New Passwordless Verification API Uses SIM Security for Zero Trust Remote Access
On the spectrum between passwords and biometrics lies the possession factor –
most commonly the mobile phone. That's how SMS OTP and authenticator apps came
about, but these come with fraud risk, usability issues, and are no longer the
best solution. The simpler, stronger solution to verification has been with us
all along – using the strong security of the SIM card that is in every mobile
phone. Mobile networks authenticate customers all the time to allow calls and
data. The SIM card uses advanced cryptographic security, and is an established
form of real-time verification that doesn't need any separate apps or hardware
tokens. However, the real magic of SIM-based authentication is that it requires
no user action. It's there already. Now, APIs by tru.ID open up SIM-based
network authentication for developers to build frictionless, yet secure
verification experiences. Any concerns over privacy are alleviated by the fact
that tru.ID does not process personally identifiable information between the
network and the APIs. It's purely a URL-based lookup.Cognitive AI meet IoT: A Match Made in Heaven
The progressive trends of Mobile edge computing and Cloudlets are diffusing
edge-based intelligence in connected and more controlled enterprise systems.
However, within the diversity of pervasive cyber-physical ecosystems, the
autonomy of the discrete edge nodes would require gain in operational
intelligence with minimum supervision. The emerging innovation in cognitive
computational intelligence is revealing a great potential to introduce a
contemporary soft computing-based algorithm, architectural rethinking, and
progressive system design of the next generation of IoT systems. The cognitive
IoT Systems crush the strong partition between the silos and interdependencies
of software and hardware subsystems. The flexibility of the edge-native AI
component is flexible enough to recognize the changes in the physical
environment and dynamically adjust the analytical outcomes in real-time. As a
result, the interaction between human-machine or machine to machine becomes more
dynamic, interoperable, and contextual to the time and scope of any operation.
How the pandemic delivered the future of corporate cybersecurity faster
At some point it becomes untenable and inefficient to manage all these
separate solutions. That point gets closer every day as teams have to deal
with the complexities and identity management challenges of remote work.
Siloed solutions also mean IT staff must monitor several different consoles
and may not connect the dots when incidents are flagged on separate platforms.
They also require complex and costly integration projects to get the
functionality needed. And even then, they’ll likely still require manual
oversight. Moving toward all-in-one security solutions can help replicate the
sense of cohesion that once existed in on-premises network security along with
new efficiencies. All-in-one solutions can share data across the different
components, leading to better and more efficient function. And by adding new
modules instead of products when new tools are needs, you eliminate the
expense and complications of integration. Companies and individuals have
already gotten used to paying for things like data, cloud storage and web
hosting based on how much they use them.
OnePercent ransomware group hits companies via IceID banking Trojan
The OnePercent group's ransom note directs victims to a website hosted on
the Tor anonymity network where they can see the ransom amount and contact
the attackers via a live chat feature. The note also includes a Bitcoin
address where the ransom must be paid. If victims do not pay or contact the
attackers within one week, the group attempts to contact them via phone
calls and emails sent from ProtonMail addresses. "The actors will
persistently demand to speak with a victim company’s designated negotiator
or otherwise threaten to publish the stolen data," the FBI said. "When a
victim company does not respond, the actors send subsequent threats to
publish the victim company’s stolen data via the same ProtonMail email
address." The extortion has different levels. If the victim does not agree
to pay the ransom quickly, the group threatens to release a portion of the
data publicly and if the ransom is not paid even after this, the attackers
threaten to sell the data to the REvil/Sodinokibi group to be auctioned off.
Aside from the REvil connection, OnePercent might have been tied to other
ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operations in the past too.Why Agile Transformations Fail In The Corporate Environment
One key reason an Agile transformation will fail is when all the focus is
concentrated in just one of the three circles above. It is imperative that
we consider these three circles like a Venn diagram and regularly monitor
our operating presence. Ideally, we want to operate in all three circles,
but it is hard to find balance. Suppose we are working in the mindset and
framework circles and trying to build a perfect product with perfect
architecture. Spending too much time making things perfect, we are likely to
miss the market window, or run into financial difficulties. Similarly, if we
operate in the mindset and business agility circles, for example, it could
be great for the short term to get a prototype to market quickly, but we
will be drowning in technical debt in the long run. Or, imagine that we
operate in the framework and business agility circle to build a perfect
hotel for our customers — we could miss the fact that they really need a
bed-and-breakfast, not a hotel, by not considering the mindset circle. All
three perspectives are essential, so to maximize the efficiencies, we need
to keep finding the balance.How the tech sector can provide opportunities and address skills gaps in young people
After all, as far as technology is concerned, none of us are beyond the need
for further training and development. The McKinsey Global Institute has
recently suggested that as many as 357 million people will need to acquire
new skills in the next decade due to the predicted rise of artificial
intelligence and automation – skills that few, even in tech-adjacent
industries, currently possess. Keeping this kind of projection firmly in
mind helps us to remember that the acquisition of new and essential skills
is an ongoing process for everyone. As such, employers should not discount
those potential candidates who don’t necessarily come from a tech-heavy
background. With robust on-the-job training processes and a supportive,
inclusive approach towards IT talent, young workers who perhaps missed out
on IT fundamentals at school or who chose to focus, for example, on
humanities-based university courses can absolutely receive the same
attention and prospects as those from a tech-heavy background. A recent
government report on aspects of the skills gap has already uncovered an
uplifting trend in this direction, with 57% of employers confident that they
can find resources to train their employees.A closer look at two newly announced Intel chips
Intel’s upcoming next-generation Xeon is codenamed Sapphire Rapids and
promises a radical new design and gains in performance. One of its key
differentiators is its modular SoC design. The chip has multiple tiles that
appears to the system as a monolithic CPU and all of the tiles communicate
with each other, so every thread has full access to all resources on all
tiles. In a way it’s similar to the chiplet design AMD uses in its Epyc
processor. By breaking the monolithic chip up into smaller pieces it’s easier
to manufacture. In addition to faster/wider cores and interconnects, Sapphire
Rapids has a new feature called Last Level Cache (LLC) that features up to
100MB of cache that can be shared across all cores, with up to four memory
controllers and eight memory channels of DDR5 memory, next-gen Optane
Persistent Memory, and/or High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Sapphire Rapids also
offers Intel Ultra Path Interconnect 2.0 (UPI), a CPU interconnect used for
multi-socket communication. UPI 2.0 features four UPI links per processor with
16GT/s of throughput and supports up to eight sockets.How to encourage healthy conflict: 8 tips from CIOs
We unpack ideas and differences, seeking to understand each other’s points of
view and the experiential lens through which the issue(s) are being evaluated,
and then work collaboratively in the spirit of best serving our customers
(external and internal) to reach the best decision and path to resolution. In
the end, and most importantly, we are a team; so, when we work through the
conflict and land on a course of action or decision, we all align, rally, and
go into full-on execution mode as one team, with one agenda. Recognize that
each team member brings a unique set of experiences, ideas, and beliefs to
every conversation and decision. As a leader, you need to be acutely aware of
when and how team members engage in conflict and the behaviors that precede
and follow such discussions. Encourage team members to participate and share
their ideas; candidly and directly elicit their honest and important views on
the matters, even when the topics may be challenging and the conflict intense,
and especially if the team member may be more quiet or prone to avoid the heat
of the debate. The Office Of Strategy In the Age Of Agility
Agile methods such as scrum, kanban and lean development have gone beyond the
realm of product design and development to other organizational functions, such
as customer engagement, employee motivation, and execution amid uncertainty.
From the earliest Agile Manifesto, what we know are the following principles: 1)
people over process and tools, 2) working prototypes over excessive
documentation, 3) respond to change rather than follow a plan, and 4) customer
collaboration over rigid contracts. However, in the realm of strategy, agile is
often confused with adhocism, and that it would lead to more chaos than value.
But as Jeff Bezos instructs us, when making strategy, one must focus on the long
term, the things that will remain largely constant over time. In the case of
Amazon, the strategy is three-fold: customer obsession, invention, and being
patient, and that for customers what matters is greater speed, wider selection,
and lower cost. With so few strategic priorities, how does the company manage to
remain relevant? Microservice Architecture and Agile Teams
As services can be worked on in parallel, a team can bring more developers to
bear on a problem without them getting into each other’s actions. It can also be
simpler for those developers to understand their part of the system, as they can
focus their concern on just one part of it. Process isolation also causes it
feasible for us to alter the technology choices team makes, perhaps mixing
different programming languages, programming styles, deployment platforms, or
databases to discover the perfect blend. Microservice architecture does allow
the team more concrete boundaries in a system around which ownership lines can
be marked, allowing the team much more flexibility regarding how you reduce this
problem. The microservice architecture enables each service to be developed
independently by a team that is concentrated on that service. As a result, it
produces continuous deployment possible for complex applications. The
microservice architecture enables each service to be scaled individually. It has
been observed when a team or organization adopts Microservice architecture the
legitimate gain is the built-in agility an organization gets.Quote for the day:
"When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier." -- Roy E. Disney
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