Interconnecting the Connected

How Much Is The Internet Of Everything Worth? Try $19 Trillion.

Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers, has a rosy view of your future.  In a presentation first at CES, and again a few days ago at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, he predicted that the Internet of Everything (IoE) will be a world of interconnected devices communicating via an Internet connection.

Smartphones and computers will simply be one element of connected devices that will become ever more sophisticated.  Smarter power grids.  Interconnected industrial environments sharing meaningful data. Connected cars and home automation systems. Improved healthcare monitoring. All   are just a sampling of the impact the IoE will have on our lives, according to Chambers.

For example, Chamber noted that when Cisco was founded in 1984 there were a total of 1,000 devices connected to the Internet.  By 2010, that number had exploded to over 10 billion – outnumbering the Earth’s human population.

While it’s obvious that such a rosy prediction coincides with Cisco’s self interest, the trajectory is apparent wherever we look.   And while this was Chamber’s speech and his platform, there will be plenty of competition in interconnecting the connected!

What Chamber’s speech does illustrate, though, is the potential for the IoE to dramatically affect not only our personal lives, but entire corporate, industrial and healthcare ecosystems in a dramatic way.

For a look at excerpts from Chamber’s presentation see this YouTube video.[divider_line]

Apple News

Apple Patches Nasty Vulnerability Flaw in OS X

The upgrade description barely acknowledges it, but the latest system updates are importantly a patch for a scary SSL code flaw.  The flaw, according to Aldo Cortesi, CEO and founder of security consultancy firm Nullcube resulted in the ability to capture full transparent interception of HTTPS traffic on both IOS (prior to 7.0.6) and OSX Mavericks.
Nearly all encrypted traffic, including usernames, passwords, and even Apple app updates can be captured, claimed Cortesi, who provided a proof of concept. Zdnet has an excellent article, as does Slate and Network World. Network World goes so far as to question whether the flaw was accidental or purposeful spyware.

But the big bottom line: this is a potentially devastating flaw. You should upgrade NOW.

Download: http://support.apple.com/downloads [divider_line]

Hosting Updates

We’re Invested In Your Hosting Experience!

Seriously.  We’re excited to announce that we are currently in testing with some major network infrastructure additions to our shared hosting environment.  These enhancements include new network switches and attached storage servers.

Ho-Hum, you might think?  Not so fast. The new Ethernet switches are designed to offer significant security and performance benefits including a secure, high-performance networking platform and advanced network management features.

We will also be adding a new PowerVault iSCSI SAN storage array designed for high availability and expansion across Ethernet networks. The new array provides advanced data protection, data replication, encryption and secure data removal.

So, in a nutshell, this investment is part of our continued effort to offer superior shared hosting options with dramatically increased throughput, as well as new levels of day-to-day security and stability[divider_line]

News Briefs

Is Google Fiber Coming To You?

Google is considering expanding to some 34 cities.  Will yours be one of them?  Google Fiber offers both a fast Internet connect (gigabit speeds) and an IP-based Cable TV service.  You can find a map and a brief overview here at Google BlogSpot.  Among Eastern cities to be considered is the Raleigh-Durham metro area, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta. Read more at Google Blogspot

Boeing’s New Self Destruct Phone

So does it blow up in your hand?  Maybe it jumps out of your pocket, runs to a corner and quietly goes into melt-down?

Kidding aside, this is one serious Smartphone. While still in the hands of the FCC, the secure Android phone called, simply, Black caters to government agencies and those companies dealing with defense and homeland security.  When it’s tampered with physically or digitally, it goes into self destruct making the device inoperable, according to Boeing.

You can read more at ars technica or elsewhere on the web.

Mobile World Congress Highlights

It’s over, and PC Magazine, among others, has its own take on the hottest of the hot.  Top rated phones. were the Yotaphone; the Blackphone, a consumer variation of the Boeing self-destruct phone, which claims to be super secure; and the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Cnet agreed that the Samsung Galaxy S5 was a winner, and included mentions for the Mozilla $25 phone, a smartglove, and various wearable tech items.  For a wrapup see the video at  Mobile World Congress