Top 5 Internet Technologies of 2021
Speaking of React, 2021 didn’t see any diminishment of the popular
Facebook-derived JavaScript library. Although React-based frameworks abound, one
in particular stood out this year: Next.js, the open source framework managed by
Vercel. At the end of October, Vercel announced version 12 of Next.js, which
included ES modules and URL imports, instant Hot Module Replacement (HMR), and
something called “Middleware” that enables you to “run code before a request is
completed.” Next.js is indicative of the rise of SSGs (Static Site Generators)
over the past few years, with Gatsby and Hugo other examples. Although, there
has been a noticeable move away from pure static generation — Next.js now
describes itself as a “hybrid static [and] server rendering” framework. Next.js
developers love its ease-of-use and all the fancy features (like “edge
functions”), however not everyone is enamored with the output of Next.js-made
apps. That’s perhaps more of an indictment of React itself, than Next.js. But it
is worth noting that there is increasing pushback against React frameworks on
the web, due to the amount of JavaScript they tend to use.
Why it’s time to rethink your cyber talent and retention strategy
Organisations that don’t invest in cyber skills training and development
programmes for technical personnel and the wider workforce risk throttling their
future internal talent marketplace. Today’s increasingly digital workplace means
cyber security is everyone’s business. By extending cyber awareness and training
to all employees, organisations will be able to mobilise those individuals that
demonstrate aptitude and interest to build up their skills set and acquire
industry-recognised certifications that will help the organisation expand and
strengthen its cyber security teams. Alongside initiating a mentorship programme
to support people make a ‘job shift’ into cyber security roles, organisations
should look to facilitate defined cyber security career pathways. ... Many IT
leaders are already active members of knowledge networks and communities, that
present a rich seam of opportunity when it comes to virtually meeting and
evaluating potential candidates who are an exact match for their business, in a
highly targeted way.
On the Importance of Bayesian Thinking in Everyday Life
Surprisingly, there is no consensus as to what probability really means. In
general, there are two ways to think about it. One is to define probability as
the observed frequency of events in many trials. For instance, if one would
toss a coin many times, approximately half of the outcomes will be heads, and
the other half will be tails. The more tosses, the closer the observed
frequencies will be to 50–50. Hence, we say that the probability of tossing
heads (or tails) is 50%, or 0.5. This is the so-called frequentist
probability. There is also another way to think about it, known as subjective
or Bayesian probability. In a nutshell, this definition states that a person’s
subjective belief about how likely something is to happen is also a
probability. I might say: I think there is a 50% chance it will rain tomorrow.
It is a valid statement of a Bayesian probability, but not of a frequentist
one. ... Whichever definition of probability we adopt (and we will see
both in action shortly), probability always follows certain rules. It is a
number between 0 and 1 that expresses how certain something is to
happen.
The Future of Work is Not Corporate - It’s DAOs and Crypto Networks
As companies grow, they are no longer able to maintain a sustainable
relationship with these orbital network participants. The relationship
between the company and the participants turns zero-sum, and in order to
maximize profits, the company begins to extract value from these
participants. ... The model of a company having strict boundaries between
internal and external may have made sense in the Industrial Age, but in the
Information Age, this model leads to misaligned incentives and unsustainable
extraction. In our world of complex information and orbital stakeholders,
companies are no longer suited to help us coordinate our activity. Crypto
networks create better alignment between participants, and DAOs will be the
coordination layer for this new world. ... DAOs will eventually replace the
traditional model. A DAO is an internet-native organization with core
functions that are automated by smart contracts, and with people who do the
things that automation cannot. In practice, not all DAOs are decentralized
or autonomous, so it is best to think of DAOs as internet-based
organizations that are collectively owned and controlled by its members.
The future is not the Internet of Things… it is the Connected Intelligent Edge
It is not surprising that Qualcomm is talking about it. At its recent
Investor Day presentation, Amon shared how the company is uniquely
positioned to drive the Connected Intelligent Edge: “We are working to
enable a world where everyone and everything is intelligently connected. Our
mobile heritage and DNA puts us in an incredible position to provide
high-performance, low-power computing, on-device intelligence, all wireless
technologies, and leadership across not only AI processing and connectivity
but camera, graphics, and sensors. These technologies will scale to support
every single device at the edge, from earbuds all the way to connected
intelligent vehicles.” For Qualcomm, Amon sees this as an opportunity to
engage a $700 billion addressable market in the next decade. Amon is not
alone. ... “Qualcomm is a leader at the Intelligent Edge, driving advances
in efficient computing, wireless connectivity and on-device AI. And your
vision for a future of technology where everyone and everything is
intelligently connected is aligned with our own,” Nadella said.
Measure Outcomes, Not Outputs: Software Development in Today’s Remote Work World
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Lower productivity does not always mean that the developer lacks skills and
is therefore inefficient. Comparing how much code was written to how much
was moved into production provides some key insights. The first insight is
whether or not the developer was working on features that are important to
the business. Suppose the development team wrote a lot of code, but only a
small amount made it to production. In such a scenario, it could mean they
weren’t working on the right features because someone misunderstood the
business priorities or spent a lot of time on prototyping. Secondly, it is
possible that the product owner did not fully define the requirement and
kept on changing it, resulting in code churn. Code churn measures the amount
of code that was re-written for a feature to be done right. Code churn can
happen because of a) inexperienced developers writing bad code, b) the
developer’s poor understanding of the product requirements, or c) the
product owner not defining the feature well leading to scope changes, or d)
the prioritization of features not done right by the product owner.
Lights Out: Cyberattacks Shut Down Building Automation Systems
The firm, located in Germany, discovered that three-quarters of the BAS
devices in the office building system network had been mysteriously purged
of their "smarts" and locked down with the system's own digital security
key, which was now under the attackers' control. The firm had to revert to
manually flipping on and off the central circuit breakers in order to power
on the lights in the building. The BAS devices, which control and operate
lighting and other functions in the office building, were basically bricked
by the attackers. "Everything was removed ... completely wiped, with no
additional functionality" for the BAS operations in the building, explains
Thomas Brandstetter, co-founder and general manager of Limes Security, whose
industrial control system security firm was contacted in October by the
engineering firm in the wake of the attack. Brandstetter's team, led by
security experts Peter Panholzer and Felix Eberstaller, ultimately retrieved
the hijacked BCU (bus coupling unit) key from memory in one of the victim's
bricked devices, but it took some creative hacking.
What Log4Shell teaches us about open source security
Nearly every organization now uses some amount of open source, thanks to
benefits such as lower cost compared with proprietary software and
flexibility in a world increasingly dominated by cloud computing. Open
source isn’t going away anytime soon — just the opposite — and hackers know
this. As for what Log4Shell says about open-source security, I think it
raises more questions than it answers. I generally agree that open-source
software has security advantages because of the many watchful eyes behind it
— all those contributors worldwide who are committed to a program’s quality
and security. But a few questions are fair to ask: Who is minding the gates
when it comes to securing foundational programs like Log4j? The Apache
Foundation says it has more than 8,000 committers collaborating on 350
projects and initiatives, but how many are engaged to keep an eye on an
older, perhaps “boring” one such as Log4j? Should large deep-pocketed
companies besides Google, which always seems to be heavily involved in such
matters, be doing more to support the cause with people and resources?
AI Comes Alive in Industrial Automation
AI and ML tools are getting used to predict future energy consumption
patterns in manufacturing. This mitigates soaring energy costs and also
helps offset climate change. AI also helps to sort out chaotic systems such
as renewables. “Training these AI models is burning tons of energy. That’s
not false. It does take energy,” said Nicholson. “But what people are
missing is that AI models are designed to help companies with enormous
physical systems operate more efficiently.” While AI takes up a lot of
processing energy, the results in efficiency savings can far outweigh the
expense in energy consumption. “AI can help us make more with less. We can
cut down on waste with optimization. We can get growth without consuming
more,” said Nicholson. “We can train an optimization model in 20 minutes to
save a company tens of millions of dollars of energy consumption per year.
The advantages can be huge. That’s already happening.” AI can help plant
managers figure out what equipment is best for what task at what time. These
are issues that are not easily soloved without computer analysis.
Backdoor Discovered in US Federal Agency Network
Avast's suspicion of network interception and exfiltration is based on its
analysis of two files the researchers obtained. The company did not provide
ISMG with the origin of the files. One of the files, through which the
threat actor initiates the backdoor, is termed as a "downloader" by Avast.
It masquerades as a legitimate Windows file named oci[.]dll and abuses the
WinDivert, a legitimate packet-capturing utility that can be used to
implement user-made packet filters, packet sniffers, firewalls, NAT, VPNs,
tunneling applications, etc., without the need to write kernel-mode code.
This allows the attacker to listen to all internet communication via the
victim's network, they say. "We found this first file disguised as oci.dll
('C:WindowsSystem32oci.dll') - or Oracle Call Interface. It contains a
compressed library [called NTlib]. This oci.dll exports only one function
'DllRegisterService.' This function checks the MD5 of the hostname and stops
if it doesn’t match the one it stores.
Quote for the day:
"Without courage, it doesn't matter
how good the leader's intentions are." -- Orrin Woodward
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