Feb 26 2008 3:56AM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
Network management,
top 10,
Free software,
Ethernet,
IP,
IP addressing,
LAN
To manage and maintain a network, you need to have a well-rounded collection of tools in your arsenal. Many commercial tools can be expensive, and may not perform any better (or sometimes not even as well) than their freeware counterparts. This Computerworld article lists the Top 10 (plus one bonus program) free downloads you can use to monitor and administer your network. Check out 10 great free downloads for your network to see the complete list.
Feb 24 2008 2:08PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
VoIP,
Unified Communications,
vishing,
Data breach
My Yiddish is rusty (OK, it is virtually non-existent), but it sounds a little like my ex-wife’s grandfather inviting me on a fishing trip. But alas, it is even more insidious than that. You are most likely familiar with the concept of ‘phishing’ which involves using some type of bait (generally an email or web site designed to elicit a response) to lure an unsuspecting user into surrendering confidential personal information, such as bank or credit card account numbers, or user names and passwords to sensitive accounts, for the purpose of stealing their money or identity. Well, ‘vishing’ is very similar, but it relies on VoIP phone calls rather than unsolicited spam emails for bait. You can learn more by reading this glossary explanation of ‘vishing’ from WhatIs.com posted on the SearchUnifiedCommunications site.
Feb 24 2008 1:53PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
802.11n,
Mobile,
802.11,
Mobile device,
wi-fi,
Wireless
New 4th-generation wireless networking equipment is entering the market. We started with consumer-based wireless equipment with virtually no security, then enterprise quality products with improved security were released. The current standard, the 3rd-generation wireless networks, have centralized controllers that help enable the hand-off between access points as users move about, and even more improved security. The next generation though, based on 802.11n technology, allows all access points to share a channel and greatly improves the hand-off from access point to acccess point. Unlike previous wireless implementations, which require careful placement of access points to maximize coverage while avoiding channel interference, 4th-generation wireless networks allow for denser, and simpler deployments. Take a look at this SearchNetworking.com article for more details about next-generation wireless for the enterprise: Wireless networking heads into fourth generation — but should you follow?
Feb 24 2008 4:59AM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
3Com,
Huawei Technologies,
Networking
You might remember a couple years ago when President Bush supported a plan to sell management control of our sea ports to Dubai Ports, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based company. There was significant backlash about the national security concerns of allowing an Arab company to control the U.S. ports and the deal was scrapped. Following immediately in the wake of that deal, Israel-based Checkpoint scrapped a deal to purchase software developer Sourcefire over concerns that a foreign company would control Snort, a popular open-source intrusion detection system (IDS). The 3Com deal threatens to be the latest deal scuttled over national security concerns. Bain Capital LLC sought to purchase 3Com, but with the Chinese Huawei Technologies capturing a minority stake as well. Congress has reservations about a Chinese company with close ties to the Chinese government having any ownership stake in a company that manufactures equipment used in public and private sector network security. Check out National security issues put Bain-Huawei bid for 3Com on hold for more information.
Feb 24 2008 4:45AM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
Encryption,
Firewalls,
NAC,
Windows Security,
Portable storage
There have been rumors for some time that the network perimeter is dead. More users are relying on laptop computers connected over wireless networks, or via VPN from a hotel or coffee shop. Users have mobile phones that connect to network resources, and various methods of portable data storage- USB flash drives, mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 players. If anyone can connect from anywhere and data is coming and going, it becomes virtually impossible to say what is ‘inside’ the network perimeter, and what is ‘outside’ the network perimeter. If all of that is true, should network security even be an issue? Why not declare a time of death, focus on endpoint security solutions and forget about the network? Read The Future of Network Security at Computerworld for a deeper look at this issue, as well as why the rumors of the death of network security might be exaggerated.
Feb 19 2008 6:55PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
UCC,
Cisco,
VoIP,
SIP,
Unified Communications
Cisco has had equipment available for small and medium businesses (SMB’s) to manage data and voice and enable unified communications for a while now. The initial equipment however was only available in 8-port or 16-port versions. The relatively small number of ports capped out at ’small’, and did not meet the needs of the ‘medium’ portion of the SMB market. The recently-released next generation of the UC 500 appliance comes in 32-port and 48-port varieties, making it a much more viable solution for medium companies looking to join the unified communications revolution. You can read this article for more about the new unified communications equipment, as well as new ethernet and wireless equipment from Cisco.
