Categories
Uncategorized

RightScale Inc. confirms that Azure is closing the gap on AWS in its seventh annual cloud computing report. RightScale Inc.’s seventh annual cloud computing report confirmed many similar findings: Microsoft’s Azure platform has been outpacing Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) but there’s still a lot of ground to go. According to the “RightScale 2018 State of the Cloud Report”, Azure was able to grow enterprise adoption strongly to 58%, and gain ground on AWS at 68%. Many other reports have reached similar conclusions, including:

  • Microsoft and Google Surge in Cloud but They Still Can’t Catch AWS
  • Report: Microsoft Chasing Cloud Leader AWS With 93 Percent Growth Rate
  • Survey: Azure Beats AWS in Larger Enterprises
  • Study: Microsoft Challenges AWS’s Domination of Public Clouds

This trend has been reported at least three years ago, however, as RightScale’s 2015 report shows. RightScale’s new report shed more light on the Azure-vs. AWS contest. AWS is used by 47% of enterprises who are just starting their cloud journey. Azure is used by 49%. AWS is used at 47%. Azure also saw strong growth in virtual machine footprints used by customers. 44% of Azure users have over 50 VMs, up from 32 percent in 2017, while 59% of AWS users are using more than 50 (up from 51%) in 2017. Public cloud adoption continues to rise across the board. RightScale stated that public cloud adoption grew for all cloud providers. “Across all users, AWS increased adoption from 57 percent to 64 percent in 2018, Azure increased from 34 percent to 45 percent; Google Cloud increased between 15 and 18 percent; IBM Cloud increased between 8 and 10 percent; VMware Cloud on AWS was strong with 8 percent adoption; Oracle Cloud grew from 3 to 6 percent; while Alibaba Cloud saw 2 percent adoption in its first year of inclusion in the survey. This last point is important because Alibaba is becoming more widely recognized as the leader in cloud computing. We discussed this earlier in the month in the article “Research: Alibaba Joins AWS and Other Cloud Computing Leaders.” RightScale also reported the following data points:

  • Cloud is used by 96 percent of respondents
  • 81% of respondents use a multi-cloud strategy
  • Organizations leverage almost 5 clouds on average
  • Cloud spending in enterprises is growing rapidly and is substantial.
  • Most workloads are run in the cloud by companies
  • Users are forced to reduce cloud spending by focusing on costs.
  • Container use is up: Docker gets the most widespread use, while Kubernetesgrows rapidly
  • The use of configuration tools increases, with Ansible showing the strongest growth
  • Security and spending are the top cloud challenges for 2018.

Security remains a top concern in the last point about security challenges. This is especially true after last year’s series of reports highlighting wide-open, unencrypted clouds that led to ransomware attacks, and other problems. [Click on the image to see a larger version.] The report revealed the following:

  • Security is a problem for 77 percent, while 29 percent consider it a significant challenge.
  • Respondents perceive managing cloud spend as a challenge at 76 percent, while smaller 21 percent consider it a significant challenge.
  • Cloud beginners face the greatest security concerns, while advanced users face more cost-related issues.
  • Enterprises have more challenges than SMBs.

However, it seems that security is receiving less attention from enterprise IT teams. They have cited security at an increasing percentage over the past three years. “Even among enterprise IT teams, which typically have the greatest responsibility for security, there was a significant increase in security awareness.

Categories
Uncategorized

Startup Snowflake Launches Cloud Based Data Warehouse Service on AWS

Bob Muglia, a former Microsoft executive, has launched Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), a cloud-based data warehouse that it claims will significantly expand the capabilities of traditional analytics platforms.
Muglia described Snowflake Elastic Data Warehouse by Snowflake Computing, as a Big Data platform that was built from scratch and specifically designed to run in the public clouds. It is the latest effort in data warehousing.
Muglia joined Snowflake in 2012, which was founded last year. Altimeter Capital made a $45 million C Series investment in the company, which was founded last year by Muglia, the Oracle RAC lead architect. This brings the total amount of investment in the company to $71 million.
Snowflake claims that its offering is different from other high-performance data warehouse technology because it was built from scratch and can run in the public clouds. Officials claim that the cloud storage makes the service more flexible and cost-effective. Muglia stated that Snowflake has encountered many customers who have captured machine-generated semi-structured data using Hadoop clusters. However, they have had to transform the data into a format that a traditional warehouse can handle. This can allow a business analyst connect to the data with common BI tools like Excel or Tableau.
Muglia stated that Snowflake can load semi-structured data directly from Snowflake, eliminating the need to go through these steps. Business analysts can immediately run queries against the data using the tools they know. This is a huge time and complexity savings. Traditional data warehouses are subject to loss due to data transformation. Some data is not available due to the fact that it has not been transformed. Also, data warehouses are limited in their ability to handle a small portion of the data. One customer had only one week of data loaded into their data warehouse. With Snowflake, they could store all historical data and could run queries on data as old as three months.
Muglia stated that it is not a problem due to the infinite storage available in the backend repository of Snowflake — Amazon Web Services storage. Snowflake customers are using hundreds of terabytes S3 data. Muglia stated that the service can scale easily to multiple petabytes stored in S3.
Muglia stated that there is no limit to how much data you can store. It would be expensive and time-consuming to run a query that required the scanning of a petabyte worth of data. While the laws of physics still apply, one key thing is that query processors can prune the data based on the way they store it and the information they gather about it. If you had five years worth of data, let’s say 5 petabytes, and you wanted to query one week’s worth of this data, regardless of the week, we could simply select the data we needed. Let’s say that we only have half a Terabyte of something. We could eat through it quickly and return the results fairly quickly, even though we may have 5 petabytes.
Muglia was asked if Snowflake would use AWS’s Glacier archive to store data in situations where customers have petabytes of data. Muglia stated that it is probably the most cost-effective place to store data. It’s a lot cheaper than enterprise-class storage and it costs a lot less to store it on nodes (which is what you’d do with Hadoop).

Categories
Uncategorized

Cyber Security careers to start in 2022

Cybersecurity professionals are one the most difficult jobs we have heard about recently. In recent years, many companies have become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Cybersecurity issues such as threats, phishing, and security breaches are all in the news, which is why there is a growing demand for cybersecurity professionals.

Table of Contents
What is Cybersecurity?Why is Cybersecurity important?Cybersecurity Vs. Information securityCybersecurity Vs. Network securityCybersecurity prerequisitesTop skills required for a Cybersecurity jobJob roles under Cybersecurity careerStart Cybersecurity Career Today
There are many cybersecurity jobs still available. A report states that there were more than 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs available in 2021. This number is expected to double this year.
What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity refers to the process of implementing controls or technologies to protect networks, systems, and information from cyber threats. These cyber threats aim to compromise business operations by allowing access to, destroy or modify information. Cybersecurity helps to reduce the risk of cyber threats and protects against the exploitation of company assets.
Nearly all industries, including IT, Healthcare, Banking and Financial, offer digital services in today’s digital age. They face many cybersecurity problems during business operations. Cybersecurity professionals implement security measures for these issues.
Why is Cybersecurity important
Cybersecurity is essential for all organizations, including governments, large and small-sized enterprises, and startups, as it protects against data threats and risks. It protects your systems, devices, networks, and data from malicious attacks. The technology advancements have made it possible for cybercriminals to do things like hacking, data theft, and industrial spying.
Different types of cyber-attacks can also easily steal resources by taking control of the systems. Cybersecurity risks are increasing and data from organizations is vulnerable if they don’t have cybersecurity measures.
Cyber threats can cause significant financial loss if you don’t pay attention to Cybersecurity. It can cause serious damage to the business’ reputation, economic, and regulatory performance. Even a small data breach could result in a major loss for the company. Cybersecurity plays an important role in the organization, and should be maintained regularly by cybersecurity professionals.
These factors are associated to a rise in the demand for cybersecurity professionals. Let’s learn more about cybersecurity and the skills required to make it a career.
Cybersecurity vs. Information security
Cybersecurity Information securityCybersecurity is to protect the data and the storage sources from threats.Information security is to protect the information against unauthorized access.It protects data, devices, information, and technologies associated with storing the data.It protects analog and digital information and maintains Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.It deals with protecting the use of cyberspace and preventing cyberattacks.It protects the information from any form of threat.Professionals deal with advanced persistent threatsThey develop the foundation of data security and prioritize the resources before dealing with threats.It deals with various kinds of threats in cyberspace, such as cyber frauds, cybercrimes, and law enforcement.It deals with threats against information only, such as disclosure modification, disruptions, and unauthorized access.Cybersecurity Vs. Network security
CybersecurityNetwork SecurityCybersecurity is the subset of Information security.Network security is t

Categories
Uncategorized

Start-up launches AWS Cloud Management Tool

Gartner Inc., a research firm, noted in a new report that Amazon Web Services Inc.’s (AWS) offerings are complex and varied. They also offer rapid service introductions. This makes it easy for enterprises to seek professional assistance to optimize their use.
Gartner stated in a Magic Quadrant report that less-sophisticated customers might become overwhelmed by the number of options available. Training and third-party assistance are highly recommended. It also stated that customers must actively seek out the sales and solution architecture engagements they need to succeed. This may require professional services and not just support.
Fugue Inc., a start-up, yesterday announced what it calls an industry first: a “next generation system for automating cloud infrastructure management and continuously managing it.”
This tool is currently only available for AWS, but support for other cloud providers will be added in the future. It’s not surprising since AWS is the leading cloud service vendor, and Fugue management includes AWS veterans.
Yesterday, Fugue was quoted as saying that Fugue is the foundation layer for cloud-based enterprise applications platforms. It allows developers to program and manage their entire cloud infrastructure across network, storage, and compute. Fugue automates the enforcement and compliance policies, as well as change control, after the cloud infrastructure has been created.
Fugue’s nameake product, according to the company’s Web site, helps enterprises “use pre-built AWS best practice to migrate new workloads or optimize management of existing workloads with efficiency. Fugue is easy to use and can be integrated into your AWS account. It also works with existing applications, toolchains, and workflows.
The Fugue system’s key components include Ludwig, a modular and statically typed programming language that can be used to declare cloud infrastructure as code, the Fugue Conductor, which is used to automate cloud infrastructure operations, and the Fugue CLI, which is a command-line tool for initiating processes.
The Fugue product website states that the Fugue Conductor runs in an instance within your cloud account. It also runs within its own isolated network which it creates. It has no open ports, and outbound communications are only with cloud provider APIs.
Yesterday’s news release by Fugue provided more information about the company’s new offering. It was described in the context a new era emphasizing containers, serverless computing, and immutable infrastructure. It also explained how it works with AWS.
The company stated that Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud service provider, abstracts the underlying IT infrastructure to provide services programmers leverage to run their applications. Fugue acts as a layer between the cloud, the services that further automate deployment and management of middleware and databases, and other services that support application development. Fugue is easy to use and integrates well with existing tools and practices. It simplifies configuration management, container orchestration and CI/CD workflows.
The company will host a Webinar on Sept. 13 to introduce its new product. In the meantime, it invites interested companies to schedule a demonstration of its technology.

Categories
Uncategorized

Start-ups Are Creating A Simpler Way To Adopt AWS

A small, Irish-based start-up emerged from a chance encounter between two high-tech professionals in a Dublin bar. It promises to simplify the process of moving companies to Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS).
Cloudwith.me is a company that helps companies manage their servers.
Although the company has been in business for a while and has had a Facebook page since last fall, it was announced officially last month via a blog post. Rachel Jacobs wrote that “We’re a bunch geeks who want make life easier when it comes to maintaining servers on the cloud.” “We saw a problem and decided to fix it.”
Its website specifically states:
Cloud With Me makes it easy to create and maintain servers when shared hosting companies are not an option. A… AWS account allows business owners to save time and money by not having to manage their servers. AWS charges for server costs. Customers can then choose from a variety of add-ons, which are $3.99 per month.
These add-ons offer features such as MySQL and WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Roundcube, HTML, and many more.
According to the company’s website, the “intuitive dashboard” allows customers to choose the best AWS server options and get started in cloud computing without interrupting their business processes. Customers don’t need to have any prior knowledge, don’t have staff to train and can save time and money on details.
Cloudwith.me allows you to select a domain name, server location, instance type, OS (Ubuntu), and add-ons. The dashboard displays stats immediately after you have set up the domain.
Jacobs stated, “Right now there’s many solutions out there. But we try to simplify each one.” “Give us some more time, we’ll get there!” We would love to hear your feedback. It will help us build a better product.

Categories
Uncategorized

Interview with a Google Certified Cloud Architect: Frequently Asked Questions

As technology advances, cloud computing has become more important and a part of our daily lives. There are many cloud providers available, including AWS, Microsoft Azure and GCP. Google Cloud Platform (GCP), however, is a popular cloud computing platform. This is due to its easy-to-use tools, and services. Professionals who can work in GCP are more in demand due to the increased use of GCP. A Cloud Architect is one such professional. A Cloud Architect plays a critical role in the development of an organization’s computing strategy. The primary responsibility of a Cloud Architect is to provide cloud infrastructure expertise to development teams. They provide expert guidance to development teams within an organization and manage cloud environments. Here are some frequently asked questions for a Google Certified Cloud Architect interview:
Question 1: Name some cloud service providers.
Answer: These cloud service providers are the best and most rapidly growing for Business-to-Business data analytics, AI and other services.
Amazon Web Services
Google Cloud Platform
Microsoft Azure
IBM Cloud
Snowflake
Salesforce
DataRobot
Oracle Cloud
Question 2: How can large data transfers be speeded up on the cloud?
Answer: The hybrid protocol, also known by Accelerated File Transfer Protocol or AFTP, is one of the best ways to transfer large files to the cloud. This protocol can increase file transfer speeds up to 100% using a TCP/UDP combination. Poor network conditions can sometimes hinder you from fully utilizing the big data cloud computing potential. This issue can be solved by using portable storage devices to store data and not using the internet to transfer files.
Question 3: Discuss the strategy to migrate cloud applications.
Answer: It all depends on the architecture and current licensing arrangements. These are some of the most important cloud migration strategies:
Using the cloud to detail the company’s goals
Recruting the best professionals
Conducting a detailed business and technical analysis of current environment, applications, infrastructure, and infrastructure
Choosing cloud distributors
The development of a cloud framework
Use migration models like Lift and Shift and Rearchitect to make your application cloud-ready
Create a data migration strategy
Question 4: What’s the importance of API gateways?
Answer: An API gateway allows you to manage APIs between clients. It also provides a range of backend services. The API gateway acts as an intermediary, accepting all requests for application programming interfaces, aggregating the required services, and returning accurate results. API gateways allow you to decouple the client interface and the server-side execution. The API gateway splits a client’s request into multiple requests, routes them to the correct locations, generates a reply, and records everything.
Question 5: Why use subnets?
Answer: A subnet (also known as a Subnetwork) is a section of a larger network. Subnets are a logical subdivision of an IP network into multiple smaller network segments. Organizations use them to split larger networks into smaller, more efficient, subnetworks. Subnets are designed to reduce traffic by dividing large networks into smaller, interconnected networks. This reduces the need for traffic take unneeded routes, which results in faster network speeds.
Question 6: Name some cloud security best practices.
Answer: Cloud services can be used for a variety of purposes in corporate environments. They can be used to store data or to transmit it.

Categories
Uncategorized

Common Questions in a CISA Certified Role Interview

The Certified Information Systems Auditor certification (CISA), is highly sought after credential for IT risk, IT Security, and IT Auditors. Many CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor), certified positions are available at reputable firms, such as Internal Auditor and Accountant, Accountant, Audit Assistant, Accounts Executive and Accounts Assistant, Accounts Manager and Accounts Officer, and Audit Executive. We will be discussing frequently asked questions during a CISA interview.

Interview Questions
Question 1: What is a Request for Change?
Answer: A Request for Change is a method to authorize system changes. CISA Auditors must be able recognize and respond to developments that could compromise the network’s security. The RFC keeps track all system changes, both current and past.
Question 2: What is Change Management, and how can it be applied to your organization?
Answer: Change Management is a group of professionals that are responsible for identifying the risks and impacts of system modifications. The CISA will assess security concerns related to modifications.
Question 3: What happens when a change to a system causes harm or fails to go according to plan?
Answer: The CISA and other change management personnel are responsible for calling a rollback. All modifications should include a rollback plan in case something goes wrong during deployment.
Question 4: What security measures do you have in place for unauthorized traffic protection?
Answer: Firewalls protect the internal network at the router or server levels. Antivirus protection stops viruses from being installed by antivirus protection.
Question 5: What’s the role of a CISA audit trail?
Answer: Audit trails allow you and your firm to track sensitive data systems. Audit trails are used to track who accessed the data and when. These audit trails can be used to help businesses detect unauthorized access of personal information.
Question 6: Which risk assessment is done first by an IS Auditor when performing a risk-based auditor?
Answer: Inherent Risk Assessment. Independent of an audit, inherent risk can be due to the nature of the business. To conduct an audit successfully, it is important to understand the business process. An IS Auditor must understand the business process before they can perform an audit. An IS Auditor can better understand the business process and the inherent risk.
Question 7: What’s the most important reason that audit planning should be reviewed at regular intervals?
Answer: It is important to periodically review audit planning in order to consider changes in the risk environment. Changes in the business environment, technologies and business processes can have a significant impact on audit planning.
Question 8: What’s the purpose of an IT audit?
Answer: An IT audit is primarily designed to assess existing methods of maintaining an organization’s essential information.
Question 9: What are IT General Controls exactly?
Answer: IT General Controls (ITGC), are the basic controls that apply to IT systems like databases, operating systems, applications, and other IT infrastructure. They ensure data integrity and security.
Question 10: What are the essential skills required to be an IT auditor?
Answer: These are the essential skills required to be an IT auditor:
IT risk
Management of security risks
Auditing and security testing
Standards for internal auditing
Computer security in general
Data analysis and visualization tools
Critical and analytical thinking skills
Communication skills
Question 11: How do I conduct a risk assessment?
Answer: Risk assessments can vary depending on the industry. In some industries, auditors are required to perform a pre-written risk assessment.

Categories
Uncategorized

Frequently Asked Questions during a Certified Scrum Master Interview

Scrum is a method for solving multiple adaptive problems in a creative and productive way. It also provides high-value solutions. It is used primarily in product development strategy. We will be discussing the most common questions asked in a Scrum Master interview.

Question 1. Question 1. What is the difference between Agile testing (development) and other testing (development).
Answer: The testers and developers assure that the entire testing process (development) is broken down into as many small steps as possible, with only one unit of code produced in each step. The Agile testing results have shown that the testers (developers) regularly communicate the results to their team and adjust the short-term strategy or even the development plan based on them. Agile allows for flexibility and quick modifications, which results in better results.
Question 2. Question 2.
Answer: The main distinctions can be found here:
AgileScrum * It’s a collection of principles that is incremental and iterative in character* It is suitable for projects that require a small team of professionals* The Project Manager oversees all work, and is crucial to the success of the project* There is no one in control. The Scrum Master and team deal with issues* There are no regular changes* Teams can react quickly to changes* Regular distribution to end-users is necessary* Sprints deliver usable versions to users for feedback
Question 3. Question 3.
Answer: There are three main procedures in Scrum:
Planning Meeting: The Scrum Team, along with the Scrum Master (and Product Owner), meet to discuss all items in the Product Backlog that can potentially be worked on during the sprint. Once a topic has been evaluated and is well-known by the team it is added to their Sprint Backlog.
Review Meeting: This is where the Scrum Team presents their work to customers.
Sprint Retrospective Meeting: The ScrumMaster, Scrum Team, and Product Owner gather to reflect on the sprint.
Question 4. Question 4.
Answer: There are many roles in Scrum.
Product Owner: The Product owner is responsible for enhancing the ROI by choosing product features, prioritizing them into a list, identifying the needs of the future Sprint, etc. These are often re-prioritized or changed.
Scrum Master: This person helps the team learn how to use Scrum in order to maximize business value. The Scrum Master helps remove obstacles, distract the team, and encourages them to adopt Agile principles.
Scrum Team: This is a group of people that work together to ensure that clients’ needs are met.
Question 5. Question 5.
Answer:
Product BacklogSprint backlog* It is a list that must be completed in order to develop the product. The Product Owner collects this backlog from the customer. The team then establishes the Sprint schedule. It has an end goal* The backlog is maintained until the project is complete by the Product Owner. The backlog is created by the team for each SprintQuestion 6. What is a Scrum Master? What do they do?
Answer: A Scrum Master supports the team’s use Scrum.
They are familiarized with Scrum’s principles, processes, principles, values, and theory
They ensure that the Scrum principles, principles, and practices are adhered to by the team.
They remove all distractions and obstructions from the proj

Categories
Uncategorized

Frequently Asked Questions in a Interview with a Penetration & Vulnerability Tester

Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT), a comprehensive security assessment service, is designed to identify and address cyber security weaknesses in an organization’s IT infrastructure. The most sought-after job in cyber security is VAPT. These are the most common interview questions. Make sure you fully understand them.

Interview Questions
Question 1. Question 1.
Answer: A vulnerability assessment is a quick assessment on network devices, servers and systems in order to detect critical vulnerabilities and configuration flaws that could be exploited by an attacker.
Question 2. Question 2.
Answer: A cyber-security expert attempts exploit vulnerabilities in a computer network through penetration testing. This simulate attack is used to identify any weaknesses in the defenses of a system that could be exploited by attackers.
Question 3. Question 3.
Answer:
Enterprises can gain actionable insight about security threats within the system
Businesses need VAPT
Customers often ask their providers and partners for security certificates. VAPT comes in handy here
VAPT protects data and information from unauthorized access
Question 4. Question 4.
Answer: If VPAT operations are part an enterprise, the following deliverables will keep the IT staff current on cybersecurity issues:
Executive Report
Technical Report
Real-time Dashboard

Question 5. Question 5.
Answer: Tools for vulnerability assessment
Nikto2
Netsparker
OpenVAS
w3af
OpenSCAP
Nmap
Nessus
Question 6. Who is responsible to Vulnerability Assessment?
Answer: Vulnerability Assessment is the responsibility of the Asset Owner. The Asset Owner is responsible for scanning the IT asset as part of the vulnerability management process.
Question 7. Question 7.
Answer: VAPT should always be performed in accordance to the internal change cycle, laws, and regulatory requirements.
Question 8. Question 8.
Answer: Yes. You can either do a vulnerability assessment or penetration testing.
Question 9. Question 9.
Answer: The VAPT fees are often dependent on the activity that would be completed. The estimated cost will depend on the number of devices, servers and program sizes, as well as the number of locations.
Question 10. Question 10.
Answer:
Before entering into a contract to breach security
Be aware of malware, infections, and spyware at your workstation
After significant changes are made to a website/network,
Unauthorized network activity was detected

InfosecTrain Security Testing Certification
InfosecTrain is a well-known source for IT security training and certification. It is used by both experts and customers around the world. InfosecTrain offers a variety of Penetration Testing courses.

Categories
Uncategorized

Upwork Publishes New Index to Track Demand for Amazon DynamoDB Skills. Upwork, a freelancing site, has published a new index that tracks the most sought-after skills by organizations. The index includes the Amazon DynamoDB NoSQL service. According to Upwork’s Q4 2017 Skills Index DynamoDB skills ranked No. Employer demand is at number 2 (behind only the bitcoin technology upstart). Upwork, which connects freelance workers with employers looking for different skills, said that companies are leveraging AWS to boost business growth. “Amazon DynamoDB was second in skill growth last quarter. This quarter Amazon Web Services, an Amazon.com subsidiary, also announced new capabilities for its database products at AWS Re:Invent. Amazon DynamoDB is a flexible and fast NoSQL database service that is used by more than 100,000 AWS customers. It can be used for any application that requires consistent, single-digit millisecond latency at all scales. Upwork noted that AWS had just released new encryption functionality for DynamoDB at the same time as the Upwork report. Upwork stated that there was a surge in demand for tech-savvy freelancers shortly after AWS launched a multiplatform campaign. “The campaign highlights what AWS builders can do by showing real solutions being developed by builders on huge whiteboards. Here’s the complete list of the 20 fastest-growing skills in Q4 2017, as identified by Upwork.

  • Bitcoin
  • Amazon DynamoDB
  • React native
  • Robotics
  • Go development
  • Forex trading
  • 3D rigging
  • Augmented reality
  • Computer vision
  • Penetration testing
  • Media buying
  • Chef.io
  • Shopify development
  • AngularJS development
  • Swift development
  • Video editing
  • Marketing to Influencers
  • Machine learning
  • 3D modeling
  • Motion graphics