Cisco Umbrella Promises Secure Internet Gateway in the Cloud

Cisco launched a secure internet gateway (SIG) in the cloud to address the new enterprise security challenges of today’s mobile, cloud-era.

Cisco Umbrella is a cloud-delivered security platform that provides a first line of defense to protect employees both on and off the corporate network. Cisco said its Umbrella stops current and emergent threats over all ports and protocols. It blocks access to malicious domains, URLs, IPs, and files before a connection is ever established or a file downloaded. As a cloud solution, there is no hardware to install and software updates are automatic.

Highlights of Cisco Umbrella:

• Visibility and protection everywhere: Umbrella provides the visibility needed to protect Internet access across all devices on a network, all office locations, and roaming users. By combining Umbrella with Cisco Cloudlock’s Cloud Access Security Broker technology, Cisco can now enable organizations to identify which SaaS apps are being used and enforce policies to block risky or inappropriate apps.
• Intelligence to stop attacks before they launch: Umbrella resolves over 100 billion internet requests every day and correlates this live data with over 11 billion historical events. This is analyzed to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and create models to automatically uncover attacker infrastructure being staged for the next threat.
• Broadest coverage for malicious destinations and files: Umbrella leverages powerful tools from across Cisco Security to obtain the most complete view to identify and stop threats earlier. This includes Machine learning models to uncover known and emergent threats, blocking connections to malicious destinations at the DNS and IP layers; Cisco Talos threat intelligence to block malicious URLs at the HTTP/S layer; andCisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) to detect malicious files and block them in the cloud.
• An open platform for easy integration: Umbrella can integrate with existing systems, including security appliances, intelligence platforms or feeds, and custom, in-house tools which enables users to extend protection for devices and locations beyond the perimeter.
• Discovery and control for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps: Umbrella, together with Cloudlock, enables organizations to discover and control sensitive data in SaaS apps on and off-network.
• Reliable and fast connectivity for a great user experience: Customers don’t experience broken or slow connections when they use Umbrella. Umbrella uses Anycast routing — every data center announces the same IP address so that requests are transparently sent to the fastest available with automated failover to maintain 100 percent uptime.     

"Mobility has changed the enterprise network. The cloud has changed applications – their development and delivery – and how we think about, access and store data. Traditional security tools that require employees to work from an office, log in to the corporate network, and use corporate-managed devices or corporate-owned applications are no longer sufficient. Our secure internet gateway, Cisco Umbrella, can protect today’s enterprise and beyond as mobility increases and new cloud services are adopted.  It provides the most comprehensive visibility and enforcement for internet traffic, and together with Cloudlock, Cisco’s Cloud Access Security Broker, it enables discovery and control for SaaS apps, both on and off the corporate network," stated David Ulevitch, Vice President, General Manager, Security Business Group, Cisco Systems

https://umbrella.cisco.com/?_ga=1.144414581.15575902.1486702410

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Cisco Offers Integrated Azure Stack in its UCS Platform

Cisco will begin offering Microsoft Azure Stack on its Unified Computing System platforms. The integrated, validated system enables organizations to deliver Microsoft Azure services from their on-premises data center.

“Cisco and Microsoft are coming together to offer a hybrid cloud solution built on the power of UCS and Microsoft Azure,” said Liz Centoni, senior vice president and general manager, Computing Systems Product Group, Cisco. “Through our joint engineering efforts, application developers and IT managers will have a turnkey solution that is easy to deploy, manage and scale.”

“Microsoft and Cisco are proven innovators and trusted technology partners, giving customers the confidence their IT environments can be supported and secure. Microsoft Azure Stack provides services and application programming interfaces (APIs) compatible with the Azure public cloud, allowing developers to do their best work while giving them the agility to deploy their applications to public, private or hosted clouds,” said Mike Neil, corporate vice president, Azure Infrastructure & Management, Microsoft Corporation.

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=press-release&articleId=1819842

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IBM and Ericsson Develop Silicon-based millimeterWave Phased Array

IBM and Ericsson have developed a compact silicon-based millimeterWave (mmWave) phased array integrated circuit operating at 28GHz that has been demonstrated in a phased array antenna module designed for use in future 5G base stations.

The breakthrough is a result of a two-year collaboration that set out to develop phased array antenna designs for 5G. The partnership brought together IBM's expertise in highly integrated phased array mmWave IC and antenna-in-package solutions with Ericsson's expertise in circuit and system design for mobile communications.

The unit is the world's first reported silicon-based mmWave phased array antenna module operating at 28GHz. The module, which consists of four monolithic integrated circuits and 64 dual-polarized antennas, measures approximately 2.8" by 2.8", or about half the size of a typical smartphone. Achieving this compact form factor is necessary to support the vision of this technology's widespread deployment, especially in indoor spaces and dense downtown areas.

Thomas Noren, Senior Advisor, Business Unit Network Products, Ericsson, says: "There has been a lot of encouraging progress in 5G standardization last year including the beginning of live field trials. Big efforts in research and development are key to this and our collaboration with IBM Research on phased array antennas can help operators to effectively deploy radio access infrastructure necessary to support a 5G future. New use cases and applications that span human machine interaction, Virtual Reality, smart home devices and connected cars will depend on innovative technologies that can bring the promises of faster data rates, broader bandwidth and longer battery life to reality."

"The development of this 5G millimeterWave phased array is an important breakthrough, not just because of its compact size and low cost, which make it a very commercially attractive solution for network equipment companies and operators, but its potential to unleash and inspire brand new ideas and innovations we haven't yet imagined, thanks to a fully networked society," said Dr. Dario Gil, Vice President of Science & Solutions, IBM Research.

http://www.ibm.com/research
http://www.ericsson.com

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Docker Datacenter Adds Container-Native Secrets Management

Docker Datacenter now includes container-native secrets management for API keys, encryption keys and passwords are required for applications to securely interact/

Docker said its container-native secrets management uniquely addresses enterprise requirements for “usable security” by providing a single standardized interface for all applications, making it easy to secure applications whether for Dev or Ops or for Dockerizing traditional apps or microservices. The secrets are encrypted in transit and at rest, leveraging Docker’s built in orchestration capabilities to deliver defined secrets only to the containers running the service associated with it.

“Docker’s secret management capability is the latest security enhancement integrated into the Docker platform as part of our ongoing effort to ensure applications are safer in a containerized environment,” said Nathan McCauley, Security Director at Docker. “Enterprises in the financial services and government sectors with the highest bars for security have recognized that our solution can be a cornerstone to their overall hybrid cloud security strategy. Docker secrets management, as with all aspects of security handled in Docker Datacenter, provides organizations with one security model that can be applied and managed uniformly on premise, in the cloud and across cloud providers.”

https://www.docker.com/products/docker-datacenter

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Ciena's Blue Planet Software Integrates Mgt and Planning

Ciena introduced its Blue Planet Manage, Control and Plan (MCP), a new software that unifies network and service management and planning. It provides real-time software control and advanced visualization across Ciena’s packet and packet optical portfolios.

Some highlights of Blue Planet MCP:

• Built on Blue Planet’s extensible micro-services-based architecture
• Offers open interfaces for more programmable, IT-centric operations
• By providing automated, multi-layer service provisioning and performance monitoring via a single interface, Blue Planet MCP improves service assurance and gives operators end-to-end control of network services. 
• It also provides multi-layer network management, making it possible for Ciena customers to rapidly deploy new services and increase revenue opportunities.
• Integrates management and planning in a single web-based client interface that provides advanced visualization to help network operators better understand inter-functional relationships between network elements, multiple network layers, and the services that are running across them. This greatly improves communication and coordination across departments.
• Offers open APIs that allow for quick integration with current and planned business and operations support systems (B/OSS), software-defined orchestration and network function virtualization (NFV) systems. Its elastic scalability and modular micro-services capabilities can also support operators’ internal DevOps teams that want to extend the solution and introduce additional use cases or applications.
• Blue Planet MCP software will also be accessible to customers, third party developers, and partners through the Ciena Emulation Cloud, which allows open testing of Blue Planet MCP’s REST API interfaces to third party network components, and rapid solution integration.
• Blue Planet MCP will work alongside Ciena’s existing OneControl Network Management platform, as needed, and be generally available in June 2017 for specific applications.

“Blue Planet MCP is a strategic shift from traditional monolithic network management software. Our customers are thirsty for a unifying operations solution that can bring all elements together from a network and service management perspective in order to deliver an exceptional user experience. Now with an offering that combines an easy-to-use web-based interface with field-proven Ciena platforms we advance our unique position to help operators prepare for today’s complex and evolving networks,” stated Nirav Modi, Vice President and General Manager, Blue Planet, Ciena.

http://www.ciena.com

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Trend Micro, NEC, Netcracker to Deliver Virtualized Network Security for NFV

Trend Micro is working with its long-standing channel partner NEC Corporation and NEC’s affiliate Netcracker Technology to create an effective, high-performance and comprehensive virtualized network security solution that can be used in carrier-grade NFV deployments.
The collaboration will integrate NEC and Netcracker's management and orchestration capabilities with Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite.

Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite is designed to offer flexible, reliable and high-performance virtual network security functions for CSPs from premise, to edge, to the core network. At the foundation of the Virtual Network Function Suite is Trend Micro’s innovative deep packet inspection (DPI) technology, which provides various network security functions including intrusion prevention, URL filtering and application control. It has been widely adopted in a variety of network security products, from home routers to enterprise-facing next-generation firewalls and intrusion prevention systems.

“As NFV continues to be recognized as next-generation network architecture, it brings not only opportunities, but also challenges, especially in how we design and plan security protections in dynamic NFV networks,” says Dr. Terence Liu, vice president of Network Threat Defense Technology Group at Trend Micro. “It is not enough to convert physical security function to a virtualized platform. An effective security virtual network function (VNF) needs to be natively crafted and optimized for NFV infrastructure, while also working closely with the rest of NFV components to provide the best elasticity and most efficient response. With Trend Micro’s security intelligence and the rich experience in managing carrier NFV networks from NEC and Netcracker, we will enable communications service providers (CSPs) to provide effective and agile security protections to businesses and individuals in the NFV era.”

“We are happy with our decision to team with Trend Micro, which will give our customers a broader choice of pre-integrated partners and enable them to seamlessly implement security capabilities for their virtualized infrastructure,” says Shigeru Okuya, general manager of the SDN/NFV Division at NEC Corporation. “Bringing together the power of Trend Micro and NEC/Netcracker’s SDN/NFV portfolio will provide a more robust network solution for CSPs and contribute to safe and secure networks for enterprises and consumers.”

“Virtualized and distributed NFV architectures require a ‘back to the drawing board’ approach on security. It is not sufficient to use paradigms used in legacy networks and apply them to the cloud-based and service chained networks of tomorrow. NEC/Netcracker is pleased to collaborate with Trend Micro to address this critical need for our customers,” says Rahul Chandra, vice president of NEC/Netcracker’s Worldwide SDN/NFV Business Development. “Through rigorous integration of their solutions with NEC/Netcracker’s market-leading network as a service (NaaS) solution, we are excited to offer service providers highly secure and pre-integrated orchestration capabilities that can serve as a foundational and secure platform for supporting their virtualized service portfolios going forward.”

http://www.trendmicro.com
http://www.netcracker.com

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Infinera Posts Q4 Revenue of $181 Million

Infinera reported Q4 2016 revenue of $181.0 million compared to $185.5 million in the third quarter of 2016 and $260.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 38.1% compared to 45.6% in the third quarter of 2016 and 44.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $(36.3) million, or $(0.25) per share, compared to $(11.2) million, or $(0.08) per share, in the third quarter of 2016 and net income of $12.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“We executed well in the fourth quarter and delivered results at the high-end of our guidance,” said Tom Fallon, Infinera’s Chief Executive Officer. “As network infrastructures rapidly evolve, our objective remains to help our customers win by delivering the highest performing solutions at the Transport Layer. Though our product transition is currently holding back revenue growth and profitability, by introducing next generation ICE4 products, my belief is that we are well positioned to begin improving our business results over the course of 2017 and for significant opportunities in the future.”

http://www.infinera.com

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Symantec Completes LifeLock Acquisition for $2.3 Billion

Symantec completed its acquisition of LifeLock, a leading provider of identity theft protection, for approximately $2.3 billion.

Symantec said the deal transforms its consumer business, helping people protect their information, identities, devices and families.

“The combination of Symantec, the leader in consumer security, and LifeLock, with more than 4.5 million members, paves the way for us to deliver comprehensive digital safety solutions for consumers who face an onslaught of new risks every day,” said Symantec CEO Greg Clark. “With the addition of LifeLock, consumers will now have a single place to get the protection services they need for their entire digital lives – from two trusted, industry-leading brands.”

http://www.Symantec.com/invest

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A10 Posts Revenue of $64 Million, up 13% YoY

A10 Networks reported record revenue of $64.0 million for Q4 2016, up 13 percent year-over-year. There was a GAAP net loss of $1.8 million or $0.03 per share.

“The fourth quarter was a strong close to the year with revenue exceeding guidance and growing 13 percent year-over-year to reach $64 million. Our record performance was driven by strong demand for our security solutions and continued expansion with cloud provider, service provider and web-scale customers,” said Lee Chen, president and chief executive officer of A10 Networks. “We also continued to drive leverage through our operating structure to make significant improvements in our bottom-line results, while at the same time, investing in key areas of our business."

http://www.a10networks.com

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