The Importance of Continuing Education for Digital Leaders
Chief information officers (CIOs), of course, should regularly brief the management team and the board on new developments, demoing exciting new technology, bringing in external speakers and vendors, and using other tactics that promote tech learning and engagement. But keeping up on technology trends is also the responsibility of every executive. And while that can be daunting given the vast tech landscape and seemingly limitless avenues for learning, it’s also incredibly exciting. So, if your job title doesn’t include the words information, technology, or digital, how do you stay current? And how do you ensure your organization isn’t falling behind? Consulting digitally literate kids, grandkids, or Millennial staff for help, as many chief executives tell us they do, won’t cut it.
BGP routing joining OpenFlow in software-defined networks
The use of BGP routing makes it possible for the network to continue to operate if the controller fails, or if the link from the controller to the routers goes down. Routers would no longer be able to exchange updates with the controller on network operations, status and policy, but packets would continue to flow based on previously set policies. BGP is a path vector protocol that maintains path information that gets updated dynamically and in which routing decisions are based strictly on distance and policy. Unlike link-state protocols, like OSPF, they do not create a complete network map or maintain QoS information. The size of the internet makes it virtually impossible to create and maintain a map describing each of the thousands of autonomous systems and the links between them.
How security teams can embrace the millennial shift in the workplace
The good news is that increased flexibility doesn’t need to mean that businesses are at a greater security risk. In fact, 80% of millennials feel it is important to secure sensitive information, such as data containing personal, financial, and medical information. Companies just need to embrace millennials’ acceptance of security with the understanding that security measures can’t get in the way of the on-demand mindset or inhibit work flexibility. So what can companies do? They can ensure a safer environment by prioritizing technologies that have minimal to no impact on the employee work experience. This means embracing new innovations based on artificial intelligence and predictive analytics that minimize user involvement and don’t rely on workers to keep software updated.
Adaptable or Predictable? Strive for Both – Be Predictably Adaptable!
There are three types of systems – ordered, chaotic and complex. In ordered systems a desired output can be predicted and achieved via planning based on historical data and analysis. A Chaotic system is one with complete randomness or lack of connections between the components of the system.
Our definitions of adaptability and predictability will come from the perspective of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). CAS are systems that have a large numbers of components, often called agents, that interact and adapt or learn3. Complex systems are non-linear and not causal. We can only understand the system by engaging with it. The components and the system itself coevolve so that we cannot predict the future.
The H Factor – Why you should be building “human firewalls”
The “H factor” can be attributed to two aspects: The attackers and the conduit for attack. On one hand, businesses in all industries, especially lucrative ones, are faced with attackers who keep growing in their sophistication, capabilities and brazenness. They keep coming up with creative ways of attacking organisations by discovering new vulnerabilities in systems and software and by tricking innocent people into falling into their traps. On the other hand, humans are considered the weakest link and can expose organisations to cyber threats through three main types of risks: human errors, ignorance and intentional harm.
Leveraging GPU-Enabled Graph Analytics to Accelerate Cyber Security Investigation
The ability to effectively enable the security information and event (SIEM) analysts becomes significantly more difficult. Threat detection can take a significant amount of time, and often cannot be done until long after the breach has taken place. Developing more effective ways for analyzing and visualizing cyber threats is critical, and that is where graph analytics comes in. Cyber security is effectively a graph problem: network traffic transactions link the external systems attempting to breach the environment with the internal systems that require protection. Each access attempt establishes a directed link between the source of the attempt and the target, and the details of the attempted access become the properties of the directed edge.
Putin Says DNC Hack Was a Public Service, Russia Didn’t Do It
Clinton’s campaign struck back at Putin on Friday for characterizing the cyber intrusions at Democratic Party groups as a public service and accused him of endorsing the disruption of the U.S. vote. “Unsurprisingly, Putin has joined Trump in cheering foreign interference in the U.S. election that is clearly designed to inflict political damage on Hillary Clinton and Democrats,” Clinton spokesman Jesse Lehrich said in an email. “This is a national security issue and every American deserves answers about potential collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin.” In a two-hour conversation near Russia’s eastern fringe, Putin touched on subjects ranging from the war in Syria to oil prices and trade with China. It came just two days before Putin, Barack Obama and other world leaders gather at a Group of 20 meeting in Hangzhou.
Security Think Tank: Malware infection is inevitable, so be prepared
It seems some companies have already hit the self-destruct button by permitting users to access company resources using their own devices, with limited protection in place. While all your machines in the office might have the latest and greatest malware protection available, Mrs Trellis from her holiday home in north Wales is unlikely to even know what this is. Users should not be able to double click and open an untrusted file. They should be prompted with a warning message before being allowed to open untrusted files. This is a basic Cyber Essentials control that most small companies fail when I go in and assess them, yet remarkably simple and effective once in place. Do it. No excuses.
Python vs. C/C++ in Embedded Systems
Python isn't only the most-popular language for introductory CS programs, it's also the fastest-growing language for embedded computing. Maybe that sounds silly when you scan the numbers again and realize it's the fastest-growing language of the remaining 5% of embedded systems code that aren't C/C+ +, but Python will start eating into C/C++'s monopoly even more over the next few years. Hobbyists migrating into the industry with experience programming drones, robots, or other projects frequently have an Arduino or Raspberry Pi background. They'll likely have dealt with Python on some level in that time, and it's also likely that they'll have bumped up against some embedded systems programming.
Data science industry eyes machine learning, recommendation engines
The traditional roles of systems analyst or business analyst are still there, but what has changed is the intensity and enormity of how they are used across the business. Data science used to answer questions of a limited scope. If you look at where the changes are in the industry today, data science is used far more profusely across the organization. This means applying analytics and insights across every stage of the business. It's a lot more pervasive and that makes the demands on data scientists a lot more pervasive, too. ... Yesterday's database administrator is today's data engineer. If you look at what data engineers do, they do some programming, math, SQL, administration and storage. Data scientists are different; they do model building, develop algorithms and do storytelling based on what the data says.
Quote for the day:
"Too often we think we can act without explaining and take decisions without justifying them." -- Peter Mandelson
