Network test tools from Fluke, NETSCOUT and SignalTEK
Network testers are ideal for IDing bad cabling, helping to troubleshoot network issues, estimating cable lengths and determining cable rates. Here’s a look at three that can do the job and provide a range of features.
It’s not good enough to run cables and just hope they work, or simply say it’s all good if they provide a working network connection to the computer or device. You should double-check by testing or qualifying the cable runs before you call the job complete.
You should use a tester to check if all the cable pairs are intact and correctly wired and see if the cable can truly handle the data rates you desire. Network testers can also be a lifesaver when troubleshooting network issues or making changes to the wired network.
FCC repeals net neutrality amid criticism from politicians, startups
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to repeal Obama-era net neutrality regulations that guaranteed equal access to the Internet, a controversial reversal that drew swift rebuke by companies and politicians in the Bay Area, where many advocates for the rules said they counted on them to protect Internet users and foster the growth of startups.
Cisco and Google Find Mutual Interest in Cloud Computing
SAN FRANCISCO — Google and Cisco Systems, two trendsetters in different eras of the internet, are joining forces as the growth of cloud computing puts new pressure on big tech companies and leads to strange corporate bedfellows.
The Silicon Valley giants on Wednesday announced a collaboration to help companies manage software and technology services that may run in their own data centers or in facilities operated by external cloud services.
Google, the largest unit of its parent, Alphabet, hopes to benefit from Cisco’s close ties to corporate customers as the search engine giant tries to catch up to Amazon, the market leader in cloud services, and Microsoft.
Man’s DIY Internet Solution For Daughter Spreads Across Marin Coastal Town
DILLON BEACH (KPIX 5) — A man moved to coastal West Marin partly to disconnect from the rest of the world. But then his daughter came home and said, “Dad, I need high-speed internet for school.”
Big wireless companies didn’t offer service in the area, so he got a pricey fiber line.
One man’s DIY Internet service connects isolated Marin County hamlet
Brandt Kuykendall’s daughter needed fast Internet access to help her excel at school. But he couldn’t find cheap, reliable service that would connect their scenic yet secluded coastal Marin County home.
So Kuykendall taught himself how to create a high-speed wireless Internet service. In about a year and a half, Dillon Beach Internet Service has grown to connect about 145 homes, charging a flat $50 per month, with no equipment rental fees, taxes or installation charges.
Opinion: FCC needs to open airwaves so rural, tribal Americans have broadband access
We live with a stark digital divide in the US since a significant proportion of citizens cannot access high speed broadband. This impacts access to education and services, jobs, business opportunities, as well as reliable communication.
CounterTack Nabs $20M, Predicts More Demand After Trump Cyber Order
[Updated 5/30/17, 9:39 am. See below.] Cybersecurity firm CounterTack announced today it has expanded its coffers with a new $20 million funding round from investors. It could be good timing for the Waltham, MA-based company.
The recent WannaCry ransomware cyber attack and President Donald Trump’s executive order laying out federal cybersecurity priorities could spell new opportunities for cybersecurity companies to sell their products and services.
CounterTack rakes in $20 mln Series D
Waltham, Massachusetts-based CounterTack, a provider of real-time, big data endpoint detection and response technology for businesses, has secured $20 million in Series D funding. The investors included Singtel Innov8 and SAP National Security Services.
Fortune Term Sheet
Top Boston Tech Hires and M&A in May | Asimov Raises $4.7M
KG: Hi folks, today Dylan’s out on vacation, so Lucy and I will be hosting this edition of the Beat. If you like it, forward it.
KG: As we do at the end of every month, we publish a recap of the Boston tech startups that were acquired or shut down.
Lucy: May 2017 will be remembered as the month of major cybersecurity deals, with Microsoft reportedly buying Hexadite for $100M and CyberArk confirming it has acquired Conjur for $42M. One of the other big May deals was the private equity acquisition of SmartBear Software, which was reportedly sold for $410M. In the edtech arena, Quickhelp has been acquired by San Francisco startup Yup for an undisclosed amount.
Waltham cybersecurity firm CounterTack tacks on $20M from strategic investors
CounterTack Inc., a Waltham-based cybersecurity firm that has already raised more than $70 million from Goldman Sachs and others, announced Tuesday it has tacked on another $20 million in a Series D round of funding.
The latest round involves two new investors. It’s led by Singtel Innov8, the venture arm of Singapore telecom giant The Singtel Group, with participation from SAP National Security Services, a division of German software giant SAP (NYSE: SAP) that focuses on data and analytics technologies to benefit U.S. national security organizations.
Uber may tune into Spotify IPO
Fortune scribe Adam Lashinsky has a new book out out on Uber, and toward the end includes this anecdote from a private plane trip in China last summer:
“Kalanick loves nothing more than to bat around ideas, the zanier the better. He wonders aloud to Emil Michael, his top deal-maker and fund-raiser, if Uber could go public without investment bankers. Michael, a lawyer by training, suggests instead a reverse merger… Kalanick suggests using no bankers but giving 3% of the capital raised ― the fee bankers would have received ― to charity…
Armed robbers of the Internet
On Feb. 4, 2016, as employees left work to enjoy their weekends, the central bank of Bangladesh began firing off dozens of transfer orders to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, asking to remove money from its accounts — almost $1 billion.
Google’s and Intertrust’s new PatentShield helps startups fight patent litigation in return for equity
Google and Intertrust today announced the launch of PatentShield, a new program that aims to help defend startups from patent litigation — in return for a stake in those companies.
Google, Intertrust Launch Defensive Patent Program for Startups
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Intertrust Technologies Corporation have partnered in a program that lets startups access some of their patents to defend against litigation in exchange for equity in the up-and-coming companies.
Google and Intertrust launch PatentShield to protect startups from patent lawsuits
One of the biggest hurdles you can run into when starting a company is the issue of patents. Often larger companies don’t like the competition whether or not they actually have a patent on your technology. There’s right and wrong, but independent of the merit of a case brought against you, it doesn’t matter if you can’t defend yourself. Now Google and Intertrust are launching a new service called PatentShield that provides startups with access to a patent portfolio from contributing companies like Google, giving them a means of defending patent-based attacks with their own.
Google, Intertrust launch program to defend startups from patent lawsuits — in exchange for equity
Google and Intertrust on Tuesday launched a program to help startups protect themselves against patent litigation. In exchange, the startups will give up an equity stake.
Startups that join PatentShield, as the program is called, will receive ownership of a selection of patents from the Google and Intertrust portfolio, the companies said.
PatentShield is Google’s attempt at letting startups fight against patent litigations
The Tech Portal:
Patent litigations are drawn out and messy affairs. No company wants to be taken to courts regarding its patents. That is particularly true when you are a startup. Along the same, Google has announced the launch of PatentShield. As the name implies, this is something that will protect you from unnecessary patent litigations. However, you will have to part from some equity.
Chaos in the enterprise: How digital transformation drives agility, continuous development
To achieve digital transformation, new IT technologies, processes, applications, systems and protocols need to be adopted and updated on a regular basis
In today’s data-driven economy, consumer expectations for services anywhere, anytime have led to a need for organizations to become more agile and increase their speed of deliver exponentially. Gone are the days when product and service updates were delivered on a monthly basis, instead we have reached a point where an environment of continuous development is becoming required to meet the ever-evolving needs of users.
Read the article.
Mobile industry wants you to know it’s ready to take security seriously
The security industry had a fairly blunt message for the thousands of brands and attendees at the world’s largest mobile trade show this week:
Get your shit together.
Is your digital transformation strategy prepared for IoT?
Digital transformation (DX) is a trend that continues to sweep across industry sectors, supporting the shift from physical to digital assets and the adoption of new data-driven business models. Countless internet brands — including Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb and Uber — have already redefined business models in their respective industries, and organizations around the globe are moving towards new approaches to compete with these agile market entrants in order to meet the evolving needs of their customers.
Read the article by Michael Segal here.
Controlling Chaos: DevOps And Digital Transformation
Combined with DevOps, the rapid pace of digital service development creates challenges for enterprises.
Most enterprises have already begun shifting their strategies to align with their current environment, which leverages the value of data more than that of physical assets, and sees all industries increasingly powered by and reliant on digital information technology and processes. The fact that businesses have only begun to adapt is testament to the fluid and evolving nature of digital transformation. Multiple IT technologies, processes, applications, systems, and protocols need to be adopted and updated on a regular basis in order for businesses to keep abreast of changes. This does, of course, result in significant disruption for all involved.
Tech Awards Pick Biggest Hits From 15 Years Of Anti-Poverty Honorees
Great ideas are a dime a dozen. The question is: How do you get ’em to stick?
That’s the theme of this year’s Tech Awards. The annual program, hosted by The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., shines a spotlight on startups that use technology to make lives better in poor countries.
Read the article at NPR
Insights from the Tech Awards on ways to improve lives using technology
by Catherine Cheney
One night a year, leaders in the technology and innovation sector gather for what some call the Oscars of Silicon Valley, where in a glamorous setting they turn their attention to the importance of not so glamorous technologies.
Launched in 2000, The Tech Awards is a program of the Tech Museum of Innovation, located in San Jose, California. This year was a retrospective of the past 15 years was recognizing technology that benefits humanity. Devex spoke with some of the leaders gathered about the ways innovation can improve lives in low resource settings.
Read the article by Catherine Cheney
Stand-alone servers are alone no more
Hyper-converged infrastructure has shaken up the server market, and stand-alone servers are certainly on “Treacherous Ground.” The stand-alone server has been replaced by integrated appliances faster than it took you to read this sentence. And recent trends show that more bundling and integration is the future of data center hardware.
Bain Capital Ventures funds Cloudistics
Reston, Virginia-based Cloudistics, a provider of a superconverged enterprise cloud platform, announced that it has raised $15 million in Series A funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round. Ben Nye, managing director at Bain Capital Ventures, will join the company board as a result of the funding. The company was previously self-funded by the co-founders.
Brocade Agrees to Buy Ruckus Wireless for $1.2 Billion
Brocade’s shares fall, while Ruckus stock surges
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. agreed to buy Ruckus Wireless for about $1.2 billion, the latest in a series of moves by network-equipment companies to expand their Wi-Fi offerings.
Read the article in the Wall Street Journal
Who really hacked Sony? Cybersecurity researchers say they finally know
A group they’ve dubbed “Lazarus Group” is well organized and tied to numerous other attacks on governments, banks, and military institutions in the US and South Korea since 2009.
By Jack Detsch, Staff writer
February 24, 2016
More than a year after the devastating Sony Pictures hack, a trio of cybersecurity firms claim to have pinpointed the culprits behind the breach that rattled Hollywood and invigorated President Obama’s cybersecurity agenda.