TABULA ROSA SYSTEMS

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog of 10/6/2015 - Cisco security unit pulls plug on ransomware scammer

Cisco security unit pulls plug on ransomware scammer

By Pete Carey / October 6, 2015 at 9:03 AM

Cisco Systems’ Talos security unit said Tuesday that it has pulled the plug on a pernicious group that encrypted people’s computer files and demanded payment to decrypt them.

Talos threat research Nick Biasini said his group had disrupted a group using the Angler Exploit Kit to target 90,000 victims a day, generating more than $30 million annually in ransom. The kit has been used by other groups for a combined $60 million in annual ransom, the company reported.

“Cisco determined that an inordinate number of proxy servers used by Angler were located on servers of service provider Limestone Networks,” he reported.

The crooks had used stolen credit cards for servers on Limestone’s system. The company pulled the plug on them when Cisco contacted it, and cooperated with security researchers, according to a report by Reuters.

The Talos unit collaborated with Level 3 Threat Research Labs and OpenDNS to peer over the shoulder of the scammers and see how they operated.

Then Cisco broadcast Angler protocols and mechanisms “so others can protect their communities,” Biasini wrote.

“This is a significant blow to the emerging hacker economy where ransomware and the black market sale of stolen IP (intellectual property), credit card info and personally identifiable information are generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”

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For a great email parody, view the following link:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618

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Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ

· Get more email opens. Improve 100% or more.

· Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.

· Be better understood.

· Eliminate indecision.

· Avoid being spammed 100% or more.

· Have recipient finish reading your email content.

· Save time by reducing questions.

· Increase your level of clarity.

· Improve you time management with your email.

· Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.

Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.

================================================

**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, October 5, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of The Day - Most People Say Email Etiquette Can Make or Break a Deal

The power of good Netiquette can go a very long ways in so many respects. One obvious one is jobs, another is education.

The article below is relevant to many area of employment and presents some great statistics and facts.

Good Netiquette For All!
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Most People Say Email Etiquette Can Make or Break a Deal
from inc.com by Kelsey Liebert

Fractl and BuzzStream surveyed more than 1,200 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 to find out how email best practices differ by gender, age, and education. Here's what we found.

Within 100 milliseconds of viewing someone's face, your brain forms assumptions on an individual's attractiveness, likability, trustworthiness, competence, and aggressiveness. So, what happens in a lean communication channel like email, where you only have 100 to 300 words to connect with a stranger?

Fractl and BuzzStream surveyed more than 1,200 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 to find out how email best practices differ by gender, age, and education. Here's what they found.

1. More than 78 percent of respondents said email etiquette had an impact on their decision to engage with a stranger.

2. More than 88 percent of people have rewritten emails to sound more intelligent.

3. Older demographics want to be perceived as more authentic, while younger demographics want to sound more educated.

4. 60 percent of people agree that brevity is most acceptable, whereas 48 percent think wordiness is mostly unacceptable.

5. More than 60 percent of people believe humor in email is acceptable.

6. 70 percent of people find excessive punctuation in an email is unacceptable.

7. More than 30 percent of people think it's of little importance to link to social networks in an email signature.

Published on: Apr 13, 2015

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Have you ever wondered how it would be if your email suddenly came to life? You are about to find out.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw
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**Important note** - contact our sister 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.

==============================================

Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ

· Get more email opens. Improve 100% or more.

· Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.

· Be better understood.

· Eliminate indecision.

· Avoid being spammed 100% or more.

· Have recipient finish reading your email content.

· Save time by reducing questions.

· Increase your level of clarity.

· Improve you time management with your email.

· Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.

Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.

Tabula Rosa Systems Security Bulletin - Summary for the Week of September 28, 2015

National Cyber Awareness System:

SB15-278: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 28, 2015

10/05/2015 08:22 AM EDT

Original release date: October 05, 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.

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Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ

· Get more email opens. Improve 100% or more.

· Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.

· Be better understood.

· Eliminate indecision.

· Avoid being spammed 100% or more.

· Have recipient finish reading your email content.

· Save time by reducing questions.

· Increase your level of clarity.

· Improve you time management with your email.

· Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.

Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.

================================================
**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.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems - How Will The Internet Of Things Be Securely Supported?

by John Dixon www.teccrunch.com

The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a significant mix of opportunity and risk. Compared to the connected devices of the past, the gazillions of new IoT devices that are being predicted for our homes, transportation, cities, medical devices and elsewhere represent a unique set of security challenges for both companies and their users.

They also offer a host of new and attractive opportunity for attackers.

To start, IoT devices significantly expand the attack surface. Hackers can easily purchase any IoT device, which will often contain the same security features of other, identical devices already deployed in hundreds or even thousands of homes. Unlike servers or networking equipment, which are usually hacked through remote access points and reside in protected and monitored environments, IoT devices are more accessible to malicious threat actors.

The widespread availability and proliferation of these devices means that once a device is compromised, it’s very difficult for a company to flip a switch and update the millions of devices just like it sold around the world. It also means that hackers can use one insecure device to leapfrog their way into broader connected networks, allowing a single device to compromise sensitive data ranging from bank and health information to even access to broader corporate assets as the line between work and home continues to blur.

The Internet of Things presents a significant mix of opportunity and risk.

It’s also important to think about the companies producing today’s top IoT devices. Often, these companies are startups, which may not have the funds to bring to bear an army of security experts and white hats to ensure secure deployments. Instead, they must rely on the hardware and software provided to them through suppliers. And commodity pricing places an enormous strain on security engineering and maintenance. Many of the IoT devices on today’s shelves are by necessity inexpensive to manufacture, which means companies are less likely to spend high dollar on security throughout the development process.

Now is the time for the technology industry to proactively address these concerns, before the threat of widespread IoT security breaches becomes a reality. The standards groups, enterprise organizations and the legions of startups and maker communities working in this area must join together and get to work on addressing the critical issue of safeguarding the IoT before it’s too late.

Getting Started

The good news is the tech industry recognizes that something needs to be done about IoT security, both through industry groups and at the company level. For example, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has a working group assessing how the ISO 27000 family of security standards might be adapted to address IoT security needs, while the IEEE Standards Association is working on anarchitectural framework that is expected to address IoT security, privacy and safety issues.

What’s also encouraging is the formation of several IoT vendor alliances, including theThread Group, the Open Interconnect Consortium, the AllSeen Alliance and theIndustrial Internet Consortium. Although each is focused on a different IoT developer and user community, all of the groups appear to be supporting the wider use of data encryption and other security measures.

Daunting Challenges

Despite progress, the task of securing the IoT still faces many daunting challenges.

McKinsey & Co. and the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) recently reported that while some parts of the IoT landscape have well-defined standards, other aspects either have none or multiple, competing standards.

Additionally, and although helpful for handling the expected flood of IoT data, software-defined networking (SDN) is creating added security concerns because of its use of multiple communications channels and remotely located computing resources.

Advances in autonomous driving — such as those that will require cars to connect to each other and to roadway infrastructure — will spur the need for more robust safety, security and risk mitigation.

Lastly, and most importantly, leading technology companies still haven’t fully committed themselves to finding solutions for securing IoT applications.

Despite progress, the task of securing the IoT still faces many daunting challenges.

If today’s titans of technology won’t step up to secure the IoT, that vital endeavor may fall to the multitude of startup companies that are fueling much of the industry’s current growth. Gartner estimates that by 2017, more than half of all IoT products and services will be developed by companies less than three years old. And while some of these newcomers are likely to have formidable technical expertise, many will lack the knowhow or capability to implement the tight security that is needed.

Securing The Future

As an industry, how can we support this new generation of technologists and equip them with the deep expertise and context necessary to create a truly secure IoT?

First, we should encourage them to collaborate more closely with silicon vendors’ software, hardware and manufacturing ecosystems. Chip vendors and their partners can be invaluable guides for inexperienced product developers learning to navigate the complex array of available security standards and components.

We also can do better at education. A primary example of how this is being addressed is the establishment of security labs, such as those launched by Microsoft, Breed Reply and Indiegogo, where developers and partners can get hands-on access to systems and test beds to help advance development. Participants learn that security must be considered from the beginning of every IoT project, and should remain a priority through design, development and manufacturing — and even after the product or service is in operation.

In a perfect world, security risks and breaches wouldn’t exist. But, as virtually everything in our Internet-enabled world becomes increasingly connected, everything is becoming accessible and, therefore, potentially vulnerable. We may never fully solve that fundamental contradiction, but by working together, we can begin to build the secure IoT that the world deserves.

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Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ

· Get more email opens. Improve 100% or more.

· Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.

· Be better understood.

· Eliminate indecision.

· Avoid being spammed 100% or more.

· Have recipient finish reading your email content.

· Save time by reducing questions.

· Increase your level of clarity.

· Improve you time management with your email.

· Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.

Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of 10/4/2015

Many companies and users are implementing encryption for their email. Even though this offers create security, governments are quite often opposed for reasons noted in the article below. Additionally, there is a possibility that by encrypting traffic, there is no checking for malware which might be a part of the payload.
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infoworld.com 7/9/2015 - Grant Gross

FBI, DOJ want companies to back off end-to-end encryption

The agencies want tech vendors to retain access to encrypted data to comply with court-ordered warrants

U.S. tech companies should retain access to the encrypted information of their customers, instead of providing end-to-end encryption, in order to give police the tools they need to investigate crimes and terrorist activity, two senior law enforcement officials said.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI aren't seeking new legislation to require tech companies to comply with warrant requests, at least for now, and they don't want companies to build encryption back doors that give the agencies direct access to communications and information stored on smartphones, said Sally Quillian Yates, the DOJ's deputy attorney general.

Instead, the DOJ and FBI, in their continuing efforts to combat the use of encryption by criminals and terrorists, are proposing that tech and communications companies retain internal access to encrypted information so that they can comply with court-ordered search warrants, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Several tech companies already retain some access to customers' encrypted data, she said.

Legislation may eventually be necessary, but the DOJ is now looking for voluntary compliance from tech companies, she said.

With new encryption services from tech companies, "critical information becomes, in effect, warrant-proof," Yates said. "We are creating safe zones where dangerous criminals and terrorists can operate and avoid detection."

A recent push by tech companies toward end-to-end encryption, partly in response to reports of mass surveillance programs, has led the DOJ and FBI to raise concerns about law enforcement agencies "going dark" when investigating crime. Last September, FBI Director James Comey Jr. first questioned decisions by Apple and Google to offer encryption by default on their smartphone operating systems.

"The world has changed in the last two years," Comey told senators. "Encryption has moved from something available to something that is the default, both on devices and on data in motion."

Terrorist group ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has used encryption effectively, Yates said. ISIL makes first contact with many potential recruits on Twitter, where the group has about 21,000 followers of its English language feed, but then directs them to communicate further on an encrypted messaging service, she said.

"This is a serious threat, and our inability to access these communications with valid court orders is a real national security problem," Yates added. "We must find a solution to this pressing problem, and we need to find it soon."

U.S. tech companies should be able to find a way to provide law enforcement access to encrypted data and still provide many of the security and privacy benefits of encryption, Comey said. "The tools we are being asked to use are increasingly ineffective in our national security work and in our criminal work," he said. "I don't come with a solution -- this is a really, really hard problem."

But Comey also rejected arguments by some computer scientists who say it's impossible to allow police access to encrypted data without also opening it up to hackers.

"I think Silicon Valley is full of folks [who] have built remarkable things that changed our lives," he said. "Maybe this is too hard, but given the stakes ... we've got to give it a shot."

While companies like Google and Apple were not included in the hearing, senators gave a mixed reaction to the testimonies of Yates and Comey. Some senators suggested it would be nearly impossible to prevent foreign tech vendors from offering encrypted communication products.

Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, pressed Yates to provide statistics about the number of criminal cases affected by encrypted data.

Before creating new regulations, Congress needs to have a "clear understanding of the scope and the magnitude of law enforcement's security interests," Franken said.

Yates couldn't provide a number of cases affected, saying it was difficult because, in many cases, police don't seek a warrant when they know the information they want is encrypted. But Cyrus Vance Jr., district attorney in Manhattan, told senators his office has tried to pull data off 92 Apple phones running iOS 8 in the past six months, and on 74 of those devices, the data was encrypted.

Other senators were sympathetic to the encryption dilemma faced by law enforcement agencies. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, pressed Comey to tell lawmakers that U.S. residents will die if a solution wasn't found. Comey declined, saying he doesn't want to scare people. The FBI will do the best job it can with the crime-fighting tools it has, he said.

Still, Cornyn questioned companies that offer encryption without retaining some access to the data. "It strikes me as irresponsible, and perhaps worse, for a company to intentionally design a product in such a way that prevents them from complying with a lawful court order," he said.

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**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.

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Pages

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog of 10/6/2015 - Cisco security unit pulls plug on ransomware scammer

Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

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Monday, October 5, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of The Day - Most People Say Email Etiquette Can Make or Break a Deal

Tabula Rosa Systems Security Bulletin - Summary for the Week of September 28, 2015

Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Tabula Rosa Systems - How Will The Internet Of Things Be Securely Supported?

Getting Started

Daunting Challenges

Securing The Future

Special Bulletin - My just released book, "You're Hired. Super Charge our Email Skills in 60 Minutes! (And Get That Job...) is now on sales at Amazon.com

Tabula Rosa Systems Blog Of 10/4/2015