Tag Archives: Security

Panel Discussion of Abandonware (in an IoT Context)

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During the past couple years, the good folks over at Gestalt IT have been working to find more ways to make sure that the Tech Field Day delegates feel that their time has been valued and put to good use. One of the ways they’ve been doing that is to use some of the down time to record podcasts.

At one of the Storage Field Days I attended, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to sit on a podcast panel to discuss “abandonware” — especially in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT).

What’s abandonware? It’s what happens when you have a networked device that still works, but is no longer supported by its manufacturer — or worse, whose manufacturer has gone out of business. Lack of support for the device means no more software updates, which means no security patches. Unpatched devices on your network leave your network vulnerable. Continue reading →

Report on GeekFluent’s Predictions for 2016 — How’d I Do?

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report-cardLast year I did my first “Predictions for Next Year” post. I see a lot of these kinds of posts near the end of the year. I wanted to take things a step further and look back to see how well I did.

It is, of course, difficult for any of us to be completely objective about ourselves, so to help keep me honest, I’ll spell out the scoring methodology I’m using to rate the accuracy of my predictions. Additionally, I’m explicitly soliciting feedback. If you think I’ve scored myself in any of the categories incorrectly (either too high or too low), make your case in the comments.  If your reasoning is sound, I’ll adjust the score.

Scoring Methodology

I made predictions on four distinct topics. To rate my predictions’ overall accuracy on a scale of 0 to 100, I’ll rate the predictions for each topic on a 0 to 25, with 0 points if I was completely off-base, and 25 if I was completely dead-on accurate.

So, without further ado, let’s see how I did: Continue reading →

GeekFluent’s Predictions for 2016

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Crystal BallIt’s that time of year when it seems like everybody is doing “Top Ten ${WHATEVER} in 2015” or “Predictions for ${INDUSTRY} in 2016” posts. I was feeling left out, hence my jumping on the bandwagon.

Rather than restrict myself to one particular technology or industry, I’m going to make my predictions across the different parts of the IT industry that I see from my particular vantage point. I have predictions about:

  • Storage
  • Hyperconverged Infrastructure
  • Security
  • Social Media

Continue reading →

More Heartbleed Protection: Update VMware Horizon View Client on Your Mobile Devices

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The industry is still cleaning up following the news about the Heartbleed bug in OpenSSL. VMware has released updated versions of the Horizon View Client for both Android and iOS.

The easiest way to ensure you’re safe from the Heartbleed vulnerability is to check to see if there’s an update to the View Client available for your device, and if there is, install it. You can do this on Android by going to the Google Play Store and then selecting “My Apps”. On iOS, go to the App Store and select “Updates”.

If you want to be sure, here are instructions for confirming that you’re running a “Heartbleed-safe” version of the client. Continue reading →

Update OpenSSL on Isilon InsightIQ – Avoid the Heartbleed Vulnerability

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[Instructions found herein are based upon the work of multiple other folks in this thread in the Isilon Support Forum.]

By now, you’re likely aware of the “Heartbleed” security vulnerability in the OpenSSL cryptography library. If you have an Isilon cluster, you might be wondering if it’s affected. The good news is that all versions of OneFS are Heartbleed-free.

However, if you’re also running the InsightIQ monitoring software, it might be vulnerable, depending on the version. Here’s what you need to know to find out if your cluster is affected — and what to do about it if it is. Continue reading →

GeekFluent’s Top VMworld Session Choices

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Are you going to VMworld 2011 in Las Vegas and finding yourself a little overwhelmed trying to select which sessions to attend?

Don’t worry — it’s happened to all of us.  There’s a lot of great content this year (as always) and it can be challenging to choose.  To help you out, I offer:

GeekFluent’s Top VMworld Session Choices

I’ve seen a few lists like this out there.  Mine’s going to be a little different in that I’ve divided it into six “areas of interest”, i.e.: “if you’re interested in Topic X, I’d recommend these sessions”.

Continue reading →