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Linux Foundation Launches Blockchain Initiative

The Linux Foundation has announced a new collaborative effort to improve blockchain technology, the verification system behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Several major banks and high-tech firms have signed on for the effort, including IBM, Intel, Cisco, Fujitsu, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, London Stock Exchange Group, and others.

According to the announcement, "Blockchain is a digital technology for recording and verifying transactions. The distributed ledger is a permanent, secure tool that makes it easier to create cost-efficient business networks without requiring a centralized point of control. With distributed ledgers, virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded."

Bitcoin is regarded as an important innovation, but it has also been at the center of several high-profile attacks and financial irregularities. Many experts believe the technology needs some refinement before it is applied generically to the whole spectrum of financial activity.

Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin adds, "Distributed ledgers are poised to transform a wide range of industries from banking and shipping to the Internet of Things. As with any early-stage, highly complex technology that demonstrates the ability to change the way we live our lives and conduct business, blockchain demands a cross-industry, open source collaboration to advance the technology for all."

72% of Organizations Collect Data They Will Never Use

A recent report from storage vendor Pure Storage states that 72% of organizations are gathering data they won't use. The report is based on a study of businesses in Germany, France, and the UK. The report, titled "Big Data's Big Failure: The struggles businesses face in accessing the data they need," observes that, despite the enormous capacity of modern tools for gathering, tracking, and assembling business data, much of the data is never processed or organized in a way that would aid in corporate decision making. The report cites a lack of technical skill, lack of technological investment, and dependence on an outdated business culture as reasons why large amounts of Big Data go unprocessed.

The report concludes that companies need to get better at processing their data. The other possible conclusion – that maybe these companies don't really need all this data and shouldn't bother to collect it in the first place – escapes mention in the piece.

See the story in the Register for more on the Pure Storage report: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/07/most_businesses_collecting_data_they_never_use_survey_finds/.

Malware Hijacks Windows Boot Process

A blog post at the FireEye/Mandiant Consulting website reports on a powerful feature of the Nemesis malware tool that allows the attacker to load malicious code as part of the boot process – before the operating system has even started. The attack affects Windows systems that use the .NET 3.5 framework.

Nemesis employs an installer referred to as BOOTRASH to take control of the boot process and load malware components into the Windows registry or a virtual filesystem, where they are virtually undetectable. When the system boots, the Master Boot Record (MBR) passes control to the Volume Boot Record (VBR), which loads the operating system. Nemesis creates a virtual filesystem in unallocated space to load the malicious code, then executes the code in the VBR phase – before the operating system starts. The attackers are said to target payment card processors, banks, and other financial institutions.

The MBR boot system is deprecated and is gradually being replaced by the safer GUID Partition Table system, although many MBR computers are still operating in the wild. GUID boot systems are apparently immune from the attack. Unfortunately, many payment card processing systems run embedded versions of old Windows systems that make them susceptible to the bootkit.

The difficulty in detecting this attack means you probably won't see it popping up on your malware scanner anytime soon. The best defense is to upgrade to a GUID Partition Table system – and stop using out-of-date versions of .NET.

More Online

Off the Beat * Bruce Byfield

Remembering Ian Murdock

The first time I met Ian Murdock, he was holding a sign with my name on it. He was meeting me at the airport along with three other members of Progeny Linux Systems, and I was in Indianapolis for the final stages of a job interview.

Have Proprietary Linux Games Failed?

Linux has a long history of doing what skeptics claim is impossible. No sooner does someone claim that Linux is unable to develop an advanced desktop (or an office suite, free-licensed fonts, a professional graphics application, or any of dozen other things) than it does exactly that. However, nearly three years after Linux games started being available on Steam, a proprietary gaming market may be an exception.

How Projections for Linux Smart Phones Mislead

2015 was a year of failures for Linux phones. However, that hardly means, as one much-discussed article asserts, that Linux phones "took a serious step backwards." The failures simply mean that little or no progress was made – something quite different.

Productivity Sauce * Dmitri Popov

Instant Mindmapping with MindMapIt

Mindmapping – you either love it or hate it. In case you belong to the former camp, you might want to add MindMapIt to your productivity toolbox. This simple web app lets you create mindmaps on the fly without leaving the convenience of your favorite browser.

Temporary File Hosting with Uguu

Most of us need to share large files every now and then. So, a service like Uguu that allows you to do that with a minimum of fuss can be a welcome addition to your toolbox. As you would expect, Uguu is supremely simple to use.

Push Notifications from the Command Line to Android

If you want to send notifications from a Linux machine or server to your Android device, notify is just the tool for the job. It consists of two components: a simple Node.js-based command-line utility and an Android app.

ADMIN Online

http://www.admin-magazine.com/

Build Secure IoT Applications with Open Source * Julien Vermillard

We look at some common sense tips and open source tools for securing IoT devices.

The Advantages of Configuration Management Tools * Martin Loschwitz

Etcd, ZooKeeper, Consul, and similar programs are currently the subject of heated debate in the world of configuration management. We investigate the problems they seek to solve and promises they make.

Set Up and Operate Security Monitoring Throughout the Enterprise * Felix von Eye, Wolfgang Hommel, and Stefan Metzger

We describe some basic considerations for choosing a Security Information and Event Management system and designing its implementation.

Advanced Windows security using EMETMarc Grote

Although attacks on computers are numerous and varied, they are predominantly based on the same techniques. Microsoft closes these vulnerabilities on Windows computers using the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET).

Magnum: Exploring OpenStack's Container API * Udo Seidel

The Magnum project brings Docker container technology to the OpenStack cloud.

Working with the Exchange Management Shell * Thomas Wiefel

We take a close look at the Exchange Management Shell – an essential tool for Exchange administrators.

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