NETWORKING

If Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) didn’t exist, network administrators would have to manually parcel out IP addresses from the available pool, which would be prohibitively time consuming, inefficient, and error prone. Fortunately, DHCP does exist. What is DHCP and how does it work? DHCP is an under-the-covers mechanism that automates the assignment of IP addresses to fixed and mobile hosts that are connected wired or wirelessly. When a device wants access to a network…

This post is co-authored by Nipun Jain,Cisco Technical Marketing Engineer, IoT Business Unit     Take it to the limit! With this new DevNet sandbox you can get your hands on a real, IP67-rated, 5G router that’s fully modular and multi-access capable. It’s the Cisco Catalyst IR8140. You can deploy containerized applications leveraging its quad-core ARM CPU and even test the Wi-SUN and cellular interface! The IR8140 is powered by IOS XE and therefore you…

What is Randomized & Changing MAC (RCM) Historically wireless clients associate to the wireless network using the manufacturer assigned mac address that is associated with the wireless network interface card (NIC). This manufacturer-assigned mac address, which is globally unique, is also known as burn-in address (BIA). Use of this burn-in address everywhere raises the question of end-user privacy as the end-user can be tracked with WIFI’s mac address. In this document, this will be referred…

Reducing costs and downtime while increasing efficiencies are key benefits of implementing a Smart Water approach. But aging SCADA systems and security are often a hurdle to doing so. Add to that, funding limitations or a skills gap among workers, and operators of water utilities may decide to delay modernization. Thanks to the U.S. bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) there is a unique opportunity to address these areas of critical infrastructure by digitizing…

Even as businesses continue to make the move to Wi-Fi 6, standards bodies and contributor companies are hard at work creating Wi-Fi 7, or 802.11be, the next generation of Wi-Fi technology that promises even greater capabilities than the latest in unlicensed wireless tech. A combination of new technologies focused on efficient spectrum usage and the recent FCC decision to make a huge swath of the airwaves available to Wi-Fi will push Wi-Fi 7’s peak throughput…

Software-defined WANs (SD-WAN) are becoming key components of modern IT infrastructures. Because they use a centralized control function to securely direct network traffic over the Internet, they can deliver benefits such as increased application performance, better user experience and lower costs. SD-WAN technology simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling networking hardware from its control mechanism. As organizations look to support a hybrid workforce and cloud-native network architectures, SD-WAN infrastructure has become…

Cyberwarfare has been become a prominent aspect of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, but the basic infrastructure connecting both countries to the internet has remained largely unaffected, even as the Russian government may be considering imposing new limitations on access to its domestic networks. Russian network operators continue to participate in peering agreements with transit providers, meaning that the physical infrastructure connecting Russia to the internet at large is still completely intact, according to a…

While the concepts of beamforming have been around since the 1940s, the technology is currently playing a key role in improving modern wireless communication standards such as Wi-Fi and 5G. In combination with MU-MIMO technologies, beamforming helps users get more precise connections that boost their data speeds. What is beamforming? Beamforming is a technique that focuses a wireless signal towards a specific receiving device, rather than have the signal spread in all directions, like from…

Trend Overview  The Colonial Pipeline incident in the spring of 2021 changed every security conversation in midstream oil and gas. It prompted very disruptive security regulation from the TSA, affecting all midstream operators in the U.S., but it also created awareness in the whole energy industry that security is now a formal requirement. So what does compliance mean and what does “being secure” look like?  The primary principles of secure operations remain the same whether…

Trend Overview  In 2021, the Marsh report printed what many of us were starting to understand:  “The world’s leading mining companies are now unanimous in reporting that cyber threats are a principal risk to them achieving their goals.”Cyber Risk: Threats and Insurance Protection for the Mining Sector.  For the mining industry, security is now a principal requirement. So what does this mean and what does “being secure” look like?  The primary principles of secure operations remain…