Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Special Blog For 8/12/2015 - World Elephant Day!

In honor of World Elephant Day, please celebrate and do whatever you can for helping these wonderful creatures . . .

Tabula Rosa Systems Security Alert - Microsoft Releases August 2015 Security Bulletin



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National Cyber Awareness System:
08/11/2015 08:01 PM EDT

Original release date: August 11, 2015
Microsoft has released 14 updates to address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. Exploitation of some of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution or elevation of privileges and information disclosure.
US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft Security Bulletins MS15-079 through MS15-092 and apply the necessary updates.






================================================================
Good Netiquette to all!
================================================================

For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



==============================================
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of 8/11/2015 - The Internet of Things and the Importance of Modeling and Simulation

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The Internet of Things and the Importance of Modeling and Simulation

A look at why modeling and simulation capabilities are becoming an indispensable element of the Internet of Things toolbox. From http://www.cdait.gatech.edu/
By Dr. Margaret L. Loper and Alain Louchez , Georgia Institute of Technology, on August 3, 2015
Among the plethora of projections concerning the Internet of Things (IoT), the pervasive thread in all of them is the sheer size of the expected associated market a few years hence. While the path to get there is still marred with uncertainty and uneasiness on how the whole process is going to unfold, there is common agreement that in a world where almost anything and everything is becoming potentially connectable the number of communications links and smart endpoints (sensors, actuators, etc.) as well as the induced complexity will be of a significantly different order of magnitude from those currently experienced.
But there are other considerations.
Multifaceted Complexity

By its very nature, IoT is entering a completely new territory (especially in consumer IoT) that is not fully mastered. At the same time IoT technologies aim at integrating (everyday) objects into the communications space, they also bring about a new set of challenges. For example, when it comes to wearables, new antennas and connectors in all kinds of form factor must be designed, with possible non-trivial ergonomic and health implications.
In addition, as it has been widely reported, IoT devices are also vulnerable to cyberattacks, sometimes with devastating consequences including but not limited to privacy breach. This risk needs to be rigorously researched and minimized.
As a result, the way IoT solutions are going to be designed, developed and deployed is bound to go through a radical transformation. Related methods and procedures will have to incorporate sound and thorough analysis, and technological and financial considerations will dictate that IoT innovations be modeled and simulated before going live.
As far as IBM is concerned, modeling and simulation (M&S) is already core to IoT’s “here and now”: “Modeling and simulation is a vital ingredient in creating the connected products at the heart of the Internet of Things. It can support early evaluation and optimization of designs and ongoing verification as changes occur—to make sure the right product is developed and delivered with the required speed and quality” (IBM website).
The human mind is lazily comfortable with linearity, for instance when “things will change the same way they did in the past”. In this type of environment, forecasting is straightforward; modeling is simple and simulation does not provide useful insight.
However, in a universe fraught with “nonlinearities” of the kind shaped by a fast-growing pool of intelligent objects interacting with each other and submitted to a variety of contingent disturbances, extrapolations are no longer clear-cut. We are all experiencing this type of random output in traffic-related situations: how many times have we done things early “to beat the traffic”, well aware that during peak-hours leaving ten minutes later does not necessarily mean arriving at destination ten minutes later? Given the IoT complexity and scale, M&S is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.
IoT System Engineering Essential Requirement

By many accounts, the Internet of Things is viewed as a “system of systems” or even “systems of systems”. Like in any other system engineering endeavor, M&S is a critical foundational building block; it is used early in the lifecycle to determine the efficacy of a proposed product. It is an effective means of defining product requirements, and can be used to test and confirm the viability of meeting requirements, as well as to verify the performance of a product.
M&S is all the more needed since it takes place among the continuous and unstable interaction between enterprises and their environment. Enterprises are complex adaptive socio-technical systems. They consist of many independent agents, whose behavior can be described by social, psychological, and physical rules, rather than dictated by the dynamics of the entire system. The overall enterprise system adapts and learns often resulting in emergent patterns and behaviors. Given that no single agent is in control, complex enterprise system behaviors are often unpredictable and un-controllable.
It follows that creating a model, executing a simulation and performing experimental runs should become prerequisite steps in any IoT-related project or undertaking.
Use cases abound in the IoT ecosystem where M&S sheds useful light on the contemplated project. Healthcare, manufacturing and traffic management are a few examples among many where M&S is growingly playing a key role. M&S is critical to understand their complex issues, and support exploration of a wide range of decision possibilities in these systems.
Healthcare providers are faced with a fundamental transformation of the way they get paid for their services – pay for outcome is replacing fee for service. As financial incentives evolve, providers must concentrate on prevention and wellness to diminish risks of chronic diseases. M&S enables quick and cost-effective exploration of alternative healthcare delivery mechanisms (including use of IoT technologies) and their impact on key economic and health outcomes.
Researchers at the 8th International Conference on Digital Enterprise Technology in Stuttgart, Germany in March 2014, that was focused on disruptive innovation in manufacturing engineering towards the 4th industrial revolution (embodied in the arrival of the Internet of Things) outlined that “the simulation-based technologies constitute a focal point of digital manufacturing solutions, since they allow for the experimentation and validation of different product, process and manufacturing system configurations.” M&S is also helpful for global manufacturing, which is increasingly characterized by complex supply chains providing components and subsystems that are eventually combined to form final systems products for customers. One type of related risk is the possibility of counterfeit parts, designed either with malicious intent or intent to defraud, which can seriously impact product reliability, safety and lifecycle cost. Comprehensive upfront M&S provides a referential non-defect baseline.
Traffic congestion is a primary issue facing many of today’s urban and suburban areas. M&S can provide transportation facility managers with real-time and near-future arterial performance measures. For example, an approach using online data driven, microscopic traffic simulation utilizing point sensor data can provide real-time performance measures. Combining current and forecasted performance information will enable greater efficiency in the use and operation of existing transportation facility capacity.

Modeling and Simulation Are Central to the Return on Investment

While it makes technological sense to walk before running, i.e., to model and simulate before deploying, it must also make financial sense. Akin to insurance, M&S looks expensive before adversity strikes. IoT-focused businesses must understand that embracing M&S in project development and management is good business practice. A systematic process must be established.
It is noteworthy, perhaps as a guiding path for the private sector, that even at the Department of Defense, where M&S is a vital enabler of successful military operations, the need for well-structured, ROI-like metrics is paramount: “successful Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise modeling and simulation (M&S) investment requires structure, persistence, and common valuation for effective execution.” (See:Calculating Return on Investment for U.S. Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation, I. Oswalt et al., April 2011).
Next steps

M&S is a broad discipline with a wide range of technologies and methodologies. Academic and business resources in the field typically focus on a specific aspect with a different purpose (e.g., discrete event simulation in industrial systems vs. continuous simulation in electrical and computer engineering). There is a need for an all-encompassing approach, especially in the IoT arena.
M&S education and training might become even more critical as the effects of the IoT revolution, as recently underlined by Henry Kissinger in his latest book (“World Order”, Penguin Press, New York, 2014, p.343) “extend to every level of organization /../ and governments, wary of ceding the new field to rivals, are propelled outward into a cyber realm with as yet few guidelines or restraints.”
We could very well imagine that a battery of additional M&S-based tests might be required to verify that the injection of IoT devices in cyberspace does not increase the national cyber vulnerability. Currently, Machine-to-Machine (M2M)/IoT devices already need to comply with a broad array of certification requirements coming from government agencies (e.g., in the US, FCC, to make sure that the device does not emit interfering signals), associations (e.g., PTCRB (PCS Type Certification Review Board) to ensure that the device does not harm the cellular network), carriers (e.g., radiation tests specific to each operator) and possibly other entities.
“Cyberspace has become strategically indispensable. At this writing, users, whether individuals, corporations or states, rely on their own judgment in conducting their activities,” Kissinger observes. “The Commander of U.S. Cyber Command has predicted that ‘the next war will be in cyberspace.’ It will not be possible to conceive of international order when the region through which states’ survival and progress are taking place remains without any international standards of conduct and is left to unilateral decision” (“World Order”, p. 346).
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For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
============================================== 
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================

Netiquette IQ Technical Term Of 8/11/15 Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N or SNR) definition

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Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N or SNR) definition

Posted by Margaret Rouse
Contributor(s): John Burke
In analog and digital communications, signal-to-noise ratio, often written S/N or SNR, is a measure of signal strength relative to background noise. The ratio is usually measured in decibels (dB).
Making Networks Virtual: The Latest on SDN Technologies
An exploration of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, network virtualization fundamentals, and the latest developments for both – helping IT pros adapt them to a modern hybrid network architecture.
If the incoming signal strength in microvolts is Vs, and the noise level, also in microvolts, is Vn, then the signal-to-noise ratio, S/N, in decibels is given by the formula
S/N = 20 log10(Vs/Vn)
If Vs = Vn, then S/N = 0. In this situation, the signal borders on unreadable, because the noise level severely competes with it. In digital communications, this will probably cause a reduction in data speed because of frequent errors that require the source (transmitting) computer or terminal to resend some packets of data.
Ideally, Vs is greater than Vn, so S/N is positive. As an example, suppose that Vs = 10.0 microvolts and Vn = 1.00 microvolt. Then
S/N = 20 log10(10.0) = 20.0 dB
which results in the signal being clearly readable. If the signal is much weaker but still above the noise -- say 1.30 microvolts -- then
S/N = 20 log10(1.30) = 2.28 dB
which is a marginal situation. There might be some reduction in data speed under these conditions.
If Vs is less than Vn, then S/N is negative. In this type of situation, reliable communication is generally not possible unless steps are taken to increase the signal level and/or decrease the noise level at the destination (receiving) computer or terminal.
Communications engineers always strive to maximize the S/N ratio. Traditionally, this has been done by using the narrowest possible receiving-system bandwidth consistent with the data speed desired. However, there are other methods. In some cases, spread spectrum techniques can improve system performance. The S/N ratio can be increased by providing the source with a higher level of signal output power if necessary. In some high-level systems such as radio telescopes, internal noise is minimized by lowering the temperature of the receiving circuitry to near absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius or -459 degrees Fahrenheit). In wireless systems, it is always important to optimize the performance of the transmitting and receiving antennas.
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For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
==============================================**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================

Monday, August 10, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of 8/10/2015 - A Critical Article - The Internet - It Is Actually Controlled By 14 People Who Hold 7 Secret Keys

The article below is very good and something I never knew about.
It is chilling to know just how frail the Internet can be. All could netizens should be aware of the foundations and underpinning of the Internet.
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 from www.businessinsider.com

JULIE BORT
Mar. 1, 2014, 1:15 PM

The internet is actually controlled by 14 people who hold 7 secret keys
The people conducting the ceremony are part of an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is responsible for assigning numerical internet addresses to websites and computers and translating them into the normal web addresses that people type into their browsers.
For instance, type 64.27.101.155 into your browser, and you'll be taken to Business Insider's web page. But www.businessinsider.com is easier for people to remember. ICANN maps the numbers (easier for computers to use) with words (easier for humans to use).
If someone were to gain control of ICANN's database, that person would control the internet. For instance, the person could send people to fake bank websites instead of real bank websites.
On the other hand, if a calamity happened, the ICANN database could need to be rebuilt. So ICANN came up with a way to do that without entrusting too much control to any one person. It selected seven people as key holders and gave each one an actual key to internet. It selected seven more people to be backup key holders: 14 people in all.
The physical keys unlock safe deposit boxes stashed around the world. Inside those boxes are smart key cards. Put the seven smartcards together and you have the "master key." The master key is really some computer code, a password of sorts that can access the ICANN database.

Four times a year since 2010 the seven key holders meet for the key ceremony where they generate a new master key, i.e. a new password.
The security to be admitted to the ceremony is intense, Ball reports, and involves passing through a series of locked doors using key codes and hand scanners, until entering a room so secure that no electronic communications can escape it.
The group conducts the ritual, then each person files out of the room one by one, and then they all head to a restaurant and party.






=============================================
For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



==============================================
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================

Tabula Rosa Systems Security Alert From US-CERT SB15-222: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 3, 2015


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National Cyber Awareness System:
08/10/2015 06:14 AM EDT

Original release date: August 10, 2015
The US-CERT Cyber Security Bulletin provides a summary of new vulnerabilities that have been recorded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in the past week. The NVD is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) / United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). For modified or updated entries, please visit the NVD, which contains historical vulnerability information.






================================================================
Good Netiquette to all!
================================================================

For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



==============================================
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================