First of all, Happy Holidays and I hope that everyone out there has a very happy and safe holiday season. I've relaxed the blog a little over the last week or so in terms of new content as a lot of people are out for the holidays and I figured we'd get back to some deeper stuff in a couple of weeks.
A couple of noteworthy news items. First, as you've probably read, Cisco has decided to open up it's IOS. This has some pretty cool implications in our world as I would expect to see more standardization across the vendors and I also think that it'll allow third party companies to come up with some really cool simulators for training and modeling purposes.
Secondly, there have been several articles and blog entries lately regarding security threats from inside the network. Network World recently wrote this article http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9052219&pageNumber=1 and I noticed that several of the blogs that I read are talking about it - http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/connectivity
This is an interesting topic and I also noticed that Cisco is doing a TechWise TV episode on the subject in a few weeks. I know that I've personally seen several instances where the network was compromised from within, but I think it's still tough to find the right balance between locking everything down and allowing enough flexibility so that the security measure don't become cumbersome to the everyday business.
Anyhow, enough for tonight as I finally broke down and got Gears of War for Xbox 360 and I'm wanting to give it a try tonight...
Josh
Here's the announcement on the TechWise TV show.
TechWiseTV:
Securing Customer Data
From the Evil Insider
Most network managers are concerned about attacks from external hackers and data thieves. Yet, the biggest threat to your network security is often a careless or disgruntled employee.
As remote network access becomes more and more common, how can you enforce your security policies and safeguard your company’s assets and reputation? Watch this on-demand video broadcast and learn how to protect your company from inside threats.
Dr. Eric Cole, an independent network security expert and the TechWiseTV team will demonstrate how to assess potential security threats and eliminate or reduce them before they cause serious damage. This on-demand video broadcast will show you:
How your network can act as a point of defense by making all the elements work together to provide a secure and adaptive system
How a secure network requires cooperation among endpoints, network elements and policy enforcement
How an adaptive network can increase security effectiveness and provide a more proactive response to new types of threats
You will also see technical demonstrations about encryption, authentication and endpoint protection. Be sure to watch this valuable on-demand video broadcast today and make sure your network is secure.
Sincerely,
Robb Boyd and Jimmy Ray Purser
Solutions and Technology Experts, TechWiseTV
Securing Customer Data From the Evil Insider
TechWiseTV episode 2 (52.12 minutes)