Madrid hosted on October 26th and 27th one of the major international cybersecurity summits. 

The fair Cyber Security World has brought together large technology companies, public administrations and references from the IT sector to address the main topics. 

Among them that of cybersecurity. 

An increasingly analyzed concept that, in the midst of the Ukrainian war, has multiplied its concern among companies and governments.

What do you know about the Madrid cybersecurity summit?

Data hosting in the cloud, the adaptation of the different administrations and the emergence of new solutions are some of the issues addressed by the major players in the sector with the aim of preparing for the new digital era.

“Europe is already on alert for data to not depend on third parties.

It is a maxim both among public administrations and among companies, who may see their systems attacked by hackers or simple computer errors,” 

ensures monitoring expert Sancho Lerena, CEO of the IT company Pandora FMS. 

The European Commission, in fact, has already set ahead the goal of achieving technological independence by 2030. 

According to the data they provided, 90% of the data of the European Union are managed by American companies. 

In addition, less than 4% of major online platforms are European. 

An example of this technological fragility is that the European market represents less than 10% in the microchip manufacturing sector. 

“In a couple of years, more than 50% of companies should be using the Cloud,” the expert says. 

The European future of cybersecurity

The challenge for 2030 is to maximize digitisation within the European Union. 

The project Compass Digital, for example, includes multiple investments and objectives, but the sector agrees that many steps must be taken to achieve full cybersecurity nowadays. 

“There are many companies that still have legacy, outdated systems that cannot incorporate the latest security developments,” acknowledges Lerena.

The IT company Pandora FMS is one of those that works with both digital administrations and companies through its monitoring system. 

The concept of monitoring is increasingly widespread in the sector, as it allows the real-time management of all data generated within an IT structure. 

That way, companies achieve greater efficiency and reduce costs.

“This technology not only helps improve the control of data and activity of a platform, it also strengthens security and warns about possible errors to improve reaction time.” 

Explains the head of technology, whose solution is present in institutions such as Madrid Digital, relying on the Comunidad de Madrid, or the EMT. 

Also, having international giants such as Rakuten or Toshiba shows the importance that this type of technology currently has.

Europe is already looking to 2030 with the intention of extending this digitisation.

Companies are incorporating monitoring systems and strengthening the cybersecurity of their companies.The objective is none other than to prevent European actors from being “well below the EU’s global economic weight” in technologically relevant areas.

Essential for Smart Cities

Cybersecurity will become increasingly important.

Especially considering that the objective of the most developed countries is to implement those known as Smart Cities where technology and data control will be fundamental for the efficient management of cities.

The concept of Smart Cities responds to those cities where, through data analysis and the use of the latest technological solutions, services are more efficient for citizens and do not generate a negative impact either in economic terms or in the environmental field. 

For example, to find out in which areas more waste is generated to improve the garbage service in that area or the management of public transport through citizen accessibility. 

Therefore, the proper processing of these data and their security will be a pillar for the cities of the future. 

“Without the control of these data, and without technological independence, it will be very difficult to develop these Smart Cities in a stable way”, says Lerena. 

Here, in our beloved Pandora FMS blog, we have talked a big deal about computer risks. This does not mean of course that we consider ourselves to be faint-hearted or timid, but rather cautious heroes. And in order not to be alone in a battle against the evil that lurks around, today, continuing with this theme of terror and digital desolation, we bring you: some of the most dangerous computer viruses in human history!

These are the computer viruses you should fear the most!

What is a computer virus?

Before bringing on the storm, listing malicious software, we’d better explain a little what this whole thing about computer viruses is and why, although you have to be careful with them, you don’t need to use masks.

A computer virus is a malicious program or code created and conceived to truncate the operation of a computer. 

Like the biological microorganism, they are also infectious, although these replicate only within computer equipment.

They propagate from one computer to another, usually attached to a legitimate document, then execute their cursed code.

Although you may think the computer virus has been with us since the first pulley system, it was Leonard M. Adleman, in 1984, the first to use the term while finding similarities between his student Fred Cohen’s college experiment and the HIV virus.

List of the most dangerous computer viruses that have ever existed

Now, let’s get down to business!

We go into it!

I LOVE YOU

Funny thing is, this virus does everything but love and appreciate you for who you are. In fact, on its own, it has devoted itself to creating chaos around the world with about 10 million dollars in damages.

It came to be believed that 10% of all computers in the world were infected by it and it caused large institutions and governments to disable their email system for not wanting to take any risks.

You see, something not even the tiresome, stalking Linkedin publicity achieved.

I love you was created in the Philippines by Reonel Ramones and Onel de Guzman using social engineering (“A set of techniques that cybercriminals use to trick incautious users into sending them confidential data, infecting their computers with malware, or opening links to infected sites”) they sneaked it into the Philippines, to all of Asia, and in a short time to the rest of the world.
Fun fact:

As the email they sent for you to click on the attachment was a declaration of love, the virus was called “I Love You”.

MELISSA

Its creator was David L. Smith and detonated in ’99 as an infected Word document that was presented to the world as the best thing ever for perverts:

“Hello, I am a list of passwords for pornographic websites.”

At that time the virus was mailed to the fifty most important people in your email and created havoc with his deceptive list of passwords. Of course, the most curious and salacious ones fell for it right away.

It also came with a sort of cover letter, a reference to the Simpsons.

Less than a week after his presentation to the public, David L. Smith was captured by the police. Oh, I’m sorry, David.

However, for his special collaboration with the authorities in trapping other perfidious virus creators, his sentence was reduced from 10 years to 20 months.

Still… His virus caused 80 million dollars in damage.

Fun fact:

If “Melissa” sounds like a sinuous and more like the name of a hurricane, it has to do with the fact that it comes from an exotic dancer from Florida.

ZEUS

A trojan (“A malware that presents itself to the user as a seemingly legitimate and harmless program, but which, when executed, gives an attacker remote access to the infected computer”) created especially to truncate computers with Windows.

It did a number of awkward things on your computer, including capturing forms.
Most computers became infected due to hidden downloads or phishing (“A technique that involves sending an email from a cybercriminal to a user pretending to be a legitimate entity”).

It was used for such ominous things as stealing login credentials from social networks, emails, and bank accounts.

In the United States alone, more than one million computers were infected.

Fun fact:

It compromised corporations such as Amazon, Oracle, Bank of America, Cisco, and many more.

STUXNET 

The virus is believed to have been created by the Israel Defense Forces along with the United States Government.

With these two agents involved, what do you think? That the virus was spawned as an experimental project and that it got out of hand? Or that it was done, expressly, to bring chaos upon our civilization?

Bingo!

This virus was designed for cyber warfare.

It had the goal of halting Iran’s advances in nuclear defense. And so it was, much of the infection took place in Iran.

Fun fact:

It spread through infected pen drives and altered the speed of the devices until they became damaged.

CRYPTOLOCKER 

A ransomware (“A type of malicious program that restricts access to certain parts or files of the infected operating system and asks for a ransom in exchange for removing this restriction”) Trojan that uses, among other means, email to spread.

Once your computer was infected it went on to encrypt some files from the hard drive.

The thing here is that, even though it’s easy to remove as a virus, the files it encrypted stayed still encrypted, unless you paid a ransom by a deadline.

The ransom used to be $ 400, although it could increase, and the number of infected computers was 500,000.

Make the numbers yourself… With only half paying the scammers, you could afford a house in Florida!

Thank God, Evgeny Bogachev, leader of the organization that operated with this virus was arrested and forced to return all encrypted keys.

Fun fact:

In the end, only 1.3% of those infected fell into the scam… That’s about 3 million dollars. Not bad at all!

Dimas Pardo

Dimas P.L., de la lejana y exótica Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, periodista, redactor, taumaturgo del contenido y campeón de espantar palomas en los parques. Actualmente resido en Madrid donde trabajo como paladín de la comunicación en Pandora FMS y periodista freelance cultural en cualquier medio que se ofrezca. También me vuelvo loco escribiendo y recitando por los círculos poéticos más profundos y oscuros de la ciudad.

Dimas P.L., from the distant and exotic Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, journalist, editor, thaumaturgist of content and champion of scaring pigeons in parks. I currently live in Madrid where I work as a communication champion in Pandora FMS and as a freelance cultural journalist in any media offered. I also go crazy writing and reciting in the deepest and darkest poetic circles of the city.

 

 

Let’s check out together the features and improvements included in the new Pandora FMS release: Pandora FMS 765.

What’s new in the latest Pandora FMS release, Pandora FMS 765

NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS

Improved network maps

Multiple changes have been made to network maps to improve the usability, performance and network map setup.

• Map drawing and refreshing is automatic and dynamically reflects the changes in the network, highly improving the existing display in previous versions.
• The possibility of deleting “Pandora FMS” node as well as all its relationships has been added. Usability has also been improved in manual relationship management between nodes.
• Added linking between network maps. When there is a dummy node pointing to another network map, it will be possible to access that map from the options of the dummy node. 

New report type: System module inventory

The new type of report “System module inventory” has been created, through which you will see an inventory of the modules generated in your Pandora FMS installation registered by module name, remarking the necessary information for those modules that have the same module name.

Sending reports by mail as an alert action

A new feature has been added to Pandora FMS alert system whereby it is possible to send reports by email in PDF thanks to its incorporation as new actions/commands within Pandora FMS.

Support for Ubuntu 22.04

Ubuntu 22.04 is officially supported by Pandora FMS server

New scheduled downtime option. Disable modules

A new feature has been added within the scheduled downtimes. Now you may choose the option to disable modules without stopping the agent itself.

History database in Metaconsole

Just as it existed in Pandora FMS nodes, there is now the possibility of having a history database within the Metaconsole.

Pandora WMIC package for ARM systems

Usage in ARM environments is growing, and we have created an ARM-supported binary for environments that use the Satellite to remotely monitor Windows environments.

IP console access control

Diferentes usuarios solicitaron controlar el acceDifferent users requested to control access to the console by source IP, which can be defined individually by user. We implemented it so that masks can also be defined, e.g.: 192.168.100.*

Plugin imap open

Plugin with which emails can be filtered or the number of emails of an account through a series of filters. Useful for detecting whether an alert email arrived or to look for a certain email.

Plugin Azure Hubs enterprise

Plugin with which to monitor a space of names of Event Hubs. It returns several types of metric, like SuccesfulRequests, CapturedBytes or ActiveConnections.

Plugin Azure Postgresql enterprise

Plugin with which to monitor an Azure PostgreSQL data server and to receive metrics such as cpu_precent, memory_percent, storage_used or active_connections, among others.

Plugin Cisco inventario enterprise

Inventory plugin with which to show the configuration of a Cisco device.

Plugin Xenserver enterprise

Updated python2 plugin to python3. Added macros all_vm and all_sr to discard virtual machine agent and MR agent creation if required.

Plugin Openweathermap enterprise

Plugin with which to remove weather data from a zone through the openweathermap API, entering the area’s coordinates.

In Pandora FMS we are in luck, we now have Pandora FMS RHEL8 software certification.

Some called it impossible, others the next step to take, whatever the case everyone received it with applause!

But hold on…

What is Pandora FMS RHEL8 software certification?

This certification now features a set of executable tests for partners that produce results that are then reviewed by Red Hat. 

Your non-containerized software is certified when test results show successful interoperability with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 in a safe and supportable manner using best practices. 

Once verified, you can promote your product(s) in the Red Hat Ecosystem catalog.

In addition, Red Hat will grant partners a free limited subscription to TSANet for collaborative customer case management to improve their ongoing user experiences.

Does anyone give more?

Why Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8?

Well, because Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the industry leader in enterprise Linux deployments, is the foundation of Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud portfolio, providing the underlying engine for developing and deploying complex workloads across physical, virtual, private, and public cloud environments in a more secure and controlled way. 

After just a few months, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 is already the number one RHEL version among developers, with hundreds of thousands of downloads.

*Don’t worry, if you need to learn more about RHEL 8, visit the developer page  RHEL 8.

 Certification Features

This new Red Hat Enterprise Linux software certification means that:

• Our executable is verified with a Red Hat seal of approval.
• Our products are differentiated by being more compatible, interoperable and safe.
• We get a limited TSANet membership (courtesy of Red Hat) to improve your customers’ long-term support and experiences.
• We get free technical support for the certification.

 Benefits for partners

The benefits that partners receive from this certification include:

• Have your certified software published and promoted in the new Red Hat Ecosystem catalog.
• Co-branded product overview.
• Exposure to Red Hat sales.
• The opportunity to participate in Red Hat Partner Connect podcasts.
• Awareness in Social Networks

 Advantages for the client

The benefits that clients receive from this certification include:

• A higher degree of operationality assurance when using Red Hat certified products.
• Mitigate security risks through verified best practices.
• Improved supportability of Red Hat and Red Hat partners through TSANet.

As usual, around here we could not be happier!

Tell me, what about you?

How will you make the most out of this wonderful chance? 

Pandora FMS team

El equipo de redacción de Pandora FMS está formado por un conjunto de escritores y profesionales de las TI con una cosa en común: su pasión por la monitorización de sistemas informáticos.

Pandora FMS’s editorial team is made up of a group of writers and IT professionals with one thing in common: their passion for computer system monitoring.

As you know, this summer half of Spain has been on drought alert. A consequence, without a doubt, of the extreme summer heat and rain scarcity. 

Andalusia was one of the most affected.

Therefore, companies and public administrations in the area have raised the alarm. Especially because of environmental and economic effects. 

Thank heaven and science, technology experts already point out some solutions to reduce the impact of this type of phenomenon.

Pandora FMS and drought monitoring

Nowadays, many cities go for digital and technological help to improve resource management. 

One of the most popular practices among companies is monitoring. It is known that this can work, without a doubt, as a defense against catastrophes such as the one that devastated Andalusia this summer. 

“Monitoring systems improve the effectiveness of any workforce. And, therefore, their resource management.” 

Indicates Sancho Lerena, general director of the monitoring company Pandora FMS. 

“Monitoring how reservoirs are falling, the level of rainfall compared to the usual figures, or even finding out whether household water consumption is increasing significantly can help anticipate scenarios such as the current lack of water.”

This type of approach, monitoring, is increasingly used. For now public administrations are adapting, but this is already something common in the business field. 

Monitoring can reduce the workload in the retail sector by 30%. In addition, it can triple the response time to citizen service. Which, frankly, would be very good for any public administration.

Andalusia and its battle against drought

Andalusia has already referred to the year 2022 as one of the driest of the last 50 years. 

The Doñana National Park has been one of the most affected scenarios, along with the rest of the reference reservoirs, which are below 11% of flow.

These circumstances are also having a negative economic impact. For the time being, olive oil production in 2022 is expected to be reduced by 50%. The poorest year of the last decade, compared to over one million tons in 2021.

But initiatives to alleviate these problems have already been set in motion, many of them proving the effectiveness of monitoring. 

Malaga, just as any other example, has recently started a test project to monitor the operation of the counters of 8,000 households with older residents or dependents. The administration will be able to identify strange behaviors through this method. Such as families with long periods of inactivity in water consumption or households in which an increase in consumption may be a sign of a resident accident.

And the CSIC is leading a different case focused exclusively on environmental control. A monitoring system that analyzes meteorological drought nationwide, providing experts with additional information to predict the phenomena of the coming months.

This is where Pandora FMS is proposed as the key to measure, for example, how widespread water use is in particular months and therefore predict some measures in case a drought is foreseen during the year.

Do you think Pandora FMS could help you too?

We tell you how:

Pandora FMS team

El equipo de redacción de Pandora FMS está formado por un conjunto de escritores y profesionales de las TI con una cosa en común: su pasión por la monitorización de sistemas informáticos.

Pandora FMS’s editorial team is made up of a group of writers and IT professionals with one thing in common: their passion for computer system monitoring.

Pandora FMS, an international benchmark in system monitoring, becomes technology partner of the French company M81.

The French platform has extensive experience in the sector since its creation in 1988 and is currently considered one of the great experts when it comes to monitoring IBM i systems.

Thanks to this agreement, Pandora FMS will transfer this type of solutions to Spanish companies to improve IT management and the efficiency of the different work areas.

Pandora FMS and the French company M81 become partners

The alliance between Pandora FMS and M81 represents a notable developing point in the Spanish technology sector, since in recent decades no national company had been able to count on monitoring solutions for IBM i systems.

Formerly known as AS400, it is widespread among big companies with IT infrastructures that deal with large amounts of data.

The M81 monitoring software for IBM i, considered a legacy or outdated system, allows to improve the efficiency of the resources of companies that are based on large IT infrastructures.

In addition to increasing the ability to manage and organize internal data, it saves time for employees, who can devote their efforts to other  company areas.

M81 was founded in 1988

Since then, it has been developing solutions for IBM i to become one of the world’s leading experts in these systems.

The French company works for large insurance companies such as the American Marsh & McLennan or AXA, for banks such as the German DZ Bank or the Portuguese Caixa Geral de Depósitos; for companies in the industry such as ArcelorMittal (considered the largest steelmaker in the world) and for logistics companies such as Heppner.

In addition, it is also established in the pharmaceutical, luxury and oil sectors.

The M81 solution ranges from advanced monitoring to the recovery of failed databases.

Despite being aimed at performing very complex tasks, its implementation is characterized by its simplicity and easy handling for teams, achieving the objective of reducing the workload of the workforce and reorienting those efforts in areas most in need.

M81 and Pandora FMS

After the agreement reached with Pandora FMS, this type of technology will be available for large Spanish and international companies that continue to use the IBM i system, also known as AS400 and considered a legacy system.

“The agreement is not only good for our company, but it means ending decades of delay in the Spanish sector that works with IBM i Systems,” says Sancho Lerena, CEO of Pandora FMS.

The Spanish company, a specialist in system monitoring, has taken its solutions to international giants such as Rakuten, Toshiba or Repsol.

Also Spanish reference companies such as El Pozo or Prosegur, in addition to working for public administrations such as the EMT or the Digital Madrid area.

In total, more than 50,000 installations in 53 different countries, a figure that will continue increasing now following the agreement reached with M81.

“M81 is a reference company in the sector, so the alliance reached is a success. But, in addition, it means opening a window for opportunities for companies that have IBM i because they will be able to reduce costs and improve their management following the steps of the great international brands “, explains Lerena.