Month: July 2013

Black Hat 2013 – It’s Hogwarts for Information Security Wizards (Or CIA Spooks)

Original Entry by : Sonny Singh

Imagine if Harry Potter’s life had been altered in an Aeon Flux, dystopian kind of way? Instead of inheriting wizard-like-skills and a matching lightning bolt scar on his forehead, he was conversely born with an astute affinity towards programming code, breaching internet firewalls and perhaps secretly working for the CIA?

If this were the case, Harry would clearly need to go to an academic institution worthy of his Information Security (InfoSec) inclined disposition, right? Believe it or not, such an institution actually exists – called “Black Hat,” and it is held yearly in Las Vegas.  Black Hat is a symposium that brings together the best minds in security to define tomorrow’s information security landscape with the ultimate goal of providing the essential knowledge and skills needed to defend the government and enterprises against today’s threats. Before we delve deeper, let’s first define what InfoSec is why it’s an extremely important topic to address in the technology sector.

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Taming the Big Data Beast with Endace Network Recorders

Original Entry by : Sonny Singh

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Big data, the darling buzz words that have transcended the boundaries of the tech industry and proliferated every water-cooler conversation from Silicon Valley to Shanghai took a bit of a beating recently. You see, there has been a little scandal that has percolated through every global media outlet out there and stems from allegations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been secretly compiling and storing people’s personal web and phone records (without their consent, of course), leading to a much larger debate around the validity of such extensive data-gathering operations in general.

However, like any accused criminal that has to yet to be proven guilty, unless all the facts are gathered and the jury hears both sides of the story, it would be premature to pass sentencing. It’s important to look past the negative publicity that ultimately detracts from all the positive aspects of big data and the equally positive impact it will invoke on our society as a whole.

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