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World Cybersecurity Forum (1st Quarterly Clubhouse Edition)
We held the first World Cybersecurity Forum this past week and it was a great success! The World Cybersecurity Forum was a 24-hour event held for the first time this year on Clubhouse! The event featured cyber experts from around the world, and was an event open to all with the mission of demystifying cyber, creating awareness and answering the public’s questions. The World Cybersecurity Forum believes that cybersecurity is EVERYONE’S responsibility. Organized by Jacqueline Jayne, Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4, Jacqueline or, JJ, for short, can be found on LinkedIn. The session aimed to bring the best minds together from around the world to talk about all things cyber.…
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IP Addresses, Subnet Masks, Subnetting, and Calculating Hosts
IPv4 IP addresses are a 32-bit (binary digit) value. IP addresses are just strings of 32 binary digits (bits!). ex: 11000000101010000000010000000010 Broken down into 4 groups of 8, separated by dots (periods/decimals). ex: 11000000.10101000.000001.00000010 Now each 8-bit value, octet, is converted to a decimal number between 0 and 255 (for a total a 256 options). So the above would translate to: ex: 192.168.4.2 This is “dotted decimal notation” aka “the dotted octet numbering system”. Tip: You should memorize that 0=00000000 and 255=11111111. You’ll find knowing this very helpful. Note: By definition, all computers on the same network have the same subnet mask and network ID. /24 is limited to IP…
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What is Softwarization?
Softwarization is appearing under the form of diverse technologies and models (Cloud Computing, Edge-Fog Computing, SDN, NFV) sharing the same common denominator: all network and service functions can be virtualized and dynamically allocated onto logical resources hosted onto an underneath physical infrastructure, fully decoupled. It concerns to develop in software any functions, logics, and methods capable of processing huge amounts of data by executed on (low cost) powerful hardware. via Softwarization: A Shift of Paradigm
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What is Moore’s Law, Gilder’s Law and Metcalfe’s Law: 3 Laws to Know…
Three laws to know: Moore’s Law: Moore’s Law states that the processing power of chipset is doubling every 24 months (likewise the cost halves for the same level of processing power). Gilder’s Law: Gilder’s Law states that the bandwidth of communication systems triples every 12 months (likewise costs decrease). Bandwidth grows at least 3 times faster than computer power. (If compute power doubles every 18 months, as per Moore’s Law, then communications power doubles every 6 months.) Metcalfe’s Law: Metcalfe’s Law (the network effect) states that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of nodes (likewise the cost of getting connected decrease, but the…
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What is a Ragnar Locker Ransomware Attack?
Ragnar Locker is ransomware that affect devices running Microsoft Windows operating systems. The Ragnar Locker method was first observed in December 2019 as part of a series of attacks against compromised networks. Biblio: Ragnar locker malware: what it is, how it works and how to prevent it–Infosec Institute
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3). Intro to SDN (Software Defined Networking) Basics–SDN & Openflow Architecture [VIDEO]
Software defined networking (SDN) SDN (software defined networking) is highly correlated with NFV. SDN is a big deal in IT and Telecom. NFV is all about building up virtual platforms. SDN is about making IP networks more flexible, more customizable, more programmable so that packet routing is possible with lots of flexibility and agility. Imagine a router, a physical piece of hardware, specifically designed and manufactured for implementing software functions that allow us control over the delivery of our data packets at its core. SDN now allows us to extract the software function from the actual piece of hardware. Now, we can take this extracted software function and apply it…
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2). Intro to NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) Basic Concepts–NFV Architecture [VIDEO]
Network functions virtualization (NFV) Network functions virtualization (NFV) is a procedure that increases and improves network function by managing networks. NFV is an architectural framework providing a reference model where network functions are delivered through software…. The NFV framework was first developed by the ETSI (European Telecom Standards Institute) NFV Industry Specification Group set up in 2012. [1] There’s a lot of info on the internet about NFV and we culled together some sources through this post. Also, included is a great series of videos on YouTube giving a quick intro to telecommunication cloud basics. The videos feature Vikas Shokeen and are available in short 4-video series, with the second…
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1). Intro to Telco (Telecommunications Company) Cloud Basics, NFV, SDN, Architecture of Cloud Networks [VIDEO]
There’s a great series of videos on YouTube giving a quick intro to telecommunication cloud basics. The videos feature Vikas Shokeen and are available in short 4-video series. The first one is below with some basic notes. Architecture of Cloud Network for Telcos Telco–a telecommunications company (informal) Telecom–general telecommunications (informal) (Note: As with many terms in the tech industry, “telco” and “telecom” are sometimes used interchangeably in common-day speech. Don’t get too twisted up over it. Dig deep into what’s underneath.) Telco Cloud: Basics Introduction Why cloud? Mobile Operators Benefits Overview Cloud–a network “out there”. Properties of cloud networks Properties of cloud networks include: No Dedicated Hardware Shared Resources Convenient…
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What is “Vendor Neutral”?
What does it mean to be Vendor Neutral? To be Vendor Neutral, or Vendor Neutrality, seems like it should mean no specific preference to any certain vendor or no bias towards any certain particular vendors, or not favoring one vendor over another. Indeed, vendor neutral means a “product or specification that is not proprietary and controlled by one company. Open source software was conceived to avoid allegiance to a single vendor”[14]. PC Mag encyclopedia goes on to make note, “However, an ‘open system’ is not entirely vendor neutral as the foundation platform may be controlled by one company”.
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What is a Tier 1 network?
What is a Tier 1 network? A Tier 1 network is “an IP (Internet Protocol) network that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection”[2] (that is, they can reach the entire internet via settlement-free peering). You can think of Tier 1 networks as having a kind of “golden VIP pass” with each other, and each Tier 1 network can exchange traffic with other Tier 1 networks without paying any fees for the exchange of traffic in either direction. (This contrasts with some Tier 2 networks and all Tier 3 networks which must pay to transmit traffic on other networks.) Universally recognized Tier 1 networks include…
