Blog Archives - Page 18 of 20

AWS releases X1 Instances with 2TB Memory for running SAP certified Workloads

AWS announced the release of their new X1 instances with the launch of the x1.32xlarge instance size. The X1 instances have been certified by SAP for production workloads. They meet the performance bar for SAP OLAP and OLTP workloads backed by SAP HANA. This instance has the following specifications: Processor: 4 x Intel™ Xeon E7 8880 v3 (Haswell) running at 2.3 GHz – 64 cores / 128 vCPUs. Memory: 1,952 GiB with Single Device Data Correction (SDDC+1). Instance Storage: 2 x 1,920 GB SSD. Network Bandwidth: 10 Gbps. Dedicated EBS Bandwidth: 10 Gbps (EBS Optimized by default at no additional cost). The automation engineers at stackArmor have developed an easy to use jumpstart tool to help customer take advantage of AWS’s range of computing instances with a few simple clicks. StackBuilder is an easy to use cloud app store front that allows users to quickly select and operate a AWS cloud hosted website, dev

Jumpstart dashboard project with Tableau Dashboard-As-A-Service on AWS

More and more organizations are drowning in data and spending too much time creating and sharing Excel spreadsheets. Is this you? The cloud automation and data analytics experts at stackArmor have developed a powerful “Turbo-tax” like wizard to rapidly select, price and deploy data analytics and visualization software such as Tableau. Tableau is a market leading data visualization software that connects and aggregates multiple data sources to create powerful dashboards. The tool offers an easy way to create and share charts and graphs with ad-hoc drill down and interactive features including maps. Tableau offers a rich set of connectors and enterprise security features such as role-based access and SAML integration for single sign on capability. The challenge however has been the cost and delay associated with acquiring licenses and hosting & installing the software in manner that it can be customized to specific needs. Don’t wait – get from Zero

Digital Services with DevOps, DataOps, Big Data and Containers

Enterprises are looking for scalable and secure solutions to develop and deliver digital services at a faster pace using DevOps, DataOps, Big Data and Containers technologies hosted on cloud computing platforms. stackArmor’s platform and automation experts have developed and released a Digital Services Platform (DSP) blueprint that allows application owners to rapidly deploy and provision enterprise workloads using a self-service portal using a highly intuitive and easy to use wizard called StackBuilderTM. The platform natively supports DevOps and Container Management that offers unprecedented flexibility in using Docker, native Linux C-groups or Open Container formats. stackArmor Digital Services Platform supports both Docker management or Kubernetes for container orchestration allowing maximum flexibility. The diagram below provides a logical view of the stackArmor Digital Services Platform (DSP). The stackArmor Digital Services Platform (DSP) is a fully integrated stack and includes stackArmor StackbuilderTM. stackArmor StackbuilderTM is a Cloud Deployment Broker (CDB) that rapidly provisions

Build, Buy, or Partner: A Manager’s Guide to meeting new requirements and delivering new capabilities in the SaaS world

This is a guest post by Senthil Venkatachalam, a Subject Matter Expert in product management, managed services, and cybersecurity solutions. The rapidly emerging and evolving cloud-solutions landscape is dramatically changing the Information Technology business. Shrink-wrapped software is no longer bundled into a CD or DVD and shipped to a customer for installation within the data centers. Software developers must now learn IT hosting, operations and cybersecurity engineering. As businesses try and make sense of these changes, Business and technical managers are often faced with a trilemma [1] when trying to satisfy changing customer demand and preferences: Should we develop the new services ourselves (build), integrate with an existing solution in the market (partner), or buy a company/department/group to get this capability (buy)? You can see where I am going with this; it is a classic product management decision that affects most technology products and solutions. It is also a strategic

Security penetration testing of mobile applications

Since the turn of the decade, smartphones and smartphone application have started beating out traditional forms of computing in terms of market

Magento releases urgent security patches for leading eCommerce package

Magento announced an urgent update to its Enterprise and Community Editions 2.0.4 to address urgent security issues. Users running Magento Enterprise Edition or Community Edition 2.0.3, are requested to replace it with the new version to ensure that all security enhancements are applied. Magento Enterprise Edition and Community Edition 2.0.4 can be downloaded in the following ways: Enterprise Edition Enterprise Edition 2.0.4 (New .zip file installations) My Account > Downloads > Magento Enterprise Edition 2.X > Magento Enterprise Edition 2.x Release > Version 2.0.4 Enterprise Edition 2.0.4 (New composer installations) http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/install-gde/prereq/integrator_install.html Enterprise Edition 2.0.4 (Composer upgrades) http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/comp-mgr/bk-compman-upgrade-guide.html Community Edition Community Edition 2.0.4 (New .zip file installations) Community Edition Download Page > Download Tab Community Edition 2.0.4 (New composer installations) http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/install-gde/prereq/integrator_install.html Community Edition 2.0.4 (Composer upgrades) http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/comp-mgr/bk-compman-upgrade-guide.html Community Edition 2.0.4 (Developers contributing to the CE code base) http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/install-gde/install/cli/dev_options.html About stackArmor stackArmor provides fully hosted and managed Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted Magento

Healthcare Cybersecurity in Focus

The IT Security, and Healthcare sectors are all abuzz over the recent MedStar attack, especially in light of the earlier attacks on two other medical facilities in California and Kentucky, additionally the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on over 300 security incidents faced by the Healthcare.gov portal. But what do these attacks highlight? One’s immediate reaction might be simply “better security,” and most people think of access controls when they think of IT security, that confidentiality element of the security triad, but there is more to it than that. Technical security controls definitely need to be in place, but so do operational activities such as system backups and the procedures for restoring a system with as little downtime as possible. Organizations should regularly test the backup and recovery systems and procedures by conducting contingency exercises that actually require personnel to follow the procedures. Such exercises identify

Cloud Security Best Practices and Common Errors – stackArmor White Paper

Migrating to a cloud platform is a business necessity mandated by the need to be agile and deliver digital services in a hyper-competitive environment. However, it is critical to ensure that security issues are given due consideration. Gartner estimates that by 2020, 95% of cloud breaches will not be caused by vulnerabilities at the cloud provider but by configuration problems, mismanagement of credentials or insider issues at the enterprise using the cloud. The onus is on YOU to ensure you stay secure in the Cloud. Have you made the move to the cloud or are you on the verge of doing so? If yes, you are probably asking yourself questions like: How to ensure that your data and your application is secure? Can you design a full-stack security architecture? Would real-life examples of others who have gone this route help you? Will a robust Compliance program be difficult to put

Is your business ready for the coming Cybersecurity Tsunami?

Cybersecurity related regulatory changes are quietly but surely building a tsunami that is going impact every business that conducts transactions online or hosts customer or sensitive data. As the number of data breaches have continued to soar and capture daily headlines, the regulators and lawmakers are forcing changes that will have a significant cost for large and small businesses that ignore the importance of incorporating cybersecurity best practices. This blog is designed to help business leadership with understanding: changes occurring in the regulatory landscape, impacts on businesses conducting transactions online and offers a prescriptive approach to attacking and solving the problem. Changing Regulatory and Legal Landscape The past few months have had a stream of non-stop news about high-profile data breaches that have drawn the spotlight on cybersecurity practices across large parts of the US economy. Regulators both at the state and federal level have taken note and have started

A Chat About SaaS Security and AWS Security Best Practices at AWS Boston MA Meetup

This is a guest post by Gaurav “GP” Pal, CEO at stackArmor I recently had an opportunity to present at the Boston AWS Boston Meetup on a topic that’s been in my sights for a while now – “State of SaaS Security, Common mistakes and AWS Security Best Practices”. The entire presentation is up at the Slideshare link at the end of this post. Why should we care about SaaS security? More businesses are moving online than ever before. Statista reported that the annual revenue from the public cloud would go up from $80 billion last year, to $116 Billion in 2016. More businesses are rolling out SaaS-based offerings every day. So much so that IDC predicts as many as 27.8% of ALL enterprise applications will be SaaS-based by 2018. With so much business data moving to the cloud – what about security? Well, identity protection vendor CSID reported recently

8 Habits of Secure Cloud Operators

More and more businesses are migrating their applications to the cloud. A recent report pegs the market at $23 billion annually. As more businesses migrate to the cloud, it is important to ensure the security and protection of the data and applications. However, Cloud Security still remains among the main concerns for business leaders when migrating to a cloud platform. According to a study conducted by SecureData, 78 percent of IT managers cited security concerns as the No. 1 obstacle to adopting cloud technologies. Cloud security is not automatic and requires a deep understanding of networking, boundary protection, enclave hardening and robust operational processes. Based on our collective experience of migrating large applications for Government, Financial Services, Healthcare and security conscious customers, here are 8 effective security practices that can help you secure your cloud environment. #1 SSL Certificates SSL is an encryption technology that encrypts the private information while it’s

TIC Connectivity and FedRAMP High – Is Cloud Nirvana near?

GSA’s FedRAMP PMO has been continually evolving the compliance framework for driving the wider adoption of commercial cloud services. Last year, they released for public comment the TIC Overlay initiative as well as the FedRAMP High baseline. Both of these are critical to enhanced cloud adoption and helping Federal customers solve some of the critical connectivity and security related concerns. TIC Overlay – Secure CloudBahn is here? The FedRAMP PMO and DHS TIC Program provided a DRAFT overlay for comment and feedback in helping update TIC’s current reference architecture to allow for greater flexibility as agencies move to the cloud securely. The goal of the TIC overlay is to enable mobile users to directly connect to Federal cloud system without having to go through a TIC Access Provider (TICAP) or Managed Trusted IP Service (MTIPS). The TIC Overlay program is a key “on-ramp” that creates a “TIC-ready” cloud platform providing