1. Security breaches are not what they used to be
Hackers are not a new phenomenon. However, 2016 saw an increase in targeted attacks that held data hostage. Hacking is no longer limited to stealing credit cards information in order to get a return on hacking. 2016 saw an increase in criminal breaches of personal information, particularly in the health care sector. They were the target of more than 10 million people in 2016 hacks in medical fields due to the confidentiality of the information stored on the servers of medical facilities.
Source: DataBreachToday.com
Rebecca Herold, security and privacy consultant and CEO of SIMBUS LLC, and The Privacy Professor, says, “From what we’ve seen it is quite simple to get money in multiple ways from healthcare entities.” She adds that the crooks could sell healthcare data for more than other types of personal information in other sectors. The data can be used to commit medical identity theft, as well as other types of fraud. All that prescription data can also be sold to drug dealers or those selling prescription drugs online at lower prices, creating a lucrative revenue stream for them.
Cyberattacks on the consumer market have not disappeared, but they have changed in late 2016, and will continue to evolve as more homes sign up for the IoT.
Gryphon CEO John Wu stated, “The reason IoT devices have been used now is because it’s so easy to attack.” Wu added, “They also possess enough processing power to carry out such attacks.”
Additionally, devices such as routers and DVRs can be accessed at all times, so they are always available for use in an attack on a website.
Wu stated that you can have a large effect because you can control many devices, in some cases hundreds, of thousands, and flood a server. “It’s very difficult for these attacks to be prevented, because they come from IP addresses all over the world. It is impossible to scale up your bandwidth fast enough in order to stop it.
These types of attacks are expected to increase in 2017, so make sure you stay on top of the Ethical Hacking Courses.
2. Microsoft Makes Major Changes to MCSE & MCSD Tracks
Microsoft has “streamlined” its Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE), and Developer (MCSD), certifications. Holders will need to take exams annually to remain current.
Redmond stated that the four new MCSE certifications and the sole new MCSD certificate “are aligned with Centers of Excellence, which are used by the Microsoft Partner Network for technical competencies that are easily recognizable by both Microsoft customers and partners.”
The new continuous learning plan also offers the possibility to re-earn your certification every year by passing an exam from the electives list. This will demonstrate your investment in broadening and deepening your skills in a particular Center of Excellence.
This plan will take effect on April 1, 2017, and all MCSE/MCSD certifications issued prior to September 2016 will be canceled.
The new qualifications are:
MCSE Cloud Platform and Infrastructure – focusing skills validation to Windows Server and Microsoft AzureMCSE Mobility – focusing skills validation to Windows Client and Enterprise Mobility SuiteMCSE Data Management and Analysis – focusing skills validation to both on-premises and cloud Microsoft data products and servicesMCSE Productivity – focusing skills validation to Office 365, SharePoint and ExchangeMCSD: App Builder – focusing skills validation to Web and Mobile app development. Red Hat and IBM Collaboration for Next-Generation Clouds
Red Hat and IBM have a long history of innovation to improve product offerings across IBM platforms. The companies are collaborating more in product development and upstream technologies to make their platforms more compatible. This will allow Red Hat to offer its offerings to clients who have previously worked in distributed environments. Red Hat and IBM began to work together to create functionality and jointly engineer solutions across IBM Power Systems. These solutions were then released in the Red Hat portfolio.
Enabling Red Hat solutions on IBM’s next-generation Power Systems;Introducing new high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities for leading edge research deployments;Developing high availability capabilities for Power Systems.
4. Red Hat New DevOps Certifications and Training
In 2016, Ken Goetz (Vice President of Training and Red Hat) stated that DevOps was not a product, but a culture and a process. There are certain skills and technologies that DevOps workers should have. This new RHCA concentration aims to provide a way for employers and developers to validate these essential open source skills and further enable enterprises to accelerate the delivery of applications.
Red Hat Learning Subscription will offer these new DevOps courses. This subscription provides unlimited access to Red Hat’s entire training content. It is an annual subscription that allows customers unlimited access to Red Hat’s entire training content. It helps customers speed up the on-boarding process, adopt new technology releases, and cross-train across multiple products in an instant setting. Red Hat Consulting will continue to offer full-stack DevOps strategy to streamline software delivery and align IT with business.
5. VMware NSX
VMworld 2016 highlighted the challenges and relationship between the software-defined cloud (SDDC), and the public cloud. VMware presented the Cross-Cloud Service vision during the day one keynote. The idea is to extend your SDDC into multiple cloud services. Cross-Cloud Service is possible because of tight security measures.