Impact of Today’s Hardware and Software Applications in Cloud-based Environments: Part 1

As an industry, we have been looking at cloud-based technologies both from private and public structure and how best to optimize design, engineer and develop such technologies to better optimize the world of wireless and the Internet of Everything.

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But one aspect that has not been discussed at length is how poorly hardware and software perform in cloud-based environments. I want to discuss some of the challenges facing the industry and some potential solutions that can help create and bring a new revolution to the world of Wide Area Networks (WAN), along with the automation of practically every human-to-human and human-to-machine interface.

Currently, there are two technologies being discussed in almost every seminar or white paper being published—software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV). While these vary in structure by different vendors, clearly, all of them attack certain aspects of the mobile carrier network or Tier 1 landline networks. Let me give you my two-cents on what these technologies must address:

SDN must create a more agile network with the development of an open northbound interface. This becomes an enabler for service providers (SPs) to reduce time-to-market for service introduction, reduce capex unit cost by focusing network elements (NEs) to just move traffic, and reducing opex unit cost for network services that take significant human capital cost to deliver, such as establishing protection and restoration or provisioning new connectivity services.

NFV must enable SPs to provide new services, and hence, new incremental revenue, by replacing dedicated hardware/software located on the customer premise, e.g., DVR, storage, firewall and others.

Cloud computing, on the other hand, must enable enterprises to leverage shared and scalable computing resources, hardware and software to impact their capex and opex unit costs.

These promises are expected to deliver much better total cost of ownership (TCO) with lower opex and in essence support moving to a hardware-agnostic or independent model, offering further savings.

About a decade ago, I predicted that the battleground in the 21st century would be all about software and not hardware. Although hardware is needed, it is the role of software to optimize all five functions above using new state-of-the-art technologies such as SDN and NFV.

The problem that can become very complicated is that enterprise customers’ networks and appliances are not designed for multiple tenants, pay-for-play or on-demand services. However, SDN and NFV are fundamentally designed for such functions. That means that it is imperative for CXOs to sponsor corporate-wide programs to move into SDN and NFV, offering capabilities to drive higher revenues while competing for device replacements at the network margins from mobile access points up to wireline or Wide Area Networks.

SDN, by itself, is not really a new technology and has been in existence since 2006. It has been used to mainly improve data center performance, since the concept of big central offices with large Class 4/5 switches are pretty much obsolete in the 21st century.

But SDN has a long way to go to deliver an agile network. Today’s management of transport networks does not match the agility of the cloud-based services being deployed on them. These two have to converge to bring the transport agility into the 21st century for service delivery. Why should it take weeks and months to establish a new enterprise customer on an SP network? Why should it take weeks to provision high-speed point-to-point connectivity with specific protection requirements? SDN has yet to deliver just that.

NFV, in contrast, was introduced between 2010 and 2012 to operators in order to improve service time-to-market and network flexibility and allow a smooth transition to the cloud with significantly lower opex. In my view, the sky is the limit on NFV. For any onsite services (e.g., storage, firewall and DVR), whether today or in the future, NFV gives SPs the opportunity to deliver both consumers and enterprises major benefits, such as having a turn-key solution that lowers costs and improves quality of service (QoS).

The initial applications of SDN and NFV have changed greatly over the past few years. SDN focused mainly on cloud orchestration and networking, while NFV focused on IP-based protocols and capabilities such as DNS, DHCP, DPI, firewalls, gateways, and traffic management.

From my perspective, I believe NFV has already taken over Layer 4-7 of the SDN movement by delivering lower capex and cycle time, creating a competitive supply of innovative applications by third parties and introducing control abstractions to foster innovations that carriers need in order to compete with all over-the-top players.

Let’s also note that the new world requires openness in almost every API layer of the network from access to the core. The issue is legacy systems and processes that need to be changed in order to adapt to the new world of SDN and NFV.

Nowhere is this more critical than the mobile and Tier 1 landline carriers.

In essence, these sectors need to change all analog processes using legacy systems into digital processes, in which NFV can easily fit. That transition may take years, if not a decade, before it is fully implemented.

But the question is whether MNOs and Tier 1 carriers can wait that long to implement NFV and get the most optimized set of solutions in order to compete globally.

My guess is no, they cannot wait and stay competitive. The transition to NFV can be done more quickly, and I'm going to tell you how.

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How to protect yourself against privileged user abuse

 The typical organization loses 5% of its revenues to fraud by its own employees each year, with most thefts committed by trusted employees in executive management, operations, accounting, sales, customer service or purchasing, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). This type of malicious behavior by “privileged users” who have been given broad access to the company’s computer assets has captured the attention of CIOs across the country.

Text chart best practices to protect yourself from insider threats

It’s no mystery why: insider breaches can damage a company’s reputation, market advantage and its bottom line, stretching into billions of dollars. Despite the increased awareness and severity of the risk, a recent Ponemon survey of 693 IT professionals, commissioned by Raytheon revealed only 40% of IT budgets have dedicated funding to fight insider threats.

One reason for lack of funding is IT security budgets are largely targeted to defend against external threats, which are greater in number, but not necessarily as devastating in severity and damage to an organization. The irony of this is highlighted in the same survey: 45% say it’s likely that social engineers from outside the organization will target privileged users to obtain their access rights. This underscores that “insider” does not mean a person has to be physically based in an organization and that privileged users should truly be the focus when we talk about insider threats.
So who is the privileged user?

In any company, the privileged user is an employee with authority to access more than usual company data or make changes to the company network. Companies need privileged users because they have access to source code, file systems and other assets that allow them to upgrade the systems or make other technical changes.

Because they have greater access to the network and are limited by fewer controls, privileged users can access more of their companies’ intellectual property, such as corporate data or confidential product information. They often have the ability to easily get around controls that restrict other non-privileged users and they sometimes abuse what should be temporary access privileges to perform tasks.

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An example illustrates the problem: Bob is logged in with ordinary network access privileges but receives a help desk ticket that requires him to log out and log back in as a system administrator. Once the task is performed, Bob remains logged in as the system administrator with elevated privileges, exposing the network to a much greater security vulnerability if he were to be victimized by a cyberattack.

One way to tackle it is by focusing on Privileged User Monitoring and Access (PUMA), which relies on monitoring human behavior to determine the context of the behavior and people’s intent as well as automated tools such as video replay to keep an eye on privileged user activities. Monitoring human behavior is especially important with privileged users because they often have the know-how to cover their tracks, a feat that becomes much harder with video replay and other technologies that can have a deterrent effect by their presence. If privileged users know you’re monitoring their activity, they’re less likely to behave badly.

At the core of the privileged user problem is this dichotomy: With greater access to a company’s computer assets comes greater security risk. The privileged user can be a company’s security enforcer but also its greatest security risk.

Put another way, if a privileged user wants to do bad things, their elevated access to the company network makes it easier for them. But even a well-intentioned privileged user poses high risks. When a system administrator or network engineer with elevated access clicks on a malicious link, because of their greater access to the network, it’s far more likely to do company-wide damage than if an office manager without elevated access clicks on the same link.

The privileged user threat shows no signs of diminishing, in part because of economic pressures that have forced companies to try and do more with smaller staffs, leading to stressed out employees who are likely to be more careless about their use of elevated access privileges. And in today’s environment companies have a greater responsibility to report data losses of all sizes, so data theft by privileged users on the inside attracts widespread attention with significant negative impacts on the company’s reputation and stock price.

It all adds up to a realization by companies that the biggest cyberthreat to their organization may not be from an external attack. The most serious threat may be from an unknowing “privileged user” colleague right down the hall.
Mitigating the risk

Survey respondents said the two biggest challenges companies face when addressing insider threats are having enough contextual information provided by security tools (69%) and security tools that yield too many false positives (56%). Endpoint monitoring and auditing tools allow visibility and context, alleviating these challenges.

Additionally, the best approach to mitigating privileged user abuse is to develop a comprehensive and layered strategy that implements best practices, involves process and technology, and most importantly, involves a better understanding of human behavior. It is a common myth among IT management staff that auditing privileged user activity is too difficult and complicated.

The truth is that privileged user auditing does not have to be a complicated technical challenge if the auditing and monitoring process is flexible, policy-based, and provides irrefutable attribution to a particular privileged user. The knowledge alone that an organization uses auditing and monitoring technology is a huge deterrent against privileged user abuse. Many studies have been done to help identify best practices for mitigating the risk of privileged user threats.

While there are a variety of tools that address different aspects of privileged user security, there is no single technology that fully mitigates the problem. Gartner identifies solutions used for privileged account management (PAM) as a set of technologies enabling enterprises to address these specific needs:


Your company needs its privileged users - perhaps the most valuable players in any organization. However, these are the very same people who can also become a super threat if not properly monitored. Organizations can protect themselves from privileged user threats by implementing best practices and implementing a flexible policy-based monitoring solution that ensures enterprise-wide visibility into privileged user activities. The key to mitigating privilege user abuse is the ability to determine context and intent, which can only be accomplished by monitoring human behavior.

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What data breaches teach us about the future of malware: Your own data could dupe you

When a eBay suffered a massive data breach a few weeks ago, most of the attention revolved around the compromise of passwords and the vulnerabilities in the site’s security. While those are legitimate concerns, they obscure the most glaringly weak link in the security chain: people.

Indeed, it was not a sophisticated exploit that facilitated the eBay breach, but an old-fashioned con. It’s been determined that as many as 100 eBay employees were likely victims of a social engineering scheme: an attack where the perpetrators arm themselves with enough information to pass themselves off as a known and trusted individual or organization and convince the victim to reveal valuable personal information—in the case of the eBay employees, their logins.

That’s actually not surprising. When I recently asked a number of security experts to weigh in on innovative new attacks we should look out for, I was told the most concerning trend couldn’t be remedied by patching and updating applications or thwarted by your security software.

After a phishing attack yielded eBay employee logins, hackers made off with customer names, email and physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords.

“The lowest hanging fruit is still humans,” said Ken Westin, a security researcher for Tripwire. “As long as attacks against humans still work consistently attackers will use them on their own, or as part of sophisticated, integrated campaigns.”

Increasingly, those campaigns are tightly targeted to individuals and use carefully mined personal data to gain their trust. A person is likely to dismiss a typical phishing attack message that starts “Dear Customer” and contains only general information. But if a criminal can tailor a message that addresses the recipient by name; includes their personal details such as home address, phone number, or birth date; and looks like it comes from a company they do business with, the odds are much higher that even a cautious person will respond or take action.

The more pertinent personal information attackers can obtain, the easier it is for them to craft realistic-looking spearphishing scams. This is what makes companies like Target and eBay so appealing to hackers—their customer databases are a treasure trove of data about millions upon millions of consumers.

“Look, for example, at the eBay breach,” says Dwayne Melancon, CTO of Tripwire. “Millions of users’ personal information was disclosed—far more than just email addresses and user names. Those who possess the eBay data are now armed with dates of birth, locations, and even phone numbers , from which they can craft some of the most convincing phishing sites we’ve ever seen. By mentioning details from your local area, adding details that would appeal to you based on your age, and so forth cybercriminals can greatly increase the odds you will respond to a phishing email.”

The customer databases of popular companies like Target are a goldmine for hackers who want to craft social engineering schemes.

This doesn't mean you should abandon conventional security measures. You should absolutely have a firewall in place and antimalware tools that are kept up to date. Those things are table stakes that are required just to maintain the status quo for computer security. But they’re not enough. You also have to exercise some degree of skepticism about emails, text messages, or other communications you receive.

Users have been conditioned for years not to open file attachments or click on links in email messages from unknown or suspicious sources. The way attacks are evolving, though, you now need to approach everything with similar caution. Attackers go wherever there are potential victims. As social networks and mobile devices have spiked in usage, cybercriminals have targeted users there as well, and many users who know better have been caught off-guard.

The second—and more important—issue is that it’s no longer just about communications from “unknown” sources. The sheer volume of sensitive, personal information that has been compromised means that attackers know a lot about you, where you live, and which companies you do business with. It means that attackers who just used to cast a wide net and hope to find a gullible victim can now target victims with much greater precision using accurate and relevant information.

Your security software can’t help you here—only awareness and common sense can block these types of attacks.

“Users must be ever vigilant, otherwise they will become victims,” Melancon said. “Unfortunately, vigilance doesn’t come naturally to most users.”

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Meet the future of computing: 10 killer hardware advancements from Computex 2014

From new chips to super-fast storage and amazing connectivity improvements, the future of computing was unveiled at Computex.

But wait, there's more!
That's all we have for this slideshow, but we're only scratching the surface of the vast sea of electronics announced at Computex 2014. Check out PCWorld's Computex category for all sorts of additional goodies, and tune in tomorrow for our list of the most intriguing PCs, tablets, hybrids, and more coming out of Taipei.

Intel's Devil's Canyon enthusiast processors
Intel kicked off the component party with the introduction of Devil's Canyon. These all-new unlocked, quad-core Core processors that are just begging to be overclocked, and Intel's even introduced a "Next-Generation Polymer Thermal Interface Material" to help with just that. Not that the chips are slouches out of the box: The Core i7-4790K is Intel's first chip with a 4GHz base clock, and that can leap to 4.4GHz in times of need. The new Core i5-4690K, meanwhile, boasts 3.5GHz and 3.9GHz base and turbo clocks, respectively.

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Kaveri, AMD's first enthusiast-class mobile APUs
AMD didn't sit around on its thumbs while Intel was announcing all these cool new chips, of course. On Wednesday, the company launched Kaveri, its first enthusiast-class mobile APUs. (APUs feature powerful Radeon integrated graphics that work in close concert with Kaveri's Steamroller CPU cores.) AMD claims these chips can go toe-to-toe with Intel's Core i7 Haswell chips, and even slapped the enthusiast-focused FX branding on the most powerful of these puppies.

One cable to rule them all...
But think beyond DisplayPort. The Video Electronics Standards Association announced DockPort, the next generation DisplayPort successor, at Computex 2014. What's the big deal? If the name didn't tip you off already, DockPort will augment DisplayPort's graphical prowess with the ability to transfer both power and USB data, merging three sets of wires into a single uber-cable.

Crucial's Ballistix Elite DDR4 memory
It's finally coming. The next-generation of RAM is due with Intel's Haswell-E enthusiast processors later this year—or, more specifically, its new X99 chipset—and memory makers are ready to hit the ground running. This week, Crucial announced its Ballistix Elite DDR4 memory modules, with twice the bandwidth and up to 40 percent power savings over today's DDR3 modules. (This being enthusiast RAM, the Ballistix Elite modules will also feature fancy custom heat spreaders nonetheless.) The first modules will ship at a whopping 2666MHz and 3000MHz, according to AnandTech.

Look for Crucial's DD4 to hit the streets in August in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB kits, and don't be surprised if plenty of other memory makers announce competing DDR4 kits in the coming weeks.

...or NO cables to rule them all
If you want to really think far beyond DisplayPort, follow Intel's lead: It wants your next PC to have no wires whatsoever. At Computex, Intel's Kirk Skaugen detailed and demoed new wireless charging, docking, display and data transfer technologies that the company is working on in conjunction with a wide array of industry partners. Skylake, the Intel chip scheduled to ship after the upcoming Broadwell processors, will include full support for various technologies—like WiGig and A4WP wireless charging—designed to make that dream a reality by 2016.

Asus RT-AC3200 router
You want speed? Asus'll give you speed. And, uh, lots of antennas.
The six antennas protruding from the Asus RT-AC3200 gives it an Iron Throne-esque aesthetic, but it's what's under the hood that matters here. The router sports the latest blazing-fast 802.11ac and 802.11n TurboQAM technologies to deliver speeds up to 1.3Gbps per device. and Asus stuffed the RT-AC3200 with all sorts of software to supercharge Wi-Fi connections even more: Beamforming, tri-band MIMO, SmartConnect, and adaptive quality of service bandwidth management all appear on the router's spec list.

Behold, the future
Sure, most of the big news coming out of Computex revolves around the flood of fresh PCs, laptops, and hybrids. But if you peer beyond the peek into holiday lineups you can catch a glimpse of something even more portentous: The very future of computing.

A small army of companies unveiled a slew of futuristic hardware at Computex 2014—not full-blown devices, but components and chips and connectors that help those full-blown devices become all the more powerful. This year's show saw the announcement of blazing-fast enthusiast CPUs from AMD and Intel alike, better-than-ever SSDs and next-gen routers, a full SSD shoved into an itty-bitty flash drive, great news for 4K displays, and a whole lot more. Buckle up.

Cheaper-than-ever 4K displays
Technology naturally becomes cheaper over time, but Intel's working directly with display makers to drive down the cost of 4K monitors and all-in-ones pronto. The company's partnering with ViewSonic, MSI, TPV, and others to hopefully bring the cost of 4K monitors to a mere—cough, cough—$400 by the end of the year, and 4K AIOs down to sub-$1000 price points. Who knows? If the bet pays off, maybe the long-promised 4K revolution will finally catch a spark.

Intel wasn't the only company showing off 4K-pushing tech at Computex: DisplayLink and IO Data announced the first universal 4K graphics adapter, with a USB 3.0 connector at one end, a DisplayPort connector at the other, and plenty of technical trickery going on under the hood.

Corsair's Voyager Extreme GTX SSD-on-a-stick
Speaking of ridonkulous, Corsair's Voyager Extreme GTX may look like an everyday flash drive, but inside beats the heart of an honest-to-goodness SSD, with 450MBps read and 350MBps write times, up to 256GB of storage space, and full support for storage-optimization technologies like TRIM, USB Attached SCSI, and SMART monitoring technology to keep an eye on the drive's health. Who needs internal storage when you can carry something like this around in your pocket?

Broadwell and Core M mobile chips
Intel's next-gen Broadwell chips may be suffering delays, but the company expects its powerful, yet power-sipping processors to start appearing in laptops and tablets by the end of the y. I, and it manages to be slimmer than the iPad Air while still feeling faster than a full-fledged PC.

SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD
SanDisk's new Extreme Pro SSDs are fast, hitting sequential read speeds up to 550MBps and sequential write speeds up to 520MBps, with the help of some DRAM-powered cache technology. SanDisk's new Extreme Pro SSDs are big, with 240-, 480-, and 960GB capacities planned. But most eye-catchingly, SanDisk's new Extreme Pro SSDs are durable—so much so that the company's offering a downright ridonkulous 10-year warranty with these enthusiast-class drives.