to triage them from the torrent of new edits and review them with increased scrutiny.”
ORES works by combining data created by Wikipedia editors and open source machine learning algorithms. This enables it to judge the quality of edits and determine whether they are innocent mistakes or deliberately damaging. The service is scalable and currently supports 14 different language Wikipedias and Wikidata.
As well as improving the quality of edits, it is hoped that ORES will encourage more individuals to be Wikipedians. Editor numbers have fallen by 40 per cent over the past eight years, with many individuals unsure why their changes had been removed. ORES will treat genuine mistakes more sympathetically, with Halfaker saying that reverted edits should be accompanied by an explanatory message.
The service has been in testing for months and is now available for anyone to experiment with. Crucially, however, Halfaker stresses that ORES will not be forced upon editors and believes that it shouldn’t be views differently to other software changes made to the site, despite the use of artificial intelligence. | <urn:uuid:cd0db61d-2311-4471-a5e6-5e3b8d3c4e44> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.itproportal.com/2015/12/02/artificial-intelligence-introduced-to-improve-wikipedia-edits/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335304.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929034214-20220929064214-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.938902 | 359 | 3.109375 | 3 |
A standard framework is a set of tested guidelines and practices to engage with a specific Vulnerability in an Organisation. IT security management as a service has some sophisticated frameworks to assist an organisation from external threats and enhance protection. These frameworks allow organisations to introspect their cyber landscapes to anticipate their protection from the overall attack surface. Cybersecurity assessment is used as a tool to discover the strengths and weaknesses of an organisational threat fabric thereby giving a detailed insight for the C-Level executives to take a proactive approach in choosing an optimal roadmap for immediate threats and future security priorities. subsequently, after choosing a suitable framework concerning the size and scale of an organisation and its operations, every firm should get compliant with the chosen framework. Every organisation has some internal policies and a compliance structure which acts as key fundamentals for the smooth functioning of an organisation.
Although getting compliant looks like a simple task, the elephant in the room lies in getting compliance with the best framework without disturbing or overriding a company’s fundamental internal policy framework. Hence, it is always better to choose a framework that complements a company’s business policies. On the other hand, numerous cybersecurity assessment frameworks are used, according to an organisation’s scope and scale of operations. Of these ISO 27001, NIST, cyber essentials are most sophisticated frameworks identified all over the world. Apart from cyber protection, these assessments and certifications make organisations reliable and resilient thus enhancing trust and reputation.
With a mission to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness, the U.S government with the partnership of private entities and academicians has prepared this voluntary framework. The Framework is voluntary guidance, based on existing standards, guidelines and practices for organizations to better manage and reduce cybersecurity risk. In addition to helping organizations manage and reduce risks, it was designed to foster risk and cybersecurity management communications amongst both internal and external organizational stakeholders. The Framework’s Core is a set of cybersecurity activities, desired outcomes, and applicable references that are common across critical infrastructure sectors.
The Core represents industry standards, guidelines, and practices in a manner that allows for communication of cybersecurity activities and outcomes across the organization from the executive level to the implementation/operations level. This Framework Core consists of five concurrent and continuous Functions—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover. When considered together, these Functions provide a high-level, strategic view of the lifecycle of an organization’s management of cybersecurity risk. An organization can use this Framework to determine activities that are most important to critical service delivery and prioritize expenditures to maximize the impact of the investment. This Framework guides how awareness of real and potential threats and vulnerabilities can be used to enhance an organization’s cybersecurity program.
Some other guidelines from NIST to help with cybersecurity includes:
UK's Cyber Essentials:
Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed and industry-supported scheme that helps businesses protect themselves against the growing threat of cyber-attacks. This framework provides a safer internet space for organisations of all sizes, across all sectors. Cyber Essentials is considered the best first step to a more secure network, protecting you from 80% of the most basic cyber security breaches. There are two levels within the cyber essentials frameworks.
Cyber Essentials is a foundation level certification designed to provide a statement of the basic controls your organisation should have in place to mitigate the risk from common cyber threats.
Cyber Essentials Plus is the highest level of certification offered under the Cyber Essentials scheme. It is a more rigorous test of your organisation’s cyber security systems where our cyber security experts carry out vulnerability tests to make sure that your organisation is protected against basic hacking and phishing attacks. | <urn:uuid:56771f08-b64d-40b5-b0c6-70e42647338f> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.consultantsfactory.com/uncategorized/essential-cybersecurity-assessment-frameworks | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335469.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930113830-20220930143830-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.920568 | 780 | 2.984375 | 3 |
By Ilan Meller
Published June 13, 2016
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is a common attack method used by hacker groups and individuals to severely hamper or shut down an organization’s online services, causing both monetary and reputation losses. Whereas DDoS attacks have been common since the late 2000s, attack sizes have increased significantly in the past few years. New protocol exploits and amplification attacks have become too large for most organizations to combat without the support of a cloud-based DDoS scrubbing service. In 2013, it was reported that SpamHaus services were brought down “thanks” to a 300 Gbps attack, then in 2014, an attack peaking at 400 Gbps was recorded. However, the world’s largest DDoS attack in history (with records to prove it) was captured in 2015 with a peak of 500 Gbps.
An interesting story was published in multiple media channels in January this year when a group calling itself New World Hacking said it initiated a successful 602 Gbps DDoS attack, targeting BBC websites. However, even while the group was marketing itself and its supposed largest DDoS attack in history, there was no real evidence of such attack. The group claimed it used Amazon's cloud service to conduct the attack and it “programmed a bypass linked to proxies” so monitoring firms “wouldn't detect it, anyway.” A source with direct technical knowledge of Amazon's systems and internal processes, who did not want to be named as he or she was not authorized to speak on the record, dismissed the allegation, saying that it “doesn't line up” with how Amazon's cloud services work.
Around the same time that New World Hacking went public with its story, the F5 Security Operations Center (SOC) started seeing an increase in volumetric DDoS attacks. The F5 SOC has already mitigated ten ongoing attacks that peaked north of 100 Gbps in 2016, four over 200 Gbps, and two over 400 Gbps.
Whereas the quantity of large volumetric attacks in Q1 was higher, the size of attacks grew exponentially in Q2, peaking at 448 Gbps in June. As expected, we are seeing flux in attack types quarter over quarter. UDP remains the most popular protocol for exploit whereas DNS and NTP exploits have been ramping up in Q2.
“The F5 SOC observed a sizeable 448 Gbps UDP/ICMP fragmentation flood destined primarily towards one specific subnet,” said Nic Garmendia, the F5 SOC analyst who monitored the attack, making sure mitigation was in place. “It ramped up extremely quickly and dropped drastically back down over the length of about nine minutes. As is common in UDP floods, the attackers sent highly-spoofed UDP packets at a very high packet rate using a large distributed source IP range. In this specific attack, over 100,000 IP addresses were used. Human intervention in order to apply mitigation was unnecessary upon detection as UDP ACLs began dropping the attack at the border.”
Below is the breakdown of attack traffic per data center, peaking at a total of 447.7 Gbps.
During the latest 448 Gbps attack, the F5 SOC revealed that the source countries and ASNs used for this attack spread worldwide, a common method used to decrease the likelihood of authorities catching the perpetrators.
Who was Behind the Attack?
No one has claimed responsibility for this attack as of yet, and mitigation efforts are ongoing. What we can say is the attack destination is a U.S.-based financial institution that is routinely targeted. A quick Google search can lead to some assumptions regarding current campaigns that target financial institutions by a well-known hacker collective.
DDoS, like all other Internet-based attacks, show no signs of slowing down, only increasing in sophistication, attack volume, and frequency.
About F5 DDoS Protection Services
F5® Silverline™ DDoS Protection is a service delivered via the F5 Silverline cloud-based application services platform. It detects and mitigates DDoS attacks in real time, with industry-leading DDoS attack mitigation bandwidth to stop even the largest of volumetric DDoS attacks from ever reaching your network. F5 Security Operations Center experts deploy, manage, and support Silverline cloud-based application services 24x7.
Silverline DDoS Protection can be implemented independently or together with F5’s on-premises DDoS solution for detecting and mitigating mid-volume, SSL, and application-targeted attacks. When implemented together, you get the most comprehensive L3–L7 DDoS protection. You can keep your business online when under DDoS attack with real-time DDoS mitigation response times, unparalleled visibility and reporting, cost efficiencies, and reduced risk of downtime. F5 is the first leading application services company to offer a hybrid solution for DDoS protection. | <urn:uuid:9bce9bec-d4c6-433f-a00f-0440cc78c323> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.f5.com.cn/company/news/features/f5-silverline-ddos-protection-mitigates-448-gbps-ddos-attack | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030336921.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001195125-20221001225125-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.955994 | 1,018 | 2.875 | 3 |
Here at Malwarebytes, we see a lot of malware. Whether it’s a botnet used to attack web servers or a ransomware stealing your files, much of today’s malware wants to stay hidden during infection and operation to prevent removal and analysis. Malware achieves this using many techniques to thwart detection and analysis—some examples of these include using obscure filenames, modifying file attributes, or operating under the pretense of legitimate programs and services. In more advanced cases, the malware might attempt to subvert modern detection software (i.e. MBAM) to prevent being found, hiding running processes and network connections. The possibilities are quite endless.
Despite advances in modern malware, dirty programs can’t hide forever. When malware is found, it needs some additional layers of defense to protect itself from analysis and reverse engineering. By implementing additional protection mechanisms, malware can be more difficult to detect and even more resilient to takedown. Although a lot of tricks are used to hide malware’s internals, a technique used in nearly every malware is binary obfuscation.
Obfuscation (in the context of software) is a technique that makes binary and textual data unreadable and/or hard to understand. Software developers sometimes employ obfuscation techniques because they don’t want their programs being reverse-engineered or pirated.
Its implementation can be as simple as a few bit manipulations and advanced as cryptographic standards (i.e. DES, AES, etc). In the world of malware, it’s useful to hide significant words the program uses (called “strings”) because they give insight into the malware’s behavior. Examples of said strings would be malicious URLs or registry keys. Sometimes the malware goes a step further and obfuscates the entire file with a special program called a packer.
Let’s see some practical obfuscation examples used in a lot of malware today.
Scenario 1: The exclusive or operation (XOR) The exclusive or operation (represented as XOR) is probably the most commonly used method of obfuscation. This is because it is very easy to implement and easily hides your data from untrained eyes. Consider the following highlighted data.
In its current form, the data is unreadable. But when we apply an XOR value of 0x55, we see something else entirely.
Now we have our malicious URL. Looks like this malware contacts “http://tator1157.hostgator.com” to retrieve the file “bot.exe”.
This form of obfuscation is typically very easy to defeat. Even if you don't have the XOR key, programs exist to manually cycle through every possible single-byte XOR value in search of a particular string. One popular tool available on both UNIX and Window platforms is XORSearch written by Didier Stevens. This tool searches for strings encoded in multiple formats, including XOR.
Because malware authors know programs like these exist, they implement tricks of their own to avoid detection. One thing they might do is a two-cycle approach, performing an XOR against data with a particular value and then making a second pass with another value. A separate technique (although equally effective) commonly used is to increment the XOR value in a loop. Using the previous example, we could XOR the letter ‘h’ with 0x55, then the letter ‘t’ with 0x56, and so on. This would also defeat common XOR detection programs.
Scenario 2: Base64 encoding
Base64 encoding has been used for a long time to transfer binary data (machine code) over a system that only handles text. As the name suggests, its encoding alphabet contains 64 characters, with the equal sign (=) used as a padding character. The alphabet contains the characters A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + and /. Below is an example of some encoded text representing the string pointing to the svchost.exe file, used by Windows to host services.
While the encoded output is completely unreadable, base64 encoding is easier to identify than a lot of encoding schemes, usually because of its padding character. There are a lot of tools that can perform base64 encode/decode functions, both online and via downloaded programs.
Because base64 encoding is so easy to overcome, malware authors usually take things a step further and change the order of the base64 alphabet, which breaks standard decoders. This allows for a custom encoding routine that is more difficult to break.
Scenario 3: ROT13 Perhaps the most simple of the three techniques that’s commonly used is ROT13. ROT is an ASM instruction for “rotate”, hence ROT13 would mean “rotate 13”. ROT13 uses simple letter substitution to achieve obfuscated output.
Let’s start by encoding the letter ‘a’. Since we’re rotating by thirteen, we count the next thirteen letters of the alphabet until we land at ‘n’. That’s really all there is to it!
The above image shows a popular registry key used to list programs that run each time a user logs in. ROT13 can also be modified to rotate a different number of characters, like ROT15.
Scenario 4: Runtime packers In a lot of cases, the entire malware program is obfuscated. This prevents anybody from viewing the malware’s code until it is placed in memory.
This type of obfuscation is achieved using what’s known as a packer program. A packer is piece of software that takes the original malware file and compresses it, thus making all the original code and data unreadable. At runtime, a wrapper program will take the packed program and decompress it in memory, revealing the program’s original code.
Packers have been used for a long time for legitimate purposes, some of which include reducing file sizes and protecting against piracy. They help conceal vital program components and deter novice program crackers.
Fortunately, we aren’t without help when it comes to identifying and unpacking these files. There are many programs available that detect commercial packers, and also advise on how to unpack. Some examples of these file scanners are Exeinfo PE and PEID (no longer developed, but still available for download).
However, as you might expect, the situation can get more complicated. Malware authors like to create custom packers to prevent less-experienced reverse engineers from unpacking their malware’s contents. This approach defeats modern unpacking scripts, and forces reversers to manually unpack the file and see what the program is doing. Even rarer, sometimes malware authors will twice-pack their files, first with a commercial packer and then their own custom packer.
Conclusion While this list of techniques is certainly not exhaustive, hopefully this has provided a better understanding of how malware hides itself from plain sight. Obfuscation is a highly reliable technique that’s used to hide file contents, and sometimes the entire file itself if using a packer program.
Obfuscation techniques are always changing, but rest assured knowing we at Malwarebytes are well-aware of this. Our staff has years of experience in fighting malware, and goes to great lengths to see what malicious files are really doing.
Bring it on, malware. Do your worst!_______________________________________________________________________________
Joshua Cannell is a Malware Intelligence Analyst at Malwarebytes where he performs research and in-depth analysis on current malware threats. He has over 5 years of experience working with US defense intelligence agencies where he analyzed malware and developed defense strategies through reverse engineering techniques. His articles on the Unpacked blog feature the latest news in malware as well as full-length technical analysis. Follow him on Twitter @joshcannell | <urn:uuid:e4011d6a-2be2-4994-9ca0-d1465724b06c> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2013/03/obfuscation-malwares-best-friend | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337971.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007045521-20221007075521-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.909243 | 1,630 | 3.1875 | 3 |
The building blocks of Estimation
Estimation is about predicting an uncertain quantity in advance. In project management, we usually estimate for resources, duration, money, effort for an activity / project. Accuracy of estimation is critical for a project success: Underestimation causes loss to the performing organization whereas over-estimation might cause business / goodwill loss with the customer.
|Accuracy category||Expected accuracy|
|Rough Order Estimate (ROM)||-25% to +75%|
|Definitive Estimate||-5% to 10%|
During pre-sales, we might follow ROM and subsequent re-estimations are done with tighter accuracy. Although every industry follows different estimation model(s), they use one or more of below estimation building blocks:
1. Analogous (TOP DOWN) estimation: Is a gross value estimating approach with some adjustments for known differences. It uses historical data about similar activity/project. This approach does not provide accurate estimation but require only little time, project information and technical expertise.
Example: To estimate for similar construction project undertaken 3 year back, we could take actual cost of construction of previous building and then adjust for increase in inflation or construction cost.
2. BOTTOM UP estimation: Keep decomposing (dividing) the ‘item to be estimated’ to sub-items in a nested way (like tree branch) until you reach a point where all leaf items can be estimated with better accuracy. Now estimate leaf items and aggregate for whole item. The below picture illustrates this. This approach takes more time, require detailed project information and technical expertise but provides accurate estimation.
Example: To estimate total cost of construction of a big building, estimate the components like foundation, each rooms, lift, common area, bore well, car parking, security bay, sump, swimming pool... and sum it up to get the total estimate.
3. Parametric estimation: Uses RATEs from historical data to estimate.
Example: To estimate total cost of construction of a flat, apply PRICE PER SQ FT * AREA in SQ FT.
4. Three point (PERT) estimation: Do three estimates: Most likely (m) estimate, Optimistic (o) estimate (best case) and Pessimistic (p) estimate (worst case). Usually Beta Distribution is assumed and mean estimate and standard deviation are found by below formulas. This concept is taken from PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique).
- Estimate = (o+4m+p) / 6
- Standard Deviation = (p-o) / 6 (note that most likely estimate is not used in this formula)
Example: If it is estimated that a job most likely to take 6 days, can be completed in 4 days in best case and might take 10 days in worst case. Then
Estimate = (4 + 4 * 6 + 10) / 6 = (4+24+10) / 6 = 38/6 = 6.33 days
Standard Deviation = (10-4) / 6 = 6/6 = 1 day 8 6 2 3
19 4 9 5 7 | <urn:uuid:2df31ab2-1145-4057-93bc-dc3875ec11ad> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.greycampus.com/blog/project-management/the-building-blocks-of-estimation | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334515.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925070216-20220925100216-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.839865 | 665 | 3.078125 | 3 |
This example shows a typical Fileshare Client configuration file.
/s server1 /s server2 /cm ccism /f \orders\* /s server3 /cm ccitcp /s server3 /f \accounts\payroll.dat /f \transport\delivery\* /f \returns\* /r module1!userfh1
Specifies that server1 is one of the default Fileshare Servers.
This Fileshare Server is searched for any file that is not defined as being on a particular Fileshare Server (see Line 4) or as local (see Lines 6 and 7). If you specify more than one default Fileshare Server (see Line 2), the Fileshare Servers are searched in the order that you have defined them in the configuration file. In this example, server1 is searched before server2.
Specifies that server2 is also a default Fileshare Server. If you access a file that you have not defined to be on a particular Fileshare Server (see Line 4) or as local (see Lines 6 and 7), this Fileshare Server is searched after the Fileshare Server server1.
Specifies that the default communications protocol is CCISMEM. When the Fileshare Client tries to contact a Fileshare Server that does not have a specific CCI protocol defined (see Lines 1 and 2), this is the one used.
/f \orders\* /s server3
Specifies that FHRedir should direct all accesses to files with a name beginning with the string \orders\ to the Fileshare Server named server3.
/cm ccitcp /s server3
Specifies that the communications protocol to use when communicating with the Fileshare Server, server3 is ccitcp. This overrides any default CCI protocol specified in the Fileshare Client configuration file (see Line 3).
Specifies that the file \accounts\payroll.dat is a local file on the Fileshare Client machine. The Fileshare Client accesses this file using a local copy of the Callable File Handler.
Specifies that any files with a filename beginning with the string \transport\delivery\ are local files.
/f \returns\* /r module1!userfh1
Specifies that the customer file handler userfh1 in module1 should be used for all accesses to files with a name beginning with the string "\returns\".
Note that module1 specifies the library containing a custom file handler and that usedrfh1 is the name of the custom file's entry point.
This option only applies if the environment variable DYNREDIR is set to DYNCONFIG. | <urn:uuid:59f0d569-dc36-4414-b4b5-b6920c231c15> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.microfocus.com/documentation/visual-cobol/vc50pu8/VS2019/BKFSFSCNFGS003.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335059.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927225413-20220928015413-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.71844 | 665 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Before we delve into this topic, let's first put any doubts to rest. You might be wondering: what exactly are 'socially responsible' banks? Are they different from 'regular' banks? Not exactly, but this term is used for banks offering products and services related to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
For example, a socially responsible bank might want to invest in a solar power project.
Most people's choices are aligned to their personal beliefs, which also cater to social issues. Switching to ethical banking is one such choice. Socially responsible banking is a great way of keeping both your money and values systems aligned, while making a positive social impact. Such kind of banking encourages transparency and helps build strong communities.
At the start of 2018, $11.6 trillion of all professionally managed assets—one $1 of every $4 invested in the US—went under ESG investment strategies, a sharp increase from 2010 (approx. $3 trillion overall).
Are we expecting an increase in socially responsible investments in the times to come? Let's find out and learn more about it.
What is socially responsible banking?
A socially responsible bank considers social and environmental impacts when making lending and investment decisions. Like any other financial institution, these banks also seek to generate profit from their operations. But unlike most others, these banks always emphasize on ethical practices. They strive to generate earnings without sacrificing principles or harming the environment.
The phrases "ethical banking" and "sustainable banking" are interchangeable with social banking.
Why is socially responsible or sustainable banking gaining traction?
While socially responsible banking is not new, it is driving attention due to the following reasons:
a. Pandemic: The COVID-19 crisis showed how environmental and social issues are closely interlinked with economic stability and can impact the company's bottom line.
b. ESG conscious millennials: This generation typically endorses banks, investments, and funds with demonstrable social and environmental sensitivities.
c. Support investor interest in "doing good": Investors want banks to consider the ESG risks while earning returns on investment.
d. Empowered employees: Nowadays, employees are more likely to choose workplaces that demonstrate a commitment to caring for two Ps: People and Planet, and not just for Profit.
How can a bank be socially responsible?
In addition to the initiatives that a bank supports with its lending activity, the following certifications and memberships indicate its commitment to social responsibility.
Transforming investment strategies
Banks must consider the investment guidelines and exhibit transparency of investment to customers. A socially responsible bank has policies that prevent it from investing in certain types of companies, such as companies that perform animal testing, employ child labor, make cigarettes, etc.
B Corp certification
B Corp certification is a private certification of for-profit businesses. It certifies businesses based on their social and environmental performance. For financial institutions to be B Corp-certified, they must pass a series of assessments and verifications. B Corp identifies:
- how a bank bridges the gap in the community, or within society, in general
- how responsible it is towards the environment
- how socially responsible the bank is towards its employees and other stakeholders
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) Membership
GABV is a coalition of financial institutions that focuses on achieving sustainable economic, social, and environmental development worldwide. The members take part in projects that have a positive impact on society.
Approved by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI)
CDFI is a federally funded program that helps underserved communities access financial services and products. For example, a CDFI-approved bank will offer products to encourage economic development in low-income societies.
How are banks rated on ESG parameters?
Banks opting for sustainable/ethical banking are evaluated and rated on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance by third-party rating organizations. Institutional investors, financial institutions, and other stakeholders are now focusing on these reports and ratings to evaluate and compute a company's ESG performance over time as compared to its peers.
However, reports and ratings methodology, scope, and coverage vary greatly among providers. Some well-known third-party ESG reports and rating providers are:
Bloomberg ESG data service
In 2009, Bloomberg acquired New Energy Finance, which informed regarding the carbon market and instituted Bloomberg ESG data service.
Bloomberg evaluates companies' data every year through various sources, including collecting ESG info through direct contact or as disclosed by companies via CSR reports, annual reports, etc.
Corporate Knights Global 100
Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based company, publishes an annual index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world in its publications.
The ranking is based on publicly disclosed data. All industries mapped to various geographies are analyzed, as per 14 key performance indicators. Companies are scored on the relevant performance indicators for their specific industry.
While most banks have started their transformation journey towards sustainable banking, given the influence of everyday banking, there is still a long way to go. Continuous efforts of banks and people towards a sustainable future can expedite this process and pave the way for more socially-conscious banking system.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our ESG-savvy banking experts today! | <urn:uuid:206138ac-1d38-42ca-93ae-3267c17e8a0b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.nagarro.com/en/blog/socially-responsible-ethical-banking | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335059.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927225413-20220928015413-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.938393 | 1,105 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Continuing our current tutorial series regarding softswitches, we have previously discussed:
- Concepts of telephone switching
- Architecture of a softswitch
- Functions of the media gateway controller, also known as call agent
- Capabilities of the media gateway,
- The Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP).
All of these concepts are detailed by the International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC) in their IPCC Reference Architecture Document.
Recall that the communication between the media gateway controller and the media gateway is facilitated in a master/slave arrangement, whereby the media gateway controller sends commands to the media gateway by the use of one of two protocols.
The first protocol that was developed for this purpose was called the Media Gateway Control Protocol, or MGCP, which was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and documented in RFC 3435.
The second protocol is called the MEGACO/H.248 standard, which was jointly developed by the IETF and the International Telecommunications Union—Telecommunications Standards Sector (ITU-T), and therefore has a double name: MEGACO, the IETF designation, documented in RFC 3525 and Recommendation H.248.1, designated by the ITU-T (see http://www.itu.int).
The text for these two documents is virtually identical. (As an aside, MEGACO was the designation given to the IETF Working Group that developed the protocol, and that name has therefore been associated with the protocol since its early development. The new title of RFC 3525 reflects a more generic protocol name: Gateway Control Protocol, although many industry documents still refer to the earlier MEGACO designation.)
The developments of MGCP and MEGACO crossed paths, and they are based upon the same type of distributed gateway architecture. They also both assume that the intelligence to process the call resides in the media gateway controller, and that the media gateway is providing access to the media streams. However, there are some key differences between the protocols. The first difference is in the abstractions used in the connection model. In MGCP, the commands apply to the connections. In MEGACO, the commands apply to Terminations that are related to a Context.
A Termination sources and/or sinks one or more streams of information. For multimedia conferences, the Termination could also be multimedia, and source and/or sink multiple media streams. A Context is an association between a collection of Terminations. The Context describes the topology (who hears/sees whom) and the media mixing and/or switching parameters for the cases where more than two Terminations are involved with this association. Contexts are modified using the Add, Subtract, and Modify commands, described below, with a Connection created when two or more Terminations are placed in a common Context.
As with MGCP, there are packages defined, which specify the characteristics of the Termination. With MEGACO, properties and statistics are descriptors that are added to the events and signals that were found in MGCP. In addition, Annex E of RFC 3525 defines different packages from that found with MGCP: Generic, Base Root, Tone Generator, Tone Detection, Basic DMTF Generator, DTMF Detection, Call Progress Tones Generator, Call Progress Tones Detection, Analog Line Supervision, Basic Continuity, Network, RTP, and TDM Circuit.
There are eight MEGACO commands:
- Add: adds a Termination to a Context. The Add command on the first Termination in a Context is used to create a Context.
- Modify: modifies the properties, events, and signals of a Termination.
- Subtract: disconnects a Termination from its Context, and returns statistics on the Termination’s participation in the Context.
- Move: atomically moves a Termination to another Context.
- AuditValue: returns the current state of properties, events, signals, and statistics of Terminations.
- AuditCapabilities: returns all the possible values for Termination properties, events and signals allowed by the Media Gateway.
- Notify: allows the Media Gateway to inform the Media Gateway Controller of the occurrence of events in the Media Gateway.
- ServiceChange: allows the Media Gateway to notify the Media Gateway Controller that a Termination or group of Terminations is about to be taken out of service, or has just been returned to service. A number of ServiceChangeReasons have been defined which provide further details.
In addition to the differences in the above commands, the transport mechanisms for the two protocols differ, as MGCP is defined for UDP/IP transport, and MEGACO is independent of the underlying transport, supporting UDP/IP, TCP/IP or ATM.
In our next tutorial we will continue our discussion of the protocols of the softswitch architecture.
Copyright Acknowledgement: © 2005 DigiNet ® Corporation, All Rights Reserved
Mark A. Miller, P.E. is President of DigiNet ® Corporation, a Denver-based consulting engineering firm. He is the author of many books on networking technologies, including Voice over IP Technologies, and Internet Technologies Handbook, both published by John Wiley & Sons. | <urn:uuid:4f04854d-edff-4db2-bdc4-aebdeb6aa376> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/unified-communications/softswitches%EF%BF%BDpart-vi-megaco-h-248-protocol/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335491.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930145518-20220930175518-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.911395 | 1,087 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Poliovirus, which can cause permanent paralysis and sometimes even death, has been detected in New York City sewage, according to both the state and city health departments—who made the announcement in a joint press release on Friday.
The presence of the virus in waste water likely indicates that polio is circulating locally, among the general public, wrote officials. “For every one case of paralytic polio identified, hundreds more may be undetected,” said New York’s heath commissioner, Mary Bassett. And, although alarming, the finding isn’t a surprise, she added. Cases of the disease, once nearly globally eradicated, have been steadily emerging for months now.
A single case of paralytic polio, a severe form of the disease, was confirmed in Rockland County, NY on July 21. Wastewater samples later analyzed from Rockland and Orange Counties, both nearby New York City, collected earlier this summer and spring revealed poliovirus was more widely present there as well. Prior to these findings, no cases of locally transmitted (i.e. “wild”) polio had been detected in the U.S. since 1979.
Back in late June 2022, health officials in the United Kingdom also reported that they’d detected poliovirus in sewage. Previously the diseases had been declared locally eradicated there in 2003. One of the first hints of the current and growing apparent polio resurgence popped up with the case of a confirmed polio-related paralysis in a 3-year-old girl in Malawi in February.
As with covid-19, asymptomatic cases of the poliovirus can aid the disease’s transmission. According to the CDC, nearly three-quarters of people who get infected never display visible symptoms, and most of the remaining 25% experience flu-like symptoms including fever, sore throat, fatigue, nausea, headache, and stomach pain.
However, a small proportion of people develop a version of polio with much more severe symptoms that impact the nervous system and can develop into full-blown, permanent paralysis. The rate is about one in every 200 infections, according to the World Health Organization. From there, paralysis can lead to death, if a person’s ability to breathe is affected.
Once, polio was widespread, causing hundreds of thousands of confirmed cases worldwide, every year. Many were killed, and many more were left paralyzed—some severely enough to rely on iron lungs for their continued survival. Three polio survivors in the U.S. were still alive and relying on the medieval-looking machines, as of 2017. In the U.S. the worst recorded outbreak happened in 1952, paralyzing 21,269 people and killing 3,145 others.
But an extremely effective vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, led to the disease being nearly eradicated over the course of just a few decades. Just 6 cases of the disease were reported in 2021. The polio vaccine is highly protective, and receiving all three doses is considered 99% to 100% protective, according to the CDC.
Vaccination has continued to be available, recommended, and widely required for participation in things like the public school system in the U.S.. However many parents have opted not to vaccinate their children anyway, amid the growing anti-vax movement.
Only about 60 percent of Rockland County children are being vaccinated against polio, and Orange County, NY has an even lower vaccination rate. In New York City, 86.2% of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years have received all three doses of the polio vaccine. Yet in some neighborhoods, the children have much lower polio vax rates (as low as 56.3%), and thus are much more vulnerable.
Vaccinating children against polio is the most important thing people can do, to help prevent the diseases’ further spread and to stop the current outbreak. Further, most U.S. adults have already received the polio vaccine, but if someone hasn’t, it is never too late. Vaccination prevents infection, severe illness, and paralysis—and ultimately saves lives. | <urn:uuid:13987a6d-814c-467d-99f6-484a625b706a> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://blog.johnadly.com/paralysis-causing-polio-has-been-detected-in-nyc-wastewater/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030336978.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001230322-20221002020322-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.971714 | 843 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has formally accounted in the proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Federal budget for risks posed by climate change, and warned of potentially devastating impacts on U.S. gross domestic product along with flood risks to thousands of Federal facilities by the end of this century.
Last May, President Biden tasked OMB with developing and publishing an annual assessment of its climate-related fiscal risk exposure, and develop new methods for quantifying climate risk in the government’s economic assumptions.
“The new Budget analyses found that, at the upper end of that range, climate change could lead to an annual Federal revenue loss at the end of the century of 7.1 percent, which in today’s dollars would equal $2 trillion per year,” wrote OMB’s Associate Director for Climate, Energy, Environment, and Science Candace Vahlsing, along with OMB Chief Economist Danny Yagan in a post.
“Furthermore, the analyses found that the Federal Government could spend between an additional $25 billion to $128 billion annually on just six types of Federal expenditure: coastal disaster relief, flood insurance, crop insurance, healthcare insurance, wildland fire suppression, and flooding at Federal facilities,” they added.
Among examples the two listed for potential climate impacts include:
- U.S. gross domestic product could decrease by three to 10 percent by the end of the century;
- Federal expenditures on crop insurance premium subsidies could increase 3.5 to 22 percent each year, the equivalent to $330 million to $2.1 billion annually;
- Increased hurricane frequency could drive up spending on coastal disaster response between $22 billion and $94 billion annually;
- Wildland fire activity could increase fire suppression expenditures by $1.55 billion and $9.6 billion annually; and
- Over 12,195 Federal building and structures could flood with up to 10 feet of water due to sea-levels rising, with a total combined replacement cost of over $43.7 billion.
Currently, the President’s budget request for FY2023 invests $44.9 billion for climate change, which is an increase of nearly 60 percent over FY2021. | <urn:uuid:b0d3b1f4-6d72-4c8f-b754-3f7abe6ad0d9> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://origin.meritalk.com/articles/omb-climate-change-imperils-trillions-in-gdp-low-lying-federal-facilities/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337516.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004152839-20221004182839-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.955974 | 453 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The internet has been around for a good few decades now, and with technology advancing at a pace, a lot has changed in a short space of time. The internet was once a place with a few websites and many chat rooms, but now it is a part of daily life and a more significant part of the economy. Nowadays, the internet is used for many different things, from banking to complex blockchain apps. With this growing technology, the need to keep them secure is also increasing, and this is where the lack of Penetration Testing comes in.
Penetration testing is the process of using several techniques and methodologies to evaluate the security of an application, network or computer system, or any IT asset. Penetration testing is used to test the resilience and resistance to standard and advanced attacks. It helps reveal all possible vulnerabilities and loopholes that a hacker can exploit.
Even the tech giants such as Microsoft, Zoom, Twitter recently faced data breaches. The data breaches are not limited to web applications but include mobile apps, blockchain apps, and cloud apps. No technology is secure from hackers or cybercriminals. The need to secure different types of applications is at its peak.
Why is Penetration Testing necessary?
These days, everyone needs to be worried about cybersecurity. Just about anyone can be hacked, and there are many cybersecurity threats. Unlike traditional threats, like natural disasters, you can’t predict when you might be hacked. So, it’s helpful to be prepared, which is why performing regular pentests is essential.
Let’s understand 4 common reasons why penetration testing is essential:
1. Uncover Security Risks
Penetration testing is a security evaluation technique used to identify vulnerabilities in a computer system, network, or web application. These identified vulnerabilities are patched before a hacker or cyber-criminals can find and exploit them.
2. Compliance and Regulations
These days, it’s almost impossible for businesses to avoid the acronym PCI. Not only is it a widely used acronym, but it also stands for something vital: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Most compliances such as PCI DSS, SOC2 Type I, Type II have an essential requirement of performing a proper pentest.
3. Customer Trust
It is no longer enough to have a good business idea, a well-designed product, and a clear marketing strategy in the internet age. To survive in the market, a company must protect its customers and their data from cybercriminals who can use it to steal confidential information.
4. Save the cost of a data breach
A minor Data Breach can cost millions of dollars, and this can only be prevented by keeping your infrastructure and your application secure by conducting regular pentests and awareness training.
Also read- Pentest Related FAQs
What are different types of approaches to perform a penetration test?
The penetration test is a fundamental good practice for checking the security of a system. If the penetration test is done correctly, the weaknesses of the system will be revealed. Penetration testers follow 3 different approaches to test the application mentioned below:
1. Black Box Testing
Black box testing is a method of evaluating the security of an application or system. The penetration tester has no information about the system, not even the operating system or application type. The tester must use the same tools and techniques that a hacker would use to attack the system.
Black box penetration testing is the most challenging type of penetration test to perform. It requires a high level of skill and often accesses the same resources that the attacker would have available. Black box penetration testing is the best way to test the overall security of a system.
2. White Box Testing
White box pen testing is a method of penetration testing where the tester has complete knowledge of the source code and environment. White box testing is based on how the program works, not by exploiting any vulnerabilities in the code.
White box testing focuses on understanding how the application works, then attempt to break into the application through knowledge of the source code. This is the opposite of black-box testing, where the tester does not access the source code.
3. Gray Box Testing
Gray Box testing is an approach to penetration testing. The tester has partial knowledge of the target environment in network diagrams, network documentation, or partial access to the internal network. The tester has limited but more than just outside the understanding of the target environment.
Gray box testing is typically done in the early stages of a program to assess what types of vulnerabilities could be present and how much information an attacker could potentially receive.
What are the 6 significant types of penetration testing?
1. Network Penetration Testing
Network penetration testing is a security audit by which you check the security of a network if you want to know about the technical details of the security audit.
In simple words, penetration testing, or network security testing, is a method of evaluating a computer network’s vulnerability to intrusion. This vulnerability could be a flaw in a computer system or a malicious attack from a hacker. A penetration test simulates an attack from a malicious hacker to determine the network’s vulnerabilities and determine if an actual attack would be successful.
This type of testing aims to find holes in the system that outside parties could exploit. Network penetration testing is performed on the network infrastructure, also known as the backbone of the network.
2. Mobile Penetration Testing
Mobile Application Penetration Testing is a process of testing a mobile application for security vulnerabilities. The goal of penetration testing is to find weaknesses in mobile security and report them to the developers.
The scope of testing varies from functional testing to security testing. Penetration testing has evolved significantly as the number of mobile devices and users has grown, for example, android and iOS penetration testing.
Mobile application penetration testing is done to gain access to sensitive data or disrupt the functionality of the app. The aim of penetration testing is to provide credible evidence of vulnerabilities in the system.
Additional Read- Android Penetration Testing
3. Web Application Penetration Testing
Web application penetration testing is a process of figuring out the possibility of a hacker or a group of hackers gaining access to your web application. It is done to expose your web application’s vulnerabilities and prevent data breaches, identity theft, financial loss, and other negative consequences.
The penetration tester usually tries to break the web application by looking for vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and cross-site request forgery. The tester then identifies the vulnerabilities and checks if they can be used to gain access to information or control of the web app.
4. API Penetration Testing
An application programming interface (API) is a set of tools and standards that allow applications that can communicate with each other. APIs enable a developer to create a customized experience within a given app.
An API penetration test is a process of identifying vulnerabilities in an application programming interface (API). API penetration testing is a way of testing the attack surface of an application by simulating the actions of a malicious user
5. Cloud Penetration Testing
Cloud penetration testing is a type of security testing that analyzes a cloud computing environment for vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. Cloud penetration testing is a crucial component of a cloud security strategy because it can reveal potential weaknesses in cloud security controls.
Penetration testing can be performed manually, by a human tester, or automatically by a security tool or a tool integrated with a CI/CD pipeline. Cloud penetration testing aims to identify vulnerabilities in the cloud infrastructure and determine the effectiveness of controls implemented to protect the infrastructure.
Read more on- GCP Security
6. Blockchain Penetration Testing
Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records called blocks. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchain databases are spread across a network of computers.
Blockchain penetration testing assesses the security of a blockchain network, application, or smart contract. It’s the process of testing for known and unknown vulnerabilities in a blockchain network, application, or smart contract.
Blockchain penetration testing is used to determine whether the solution can withstand attacks that are performed to compromise the network’s security. Blockchain penetration testing aims to uncover vulnerabilities and security loopholes and identify misconfiguration errors in the solution.
Reading Guide: An Introduction to Blockchain Security
4 things to consider while getting a penetration testing contract
A penetration testing contract is an agreement between the client and the penetration tester, who performs the penetration testing on the desired application or network. Penetration Testing is a sensitive process. When testing, there are many steps to take so that the actual product or application is not affected during this process.
Below mentioned are 4 things to keep in mind while getting a penetration testing contract:
1. Make sure you have a proper plan & scope
It’s essential to have a proper plan to perform penetration. This pentest plan is handed over to the team of penetration testers before conducting a pentest. The strategy usually includes what time the automation scanner is allowed, how much load testing is permitted, which all hosts can scan, etc.
2. Data security
There’s a high chance that you don’t want the penetration testers to look into the sensitive data of your customers or clients. A proper data security policy helps you with this. Data security policy contains information regarding sensitive data testing, how to test the databases, what to do if sensitive information is disclosed etc.
3. Vendor’s Reputation
When it comes to the services of a pen testing company, its reputation is of great importance. It is a guarantee of a successful result of a penetration test of a business. A good rating of a pen testing company guarantees high-quality services and professionalism in the field. The rating of a company can be easily checked online via various discussion forums.
4. Skilled and Trained Penetration Testers
The pen testers are an essential part of the pen test team. They are the ones who analyze the vulnerabilities, assess the risks, and carry out the attacks. The pen testers must have firsthand knowledge of the vulnerabilities being tested, so they must have the skills and expertise necessary to carry out the attacks. When selecting a pen test provider, it is beneficial to find a provider who hires trained and experienced pen testers.
Why Astra’s pentest suite is a perfect fit?
One of the best ways to conduct penetration testing is outsourcing this task to an experienced penetration testing company. Astra is a team of highly skilled security engineers whose only job is to keep your application secure from attackers. Astra Security offers different penetration testing services such as:
- Cloud Penetration Testing ( AWS, GCP, and Azure )
- Blockchain & Smart Contract Penetration Testing
- Mobile Penetration Testing ( Android, iOS, and PWA )
- Network Penetration Testing
- Web Application Penetration Testing
- API Security Testing
We at Astra understand how vital your and your customers’ data is. Astra’s automated scanners come with more than 2600+ tests which keep not only your but your customer’s or client’s data secure too.
Penetration Testing at Astra is not limited to automated Scanners; skilled and trained security professionals manually test applications to ensure no security risk is left untouched.
Additional Read: Joomla Penetration Testing
Check out features of these 3 tools from Astra to keep your company secure from hackers.
1. Malware Scanner
- Automatic Malware Scans
- File Difference Visualization
- Automatic Malware Removal
- Machine Learning Powered Engine
- Automatic Malware Removal
2. Rock Solid Firewall
- 24×7 Realtime Protection
- IP and Country Blocking
- Bad Bot Protection
- Blocklist Monitoring
- Suspicious Login Alerts
3. CMS Security Solutions
4. Security Audits
- Collaborative Dashboard
- Video & Selenium PoCs
- Business Logic Analysis
- Payment Hack Analysis
- Server Infrastructure Testing
- Active & Passive Analysis
Read more on- Drupal Security Audit
Still not sure how to proceed? Get in touch with us and let us handle the rest.
1. What is penetration testing and its types?
Penetration testing refers to the process of evaluating a system’s security posture by finding and exploiting vulnerabilities present in the said system. Penetration tests are categorized into three types – white box pentesting, grey box pentesting, and black box pentesting.
2. What Is The Primary Purpose Of Penetration Testing?
The primary object of a penetration test is to identify critical vulnerabilities and understand their impact and cure.
This post is part of a series on penetration testing, you can also check out other articles below.
Chapter 1. What is Penetration Testing
Chapter 2. Different Types of Penetration Testing?
Chapter 3. Top 5 Penetration Testing Methodology to Follow in 2022
Chapter 4. Ten Best Penetration Testing Companies and Providers
Chapter 5. Best Penetration Testing Tools Pros Use – Top List
Chapter 6. A Super Easy Guide on Penetration Testing Compliance
Chapter 7. Average Penetration Testing Cost in 2022
Chapeter 8. Penetration Testing Services – Top Rated
Chapter 9. Penetration Testing Report | <urn:uuid:8e3cd56b-a880-4bfa-bb62-3fb9761e9e80> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.getastra.com/blog/security-audit/types-of-penetration-testing/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337516.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004152839-20221004182839-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.905344 | 2,757 | 2.84375 | 3 |
As much of a cliché as it might sound, these are unprecedented times. The world of social media has allowed a higher knowledge transfer between individuals on socio political issues, failing economies, a view of the uncertain future and other life dynamics. Add the COVID-19 pandemic into the mix and you have high levels of emotionally overwhelmed mental states. According to the World Health Organization, one of the leading causes of disability is depression and the second-highest cause of death is suicide. With these stats, it is earth-shatteringly important to shine a light on mental health and the psychological support being used to treat it.
Mental health comes on a spectrum of conditions from healthy, coping, struggling and unwell. Timely help in the form of psychological support can mostly prevent it from going from one stage to another. Unfortunately, the stigma around psychological challenges have been so high that those who have discussed their issues with other have often been perceived as being “too sensitive” or “weak,” preventing many from seeking help.
Our emotions are built with a threshold, just like an elastic band, if you stretch it too much for too long, it snaps. If humans don’t pay attention, holding onto overwhelming emotions for too long can result in snapping. This leads to depression, amongst other emotional challenges. Remember, just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Is mental health treatable?:
While a diagnosed mental illness isn’t completely treatable, it is definitely manageable through medications and therapy (as prescribed by your mental health practitioner). Seeking help and psychological support can help immensely -- consider therapy as the “High Intensity Interval Training” for the brain. It doesn’t always feel great during the session but has remarkable results long run.
Our role in helping others:
The most challenging aspect of mental health is the lack of visibility into
what someone is going through emotionally. Everyone is carrying emotional baggage and the best thing we can do to play our part and help others is to extend empathy, support and flexibility. Don’t forget to check in on people you care about regularly.
How to keeping your mental health in check:
Connect with your emotions, spend time with yourself and know your emotional needs. Make sure you listen to your intuition and your body. It is important to disconnect from any source when it starts causing you to burnouts. Ensure you have healthy boundaries around your life, so you are your priority. Remember, a healthy self is vital for a healthy family as your mental health impacts your families and loved ones directly.
We are the biggest critics of ourselves, setting impossible goals and expectations. It is important to know that it is ok not to be perfect, it is ok to slow down or take a break. When you go through a rough patch, give yourself a pat on the back for getting through it. If you are unable to love yourself, no one will. You owe yourself that.
Regulate your routine:
Make sure you have a regulated routine; balance is the key. Excess of anything can be toxic. Eat well and healthy, sleep at least 8 hours, exercise, divide your day between work and leisure, and make sure you unwind at the end of the day and take regular periodic breaks to recharge.
Sometimes the support of family and friends helps us overcome challenges. However, when nothing else seems to be improving your condition, seek professional psychological help. One of the most important things to know is that there are a variety of professionals extending psychological support, such as life coaches, therapists, psychologist and psychiatrists, etc. You might not resonate with every mental health practitioner – this is common. It doesn’t mean that therapy doesn’t work, it only means that your relationship with your practitioner probably isn’t the best fit for you. Feel free to change until you find someone that resonates with you. | <urn:uuid:89feec35-fee2-45bb-b67c-622198f0a711> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.teradata.com.cn/Blogs/How-to-Prioritize-Self-A-Summary-on-Mental-Health | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337516.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004152839-20221004182839-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.959706 | 828 | 2.71875 | 3 |
While the term rootkit may sound like a math solving rule or even a gardening tool, it’s neither of those things. A rootkit can be quite dangerous to the personal information on your device, and it usually serves cybercriminals. Here is a brief rootkit definition in computing terms — rootkits are a kind of malware that can give a threat actor control of your computer without your consent or knowledge.
What is a rootkit? Rootkit definition
The term rootkit is a combination of the word "root" and "kit." "Root," "admin," "superuser," or “system admin” are all interchangeable terms for a user account with the admin status of an operating system. Meanwhile, "kit" means a package of software tools. So, a rootkit is a set of tools that gives someone the highest privileges in a system.
Rootkits are particularly dangerous because they are designed to hide their presence on your device. A threat actor who has gotten a rootkit onto your machine (often via phishing email) can remotely access and control it. Because they enable root-level access, rootkits can be used to do things like deactivate your antivirus software, spy on your activity, steal sensitive data, or execute other malware on the device.
Is rootkit a virus?
Contrary to popular perception, a rootkit is not a virus — it’s malware. Admittedly, that may sound confusing. A virus is just one type of malware, and while a virus only corrupts data, a rootkit is far more advanced. Thankfully, modern antivirus software that leverages cutting-edge security techniques such as behavioral heuristics can remediate different types of malware, from viruses and worms to ransomware, Trojans, and even some rootkits.
Why are rootkits so dangerous?
- They’re sneaky: Rootkit infections can spread through deceptive threat vectors like corrupt downloads, spam emails, and exploit kits. Some rootkits even rely on Trojans like Perkiler malware to breach a system’s security.
- They’re stealthy: Unlike other types of malware, a deeply concealed rootkit will not display many symptoms. It may even bypass your security software, making it challenging to remediate. Some rootkits can only be removed by formatting your storage drive and reinstalling your operating system.
- They’re capable: A few experts call rootkits the Swiss Army Knives of malware because they have multiple capabilities. Some rootkit tools can steal login credentials and financial data, disable security protocols, log keystrokes, and more. Other rootkits can allow a hacker to gain backdoor access to a system and drop more malware. With the right rootkit, a hacker can turn a system into a bot to form a botnet in order to start DDoS (Distributed-Denial-of-Service) attacks against websites.
Types of rootkits
As soon as you turn on a computer, its bootloader loads the operating system. A bootloader rootkit infiltrates this mechanism, infecting your computer with the malware before the operating system is ready to use. Bootloader rootkits are less of a menace nowadays thanks to security features like Secure boot.
Firmware is a type of software the provides rudimentary control over the piece of hardware it's written for. All types of devices, from mobile phones to washing machines, can have firmware. A firmware rootkit is challenging to find because it hides in firmware, where cybersecurity tools usually don’t look for malware.
Your operating system's kernel is a bit like its nervous system. It's a critical layer that assists with essential functions. A kernel rootkit can be catastrophic because it attacks a core component of your computer and gives a threat actor significant control over a system.
Memory rootkits reside on your computer's RAM and can slow down your machine while performing malicious tasks. You can usually clear a memory rootkit by restarting your computer, as a simple restart clears your machine’s memory of all processes.
An application rootkit may modify your regular files with rootkit code, giving the rootkit’s author access to your machine every time you run the infected files. However, this type of malware is easier to spot because files carrying such rootkits can behave atypically. In addition, your security tools have a better chance of identifying them.
What are rootkit attacks?
A rootkit attack is an attack where a threat actor uses a rootkit against your system. As mentioned above, rootkits can spread through infected downloads like mobile phone apps. More targeted rootkit attacks use social engineering like phishing emails as an attack vector.
Some sophisticated rootkits attacks are harder to execute. For example, a threat actor may need to use an infected drive to install a Bootloader rootkit on your operating system.
How are rootkits detected and removed?
Rootkits aren’t easy to detect because of their secretive nature. In addition, some rootkits can bypass cybersecurity software. Still, there are some symptoms a rootkit may present:
#1 System crashes: A rootkit that infects your computer's bootloader, hard drive, BIOS, or applications may cause system crashing software conflicts.
#2 Software Malfunctions: Are you noticing slowdowns, mysterious settings changes, or web browser malfunctions? A rootkit can be responsible for such issues.
#3 Antivirus crash: Should your antivirus deactivate without cause, try an anti-rootkit scan to search for malware. Afterwards, reinstall your cybersecurity software.
How to stop rootkit malware from infecting your system
It's important to proactively protect your devices against all types of malware, and rootkit malware is a particularly serious type of threat. From our Malwarebytes Labs' article on how to prevent a rootkit attack on your computer or mobile device, here are steps you can take to stay safe:
- Scan your systems: Use an advanced threat scanner like the one in Malwarebytes Premium to regularly scan your devices for threats. Our article has even more in-depth advice on scanning for rootkits in various ways, but having regular malware scans is a good place to start.
- Be careful of phishing attempts: Be careful what you click on and download. Email phishing attacks have gotten very sophisticated, and a phishing attempt might look nearly identical to a legitimate email from someone you trust, like your bank or favorite retailer. Always check the sender's email address to be sure it's from a legitimate domain (e.g. a PayPal email comes from paypal.com), and if you have any concerns an email might be a phishing attempt, you can forward it to the purported sender for them to take a look. Be cautious of links that come via text message from unknown numbers as well.
- Update your software: Software updates sometimes come at inopportune times, when you're in the middle of something else, but software developers send them out for good reason. Many updates include security fixes for issues the developer has found, so you don't want to wait to put those in place. It's best to update your software whenever you get a notification to do so.
- Use advanced antivirus/anti-malware: Advanced antivirus and anti-malware protection like Malwarebytes Premium utilizes a number of different methods to detect and block threats from getting onto your devices. This is a key step to protecting against various threats and types of malware. | <urn:uuid:45a51c50-8786-44f2-b11f-990975547762> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.malwarebytes.com/rootkit | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338001.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007080917-20221007110917-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.897759 | 1,590 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
NIST defines IaaS cloud computing as: “Where a consumer can deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).”
IaaS vendors offer online services that provide high-level APIs to their customers to manage and control the computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup, etc.
Additionally, IaaS clouds often offer a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.Back to Glossary | <urn:uuid:69a787b8-b755-4ef9-bf2e-5575a3042df6> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://abusix.com/glossary/infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334915.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20220926175816-20220926205816-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.910038 | 180 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
A dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server assigns an IP address automatically to a computer on a network. It can also automatically assign a subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS server at the same time. DHCP is a service that runs on a server or a router.
DHCP saves network administrators from having to configure each computer or device manually.
You can set your computer to obtain an IP address automatically, after which your computer will send a request to the DHCP server. The server will select an IP address from its pool and deliver it to the computer.
Network administrators can establish a "scope" of IP addresses or a range of addresses the DHCP server can choose from. The scope can be adjusted depending on the number of computers and devices in the network.
DHCP servers assign IP addresses on a "lease" basis, which means they have a start and end date. This keeps the server from running out of IP addresses within its scope. If a computer is disconnected from the network, the server will be able to assign its former IP address to another computer or device.
If you want a device to always be given the same IP address, the DHCP server can reserve the IP address for that device based on its MAC address. If the lease expires on the device and the device requests a new IP address, it will get the same one again. This isn't necessary for computers on an network, but it's ideal for printers, servers, and routers. | <urn:uuid:eb998ba7-1a55-4803-9a65-61dee87e33b8> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://helpcenter.engeniustech.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056604751-What-is-DHCP-Relay- | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334915.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20220926175816-20220926205816-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.932723 | 307 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Ah, the poor password. We love it. We hate it. It’s the most maligned thing in our daily lives. Whether you are at work, home or on the road, you use multiple passwords a day. It’s the most common way we have to provide secure access to computers and applications.
Because we have so many passwords and we have to remember them, most of us are still in the bad habit of creating ones that are easy to guess. This happens for personal and business accounts. It’s one of the reasons that important systems are hacked.
A case in point is the recent data breach at the Utah Department of Health where at least 780,000 people’s personal information was compromised. According to IT officials investigating the matter, hackers got into the system because of a configuration error at the authentication layer of the server. I think that’s corporate speak for someone was using a default admin password or one that was easy to guess. If someone was guessing, the system should have locked out the account after a certain number of failed attempts.
Unfortunately this is more common that people realize. When organizations deploy servers, applications, printers, routers and a variety of other devices, many of them have a default password. It might be admin, default or sa. It’s there to provide a starting point so a user can log into the system and configure it. Many people don’t change the password or they create a new one that’s just as easy to guess. Examples include password, someone’s name, 123456 and countless others.
Another related issue is too many people have administrative credentials within organizations. I remember working with a company years ago that had very strict rules for who had admin access and when they were to use it. If a user needed administrative access to a system, that person had their own admin account. It was against policy to share accounts. The person would only log in with an administrative account to perform administrative functions. Once finished, they had to log out. They had a separate account for standard user tasks.
They also had a policy for two factor authentication for certain functions. This relied on 2 users each having half of a password. When needed, the two people had to be present and each would key in their half. Today, there are many other two-factor authentication systems that don’t rely on 2 people, but require separate steps. These are more efficient and secure. Think about the voice print and retina scan system at the CIA in the first Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise.
The fatal flaw with the current password mechanisms is that we need something that isn’t obvious, but something that we can remember. Some of the simplest ways to create a more complex password is to use upper and lower case alphanumeric characters plus a number or symbol. Unfortunately those can be hard to remember. It turns out that it’s more important to use a long password rather than a weird combination of characters. Each additional character adds an exponential layer of complexity for a brute force dictionary attack.
That means that using “Pa$$worD” is much weaker than “IwishIhadamilliondollar$”. If you are limited to a certain number of characters, make sure you pick the longest password you can. Use a phrase you know, but add something random into it like a symbol or a few punctuation marks. I also like adding spaces into passwords, because most people and hacking programs assume that a password is contiguous. Unfortunately many online password systems won’t allow spaces or symbols.
Businesses at a minimum need to ensure the following:
- Do not use default passwords
- Only people who need to perform administrative tasks regularly should have admin accounts
- After 5 or fewer failed login attempts, a system locks out the user
- Change passwords every 90 days, at least
- Do not allow simple passwords, such as the user name, “password”, etc.
Make sure you don’t use the same password for everything. If a criminal gets one they can access a lot of systems.
Until the computer industry comes up with another authentication system as simple as the password, we are stuck with them. Make sure you use a little common sense when choosing yours. Because if someone has the keys to the castle, it’s very easy to bypass all the locks.
Photo credit marc falardeau | <urn:uuid:2c7ca25a-aa3e-4285-9d8d-ead83438d038> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://en.fasoo.com/blog/the-password-is-still-the-weak-link-in-your-security/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335350.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929100506-20220929130506-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.959914 | 916 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Researchers conducted study on critical neuropsychiatric symptoms during an influenza infection. Related to treatment with antiviral drugs Neuropsychiatric symptoms are more likely in connection with the influenza infection. And occur also in the absence of antiviral drug exposure.
Moreover, recent study reveals that Influenza which cause neurological consequence with previous infections. This associated with encephalitis lethargica known as sleepy sickness an entity displaying Parkinson’s disease (PD) signs and symptoms. Environmental factors, including infection with seasonal influenza, may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. A new study suggests most cases of Parkinson’s have no known cause. Researchers continue and study possible factors that may contribute to the disease.
Growth of Parkinson’s in Mice
Certain strain of influenza virus condition in mice to develop pathologies are similar in Parkinson’s disease. Here we demonstrate that even mice who fully recover from the H1N1 “Swine flu” influenza virus. Responsible for the previous widespread are later more capable to chemical toxins known to cause Parkinson’s
In addition, that a deadly H5N1 strain of influenza ‘bird flu’ has a high mortality rate of 60 percent. Those infected by died from the disease was able to infect nerve cells travel to the brain and cause inflammation. That would later result in Parkinson’s-like symptoms in mice. Inflammation in the brain don’t resolve appropriately after traumatic injury to head, has also linked to Parkinson’s. The researchers looked at a less harmful strain, the H1N1 “swine flu,” that does not infect neurons, but which still caused inflammation in the brain via inflammatory chemicals or cytokines released by immune cells involved in fighting the infection.
Using a model of Parkinson’s disease a toxin MPTP induces Parkinson’s-like symptoms in humans and mice. Infected mice with H1N1, even long after the initial infection had more severe Parkinson’s symptoms. Mice vaccinated against the H1N1 given antiviral medications such as Tamiflu. The time of flu infection increased sensitivity to MPTP is eliminated. | <urn:uuid:ac1b1a1f-4c55-4905-aa1e-8e02a39f9286> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://areflect.com/2017/05/31/seasonal-flu-may-develop-parkinsons-disease/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335504.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930181143-20220930211143-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.950476 | 447 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Disadvantages of Smoking - Bad Effects of Smoking
There are no good effects of smoking on smoker's body. Smoking causes only bad effects on the health of the smoker. The ingredients of tobacco smoke are chemically active. They can start dramatic and fatal changes in the body. There are over 4,000 chemicals, which can be damaging to the smoker's body. They include tar, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide, metals, ammonia, and radioactive compounds.
Disadvantages & Bad Effects of Smoking
Scientists and doctors know so much more about the effects of smoking today than ever before. They know smoking causes immediate effects on the smoker's body. It constricts the airways of the lungs. It increases the smoker's heart rate. It elevates the smoker's blood pressure. The carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke deprives the tissues of the smoker's body of much-needed oxygen. All of these are dangerous short-term effects.
There are more serious long-term effects as well. Smoked tobacco in the forms of cigarettes, pipes, and cigars causes lung cancers, emphysema, and other respiratory diseases. In fact, smoking causes ninety percent of all lung cancer cases.
- Twenty percent of heavy smokers get the chronic lung disease called emphysema, which causes the narrowing, and clogging of the airway passages in the lungs. This disease is seldom seen in nonsmokers.
- Smokers are also at least four times more likely to develop oral and laryngeal cancer than nonsmokers.
- Smoking contributes to heart disease. It increases the risk of stroke by nearly 40% among men and 60% among women. Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive and can make it very hard, but not impossible, to quit. More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each year are from smoking-related illnesses. Smoking greatly increases your risks for lung cancer and many other cancers.
- Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.
- Among infants to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year. Secondhand smoke from a parent's cigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.
- If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke as a young person whose parents are both non-smokers. In households where only one parent smokes, young people are also more likely to start smoking.
- Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the baby's good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.
Why Quit Smoking?
- Quitting smoking makes a difference right away - you can taste and smell food better. Your breath smells better. Your cough goes away. This happens for men and women of all ages, even those who are older. It happens for healthy people as well as those who already have a disease or condition caused by smoking.
- Quitting smoking cuts the risk of lung cancer, many other cancers, heart disease, stroke, other lung diseases, and other respiratory illnesses. Ex-smokers have better health than current smokers. Ex-smokers have fewer days of illness, fewer health complaints, and less bronchitis and pneumonia than current smokers.
- Quitting smoking saves money. A pack-a-day smoker, who pays $2 per pack can expect to save more than $700 per year. It appears that the price of cigarettes will continue to rise in coming years, as will the financial rewards of quitting.
- Quitting smoking may be hard but not impossible and remember where there is a will there's a way.
Check out the information below to view the list of Bad Effects of Smoking.
Harmful Effects of Smoking
- The harmful health effects of smoking cigarettes presented in the list below only begin to convey the long term side effects of smoking. Quitting makes sense for many reasons but simply put "smoking is bad for your health".
- Smoking Kills - Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking cigarettes. One in two-lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age.
- Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers.
- The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.
- This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs
- Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.
- Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.
- Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
- Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain of smoking effects on the body often causes years of suffering. Emphysema is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and suffer lung and heart failure.
- Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.
- Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers.
- Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which lead to heart attack.
- Smoking causes around one in five deaths from heart disease.
- In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease are due to smoking.
- Cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight, prematurity, spontaneous abortion, and perinatal mortality in humans, which has been referred to as the fetal tobacco syndrome.
How Smoking Affects the Body
There's hardly a part of the human body that's not affected by the chemicals in the cigarettes you smoke. Let's take a tour of your body to look at how smoking affects it.
As a smoker, you're at risk for cancer of the mouth. Tobacco smoke can also cause gum disease, tooth decay, and bad breath. The teeth become unsightly and yellow. Smokers may experience frequent headaches, lack of oxygen and narrowed blood vessels to the brain can lead to strokes. Moving down to your chest, smoke passes through the bronchi or breathing tubes. Hydrogen cyanide and other chemicals in the smoke attack the lining of the bronchi, inflaming them and causing that chronic smoker's cough. Because the bronchi are weakened, you're more likely to get bronchial infections. Mucus secretion in your lungs is impaired, also leading to chronic coughing. Smokers are 10 times as likely to get lung cancer and emphysema as nonsmokers. Just have a look at the lungs of a smoker and a non-smoker in the picture below, the difference is clear.
The effects of smoking on your heart are devastating. Nicotine raises blood pressure and makes the blood clot more easily. Carbon monoxide robs the blood of oxygen and leads to the development of cholesterol deposits on the artery walls. All of these effects add up to an increased risk of heart attack. In addition, the poor circulation resulting from cholesterol deposits can cause strokes, loss of circulation in fingers and toes and impotence.
The digestive system is also affected. The tars in smoke can trigger cancer of the esophagus and throat. Smoking causes increased stomach acid secretion, leading to heartburn and ulcers. Smokers have higher rates of deadly pancreatic cancer. Many of the carcinogens from cigarettes are excreted in the urine where their presence can cause bladder cancer, which is often fatal. High blood pressure from smoking can damage the kidneys.
The health effects of smoking have results we can measure;
- 40% percent of men who are heavy smokers will die before they reach retirement age, as compared to only 18 percent of nonsmokers.
- Women who smoke face an increased risk of cervical cancer and pregnant women who smoke take a chance with the health of their unborn babies.
But the good news is that when you quit smoking your body begins to repair itself. Ten years after you quit, your body has repaired most of the damage smoking caused. Those who wait until cancer or emphysema has set in are not so lucky - these conditions are usually fatal. It's one more reason to take the big step and quit smoking now.
Many smokers do not realize that there are treatment programs designed to help them quit the bad habit of smoking. | <urn:uuid:49393598-ae81-4705-83d2-3ea34e0e55b8> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.knowledgepublisher.com/article/222/disadvantages-of-smoking-bad-effects-of-smoking.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335504.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930181143-20220930211143-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.951993 | 1,899 | 3.28125 | 3 |
FortiGate, pfSense and MikroTik: How Firewalls Work and Which One to Choose
The choice of the right firewall might be really tough; it depends on how you need to filter the traffic and what your security requirements are. To make it easier for you, we jotted down how the firewalls work, including the differences between pfSense, MikroTik and FortiGate solutions which are all provided by the MasterDC. We also got together some practical advice on what to be careful about when making the choice.
Firewall is an inseparable part both of company IT and personal computers. It is useful at any internet communication involving two networks with different level of security and reliability. Firewalls separate those safely and facilitates filtration of all the traffic flowing into the secured network.
When filtering, a check on traffic is conducted and the decision whether to let it into a protected network is made. It is just the means by which individual firewalls decide on non/safety of certain traffic that draws the line between them.
A reference model of seven-level architecture might come in handy when illustrating computer and telecommunication networks. Each level has its functions necessary for communication clearly defined. Firewalls differ from each other particularly in the level on which the traffic is filtered.
Firewalls Based on the Ways of Traffic Filtration
Older firewall versions control solely traffic source and its target. Target IP addresses and ports are controlled on the network level. Firewall thus blocks the traffic based on the fact from which node and/or network it is coming from.
Nonetheless, data for transfer are segmented into smaller parts, so-called packets, of which each and every one bears in itself only a piece of information about the character of the data. Hence a complete message is assembled in the final destination, i.e. on the receiver’s part; that is why the firewall investigating only the control information (otherwise source and target) can hardly discover whether or not does the message contain any threats. Another problem is the fact that origin of the packet might be falsified easily. In order for the firewall to recognise a harmful packet content, it must be able to search for the associations between individual packets.
Donno What to Choose?
Nechte to na nás. V nabídce MasterDC máme firewally se základními i pokročilými funkcemi. S výběrem řešení či jejich kombinací vám poradíme a připravíme jej přímo pro váš server nebo interní firemní síť.
More advanced firewalls, i.e. the second generation of firewalls, inspect packets on transport layers and keep track of the connection state (stateful inspection) unless they gain sufficient amount of information. Second generation firewalls are able to recognise whether the incoming packet is a part of an existing connection or the beginning of the new one. It is not exceptional though that the packet is not involved in any connection. Some of DoS (Denial of Service) attacks strategically increase the number of individually incoming packets in order to overload the firewall.
So as to reveal the attack, the DoS must approach all other packets with awareness of the previous attack; it must, in a way, ‘remember’ its state which is why these firewalls are well-known as ‘stateful firewalls’. However, fundamental transfer mechanisms are arranged independently, regardless the processing of the previous request, which is the reason why the context between packets disappears.
Hidden threats are most efficiently revealed in the application layer, in which the packets might be inspected in more detail, i.e. not only where they are coming from, but also where they are aiming to and what the character of the data, they are transferring, is. Firewall that inspects the packet in the application layer works in the application gate (proxy) and is able to estimate whether the packet is attempting to bypass the gate using protocol on the allowed port or whether it uses protocol for wrong purposes. The above mentioned solution is far more demanding on the hardware though, has higher latency and requests are processed slower.
The most sophisticated firewalls are assigned as the next-generation firewalls. They combine the above mentioned functions and, furthermore, they also implement the so-called ‘deep inspection’. These firewalls thus, in comparison with stateful and application firewalls, inspect the whole packet and its content in very much detail, and thus represent an efficient protection against malware attacks and other external threats. A precise list of functions in these devices does not actually exist since it is an advanced and flexible commercial solution.
|Packet firewalls||Low performance, low price and fast filtration.||Surface control, does not control the application layer and protocols, does not authenticate the user.||Higher vulnerability – does not check data contained in packets.|
|Stateful firewalls||They control the entire connection, including the data contained in the packets.||They do not authenticate users and may be subject to DoS attacks.||They provide a standard level of protection.|
|Application firewalls||Networks completely separate and ensure the anonymity of the user. They are not subject to geolocation restrictions.||They are not compatible with all network protocols, require additional configuration, and can adversely affect performance.||If configured right, they provide high web app and server protection.|
|Next-generation firewalls||In-depth packet analysis, spam filtering and control of individual applications.||Higher price, require configuration for proper functionality. We recommend using a specialist.||They provide a very high level of protection.|
Shall I Go for a Software or Hardware Firewall?
Except for making the decision on how detailed the traffic filtration must be, you must also focus on one important question. Do you want to install the firewall on the individual devices themwelves or do you prefer to purchase a hardware variety so that the firewall sources in the internal network get separated?
Take into account that the software variety will have to utilise a certain RAM and CPU part of the device and thus might reduce its performance. If you want the firewall to protect several devices, it is necessary to implement it, configure it and update it separately. When installed on the device, the firewall can better distinguish individual programs during in/out-coming filtration procedure
If as a hardware, the firewall is separated from the internal network and, in contrast to software, has its own sources. It filters data which leave and come into the internal network, not the data flowing among the devices involved in the network. For vast IT infrastructures and networks, a hardware firewall is particularly convenient. The configuration and maintenance is conducted in one place, but at the same time requires, to some extent, professional knowledge.
MikroTik: Stateful Firewall as Hardware
MikroTik company develops so-called RouterOS that involves firewall as well. It has its own RouterBOARD that might be utilised as an active network element. An efficient router with RouterOS (based on Linux) supports, except for routing, a VPN server (Virtual Private Network) and the above mentioned firewall.
RouterOS firewall belongs to the category of stateful firewalls hence it can reveal packets that are not involved in the connection and are not reliable. MikroTik firewall filters IP addresses, port protocols, network interfaces, source MAC addresses and TCP options (Transmission Control Protocol).
Having its own hardware (RouterBOARD), the RouterOS guarantees high performance and stronger resistance to overload. All configuration and maintenance are thus conducted centrally via SSH, Windbox program, which copies text interface, or graphical interface available via web browser.
PfSense: Software Stateful Firewall
Similar to RouterOS firewall, a stateful firewall open source pfSense software filters the traffic. PfSense, the same as MikroTik, remembers the information about previously controlled connections, which is why it is able to check other packets easier and faster. Data are stored in the chart of states that involves for instance the source, protocol, and port number, which is sufficient for the specific connection identification in question.
However, it is not just firewall that pfSense works with; as with the RouterBOARD, it can work as LAN, WAN and/or VPN router, hotspot or DNS server. It can be in hand in port forwarding and Network Address Translation (NAT).
Considering software alternative, it is highly flexible and scalable. The resources for firewall operation can be gradually in/decreased as needed. Hence you run the program on the one device, but you may deploy it on the server itself and protect the network to more extent.
PfSense is based on FreeBSD, UNIX OS, which is the reason why it is compatible with those systems. Not only may it be installed on any hardware that meets the conditions of FreeBSD Hardware Notes, but also in virtual environments (VMware, KVM, and others). The system is managed simply via the user interface.
FortiGate: Next-Generation Firewall for Specific Purposes
FortiGate firewall made by Fortinet uses an artificial intelligence and machine learning for a deep packet inspection, i.e. a specialised control of more complicated protocols.
Due to automatic updates from Fortinet cloud, the firewall is able to recognise not only familiar attacks, but also the state-of-the-art viruses and other content threats of the malware hitherto unknown. Familiar attacks and harmful codes of worm type are identified before a specific device and/or network is affected, and are mitigated automatically.
Fortigate firewalls are available in hardware alternatives suitable particularly for company networks and/or interconnection of subsidiaries, since they can handle greater amounts of data-flow. For clusters and infrastructure, which must be approached physically, for instance if you have a part of your IT in Amazon Web Services or Azure, software Fortigate firewall version are available.
Except for the next-generation firewalls, the company also provides specialised application firewalls to protect web apps (Web Application Firewall) or email (Antispam filter).
|Comfortable web management||NO||YES||YES|
|Zone firewall / IP filtration||NO||YES||YES|
|Network Address Translation||YES||YES||YES|
|Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IPS/IDS)||NO||NO||YES|
|Botnet IP Blockage / Domain||NO||NO||YES|
|Unknown malware identification||NO||NO||YES|
|Malware outbreak identification||NO||NO||YES|
|Text document control||NO||NO||YES|
What to focus on when selecting a firewall?
A final choice does not have to include solely one firewall. Different types might be combined in order to form a multilayer solution for a stronger protection. When making a decision, the size of the IT structure, for which the security solution is being chosen, is the key factor.
Firstly, consider whether you want to install software firewall on each device individually or whether to implement an independent hardware. To separate firewall in an independent hardware is more costly and you will need an expert who has gained some experience with firewall management.
We also recommend focusing on the packets-per-second and Mbps permeability. Based on this data you will choose a final hardware and software configuration. Particularly concerning greater data flow, a higher-performance hardware is necessary. Do not forget the differences between the traffic intensity in different day and night hours.
Number and type of firewall gates should reflect network security requirements. For the clients who require most from security and work with confidential data, we most often implement next-generation firewalls.
Firewalls are inherently very flexible, and with proper configuration and maintenance, non-commercial variants such as pfSense will also protect you well. Take advantage of the opportunity to combine several solutions, thanks to which you will turn your IT into an impenetrable fortress. And if you are unsure about the choice or configuration of the firewall, contact us. | <urn:uuid:b688bc87-41ab-4259-a979-2fd0b9a07432> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.masterdc.com/blog/fortigate-pfsense-and-mikrotik-how-firewalls-work-and-which-one-to-choose/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338073.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007112411-20221007142411-00605.warc.gz | en | 0.897077 | 2,665 | 3.015625 | 3 |
An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to estimate whether there might be water on the seven earth-sized planets orbiting the nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.
The results suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbour substantial amounts of water.
This includes the three planets within the habitable zone of the star, lending further weight to the possibility that they may indeed be habitable.
On 22 February 2017 astronomers announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, 40 light-years away .
This makes TRAPPIST-1 the planetary system with the largest number of Earth-sized planets discovered so far.
Following up on the discovery, an international team of scientists led by the Swiss astronomer Vincent Bourrier from the Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system.
“Ultraviolet radiation is an important factor in the atmospheric evolution of planets,” explains Bourrier.
“As in our own atmosphere, where ultraviolet sunlight breaks molecules apart, ultraviolet starlight can break water vapour in the atmospheres of exoplanets into hydrogen and oxygen.”
While lower-energy ultraviolet radiation breaks up water molecules — a process called photodissociation — ultraviolet rays with more energy (XUV radiation) and X-rays heat the upper atmosphere of a planet, which allows the products of photodissociation, hydrogen and oxygen, to escape.
As it is very light, hydrogen gas can escape the exoplanets’ atmospheres and be detected around the exoplanets with Hubble, acting as a possible indicator of atmospheric water vapour .
The observed amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by TRAPPIST-1 indeed suggests that the planets could have lost gigantic amounts of water over the course of their history.
This is especially true for the innermost two planets of the system, TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, which receive the largest amount of ultraviolet energy.
“Our results indicate that atmospheric escape may play an important role in the evolution of these planets,” summarises Julien de Wit, from MIT, USA, co-author of the study.
The inner planets could have lost more than 20 Earth-oceans-worth of water during the last eight billion years.
However, the outer planets of the system — including the planets e, f and g which are in the habitable zone — should have lost much less water, suggesting that they could have retained some on their surfaces .
The calculated water loss rates as well as geophysical water release rates also favour the idea that the outermost, more massive planets retain their water.
However, with the currently available data and telescopes no final conclusion can be drawn on the water content of the planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1.
“While our results suggest that the outer planets are the best candidates to search for water with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, they also highlight the need for theoretical studies and complementary observations at all wavelengths to determine the nature of the TRAPPIST-1 planets and their potential habitability,” concludes Bourrier.
The planets were discovered using: the ground-based TRAPPIST-South at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile; the orbiting NASA Spitzer Space Telescope; TRAPPIST-North in Morocco; ESO’s HAWK-I instrument on the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile; the 3.8-metre UKIRT in Hawaii; the 2-metre Liverpool and 4-metre William Herschel telescopes at La Palma in the Canary Islands; and the 1-metre SAAO telescope in South Africa.
This part of an atmosphere is called the exosphere. Earth’s exosphere consists mainly of hydrogen with traces of helium, carbon dioxide and atomic oxygen.
Results show that each of these planets have may have lost less than three Earth-oceans of water. | <urn:uuid:858f3fed-e3d3-4f9a-85c4-895a83c387bb> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://debuglies.com/2017/09/03/first-hints-of-possible-water-content-trappist-1-planets/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334974.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927002241-20220927032241-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.904252 | 874 | 4.25 | 4 |
HUMAN measures a variety of signals to determine whether traffic is valid or invalid. Based on these signals, invalid traffic (also known as IVT) is further categorized as General IVT or Sophisticated IVT. In some cases, HUMAN will return additional information about the specific signals that drove our decisioning.
These examples are meant to illustrate some of the differences between IVT types. However, this is only a subset of all possible invalid behaviors and tactics and is not a complete list.
General IVT (GIVT)
Traffic originating from servers in data centers whose IPs are linked to invalid activity (such as non-human traffic). This traffic usually originates from known data center IPs that are included in an industry list, such as the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) Data Center IP List.
Example: TAG Data Center IP List
A program or automated script that requests web content, but is not malicious and declares itself as non-human through a variety of standard identification mechanisms. These crawlers are usually included in the IAB International Spiders and Bots List.
Example: IAB Spiders and Bots List
Traffic that exhibits one or more attributes (e.g., user cookies) associated with known irregular patterns, such as auto-refresh traffic or duplicate clicks.
Example: Throttlers, duplicate or expired clicks
Sophisticated IVT (SIVT)
A program or automated script that requests web content without user involvement and without declaring itself as a crawler. These programs and scripts are often used for malicious purposes.
A request for content that is different from the actual content being supplied, including requests where the content is rendered to a different website or application, device, or other target (such as geography).
Examples: Spoofed measurement, domain spoofing, emulators masquerading
Invalid traffic that cannot be classified using any of the other categories listed here, or invalid traffic discovered using sensitive techniques that HUMAN cannot disclose.
Examples: Machine learning models, sensitive invalid traffic | <urn:uuid:fd2baf6d-81af-4598-b3d1-ac9af470e2d7> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://support.humansecurity.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405577084819-IVT-Taxonomy-Marketing- | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335514.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001003954-20221001033954-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.906317 | 448 | 2.96875 | 3 |
An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a software product or device that detects unauthorized and malicious activity in a computer network or on a separate host.
An IDS’s purpose is to detect cybercriminal attempts to penetrate the infrastructure and to generate security alerts (it has no response functions such as blocking unwanted activity), which it then passes to a SIEM system for further processing.
Intrusion detection systems differ from classic firewalls in that the latter rely on a set of static rules and simply restrict traffic between devices or network segments without sending notifications. A further development of the IDS concept is the intrusion prevention system (IPS), which not only logs but also blocks threats.
Intrusion detection systems are usually classified by their scope of application:
- A network intrusion detection system (NIDS) analyzes network traffic for malicious activity. Unlike firewalls, a NIDS monitors both incoming and internal network traffic.
- A host intrusion detection systems (HIDS) monitors the operation of individual devices. Typically, the HIDS tracks the status of all files on an endpoint and informs the administrator of any deleted or modified system objects. This type of IDS additionally scans all data packets sent to or from the device.
- A protocol-based intrusion detection system (PIDS) scans data transmitted over HTTP/HTTPS. Such systems are usually deployed to protect Web servers and monitor traffic flowing between user devices and online resources.
- An application protocol-based intrusion detection system (APIDS) monitors packets transmitted over a specific application-layer protocol, for example, accessing a SQL database.
- A hybrid intrusion detection system combines two or more of the above types (for example, NIDS and HIDS) for all-around detection of malicious activity.
How intrusion detection systems work
An IDS detects malicious activity using at least one of two methods:
- Signature-based detection, a technique that compares the data it tracks against known patterns of attack signatures and generates a security alert if they match. This method helps identify intrusions that rely on previously known penetration methods.
- Anomaly-based detection, or the matching of activity in the network or on the host against a model of proper and trusted behavior of monitored elements. The system logs deviations to identify new threats. | <urn:uuid:3ba4d5a0-bcb7-42a1-b6e0-16b3dffafdc9> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://encyclopedia.kaspersky.com/glossary/ids-intrusion-detection-system/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337428.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20221003164901-20221003194901-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.898351 | 467 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Technology moves at a breakneck pace, and at certain times, several elements merge, empowering businesses to use their computers in new and more sophisticated, more efficient ways. Such a change is now taking place with the emergence of edge computing.
Historically, businesses employed Information Technology (IT) professionals who bought, installed, and maintained computer hardware, software, and networking equipment. Public cloud computing became popular because vendors, like SAP, took on infrastructure installation and maintenance. Edge is a third system deployment option. In this distributed computing model, some processing occurs near the physical location where data are created rather than on a data center server or in the cloud.
Why would a company be interested in such a model?
Traditionally, computer processing power has gotten smaller, moving from large mainframe systems to PCs and smartphones. Edge is the next iteration on that theme, usually relying on intelligent sensors, dubbed the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These products generate, collect, and correlate data increasingly in near real-time. Because these devices place intelligence in new locations, they offer corporations new capabilities, ranging from monitoring a person’s heart rate to measuring the wear and tear on a factory floor conveyor belt.
Due to the emergence of technology, the volume of data collected by companies is growing at a mind-boggling rate. 55.7 billion connected IoT devices will generate 73.1 zettabytes (ZB, a zettabyte is 1 trillion gigabytes) of data by 2025, up from 18.3 ZB in 2019, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).
As data volumes grow, new challenges arise. Moving all of the information from the source to the destination involves adding a great deal of bandwidth and processing power to enterprise networks. Edge does some (most in some instances) of the processing close to the origination point and sends only consolidated data to the data center.
Edge delivers many benefits
- Cut latency. Time is needed for data to travel from a device to where analysis is performed and to return with the results. Moving information closer to the endpoint lowers response times.
- Reduce network bandwidth. Sending consolidated information rather than a complete data set chews up less bandwidth.
- Lower network costs. Networking costs drop because companies transmit less information.
- Support mission-critical applications. Processing is so quick that enterprises can deploy real-time applications that demand instantaneous results.
- Gain offline availability. There is no guarantee that the network is always available or reliable with other deployment options. An edge system processes information even if the enterprise network is down.
- Meet compliance regulations. New mandates, like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), limit where information can be stored, and less movement means fewer potential problems.
Many emerging applications could benefit from this design, like autonomous cars, augmented or virtual reality, industrial automation, predictive maintenance, and video monitoring. Because of these benefits, the edge’s future appears bright. In 2018, only 10 percent of corporate data were created outside of legacy systems or the cloud, but in 2025, about 75 percent of all data will be built at the edge, according to Gartner.
Computer technology is constantly evolving. Cloud has become an increasingly popular alternative to legacy computing. Edge offers companies a new variation on computing deployment models, one that fits many emerging applications and seems destined to become an essential element in building enterprise systems. | <urn:uuid:da24efeb-c38b-4d81-bb5b-326c8b35e8e0> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://e3zine.com/edge-emerges-as-third-computing-option/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337531.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005011205-20221005041205-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.92139 | 705 | 2.875 | 3 |
The National Retail Federation (NRF) has published several updates on the impact that the coronavirus (COVID-19) may have on customers and workers in supply chains and retail locations. In addition to the NRF updates, many businesses are receiving related communications from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. State Department, and several other government agencies. Even more messages may be coming from business networks, family members, and friends.
There are many types of human coronaviruses, but COVID-19 is a new virus that has not previously been observed in humans. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins CSSE, there are currently over 91,000 confirmed cases across the globe. As you can imagine, there are a lot of email messages and websites sharing information about COVID-19.
Because of this overwhelming amount of information that you will be getting through email and other channels, it’s a good time to brush up on phishing and malware attacks. Criminals always find opportunity in tragedy, and this is no different. So far, we've seen a handful of attackers posing as authorities and using the Coronavirus as the basis of a scam.
Some of the most common scams are fake cures and fake fundraising messages. The World Health Organization and the Better Business Bureau have warned against both of these. There are currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines, and when a cure or vaccine becomes available, you probably shouldn't try to purchase it through an email link or website. These scams aren't limited to just email either; attackers could try to scam you with a phone call, text, fax, or other methods.
Criminals are also using the COVID-19 in malware attacks. A Coronavirus-themed spam campaign used malicious macros in Microsoft Office attachments that delivered the Emotet Trojan to the desktop. This campaign impersonated a disability welfare service provider and targeted users in Japan. Newer attacks impersonating the CDC are spamming the U.S. and UK with several types of threats in addition to Emotet.Attackers are using #Coronavirus #COVID19 to trick people into buying fake cures or downloading #malware. Are they impersonating your brand in their scams? #retail #supplychain #DMARCClick To Tweet
The attacks we’ve mentioned so far have assumed that the attacker is impersonating some other authority while trying to trick you. As a retailer, you have to be prepared for the possibility of an attacker trying to impersonate your brand to trick others. If you offer pharmaceuticals or health products, this is the perfect time for an attacker to pretend to be you.
COVID-19 may hit your business through extended supplier shutdowns, travel delays, or the worst-case scenario of a local outbreak. It can also cause damage through malware attacks that infect your network and POS systems, or phishing scams that cost you thousands of dollars.
The FTC consumer alert on Coronavirus scams has a handful of tips on how to protect yourself from these scams. Barracuda also provides retail cybersecurity solutions that protect your company and employees from malware, impersonation attacks, and more.
Christine Barry is Senior Chief Blogger and Social Media Manager at Barracuda. Prior to joining Barracuda, Christine was a field engineer and project manager for K12 and SMB clients for over 15 years. She holds several technology and project management credentials, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Master of Business Administration. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Connect with Christine on LinkedIn here. | <urn:uuid:e7fd1e8b-d4a1-47d0-9035-0865a1ff2b31> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://blog.barracuda.com/2020/03/03/retailers-beware-coronavirus-scams-are-popping-up-everywhere/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335365.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929194230-20220929224230-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.946631 | 748 | 2.5625 | 3 |
What is Sandboxing?
Sandboxing refers to a method in which you use an isolated environment, or a “sandbox,” for testing. Within the sandbox, you can initiate the execution of a suspicious program or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that may be attached to an email. After you access the URL, execute the program or click on the attachment, and you can observe what happens.
With a sandbox, the rest of your network is shielded from the negative effects of anything operating within the sandboxed environment. It is important to make sure the sandbox is secure and that it provides an accurate representation of the performance of the central processing unit (CPU) of your servers.
Sandboxing is very effective when mounting a defense against zero-day threats, which are threats that have not been seen before or match any known malware on file. Even though regular email filters can scan emails to detect malicious senders, file types, and URLs, zero-day threats pop up all the time, and they can be missed by traditional filtration. Sandboxing provides a greater level of protection, particularly when a malicious email slips by the filters put in place by your provider.
When sandboxing is used for testing, it creates a safe place to install and execute a program, particularly a suspicious one, without exposing the rest of your system. If the application contains malicious code, it can run within the sandbox without impacting any other components of your network.
What Are Sandbox Environments?
A sandbox environment is a safe testing ground that isolates code that needs to be tested or experiments that have the potential to affect other aspects of your network.
Sandboxing can take several different forms. Even though some companies use sandboxing only for testing, it is also a valuable tool for several other important objectives. One such objective is project integration. Integrating more than one build or aspects of a project can be a challenge. However, with sandboxing, you can check for compatibility to make sure the solution is being properly developed.
Sandboxing also allows your clients and customers to use new products and features. For example, you can execute sales demonstrations within a sandboxed environment. These can include videos and other multimedia, and with a properly equipped sandbox, the customer can take away an experience identical to what they would have when connected to your actual system. Sandboxing allows your company to interactively engage with both new clients and customers already in your portfolio. They can try out your software at their own pace, no matter where they are.
You can also perform quality assurance (QA) testing within a sandbox environment. Using sandbox software to optimize your solution enables you to isolate problematic elements of the code and then troubleshoot them. The sandbox protects the rest of your system while giving you the chance to execute code in an ecosystem much like what the end-user would experience.
Cloud-based Sandboxing vs. Appliance-based Sandboxing
Cloud-based software has risen in popularity because it can open the door for remote working opportunities, lower costs, and backup and recovery options. Similar to other IT operations, performing sandboxing in the cloud comes with some benefits.
Cloud-based sandboxing shares the same, general sandbox meaning. It consists of using a sandboxing environment to test downloads, URLs, and code—but in the cloud instead of using on-site hardware. When a sandboxing environment is in the cloud, it is kept apart from your computer or any of the devices on your network.
When you run suspicious files on your computer or in-house network, you run a higher risk of contamination. Companies that want to use sandboxing may invest in expensive equipment that emulates their primary setup to keep the code or files separate from their primary IT resources. However, with cloud-based sandboxing, the cloud keeps your on-premises equipment protected from any potential fallout from malware.
On the other hand, sandboxing on physical appliances involves examining files, URLs, and code on your on-premises hardware without exposing the rest of your system to potential danger. This could pose a challenge for remote workers because once they leave the office, they are physically separated from the sandbox environment, so any testing they would be doing would have to stop.
Another challenge raised by appliance-based sandboxing is making sure malware does not slip by the system. Some malware can conceal itself inside secure sockets layer (SSL) traffic, a networking protocol used to secure connections between web clients and servers. Unless all SSL traffic is inspected, there is a chance threats could slip through and reach your network. However, both cloud-based and appliance-based sandboxing can protect your network from zero-day threats.
CyberCapture vs. Sandboxing
When figuring out "what is sandboxing,” know that there are some unavoidable similarities between it and CyberCapture. There are also some key differences.
Cyber criminals use efficient, inventive attack methods to infiltrate a network and impact as many users as they can—as quickly as they can. CyberCapture can detect files that seem malicious and are unknown, then hold them so they can be further analyzed. This happens within a cloud environment to make sure code or files that could harm your network or device are not able to reach it. Malware that uses encryption to conceal its real intentions can be detected by CyberCapture, which then clears the fake code, revealing the real commands and instructions underneath. Then, the code can be labeled as either unsafe or safe and put under quarantine so it cannot be run by the device or affect your network in any way.
Cloud sandboxing is different from CyberCapture in that it does not have to be executed using automation. A cloud sandboxing environment can be run by anyone on the IT team that wants to test out an application or file while keeping it isolated from a specific device. In this way, a file the team does not trust can be examined to figure out how it works or the dangers it poses to a specific device or the rest of the system.
While inside the cloud sandbox, applications can be run and files can be tested. When the sandbox is closed, they are discarded, eliminating the risk of threat.
Benefits of Sandboxing
Sandboxing comes with several benefits that can enhance the safety of your network, as well as offer new options for accomplishing your company's objectives—IT and otherwise.
- Create and deploy environments: If you use sandboxes, it is easy to create and deploy environments at scale. A sandbox gives you the flexibility to test different versions and new lines of code.
- Gain access to advanced networking and support: With the right kind of sandbox architecture, you can use advanced networking features and test them out to see how they may fit in with, or improve, your current system.
- Enhance collaboration: With a sandbox environment, you can deploy an application and grant access to people from a variety of departments. They can then use the sandbox and "play” with the application. They can leave feedback for the IT team, management, or stakeholders in other departments. If teams are allowed to use an application and take notes on their experiences for an extended time, their findings can be used to better inform the next iteration.
- Save your company money: Instead of sourcing, purchasing, staffing, and maintaining your own in-house development labs, you can use cloud-based sandboxing instead. The money you would have spent on procuring, running, and maintaining the equipment can be invested in other projects to support company objectives.
- Prepare for future attacks: When a threat is contained within the sandbox environment, it is quarantined and available for study by the in-house IT team or external cybersecurity experts. A careful study of the threat may reveal patterns that can be used to identify and stop future attacks. You can also use the knowledge gained from dissecting the threat to identify vulnerabilities in the network.
Why is Sandboxing Important?
Because the nature and effectiveness of zero-day threats continue to evolve, a company needs a strategy for the protection of their data and programs. This is particularly true when it comes to threats that can slip by malware- and virus-detecting email filters. Sandboxing is one of the best tools for ensuring that your organization stays ahead of bad actors wishing to access or compromise your system.
Whether sandboxing is executed in the cloud or on an appliance, it provides crucial protection. Some threats, for example, may not crash your system or cause overtly noticeable effects, but they can slowly degrade the performance of your overall network, slowing down processes and wasting valuable employee time. Through sandboxing, these kinds of threats can be avoided, keeping your system running how it should.
How Fortinet Can Help—Fortinet Sandbox Software
The Fortinet Sandbox security solution provides users with a malware sandbox. This is a system designed to confine the actions of a specific application to an isolated environment. For example, a Word document infected with malware, once opened, can infect your computer—and even spread to the rest of the network. However, with a malware sandbox, the malware is kept inside the environment, quarantined away from the rest of the computer.
The Fortinet sandbox solution then analyzes the behavior of the suspicious object and how it interacts with other applications to discover its malicious intent. In case the malwar /content/fortinet-com/en_us/products/sandbox/fortisandbox.html e is activated and attempts to inflict damage, any damage done is confined within the Fortinet sandbox.
This is done using a detection engine that uses both static and dynamic analysis. The Fortinet sandbox can also emulate a collection of operating systems, such as macOS, Linux, Windows, and SCADA/ICS, as well as applications that run on them. The Fortinet sandbox security seamlessly integrates with other security controls, such as next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) and web application firewalls (WAFs).
Further, as threats are detected, the Fortinet Sandbox software, FortiSandbox, reports and shares intelligence gathered regarding each one, making the whole system safer for all users connected to your organization. | <urn:uuid:a6c19046-4f70-4c07-8c9e-55189b5ace11> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/what-is-sandboxing | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335365.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929194230-20220929224230-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.936317 | 2,079 | 2.75 | 3 |
The ability to manage citizen expectations and bridge the digital divide are key to integrating smart city pilot programs into new communities, experts say.
The challenges of integrating new technology into public-sector solutions and bridging the digital divide were the hot-button issues during a July 13 expert panel on smart cities.
“When technology moves at a pace that the government is not going to move … we are most certainly going to be leaving people behind,” Jeremy Goldberg, Microsoft’s director of Critical infrastructure, said during the virtual even hosted by Protocol.
Blending emerging technologies with the existing infrastructure is the key to sustainably expanding the scope of what smart cities can do, Goldberg said. The panelists largely agreed with the notion that it is not the technology that defines the smart city solution, but the way in which its features can be incorporated into a built environment and how intuitive it is for the public to use.
Establishing trust with communities on smart city pilot programs is also critical for successful integration of new technology, said Jordan Davis, executive director of Smart Columbus, the smart mobility-based initiative funded by the city’s winning of the Department of Transportation’s 2016 Smart City Challenge. Any failure to deliver on residents’ expectations can have a detrimental impact, she said.
One of the strategies Columbus used to build trust was to start small.
“Emerging technology has a lot of broken promises in history,” Davis said, so the city started out with “a very low-risk use case.” The team used public and private funding to run an autonomous shuttles pilot that provided free rides to museums so both the city and residents could learn how well the technology worked.
Despite the problems that were surfaced in that pilot, Davis’ Smart Columbus innovation lab was able to expand the project to a larger neighborhood and still balance performance expectations.
Because smart cities depend on high-speed connectivity, the importance of access to reliable broadband is key to success. However, gaps in digital connectivity have been amplified by the pandemic and highlighted the need for equity, panelists said. Lower income families and those in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure often had to rely on Wi-Fi hotspots at local businesses to for children to complete school work.
“Ensuring every resident has access to the internet, that's the important, human-centered way of communicating the connectivity value,” Davis said. “Digitalization, which is a slightly different take on connectivity, is really the modernization of the community experience.” | <urn:uuid:94bd1eb4-ab6d-4ce4-b8b5-1fdebbd1e0a2> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://gcn.com/state-local/2021/07/how-smart-cities-gain-traction/315614/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335530.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001035148-20221001065148-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.959916 | 523 | 2.515625 | 3 |
When oil from the Deepwater Horizon gushed into the water faster than agencies could report on it, an online mapping tool increased data access for responders and the public.
When BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, oil gushed into the water faster than agencies could respond. And the problem wasn’t just stopping the leak, it was informing the public about extent of the damage and progress on fixing it.
“The public imaging of this really wasn’t a home run for the Coast Guard at day one,” Adm. Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, admitted in a recent keynote address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
So the Coast Guard worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration to develop the Emergency Response Management Application (ERMA), an online mapping tool that integrates both static and real-time data in an easy-to-use format for environmental responders and decision makers.
By putting the data “out on the Internet,” Zukunft said, “people could navigate through it and not wait for the next CNN news cast” to find out what was happening with the oil spill.
Before long, the joint mapping application exploded. “[W]ithin 12 hours we had 200,000 hits…The next day it was two-and-a-half million. And then the public trust level went up as transparency of information went up as well,” he said.
The application was subsequently adapted for oil Alaskan oil spills in 2012.
"Arctic ERMA builds on the lessons we learned on usability, data management and data visualization from the Deepwater Horizon/BP disaster," said Amy Merten, then with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration.
Beyond visualization of oil spills, NOAA’s Data Integration, Visualization, Exploration and Reporting tool, or DIVER, manages and integrates data from the myriad sources that collected information during the five years following the Deepwater Horizon spill.
“NOAA pledged from the start of the Deepwater event to be as transparent as possible with the data collected,” said NOAA Administrator Kathryn D. Sullivan. “The DIVER data warehouse approach builds upon that original pledge and is another significant step in making NOAA’s environmental data available for the research community, resource managers and the general public.”
NEXT STORY: Beltway bots: Virginia to test self-driving cars | <urn:uuid:374c760f-1e36-454e-8148-93788e113825> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://gcn.com/data-analytics/2015/06/not-just-for-analysis-visualizations-support-transparency/318827/?oref=gcn-next-story | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337322.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002115028-20221002145028-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.93464 | 522 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Personal experience informs everyday decisions. And the wiser heads among us combat any individual biases that might have influenced their thinking by seasoning judgement with other, more diverse opinions to enable faster, more accurate solutions.
The interesting thing is that this kind of collective intelligence is not an exclusively human trait. Machines do it, too.
The collective computer brain
It hardly needs saying but individual algorithms have strengths and weaknesses. Some are better at dealing with sparse data sets, some handle only numeric inputs, and others consume text like nobody’s business - each attribute colouring the quality of the algorithmic prediction. In the same way, the data source and wrangling method can give one algorithm a clear advantage over others. Not surprisingly then, applying multiple algorithms in concert (aka Ensemble Modelling) can enhance performance considerably.
In fact, more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms such as neural networks make use of collective intelligence (little networked machines working together towards a common goal).
One hand washes the other
Okay, we know that collective intelligence works with humans and that it can be leveraged between multiple algorithms. But should application be kept within one population or broadened out to include human and machine together? Humans and machines working together can create unique value. For example, when it comes to detecting cancer, medical-imaging analytics have proven to be more accurate than the deductive powers of human pathologists. But a pathologist’s input to image analytic algorithms can help to assess how advanced the cancer is.
So, machine and human decision making are on a par. However, the machine’s ability to automate allows businesses to make millions of decisions that would otherwise be impossible. Speed of execution is a huge benefit and a key differentiator for machine learning techniques.
The power of automation
KPMG predicts that part-automating the insurance-claims journey could cut processing times from months to minutes. Similarly, a SkyFuture drone operator and engineer in the oil industry can complete a rig inspection in five days instead of the eight weeks it usually takes.
Automation allows tens of thousands of decisions to run in parallel. And each business decision has a massive effect on the environment, markets, customer opinion, etc. Making sure a proposed decision is the best possible option requires the execution and observation of multiple decisions in parallel – a challenger methodology.
One vision; multiple viewpoints
The assessment of multiple decisions also benefits machine-learning algorithms. They learn from the positive and negative effects of decisions, altering predictions to mitigate or enhance particular outcomes.
In the field of sports science, analytics companies provide coaches with recommendations to improve the conditioning and performance of individual players. Following a single strategy would become predictable, so athletes are taught different techniques and approaches as part of a programme of continuous improvement.
Intelligent machines 2.0
Machine learning within business is in its infancy, e.g. we still need to manually create and feed algorithms to ensure precision. But before too long, AI will develop two-way interaction. Machines will help us challenge our biases by asking questions that require additional (or more precise) data. Currently, machines are limited by having to learn from the data we decide is relevant. The next wave of supercharged machine learning will be able to navigate its own learning programme. This human : machine partnership will benefit the c-suite considerably by freeing leaders from bias, automating run-of-the-mill management, and allowing them time to develop creative and insightful actions.
Through technological advances such as the cloud, computing power, and the application of data and analytics at scale, machine learning is now available to all. The real challenge for executives will be changing corporate and operational cultures to maximise the benefits of data-driven decision making.
Because human : machine collaboration is the key that’s going to unlock business intelligence for the foreseeable future. | <urn:uuid:c3df8544-c39f-47f9-825f-e0736f55b97f> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.teradata.com.cn/Blogs/Machine-Networks-%E2%80%93-Competitive-Strength-In-Numbers | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338280.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007210452-20221008000452-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.920119 | 787 | 3.265625 | 3 |
10 Benefits Of Laughter
Laughter dissolves tension, stress, anxiety, irritation, anger, grief, and depression. Like crying, laughter lowers inhibitions, allowing the release of pent-up emotions. After a hearty bout of laughter, you will experience a sense of well-being. Simply put, he who laughs, lasts. After all, if you can laugh at it, you can live with it. Remember, a person without a sense of humor is like a car without shock absorbers.
- Laughter is contagious. It not only makes people who laugh feel better, but also those who laugh with them.
- Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
- Laughter generally increases activity within the immune system. It also decreases stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity.
- Laughter is the best medicine, perhaps against heart disease. A study found that people with heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.
- Laughter is even equivalent to a small amount of exercise. It massages all the organs of the body, according to Dr. James Walsh.
- Laughter builds relationships. Laughter establishes?or restores?a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between two people, who literally take pleasure in the company of each other.
- Laughter disarms tension and stress. Shy people can make use of laughter to break subtle barriers in the way they project themselves to connect to others and express thoughts, feelings and ideas they otherwise would keep to themselves.
- Humor brings the balance we need to get through the turbulence of life comfortably.
- A sense of humor can help you accept the inevitable, rise to any challenge, handle the unexpected with ease, and come out of any difficulty smiling.
- Laughter adds spice to life; it is to life what cream is to a cake. | <urn:uuid:a83c6d51-da18-42bc-a95f-0e4a7afb4ff1> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.knowledgepublisher.com/article/230/10-benefits-of-laughter.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334620.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925225000-20220926015000-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.935423 | 414 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Change is always challenging, especially when a new technology is fighting the “novelty” perception.
Imagine a world where instead of pulling up Google Maps on your phone, you can visualize turn-by-turn directions in 3D from your contact lenses. Now imagine the same technology being employed to train the next generation of fighter pilots and Navy SEALs. Imagine making decisions based on information presented in the way we spent our lifetime perceiving in 3D. That’s where extended reality, or XR, innovation is heading, and the impact on the Department of Defense and federal/civilian agencies' practices will be transformational.
Extended reality is a broad term that encompasses immersive technologies across virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. This approach extends reality by simulating or adding to real-world scenarios via digital tools. It’s revolutionary because of how people perceive.
Traditionally people interface with information primarily in two dimensions—think classroom whiteboards, PowerPoint presentations and online video tutorials. XR technology is human-centered because it delivers information the way humans have always perceived the world throughout our lives: in 3D, not via spreadsheets and 2D pictures. XR provides users with the ability to see the problem from the same perspective through which they experience real life, enabling faster, more effective decision-making. Using headsets, eyewear, mobile devices and software, XR empowers people with a hands-on virtual experience to accelerate retention of skills and demonstrate capability faster than any other tool. Within three years, XR will be so ubiquitous that nearly everyone will have access to some sort of XR technology impacting their daily lives. But to realize the full value of XR, we have to leverage emerging technology to open up new opportunities and break down barriers to adoption.
A Perfect Match: XR + AI
One of the biggest advantages and opportunities XR delivers over traditional simulation technology is its ability to integrate with data analysis tools across artificial intelligence, machine learning and sophisticated analytics. Imagine a warfighter moving through a scenario where not only do they have a realistic 3D view of the battlespace, but are also viewing real-time intelligence data on adversary positioning and resource allocation through a single pane of glass. As they move through the XR environment, AI and ML tools dynamically update ever-changing data to inform decision-making. This is the future of multi-domain warfare, and it’s critical for personnel to prepare for decision support in these environments.
The other benefit is AI-directed learning. AI and ML are capable of providing different cues and scenarios based on user decisions. Personnel could go through XR modules that adapt to changing conditions depending on a host of variables, measuring effectiveness along the way while mitigating the risk of falling into negative learning experiences.
Overcoming the Barriers to Adoption: Mobility, Culture & Cost
Like any emerging technology, adoption requires proven value, ease-of-use and accessibility.
XR is still often viewed as a “novelty” technology within the DOD, and it will have to win over leadership in three primary areas to realize its full potential to transform human performance.
Far from the enormous, expensive simulation environments that the DOD has used for decades—think flight simulators—one of the huge benefits of XR software is that it’s flexible enough to be placed on a variety of form factors. But skeptics are still concerned that the fit, form and bulk of some of the devices, from headsets to eyewear, can hinder or physically limit users. The good news is that as technology progresses, mobility and ease-of-use are dramatically improving. There is a not-so-distant future where personnel each have XR glasses and contact lenses enabled by AI and ML, guiding them through immersive training scenarios. And existing headsets are getting lighter, more comfortable, more wireless and more mobile every day. Also, we should not limit XR platforms to just head-mounted displays; mobile smartphones with XR platforms are contributing to the ubiquity of XR, and we are just on the cusp of harnessing the potential.
Change is always challenging, especially when a new technology is fighting the “novelty” perception mentioned previously. The best way to prove the value of the technology is to show what it’s already done. The Air Force’s Pilot Training Next program has utilized augmented reality and virtual reality systems to significantly optimize overall pilot training time while improving retention. Using a digital classroom in which low-cost simulators replaced books, personnel learned at their own pace and embraced gamification techniques to optimize competency. It’s the type of success story that can go a long way toward educating leaders on the benefits of XR-powered training across speed and performance.
Lastly, industry has to find innovative ways to streamline costs and make the technology accessible to every DOD service member that needs it. XR has the reputation for being expensive, which is sometimes true, but price points are coming down quickly. XR is often much less expensive than sending personnel into the field for training for example, and industry continues to drive efficiencies across form factors and integrators provide risk mitigation strategies which aid in investment obsolescence in this exponentially improving environment. Even so, there is more work to be done.
We’re on the cusp of a sea change in immersive experiences aided by extended realities. Frost and Sullivan predicted that XR based technologies will be as ubiquitous as laptops by 2030, and pockets of the DOD are already leading the charge and realizing transformational mission benefits in retention, speed and performance. Industry has a responsibility to innovate and drive increased flexibility and accessibility to pave the way for a new world of increased performance aided by immersive experiences.
Bob Kleinhample is vice president of immersive technologies at SAIC. | <urn:uuid:6bd42ae4-4801-4cd2-953d-c34f14aa5b36> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2021/10/bringing-human-centered-approach-immersive-experiences/185974/?oref=ng-next-story | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334992.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927064738-20220927094738-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.939151 | 1,195 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Depending on the type and size of your organization, a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack can be anything from a small nuisance to something that can break your revenue stream and damage it permanently. A DDoS attack can cripple some online businesses for a period of time long enough to set them back considerably, or even put them out of business completely for the length of the attack and some period afterwards. Depending on the kind of attack, there can also be— intentional or not—side effects that can further hurt your business.
Let’s see what we are up against and what we can do about it.
IntroductionDDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. It is a network attack that involves hackers forcing numerous systems (usually infected with malware) to send network communication requests to one specific web server. The result is that the receiving server is overloaded by nonsense requests, and they either crash the server or distract it enough that normal users are unable to create a connection between their system and the server.
This type of attack has been popularized by numerous hacker groups as well as state-sponsored attacks conducted by governments against each other. Why? Because they are easy to pull of. Often the attackers use bots or otherwise enslaved computers and devices to overwhelm the target with requests.
Recent attacks are bigger than everRecent examples of DDoS attacks include the record-breaking DDoS attack on code repository Github a few weeks ago. GitHub was taken offline for about 10 minutes by an attack that peaked at 1.35Tbps. That record did not last very long, because only one week after GitHub was knocked offline by the world’s largest distributed denial-of-service attack, the same technique was used to direct an even bigger attack against an unnamed US service provider. According to DDoS protection outfit Arbor Networks, that US service provider survived an attack that reached an unprecedented 1.7Tbps.
These attacks use Internet-facing, Memcached-enabled servers to amplify their magnitude. While Memcached servers should technically not be left exposed to the Internet, there are so many of them that are exposed that this vulnerability will be available to attackers for some time to come.
ConsequencesA DDoS attack can cause:
- Disappointed users that may never return
- Data loss
- Loss of revenue
- Compensation of damages
- Lost work hours/productivity
- Reputation damages
Possible defensesScrambling for a solution at the moment you find out that you are the target of a DDoS attack is not the best strategy, especially if your organization depends on Internet-facing servers. The reason why Github was able to survive the DDoS attack, for example, is because they were prepared. So, if you don’t have an “always-on” type of protection, make sure you at least have a plan or protocols in place that you can follow when the attack occurs.
Depending on the possible consequences that would do the most harm to your organization, the chosen solution should offer you one or more of these options:
- Allow users to use the site normally as much as possible, even during the attack
- Protect your network from breaches during an attack
- Offer an alternative system to work from
- On-premise protection (e.g. identifying, filtering, detection, and network protection)
- Cloud-based counteraction (e.g. deflection, absorption, rerouting, and scrubbing)
Other countermeasuresBesides defending ourselves from DDoS attacks, we should strive to limit the possible consequences. Have alternatives in place to keep the workflow, and ideally, the revenue going. Keep possible data of interest away from Internet-facing machines, so you don’t get added to the long list of data breaches.
Perform forensics after the fact. Knowing your enemy might help you stop the next attack.
Don’t be a part of the problemThe priority at this moment is to get the Memcached-enabled servers off the Internet, as these allow attackers to scale up their attacks by a huge factor. The attack on Github was about three times as powerful as the largest attack that didn’t use Memcached-enabled servers.
Businesses and consumers alike should also start worrying about securing their IoT devices in a manner that they can’t be used in a DDoS botnet.We have an excellent article called Internet of Things (IoT) security: what is and what should never be that explains in detail why and how you can make the IoT a safer place.
And maybe, just maybe, we should try and work out Internet protocols that are designed so that they do not offer opportunities for DDoS attacks. For example, some attacks saturate a server's TCP buffers with bogus connections in a way that does not allow any new incoming requests. Essentially, your customer is standing in a line that does not move forward. SYN cookie protection is a step in the right direction to mitigate this problem. But there is not that much most companies can do about this, except maybe fund research.
SummaryDDoS attacks are so cheap ($10/hour) nowadays that anyone with a grudge can have an unprotected server taken down for a few days without spending a fortune. The possible scope of DDoS attacks has been increased significantly, now that attackers have started using Memcached-enabled servers. To put a stop to outrageously-large DDoS attacks, those servers should not be Internet-facing. Beyond that, organizations should take every step to be prepared for a possible DDoS attack so that it's simply a blip in their day, instead of a business-ending fiasco. | <urn:uuid:e5887c3d-1871-479d-a907-cbbe8677db20> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2018/03/ddos-attacks-are-growing-what-can-businesses-do | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335396.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929225326-20220930015326-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.951674 | 1,174 | 2.703125 | 3 |
What is due diligence?
“Due diligence” first came into use as a result of the passage of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 which transferred responsibility onto securities dealers and brokers to fully disclose to potential investors any material information related to the securities or instruments that they were selling. The consequence for failing to disclose such information made them liable for criminal prosecution. However, the authors of the Act understood that making full disclosure a legal requirement left the securities dealers and brokers vulnerable to unfair prosecution if they failed to disclose some material fact that they did not have, or could not have reasonably had, prior knowledge. So, to provide protection to the dealers and brokers, the Act included a legal defense which they called the “due diligence” defense.
Essentially, the due diligence defense meant that as long as the dealers and brokers exercised due diligence in their investigation into companies whose equities they were selling, and fully disclosed to the investor what they found, they would not be held liable for information that was not discovered in the process of that investigation.
The evolution of due diligence
Since the passage of the Securities Act, the meaning of the term “due diligence” has become associated with the orderly investigation of a variety of matters pertaining to business and has been adapted for use in many situations. Regardless of how it is used, “due diligence” implies that the person conducting the investigation has made a “diligent” effort to obtain all of the relevant and meaningful information pertaining to the matter under investigation and has disclosed all of that information in a dutiful and forthcoming manner. In other words, thorough, conscientious due diligence continues to provide a defense to those who find themselves tasked with the investigation of an important business matter.
Merger and acquisition (M&A) due diligence
Due diligence is a vital activity in M&A transactions, and may consume several months of intense analysis if the target firm is a large business with a global presence. Using a variety of methods and accepted principles, the due diligence team pursues an answer to the question: “Do we buy–and if so–how do we structure the transaction and how much do we pay?” To answer this question, M&A due diligence activities typically focus on four areas at a target firm:
- Strategic Position
- Financial Data
- Operational Assets
- Legal Matters
Each of these four areas can be further sub-divided into business, legal, and functional areas–including IT–each receiving the appropriate level of attention and analysis based upon the category and nature of the deal.
Conducting M&A due diligence in today’s global marketplace is a demanding, high-pressure undertaking that requires considerable skill and expertise. As a result, firms that do a lot of M&A transactions often develop their own in-house M&A due diligence expertise, whereas firms that pursue occasional M&A transactions often engage outside professionals to assist them with this highly complex and risky activity.
In my next post I will describe the categories of M&A IT due diligence. | <urn:uuid:a4dee931-70b0-44cc-bc47-9b187650cff5> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cio.com/article/247138/what-is-merger-and-acquisition-due-diligence.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335573.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001070422-20221001100422-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.96151 | 631 | 2.625 | 3 |
There is good reason to believe that the number of the 2019 novel coronavirus- or 2019-nCoV – infections worldwide may be much greater than what has been reported so far. As of Tuesday, February 3, 2020, at 8:00am CST (UTC-6) the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracking map shows there are 17,489 confirmed inflections. Of course, even in the best reporting systems, augmented with the fastest diagnoses, any number of reported infections would almost certainly be too low. However, our analysis points to a number of infections that may be in the hundreds of thousands, or possibly over one million – far above the latest official numbers.
Many informative analyses already exist on this outbreak, and it was relatively easy to build a model that accurately predicts the next few days of deaths and reported infections (Figure 1).
There is much more uncertainty regarding the total number of cases and infections. This number is crucial because it can inform the international community in terms of expected cases. The number of expected cases then informs decision-making and resource allocation from governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to combat the spread. Too much uncertainty in either direction – overestimating versus underestimating – can result in efforts that are inefficient at best and ineffective or even harmful at worst.
While articles already exist that put the number of total cases at 75,000, we believe there is still a crucial distinction that hasn’t been incorporated: the incubation time and exponential growth of the virus, which can make the infections an order of magnitude higher than the symptomatic cases.
If the calculations in this article are correct, then there are already dozens of cases of 2019-nCoV in the United States, many of which will go undetected.
We support these assertions using two different methods of calculation, both of which depend, in part, on the fact that the average time to death from infection is long (25 days or greater on average, based on initial data). These calculations also depend on the observations that the average time from becoming infected to going to the hospital is 10-15 days; that only 20% of those infected ever require hospitalization; and that average time from hospitalization to death is relatively long (12 to 18 days).
Based on these calculations, we encourage world citizens and governments to all act now to prepare for a world-wide pandemic.
We begin by stating the summary of concerns:
- 2019-nCoV is not like the seasonal flu – it is more contagious, has a longer incubation period, has a much higher rate of serious complications (ICU bed requirement), and is deadlier, with a fatality rate that is five to 30 times higher.
- Curious patterns in the data indicate the possibility of massive underreporting.
a. This could partly due to the characteristics of the disease itself – a long incubation period and significant period of time from initial
symptoms to the development of more serious symptoms.
b. It could also be due in part to human systems for detecting the disease. Even assuming competence and best intentions, there are factors that will contribute to under-reporting in the early parts of an epidemic and during the period of exponential growth.
We remain impartial regarding whether China is intentionally misrepresenting data. Regardless, social media videos out of China on 1/23/2020 appear to indicate a gap between what was reported and what was actually occurring on the ground in the Wuhan province. Keep in mind that at the time China had reported only 21 deaths, while Wuhan was treating coronavirus in 20+ hospitals. While the baseline for hospitals in China may be more chaotic then Europe or the US, the videos do not appear to be consistent with something less impactful than the seasonal flu. Here is a scene from one of those Wuhan hospitals on 1/23/2020.
The Importance of Symptomatic Vs. Infected
As we mentioned, organizations across the globe are rushing to provide analysis and understanding. What we haven’t seen yet in any analysis, however, is a sobering realization: that the length of time from infection to death implies a number of infections that is two orders of magnitude higher than the current reports.
The lengthy incubation period represents a lag between the time someone becomes infected by the virus and when they begin to show symptoms. The incubation period for the common cold is anywhere from 24 to 72 hours; for the garden-variety flu, it’s two days on average. The incubation period for the Spanish flu, the deadliest pandemic in the history of the world after the Black Death, had an incubation period of two to seven days.
2019-nCoV, by contrast, has an incubation period that lasts an average of five to 10 days.
Incubation periods matter because the longer infected persons go without showing symptoms, the longer they go without seeking care and the more people they expose to the pathogens they carry inside of them. Calculating the number of people who have shown symptoms of 2019-nCoV, then, carries the risk of grossly undercounting the number of people who are actually infected.
A compelling picture of this issue is illustrated by comparing the number of infections and the number of symptomatic cases (Figures 2-4).
Below we include individual histograms for both infections and symptomatic cases that illustrate the difference between reported cases, calculations based on current international symptomatic cases, and our calculations based on a Monte Carlo model that incorporates the incubation period. Note the scale on infections (Figure 4) is 10-15 times larger than the scale on symptomatic cases (Figure 3).
Even Thursday’s Lancet paper, which is backing out 75,000 Wuhan infections as of 1/25/2020 is low for the same reason – they are using international “infections” as their starting point and observing it is an unrealistic number given a mere 3,300 daily international passengers out of Wuhan before the quarantine. But the results are likely low because of the nature of growth and long incubation period of this virus – they can only count the “symptomatic” international cases – not the infected international cases.
How Lagging Indicators Obscure Reality
Sometimes, our understanding of the actual magnitude of an event, like a pandemic, is limited by the fact that even in the best of circumstances, data often lags behind the pace of reality.
Based on the published case history of the first 17 deaths occurring from 2019-nCoV, the average time from infection to death is 22-35 days (1-14 days for incubation, five days from onset of symptoms to hospitalization, and 12-18 days from hospitalization to death). In addition, only 20% of those infected ever require hospitalization.
We also have the epidemiological reality that time to death is always underrepresented during the exponential growth phase of an epidemic because the people who take a long time to die haven’t died yet.
The implications of this long time from infection to death makes it difficult for the public to comprehend, during the early stages, the stunning nature of the implied exponential growth in cases.
Put another way, the situation could very well be worse than we believe because we expect the numbers we receive in the news to be closer to the truth than what they really are: a snapshot of the past that grows older and more obsolete at a dizzying pace.
To be conservative, let us assume that the average time to death from infection is 25 days (the Monte Carlo simulations with the best fit to deaths is 29 days from infection to death). This implies that, given a 2.5% fatality rate, and that 362 people have died, there were 14,480 cases 25 days ago. Stated otherwise, given that it takes 25 days to die from infection, 14,480 were infected as of 1/9/2020! (At the time, the official number of confirmed cases was just 41.)
Combine this with a fearsome exponential growth from 1/9/2020 until the quarantine on 1/23/2020 and one starts to get the picture.
Shedding Light on Exponential Growth Rates with Probabilistic Models: How Many People Are Really Infected?
We still can’t make a definitive estimate of exponential growth, in part, because it changes over time as behaviors change. However, the beauty of a probabilistic model, one using initially wide ranges for variables, is that we can quickly discern certain values of variables that are unrealistic. In other words, the model can rapidly narrow the wide amount of uncertainty we have about a given variable (i.e. infection rates).
Using this method, we have concluded that the unrestrained (i.e., before quarantine) log growth rate of 2019-nCoV is at least 0.26 and as high as 0.31. This implies a doubling time in the initial stages of the outbreak of between 2.3 and 2.7 days – far less than other published estimates. A shorter doubling time represents the virus spreading faster among a given population. When coupled with the other observations the international community has gathered about the virus, the models give us a range of likely outcomes that reduce the uncertainty to as much as possible given what we know now.
The results are disquieting. Our best estimates for current infections are 800,000 in Hubei/Wuhan and 337,000 in the rest of China (Table 1).
How Could This Be?
Skeptics at this point will say, “How could 1,000,000 people in Wuhan be sick? That would imply that every 8th person was sick and that would be all over the media!”
First, there has been very little reporting out of Wuhan in the last week. Governments at all levels have moved to restrict access into and out of the quarantine zone, leaving first-hand news via uncontrolled sources in scant supply.
Second, there is a big difference between 1,000,000 infected and 1,000,000 sick. Because the incubation period is so long, even if 1,000,000 were infected, only a few hundred thousand might be symptomatic.
Skeptics might still say, “How could even 300,000 be sick when the official number is only 11,000?” Recall that the average time from becoming symptomatic to going to the hospital is five days, and that only 20% ever require hospitalization. That means only 60,000 of those 300,000 will require hospitalization. Add in the average lag between being symptomatic and hospitalization, and physical limitations at hospitals, and 11,000 is a very reasonable number of reported cases.
Therefore, it is entirely believable that 1,000,000 people are infected with 2019-nCoV as of 2/3/2020, and with 500,000 infections realized before the time the quarantine was in place on 1/23/2020.
If this is true, then at least 200 infected people flew to international destinations before the quarantine, and 75,000 infected people traveled to domestic Chinese destinations before the quarantine. Given the exponential rate of growth discussed previously, it is possible – perhaps likely – that the original Wuhan quarantine was too little, too late to keep the pandemic from spreading.
Implications for Mainland China
The bad news is that given there are likely hundreds of thousands of infections in China, it is unlikely that China will be “open for business” in the next month – possibly even the next several months. Undoubtedly, the unprecedented quarantine and public health measures China has taken will have reduced the log growth rate of new cases. However, because of the long incubation time and the uncertainty around reporting, we will have wide error bars around our estimate of the new rate of growth for several weeks.
Implications for Other Countries
Given how contagious the disease is, and the continued free flow of international travel from other Chinese ports up through 2/1/2010, an international pandemic likely at this point.
However, there is reason to be encouraged by the international response thus far. The numbers of reported and predicted infections are relatively low, and many people with the virus have largely self-quarantined, which helps tremendously.
The biggest issue is that our sample of infected people is going to be skewed toward the responsible people. Responsible actors will appear in reports; less responsible actors may not. People who have visited China in January and don’t self-quarantine, or who display very moderate symptoms, could slip through the cracks. There is already evidence that infected people with few symptoms can infect clusters of people. The possibility for an epidemic in another country comes if these clusters aren’t immediately caught.
How might this happen? Here is an actual story that has already been reported. An older couple from Wuhan visited their daughter in Shanghai some time during the week before 1/15/2020. They were infected with 2019-nCoV; the daughter soon caught it as well. The daughter then flew to Germany on the 15th and spent a week with colleagues before returning to Shanghai on 1/22/2020. She only became symptomatic after leaving Germany, but had infected several Germans before doing so.
What Do I Do?
Hope is not a good strategy to mitigate risk. While positive interpretations of the data exist, counting on that to be reality sets us up to repeat the initial mistakes in early January to contain and mitigate the virus.
Most humans don’t like to think about things like this because cold, uncompromising reality is uncomfortable, forcing us to decide to either change our habits or face the possibility of disease or death. Nevertheless, making rational decisions to protect yourself based on a sound statistical and logical analysis has helped many millions of lives in the course of human history.
Our recommendation is that we directly address the issue that the current and eventual spread and magnitude of the outbreak could be worse than we believe or imagine, bearing in mind that it is possible we may only have a few days before outbreaks start popping up in the U.S. and possibly just weeks before a general epidemic begins stateside.
Part of the resistance to thinking about pandemics is that it is easy (but incorrect) to assume that we are powerless to affect the outcome. Here are three easy things we can do on a personal level:
- Wash our hands. This isn’t as easy as it sounds – it means creating a new habit where we wash or disinfect our hands whenever we’ve contacted a public surface (grocery cart, bathroom door handle, etc.). Disinfecting helps. Washing and scrubbing with soap for 15 seconds is the formal protocol.
- Some published research shows that elderberry syrup may reduce the severity of other types of flu viruses and reduce the probability of transmission.
- If there is a cluster or outbreak in your city, minimize or avoid public gatherings and wear protective facemasks in public. This is probably the most difficult one because it comes at a high social cost some people aren’t willing to pay.
Preparations for Your Business
If you’d like help preparing your business for the possibilities, there are certain practices you can adopt now that will give you an advantage regardless of outcome (such as reviewing your capabilities for remote work). Also, if you’d like to use or test scenarios on the Monte Carlo model we created, please contact us. One of the advantages of using a probabilistic model is that you can update the uncertainty in real time and always know what contingencies you need to put in place for the most likely scenarios.
Matt Millar is a senior quantitative analyst with Hubbard Decision Research. Contact Matt for more information on this article or any of the methods discussed wherein. | <urn:uuid:6a52c384-0326-46c2-99b0-d6da5cd129ea> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://hubbardresearch.com/estimating-infections-2019-coronavirus-underreporting/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337338.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002150039-20221002180039-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.952167 | 3,262 | 2.890625 | 3 |
As Web accessibility continues to gather importance and attention, the focus is now shifting to provide a greater emphasis on being placed on making the system-wide, rather than individual, changes in our efforts to create a more accessible world.
During the early advent of Web accessibility, individual developers were committed to creating accessible Web content. When it became evident that leaving accessibility up to individual developers was not efficient, the entire system began making Web accessibility a priority and a policy.
Just as with the design of any website, users should be kept into consideration. An extraordinarily diverse range of individuals uses the internet with a wide variety of characteristics and contexts. Assumptions that everyone is using a traditional monitor, browser, or keyboard can’t be made. Accessible technology has been designed in a way that can be accessed by all users.
Over time many different variations have been added to enhance the overall impact of web accessibility services. A few of them are screen readers, screen magnification, text readers, speech input software. There are even a few alternate devices for input like head pointers, motion tracking, single switch entry devices.
These changes ensure the fulfillment of the basic guidelines when it comes to web content that it must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
With the growing awareness of the possible benefits of catering to this segment, businesses are now increasing their efforts to make their communication platforms user neutral. With the rise of ML and AI, the scope of inculcating website accessibility features is set to rise in the times ahead. | <urn:uuid:0fd65d08-3c36-49d9-9c2c-b317c58f6acd> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://intone.com/innovation-in-web-accessibility-technology/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337853.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006155805-20221006185805-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.935643 | 310 | 2.703125 | 3 |
In times of crisis, first responders must be able to communicate clearly. Uninterrupted connectivity is essential for rapid and effective emergency response. This is where an Emergency Responder Radio Communication System (ERRCS) comes into play.
Property owners and facility managers that install an Emergency Responder Radio Communication System (ERRCS) can improve public safety and the overall safety of their buildings.
Let's review Emergency Responder Radio Communication Systems and the types of facilities required to provide first responder radio coverage in their building.
How Emergency Responder Radio Communication Systems Work
An emergency responder radio communication system (ERRCS) is a wireless public safety system that receives external radio signals and retransmits them inside the building – ensuring signal penetration and reliable cellular coverage in all areas of the facility, including dead zones and isolated places such as:
- Fire pump rooms
- Exit passageways
- Other heavily shielded areas
ERRCS are complex and comprise several critical components, including:
- Donor Antenna - Receives signals from the network of first responders.
- Bi-Directional Amplifier (BDA) - Connects to a donor antenna and to the DAS via cable or fiber. Amplifies signals for distribution via the DAS.
- Distributed Antenna System (DAS) - The in-building network of coax cables, splitters, and antennas used to evenly distribute the amplified signals throughout the building.
- Battery Backup System - Provides uninterrupted power in the event of power failure.
Additional names for emergency responder radio communication systems include:
- Emergency Responder Radio System (ERRS)
- In-Building Emergency Responder Radio Enhancement System (IBERES)
- Emergency Radio Communication Enhancement System (ERCES)
- Public Safety Distributed Antenna System (DAS)
These crucial life safety systems provide first responders such as police, fire, medical, and other disaster response agencies with an effective and reliable way to communicate during emergencies. While ERRCS is used primarily for voice communications today, the deployment of 5G is opening up new innovative applications such as:
- First responders’ physical condition and location
- Live video streams
- Mixed reality lenses
- Sensor data
What Type of Buildings Need Emergency Responder Radio Communications Systems?
Building owners must follow the standards for the installation, maintenance, and use of ERRCS enforced by the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). Based on these standards, here are a few factors that determine if your commercial building requires an emergency responder radio communication system:
- Your building is three or more stories
- Your building is over 50,000 square feet
- Your building contains an underground parking structure
- Your building uses certain construction materials (concrete, metal, wood, brick, and Low-E glass)
Here are a few types of buildings that typically require the installation of ERRCS:
- Multi-use properties
- Senior living facilities
- Stadiums and arenas
- Educational institutions
- Malls and retail centers
- Factories and warehouses
- Hotels and hospitality venues
- High-rise commercial buildings
Improve Public Safety with a Reliable ERRCS Solution
A properly installed, professionally tested, and well-maintained ERRCS can save lives and facilitate rapid response in the event of an emergency. Since ERRCS are complex and influenced by ever-evolving requirements, building owners and facility managers should consult a reputable ERRCS installer. An experienced company will walk you through the installation process and have detailed knowledge of the current codes to ensure compliance.
Experienced technicians design ERRCS solutions based on your spectrum environment, building parameters such as wall types, thickness, and building materials, and the local AHJ code requirements to ensure successful implementation. | <urn:uuid:286ae0e7-7492-4472-b3d9-ae41197e4853> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.anscorporate.com/blog/what-is-an-emergency-responder-radio-communication-system-errcs | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337853.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006155805-20221006185805-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.90299 | 793 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Welcome back to our favorite trip down nostalgia lane, Then vs. Now, where we take a look at the past, present, and future of our favorite technologies. This week, we’re working under the assumption that this world sucks and we want to get out of it, so we turn to alternate realities…VIRTUAL REALITIES and how it got started and transformed into the potential success story that it is today. So strap on your Nintendo Virtual Boy and let’s take a stroll down a virtual memory lane.
It’s funny that we think of VR technology as a recent development, but it has its roots all the way back in the 50s, as a filmmaker named Morton Heilig developed the Sensorama (patented in 1962), a machine that had an immersive 3D viewer, a vibrating seat, and a smell generator.
Heilig wanted to turn movies into crazy interactive things, which is pretty cool, especially if you’ve ever been privy to the 4D Nightmare Before Christmas showing. Here’s Heilig himself talking about the Sensorama:
The 60s moved virtual reality forward and more people began jumping into the VR game. Heilig continued his work, developing the Telesphere Mask—the first head-mounted display—in 1960. Not as interactive as his Sensorama, the Telesphere Mask however marked a move towards smaller, more easily handled machines.
In 1968, Ivan Sutherland—a renowned computer scientist from MIT and Harvard and a bunch of other places that smart people learn—developed The Sword of Damocles along with the help of his student Bob Sproull. It was a scaled-down version of the Sensorama—and by “scaled-down”, I mean “hung from the ceiling because it was too heavy to hold up with your weak neck”.
The graphics displayed by the Sword of Damocles was in wire frame rooms and objects, so it wasn’t quite the groundbreaking VR we know today, but at least you didn’t have to strap yourself in!
While Heilig and Sutherland were making waves in the commercial VR field, Tom Furness—a military engineer—was being contracted by the Air Force to develop a virtual reality flight simulator at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
The 80s saw a giant boom in commercialization and in Furness’ flight simulators. By 1982, Furness finished developing the Super Cockpit and the military scooped that up and ran with it.
In 1987, Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research, popularized the phrase “virtual reality”, and with it, the commercialization of various VR products. His company developed and sold the Dataglove and the EyePhone, which sold for $9000 USD, and $9400 USD, respectively. Lanier and VPL Researched authorized the use of the Dataglove technology by a toy company named Mattel, who would later develop the Power Glove. Just listen to this satisfied customer of the Power Glove:
This is when things really start to take off—a bunch of companies jumped on the VR bandwagon, most noticeably in the entertainment market. The Virtuality Group developed a ton of VR arcade machines, ushering in an age of VR entertainment. In 1991, SEGA announced the SEGA VR headset for arcades and the Mega Drive/Genesis consoles, a head-mounted system that improved upon previous HMD’s by adding LCD screens, stereo headphones, and intertial sensors that tracked movements. Unfortunately, the device never reached the masses due to development difficulties.
Nintendo was also riding the VR wave by releasing their Virtual Boy console in 1995. The Nintendo Virtual Boy was the first portable console that could display 3D graphics. In addition to a VR headset, the Virtual Boy also came with a controller, however, the console was a gigantic flop despite numerous price cuts. People didn’t want to look at black and red 3D models while having a gigantic, heavy headset attached to their face. Here’s a sampling of Virtual Boy’s gameplay:
Not much to see here besides Google’s development of Street View, which provided 3D stereoscopic views of real life places. Pretty important for the development of augmented reality.
Here’s where things get really interesting. The development of the Oculus Rift by Palmer Lucky and the folks at Oculus VR and its acquisition by Facebook for $2 billion USD ushered in the validity and future of VR systems and headsets as well as augmented reality systems. After Oculus’ popularity soared, tech and entertainment companies like Sony, HTC, Samsung, Google and more have all developed their own VR headsets.
VR has also introduced the concept of augmented reality, which overlays graphics/games/settings/etc., over the top of real life scenery. While Google-developed (later Niantic) Ingress was one of the first major players in the augmented reality realm, you might’ve heard of a tiny game called Pokémon Go which has taken augmented reality to a brand new level of real-world immersion and popularity.
It’ll be exciting to see if virtual reality can stay relevant and become a popular entertainment medium rather than just a sideshow act. VR is hoping it can become the new smartphone rather than the next 3D TV. | <urn:uuid:36deb24d-ba37-4737-b96b-b80b3d5cf413> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.colocationamerica.com/blog/then-vs-now-virtual-realities | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030333455.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20220924182740-20220924212740-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.951612 | 1,132 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Many devices in the optical communication field are sharing similar functions, such as fiber SFP module and fiber media converter. They are designed as the equipment for photoelectric conversion. Some of you may get confused about the two seemingly similar devices. Don’t worry, in this article, we are going to reveal the secret between SFP fiber module and fiber media converter. In the beginning, let’s go over the definitions of them.
What Is the Fiber SFP Module
The SFP (small form-factor pluggable) module, also called mini GBIC (gigabit interface converter), is a compact, hot-pluggable optical transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communication applications. It converts electrical signals to optical signals and vice versa. Usually, the SFP module consists of optical SFP and copper SFP. And the type depends on whether their SFP ports connect with fiber optic cables or copper cables. The fiber SFP module can support SONET, Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel, and other communication standards.
Figure 1: SFP Copper RJ45 100m Transceiver
What Is Fiber Media Converter?
Similar to the working mode of optical transceivers, the fiber media converter receives data signals from one media and transmits them to another. Conventionally, fiber media converters can support two kinds of conversion: copper-to-fiber and fiber-to-fiber. Copper-to-fiber media converters are devices designed to connect two dissimilar media types, such as the twisted pair with fiber optic cabling. They will be chosen when the transmission distance of two network devices with copper ports need to be extended via fiber optic cabling. When it comes to the fiber-to-fiber conversion, it supports a connectivity not only between multimode fiber and single mode fiber but also a dual fiber link and single fiber using Bi-directional (BIDI) flow. Conversions between different wavelengths can also be achieved by some fiber-to-fiber media converters.
Figure 2: 1*SFP and 2*RJ45 Ports Mini Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter
Connection: Fiber SFP Module vs Fiber Media Converter
A fiber SFP module has a much smaller size than a fiber media converter. Before catching the connection between fiber SFP modules and fiber media converters, we had better know the media converter’s physical structure in advance. So far, copper-to-fiber media converters cover two types of ports. One is for copper (usually the RJ45 port) and the other is for fiber. As for fiber ports, two kinds can also be found. One is designed to insert fiber optic transceivers (SFP, XFP and etc), and the other to connect fiber optic patch cables (SC, LC and etc). As for fiber-to-fiber media converters, both the input ports and output ports are for fiber link. It can be a fiber optic connector for fiber patch cables or an SFF connector for optical modules. After knowing the media converter’s physical structure, it will be easier for us to grasp how does it coordinate with the SFP fiber module. Therefore, if you want to make an SFP module and a media converter both into use at the same time, you need to choose a fiber media converter with fiber ports for an optical transceiver. That is to say, you can insert you SFP module into one side and connect an RJ45 copper cable with the copper port on the other.
Figure 3: 1SFP+1RJ45 Ports Mini Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter
To sum up, in this article, we introduce what the fiber SFP module and the media converter are. Then after studying the media converter’s physical structure and how it coordinates with the fiber SFP module, we can understand the connection between the fiber SFP module and the media converter. | <urn:uuid:1b1ca73b-406f-476e-a650-4b2e6cc5ca43> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.chinacablesbuy.com/tag/optical-transceiver | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335004.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927100008-20220927130008-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.884199 | 809 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Based on today’s indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice, a group of hackers working for the government of Iran conducted a targeted cyberattack in 2013 on the SCADA systems of the Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye Brook, N.Y. The attackers gained access to the dam’s operational systems, including temperature information, water levels, and the sluice gate. Only the fact that the gate had been manually disconnected from the system for maintenance prevented them from operating the gate.
This event is a reminder of how important it is for us to protect critical infrastructure, whether at the national, state, local, or private-sector level. Despite the relatively small size of this facility, this is a good example of how critical infrastructure is vulnerable to various actors. We should not look at the size of the particular body of water, dam, or power distribution facility. Larger facilities have similar systems, and they are vulnerable to similar exploits.
Cyberattack and cyber-exploitation tools and expertise are readily available to those willing to pay for them. An entire underground cyber-exploitation ecosystem has evolve through which the latest malware can be rented, including hacker services, to execute attacks. This magnifies the capabilities of a less-technical entity to launch sophisticated attacks.
Providers of critical infrastructure are increasingly aware of the importance of a strong cyberdefense, and most of them have been investing in this area for the past several years. Critical infrastructure is composed of many interconnected elements, far more so than the typical large enterprise, that extend into the physical world. That means that cyberattacks can potentially damage physical infrastructure and even threaten lives.
While the level of confidence in security defenses has been increasing over the last few years in this industry, according to a recent report on critical infrastructure readiness, the majority are also being intellectually honest about the ongoing risks of a serious event actually happening. About half (48%) believe it is likely that within three years there will be a cyberattack on critical infrastructure that will result in loss of life. It's mostly just a matter of resources, motivation, persistence, and opportunity.
Security Industry: Think And Act Differently
The appropriate response to this 3-year-old security breach -- and every other breach we read about -- is not the latest security gadget or scapegoat. The fragmented nature of multiple security solutions and the resulting complexity is part of the problem. Instead, since cyberattacks have become an ongoing part of our digital lives, we believe that the security industry, including vendors, partners, and customers, needs to think and act differently. We need to build a more complete picture of the real threats and our own security posture by sharing and collaborating better. That means sharing information in real-time between different products and services; sharing threat intelligence among organizations and governments; and collaborating quickly when threats are identified to protect critical resources and contain the potential damage.
One of the most interesting aspects of almost every security study we have done over the past few years is the critical part that human interactions play in security weaknesses. What we’re seeing in many industries is a combination of technical vulnerabilities and human ones, often referred to as “social engineering.” Whether it is a phishing campaign to steal credentials or social media tricks to increase the credibility of a malicious attachment, this is often the starting point to infiltrate the environment and launch a more complex attack.
Defending against this combination of human and technical exploits requires the collaboration of human and technical security defenses. Cyberspace has grown essential to every dimension of our lives so we should assign as much priority to protecting our digital resources as we do to protecting our physical security. Escalating cybersecurity tensions, both the breaches themselves and the public concern they cause, risk fragmenting the infrastructure, hindering innovation, and limiting the future prospects for technology. | <urn:uuid:83c497c6-3494-4fdd-bdb4-3e14ae7ba8f7> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.darkreading.com/intel/iranian-hacker-indictment-reminds-us-that-risks-to-critical-infrastructure-are-real | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335004.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220927100008-20220927130008-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.947737 | 779 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The term biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyse human physiological or behavioral characteristics for authentication or identification purposes. Some of the most widely used characteristics or biometric factors are fingerprints, irises, voice patterns and the spatial geometry of the face.
To start with, let us explain why biometrics are needed more than ever. Physical access control, say to a building, is generally based on locks and keys, on badge readers or on few-digit pincodes which are easily lost or stolen by malicious individuals. Because for access control based on keys or badges the authentication factor is something you have, there is no real guarantee that the person entering your building is the individual that was granted access in the first place.
The same accounts for access to computerized systems, access control there is mostly based on passwords or pincodes thus the authentication factor is something you know. Unfortunately end users have to remember such an amount of passwords and pincodes that they no longer apply good password practices. End users tend to write passwords down, to keep new passwords as simple as possible and to use always the same password.
With biometrics the access control factor is something you are, a measureable physiological or behavioral characteristic, which is often more difficult to fake, steal or immitate than a password or a key. Users don’t have to remember it and they cannot by accident leave it at home. This physiological or behavioral characteristic is referred to as a biometric factor, it can be your fingerprints or the way you use your voice.
On this website you will learn of different biometric solutions and applications. Biometrics can be used for far more than access control to a building or to a computer system. What did you think of a time attendance system based on biometrics? Or you are shop owner working with a loyalty card but customers tend to forget their card at home, why not replace the cards for a system with fingerprint recognition?
Biometric solutions can be divided into two groups, based on the type of biometric factor they use
- solutions based on a physiological factor, examples are fingerprint recognition and iris recognition
- solutions based on a behavioral factor, examples are voice pattern recognition and keystroke dynamics (also known as typing biometrics)
There are many factors which can in theory be used as a biometric solution to be applied for authentication or identification. For such a factor to be suitable, it must meet the following criteria:
- Universality – the biometric factor must be something each person has.
- Uniqueness – with the factor it must be possible to separate individuals from another, this must be possible and not be overly expensive with existing technical means.
- Permanence – how well the biometric factor resists the effect of time, generally speaking “aging”.
- Collectability – it must be possible and not overly expensive or time consuming to measure the factor.
- Acceptability – biometrics is not always very well accepted. This is generally dependent on people’s view and on how invasive a certain technique is. For example retina scans have low acceptability with the general public because retina scans require direct contact with the reader and retina scans can demonstrate pregnancy and other medical conditions such as high bloodpressure.
- Circumvention – how easily it is to immitate the biometric factor.
- Performance – in general terms the speed, the accuracy and the robustness.
Note that these criteria also depend on how the biometric factor is applied, technological differences have a high impact on the suitability of the biometric. For more information as to how identify a good biometric factor, and how to compare the performance of different solutions, refer to this article.
To end this preliminary outline, a few examples of biometric solutions which are detailled further on this website.
- Fingerprint recognition
- Iris recognition
- Face recognition
- Voice recognition
- Hand geometry recognition
- Retina recognition
Biometrics can be applied for fraud prevention, two-factor authentication or continuous endpoint authentication – verifying that a person is who he claims to be – and for identification – determining who is the person based on the measured biometric factor.
Any application requiring authentication or identification can make use of biometrics, this does not mean that using biometrics always has an advantage over other authentication and identification techniques. A few examples where using biometrics might have advantages:
- Time attendance systems
- Access control to computer systems or portable media
- Physical access control
- Loyalty card or other customer systems
The main reasons to go for biometrics are to increase security while decreasing the burden of keeping keys, remembering passwords, etc. Throughout this website we investigate the different biometric factors, solutions and technologies. | <urn:uuid:96830ce0-8e7c-4fe8-8d76-23eb10f760f2> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.biometric-solutions.com/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335276.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20220928180732-20220928210732-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.922951 | 985 | 3.390625 | 3 |
It used to be the case that the role of the operating system (OS) was pretty well defined as a layer of software responsible for controlling the use of and access to physical machine assets such as CPU, memory, disk, network, and so on.
As the industry has evolved, however, so too has the role of the OS. Today, for example, when you install an OS, a whole range of high-level features, functions and tools often come along with it, from enhanced security and access, through various management and admin tools, to full-blown application and web serving.
While this much more comprehensive and coherent approach to delivering platform capability has made many aspects of the lives of IT professionals much easier, the gradual ’raising of the water line’ in terms of what’s included in the OS creates some interesting discussions when we move into the world of virtualization.
There are a number of dimensions to this.
Firstly, there is the question of efficiency. One of the big advantages of virtualization is being able to run multiple workloads on the same box, with each supported by an appropriately configured software stack running in a discrete virtual machine (VM). If each virtual machine is required to run a general purpose OS, even though that VM is essentially single purpose in nature, that arguably represents unnecessary complexity and overhead that needs to be resourced and managed.
Using ’leaner’ versions of operating systems, which is now a possibility with both Linux and Windows Server, for example, supports the notion of building simpler and more efficient stacks when the job at hand is very specific. The counter-argument to this, however, is that consistency has its advantages, and that implementing too many OS variants creates a different set of complexities and management issues. Provided unused functionality is not consuming an excessive amount of resource, perhaps it’s better to live with it.
That is, of course, not the whole picture, as unnecessary services sitting there just idling can increase the attack surface of an operating system from a security perspective, so there is clearly a balance to be struck in terms of strip down and/or configuration.
The efficiency argument also comes into play when considering the way in which hypervisors are implemented. Intuitively, running a stand-alone hypervisor on ’bare metal’, i.e. directly on the hardware, would seem to be the best option from a performance perspective. Some argue, however, that there is little or no practical difference in performance between this and having the hypervisor sitting on top of (or embedded within) a host operating system.
But again we need to consider the management dimension. Bare metal hypervisors represent independent entities in the infrastructure that need to be managed as such, which is why some recommend dedicated management tools for the virtualized environment. Hosted hypervisors can often be managed via the operating system upon (or within) which they sit, allowing at least a basic level of management to take place via the tools and processes already being used, with more capability coming from extension rather than duplication of management solutions.
Unfortunately, there are no black or white outcomes to any of the above discussions, and the choices people make often come down to context, familiarity and philosophy.
If you are a smaller IT shop manned predominantly by multi-functional staff, then the embedded or hosted route might make sense because it is relatively straightforward and more likely to fit with what you are doing already. If you are lucky enough to have a lot of specialist resource, as is typical of larger enterprise IT environments, and areas of your infrastructure that are totally virtualized, then a finely tuned bare-metal approach with dedicated management tools might be more appropriate.
Even this is a generalisation though, as options can be mixed and matched, sometimes easily, sometimes less so, based on specific need.
With this in mind, we would be interested in what you, the readers, think on this topic. What, in your experience, are the pros and cons of bare-metal versus hosted hypervisors? What are the performance and management implications, for example? And have you developed a philosophy that is being used as the basis for your virtualization investments and initiatives?
Coming back to where we started, perhaps you even regard the bare-metal hypervisor as the operating system of the future? And to throw one last idea into the mix, do you see a role for so called ’application virtualization’, whereby applications are captured in a container that plugs onto a hypervisor? | <urn:uuid:d3a59152-863c-47d2-89ae-1fe0a4639d77> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.freeformdynamics.com/uncategorized/when-is-an-operating-system-not-an-operating-system/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335424.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20220930020521-20220930050521-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.954387 | 922 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Google Gets its Foot in the Door of Quantum Computing
FREMONT, CA: Google has moved one step ahead in realizing a computing platform based on quantum mechanical effects. The company has announced that they were able to solve the errors in calculations in the quantum computing by adding more qubits. Albeit they were not able to evade the errors from occurring, the new capability to annul the errors is enough to get the adrenalin pumping for the researchers working on the project.
Unlike the traditional digital computer that works on the binary values (bits) 0 and 1, a quantum computer can take several values (quantum bits or qubits) when they attain a state called ‘superposition state’. The quantum computer works much faster to the traditional digital computer and as such holds great value in solving the real-world problems through greater computation capabilities.
One of the many challenges in the path to realize a quantum computer is that the qubits lose their state more often than not. This loss can be due to heat or other disturbances resulting in distorted quantum states which hamper the entire computation process.
As a positive step which can be considered no less than a milestone, researchers at Google and the University of California, Santa Barbara, mention that they were successful in creating an error-correction system that stabilized a fragile array of nine qubits. Additional qubits were introduced to observe the state of the computing qubits without affecting their state.
“We have for the first time in the long history of quantum computing an actual device, where we can test all of our ideas about error detection,” said Rami Barends, a quantum electronics engineer at Google and one of the authors of the paper, reports John Markoff from The New York Times.
The findings of the research so far in quantum computing show that the problem around losing information (qubits) can be addressed by adding more qubits. The researchers can now extend this approach to handling bigger computations.
Many Irons in the Fire
Well it’s not just Google who is obsessed with quantum computing, but companies including IBM and the Microsoft have also taken quantum computing initiatives. It would be interesting to see who in the end could finally bring the first operational quantum computer into being.
Check Out: Top Door Systems Companies | <urn:uuid:7954cf5f-b5c7-4051-be54-ad4d4fd11309> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.cioreview.com/news/google-gets-its-foot-in-the-door-of-quantum-computing-nid-5424-cid-82.html?utm_source=clicktrack&utm_medium=hyperlink&utm_campaign=linkinnews | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337339.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002181356-20221002211356-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.944884 | 474 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Sound Hacking: A Potentially Big Problem in The Tech World
The act of hacking something simply implies the object, either a computer or other device, is accessed without the owner’s permission or a program or software therein is altered in some way without consent. Although more and more technological advancements are being made every day to keep our devices and computers save, it seems that hackers are always one step ahead of software developers, consistently figuring out a way around any safety features that might have been implemented. Unfortunately, this seems to be an issue that has no reliable or effective solution.
How Bad is The Problem of Hacking?
If you have ever wondered how bad the problem with hacking really is, take a look at these statistics/facts to get an idea of the scope of the problem at hand:
- By December of 2016, there had been over two billion records stolen within the year’s time.
- The career site LinkedIn had 117 million records stolen and accounts affected from a hacker, eventually caught in the Czech Republic.
- Social media site Tumblr was hacked, which led to 65 million accounts being leaked.
- Hundreds of point-of-sale terminals (card machines) located in retail outlets were compromised through the installation of malware. This breach allowed hackers access to username and passwords.
Did You Know Hackers Might Not Stop With Security Breaches Affecting Your Personal and Financial Information?
More than likely, you already knew about some of the above hacking incidents. However, you probably didn’t know that even devices like Fitbits have been found susceptible to hacking. That’s right. According to recent research done in collaboration by teams from the University of South Carolina and the University of Michigan, these devices can be hacked. However, the fact that they can be hacked isn’t the most surprising element of the research findings. The fact that the researchers successfully hacked these devices utilizing sound was even more surprising.
More About The Sound Hacking Research Findings:
Researchers were able to manipulate accelerometers in devices like Fitbits through acoustic attacks. They simply added extra step counts and the like. However, getting credit for a step you didn’t take is far from the most worrisome issue with this research. The fact that researchers were able to use sound to do so presents a new potential problem that will need to be dealt with in the future.
The Dangers of Acoustic Hacking:
Hacking via acoustics is obviously not the most commonly employed way of data manipulation. Kevin Fu, who is the associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, explained how it works:
“It’s like the opera singer who hits the note to break a wine glass, only in our case, we can spell out words.”
These words are entered as commands that manipulate the device, altering data. As was stated earlier, although changing a Fitbit to show more steps than were actually taken is trivial, the ability of researchers to do so shows a potential weakness in all such devices. This weakness is one that has not previously been considered that being the danger or acoustic or sound hacking. Thankfully, now that this research has taken place, software and device developers will be aware of the potential issue and will most assuredly create protections against it if it becomes a security issue.
Call Hammett Technologies in Washington, DC or Baltimore today at (443) 216-9999 or contact us via email at email@example.com to learn more about potential new security threats like sound hacking. | <urn:uuid:3825e678-5f82-4aaa-bbf5-48e374a4692e> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.hammett-tech.com/can-fitbits-be-compromised/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337339.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20221002181356-20221002211356-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.961879 | 728 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Heart based user authentication system
University at Buffalo researchers developed a computer security system using the dimensions of your heart as identifier. The system uses low-level Doppler radar monitors your heart to make sure no one stepped in to run your computer.
The system is a safe and potentially more effective alternative to passwords and other bio-metric identifiers. It may be used for smartphones and at airport screening barricades.
“We would like to use it for every computer because everyone needs privacy,” said Wenyao Xu, PhD, the study’s lead author. “Logging-in and logging-out are tedious,” he said. The signal strength of the system’s radar is much less than Wi-Fi, and does not cause any health threat.
He said, we live in a Wi-Fi surrounding environment every day, and the new system is as safe as Wi-Fi devices. The reader is about 5 milliwatts, even less than 1% of the radiation from our smartphones.
The system needs about 8 seconds to scan a heart the first time, and the monitor can continuously recognize that heart.
Xu said, the system uses the geometry of the heart shape and size, and it moves to make an identification. No two people with identical hearts have ever found. People’s heart does not change shape, unless they suffer from serious heart disease.
Heart-based bio-metric systems used for almost a decade, primarily with electrodes measuring electrocardiogram signals. But, no one has done a non-contact remote device to characterize our hearts’ geometry traits for identification.
The new system has several advantages over current bio-metric tools, like fingerprints and retinal scans. The device is a passive, non-contact. So, users not bothered with authenticating themselves whenever they log-in. And, it monitors user constantly, means the computer will not operate if a different person is in front of it. Therefore, people do not have to remember to log-off when away from their computers.
Xu plans to miniaturize the system and have it installed onto the corners of computer keyboards. The system also used for user identification on cell phones. For airport identification, a device could monitor a person up to 30 meters away.
More information: [heart based user authentication system] | <urn:uuid:a11c1893-a37d-41bb-bb97-75f7929a5602> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://areflect.com/2017/09/26/researchers-designed-heart-based-user-authentication-system/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337625.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005105356-20221005135356-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.94112 | 491 | 3 | 3 |
The supply chain is defined as “the entire process of making and selling commercial goods, including every stage from the supply of materials and the manufacture of the goods through to their distribution and sale.” In order for the system to function smoothly as a whole, every stage in the supply chain has to run seamlessly, without interruption or exploitation and it needs to be secure. But with so many points in the chain, how is it possible to secure the whole system? No one had an answer to that when cyberattacks recently compromised the digital supply chain. The attack came as a shock and a surprise, and trust chain was broken. Supply chain security became top of mind.
Two notable supply chain security attacks changed the threat landscape, bringing supply chain security into the media in 2018 and 2020. The hardware supply chain compromise of 2018 and the cybersecurity compromise of 2020 re-opened our eyes to a new kind of threat to a trusted, decades-old system. What we’ve learned from these two pivotal moments in history is that cyber adversaries are no longer just exploiting technology vulnerabilities, they are actually creating them and integrating them into our foundational technologies.
And just like with a physical chain, supply chain security is only as strong as its weakest link. With more sophisticated and emboldened cyber adversaries leaning heavily on those weak links, the entire supply chain has to become more resilient.
Media reported in 2018 that foreign hardware manufacturing plants had placed tiny malicious implants on computer motherboards and network devices that were then shipped worldwide. This came as a shock to anyone who hadn’t ever considered the infiltration of the cyber hardware supply chain. And for those organizations that were concerned about this, they were still trying to figure out the best way to approach ubiquitous supply chain security when the attackers struck. This incident got us thinking about it more earnestly than ever before.
Then in 2020, a massive digital supply chain security incident occurred. A foreign intelligence service operation infiltrated a major US company supply chain to insert software vulnerabilities into updates that would be deployed to customers—infiltrating a single point on the chain to exploit and damage numerous targets. This incident is notable on both psychological and practical levels: psychologically because no one had anticipated the sophisticated techniques and intentions of these cyber adversaries. The incident has since tarnished the trust in things that many of us had taken for granted. And practically, because for those who were affected, it has left a significant amount of clean-up work to do.
These events have forced organizations to rethink trusted processes like patching software using updates from a known vendor. And the first step in prevention is accepting the fact that the software supply chain security is at risk. As a result, our national supply chain posture has to fortify itself against increased attempts to undermine hardware manufacturing, operating systems, applications, updates, and more. Compromising such operations allows adversaries to subvert once (by creating a vulnerability in a single point of the supply chain) while compromising many (exploiting that vulnerability in many targeted systems).
In the wake of these and other incidents, organizations need to fortify and possibly even rethink their security postures with a new perspective combined with the right tools. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a highly effective tool to leverage the power of speed, automation, and visibility to identify and block suspected malicious behaviors. And similarly, User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) is a type of cybersecurity process that looks for the differences between normal and abnormal conduct to pinpoint evidence of an insider taking malicious actions. Both of these solutions should now be essential tools in the supply chain security kit.
Public and private organizations need to stop being surprised when attackers leverage new attack vectors. Instead, we need to embrace a proactive strategy that sees everything, including our supply chain, as a potential threat, and then adopt a security posture designed to stay ahead of the attackers. There is every indication that such out-of-the-box exploit strategies will become increasingly innovative and sophisticated. Cybersecurity is an on-going battle, and to win we need to rethink our approach to every aspect of our digital lives, including paying more security attention to our hardware and software supply chains.
Government leadership and policy can help. We need to push for international policy and behavior standards in cyberspace, with clear consequences around critical infrastructure attacks and commercial IP theft. This will help establish clear policy on malicious cyber activity, prevent cyber adversaries from using international borders to escape prosecution, and will spell out repercussions for attacks on critical assets.
At the same time, business leaders need to advance strategic national supply chain security policies by implementing strategies designed to ensure the integrity of the manufacturing of critical things like pharmaceuticals, microchips, automated assembly operations, the software life cycle, critical infrastructure, and the defense industrial base.
The 2020 cyber supply chain security incident just might go down in history as one of those seminal events that helped raise the awareness needed to finally secure every point along our cyber supply chains. With every stage and every endpoint in the supply chain under scrutiny using tools like EDR, UEBA, and others, we can confidently move forward with our digital innovation efforts without exploitation. But only if we stay ahead of our cyber adversaries.
This is a summary of an article written for Forbes by Phil Quade, CISO at Fortinet. The entire article can be accessed here. | <urn:uuid:1b53e989-e6a6-4ebf-9c9a-042f893d0e97> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.fortinet.com/blog/ciso-collective/only-as-strong-as-the-weakest-link-supply-chain-security | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337855.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006191305-20221006221305-00606.warc.gz | en | 0.956525 | 1,084 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Virtual private networks (VPNs) are one of the most commonly used solutions for secure remote network connectivity. However, they have a number of limitations that negatively impact network performance and security. Deploying a VPN alternative can enable an organization to improve visibility and security of their wide area network (WAN) while also increasing performance and teleworker productivity.
VPN solutions are designed to provide secure, remote access to an organization’s network. They create an encrypted connection between the client – typically implemented as software on an employee’s computer – and a VPN gateway within the enterprise network.
VPNs encrypt traffic flow between the client computer and the enterprise gateway, protecting against eavesdropping. Additionally, VPNs provide an experience similar to being directly connected to the enterprise network, enabling easy access to internal resources. This also ensures that all business traffic flows through the organization’s security stack before being allowed to continue on to destinations outside the enterprise network.
VPNs create an encrypted connection between two points. However, they have various limitations that create potential security risks to the organization:
VPNs are an effective remote access solution for legacy networks, where most of an organization’s IT infrastructure was located on the enterprise network. As users, storage, and data processing move away from the local network, many organizations are seeking virtual private network alternatives. Two of the most common choices are software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
SD-WAN is designed to be a more efficient alternative to the VPN. Instead of implementing point-to-point connectivity, SD-WAN provides optimal routing of encrypted traffic between a network of SD-WAN appliances. Secure SD-WAN solutions are designed to add the required security as well by integrating a full security stack into an SD-WAN appliance.
The main limitation of SD-WAN is that it can only provide secure, optimized connectivity to points where an SD-WAN appliance is deployed. SASE solves this problem by deploying security services in the cloud. Security services can be deployed near cloud-based resources or geographically-distributed remote workers, minimizing the network performance impacts associated with routing traffic through the SASE network.
As organization’s IT infrastructure increasingly moves off of the corporate LAN, VPN solutions are growing less effective as a secure remote access solution (especially for teleworkers working from mobile devices). Secure SD-WAN and SASE provide a secure, high-performance alternative to legacy remote access solutions.
Check Point offers Secure SD-WAN and SASE solutions that enable organizations to implement secure, optimized remote access to their employees. Contact us for more information and check out a demo to see our solutions in action. You’re also welcome to request a trial license to see how an upgrade to a modern secure remote access solution can simplify and optimize your organization’s WAN. | <urn:uuid:46e42a50-e5ff-4e60-8c34-9acc00c98510> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/network-security/what-is-vpn/vpn-alternatives/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334332.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925004536-20220925034536-00006.warc.gz | en | 0.938496 | 590 | 2.515625 | 3 |
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