It has been a couple of weeks since its launch and we are seeing lots of interest in the Cisco ISR-AX! I have been hearing from customers, partners and folks worldwide about how they are using the new ISR-AX platforms now and get a router, VPN, firewall, intrusion prevention, cloud/web security, AVC (NBAR2, QoS, NetFlow, Media Monitoring, PfR) and WAN optimization (WAAS) all in one box for less than the cost of just an alternative WAN Optimization appliance. For WAN optimization with WAAS that is less than $1 per WAN optimized connection with ISR-AX!
Anyway, I’ve gotten lots of questions since the launch, so I grouped them and wanted to share the top 4: Read More »
If you’re an end-user or manager of software that has publicly known security vulnerabilities, wouldn’t you want to know about it? If you’re a software developer, wouldn’t you want to know if there are third-party software vulnerabilities that may impact your applications or products? Do you have a patch management compliance requirement for managing software vulnerabilities? I presume the answer is a resounding “Yes” to each question that applies to you. Anything we, as cyber security professionals, can do to help automate the vulnerability management process, while integrating security intelligence into that process from both an end-user and developer perspective, is a good thing. In this post, I will discuss Cisco’s Application Programming Interface (API) that exposes security intelligence as a direct data feed into applications or portals. The API is known as the IntelliShield Security Information Service (ISIS) and has proven effective to answering these leading questions.
“Continuous improvement in vulnerability management practices is imperative to keeping pace with the changing security environment as a result of evolving threats as well as new products and technologies” Russell Smoak, Cisco Systems, Cisco 2013 Annual Security Report
The above quote underscores the importance of striving to raise the bar in protecting against vulnerabilities, which may be exploited in your environment, or in the case of a developer, the products you provide to your customers. Cisco uses ISIS several ways, both internally and externally. Internally, Cisco takes advantage of custom-built tooling that uses vulnerability data from Cisco IntelliShield to notify the product development teams when a security issue originating in third-party software may impact a Cisco product. This tool has greatly increased the ability to manage security issues that originate in non-Cisco code. Externally, ISIS is used to provide the content to several sections accessible through the Cisco SIO portal. A couple of examples include:
IOS Software Checker: this tool is used to query Cisco IOS Software Releases against published Cisco Security Advisories.
Security Alerts: this tool provides an “At-A-Glance” type of view of security events such as vulnerability exposures.
Technically, ISIS provides a set of services that support application-to-application interaction using SOAP over the HTTPS protocol, allowing clients to develop ISIS-dependent applications that are not dependent on the technologies used to implement ISIS. The only dependency is for the client to have the ability to produce a SOAP message, send it to ISIS over HTTPS, and ultimately decompose the SOAP response. These services also allow clients to filter the security intelligence based on various inputs, enabling clients to align IntelliShield security intelligence with the unique business needs of their environment. Read More »
I’m standing here today in Geneva, at the annual Airport Passenger Terminal Expo, where Cisco and SITA are presenting our joint solution for WiFi-based location-based services in airports. This solution enables deep insights and understanding of how passengers use and move throughout their arrival or departure journey.
The event kicked off this morning with a series of keynotes, and already on the exhibition floor I’ve been talking to a lot of airport leaders who are interested in the joint Cisco/SITA solution and how this really is starting to enable a better travelling experience and more efficient airport. Read More »
In March, I make an annual journey from Dallas to Orlando – not to visit that famous mouse or take a Spring break. No, I am there with thousands of IT, telecom, and networking professionals who have descended upon Orlando to attend Enterprise Connect, the leading conference and expo on enterprise communications and collaboration.
This year, both Jimmy Ray and Robb (along with the amazing TechWiseTV crew) joined me to capture all of the excitement, announcements, and cool demos.
If you missed the conference, don’t fret. We have all of the highlights here!
First, I caught up with Rob Lloyd immediately after his keynote to get the scoop on the Internet of Everything and how it will impact businesses.
Many technologies allow us to collaborate “virtually” today: email, instant messaging, texting, video conferencing, and desktop sharing to name a few. But regardless of what technologies we use, our interactions still rely on a basic element: other people.
Recently Cisco undertook a study of human behavior and the barriers to effective collaboration. The study showed that even in the digital age, collaboration is grounded in human relationships.
Many technologies allow us to collaborate “virtually” today: email, instant messaging, texting, video conferencing, and desktop sharing to name a few. But regardless of what technologies we use, our interactions still rely on a basic element: other people.