News, analysis and context on enterprise technology for the CTO
A very interesting (OK, it was pretty cool) vulnerability in the TCP stack of Windows Vista and above (including 32-bit and 64-bit versions and Windows Server 2008) was recently announced and patched. This vulnerability is of particular note not just because of the wide range of products that it affected, but because of how the vulnerability worked. Microsoft published this in its advisory on the vulnerability: "A remote code execution vulnerability … [Read more...]
Recently, Dillon Behr (@dbehr24) wrote a great piece about how the consumer technology ecosystem has almost completely fractured - breaking into walled gardens. Those of Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and the rest are all creating ecosystems with low barriers to entry, but even higher barriers to exit. This post is the first in a series where we will examine each ecosystem in depth. What does Google Have? Google is one of the largest email … [Read more...]
The vFabric Cloud Application Platform was built by VMware to help move applications and capabilities into the cloud (or cloud friendly architectures). This platform combines their "Spring" development platform to the vFabric service delivery solution. The vFabric offering is comprised of the following: The Spring framework used by millions of developers to build modern applications. tc Server: An enterprise version of Apache Tomcat application … [Read more...]
We all know how much data is exploding, but it is important to note that much of that data is duplicated (or re-duplicated). De-duplication systems are key, and provide valuable services, but they cannot be the end-game data management system. Many services (such as data mining) also require access and copies of enterprise data, they are often duplicated to ensure that they do not touch the functional data, but this requires even more storage … [Read more...]
At first glance, cloud computing may seem to be distinct from the austere world of special operations forces (SOF). But Special Operations Technology's Eric Marks has a very interesting piece on how SOF can use the cloud to gain the tactical advantage. Some highlights: Cloud to the edge tactical mobile computing, which would feature the re-engineering of mission threads and processes so they could be executed by mobile devices. "This could include … [Read more...]
When I first got my hands on the Droid RAZR I was more than a little in awe. It just looks SO cool. The harsh lines, the beveled screen, it is a really sharp looking phone. I normally don't care what any phone looks like, but I was really impressed by the design work (from a visual standpoint) on the RAZR. The phone internals are impressive as well, a 1.2GHz Texas Instruments OMAP dual-core processor with 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory and a 16GB SD card, … [Read more...]
Editor's note: We have asked each of our researchers to pull together considerations meant to help in your planning for 2012. We solicit your feedback on all these predictive posts. bg Prediction is a messy game. Especially in a field that is often characterized by a state of punctuated equilibrium---long periods of stasis and then rapid disruptions. However, I will toss my hat into the ring. The geopolitics of cybersecurity will take center … [Read more...]
If you are working on Big Data projects in or around the federal space a resource you will want to engage with (if you have not already) is the Washington DC Area Hadoop Users Group (Hadoop-DC). This is a group of user-practitioners and enthusiasts who meet to exchange lessons learned, discuss emerging technologies and network to strengthen the emerging Big Data community in DC. The group is coordinated by three community-minded technology … [Read more...]
USB is a wonderful technology -- it allows us to be platform-agnostic, gives us compatibility, ease of use, and more durability than some previous connectors we have used in the past. It also presents a very difficult security challenge to security professionals. USB devices have become so ubiquitous, we don't think twice about just plugging one into a computer. We have USB plasma balls, drink refrigerators, coffee heaters, thumb drives, keyboards, … [Read more...]
A social movement with a hashtag in its name is obviously heavily reliant on technology. Here are a few technologies and approaches that Occupy Wall Street used to expand rapidly. Mesh networks: localized Internets, set up for rapid and secure internal communication. The People's Skype, a distributed voice and voting system that enables the peculiar General Assembly voting system to function by linking different voice accounts to a general PA … [Read more...]