January 2008 Entries
DNS Survey Reveals Many Systems Still Vulnerable to Attacks Despite Some Marked Improvements - January 31, 2008
Infoblox Inc., a developer of appliances that deliver “utility-grade” core network services, and The Measurement Factory, experts in performance testing and protocol compliance, today announced results from the third-annual survey of domain name servers on the public Internet.
DNS servers are essential network infrastructure that map domain names (e.g., yahoo.com) to IP addresses (e.g., 66.94.234.13), directing Internet inquiries to the appropriate location. Domain name resolution conducted by these servers is required to perform any Internet-related request. Should an enterprise or organization’s DNS systems fail, all Internet functions, including email, web access, e-commerce, and extranets become unavailable.
Overall, results indicate that the number of DNS systems is increasing, which is a good indicator of Internet growth in terms of infrastructure, users, traffic and applications. Also on a positive note, results indicate that the DNS infrastructure is modernizing and coalescing around the most recent versions of BIND. Further, there is a real indication of interest in fighting spam. However, many DNS servers still allow recursion and zone transfers, indicating that the global DNS system is as vulnerable as ever.
“For the overall security of the Internet, it is good to see movement away from Microsoft DNS Servers for external DNS as well as a growing trend to use the most recent versions of BIND, which are more secure,” Cricket Liu, vice president of architecture at Infoblox and author of O’Reilly & Associates’ DNS and BIND, DNS & BIND Cookbook, and DNS On Windows Server 2003, commented. “However, even with growing adoption of more secure name servers, compromises of these systems are still occurring and organizations need to pay more attention to configurations and deployment architectures that are leaving their DNS infrastructures vulnerable to attacks and outages. Instead of waiting until they are attacked, all organizations should assess their DNS infrastructure and immediately take the necessary steps to make them more reliable and secure.”
Following are the key 2007 DNS survey results, which are based on a sample that included 5 percent of the IPv4 address space, nearly 80 million addresses.
The Good News
Overall growth and modernization of DNS systems improves security and availability. Further, there is a real indication of interest in fighting spam.
• The Internet-facing DNS server count increased to 11.5 million (up from ~9 million in 2006 and 7.5 million in 2005) – The domain name system is growing, a good indicator of the overall growth of the Internet, users, traffic and applications.
• BIND 9 usage grew to 65% in 2007 (up from 61% in 2006 and 58% in 2005) – The growing use of the most recent and secure version of open-source domain name server software indicates that organizations are paying attention to the version of BIND they are running and that they are increasingly aware of related security issues.
• BIND 8 usage decreased to 5.6% in 2007 (down from 14% in 2006 and 20% in 2005) – The decreased usage of BIND 8 – an older version recently “end-of-lifed” by ISC – by almost two-thirds year-over-year, indicates that many organizations are making the effort to deploy the most reliable and secure DNS implementations and are making the global DNS infrastructure more secure.
• Usage of the Microsoft DNS Server cut in half (a decrease to 2.7% from 5% in 2006 and 10% in 2005) – The significant reduction in usage of the Microsoft DNS Server by nearly one-half reflects concerns over risks associated with deploying Microsoft Windows servers that are exposed to the public Internet.
• Support for SPF increased to 12.6% in 2007 (up from 5% of the zones sampled in 2006) – This increase in usage of SPF (the Sender Policy Framework) increases the effectiveness of the technology, and indicates that organizations are taking email fraud seriously.
The Bad News
Continued deployment and configuration mistakes are leaving the global DNS system as vulnerable as ever.
• Still more than 50% of Internet name servers allow recursive queries (consistent with 2006) – This form of name resolution often requires a name server to relay requests to other name servers, which can leave name servers vulnerable to pharming attacks and allow those servers to be used in DNS amplification attacks that can take down important Internet infrastructure.
• DNS servers surveyed allowing zone transfers to arbitrary requestors grew to 31% in 2007 (up from 29% in 2006) – Allowing zone transfers to arbitrary queriers enables duplication of an entire segment of an organization’s DNS data from one DNS server to another and can leave them as easy targets for denial-of-service attacks.
• Still ~75% of zones surveyed have low expire values and almost 78% still use negative-caching TTL settings outside the suggested range of one to three hours – These figures, consistent with 2006, indicate that many DNS servers are not configured correctly, which can significantly increases the risk of service outages to an organization.
• Only .002% of zones tested support DNSSEC – Limited adoption of DNSSEC, the IETF standard that adds cryptographic authentication and integrity checking to DNS, indicates that administrators are not convinced of its importance, are perhaps intimidated by its complexity, and that the standard seems unlikely to succeed on its own merits as a means to improve DNS security.
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/security-threat-management.php
About Sencilo Solutions
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, and Pembroke Pines.
Financial services firm hacked - January 31, 2008
Financial services firm Davidson Companies this week said an intruder had broken into its network and gained access to a database containing the personal information of its clients.
"Despite our efforts to safeguard client information, a computer hacker using sophisticated techniques illegally accessed a database and obtained access to confidential client information," said William Johnstone, Davidson's president and CEO, in a prepared statement posted on the firm's Web site. "All of us at Davidson are acutely aware of the uncertainty, stress and inconvenience associated with the potential compromise of personal information."
Davidson, based in Great Falls, Mont., and with more than 930 employees, has sent letters to its financial services clientele informing them of the incident and urging them to take various steps to lower the risk of identity theft.
The company said it is offering its clientele a one-year enrollment to Experian’s Triple Advantage three-bureau credit-monitoring service at the company's expense to help them begin the process of regularly reviewing their credit records for abnormalities.
A Davidson spokesperson was not immediately available to respond to questions. Sencilo Solutions CEO and President stated, "this is not a uncommon of a fact, for Davidson to admit to a breach, shows that companies are now coming forward do to new State laws." "Now Davidson will spend a lot of money for putting back the pieces, but adding new technology including Intrusion Detection products and services". "Had they been more proactive they would of avoid public embarrassment, lost of client trust and a certain future class action suite, say McCarthy.
Sencilo offers a comprehensive suite of Security products and services that help you assess, design, and execute your network and applications in the most secure and cost-effective way. From security audits and virtual private networks to enterprise firewall implementations. Call us today for a independent check-up on your network and information security, you will be glad you did! Don't wait wait Davidson Financial.
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/products-security.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage and security solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral
Offerings Projects: Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc Pure Disk NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX4 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar DLD3 1500 D3 Storwiz storage compression data Ocarina Networks A-SIS compare Sepaton infopro BlueArc OnStor Microsoft Unified Storage data protection
Server and Storage Virtualization: A Complete Solution for High-Availability and Recovery - January 26, 2008
Server virtualization is an important step toward improving overall IT efficiency. Virtual machine technology reduces the complexity and management of disparate server hardware and OS platforms. Nonetheless, server virtualization is only one component in a truly virtual enterprise infrastructure. Another critical component is storage virtualization.
Similar to server virtualization, storage virtualization creates a logical layer of storage from physical storage devices. The full benefits of server virtualization can only be realized in combination with a virtual storage layer that works in conjunction with and complements the virtual server layer. For example, dynamic virtual machine failover, a key benefit of leading server virtualization solutions, can facilitate disaster recovery. It is incomplete, however, without dynamic storage failover, a storage virtualization feature. Implementing storage virtualization, in other words, extends the benefits of an investment in server virtualization and builds upon them, providing simplified storage management, improved storage utilization and application performance, a bullet-proof disaster recovery solution, and a diminished need for proprietary vendor solutions.
Business Drivers for Storage Virtualization
The business drivers for storage virtualization are much the same as those for server virtualization. CIOs and IT managers must cope with shrinking IT budgets and growing client demands. They must simultaneously improve asset utilization, use IT resources more efficiently, ensure business continuity and become more agile. In addition, they are faced with ever-mounting constraints on power, cooling and space.
Key Benefits of Storage Virtualization
Storage virtualization provides companies with tools to address the underutilization of resources and the poor economics of silo-based storage, as well as the flexibility to respond to changing business requirements. In a storage virtualized environment, organizations achieve the full benefits of consolidation, improved resource usage and comprehensive disaster recovery. Storage virtualization also dramatically reduces power and cooling costs.
The Intelligent Network Switch: A New Approach to Storage Virtualization
Intelligent network switches with built-in storage management services, have changed the virtual storage paradigm from a model of expensive proprietary vendor lock-in to one of low-cost open support for total storage flexibility. Open storage virtualization enables IT managers to improve overall storage utilization by allowing capacity from any storage array to be combined in centrally managed, virtual storage pools. IT managers can dynamically reduce capacity for applications that are not growing and reuse that capacity for those which are. This can eliminate the need to procure new storage or, at a minimum, delay acquisition.
Intelligent network switches also enable organizations to easily link storage hardware and software solutions from multiple storage vendors, removing the burden of proprietary vendor lock-in and simplifying tasks such as data replication, mirroring and data migration. For example, when a storage network is comprised of disparate systems, even from the same vendor, data migration is time-consuming and application-disruptive. In a typical scenario, the application is taken offline, data is moved to tape and then restored. Intelligent integrated network switches permit data to be migrated in real time, from any storage array to any other storage array, without taking applications offline. Storage virtualization utilizing intelligent switches provides non-disruptive online migration that eliminates downtime and greatly reduces administrators' involvement in data or server migration.
Other benefits include a common set of management, provisioning and replication tools that lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) by reducing the number of tools and people necessary to manage storage and eliminating the requirement to purchase multiple licenses for every storage device.
The Value of Incorporating Storage Virtualization with Server Virtualization
Storage virtualization complements server virtualization by providing easy, centralized management, flexible provisioning, and improved disaster recovery. With disaster recovery, storage virtualization enables one storage system to fail over to another storage system with minimum disruption. However, with most storage virtualization solutions the failover is not instantaneous and manual intervention is required. Therefore, the benefit of overall instantaneous system recovery is lost. A network-based intelligent switch architecture, as depicted in the illustration below, addresses this discrepancy between the server and storage, providing instantaneous failover.
In the event of a complete disaster at one location, the virtual server there fails over to the server at the remote location without any interruption. If the primary storage system is affected by the same disaster, the other dynamically responds to the virtual server. This ensures zero hours RTO (recovery time objective) and zero hours RPO (recovery point objective).
The new generation of open virtualization solutions delivered via an intelligent switch with storage management services provides enterprise-class disaster recovery without the expenses imposed by proprietary storage architectures. Other benefits of storage virtualization include the ability to store multiple copies of virtual machine images for high availability and the ability to simplify physical storage infrastructure upgrades. Storage virtualization and server virtualization work together to solve the complex equation of a truly virtual infrastructure.
Conclusion
Server virtualization is changing the face of the server world with simple and effective tools to deploy and manage virtual servers. The same is now true for storage virtualization, using intelligent network switches that allow IT managers to realize more complete value from their virtual infrastructures. By enabling more efficient use of resources, eliminating vendor hardware and software dependencies, delivering seamless disaster recovery, and offering an attractive TCO, intelligent network switches with integrated storage services provide the best approach to storage virtualization. Combined with server virtualization, this new evolution allows customers to deploy a comprehensive virtual IT infrastructure, with virtual servers and virtual storage used to overcome the limitations of their physical counterparts.
Sencilo Solutions specializes in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with experience consultants with a combined experience of 25 years, working with companies of all sizes. We can be reached at (407) 265-6293 or visit us at http://www.sencilo.com
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland, Cape Canaveral
Other Projects: DR BC Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar CX4 Primary Storage Data Compression Storwiz
Disk Storage or Tape Data Indexing and Classification Services - January 26, 2008
Miami, Florida - Sencilo Solutions announced this week that is will add another Compliance related service for businesses throughout Florida, that of Indexing and Classificating network information. "Explosive data growth across the enterprise continues to present significant challenges for IT managers and their companies", say Brian McCarthy, President and Co-founder of Sencilo. "All manner of structured and unstructured data grows exponentially while management faces increasing demands to discover and protect that information," continues McCarthy. Flat budgets and overloaded IT departments struggle to contain escalating costs, mitigate risks and meet service level agreements in the face of these new demands.
Our Tape Data Indexing and Classification Service streamlines the identification and collection of electronic evidence. The tool-based service is application and infrastructure independent, and easily integrates into the existing online disk environment. It addresses online data and maintains an accurate view of historical and current data assets.
The service is scalable to billions of documents, and delivers the most comprehensive and accurate search results available today. It delivers a comprehensive index of all enterprise data assets, comprising only five percent of the original data with no data copies, and provides an easy-to-use search platform with Internet-type querying capabilities to support any e-discovery initiatives. Key benefits include:
- Onsite service delivery with no impact to production operations; or, offsite at our secure, state-of-the-art facilities
- Rapidly process large volumes of tapes or disks, and billions of files and emails
- Turns the storage arrary or tape library into a searchable repository that is immediately searchable, including both full content and metadata
- Allows users to select the files to restore and the system automatically generates a request to the administrator with all relevant information
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/storage-protection.php
About Us
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage and security solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral
Offerings Projects: Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc Pure Disk NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX4 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar DLD3 1500 D3 Storwiz storage compression data Ocarina Networks A-SIS compare Sepaton infopro BlueArc OnStor Microsoft Unified Storage data protection
Report: SPAM Accounts for 90-95% of All Email - January 26, 2008
In 2001, spam accounted for an estimated 5% of our email. In 2007, it clogs our inboxes to the tune of 90-95% of all email sent, according to a new report released today by Barracuda Networks. Barracuda, a leading vendor of spam filtering technology, based their analysis on the over 1 billion emails that the company's software scans each day. The year-over-year increase appears to indicate the failure of the US federal CAN-SPAM Act, which was passed in 2004 when spam only accounted for about 70% of all email sent.
Last month we reported on a study from research firm IDC that predicted that 2007 would be the first time that spam out numbered legit email. Our readers didn't think that sounded right: surely spam outnumbered legit email years ago. "Spam sure as hell surpassed legit emails in my inbox -- years ago. Mine. My mom, dad, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, every single friend I've talked to about it, my cat and dog, Boobo my hamster, everyone..." wrote one commenter.
Barracuda's report corroborates those feelings and calls into question the IDC report. Certainly, from my own personal experience, it is a lot easier to believe Barracuda. I use three email accounts on a regular basis, and across them, I get about 2500-3000 pieces of spam each week. I get a lot of legit email, as well, but not enough to outnumber the unsolicited stuff. Luckily (for most users), I am in the minority. According to the report, 65% of email users get less than 10 pieces of junk mail per day (half get less than 5). Just 13% find themselves in the unhappy position of receiving more than 50 spam emails per day.
Barracuda's report also found that spam is not only annoying, but it is the most annoying form of junk advertising. 57% of respondents to a survey question asking what the worst form unsolicited advertising was said spam, compared to just 31% for postal junk mail and 12% for telemarketers.
Unfortunately, spammers continue to evolve their tactics to beat the filters. In 2006 there was a rise of image spam and botnets. This past year, spammers were seen using attachments (like PDF files) as well as using more advanced identity obfuscation techniques.
The good news is that spam filtering technology is evolving right along with the spammers, and it works well. Thanks to filters, I only see about 3-4% of the spam I get (which is still a lot given the immense volume). Here's to a spam free 2008 -- hey, a guy can dream, right?
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/products-security.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, and Pembroke Pines.
Key words: Barracuda Networks Security RSA Encryption Cisco Decru Neoscale EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant SSL SonicWall Secure Computing Firewall VPN Endpoint
E-discovery tools purchase considerations - January 26, 2008
As data volumes grow, it's increasingly difficult to locate relevant data. Data must be retained longer, and storage users cannot be counted upon to intuitively locate documents, spreadsheets or other data. This is a problem when dealing with electronic discovery (e-discovery) requests that impose a legal obligation to locate relevant data in a timely manner or face fines and possibly adverse judgments.
E-discovery tools from Symantec or Commvault provide powerful search capabilities that can quickly process and index billions of files based on keywords and other common metadata. The tools can also present search results in forms that are easy to understand and often deliver results in a form that is compatible with litigation management tools.
Like any search tool, you'll want to test the product in your own environment before purchasing it. Discovery tools are useless if they can't locate your data and deliver it for litigation. Once you've reviewed the issues involved in purchasing compliance products, you can review the criteria specific to e-discovery tool purchases. After that, you'll find a series of product specifications that will help you compare products from vendors such as Mimosa, Barracuda Networks, Index Engines Inc. and Commvault.
Test your search criteria and metadata. Use the search function to perform discovery drills and see that the tool will actually find mail, documents or other files based on your queries. For example, try locating all Word memos related to a recent company project or initiative. The search tests should return useful and relevant results based on common criteria, such as keywords, sender, file dates and even the context within documents, spreadsheets, email and instant message logs.
Evaluate the search scope and supported file types. Discovery tools can process a wide variety of file types stored on a range of storage hardware across the enterprise. Before purchasing a discovery tool, verify that the tool will work with file types that are most relevant to your organization, such as Word documents, Outlook .pst files, database files, images and .pdfs. Also, ensure that the tool can search storage systems, servers, desktops/workstations, and even corporate laptops or remote sites to locate files of interest.
Consider search performance. As corporate information proliferates into the fringes of the organization (e.g. laptop or remote users), discovery tools must be able to respond to discovery requests in ever-shorter timeframes. Since failing to meet discovery requests can result in fines or judgments, performance can also have an important financial impact for your company. Note the time required to perform each request. Some tools can process terabytes of storage per day.
Evaluate any e-discovery storage requirements.
The results of your searches need to be stored somewhere. Search results and indexes take 4% to 10% of your total file storage utilization. Smaller organizations or businesses operating with little extra storage capacity may get blindsided by unforeseen storage needs.
Consider logging and reporting features. Discovery tools should include logging and reporting features that identify the individuals making requests, criteria used for each search and the results obtained from each search. The tool should also track the disposition of any results, noting any files that are moved, held or copied, establishing a chain of custody that can demonstrate appropriate compliance with discovery requests and verify the authenticity of documents or other files.
Consider integration with litigation tools. Discovery tools should interface with standard litigation tools, such as ProLaw from Thomson Elite, AXS-One Case Management or LexisNexis. This allows counsel to organize and process the results. In many cases, discovery tools will export to some common text, image or other file formats.
Evaluate any network overhead. Pay attention to the discovery tool's deployment. Discovery products that rely on agents or other software deployed across the infrastructure can cause interoperability and maintenance issues. Agents and network crawlers can add unwanted network traffic overhead, placing additional load on the network and possibly slowing performance-sensitive applications. Discovery tools that avoid the use of agents and network crawlers are preferable.
Consider support for offline tape indexing. Organizations that rely on long-term archival tape storage should consider a discovery tool that includes offline tape indexing features. This type of function is available in appliances like those from Index Engines Inc., allowing archive tape contents to be processed into indexes with metadata. Without this type of feature, tapes would need to be restored first and then searched, but this feature can read and index tapes without needing to actually restore the content.
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland, Cape Canaveral
Other Projects: DR BC Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar CX4
Angry Employee Deletes All of Company's Data - January 26, 2008
Call it a tale of revenge gone wrong. This could happen to you
When Marie Lupe Cooley, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., saw a help-wanted ad in the newspaper for a position that looked suspiciously like her current job — and with her boss's phone number listed — she assumed she was about to be fired.
So, police say, she went to the architectural office where she works late Sunday night and erased 7 years' worth of drawings and blueprints, estimated to be worth $2.5 million.
"She decided to mess up everything for everybody," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson told reporters. "She just sabotaged the entire business, thinking she was going to get axed."
It didn't take Steven Hutchins, owner of the architectural firm that bears his name, much time to figure out who'd done it — Cooley was the only other person who had full access to the files.
Police arrested Cooley Monday evening and charged her with causing greater than $1,000 damage to computer files, a felony. She was bailed out the following afternoon.
Hutchins told one TV station he'd managed to recover all the files using an expensive data-recovery service.
As for the job, Cooley originally wasn't in danger of losing it. The ad was for Hutchins' wife's company.
The firm told FOXNews.com that Cooley no longer is employed there.
Sencilo Solution specializes in Data Protect and Recovery, "this event is not at all uncommon, it's just not made public, companies are not in the habit of admiting their faults, say CEO and Data Protection VAR Brian McCarthy.
McCarthy as also says "many companies assume that their data is well protected if their core servers are backed up. Server backup is an essential component of data protection, but many companies do not have effective technology in place that will enable them to resume operations quickly after a disaster. Part of this problem lies in the fact that an estimated 60 percent of business-critical data resides unprotected on employees' desktops or laptops. Data at remote and branch offices is likewise often unprotected because of the hardware and administration costs involved. The loss of this data inevitably results in lost revenues, lost productivity, and lost customer confidence, and in some effent class-action suites."
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/security-threat-management.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland, Cape Canaveral
Other Projects: DR BC Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar CX4
Barracuda Web Filter Wins "Best of Connections 2007" Award From Windows IT Pro in Windows Category - January 20, 2008
The worldwide leader in email and Web security appliances, announced today that the Barracuda Web Filter has been named the "Best of Connections 2007 Awards" winner. Penton Media's Windows IT Pro judges declared the Barracuda Web Filter the best in the Windows category.
The judges reviewed more than 60 IT products and services submissions and chose 18 finalists to be evaluated at the Connections Conference in Las Vegas. Interviews were conducted during the event with winners announced on Nov. 7 on the exhibit floor of the Connections Conference.
"This is the first year of this awards program and were thrilled by the high quality of the entries we received," said Karen Forster, group editorial and strategic director." While we had many worthy products, the winners clearly demonstrated their products' strategic importance to the market, their competitive advantages and the value they provide to customers."
The "Best of Connections 2007" awards recognize companies that offer innovative products in the following categories: Exchange, Mobile, .NET, Office, SharePoint, SQL Server and Windows.
"We are honored to have the Barracuda Web Filter recognized as an innovative Windows product at the Connections show," said Dean Drako, president and CEO of Barracuda Networks. "This distinction highlights our success at addressing the growing need with network administrators for affordable content filtering and powerful anti-spyware protection at the gateway level." "Sencilo Solutions has recently signed up as a Diamond Level Partner", say Brian McCarthy, President and CEO of Sencilo, and Storage and Security Solution Provider based in Orlando Florida.
About the Barracuda Web Filter
Available in six models, the Barracuda Web Filter combines preventative, reactive and proactive measures to form a complete content filtering and anti-spyware solution for businesses of all sizes. The Barracuda Web Filter is designed to enforce acceptable Internet usage policies by blocking access to objectionable content and unauthorized Internet applications. At the same time, the Barracuda Web Filter's award-winning feature set enables the Barracuda Web Filter to block spyware downloads, prevent viruses, and stop access to spyware Web sites. Unlike the widely available desktop software solutions, the Barracuda Web Filter is easily installed and does not require the additional time, money or resources necessary for downloading and maintaining software on each individual PC. Hourly Energize Updates are made automatically by Barracuda Central so that the Barracuda Web Filter can block the ever-changing virus and spyware variants, as well as maintain the most up-to-date database of the latest productivity-inhibiting Web sites.
About Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Established in 2002, Barracuda Networks, Inc. is the worldwide leader in email and Web security appliances. Barracuda Networks also provides world-class IM protection, application server load balancing and message archiving appliances. More than 50,000 companies, including Coca-Cola, FedEx, Harvard University, IBM, L'Oreal, NASA and Europcar, are protecting their networks with Barracuda Networks solutions. Barracuda Networks' success is due to its ability to deliver easy to use, comprehensive solutions that solve the most serious issues facing customer networks without unnecessary add-ons, maintenance, lengthy installations or per user license fees. Barracuda Networks is privately held with its headquarters in Campbell, Calif. Barracuda Networks has offices in eight international locations and distributors in more than 80 countries worldwide.
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/products-security.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, and Pembroke Pines.
Key words: Barracuda Networks Security RSA Encryption Cisco Decru Neoscale EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant SSL SonicWall Secure Computing Firewall VPN Endpoint
Q1 Labs Announces QRadar 6.1: Converged Network and Security Management Disciplines Delivered in a Single Platform - January 20, 2008
Best of Breed Network and Security Monitoring for Log, Threat and Compliance Management
Q1 Labs, a leading network security management company, today unveiled QRadar™ 6.1, the latest version of its flagship product which reinforces Q1 Labs’ commitment to innovate across multiple monitoring disciplines: Log Management, Security Event Management and Network Behavior Analysis.
QRadar 6.1, delivers key features that enable both network and security teams to effectively monitor their network within the same management infrastructure. Coupled with the functionality included in the release of QRadar SLIM (Simple Log and Information Management; see release issued October 30, 2007), QRadar 6.1 provides several new features and capabilities in the following key areas including:
• New network flow searching capabilities for better network behavior analysis and security forensics
• Quality of Service monitoring for important network applications like VoIP
• Augmented host discovery and asset based alerting
• Tamper proofing of all stored log, event and network flow data
Combining network and security monitoring capabilities serves a growing need in the market. As noted in a recent Gartner report Select the Right Monitoring and Fraud Detection Technology1
“Network security and operations products are different markets; however, we see these markets converging in 2008 so that one product set will provide a common network monitoring infrastructure for the NOC and the SOC”
QRadar 6.1 – More Than Just Another SIEM and NBA Product
Today’s converging enterprise requires access to critical network and security data by both network and security operations teams. QRadar offers best of breed network and security monitoring to meet compliance and threat management drivers from a single platform. Features unique to QRadar 6.1 include:
• Network Behavior Analysis with a simple, flexible flow viewer that provides complete, enterprise network visibility
• Robust Log Management architecture combined with analysis that can monitor the network and intelligently alert on the state of new threats, users, and hosts/assets in the network
• SIEM with extensive monitoring inputs and analysis capabilities that allow customers to converge the monitoring of their network and security infrastructures
“QRadar was the first product to seamlessly combine NBA and SIEM functionality – something that many of our competitors are now attempting to achieve through technology partnerships or first-step technology integrations,” said Tom Turner, VP of Marketing and Product Management for Q1 Labs. “QRadar 6.1 further solidifies our technology lead and provides another step forward in helping the converging infrastructure roll-out leading threat management and compliance management practices.”
Pricing and Availability
QRadar 6.1 is available now. Upgrade to QRadar 6.1 is available for free to existing QRadar customers. Pricing starts at $39,900.
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/products-security.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage, security and networking solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, and Pembroke Pines.
Key words: Barracuda Networks Security RSA Encryption Cisco Decru Neoscale EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant SSL SonicWall Secure Computing Firewall VPN Endpoint
Next Generation VTLs will include Data De-dup - January 18, 2008
Service provider takeaway: Service providers can use data deduplication technologies to create an effective remote data backup strategy for customers who employ many remote offices.
You thought the backup system at Bailey Building & Loan's Elmira office was working just right last year. Every night the backup application ran automatically and ejected the tape. Every morning, it was Uncle Billy's job to insert a fresh tape and mail the prior night's tape to the home office in Bedford Falls. Knowing Uncle Billy isn't an IT pro -- and frankly isn't the most reliable of execs -- you even set the system up to email you if the backup job failed.
This morning, you listened to a voicemail from Uncle Billy in which he explained that someone broke into the Bailey Building & Loan's Elmira office and stole its NAS appliance. Even worse, after some investigation, you learn that months ago, Uncle Billy had decided not to mail the tapes to the home office after reading about other companies losing tapes and CDs in transit. Of course, since the thieves took everything but the kitchen sink, they're gone too, and the latest one in Bedford Falls is months old.
How can you prevent this problem from repeating itself? Start by giving tape drives the boot. You can help your customers (whether Uncle Billy, his more reliable nephew George Bailey, or even nasty Mr. Potter, for that matter) with remote data backup by switching to disk-to-disk backup across the Internet using data deduplication, ensuring that your customers' backup data gets offsite. By breaking the data on a client's NAS into blocks and only sending unique blocks across the Internet, deduplication technology reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent by 20- to 100-fold. That reduction means that the typical remote office's DSL or T-1 line can handle the nightly remote data backup load, without a costly infrastructure upgrade.
Navigating new storage technologies isn't always easy for customers; service providers can help them make sense of new developments and choose the right one. New-generation backup software (such as Exagrid or Unitrends Televaulting) not only deduplicates data at remote offices before sending it across the Internet, it also can perform global deduplication across multiple offices so all the remote data and programs that are stored on multiple NASes in multiple offices are only backed up once. This means, for example, that only the first instance of an email attachment sent to multiple remote offices is stored on the device when the backup takes place.
While all of these products can protect Windows-powered NASes, you'll have to do a little homework to find a product that can protect NASes that run their own proprietary operating systems.
Service providers with a data center and an eye toward being a managed service provider (MSP) can use Asigra's Televaulting to build a single repository to store data from multiple clients while ensuring that data is protected.
NAS deduplication being passed over by VTL-based deduplication
For customers that just don't want to give up tape, service providers can still help take advantage of deduplication technology and remote data backup by installing a virtual tape library (VTL) that supports replication, such as Sepaton, Quantum's DXi series or Exagrid, in remote offices. Your clients can continue to use their favorite data backup software, and their shiny new VTL will deduplicate the data and then replicate it to another VTL in the main data center.
VTL-based deduplication and replication, however, aren't a panacea. While they allow clients to continue using the remote data backup software they know and love, they are somewhat less efficient. VTL-based deduplication will only remove data that is duplicated at each remote office. On the other hand, customers who choose to use technologies like those offered by Unitrends can take advantage of disk-to-disk backup and replication technologies that allow data to be deduplicated globally. In addition, with the VTL setup, your client's backup software will be a bit confused, as the replicated data will make it look like one tape is in two places at once. "Some of the early De-Dup vendors, like Data Domain aren't buying into VTL, so we are seeing them dropped off the buying list of customers and the resellers line cards alike", say Brian McCarthy, President of Sencilo Solutions, and a former Data Domain partner. "At one time Sencilo was Data Domain's largest reseller in the Southeast US, but as more advance generations of VTLs are appearing like Sepaton, Exagrid and Quantum to name a few, we saw customers interest decline, so we moved our marketing and sales efforts to these newer devices."
The bottom line is that remote office tape backup is so 20th century; at one time, it might have meant you'd have a wonderful life, but not anymore. Have your clients deduplicate data and use the Net. You and Uncle Billy will sleep better, and you might have the opportunity to pick up some services revenue to boot.
For more information please call (407) 265-6293 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com/storage-protection.php
About Us
Sencilo Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in storage and security solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, EMC, Juniper Networks, Hitachi, Symantec, Barracuda Networks, and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral
Offerings Projects: Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup Exc Pure Disk NetBackup Networker TSM Commvault BakBone D2D D2D2T compare cloud data deduplication thin provisioning DXi Global Compression DDX virtual tape library Data Reduction SEPATON FALCON compare Celerra CLARiiON Equallogic Dell NS20 NS40 CX4 CX3-20 CX3-40 CX3-80 FAS2050 FAS3050 Xiotech Nexsan Avamar DLD3 1500 D3 Storwiz storage compression data Ocarina Networks A-SIS compare Sepaton infopro BlueArc OnStor Microsoft Unified Storage data protection
