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This blog was originally posted on Huffington Post.

Every day, we’re bombarded with seemingly unsolvable issues — health care crises, struggling schools, poverty, and climate change are just a few. These issues may at first seem too big for any of us to solve. But in today’s technology-driven world, we actually have more power than ever.

The growth and convergence of people, process, data, and things on the Internet — the Internet of Everything — is making networked connections more valuable than ever before, creating unprecedented opportunities to bring about social good.

How? Let me give you three examples.

Continue reading “3 Ways The Internet of Everything Is Improving Our World”



Authors

Kathy Mulvany

VP Corporate Affairs

Corporate Affairs

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Aristotle was spot on when he said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This holds true when we look at the benefits of employee engagement in the socialsphere. Why not leverage your organization’s built-in social media army to evangelize the brand? Encouraging employee engagement across social channels on behalf of the brand seems to be a hot topic in social media these days.

Fast Company recently published how Cisco employees are contributing to the brand in their article, The Social Employee: The Secret Sauce that Cisco, Southwest Airlines and Adobe Use to Win.

Now the question is what are the steps for successfully encouraging employees to participate on behalf of a brand? In a recent Let’s Chat #Ciscosmt Twitter Chat we heard from Cisco’s Petra Neiger (@Petra1400) and Salesforce.com’s Jennifer Burnham (@JennyDBurnham), on ways to engage employees. In addition to their insightful tips, here’s my take on 5 steps to successfully encouraging employees to participate in the socialsphere:

Step 1: Training

  • It all starts here. Educate your employees with social media best practices, checklists, playbooks, toolkits, etc. Help your employees feel comfortable using social media on behalf of your brand. Interested in social media training? Check out our complimentary Cisco Social Media Training Program and follow the #ciscosmt hashtag. To request customized one-on-one team training sessions, email ciscosmtraining@external.cisco.com

Cisco Social Media Training Program Opportunity:

Step 2: Stretch Assignments

Once your employees have participated in training and are comfortable using social media best practices, create opportunities for their participation across multiple social channels. Leverage the masses to assist with social media campaigns, launches, events, etc. Even if social media is not their main role within your organization, develop these assignments as a great way to increase your program’s reach in addition to allowing employees to test out their new skill sets.

Step 3: Recognitions

badge 3 badge 2 badge 1

What motivates your employees? Is it a milestone badge, management recognition, or perhaps a prize of some sort? Knowing this will help you to motivate additional employee participation. Along the way, create incentive programs to entice your employees to participate. Adding an element of gamification and rewarding beneficial behaviors can go a long way.

Continue reading “5 Steps to Success: Encouraging Employee Social Media Engagement”



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There a few milestones in my life that I can look back on and know that I have turned a corner. For example;
– When I could no longer recognize the names in the Police Blotter section of the paper; I knew I was older. Although I still see familiar faces on COPS. It’s always good to stay in touch.
– When I could actually taste a difference between good beer and Pabst Blue Ribbon, I knew I could lie to myself better.
– When I heard of CUDA and immediately thought of Compute Unified Device Architecture instead of a bad to bone MOPAR with a Hemi; I knew I crossed into the valley of geek.

CUDA was invented way back in the day by NVIDIA as a way to let the video card process other stuff (in parallel) instead of just video. This is NOT a hack but an actual design framework. NVIDIA has a great site for folks interested in coding with CUDA at: http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_home.html This is great news because the support, forums, troubleshooting tools are outstanding! Not every NVIDIA card supports the CUDATM proc so double check with this site to be sure.

I wanted to take CUDA 5 (the latest version as of Oct 2013) out for a test drive so I went out to download the software development kit (SDK) thinking I was going to have to bite the bullet and learn sucky OpenGL or worse…<gulp> DirectX to get this work. Much to my MEGA surprise, CUDA actually uses C for parallel development!! Yee Haa!! I’ll be drinkin’ early tonight! I love writing in C because it is low level enough that I can control how the processor handles the code and it’s easier to spell then other languages. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know the importance I place on grammar… After I read the SDK manual and found out that between the memory and grid/thread dimensions is a parameter called: Warp Size…Warp Size… I. Am. Home.  Warp is cool in both Star Trek and CUDA because it’s a way of grouping threads into blocks, then into grids. This gives us EXCELLENT control of hardware resources.  

Of course on NVIDIA’s site they talk about the great uses for CUDA in industrial, science, medical, saving whales and helping Robb match his shoes to his socks according to mood , geographic biorhythm and astral plane aura mapping.. . Hey that’s all well and good but I am using it to crack passwords baby!! Namely MD5 passwords, why? Because databases and WPAv2 can suck it!!  I played around with this for a while on some custom code I wrote up and noticed about a 10-15% calculation performance increase, not bad. Then I used BarsWF http://3.14.by/en/md5 code (it went open source back in Nov 2010) and wholly smokes I noticed a mega honkin’ increase in password cracking speed for sure. Matter of fact that is the fastest MD5 cracker I have EVER used. Plus it reminds me that I am as good at writing code as a Flowbee is to giving you that Madison Avenue haircut.  Although, I’m just starting to fart around with oclHashCat-Plus and it looks VERY promising!! http://hashcat.net/oclhashcat-plus/  yeah…very promising.  Relaxed and groovy for sure right! Come on! can I get a witness! This is your video code daddy-o!!!

 Back in the day, to get a poor mans type of grid processing muscle I used John the Ripper with the -d distributed switch to run multiple instances on multiple machines but scalability and tolerance of Robb to approve my expense reports wore thin. Although I did build a 120 node Raspberry Pi shade tree super computer which I’ll write about later on…

CUDA is a game changer and allows me a ton of options on a single machine. I added a few CUDA tools to my own home grown ISO like BarsWF, Pyrit, oclHashCat for wireless and Vernoux.

Then my fav canned security ISO; Backtrack  http://www.offensive-security.com/ is released with a few applications that support CUDA! I had to check that out for sure! Lucky for me that the folks at Offensive Security also had a CUDA config guide to walk me thru their CUDA implementation

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/wiki/index.php/CUDA_On_BackTrack

I still need to actually config BT5 to run the CUDA code. So I just followed the guide to build out the framework and it worked great without a hitch. No need to bore you with details you can read in the friggen sweet guide. It’s the results that make the difference here. I fired up CUDA-Multiforcer with the command:

/CUDA-Multiforcer-32 -h MD5 -c ./charsets/charsetnumeric -f ./test_hash_files/hashes-md5-numeric.txt –min=0 –max=500

I listed out this command not to show my CLI skills but to point one the most important arguments. The –min –max argument dedicates systems resources. If you plan on using your CUDA machine for other stuff like gaming, surfing and work stuff, lower the max number accordingly. It’s different for every machine. For my 8600 card, 500 is dedicating max resources. I use 10 for everything else except gaming and truthfully with the demand gaming tugs on a video card I do not game (on that machine) when CUDA is Crackin’. With 1500+ hashes, the tables from BOINC at http://www.freerainbowtables.com I busted thru and recovered the passwords with 96% accuracy in seconds. Impressive! Not as fast as BarsWF but not by much for sure.

You do not have to be a coder to take advantage of CUDA. There are some great canned applications already that will give you immediate success and change the way you look at password cracking.

Jimmy Ray Purser

Trivia File Transfer Protocol
The first document computer password “hack” was in 1962 by Dr. Allan Scherr.  He was looking for more computer time to run his simulations, so he submitted a request to print all passwords via punch card and just enjoyed the access!



Authors

Jimmy Ray Purser

Former Co-Host of TechWiseTV

No Longer at Cisco

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Mobility, cloud and the Internet of Everything (IoE) continue to change IT security making point product solutions insufficient. The old model of having disparate products securing isolated areas simply won’t protect against the dynamic threats of today’s world. In the ever-growing world of the Internet of Everything (IoE) the number of attack vectors will only increase.  Today’s security solutions require a continuous approach that is much more automatic when handling security threats before, during and after an attack.

The good news for our partners is that the acquisition of Sourcefire is complete. With Sourcefire part of the Cisco family, we will provide partners with a broad portfolio of integrated solutions that deliver unmatched visibility and continuous advanced threat protection across the entire attack continuum, and partners can:



Authors

Ken Trombetta

Vice President, Global and Strategic Partner Organization

Global Partners Organization (GPO)

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4 years ago, Cisco introduced a revolutionary server platform called Unified Computing System or UCS. Since that time it has become the number 2 blade server in the world. At the same time UCS was introduced, Cisco also elevated their relationship with SAP. Cisco was one of the first hardware platform certified for SAP HANA. Cisco has also announced and is selling SAP solutions on the UCS platform in a variety of solutions, those being SAP on Vblock, SAP on FlexPod, SAP ERP on UCS, Precision Marketing for retail establishments on UCS, Suite on HANA on UCS, Sybase ASE on UCS. Cisco is also working very closely with SAP on their cloud solutions and how these solutions will benefit joint customers.

So what is Cisco doing at SAP TechEd in Las Vegas from Oct 21 through Oct 25.

Palazzo Congress Center, Las Vegas
Come visit Cisco at our booth #1000 and see firsthand how
Cisco delivers a complete compute platform for SAP Applications, including SAP HANA. In booth demonstrations will include:

SAP on FlexPod
SAP HANA
SAP and Hadoop
SAP on Vblock
SAP IT Process Automation by Cisco

Attend Cisco Speaking Sessions
Join us at SAP TechEd for Cisco speaking and expert
networking sessions. With topics including: What Is
The Real Value of HANA, SAP and Hadoop, UCS For SAP HANA, and more. For more information on speaking sessions, click here. We look forward to seeing
you at our sessions.

Meet with Cisco Experts at Booth 1000

Cisco executives and subject matter experts will be available to meet with you at SAP TechEd 2013. To schedule a meeting, please contact your Cisco representative.

Connect at our Customer Events

Make sure to join us for some fun as well. We will be hosting a Customer Reception with some of our partners, for additional information, please contact you local Cisco Account Executive.

We will also be hosting an Exclusive Customer Dinner at TAO. For details, please contact you local Cisco Account Executive.

For more information be sure to visit,
Cisco at SAP TechEd Las Vegas.

Join the Conversation on Cisco at SAP TechEd Las Vegas

Cisco UCS with
Intel® Xeon® processors
© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation
in the U.S. and/or other countries



Authors

Rick Speyer

No Longer with Cisco

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register for webinarsTwo Companies Agree to Improve Application Delivery Over the Internet and Hybrid WANs

Today, Cisco and Akamai announced plans to work together to deliver the world’s first integrated Application Optimization solution for hybrid WANs, leveraging the Internet as a fast, reliable, and secure WAN option. The anticipated solution would leverage the most widely deployed enterprise router: the Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR), and Akamai’s new Unified Performance solution.  We believe this collaboration will come as a pleasant surprise for Network and Application IT teams, who can appreciate the value in combining two great things that work even better together, while dramatically lowering their operational expenses.

First, let me explain what Akamai Unified Performance offers. As a proven leader in content delivery over the Internet, Akamai is now providing a new set of caching, and bandwidth optimization technologies to enable high-quality online experiences within “brick and mortar” locations. It basically brings Akamai’s world-class performance and optimization technology into the branch office.  With Akamai Unified Performance, retailers and enterprises can engage customers and employees in new, more immersive experiences through digital media, while alleviating the burden of more traffic over the wide-area network (WAN).

[EDITOR NOTE 11/13/13: The Cisco communities where you’d normally register for webinars are undergoing an update.  You can still register for the Nov 20 and Dec 11 webinars]

Continue reading “Another “Better Together” Combination: Cisco and Akamai”



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Last week, we announced at Interop-NY  our newest Indoor Access Point, the Aironet 3700 Series. This access Point includes an integrated 802.11ac radio and is the first and only access point to support a 4×4 MIMO on 802.11ac. This latest Wi-Fi Standard will provide wireless networks better performance and coverage, and address the demand for client access including 802.11ac enabled clients.  Whether you are in Higher Education, K-12, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail or other verticals, we are seeing our customers across industries face the same challenges: more users coming onto the network, more users bringing more devices, more devices that are only wireless connectivity (no Ethernet port), more security, OS and application updates on each of those devices. All this drives the larger problem of high density.

Enter the Cisco HD Experience Technology. Available on the new Aironet 3700 Series Access Points, the Cisco High Density Experience or “HD Experience” Technology is a suite of solutions serving up a feature set designed specifically to alleviate the introduction of more clients, bandwidth hungry applications and high density network strain in order to provide an unparalleled user experience.

Here are the top 7 facts to know about Cisco HD Experience Technology:

1. HD Experience Technology is a suite of solutions only available on the AP3700 that helps  OPTIMIZE performance, mitigation, scalability and roaming for High Client Density networks

2. HD Experience is a hardware-based solution on a WiFi chipset designed BY and FOR CISCO. This is *not* software features based on merchant silicon WiFi chipset. HD Experience includes…

3. CleanAir 80 MHz, where Cisco fundamentally retooled the award-winning CleanAir technology to provide the same level of granularity and accuracy of RF interference detection and mitigation across 802.11ac’s 80 MHz bandwidth…but it also detects and mitigates for 802.11a/b/g/n clients as well. Continue reading “Top 7 Facts to Know about Cisco HD Experience Technology”



Authors

Walt Shaw

Director, Product Management

Enterprise Networking Group (ENG)

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In the last week alone, two investigations I have been involved with have come to a standstill due to the lack of attribution logging data. One investigation was halted due to the lack of user activity logging within an application, the other from a lack of network-based activity logs. Convincing the asset owners of the need for logging after-the-fact was easy. But ideally, this type of data would be collected before it’s needed for an investigation. Understanding what data is critical to log, engaging with the asset owners to ensure logs contain meaningful information, and preparing log data for consumption by a security monitoring organization are ultimately responsibilities of the security monitoring organization itself. Perhaps in a utopian world, asset owners will engage an InfoSec team proactively and say, “I have a new host/app. To where should I send my log data which contains attributable information for user behavior which will be useful to you for security monitoring?” In lieu of that idealism, what follows is a primer on logs as they relate to attribution in the context of security event monitoring. Continue reading “Making Boring Logs Interesting”



Authors

Matt Valites

Information Security Investigator

Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT)

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By Rebecca Leach, Cisco Canada

They say communication is the key to success in a relationship, and that rule certainly applies to the relationship between business owners and their employees and customers. Collaborative technology solutions facilitate that communication through a variety of channels that include voice, conference calls, instant messaging, video conferencing, enterprise social software, and mobile applications. Cisco’s collaboration tools allow employees to be less dependent on physical presence and travel, and be more productive and responsive to the needs of customers and partners. This results in better customer service and an efficient, more innovative workforce.

So, how do you decide what’s right for you? When looking to deploy collaboration solutions, there are four questions all small business owners must ask.

What products and services do you offer?

Collaboration is a broad term, and can include services such as Unified Communications, Cisco IWE, Jabber, and TelePresence. It’s important that small business owners are aware of the various types of technology under the collaboration umbrella and any integration limitations for each. Look ahead and consider emerging technologies, as implementing video collaboration services may differentiate your company from competitors. And some industries, like healthcare, have industry-specific security requirements your collaboration solution must support.

How does your solution support employee devices?

Once you’ve chosen what collaborative products you want your employees to use, you have to consider how they will access them. As more employees purchase their own smartphones and tablets, how these devices are supported becomes paramount in the “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) movement. A small business collaboration solution that works with all devices can deliver greater mobile productivity benefits than one oriented to a single manufacturer or desktop systems. So look for a collaboration solution, such as the Cisco BE 6000 that works with mobile devices and desktop computers from any device manufacturer, any operating system and any wired or wireless network location.

How secure are your products?

When selecting a single collaboration service or suite of services, especially with a cloud delivery service model, small business owners need to ensure that there are adequate security precautions in place. Too often small businesses use consumer technology not designed to meet their security needs. Ask about the security of their solutions, and work with your technology partner to define policies and procedures to secure your collaboration services. Look for ways to control who can access your wired and wireless networks, how servers and confidential data will be protected and how you will control remote access from any device while ensuring the security of sensitive or confidential communications.

How much will it cost?

This is a big issue for a small business, it is imperative to implement a collaboration solution that integrates with your existing IT investments because costs are reduced when you can build on top of previous applications. How will the products you’re considering integrate into your current environment? Will additional costs be incurred if customized solutions are required? And don’t be afraid to ask about the Return on Investment (ROI) of the solution. While the initial setup cost for collaboration may be expensive, the service will reduce business expenses such as long distance, utility costs and travel expenses.

It’s important to know the answers to all of these questions before you decide on the collaboration solution that’s right for your small business.

Do you have other questions that SMBs should ask before choosing collaboration technologies? List them in the comments below!

For more of our four-part series on small business technology, read my post on how to find the right financing plan for your business. And for more small business technology solutions, visit our website.



Authors

Cindy Toy

Small Business Support Community Manager

eSupport