2014 - Page 170 of 240

April 15, 2014 3 Comments

4 Key Requirements to Scale the Internet of Things

Today the Internet of Things (IoT) is everywhere: you can easily see smart meters on houses, parking sensors in the ground, cameras attached to traffic posts, and people wearing intelligent wristband and glasses – all of them connected to the Internet. And this is only the tip of the iceberg: while you are reading this blog post factories, trains and trucks around the world are also being connected to the Internet.

Many traditional industries have historically requested help from different types of engineers to improve their processes and gain efficiency. Now they are asking us, the Internet engineers, to contribute solving new industrial world challenges by connecting billions of new devices.

The more ambitious part of this journey is the integration between both worlds: Information Technology (IT) and Operation Technology (OT). For that a systems approach is required to scale the existing Internet infrastructure to accommodate IoT use cases, while making IT technology easy to adopt for OT operators. We are facing a historical opportunity to convergence massive scale systems in a way we have never seen before, and such an effort will unlock a multibillion-dollar business.

In order to be ready to capture this opportunity and scale in a sustainable manner, four requirements are necessary:

Continue reading “4 Key Requirements to Scale the Internet of Things”

Rafael Maranon

Senior Product Manager

Cisco's Network Operating System Technology Group (NOSTG)

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Year-Long Exploit Pack Traffic Campaign Surges After Leveraging CDN

Levi Gundert

This post is coauthored by Andrew Tsonchev.

Anyone can purchase an exploit pack (EP) license or rent time on an existing EP server. The challenge for threat actors is to redirect unsuspecting web browsing victims by force to the exploit landing page with sustained frequency. Naturally, like most criminal services in the underground, the dark art of traffic generation is a niche specialty that must be purchased to ensure drive-by campaign success. For the past year we have been tracking a threat actor (group) that compromises legitimate websites and redirects victims to EP landing pages. Over the past three months we observed the same actor using malvertising – leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs) to facilitate increased victim redirection – as part of larger exploit pack campaigns. Continue reading “Year-Long Exploit Pack Traffic Campaign Surges After Leveraging CDN”

Levi Gundert

Technical Lead

Cisco Threat Research, Analysis, and Communications (TRAC)

April 14, 2014 Leave a Comment

Introducing Rick Geiger to the NEW Cisco Energy Blog

Peter Granger

It is with great pleasure I introduce you to a senior thought-leader from Cisco, Rick Geiger.

As some of you will know, Rick Geiger has been with Cisco for 7 years, and was formerly Director of Engineering in Cisco’s Physical Security Business Unit (now part of the IOTG, or Internet of Things Group)

Prior to joining Cisco, Rick was VP Engineering for GE Security in Physical Security, video surveillance and access control, so he knows a thing or two about Security. Rick has in depth experience in the global utility market with more than 10 years as VP Engineering and Chief Technical Officer for Itron. Itron is a key partner of Cisco, as many of you will know.

Presently Rick is Executive Director for Utilities and Smart Grid, on Cisco’s Value Acceleration team (formerly Business Transformation Team), and Rick and the Smart Grid Vertical Team serve the Americas Utility markets with Secure, Resilient and Scalable network solutions for smart grid, advanced metering, distribution automation, utility telemetry and energy management. Despite his USA remit, Rick is often asked to represent Cisco internationally.

Rick is also on the Gridwise Alliance Board of Directors and an IEEE Senior Member and Member of the Power and Energy Society. You can view Rick’s Biography here, along with his posts, including those on the Internet of Everything Blog: The Impact of Distributed Generation. Feel free to contact Rick by commenting on his future posts and engaging in the conversation!

Welcome Rick!

Peter Granger

Senior Sales Transformation Manager

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Cloud delivers “wake-up call” to IT organizations

Adrian den Hartog

“Industry leaders weigh in on the disruptive nature of the cloud, and the opportunity for IT organizations to become higher-value service brokers.

IT departments have lost traditional control over company systems. With cloud storming in, IT has been pushed aside to allow the entire corporation to overshadow what used to be solely IT’s job. But they’re fighting back by embracing new responsibilities—specifically, by becoming the decision-makers for when to buy, where to build, and what the depth of the cloud should be….”

To read more on this topic* , visit Unleashing IT. We’ve just released the newest edition. Unleashing IT provides resources, news updates, and customer reports of Cisco technology put to use.

Much like Cisco and Intel collaborate to bring you the most up-to-date technology solutions, IT and business must function together to deliver the best results for both your bottom line and your customers’ satisfaction.That’s where Unleashing IT comes into play. Unleashing IT is your easy-access source for data center solutions and best practices.

If you’re not currently subscribed, it’s easy to do so. Visit the online subscription page, enter your identification information, and submit. You’ll have full access to our assets—and feel free to request a data center expert to get in touch with you if you’re interested in learning more.
Continue reading “Cloud delivers “wake-up call” to IT organizations”

Adrian den Hartog

Senior Marketing Manager

Field Marketing US Commercial

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Ask The #InternetOfEverything Futurist: “How Will the Future of Technology Integrate into our Five Senses?”

Dave Evans

In my role as Cisco’s Chief Futurist, I get many questions about what the future holds and how new technology and emerging solutions will change our lives. Be sure to check out previous Ask the #InternetOfEverything Futurist blogs and videos about the advances of battery technology, the future of smartphones and new retail models.

Greek philosopher Aristotle first classified the five senses of human perception: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing in De Anima, a landmark piece of work that explores how we interpret reality.

Today, Aristotle’s belief about senses still holds true: Our senses help us obtain a better understanding of the world around us. And as the Internet of Everything (IoE) connects more people, process, data and things, emerging technology and the network to support such technology is playing an increased role in our sensory development and capabilities.

New solutions that rely on haptic touch technology, sensors and real-time data transmission protocols are no longer requiring us to touch or even see technology in order for us to interact with it. These innovations coupled with the power of the Internet of Everything are creating enhanced experiences for us – and a new way of viewing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching our world.

In today’s Ask the #InternetOfEverything Futurist post, I’ll answer a question from Cisco Champion Karen Woodard’s student, Kurt, who addresses this type of IoE-enabled sensory technology evolution. Kurt asks:

Question: “How will the future of technology integrate into our five senses?”

Continue reading “Ask The #InternetOfEverything Futurist: “How Will the Future of Technology Integrate into our Five Senses?””

Dave Evans

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Why Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Matters for Girls

Monique Morrow

I am writing this blog as the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Women in Engineering Region 8 Clementina Saduwa Award named after an amazing woman whose life was cut short in 2007. On a personal level, I am extremely passionate about the possibilities that technology presents for young girls and aspiring women. As a CTO for Cisco Services, my own role is concentrated on the use of technologies to develop architectures that will delight our customers. Why is technology interesting to me? It’s what one can do with the technology as an enabler to solving problems and to creating opportunities.

I became interested in technology because of my curiosity and encouragement from wonderful individuals who helped pave the way for me. My personal career highlights are numerous where risk taking and passion for making a difference in this world are common attributes. Our world needs young girls to create their own career path in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). A career in technology can be fun!

My mother was role model and encouraged me to be the person I want to be. Coming together to solve a problem and to create opportunities – we can rise above gender discrimination – but it’s about being bold in the process and having the courage to do so -make no doubt about this fact. I dream of a society where such a topic is no longer an issue but so engrained in our DNA !

What is Cisco doing?

Cisco has been very active in the ITU’s Girls in ICT initiative, where girls from secondary schools or universities are invited to spend the day at the office of ICT companies and government agencies so they better understand the opportunities the ICT sector holds for their future see.

ITU will have a live webcast on April 15 2014 at 12:30 CET.

Cisco wants to encourage girls to consider ICT as a valuable career option. We understand the value of diversity in the workforce and it is our aspiration to build a gender -balanced workforce. At Cisco, two of the top technology positions are held by women: both the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the CIO (Chief Information Officer) of Cisco are female. “If you cannot see it, you cannot be it!”

At Cisco, we take our commitment to making ICT career opportunities open to all seriously. We understand the value of a diverse workforce and believe that many more girls would pursue careers in ICT if they were better informed about the many different types of jobs available within the sector. By 2020 there will be approximately 50 billion things connected to the Internet. At its essence, the Internet of Everything is the networked connection of people, process, data and things…and is set to create an unprecedented level of disruption across industries, globally.

In fact, Cisco offices around the world are getting ready to host #GirlsInICT Day 2014! Girls to create ICT jobs of tomorrow #STEM #GirlsInIC

Further Continue reading “Why Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Matters for Girls”

Monique Morrow

CTO-Evangelist

New Frontiers Development and Engineering

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Building in Security from the Ground Up with The Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle

Ed Paradise

At Cisco, security runs through everything that we do. It is our commitment to deliver verifiable, trustworthy network architectures built on secure software and secure hardware, backed by prudent supply chain security practices.

That’s why Cisco created the Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle (Cisco SDL) to ensure that security is central through the entire product development process. CSDL is a repeatable and measurable process we’ve designed to fortify the resiliency and trustworthiness of our offerings, allowing our customers to deploy high-quality products that they can trust.

Cisco SDL utilizes many industry standards and best practices, including ISO certification as part of our development processes. ISO certification provides customers validation and confidence that our processes, such as common technology requirements, secure coding procedures, code reviews, testing, and verification are consistently executed within our product development.

In 2013, we made internal compliance with the Cisco SDL process a stop-ship-grade requirement for all new Cisco products and development projects. As we make our way through 2014, we are building on this commitment, holding our teams accountable and training stakeholders to understand the importance of Cisco SDL process, adoption, and compliance.

From our Integrated Service Routers (ISRs) to our Aggregation Services Routers (ASRs), more products are being introduced across the Cisco portfolio that are Cisco SDL compliant. We look forward to keeping you up to date on progress with the CSDL initiative over the coming months.

Check out the video below where I explain Cisco SDL in more detail:

Learn more about Cisco SDL here: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/security/cspo/csdl/index.html

Ed Paradise

Cisco RTP Site Executive and Vice President of Engineering

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3 Top Technology Trends in the Mighty Middle – How to Keep Your Midsize Business Agile

Koushi Merchant

“The Mighty Middle.” That’s what we call the world’s midmarket companies. According to National Center for Middle Market, if the U.S. middle market were an independent economy, it would be the fifth largest in the world. The middle market produced 2.2 million new jobs between 2007 and 2010. Midmarket companies create one in three jobs.

But emerging trends could impede that growth for midmarket organizations with their limited resources, shrinking budgets and aggressive timelines, unless the challenges they pose—Mobility, Security, Cloud, Social and Big Data—can be addressed. Today, we look at three midmarket technology trends, the hurdles they pose, and what midmarket companies can do. These trends are also presented in greater detail in our new Webinar with Gartner called “Midmarket Trends and Opportunities – Positioning Your Company for Success”

Mobility: Don’t Let BYOD Become an SOS

According to a recent IDC report, smartphones and tablets will dominate IT growth in 2014. And they’ll account for over 60% of IT spending. In fact, analysts predict that 2015 will be the first year in which more consumers access the Internet with mobile devices than with PCs. BYOD has evolved from a trend, to a reality, and now to a necessity. Continue reading “3 Top Technology Trends in the Mighty Middle – How to Keep Your Midsize Business Agile”

Year: 2014

4 Key Requirements to Scale the Internet of Things

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