Cyber-attacks are now constant, threats to privacy are increasing, and more rigid regulations are looming worldwide. To help IT folks relax in the face of these challenges, Jetico updated its BestCrypt Container Encryption solution to include Container Guard. This unique feature of Jetico's Linux file encryption protects container files from unauthorized or accidental commands—like copying, modification, moving, deletion and re-encryption—resulting in bolstered security and more peace of mind. Only users with the admin password can disable Container Guard, increasing the security of sensitive files. The BestCrypt update also adds the Resident feature, an automatic password prompt for mounting containers at startup. That same feature will dismount containers after a time period of inactivity as set by the user. While user-friendly and time-saving, these added features also provide an extra layer of protection when working on shared computers. On endpoints or in the cloud, data encrypted with BestCrypt can be accessed via Linux, Android, Windows and Mac devices.
Migration to the cloud, the flexibility of network virtualization and the promise of IoT involve IT transformations that have placed incredible strain on enterprise security. To identify, assess and block threats proactively in this milieu, BlueCat has developed BlueCat DNS Edge, a first-of-its-kind solution that uniquely leverages DNS data to enhance enterprise security. By driving policy down to DNS control points inside the network, BlueCat DNS Edge leverages the ubiquity of DNS to gain enterprise-wide visibility into the actions of every device on a network, including non-traditional devices, such as wireless security cameras, point-of-sale systems, ATMs and IoT devices. Deployed inside the network, DNS Edge control points identify suspicious internal behavior, patterns and threats, regardless of whether the device is communicating inside or outside the network. BlueCat DNS Edge is promoted as the first DNS security solution with the flexibility to deploy anywhere businesses need it—on premises, in the cloud and as a core part of IoT architectures. BlueCat DNS Edge's simple, cloud-managed deployment model leverages existing DNS infrastructure, enabling organizations to deploy with no impact to existing infrastructure while driving resilience and reducing latency. Delivered as a service, BlueCat DNS Edge dynamically scales to meet anticipated and unanticipated spikes in network activity, such as seasonal activity or a sudden attack against enterprise infrastructure.
Networks have become indispensable infrastructure in modern society. The danger is that these networks tend to be closed, proprietary, complex, operationally expensive and inflexible, all of which impede innovation and progress rather than enabling them. Presenting an alternative vision—that networking can serve the public interest—is the Open Network Operating Sytem, or ONOS Project. ONOS is an open-source, software-defined networking (SDN) OS for service providers that has scalability, high availability, high performance and abstractions to simplify creation of apps and services. The platform is based on a solid architecture and quickly has matured to be feature-rich and production-ready. Recently ONF/ON.Lab announced availability of a new ONOS release that broadens the ability to bring SDN and NFV agility to mission-critical networks. By adding support for “incremental SDN” alongside the “disruptive SDN” capabilities for which it long has been known, ONOS now can address an ever-wider array of deployment scenarios. Additional enhancements include an improved whitebox leaf-spine fabric solution to support IPv6 routing, vLAN tagged external interfaces and AAA endpoint authentication, as well as an enhanced GUI v2.0 that improves usability on large-scale networks by providing regional topology views with drill-down, context-sensitive help and global search, among others.
Linux Lite is a beginner-friendly Linux distribution that is based on the well known Ubuntu LTS and targeted at Windows users. Its mission is to provide a complete set of applications to support users' everyday computing needs, including a complete office suite, media players and other essential applications. The new version, Linux Lite 3.4, simplifies scheduling of software updates, installing third-party drivers and creating a restore point for the OS. Meanwhile, the new Lite Updates Notify application informs the user of all available updates. Users can set update reminders anywhere from once every hour to every three weeks. The updated Lite Welcome has a fresh new look and reminds users to install updates and drivers and sets a restore point after a fresh install of Linux Lite. Other new features in Lite Tweaks include Hibernate & Suspend, Login & Logout options, Manage Saved Sessions and zRam. zRam is a compressed RAM block device for faster I/O and is perfect for older computers.
There are a lot of decisions to be made before enterprises are ready for production and deployment of container apps, asserts SUSE. To help enterprises derive full value from containerized apps and not “re-create the wheel”, the SUSE engineering team is busy creating the next-generation application development and hosting platform for container applications and services. The novel SUSE Container as a Service (CaaS) Platform is an application development and hosting platform for container applications and services that lets users provision, manage and scale container-based applications and services, letting them focus on development of container applications to meet business goals faster while reducing costs in developing and maintaining container infrastructure. SUSE CaaS Platform comes with the following ingredients: a tasty new flavor of SUSE Linux Enterprise—container host OS called SLE MicroOS, a good dose of Kubernetes, a pinch of Salt and more special ingredients.
Possessing Linux skills is valuable in today's IT job market where demand for talent outstrips supply. Getting certified proves you have the chops to do the job, and two well worn paths to Linux certification are the Computing Technology Industry Association's CompTIA Linux+ and the Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC). To boost your Linux+/LPIC readiness and obtain 100% coverage of all exam objectives on both certifications, you'd be wise to check out Steve Suehring's new CompTIA Linux+ and LPIC Practice Tests. Covered in the Sybex-published title are CompTIA Linux+ exams LX0-103 and LX0-104 and the LPIC exams 101-400, 102-400 and 201 and 202, replete with 1,200+ expertly crafted practice questions. Two 60-question practice exams per section help readers gauge their readiness and hone test-taking strategies well in advance of exam day. Buyers of the book also gain access to the Sybex interactive learning environment containing all questions and the ability to create one's own practice tests based on areas where further review is needed. This book can be used alone or with the Sybex study guides.
Prospective TV cable-cutters, even those with technical abilities, often are flummoxed in the face of choosing between all of the content options and new technologies available. Reliable sources of complete and neutral information in this space are hard to find, and the fun evaporates rapidly when you're faced with hours of stumbling through forums and strings of searches. A quicker route to TV nirvana is to read J. and K. Fidler's book Cut the Cord, Ditch the Dish, and Take Back Control of Your TV from Iron Violin Press. Subtitled Fun, Tried-and-Tested, and Absolutely Legit Ways to Customize, Control and Change How You Watch TV, the Fidler team's book is a “time-saving, easily understood, roadmap for readers of all technical levels to be able to have fun, save money, and get the content and TV experience they want”. Cut the Cord provides “been-there-done-that” tips and explores the new technologies now available to cord-cutters. The nearly 400-page ebook gives basic information needed to get started, then builds on this knowledge to document a variety of simple to advanced DIY projects. One of those projects includes creating a DIY Linux OS-based DVR using MythTV and an Intel NUC.
In contrast to general-purpose operating systems for the Raspberry Pi, the new eCosPro from eCosCentric Limited is a lightweight, multithreaded, industrial-strength RTOS delivering reduced latency with bounded response times. eCosPro's resource requirements are a fraction of those demanded by a general-purpose OS and maximize the RAM resources available to applications. The RTOS environment is ideal for time-critical control systems, and by leveraging the ultra-low-cost Raspberry Pi range of single-board computers, eCosPro provides cost-effective, full-featured performance ideal for IoT and M2M applications. Direct boot from an SD card provides an “instant-on” capability, enabling embedded applications to be responsive within milliseconds. eCos is portable across a wide range of embedded architectures and microcontrollers, such that applications prototyped using eCosPro on Raspberry Pi can be readily ported to other targets. eCosPro delivers deterministic, real-time performance on the Raspberry Pi 3, Pi 2, Pi 1, Pi Zero and Pi Zero Wireless boards, as well as the Pi Compute Modules 1 and 3.
