Networking

Cisco on Friday announced it plans to acquire Santa Clara, Calif.-based Kenna Security, makers of a risk-based vulnerability management platform. 

Kenna is the first significant acquisition for Cisco’s security business since its $2.35 billion purchase of Duo Security in 2018. Financial terms of the Kenna acquisition were not disclosed. Kenna Security uses machine learning and data science to track and predict real-world exploitations, with the aim of helping security teams manage the threat landscape as it evolves. Cisco said Kenna has over 14 million assets protected and over 12.7 billion managed vulnerabilities.With Kenna’s technology, Cisco plans to combine threat and risk-based vulnerability management as part of the SecureX platform. Cisco said the integration will help customers prioritize vulnerabilities, speed and automate decision making and accelerate response time to cyber incidents. “With Kenna Security as part of SecureX, we will bridge our leading threat management capabilities with its risk-based vulnerability management to dramatically enhance our platform approach for customers,” said Gee Rittenhouse, the head of Cisco’s security business group. “Additionally, the combination of Kenna Security and SecureX will allow customers to address critical challenges by generating prioritized lists of vulnerabilities; streamlining collaboration between security and IT teams; and automating remediation to improve their overall security posture.”Introduced in March 2020, SecureX is the centerpiece of Cisco’s security portfolio. The cloud-native security platform aims to give businesses better visibility across their security infrastructure via analytics and workflow automation. According to Cisco, SecureX unifies visibility into a company’s existing security products, including those from Cisco as well as third-party providers. Cisco’s security group is becoming a key growth driver for the company. In Q2, Cisco’s security revenue was up 10% to $822 million. More

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SpaceX and Google have announced a deal that will see Starlink ground stations placed in Google data centre properties, with the first to switch on in the second half of the year. Particular focus was placed on businesses being able to reach cloud services from rural and regional parts of the planet. “Connectivity from Starlink’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites provides a path for these organisations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents, quickly and securely,” Google said. Australian fibre provider, Vocus, recently put its hand up to host LEO ground stations. “These low latencies are dependent on the deployment of extensive ground infrastructure with high-capacity fibre backhaul, so processing and storage can occur as close to the edge of the network as possible. This means having ground stations in regional areas close to where the end-users are located, to minimise round-trip time,” Vocus general manager for government and strategic projects Michael Ackland said. “By now you should be starting to see why a fibre company is taking such a strong interest in LEO satellites.” In other Elon-related news, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO tweeted earlier this week that the carmaker would stop accepting bitcoin payments.

Musk ostensibly said the shift was due to bitcoin’s energy usage, and the company was looking into cryptocurrencies that used less than 1% of bitcoin’s energy usage. Bitcoin true believers jumped in to tell Musk he should also stop accepting fiat currency, or that eventually, fossil fuel consumption due to bitcoin would be negative, while pushing their favourite coin of choice. Related Coverage More

A decade ago, I said the Chromebooks would be Windows PC killers. I got that wrong. But I wasn’t as wrong as you might think. Today, Microsoft is hard at work turning Windows from a standalone PC operating system into a cloud-based Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) with its Cloud PC model. Who had that idea first? Who proved that users would accept a cloud-based desktop? That would be Google with the Chrome OS. 

Back in the day, I thought Chromebooks would be winners for five reasons. The top of my list was that Chromebooks were far more affordable than Windows PCs. I got that one right. There are lots of great inexpensive Chromebooks for workers, people at home, and students. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit. Thanks to the sudden leap in remote work and learning, Chromebook sales exploded. Since then, Chromebooks have accelerated like a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Chromebook demand has boomed for all the top PC makers, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Indeed, sales data analyst Canalys found Chromebook sales surged by 275% in the first quarter compared to a year ago. In short, Chromebooks have become mainstream. They just took longer than I thought they would.  I also thought Chromebooks would be popular because they’re so easy to use. And that’s still true today. If you can use a web browser, congratulations, you can use a Chromebook. It’s that simple. Chromebooks are the ultimate grab-and-go computer.That reminds me of another reason I love Chromebooks: You can’t lose data on one. Everyone’s lost important information at one time or another on a Windows box. You can run over a Chromebook with a bulldozer; leave it in a cab never to be seen again in Barcelona; or Junior can feed his school Chromebook a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You get another Chromebook and all your files and data are back as soon as you’re logged in. Yes, that’s a privacy problem, but short of secure Linux desktops, that’s a problem you have with any modern PC. In 2011, I also pointed out that thanks to the rise of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), you already had all the programs you’d ever need for your home use or work. Since then, that’s only become more true. Even Microsoft says SaaS Office 365 “crushes Office 2019.” While there are exceptions, such as video-editing programs, the future of end-user software belongs to SaaS. When you do need a program to run locally on a Chromebook, besides SaaS programs, Chromebooks now support Android, Linux, and, thanks to Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise or CodeWeavers’ Crossover Chrome OS, you can even run Windows programs on Chromebooks. In short, Chromebooks offer you the broadest possible selection of programs.

Chromebooks are also the most secure PCs out there. Chrome OS, thanks to its Linux ancestry, was designed for a hostile world filled with network threats. While every week brings a new Windows malware attack, there are still only a handful of Chrome OS security threats. When I got my hands on the first commercial Chromebook, the Samsung Series 5 with its 12.1-inch display and 1.66Ghz Intel Atom N570 dual-core CPU with 2GBs of RAM, and a 16GB solid-state drive (SSD), I liked it, but I wasn’t tempted to leave my Linux workstations behind. 

Since then I’ve used and reviewed about 100 Chromebooks, and I’ve bought almost a dozen. I’ll never stop using high-powered Linux desktops, but after Google released the i7 Pixelbook in 2018, I’ve been sold on using Chromebooks for my laptops. Today, I don’t leave home without my Google Pixelbook Go. Today, when someone asks for a computer recommendation — unless they’re a power user or programmer — I always recommend Chromebooks. Cheap, powerful, and as safe as houses. Chromebooks may yet outsell Windows laptops. They’re that good.Related Stories: More

Imagine a future where all of your battery-powered devices never run out of charge — a future where smartphones and tablets, smartwatches, headphones, handheld game units, laptops, portable battery units, and even robots and drones — are all running on an endless source of energy beamed from an invisible source, with no cables or wires.  Imagine power consumed in a transparent, ubiquitous manner, in the same way that wireless networking occurs with Wi-Fi today. Imagine never plugging a smartphone in ever again or docking it with a pad, where it requires either proper alignment for the connection to work or a clunky magnetic-attached workaround like Apple’s MagSafe. Imagine never taking your smartwatch off to be charged.Also: Best wireless charging pad in 2021: Top expert picksIt sounds like science fiction — perhaps even fantasy. But the fundamental principles of transmitting power using electromagnetic waves were demonstrated successfully, over short ranges — using radiofrequency resonant transformers, with near-field capacitive couplings, by no other than the mysterious and enigmatic Nikola Tesla himself, during the 1890s and the early 20th century.  Tesla’s wireless power transmission technology was never made practical due to the very high voltages and the immense size of the equipment and infrastructure needed to implement it. The high-concept idea was over a century before its time. But Nikola Tesla’s vision of a wirelessly powered world may be closer than we think.

Also: Why wireless charging is a terrible ideaEnter GuRuA team of former CalTech researchers at GuRu — a Silicon Valley startup founded in 2017 that has received over $15 million in venture funding — has been working in relative stealth mode to apply these principles to the modern digital age. The company announced today that it has secured a licensing partnership with Motorola Mobility, a Lenovo subsidiary, for building its wireless charging technology into Motorola’s smartphones. Instead of using one huge power transmitter, which blasts waves of energy in all directions, GuRu’s solution uses a small transmitter made up of interconnected modules that use millimeter-waves (mmWave), a radio frequency typically defined in the 30GHz to 300GHz range that works within line-of-sight. (MmWave  is also used by the current 5G standard to send data at extremely high speed over relatively short distances compared to the Sub-6 GHz 5G tech.) Because GuRu is using millimeter-wave frequencies and smart algorithms, its transmitters and receivers can be miniaturized, and it allows it to better direct and confine the EM waves compared to waves in the higher microwave bands — the very same wavelengths where Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are operating.

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Using a small, ceiling-mounted power generator (which could be concealed in overhead lighting fixtures or floor lamps), referred to as a “Gu,” or Generator Unit, those millimeter waves are “lensed” using electronic steering and timing to send a focused beam of energy to the “Ru,” or Receiver Unit, a chip-sized module that can be incorporated into the receiving device, such as a smartphone.  According to GuRu, smart technology built into the transmitter and the receiver temporarily cuts power transmission if a person, pet, or object obstructs the beam. The Gu can interact with, negotiate, and continuously track multiple Ru’s in a room simultaneously, at distances exceeding 30 feet, regardless of their wattage requirement. It can scale from a few watts of power needed for something like a powered earbuds case, headphones, or a smartwatch, all the way up to dozens of watts needed to power a large tablet or a laptop. Multiple devices in a room can draw energy transparently, using intelligent charging algorithms, all from a single Gu unit. The path to adoption of wireless powerImagine if this technology proves effective and affordable enough to implement in the way we now use Wi-Fi. It’s possible that within 10 years, the very notion of having to plug a small device in or having any “charge anxiety” due to battery depletion in major population centers, homes, buildings, and other public spaces will be a distant memory. Imagine if these Gu transmitters are installed in public spaces, co-located with Wi-Fi access points, and even installed in automobiles. Having to travel with spare charging cords, adapters, or backup batteries may also become a thing of the past, or relegated to a technology of last resort, provided enough GuRu infrastructure ubiquity existed, and the technology can be rolled out quickly.Fortunately, at least in North America, the adoption hurdles are unlikely to be regulatory in nature. In the US, devices using wireless over-the-air charging technologies with RF (such as GuRu’s Gu transmitters) are considered Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) devices rather than telecommunications devices that use Wi-Fi and 5G. Approval is granted to particular devices, not an underlying technology as such. 

According to its founders, GuRu’s technology is compliant with the definition of an ISM device and is operating in an internationally recognized ISM band (24.0-24.25GHz). GuRu is pursuing approvals worldwide, including Europe and other jurisdictions and regions. The company expects to complete the US and related regulatory approvals by the end of this year, with additional approvals in other regions to follow thereafter.As far as the US market is concerned, using ISM bands in any product, such as those being considered by Motorola that will use the Ru chip, means they will have to undergo their usual CE certifications on a product-by-product basis. Also: The laptop with the best battery life in 2021The challenges for wireless powerThere are, of course, several obstacles that could slow the adoption of technology. One of these is public perception — as 5G’s use of millimeter waves already raises the ire of tinfoil-hatters, and it’s been the subject of endless unsupported conspiracy theories.There is also the issue of whether or not a single company’s efforts can be adopted as the prevalent standard. Naturally, GuRu’s technology is proprietary, as is its implementation, unlike other wireless technologies such as Qi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, and 5G — all these are consortium-led. There are open-source stacks and open reference implementations in addition to closed implementations for all of these.We also have to assume that GuRu is not the only implementation for room-based wireless power transmission being researched — similar efforts for long-range power transmission are being conducted in New Zealand by another startup, Emrod. It’s certainly possible this is a technology Apple and Samsung are also developing for their devices, not just Motorola, and they may be implementing their own wireless power platforms to compete with GuRu as well. In any case — regardless of whose wireless power standard or implementation becomes the predominant one — we are heading toward a near future where device charging cords will become a quaint memory, like dialup modems, corded phones, and landlines.

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LG Uplus said on Wednesday it recorded 3.4 trillion won in sales and 275 billion won in operating income during the first quarter of 2021. It is the telco’s best quarterly earnings to date, it said. Operating income increased by 25.4% from the year prior, while sales increased by 4% over that same time period. Like its compatriots, SK Telecom and KT, LG Uplus credited the strong performance of its remote services business unit for the growth. The telco said its smart home business unit, which provides IPTV and ultra-fast home internet services, was also a big contributor to the jump in earnings. Sales from IPTV increased 7% from a year prior while sales from home internet increased 11.2%, LG Uplus said.Its enterprise business unit, which provides data centre and internet services for companies, also saw sales increase by 9% from a year prior, the telco said. LG Uplus also stressed that its 5G subscriber base increased by 129.2% when compared to the same time period in 2020. The telco added it has 3.33 million 5G subscribers as of the end of the first quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics said on the same day that one of its researchers was named as chair for one of the working groups at 3GPP, the global standard setting body for telecommunications.

Samsung technical vice president Younsun Kim will become chairman of Radio Access Network Working Group 1, which sets standards on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing multiple input multiple output based on LTE and 5G communications. The group, which has around 600 researchers as members, is currently working on standards to widen 5G coverage, lessen power consumption of 5G handsets, and develop new 5G services, and Kim is expected to play a major role in shaping that work, Samsung said. Related Coverage More

Cisco announced on Tuesday that it was acquiring Hierarchical Controller market leader Sedonasys Systems in an effort to beef up its multi-vendor, multi-domain automation, and software-defined networking offerings. Kevin Wollenweber, vice president of product management in the Service Provider Network Systems for Cisco, explained in a blog post that in order to expand the internet and operate networks at massive scale for the billions of new users coming down the pipeline, the internet had to be reinvented in certain ways. Cisco is acquiring Sedonasys Systems primarily for its NetFusion platform, which has a Hierarchical Controller (HCO) that it said, “enables multi-vendor, multi-domain automation, and software-defined networking.” Wollenweber said the Sedona NetFusion platform was the first company to offer “complete network abstraction and control” that helped CSPs manage their networks across a variety of domains, vendors, layers, and technologies, all as one single network.The addition of Sedona NetFusion to Cisco Crosswork portfolio will allow the company to offer a more advanced network automation platform for Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking Solution.”HCO is the brain that enables transformation like 5G network slicing, routed optical networking, and disaggregation. We have one simple goal in our network automation strategy — simplification,” Wollenweber said. “Now, CSPs can gain real-time, dynamic, and seamless control of IP and optical multi-vendor networks together. They can quickly move from clunky, manual operations across siloed teams and technologies to a completely automated and assured network that’s easily managed through a single pane of glass.”

With Cisco Crosswork and Sedona NetFusion, users will have access to a real-time replica of the entire network to predictively manage any changes to the deployment, connectivity, and activation status of all network inventory. Operators can preview optimization, assurance, and changes, and then commit them as needed, Wollenweber added.  More

South Korean telcos SK Telecom and KT recorded growth during the first quarter of 2021, mostly from business units other than their main wireless phone services, such as media. SK Telecom saw operating income of 389 billion won, an increase of 29% from the same time period in 2020. The company said its media, security, and commerce businesses led the growth. These businesses, combined, accounted for 31.8% of sales during the quarter, it said. They also contributed 103 billion won in operating income, a surge of 64.1% from a year prior. The media business, which provides IPTV services, saw operating income jump 99% from a year prior to 75.4 billion won, contributing the most out of the three. SK Telecom said it would continue to invest in its media brands to provide original content. The telco also said it recorded 6.74 million 5G subscribers as of the end of the first quarter. Meanwhile, compatriot KT recorded 444 billion won in operating income, an increase of 15.4% from a year prior. The telco also credited other areas besides its main wireless service for the growth, such as its data centre and media business units. The two telcos saw demand increase during the quarter as it did in 2020 due to more people staying at home, KT said.

The company added that it has 4.4 million 5G subscribers as of the end of the quarter. More from Korea More

Whether you have a passion for blogging educational content meant to inform or want to market your services to your target customers, you’ll need a blog hosting service to host your blog. Blog hosting services are a dime a dozen these days, but this only makes it more difficult to find the best hosting service for your needs and budget. Let’s take a closer look at various blog hosting services for business pages and blog posts, and personal blogs that fill more specific niches. The best blog hosting services for businesses Here are some of the best blog hosting services for business pages or growing enterprises rather than fan or hobby blogs.

Ideal for growing businesses

InMotion is a top choice for businesses, especially if you’re interested in VPS hosting to balance budget and resource draw simultaneously or dedicated hosting if you want as many resources as you can get. While it isn’t the cheapest in the industry, this hosting service provides unlimited bandwidth with all packages, free SSL certification, and a dedicated website builder.This last aspect is beneficial for business owners who need to construct new business web pages with little to no coding experience. Other business goodies include free advertising credits and visitor statistics analyses so you can gradually tailor your business page to be even more effective.

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Excellent for larger businesses

HostGator is another popular hosting service and is especially good for dedicated server hosting, making it an excellent choice for some medium-sized businesses.Besides HostGator’s hosting type choices, users benefit from unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL certification, and one-click WordPress installation. In addition, HostGator provides access to popular email marketing software for free for the first three months, and after that, $20 per month.Uptime typically clocks in at 99.9%, and all users enjoy top-tier help and support from dedicated customer service personnel.

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The best hosting services for personal blogs These are hosting services perfect for smaller or more personal blogs rather than traffic-heavy business pages:

Powerful and popular for serious bloggers

SiteGround is a little pricey compared to some of the other blog hosting options you can find. But it’s extremely popular for a variety of reasons, including great uptime of 99.98%, top-tier customer support, and an easy-to-use interface that makes it a great combination with WordPress blogs.Site speed could be a little better, as it currently averages 615 ms. But the basic plan includes free SSL certification and free site migration if you are bringing your blog from another hosting service to this company. Daily backups add a little extra security and peace of mind to your blogging career, preventing you from losing the content you’ve worked on previously.

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Cheap and secure for new bloggers

Hostinger is incredibly cheap, with packages starting at $1.59 per month. However, even though it’s pretty affordable, it’s still a valuable service through and through, offering 99.95% uptime and a free domain name when you host with them for the first time.They also provide a 30-day moneyback guarantee, free SSL certification (another big budget-saving aspect), and high-quality security features overall.

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The best hosting service for business and personal blogging And here’s the best hosting service for both business and personal use:

Affordable, effective, and great for everyone

We’re including Bluehost in a particular category of its own – in many ways, it’s the best blog hosting service bar none. It’s a fantastic choice for both business blogs and personal blogs.For starters, it features an average uptime rate of 99.99% and speedy loading times, clocking in at around 460 ms on average. It’s an officially supported service by WordPress, too. Since many business sites and personal blogs use this CMS platform, this just adds to its versatility.Bluehost further provides cost-effective hosting that starts at as low as $2.75 per month. WordPress comes preinstalled with your hosting package, and you’ll benefit from fast and competent customer support, along with a 30-day moneyback guarantee.The only downside is the basic plan provides less than stellar storage. But given that upgrades aren’t too pricy, many personal bloggers will feel comfortable upgrading to the next highest-priced plan when they’re ready.

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What makes a hosting service good for business or blogging?

All hosting services provide the same fundamental value: space on the Internet for your website. However, different hosting services can be specialized for business use or blogging use depending on their features, such as:Website uptime: In general, you should target hosting services with uptime averages of about 99.94%. The more often your website goes down, the less reliable your site will be to your core users, whether you are a blogger or business owner.Customer service: Some hosting services have excellent customer service channels, as well as tutorials to help you understand your hosting package more easily.Server speed: Server speed matters a great deal as well. The faster your website can load, the happier your customers or readers will visit your business webpage or blog. Try to find hosting speeds lower than 700 ms if you can.CMS or content management system: The CMS is the control panel from which you control your site and hosting. Some hosting services require you to use proprietary or unique CMS platforms. Others allow you to use common, popular CMS platforms like WordPress.Add-ons and perks: This could be free SSL certification or integration with popular WordPress tools. Free SSL certification is now considered a standard or required feature for any legitimate business website. SSL certification encrypts traffic to and from your site to protect your business’ and visitors’ information.Determining hosting type is just as essential because different hosting services may only provide one or two types of subscription packages. There are four major hosting service types you’ll encounter:Shared hosting: Shared hosting is cheap, but you have to share server space with other users, as its name implies. Sharing server space can impact storage space and speed.Virtual private server hosting (VPS): VPS or virtual private server hosting, which is still affordable and uses virtual private server technology to share space on a server, gives your website more resources.Dedicated hosting: It’s pricier but provides you with a private server for your website alone.Reseller hosting: This type of hosting is only of use to server hosting reseller businesses.In general, serious business owners will want to go for VPS or dedicated hosting, with dedicated hosting being better if you can afford it. Bloggers can undoubtedly get away with shared hosting if they want to start their website on a budget. But as you gain more traffic and need more space for content, you’ll likely eventually need to upgrade to at least VPS hosting.Bottom line: Ensure that the hosting service you choose has the hosting type best suited to your business or blog needs.

How you should pick a blog hosting service

In the end, you should choose a blog hosting service by focusing on a few questions:How much money can you spend on hosting? Cheaper hosting is slower and offers fewer resources but may be better for casual bloggers.How much space and speed do you need? If you only plan to write an occasional text blog post, you don’t need a ton of resources.Are your hosting needs going to grow in the future? If so, a blog hosting service that offers multiple hosting types and scalable resources is likely the way to go.We focused on these questions when selecting the top hosting services for both businesses and personal blogs. If you do the same, you’ll be sure to find a hosting service that’s perfect for your unique needs.

What’s the big difference between VPS and shared hosting?

Without getting too technical, shared hosting means your website shares server space with other users on the same server. With VPS hosting, your website benefits from a virtualized server that provides more scalable resources. In this way, it acts like a dedicated server but still rests in a shared server environment.

Is it smarter to pay monthly or annually for hosting?

It depends on your budget. Annually is usually cheaper in aggregate, although monthly payments allow you greater flexibility and make it easier to switch hosting providers later down the road. Many hosting providers have fees if you break your hosting contract ahead of the subscription’s expiration date.

Is free hosting worthwhile?

Not usually, even for small personal blogs. Free hosting services typically come with many strings attached, like advertisement requirements or a lack of significant features. In addition, many shared hosting services are cheap enough that there’s no real reason to go with a free hosting service.

Are there alternative blog hosting options to consider?

Here are a few:

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