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7 Questions to Ask an Edge Computing Provider

Edge computing is now well established as an opportunity to drive innovation by putting compute resources closer to where they are needed. From manufacturers who are applying edge computing on the factory floor to monitor machine data and inspect outputs or a chain of retail stores that have deployed edge-based solutions to run their critical applications, the appetite for edge computing is growing by the day.

One of the first and most important steps for any edge journey begins with finding the right solution vendor. There are now dozens of vendors who offer some flavor of edge functionality – but as is the case with any enterprise technology, you’ll need to be able to read through the marketing fluff to determine which capabilities matter most to your specific use case. What follows are just a few questions that should be part of every evaluation along with a brief explanation as to why they’re important.

1. How resilient is your edge solution? What type of automated failover capabilities does the edge solution possess?

For most edge deployments, skilled IT staff are typically not on-site to troubleshoot issues when they arise. This is especially true for organizations that maintain numerous remote branch offices where technical resources are in short supply. The resilience of a prospective edge solution should be considered as a core selection criteria so you’ll want to ask several questions about how a prospective vendor ensures availability in the event of a disruptive event. A mature edge solution should be able to demonstrate how their systems can automatically failover to another node and minimize downtime in the event of a disruption.

2. What type of software do you use to manage the edge systems and what type of automation capabilities does your solution possess?

A robust edge computing solution is more than just an integrated stack of compute, networking and storage equipment (and few so-called edge vendors meet this minimum standard!). What makes edge truly deliver value, lies in the ability to intelligently orchestrate these infrastructure components as a unified whole so that your edge systems can quickly adapt to evolving conditions. The software that keeps these systems running is like the cerebral cortex of your edge network and a mature edge solution should also include built-in automation capabilities that can successfully mitigate small issues before they cascade into a full-blown outage. Beyond evaluating the intelligence of a prospective edge solution, you should also be mindful of its usability. If the software is too complex then usage will be limited to those select individuals who fully understand it. Finally, any worthy edge solution provider should be able to provide a live demonstration of their software’s capabilities. Even better, they should offer a free trial version of their edge solution to help you evaluate it in your real-world environment.

3. Are there any additional licensing fees for virtual machines?

Before you can sell your leadership team on an edge computing solution, you’ll need to understand the fully loaded costs of the infrastructure you’re buying. Imagine purchasing a new car only to find out that at the end of every year that you need to pay additional fees to fully utilize all of its capabilities? Therefore it’s important to consider all of the costs – for instance, do you need an additional license for a hypervisor like VMware or for advanced virtualization features like software defined storage? Do you need to purchase additional tools to remotely monitor remote hardware and software (i.e. VMWare vCenter or other cloud based management tools). You can read more about the hidden costs of VMware in this CRN interview with Scale Computing CEO, Jeff Ready.

4. How will maintenance and upgrades of remote devices and systems be handled?

The ease in which you can maintain your edge infrastructure should also be a key consideration when evaluating a potential solution. By their very nature, edge systems exist and operate in remote locations. This might mean a remote office far away from headquarters or it could be something even more extreme such as a freighter in the middle of the ocean. And because trained IT staff won’t be available to maintain and update these systems, it’s imperative that you understand the time and effort that will be required to keep your edge deployment up-to-date and fully operational. For organizations that have deployed edge to multiple different locations, it’s also important to assess an edge vendor’s ability to centrally deploy new functional and security updates across their estate and whether they are able to roll these out in a non-disruptive fashion.

5. How easily does your edge solution integrate with different cloud environments?

While many in the industry believe that the edge and the cloud are in fierce competition with one another, the reality is that there is a role and function for both and they should ideally complement each other. As the authors of this FCC whitepaper write, “instead of being in competition with each other, forward-looking organizations, and even many public cloud service providers, are beginning to consider how to selectively employ both.” A mature edge provider should be able to demonstrate integrations with the major public cloud providers including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure, and IBM Cloud and should also be able to seamlessly run VMs in container environments such as Kubernetes and Docker.

6. How much training does your solution typically require for staff to be productive?

Every new solution that is introduced into your environment represents another layer of potential complexity. And while every tool will require some degree of training for the individuals tasked with managing your edge environment, the complexity of some tools will require significantly more time and effort than others. Because your IT staff already has too much on their plate, you don’t want them to have to spend days or weeks working to get certified on a new system. The most feature-rich edge solutions should pay as much attention to the usability and intuitiveness of their platform as they do to their capabilities matrix.

7. Can we speak to other customers in our industry who have deployed your edge solution?

Finally and perhaps most important of all, before making a final decision about a particular edge provider, you’ll want to speak to other businesses in your industry and their firsthand experience with a particular vendor as their insights can help identify potential issues and questions to ask by getting the unvarnished truth from other technology professionals who have actually applied the technology. Peer-review sites like Gartner Peer Insights, Spiceworks, TechValidate and TrustRadius also provide an essential lens into the real-world application of edge technologies and should be part of any due diligence process before making a final purchase decision.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Scale Computing
Scale Computing is a leader in edge computing, virtualization, and hyperconverged solutions. Scale Computing HC3 software eliminates the need for traditional virtualization software, disaster recovery software, servers, and shared storage, replacing these with a fully integrated, highly available system for running applications. Using patented HyperCore™ technology, the HC3 self-healing platform automatically identifies, mitigates, and corrects infrastructure problems in real-time, enabling applications to achieve maximum uptime. When ease-of-use, high availability, and TCO matter, Scale Computing HC3 is the ideal infrastructure platform. Read what our customers have to say on Gartner Peer Insights, Spiceworks, TechValidate and TrustRadius.

5 warning signs your identity has been stolen

We’re all spending more of our time online. Last year, US adults spent one hour more per day on digital activities across all of their devices than they did in 2019. By the end of 2022, we may be spending more than eight hours in the digital world each day. An unfortunate consequence of this behavioral change is that we’re sharing more of our personal data and login credentials with the companies we do business with than ever before. And cybercriminals, in turn, are stealing that data from these organizations, as well as directly from us.

In the US this year, by the third quarter there had already been nearly 1,300 publicly reported breaches of this kind in 2021, more than for the whole of 2020. Hundreds of millions of victims were put at risk of identity theft as a result. So how do you know if you’ve been affected by one of these incidents? By spotting the early warning signs, there are ways to minimize the impact on you and your family.

How does identity theft happen?
The cybercrime economy is worth trillions of dollars annually today. There are many constituent parts and participants. The criminals who breached data from an organization in the first place are unlikely to be the same ones who attempt follow-on identity fraud, for example. Typically, the stolen data is sold on specialized dark web forums. Then it is bought en masse and tested by identity fraudsters. They may sell the pre-tested data onwards again, or use it themselves.

RELATED READING: ‘My bank account was in a shambles’: The ordeal of an identity theft victim

Depending on the type of identity data, it could be used to:

  • Hijack retail accounts pre-loaded with your cards, and use this access to complete fraudulent transactions
  • Make fraudulent payments outright (e.g., if card data was stolen)
    Socially engineer bank/telco staff into resetting accounts for the scammer to takeover
  • Take out lines of credit in your name
  • Commit health insurance/tax refund fraud

What are some common warning signs of identity theft?
Given the large number of possible identity theft scenarios, it pays to stay alert. Of course, the biggest warning sign that your identity data could be in danger is if you receive a breach notification letter. It goes without saying that you should read it carefully to understand the possible implications. Other telltale signs include:

  • Unusual bank statement/card activity

Even small discrepancies can sometimes indicate fraud, as scammers often check the validity of stolen cards with innocuous-seeming purchases before ramping up their activity. If something doesn’t look right, put a freeze on the card/account. This can often be done via your mobile banking app. Then immediately contact your banking/card provider.

  • Your phone/online accounts stop working

If attackers get hold of your logins, the first thing they’ll do is change the passwords in order to lock you out. Alternatively, if they’ve managed to trick your mobile operator, they will get them to port your number to a device under their control. This is known as SIM swapping and is particularly dangerous as it means they’ll be able to intercept any one-time SMS passcodes often used by banks to validate your identity.

  • You have problem filing taxes

Another common strategy is to use stolen Social Security numbers and other personal details to file personal taxes early, impersonating the victim. The hacker is then able to fraudulently claim any tax refunds due. If you find you’re unable to file your taxes, this could be the reason.

  • There’s a problem with your medical bill/claim

If you get a medical bill for services you never received, or try to submit a claim but it’s rejected because you’ve already reached the limit pre-assigned by your provider, identity thieves could be to blame. Especially in countries with private healthcare systems, such scams can be highly lucrative.

  • The debt collectors call

If an identity thief has racked up a huge credit card bill or similar debt in your name and then vanished, it’s only a matter of time before the lender asks a collection agency to investigate.

What to consider if your identity has been stolen

The first step is not to panic. Inform your bank/card provider/insurer immediately, and report any suspected crime to the authorities. In the US, report an incident and receive a recovery plan at: IdentityTheft.gov. See below for authorities in other countries:

UK: CIFAS and Action Fraud.
Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
New Zealand: Contact the police or one of these specialist organizations.
Australia: ReportCyber

How to stay safe in the future
There’s only so much you can do to prevent breaches if they’re targeted at the organizations you do business with. But there are some preventative steps you can also take in case fraudsters try to target you directly. Consider the following:

Switch on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts you have online
Use strong, long and unique passwords, stored in a password manager, for all accounts
Ensure that you have up-to-date AV on all your devices from a reputable provider
Read up on identity theft and protection
Regularly patch or switch on automatic updates for all devices
Avoid unofficial app stores
Avoid logging on at public Wi-Fi hotspots
Only use HTTPS (green padlock) websites
Shred or destroy old documents so no personal details are showing
Minimize the amount of information you share with businesses online
We’re all likely to experience some form of identity theft in our lifetime. The key is to do as much as possible to minimize the chances of it happening. And to stay alert, so that when the bad guys do get hold of your data, you can shut down any scams ASAP.

Be sure to also watch these tips from ESET Chief Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe:

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

Cyber Threats: Rise In Prevalence, Rise In Costs

Threat Surfaces Are Expanding

The proliferation of devices requesting access to the network, driven largely by the adoption of BYOD policies and utilization of IoT devices, has forced network security teams to be more diligent about setting and enforcing effective access control policies. Despite best efforts, attempts to address this evolving problem are akin to putting a finger in the dike – rogue devices inevitably slip through the cracks, leaving corporate networks vulnerable to ransomware and countless other cyber threats.

What’s more, network complexity complicates the issue. Today, networks consist of an ever-increasing number of WANs, LANs, VLANS, SD-WANs, MPLS, VPNs, employees’ homes, coffee shops, hotels, airports – wherever authorized devices can connect to gain access to company resources. As if the industry needed another acronym – some are calling it Bring Your Own Network (BYON). Regardless of how we define the trend, access to everything (from everywhere) has changed the security dynamic.

The impact on corporate bottom lines is tangible. The risks and costs associated with network breaches are growing larger by the year. It seems as if every day a new Fortune 500 company is reporting a costly cyberattack. Data breaches from January through September 30, 2021 (9 months), exceeded the total number of events in the entire year of 2020 by 17% (1,291 breaches in 2021 compared to 1,108 breaches in 2020). Adding to the challenge, threat actors are becoming more sophisticated and prevalent, leaving organizations on their heels fighting to catch-up.

A New Age of Cyber Threats

Cyber threats have become alarmingly prevalent, with malware increasing 358% overall and ransomware increasing 435% in 2021 compared with 2019. All threats, from phishing to attacks on Internet of Things (IoT) devices and supply-chains, have grown exponentially. Attacks on IoT devices tripled in the first half of 2019 and supply chain attacks were up 78%.

Costs have escalated in tandem. The average ransomware payment rose 33% in 2020 over 2019, to $111,605. The total cost of cybercrime for each company increased 12% from $11.7 million in 2017 to $13.0 million in 2018. Data breaches cost enterprises an average of $3.92 million annually.

In an attempt to mitigate these costly risks, many companies have opted to deploy niche solutions and tools such as network and host intrusion detection, various threat intelligence feeds, and mobile device management. While useful in isolation, these disparate tools (e.g., Network Performance Management, SIEM, XDR, SOAR, etc.) create many different panes of glass, leaving gaps in network security and complicating IT infrastructures.  All this means extra work for already thinly-stretched IT teams. In this sense, less really is more.

Essential Areas of Cybersecurity

The cybersecurity software market is oversaturated with tools that have been designed for very siloed tasks. Many of these have been developed in direct response to new threats, and require a certain focus and sophistication that doesn’t lend itself to the average IT professional’s chaotic daily life. Instead, companies need to develop a simple, yet solid security foundation that consists of three essentials:

  1. Firewalls to monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic
  2. Network access control to enforce access policies, assess connected device risk and remediate non-compliant devices
  3. Endpoint protection like antivirus to prevent, scan, detect and eliminate malware and other viruses from devices

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Portnox
Portnox provides simple-to-deploy, operate and maintain network access control, security and visibility solutions. Portnox software can be deployed on-premises, as a cloud-delivered service, or in hybrid mode. It is agentless and vendor-agnostic, allowing organizations to maximize their existing network and cybersecurity investments. Hundreds of enterprises around the world rely on Portnox for network visibility, cybersecurity policy enforcement and regulatory compliance. The company has been recognized for its innovations by Info Security Products Guide, Cyber Security Excellence Awards, IoT Innovator Awards, Computing Security Awards, Best of Interop ITX and Cyber Defense Magazine. Portnox has offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For information visit http://www.portnox.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.。

Advice on camera and microphone in WSL2 Ubuntu

At the time of writing these lines, almost everything we connect to our devices is through the so-called Universal Serial Bus (USB): cameras, microphones, external storage… It’s the fastest and safest way to synchronize and backup information between our mobile phone and computer! But what does all this have to do with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2 Ubuntu)? Let’s have a look.

Study in WSL2 with Ubuntu: proprietary and free software

To begin with, I will leave you a link to an article published in this blog, in order to facilitate knowledge of the technology I will be discussing. I will add more of them throughout the text. We have quite a bit to go through, so I recommend a nice, steaming cup of black coffee in your hands before we start.

*The Last tests I have carried out have been on virtual machines (VirtualBox®: they may be created, erased, modified, etc. on Solid State Drive).

Brief retrospective

I always say that “in order to know where we are going, we need to know where we come from.” Since 1989, I have worked with the products sold by the Microsoft Corporation: first the MS-DOS operating system and its only form of command-line interaction, and then Microsoft Windows, which also uses the graphical environment. Yes, I am well aware, MS-DOS® as such was eliminated, but its commands remain. It was replaced with Powershell®, which we have already talked about, and it is important for today’s topic.

At the end of 2016, Microsoft surprised us with the news that its SQL Server® could be run on GNU/Linux. For me, who for many years worked installing and maintaining data servers for my clients, this was shocking news. But wait, there’s more, on my journey, I discovered that   BASHware can affect a Windows system via WSL. Which brings us to today’s article, where we’ll go into handling USB devices, with particular attention to microphones and webcams, under WSL2 with Ubuntu 20.04.

WSL and WSL2

I recommend, again, the excellent article on WSL2. Although time has passed and there are some significant changes. At that time, WSL2 was installed by means of commands. Now, and I want to emphasize it, I notice that by MS Windows Control Panel, “Programs and Features”, we can add the two key components that are Virtual Machine Platform and obviously Windows Subsystem for Linux in the section of “Turn Windows features on or off”:

After this, the operating system must be restarted, this is already an idiosyncrasy of the house of Redmond! (There will be many more resets later that I will leave out. They will be implied.)

Another aspect that was added in July 2021 is the possibility of adding the Linux distributions that one wishes, directly, through the command line in Powershell (depending on the version and type of MS Windows that you have installed).

To see the available distributions:

wsl --list --online

To install Ubuntu 20.04:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-20.04

After some time, depending on your Internet download speed, it will ask for username and password. It will immediately display the status of updates for Ubuntu.

To set WSL2 as default:

wsl --set-default-version 2

The option to download and use from the Microsoft Store is still valid and available, for Ubuntu 20.04 it takes almost half a gigabyte of space.

The fundamental difference between WSL and WSL2 is that the latest download is a complete Linux kernel, but not just any kernel, it is one specially designed to be coupled with the Windows kernel. This means that applications running on WSL2 will always have to be “passed through” -but not interpreted, as it was in WSL- before interacting with any hardware, USB included.

The only thing WSL does better than WSL2 is file sharing between the two operating systems. Apart from that, WSL2 offers many more advantages and improvements in WSL2.

Podman in WSL2

To give you an idea of how useful it is to include a full Linux kernel in MS Windows, the Podman software (Docker’s successor) can be run on WSL2. If you still don’t know what Podman is, make more coffee and read another of our articles.

Developer mode

A feature that Powershell offers that you may use to your advantage, once you have installed and configured WSL2, is the developer mode. It is accessed by pressing the Windows start key, typing “Powershell” and choosing the developer settings. The first thing is to activate the developer mode and wait for the necessary software to finish installing.

This consists of two main components: 

  • Device Portal.
  • Device Discovery.

The Device Portal will open port 50080 (remember to properly configure the Windows Defender Firewall), and from any web browser you may enter the configured credentials and access a variety of aspects that you can see in the following image.


*There is a tutorial for establishing safe connections with HTTPS but it is irrelevant for this article:

Differences aside, this is similar to what eHorus offers for both basic and advanced monitoring, if used together with Pandora FMS. I have included this feature because the configured credentials are required for the next point.

The second component is Device discovery which, among other aspects, will open an SSH server to make a connection. 

This allows us to open a terminal with the Windows command line and, once there, you may directly use WSL2 for any task that you need to develop remotely from another computer. In this case, as an example I used the PuTTY software to connect from the real machine to the Windows 10 virtual machine with WSL2 installed and configured: 

As you can see, once the default configuration has been established, just by typing the command wsl you will be ready in a Linux environment, not GNU/Linux but MSW/Linux.

USB in WSL2

We come to the purpose of this blog post: USB handling in WSL2. At the time of writing these lines, there are two pieces of news, one bad and one good.

  • The bad news is that no, WSL2 is currently unable to support USB, so for example your USB connected cameras and microphones will not be available to be used from WSL2.
  • The good news is that you may compile your own Linux kernel for WSL2 and have access to the occasional microphone or webcam from your chosen Linux distribution. But what applications could you use for it?

Compiling Linux kernel for WSL2

Before doing anything, first update Ubuntu WSL2 with the usual commands:

$ sudo apt update

$ sudo apt upgrade

And if you thought that this was enough software download… well not, now what I call the programming environment (dependencies) must be installed:

$ sudo apt install build-essential flex bison libssl-dev libelf-dev

And now you may download the base kernel source code for Ubuntu on WSL2:

$ sudo git clone https://github.com/microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel.git

There are three gigabytes to download. The source code. Awesome.  Although you may always use the parameter git clone -depth=1<repository>, I did not use that option. I recommend at least 100 gigabytes free in storage before going into the downloaded folder (cloned repository) and running:

$ make -d KCONFIG_CONFIG=Microsoft/config-wsl

At this point I must clarify that I found many configuration options to compile. For example, to install the software for handling Snap packages on Debian. However, all this is excluded from Microsoft support, nothing you will be able to complain to this company if something goes wrong in the compilation process.

To finish off, turn off WSL2 with the command wsl –shutdown and copy the newly compiled kernel in the following way, not without first backing up the original kernel:

C:\Windows\System32\lxss\tools\kernel

At this point you should be able to connect any microphone or webcam and have access from WSL2… But it’s going to be no. It turns out that you must first get the hardware drivers for MS Windows, obviously, and then the Linux ones, enter in the source code the latter and recompile again. In addition to that, install in Ubuntu WSL2:

sudo apt install linux-tools-5.4.0-77-generic hwdata

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/usbip usbip /usr/lib/linux-tools/5.4.0-77-generic/usbip 20

And by the way, it must also be installed on Windows, with an MSI installer package, the USBIPD-WIN project…

As we can see, since we have gotten used to the graphical simplicity of Windows, if you disable the USB through the Device Manager, no hardware will be able to connect with or without your consent, since it will be blocked at operating system level.

Installing graphical applications in WSL2

Finally, although in the case of the snap package installer it is explicitly unsupported in Ubuntu over WSL2, other applications that interact with hardware (such as sound, for example) will be able to be installed, but when they try to access files of hardware (remember that in Linux everything is a file) because they simply will not find such resources. This is the case of the espeak software:

In theory, the Ubuntu blog indicates that by means of X Window System Architecture it is possible to “pass” the graphical interface of the applications installed in WLS2. Microsoft officially announced just before the end of 2021 that the following graphics applications can be run:

  • Gedit (my favorite graphical GNU text editor).
  • GIMP (powerful for graphic design).
  • Nautilus (file explorer).
  • VLC (audio and video player).
  • Applications based on X11 (calculator, clock, etc.).
  • Google Chrome (at your own risk due to its high RAM and resource consumption).
  • Microsoft Teams (by the way, Pandora FMS has a special connector).
  • Even Microsoft Edge web browser for Linux!

But this has some drawbacks. First, you must have Windows 11 Build 22000. Second, have the video hardware drivers for WSL2 installed. Third, be enrolled in the Windows Insider Program. I hope you liked the information!

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About PandoraFMS
Pandora FMS is a flexible monitoring system, capable of monitoring devices, infrastructures, applications, services and business processes.
Of course, one of the things that Pandora FMS can control is the hard disks of your computers.

Winning the War Against Hackers in the Face Of Device Proliferation

Expanding Network Edges & Device Proliferation

With the advent of COVID-19, an enormous push to hybrid work changed the threat landscape. Many more activities have become remote, and therefore more reliant on and demanding of secure remote network connections. As more organizations expand their hybrid workforce models, the network edge continues to push out and the number of potential entry points for attackers increases. Device proliferation – specifically BYOD – is exacerbating this trend. As of 2021, 67% of employees use personal devices at work, and 59% of organizations have adopted BYOD. 

IoT device proliferation is also broadening the threat surface, adding to the list of endpoints not only in the office, but also in the operating room, the factory floor and the shipping warehouse. There may be some 21.5 billion IoT devices by 2025 – a number that keeps IT security professionals up at night. From security cameras to connected multifunction copiers, IoT devices open the real potential for breaches. 

The Role of Network Access Control

With so many diverse, dispersed devices requesting network access, security teams must be more diligent about setting and enforcing access control policies. To maintain vigilance, security teams need to focus their efforts on network access control (NAC). In a perfect world, this means deploying a NAC that offers cloud RADIUS services, a variety of authentication methods, as well as 24/7 endpoint risk assessment and remediation across all prominent access layers – wired, wireless and VPN. Simple, yet powerful – a NAC that’s easy to use while providing the extensive security coverage needed to confront these challenges head-on is required.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Portnox
Portnox provides simple-to-deploy, operate and maintain network access control, security and visibility solutions. Portnox software can be deployed on-premises, as a cloud-delivered service, or in hybrid mode. It is agentless and vendor-agnostic, allowing organizations to maximize their existing network and cybersecurity investments. Hundreds of enterprises around the world rely on Portnox for network visibility, cybersecurity policy enforcement and regulatory compliance. The company has been recognized for its innovations by Info Security Products Guide, Cyber Security Excellence Awards, IoT Innovator Awards, Computing Security Awards, Best of Interop ITX and Cyber Defense Magazine. Portnox has offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For information visit http://www.portnox.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.。

Why Have Attacks on Healthcare Organizations Increased?

A news article produced by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo and replicated by the G1 website has pointed out that approximately 243 million Brazilians had their data exposed on the Internet due to failures by the Ministry of Health. These numbers include people who have already died. 

In practice, anyone registered with the Unified Health System (SUS) or a health plan had data such as individual taxpayer number, full name, address, and telephone number exposed.

In the previous week, 16 million people who had coronavirus had been victims of another leak caused by the same flaw: exposure of login and password that give access to the Ministry of Health’s system.

Also, a study performed by Apura Cybersecurity Intelligence has shown that there are 920,866 suspicious websites with the term “coronavirus”.

By reading this article, you will understand what has driven the recent increase in attacks against healthcare organizations. To facilitate your understanding, we have divided our text into topics that explain the reasons:

  1. More Workers Working Remotely 
  2. Low Investment in Cybersecurity
  3. Lack of Specific Cybersecurity Professionals
  4. Low Awareness 

Read it until the end!

1. More Workers Working Remotely 

Again, we quote a story from G1: according to this report, there were twice as many cyberattacks against hospital and pharmaceutical organizations in 2020 than in the previous year.

That’s because this sector represented 3% of detected digital threats in 2019. In 2020, that number rose to 6.6%. But what has changed from one year to the next? 

In fact, with the Covid-19 pandemic, many professionals have had to adhere to remote work. As a result, they began to access corporate devices from less secure environments, making IT systems more vulnerable. 

2. Low Investment in Cybersecurity

Not all healthcare organizations invest as much as they should in cybersecurity. Often, companies do not even have a department dedicated to this area, ignoring fundamental items, such as:

  • Cybersecurity Policies;
  • Disaster Recovery Plan;
  • Controls for compliance with data protection laws and regulations such as HIPAA.

This lack of investment and old operating systems explain why cybercriminals were already finding loopholes to attack the healthcare industry even before the pandemic. 

To give you an idea, the healthcare industry is one of the main targets of ransomware attacks, along with industries, banking institutions, and government agencies.

3. Lack of Specific Cybersecurity Professionals

We know that having professionals specialized in cybersecurity is essential today. However, these experts are scarce in the job market. It is no wonder this sector has an unemployment rate of 0% and jobs that require knowledge in cybersecurity take an average of 79 days to be filled, surpassing other IT areas.

Data from 2020 indicate that, in order to have an adequate number of professionals with this knowledge in Brazil, we would have to get a 52% increase in the number of employees, from 331,770 to 636,650.

4. Low Awareness 

In addition to everything we have already shown in this article, there is a problem that affects not only the healthcare area, but countless others: low cybersecurity awareness. This means organizations also do not invest in training their employees to deal with cyber threats.

And nowadays, it is extremely important to make teams aware of the risks they assume when accessing IT systems, in addition to promoting training that makes it possible to detect and combat these threats.

These trainings must be performed periodically. That’s because technology constantly evolves, offering increasingly efficient resources to malicious users too. Thus, cybersecurity care must follow this evolution.

By reading this article, you understood the main reasons for the increase in cyberattacks against healthcare organizations. Did you like our content? Share it with someone who may also be interested in the topic.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Segura®
Segura® strive to ensure the sovereignty of companies over actions and privileged information. To this end, we work against data theft through traceability of administrator actions on networks, servers, databases and a multitude of devices. In addition, we pursue compliance with auditing requirements and the most demanding standards, including PCI DSS, Sarbanes-Oxley, ISO 27001 and HIPAA.

Passwords: Necessary, but Insufficient for Network Security

The First Form of Security

In the beginning – or at least near the beginning – there was the password. This rudimentary method of security pre-dated computers by at least two millennia, and was commonly utilized by militaries like the Roman Legion to maintain secure access to bases, resources and other high-ranking officers across a wide swath of newly conquered territory.  

As we fast forward to the 20th Century and the advent of the computer, passwords became the primary method of personal identification and access to systems, applications, networks…you name it. As computers became increasingly integrated into the daily lives of people both at work and at home, passwords became even more prevalent and served as the de facto method of security. 

Password Management Today

Today, much to our chagrin, we all juggle passwords across our laptops, tablets and phones in work and personal lives. Remembering the multitude of passwords needed to access different areas of our digital existence has become an onerous, often screen-punching task. It has also become a task rife with security vulnerabilities – particularly at the corporate level. Everyone is now required to remember so many passwords that they resort to insecure practices like writing them down, using easy-to-guess passwords, or using the same password over and over again. 

Most security experts see passwords as one of the weakest links in the security system, but many of the procedures that IT teams undertake with the intent of improving security – like requiring frequent password changes – makes the problem worse. If a hacker guesses a password or gains access to a password from one breach, they can try it again across other applications. Such tactics became household names in IT. For example, inputting a bunch of common passwords is known as “password spraying,” and reusing previously breached passwords is known as “credential stuffing.” 

Password-focused attacks are extremely common. For instance, in the well-publicized campaign of attacks on SolarWinds and many other vendors in 2019, the US  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) noted that “incident response investigations have identified that initial access in some cases was obtained by password guessing, password spraying…” 

The Move to Single Sign-On (SSO)

As corporate employees found themselves needing to log into more and more different devices, applications and network types, IT teams began leveraging SSO technology to help simplify the process and eliminate the need for people to remember every single password use. At its core, SSO intended to allow employees to have one password that provided them access to all necessary corporate resources.   

For several few years, while most applications still resided inside of a local IT datacenter, many organizations turned to tools like Microsoft’s Active Directory (AD) to manage user identity and access policies. The rise of AD adoption pushed other application vendors to support AD, further supplanting SSO as the then go-to method for password management and access security. 

Then along came Software as a Service (SaaS), and the game changed. SaaS apps went from novel to common incredibly quickly thanks to the simplicity, efficiency and cost effectiveness they promised. As cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure made it easier to build SaaS apps, these tools went from common to ubiquitous. Today, most companies have so many SaaS applications in use that their IT teams need to subscribe to other SaaS apps to help them discover and manage their active SaaS app portfolio.  

Every one of these new SaaS apps now in use utilized passwords. While early on some of these apps supported MS AD or its successor, Microsoft Azure AD (Azure AD), most did not at first. A such, it quickly became clear that successfully rolling out SSO universally was a daunting undertaking for most mid-sized businesses with complex IT environments and limited internal IT resources. After all, a company-wide password manager doesn’t eliminate the proliferation of passwords, and compromised SaaS apps can serve as gateways into the larger corporate network. 

The Rise of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

The explosion of passwords and password-based attacks has created a market for password management software. There are a plethora of vendors who deal solely with simple passwords (e.g., LastPass, Keeper Security, Dashlane), SSO (e.g., Okta, SailPoint, One Identity), or the third and most recent phase in the evolution of the password: MFA (e.g., Cisco Duo).   

Out of SSO emerged MFA, which compliments and strengthens password management and network security efforts by introducing another means of identity verification on top of a person’s username and password. Most MFA vendors today provide mobile-based authentication, which can include methods such as push-based, QR code-based, and one-time password authentication (event-based or time-based), as well as SMS-based verification.  

MFA, like SSO, has its own shortcomings. Mobile-based authentication is particularly vulnerable as mobile devices can be cloned, and apps often run simultaneously across several mobile devices. Advanced hackers can, in theory, intercept an MFA code sent via SMS or email. While this added layer of security raises the necessary skill level to execute a successful attack against a company’s network, critical vulnerabilities still exist. 

The Gold Standard: Network Access Control (NAC)

With enterprise SaaS adoption and corporate networking eco-systems expanding and becoming more complex, MFA alone simply isn’t equipped to provide the secure access and authentication functionality needed to maintain an effective network security posture. 

As we enter a period of unprecedented device proliferation, network expansion, and increased threat sophistication, NAC has emerged as the gold standard for establishing secure access and authentication to corporate networks, applications and other internal resources. NAC, for lack of a better word, has raised the bar and left hackers with their work cut out for them.  

NAC systems evaluate whether a user and their device should be allowed onto a network, based on a series of security checks, MFA included. NAC combines MFA with other unique data points, such as the location of the device or the MAC address of the device to either grant or block their access to the network. Once connected, a NAC goes a step further by continuously measuring the security posture of each device, taking steps to either quarantine or boot the device off the network should it surpass the organization’s desired risk threshold. Additionally, a NAC can control which segment of the network a device can access, further limiting any impact of an intrusion.  

As such, a NAC is a strong addition to tighter password management and MFA because its security controls are complimentary rather than overlapping. NACs were once thought to be powerful, yet complex and hard to manage. With the advent of cloud-native NAC such as Portnox CLEAR NAC-as-a-Service, however, companies can access that power without the hassle. 

The Future of Password Management

While there are efforts to eliminate the need for passwords altogether, most business software will continue to require a username and password to gain access. Therefore, businesses must do more to secure their environments in the face of so many passwords.  

No combination of security controls can guarantee protection, but if an organization operates with a limited IT budget and staff, a combination of password management, MFA, and cloud-native NAC will substantially reduce its risk of cyberattacks. 

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Portnox
Portnox provides simple-to-deploy, operate and maintain network access control, security and visibility solutions. Portnox software can be deployed on-premises, as a cloud-delivered service, or in hybrid mode. It is agentless and vendor-agnostic, allowing organizations to maximize their existing network and cybersecurity investments. Hundreds of enterprises around the world rely on Portnox for network visibility, cybersecurity policy enforcement and regulatory compliance. The company has been recognized for its innovations by Info Security Products Guide, Cyber Security Excellence Awards, IoT Innovator Awards, Computing Security Awards, Best of Interop ITX and Cyber Defense Magazine. Portnox has offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For information visit http://www.portnox.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.。

5 good habits to up your cybersecurity

1. Don’t forget to change your passwords regularly.

Don’t use the same password for a long time – change it. A very popular mistake users make is having the same password for all accounts. In the event of a cyberattack they all become available to cybercriminals.

When creating a password, make it stronger by using special characters, introduce a short code phrase. This will help you protect all your data from being hacked.

2. Don’t click on suspicious links.

Before you click on a link, take a careful look at it in order to understand where it leads to. By clicking on suspicious ones, you jeopardize your gadget, because malware can infiltrate your phone or computer.

3. Delete suspicious emails.

Make sure the email you got is not phishing. Google the address it was sent from.

4. Ignore attachments with unknown file formats.

Don’t open messages or emails containing attachments with non-standard file formats, such as .reg, .scr, .exe, .hta, vbs. They may contain a code cybercriminals use to hack your gadgets and steal confidential information.

5. Use two-factor authentication.

It will be much more difficult to hack into your account if you install an app that enables two-factor authentication. 2-step authentication with the use of text messages has also proved efficient.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About SafeDNS
SafeDNS breathes to make the internet safer for people all over the world with solutions ranging from AI & ML-powered web filtering, cybersecurity to threat intelligence. Moreover, we strive to create the next generation of safer and more affordable web filtering products. Endlessly working to improve our users’ online protection, SafeDNS has also launched an innovative system powered by continuous machine learning and user behavior analytics to detect botnets and malicious websites.

ESET recognized as Top Player in Radicati Endpoint Security Market Quadrant

BRATISLAVA — February 1, 2022 — ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, has been recognized as a Top Player in Radicati’s 2021 Endpoint Security Market Quadrant. The report offers a competitive view of key players in endpoint security and ESET‘s inclusion in the report signifies its leading position alongside 17 of its market peers, assessing their products’ functionality and the business’ strategic vision.

The Radicati report only evaluates market leaders, categorizing them into a four quadrant system. The results are aimed at businesses, ranging from SMBs to very large organizations, including government organizations, to make an informed decision when selecting their endpoint security solutions, for which ESET is best placed with a wide portfolio of available products. In particular, ESET’s management console, ESET PROTECT, has been highlighted for providing “visibility for on premise and off premise endpoints, as well as full reporting for ESET enterprise-grade solutions from a single pane of glass securely deployed on premise or in the cloud.”

Endpoint security solutions are designed to monitor, manage, and protect all the endpoints on an enterprise network, including all devices within it. According to Radicati “organizations no longer view endpoint security as an isolated discipline affecting only the endpoint but as an integral part of an organization-wide defense posture, where endpoint security shares threat intelligence feeds and policy controls with all other major security components.” Low system resource usage, high performance and detection rates as well as ESET’s enterprise-grade solutions are among the reasons for its continuing excellence in delivering to these businesses and organizations.

Juraj Malcho, ESET’s chief technology officer, commented, “We are delighted to be recognized as a Top Player in Radicati’s 2021 Endpoint Security Market Quadrant among such stellar company. Here at ESET we continue to drive technology innovation and we provide a thorough product portfolio to cover even the most advanced threats. We are committed to offering our customers and partners the most top-notch solutions in order to free them up for expanding their business’ progress. Protecting progress is our raison d’être.”

To read more about the 2021 Radicati Endpoint Security Market Quadrant, please click here, and to read about ESET’s expansive product portfolio, please click here.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

Silicon shortage, is another global crisis coming?

We are drug addicts. Not to green cannabis or MDMA, necessarily, but we do are addicted to some elements scattered around the globe that support the base of the world economy and that we need, like water, so that everything remains in order. The shortage of silicon chips is already one of the most suffocating problems that humanity has to face these days, we tell you about it in this article.

A new world problem: shortage of silicon chips

Perhaps there were some smart people who knew it before, but, for the rest of the mortals, it was in 2021 when the crude dependence that the technology industry has on factories that produce microchips was revealed. Yes, those little things are absolutely essential for the operation of electronic devices.

You can now start trembling with fear, the shortage of semiconductors, of silicon chips, which work as the heads of computing devices, is not good for us. Because, as you may tell, they control everything these days, from your smartphone to your laptop, from your tablet to your new car, from your state-of-the-art washing machine to your kid’s Playstation 5.

What is this semiconductor crisis about?

As it happened with the rest of the markets, the restrictions imposed by the pandemic forced the closure of many of the factories that were devoted to the production of these chips, thus making their production more difficult. And what’s worse, on top of that, the demand for computer devices increased, since everyone was locked up at home, needing to work remotely or entertain themselves with screens so as not to die of disgust making bread or staring at the wall. To all of this we add the inevitable delay in shipments and transport on a global scale, as well as the rise in the price of silicon, an essential element for microchip manufacturing, and other components that were bitterly disputed by the great world powers. As if that were not enough, two large chip producers, Taiwan and China, suffered certain catastrophes that seriously affected the capacity of their factories.

We know that the semiconductor industry fluctuates, that it is fickle and regularly goes through certain cycles of shortage, but all of this happened at the same time: this fluctuating nature, the alteration of demand and supply patterns due to the pandemic, the disagreements between the great powers, and then the catastrophes in the countries with the highest production… Not even done on purpose!

Who has been the worst off because of the shortage?

One of the markets that has been the most affected is the automobile sector. In fact, the AlixPartners financial consultancy recalls that, due to the shortage of chips, the global automobile industry has lost, this past 2021, 210,000 million dollars in revenue. That’s about 7.7 million cars less.

But not only that, the shortage of semiconductors also threatened the availability of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets with microchips in the last months of last year, which is, as you know, when these things are sold more. The Christmas campaign.

In fact, the very Apple, during November, had to choose between its iPads and its iPhones, diverting the chips that were originally destined for the former for the latter, since the iPhones are sold more and they are more lucrative. This meant that many specialist stores in the UK didn’t have stock of the iPad mini or the basic iPad for months.

But now comes perhaps the sector that has defended the problem of silicon, chips, semiconductors and all their ancestors the most: the world of gamers. Because the universe can be sunk with a single click of Thanos but the difficulties to get the brand new PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X is inexcusable. Indeed, Sony had it hard. Forced, even, to stop the production of its flagship product, the PS5, because the hundreds of chips that make it up are too difficult to obtain. The same thing happened with the giant Nintendo, which warned, distressed, that they were in serious trouble. They couldn’t keep up with the demand for their new console. Meanwhile, high-end graphics cards for PC gaming are still hard to find. If things continue like this, at any moment gaming lovers will leave the controls of Call of Duty, come out of their burrow and go themselves refine the silicon.

Moving on to the aesthetic spectrum, we note that if you’re bald you might not have noticed, but the Supersonic hair dryer and Airwrap hair styler have been missing for months as tech giant Dyson continues to beg for chips among the few supplies that work selling them worldwide.

Conclusion: What will happen in the near future?

Yes, things are very bad regarding the supply of chips and semiconductor materials. Although, don’t worry, experts warn that the effects of the shortage will only take a year to subside. There will be gradual improvements, although all the demand will probably not be met before 2023.

Many companies, such as Intel, have decided to create new chip factories in Europe, America and Asia to avoid another shortage on such a scale. In the meantime, meditate, exercise, read our articles, check your security system, or try to bring back tug-of-war as an Olympic sport.

About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About PandoraFMS
Pandora FMS is a flexible monitoring system, capable of monitoring devices, infrastructures, applications, services and business processes.
Of course, one of the things that Pandora FMS can control is the hard disks of your computers.