Thursday, January 31, 2013

IBM Outlines Big Data Approach to Cyber Security

IBM introduced a solution that combines security intelligence with big data analytics capabilities for both external cyber security threats and internal risk detection and prevention.  The goal is to allow security analysts to extend their analysis well beyond typical security data and to hunt for malicious cyber activity.

The IBM Security Intelligence with Big Data solution combines real-time correlation for continuous insight, custom analytics across massive structured data (such as security device alerts, operating system logs, DNS transactions and network flows) and unstructured data (such as emails, social media content, full packet information and business transactions), and forensic capabilities for evidence gathering.  IBM said this combination provides deeper insight into advanced persistent threats, fraud and insider threats.

Key elements of the solution include:


  • Real-time correlation and anomaly detection of diverse security and network data
  • High-speed querying of security intelligence data
  • Flexible big data analytics across structured and unstructured data – including security, email, social media, business process, transactional, device, and other data
  • Graphical front-end tool for visualizing and exploring big data
  • Forensics for deep visibility into network activity

IBM cited the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) as a potential beneficiary of this big data cyber analysis approach.

"As the sophistication and technological means of cyber-criminals increase, the financial industry and government need to move to a risk-based framework that incorporates the dynamic nature of the threat landscape," said Mark Clancy, CISO, Managing Director, Technology Risk Management, DTCC. "We need to move from a world where we 'farm' security data and alerts with various prevention and detection tools to a situation where we actively 'hunt' for cyber-attackers in our networks. IBM's Security Intelligence with Big Data solution gives us a practical way to gain visibility across our environment. We're gaining real-time security awareness and meaningful insight into historical activity across years of diverse data."


ZTE: LTE Carrier Aggregation Test Peaks at 223 Mbps

China Mobile completed a carrier aggregation test in a commercial environment in partnership with ZTE. Carrier aggregation, which is a core component of LTE-Advanced, combines two or more carriers into one channel in the same or different frequency bands.

The test took place in an outdoor TD-LTE network environment and achieved a peak single-user download rate of 223Mbps at an uplink and downlink sub-frame ratio of 1:3. The special time slot ratio during the test was 10:2:2. The test also utilized carrier aggregation (20M+20M) technology to verify key technical points like cell peak rate and mobility.

http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/press_center/news/201301/t20130131_385448.html

Ericsson Hits 6% Growth Rate in Q4 Driven by N. America LTE

Driven by improved Network sales primarily in North America, Ericsson reported Q4 2012 sales of SEK 66.9 billion (US$10.52 billion), up 5% year over year and up 23% over Q3 2012.  However, there was a net loss of SEK 6.3 billion (US$0.99 billion) due to the restructuring charges at ST-Ericsson.  Various options are still being considered for dealing with ST-Ericsson.

"Our segments showed mixed developments during the year with strong growth in Global Services and Support Solutions, while Networks had a more challenging year. Support Solutions went from losses in 2011 into profitability and together with Global Services represented close to 50% of Group sales in 2012, compared to 42% in 2011," says Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC).

"During the year profitability was negatively impacted by operating losses in ST-Ericsson, the ongoing network modernization projects in Europe as well as the underlying business mix, with a higher share of coverage projects than capacity projects. With present visibility of customer demand, and with the current global economic development, underlying business mix is expected to gradually shift towards more capacity projects during the second half of 2013.

Some additional highlights:

  • CDMA sales were down again by 18% to SEK 2.5 billion
  • Global Services now represents 42% of Ericsson's overall revenue
  • Global Services grew 4% YoY and 15% YoY
  • Ericsson signed 19 contracts during Q4 for its Smart Services Router (SSR)
  • Demand for microwave transport is gaining traction
  • Multimode LTE FDD/TDD base stations are now in commercial operation
  • The demand for IMS is increasing as operators start to implement VoLTE

euNetworks Delivers Dark Fiber for Telehouse Deutschland


euNetworks, which operates 13 metro fiber networks in key European cities, has been selected as the exclusive supplier of fiber connectivity to Telehouse Deutschland, one of the largest data centers in Germany.

euNetworks has delivered dark fiber connectin the Telehouse facility outside of Frankfurt to DE-CIX, which is the Internet exchange linking over 400 domestic and international ISPs and carriers.

euNetworks operates a dense, fiber metro network in the city of Frankfurt.

http://www.eunetworks.com

Alcatel-Lucent Supplies 100G for Moscow Cable TV

Russia’s largest cable TV operator, National Cable Networks (NCN), part of the OJSC Rostelecom group has deployed Alcatel-Lucent's 100G technology to support higher levels of traffic across its Moscow network due to the installation of public safety video surveillance cameras.

NCN will use its network to carry video feeds from the surveillance cameras installed in porches, courtyards and other public places, to the Moscow Department of Information Technology’s data processing center.

Alcatel-Lucent supplied 100G network infrastructure spanning both IP/MPLS and optical domains, including 100G transponders on the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (1830 PSS).

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com


JDSU Posts Strong Results

JDSU reported net revenue of $429.4 million and net income of $4.1 million, or $0.02 per share. Prior quarter net revenue was $420.9 million, with a net loss of $(11.6) million, or $(0.05) per share. Net revenue for the fiscal 2012 second quarter was $409.3 million, with a net income of $(10.2) million, or $(0.04) per share.

"JDSU delivered a strong fiscal Q2, with revenue at the top of our guidance range and operating margins exceeding expectations across all three business segments,” said Tom Waechter, President and CEO of JDSU. "We are pleased with the progress we’ve made in aligning our product portfolio with customer spending priorities, resulting in a high percentage of revenue from new products and a positive impact on financial results. We are well-positioned for growth opportunities in 2013."

Some highlights:

  • For Communications & Test product revenue was driven by demand for Ethernet, mobility, 100G and cloud solutions.
  • For Optical, JDSU's total ROADM revenue accounted for 20% of optical revenue compared to 24% in the previous quarter as a result of the VMI transition and timing of key customers.
  • 40G and 100G coherent components and modules are ramping programs.
  • Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific represented 49.9%, 23.8% and 26.3%, respectively, of total net revenue for the quarter.
  • JDSU held $740.2 million in cash and investments and generated $59.4 million of cash from operations for the quarter ended December 29, 2012.

http://www.jdsu.com

Tellabs Posts Revenue of $242 Million, Cancels 9200 Edge Router


Tellabs reported Q4 2012 revenue of $242 million, compared with $317 million in the year-ago quarter.  There was a net loss (GAAP) of $23 million or 6 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $5 million or 1 cent per share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Tellabs 2012 revenue was $1.053 billion, compared with $1.286 billion in 2011.  On a GAAP basis, in 2012 Tellabs lost $172 million or 47 cents per share, compared with $188 million or 52
cents per share in 2011.

“Over the last quarter, Tellabs initiated a review of its strategy, product portfolio and cost structure,” said Dan Kelly, Tellabs CEO and president.  “Based upon our analysis of ROI, customer needs and market conditions, we are discontinuing development of the Tellabs 9200. We will reduce our expenses, which will affect about 300 people during 2013.

“Going forward, we will enhance Tellabs’ solutions with innovations to help our customers succeed. We will demonstrate new software-defined networking (SDN) and self-optimizing networks (SON) capabilities at Mobile World Congress in February.”

http://www.tellabs.com


  • The Tellabs 9200 is an advanced edge router featuring up to 11.2 Tbps capacity per chassis. It leverages a "SmartCard" architecture where the service intelligence is placed on each interface card, providing fine grained visibility and DPI-based traffic management on the card, instead of requiring separate Ethernet cards, Mobile Packet Core cards and DPI cards in each chassis.

NYT Details Cyber Attack from China

The New York Times published a detailed accounting of ongoing cyber attacks on its systems following its report last October on the family wealth of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.  Some key points:
  • The attacks originated from compromised university servers that the New York Times claims were previously used by hackers associated with the Chinese military.
  • The intrusion most likely originated as a spearfishing attack.
  • The Times hired computer security experts at Mandian to investigate the attacks.
  • AT&T monitored and confirmed the attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com


The Wall Street Journal also confirmed that it has been the target of similar intrusion attacks.

Narus Names John Trobough as President


Narus, a provider of big data analytics for cyber security, named John Trobough as its new president. Trobough previously was president of Teleca USA, a leading supplier of software services to the mobile device communications industry and one of the largest global Android commercialization partners in the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). He also held executive positions at Openwave Systems, Sylantro Systems, AT&T and Qwest Communications.

Narus, which is a subsidiary of Boeing, is based in Sunnyvale, California.

"The Narus team is exceptionally innovative and passionately dedicated to delivering the next generation of cybersecurity software with a focus on Cyber 3.0, where the semantic Web and cyber intersect," said Trobough.

http://www.narus.com

ZTE's Chewing Gum 3G Data Card - 6.8mm Thick


ZTE introduced a new ultra-thin 3G datacard measuring only 6.8mm in thickness.

The "Chewing Gum" device, which the company calls the "thinnest data card in the world", supports top downlink HSPA+ speeds of 21 Mbps.

Preconfigured software enables it to connect to the network in just under 15 seconds.  It supports multiple operating systems (including Win8) along with IPv6.

http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/press_center/news/201301/t20130130_385373.html

PMC-Sierra Posts Q4 Revenue of $129.4 Million


PMC-Sierra reported net revenues of $129.4 million for Q4 2012, a sequential decrease of 2 percent compared to $131.7 million in the third quarter of 2012, and a decrease of 15 percent compared to $152.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Net income (GAAP) was $11.1 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss in the third quarter of 2012 was $274.4 million, or $1.31 per share.

For the full year ended December 29, 2012, net revenues were $531 million compared to $654.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, a decrease of 19 percent year over year. GAAP operating loss for the full year 2012 was $281.7 million compared to GAAP operating income of $52.8 million reported in the year ended December 31, 2011.

“We are pleased to report that our fourth quarter results were at the high end of our outlook, despite continued headwinds in the macro environment," said Greg Lang, PMC President and Chief Executive Officer.

http://www.pmcs.com

Cavium Reports Q4 Revenue of $66.4 Million, up 9% Sequentially


Cavium reported Q4 2012 revenue of $66.4 million, an 8.7% sequential increase from the $61.1 million reported in the third quarter of 2012. There was a net loss (GAAP) of $78.8 million, or $(1.56) per diluted share compared to $8.1 million, or $(0.16) per diluted share in the third quarter of 2012.  Gross margins were 62.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 59.4% in the third quarter of 2012.

Cavium established a full valuation allowance against its US net deferred tax assets, which resulted in a one-time, non-cash charge of $43.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. Had Cavium not established the valuation allowance, it would have recognized a tax benefit of $2.1 million. This tax benefit along with the $43.5 million valuation allowance, produced a net tax expense of $41.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. The decision to establish the valuation allowance was based on an assessment made at year-end that considered factors such as 2012 actual results as well as projected US income, and does not preclude Cavium from using its loss carry-forwards or other deferred tax assets in the future.

Cavium recently restructured its Software and Services group. As a result of performing an annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2012, and the impact of the Software and Services group restructuring, Cavium determined that Software and Services goodwill and certain intangible assets were impaired and recorded a $33.3 million, non-cash, goodwill and intangible asset charge in the fourth quarter of 2012.

http://www.cavium.com

AppliedMicro Cites Progress in ARM 64-bit Development

AppliedMicro reported net revenues of $51.7 million for the quarter ending 31-Dec-2012, up approximately 12% sequentially and down approximately 8% year over year. There was a GAAP net loss was $71.6 million or $(1.08) per share compared to net loss of $21.6 million or $(0.33) per share for the previous quarter.

AppliedMicro also reported that performance simulations of its ARM 64-Bit X-Gene processor have significantly exceeded the company's expectations and resulted in an increase in the range of its estimated milestone-based payments under the Veloce merger agreement. The purchase price is now estimated to be in the range of $117 to $178.5 million, depending upon the achievement of multiple product development cycles and technical performance results.

"In the third quarter we believe we made giant strides in our product development efforts by taping out our 40nm ARM 64-Bit X-Gene server on a chip. We also taped out a test chip for our upcoming 28nm product in January. While we await final benchmarks from the actual silicon, the results from highly correlated simulations indicate that the 40nm chip performance may far exceed our original expectations. In fact, we believe the networking performance of the chip suggests that we may be able to further penetrate into Enterprise class solutions. I am also very pleased with the improvements in our base business, reflected in continued quarter over quarter revenue growth," said Dr. Paramesh Gopi, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Bob Gargus, Chief Financial Officer commented, "While we are very excited with the milestones in our ARM 64-bit product strategy, we also had a very solid quarter Company-wide and beat expectations. We feel we are making great progress towards our goal of attaining break even on a non-GAAP basis for the March quarter."

http://www.apm.com