Only 29 Percent of Respondents Confident in Ability to Moderate DDoS Impact, According to New Study Conducted by the Ponemon Institute

A10 Networks(NYSE: ATEN) today unveiled findings of a new study demonstrating that global communications service providers, whose businesses are predicated on continuous availability and reliable service levels, are struggling to fend off a growing number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against their networks. A lack of timely and actionable intelligence is seen as a major obstacle to DDoS protection, according to the study.

The A10 Networks study conducted by the Ponemon Institute highlights the critical need for DDoS protection that provides higher levels of scalability, intelligence integration, and automation. Some 325 IT and security professionals at ISPs, mobile carriers and cloud service providers participated in the survey.

According to the report, entitled “The State of DDoS Attacks Against Communications Service Providers,”these service providers have major concerns with DDoS resilience readiness with only 29 percent of respondents confident in their ability to launch appropriate measures to moderate attacks. DDoS attacks targeting the network layer are the most common form of attack—and the most dangerous to their business, according to respondents. These attacks flood the network with traffic to starve out legitimate requests and render service unavailable. As a result, service providers say they face a variety of consequences, the most serious being end-user and IT staff productivity losses, revenue losses and customer turnover.

85 percent of survey respondents expect DDoS attacks to either increase (54 percent) or remain at the same high levels (31 percent). Most service providers do not rate themselves highly in either prevention or detection of attacks. Just 34 percent grade themselves as effective or highly effective in prevention; 39 percent grade themselves as effective or highly effective in detection.

The DDoS intelligence gap was highlighted by a number of survey findings:

• Lack of actionable intelligence was cited as the number-one barrier to preventing DDoS attacks, followed by insufficient personnel and expertise, and inadequate technologies.
• Out-of-date intelligence, which is too stale to be actionable, was cited as the leading intelligence problem, followed by inaccurate information, and a lack of integration between intelligence sources and security measures.
• Solutions that provide actionable intelligence were seen as the most effective way to defend against attacks.
• The most important features in DDoS protection solutions were identified as scalability, integration of DDoS protection with cyber intelligence, and the ability to integrate analytics and automation to improve visibility and precision in intelligence gathering.
• Communications service providers who rated their DDoS defense capabilities highly were more likely to have sound intelligence into global botnets and weapon locations.

“Communications service providers are right, both in their expectations for increased attacks and about their need for better intelligence to prevent them,” said Gunter Reiss, vice president, marketing at A10 Networks. “The continuing proliferation of connected devices and the coming 5G networks will only increase the potential size and ferocity of botnets aimed at service providers. To better prepare, providers will need deeper insights into the identities of these attack networks and where the weapons are located. They also need actionable intelligence that integrates with their security systems and the capacity to automate their response.”

At the same time, many service providers see DDoS protection as a managed service as a significant business opportunity, with a majority (66 percent) of providers saying they were either delivering DDoS scrubbing services or planning to do so. However, the high cost of delivering these services using legacy solutions and making them profitable was seen as a major impediment. Service providers are being forced to find modern approaches that can scale defense in a profitable way.

Other key findings include:

• DDoS is seen as the most difficult type of cyber attack to deter, prevent and contain.
• Cybercriminals who use DDoS attacks to extort money are considered the biggest risk to service providers, followed by those who use DDoS attacks as a smoke screen for some other cyber attack.
• The network is significantly more likely to be attacked than other layers of a service provider’s infrastructure, such as the application and device layers.
• A majority of respondents say they do not have actionable intelligence into DDoS-for-hire botnets or DDoS weapon locations around the world to help them protect their networks.

Survey Methodology

In partnership with A10 Networks, the Ponemon Institute conducted a survey of 325 IT and IT security practitioners in the U.S. who work for internet service providers, mobile or cloud service providers and are familiar with their organizations’ defenses against DDoS.

Digital competencies have become vital to achieving business goals, according to new research by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In Benchmarking competencies for digital performance,commissioned by Riverbed, 83% of UAE respondents see digital competencies as being either very or extremely important in achieving, among other things, organisational agility, employee satisfaction, and talent acquisition.

The survey uncovers a shared awareness among businesses that digital transformation is necessary to achieve their goals and remain competitive. Yet, 64% of UAE organisations say they are struggling to achieve these important goals because they lack digital competencies, which is higher than organisations in North America (54%) and EMEA (56%). In particular, 74% of UAE respondents say that their digital-competency gaps have negatively affected user experience.

The central importance that companies place on improved digital competency appears to be driven by the fact that the majority of businesses that do so are achieving meaningful results. 76% of UAE organisations surveyed report measurable benefits from their digital strategies.

In terms of overcoming this capability gap, the IT function plays a pivotal role. Businesses are aware that IT must be agile, as 72% cite digital product and service innovation as their top digital competency for achieving their goals, with digital workplace transformation and digital talent recruitment, retention and management tying for second in this priority list at 66%. In addition, enabling greater communication and collaboration between IT and the rest of the organisation (where digital competencies may be scarce) can significantly improve digital performance and user experience.

Globally, high performers believe a continual focus is also vital, with 74% of them keen to improving all digital competencies, compared with 80% of all UAE respondents, indicating a potentially greater scope for enhancement of digital competencies in the Emirates. Unlike other respondents, high performers also use a wider approach to developing digital competencies, including establishing a cross-functional digital competency centre of excellence and/or appointing a Chief Digital Officer (CDO).

Robert Powell, Editorial Director of EIU Thought Leadership (Americas), says: “The study shows a clear consensus among respondents that improving digital competency is vital for boosting organisational performance, even if some are not yet witnessing the results. Nevertheless, among the highest performing, the lessons are clear—do not hesitate, encourage internal collaboration, and, even if you feel ahead of your competition, never stop looking over your shoulder.”

Elie Dib, Regional Vice President, EMEA Emerging Markets, at Riverbed said, “Based on the findings of the EIU survey, there is a call to action for enterprises in the region to invest in digital competencies to ensure the long-term success of their business transformation efforts. A mix of initiatives that include employee trainings, adoption of DevOps, allocation of resources focused on driving digital transformation projects across the organisation and the establishment of dedicated centres focused on fostering these competencies will go a long way in enhancing employee productivity, building better digital experiences for customers and consequently improving the bottom line.”

Updated pocket cinema brings 720p HD picture, bigger sound & 3600+ apps

Anker Innovations reveals Nebula Capsule II, its next generation pocket cinema in the region. Available in the same compact and soda-can inspired design as its predecessor, it hosts new capabilities including Android TV, Google Assistant, HD picture quality and improved audio.

Nebula Capsule is perfect for consumers who want to enjoy their favorite video apps on the go on a bigger screen as Capsule II increases the number of options now powered by Android TV which brings great content to you, so you spend less time browsing and more time watching. Just pick from the personalized recommendations on Google Play, YouTube, Hulu Plus or apps that appear automatically in your home screen.

Additionally, Android TV now comes with your Google Assistant built in. Just say “OK Google,” or press the mic button on your remote to quickly find the latest blockbuster, check the score of the big game, or dim the lights, without leaving your sofa.

Nebula Capsule’s sleek, black cylindrical body measures in at 5.9 inches high and can be easily transported in the included carrying sleeve. Capsule II is now able to project a 720p image at 200 ANSI lumens and provides 3-hours of video playtime or 30 hours of Bluetooth speaker on a single charge.

Leveraging Anker’s Power Delivery technology, Capsule II can charge to full power in 2.5 hours via USB-C. Capsule II offers owners an advanced entertainment experience, anytime, anywhere.

The building sector contributes an estimated 40% of global CO2 emissions; WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment aims to reduce carbon footprint of the built environment

In a bid to curtail the global temperature rise to within the 1.5°C to 2.0°C target set by the historic Paris Agreement at COP 21, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has established its ‘Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment’. AESG today announced that it has joined the elite group of 51 signatories – which includes 23 cities, 6 states and regions, and 19 businesses and organizations across the globe – that have demonstrated their support for this commitment.

The importance of committing to a net zero economy is highlighted in the latest IPCC report on the impacts of global warming, published October 2018. The impact of a 1.5°C to 2.0°C increase includes the loss of 70-90% of coral reefs, the extinction of a number of terrestrial and marine species, increased extreme weather events, and droughts and flooding that will impact up to 79 million people worldwide.

The building sector is estimated to contribute upwards of 40% of global CO2 emissions which promotes the urgent need for the net zero[1] approach in the sector. As a signatory, AESG has committed to ensuring its offices operate at net zero energy consumption by 2030. Furthermore, through the wider reach of its projects, the company has the potential to positively impact thousands of buildings worldwide, furthering the net zero agenda and contributing towards a more sustainable future.

“We hope that in providing a pathway to net zero on all of our projects, we will be able to help stimulate the transition to decarbonising the global economy in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Change agreement,” said Saeed Al Abbar, Managing Director at AESG. “We are proud of our latest partnership with the WorldGBC and commend them on this initiative. Achieving the goals of this commitment will require close coordination between public and private entities and the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment provides the ideal platform to facilitate this engagement.”

The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment has been developed in partnership with a wide stakeholder group including Green Buildings Councils, The Climate Group and C40. Other prominent signatories of the commitment include the cities of New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, as well as the Majid Al Futtaim property development group in the Middle East.

Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council stated, “We are inspired by the leadership action demonstrated by the early signatories to the Commitment. Reaching this significant milestone of over 50 signatories demonstrates that businesses are recognising the value net zero buildings present to their operations; and policymakers are acting on the responsibility to their citizens to provide more efficient and healthier buildings for us to occupy every day. Our Green Building Councils are supporting their members to better understand how these targets can be applied in practice, and respond to the climate emergency facing us.”

[1] The WorldGBC definition of a net zero carbon building is one that is highly energy efficient and fully powered from on-site and/or off-site renewable energy sources

Xworks Interiors LLC is now the only organization in the region to have successfully achieved Gold level certification in both the LEED and WELL standards

In a demonstration of its commitment to the human-centric design approach,Xworks Interiors LLC, a Dubai-based interior company specialised in commercial interiors, commercial fit outs and office furniture, has become the first company in the Middle East to achieve the WELL™ Gold accreditation for their new offices. The certification – made possible by the expertise and support of AESG, a world leading Specialist Consulting, Engineering and Advisory firm- recognizes the design elements, policies and investments that Xworks Interiors LLC has made to ensure its Dubai-based headquarters improves the health and well-being of employees.

WELL is a performance-based system for measuring and certifying features of the built environment that impact human comfort and wellness, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. WELL is administered by the International WELL Building Institute®(IWBI®), a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and well-being through the built environment.

“Xworks Interiors LLC’s competitive differentiator as an interior contracting company has always been our unmatched value and expertise. Being the only organization in the region to achieve Gold level certification in both the LEED and WELL standards, is validation of our commitment to advancing interior design through the incorporation of international standards and best practices,” explained Soren Kraen, Executive Director and owner at Xworks Interiors LLC.

Unlike many other green building certification schemes, WELL is a performance-based rating, assessing the actual performance of the space post-occupancy prior to certification. This reduces the performance gap between design, construction and operation and ensures correct application and implementation of health and well-being features. While a performance-based rating provides a more robust assessment, it also poses additional challenges. AESG effectively addressed these challenges through comprehensive monitoring and testing during the construction and handover stages, identifying any risks to non-compliance and providing mitigation and remediation measures to assure the attainment of the desired certification level.

AESG worked to incorporate several innovative design features in the Xworks office, many of which are first in the region. Extensive daylight modelling of the office has ensured that all workstations are optimized to take in natural light. The office is furnished with economical, environmentally friendly Danish furniture, such as sit-stand desks, which contributes to high levels of indoor air quality and appealing aesthetics. AESG also executed comprehensive air and water quality testing to ensure the office’s compliance with the IWBI’s strict thresholds.

In addition to design and construction features, WELL considers operational policies and procedures as part of the certification scheme. This unique approach requires “out-of-the-box” thinking to apply the requirements of WELL features within the context of the project. Through a practical and proactive approach, AESG provided clear advice and guidance on the development of operational policies that would enhance the well-being of employees, while remaining within the constraints of the clients’ operations. These policies included the provision of sit-stand desks; having the freedom of selecting their own chairs; offering employees a 50% subsidy on Fitbit activity trackers and organizing intra-office competitions to encourage employees to stay fit while also fostering a healthy level of camaraderie and competition in the office.

Other examples of innovative measures that AESG introduced into the project include the provision of longer maternity and paternity leave for Xworks Interiors LLC’s employees, childcare subsidy vouchers, dedicated time off for volunteering and regular employee well-being surveys.

Building on its established track record as the region’s leading specialist consultancy, AESG are pleased to now be leading the field within the Health and Well-being sector. “We are proud to be the first consultancy to achieve WELL Gold certification in the Middle East,” said Saeed Al Abbar, Director at AESG who is confident that the number of WELL accredited facilities in the region is set to grow at an exponential rate.

“This approach is especially beneficial in the Middle East, where people spend the majority of their time indoors. The biggest asset to any organisation is its employees and therefore providing a working environment that is conducive to improved physical and mental health, cognitive function, productive as well as morale is a win-win for companies, employees and the wider community.” he added.

Author: Dave Russell, Vice President, Enterprise Strategy at Veeam

We all know that software and infrastructure don’t typically go away in the data center. You very rarely decommission something and bring in all new gear or stop the application to completely transition over to something else. Everyone’s in some sort of hybrid state. Some think that they’re transitioning, and many hopefully even have a plan for this.

Some of these changes are bigger, take longer, and you almost need to try them and experience them to have success in order to proceed. I’ve heard people say, “Well, we’re going to get around to doing X, Y, and Z.” But they are often lacking a sense of urgency to experiment early.

A major contributor to this type of procrastination is that changes that appear to be far off, arrive suddenly. The closing speed of transformation is the issue. Seldom do you have the luxury of time; but early on you are seldom compelled to decide. You don’t sense the urgency.

It is not in your best interest to say, “We’re just going to try to manage what we’ve got, because we’re really busy. We’ll get to that when we can.” Because then, boom, you’re unprepared for when you really need to actually get going on something.

A perfect example is the impact of the cloud on every business and every IT department. The big challenge is that organizations know they should be doing something today but are still struggling with exactly what to do. In terms of a full cloud strategy, it’s oftentimes very disaggregated. And while we’re going on roughly a decade in the cloud-era, as an industry overall, we’re still really in the infancy of having a complete cloud strategy.

In December of last year, when I asked people, “What’s your cloud strategy? Do you have one? Are you formulating one?” The answer was unfortunately the same response that they’ve been giving for the last eight years… “Next year.” The problem is that this is next year, and they are still in the same state.

When it comes to identifying a cloud strategy, a big challenge for IT departments and CIOs is that it used to be easy to peer into the future because the past was fairly predictable — whether it was the technology in data centers, the transformation that was happening, the upgrade cycle, or the movement from one platform to another. The way you had fundamentally been doing something in the past wasn’t changing with the future. Nor did it require radically different thinking. And it likely did not require a series of conversations across all of IT, and the business as well.

But when it comes to the cloud, we’re dealing with a fundamental transformation in the ways that businesses operate when it comes to IT: compute, storage, backup, all of these are impacted.

Which means organizations working on a cloud strategy have little, to no historical game plan to refer to. Nothing they can fall back on for a reference. The approach of, “Well this is what we did in the past, so let’s apply that to the future,” no longer applies. Knowing what you have, knowing what your resources are, and knowing what to expect are not typically well understood with regards to a complete cloud transformation. In part, this is because the business is often transforming, or seeking to become more digital, at the same time.

With the cloud, you often have limited, or isolated experiences. You have people who are trying to make business decisions that have never been faced with these issues, in this way, before.

Moving to absolute virtualization and a hybrid, multi-cloud deployment means that when it comes time to set a strategy you have a series of questions that need to be answered:

• Do you understand what infrastructure resources are going to be required? No.
• Do you understand what skills are going to be needed from your people? No.
• Do you know how much budget to allocate with clarity, today, and over time? No.
• Do you know what technologies are going to impact your business immediately, and in the near-term future? No.

Okay, go ahead and make a strategy now based on the information you just gave me, four No answers in a row. That’s pretty scary.

On top of this, data center people tend to be very risk averse by design. There’s a paralysis that creeps in. “Well, we’re not sure how we should get started.” And people just stay in pause mode. That’s part of why we see Shadow IT or Rogue IT. Someone says, “Well, I’m going to go out and I’m just going to get my own SaaS-based license for some capability that I’m looking for, because the IT department says they’re investigating it.”

Typically, what happens is the IT department is trying to figure that out, trying to get a strategy, investigate the request. But in the meantime, they say, “No.” Now the IT becomes the department of “no” and is not being perceived as being helpful.

To address this issue head on, you need to apply an engineering mindset. Meaning, that you learn more about a problem by trying to solve it. In absence of having a great reference base, with something that can easily be compared to, we should at least get going on what is visible to us, and that looks to be achievable in the short term.

An excellent example in the software as a service (SaaS) world is Microsoft Office 365. Getting the on-premises IT people participating in this can still be a challenge. As the SaaS solutions start to become more and more implemented, they’re sometimes happening outside of the purview of what goes on in the data center. This can lead to security, pricing and performance and Availability issues.

Percolate that up, what’s the effect of that? What does that actually mean? It means that the worst-case scenario is you’ve got an outcome of where the infrastructure operations people are increasingly viewed as less and less strategic going forward, because if you take this out to the extreme, you’ll end up being custodians of legacy implementations and older solutions. All while numerous other projects are being championed, piloted, put in to production and ultimately owned, by somebody else; perhaps a line of business that is outside of IT.

That’s where you see CIOs self-report that they think more than 29% of their IT spending is happening outside of their purview. If you think about that, that’s concerning. You’re the Chief Information Officer (CIO). You should know pretty close to 100% of what’s going on as it relates to IT. If your belief is that approaching a third of IT spending happens elsewhere, outside of your control, and that this outside spending is not really an issue, then what are you centralizing? What are you the Chief of, if this trend continues?”

The previous way of developing a strategic IT plan worked well in the past when you had an abundance of time. But that is no longer the case. Transformation is happening all around us and inside of each organization. You can’t continue to defer decisions. IT is now a critical part of the business; every organization has become digital and the cloud is touching everything. It is time to step up, work with vendors you trust, and move boldly to the cloud.

By K.S. Parag Managing Director, FVC

Enterprise technology is a booming industry and companies are creating software and hardware that better meets the needs of their customers and solves the problems they face. But the industry isn’t without its problems.

Enterprise technology as an industry faces many issues that are threatening the success of new software and new businesses. From cloud to customer demands, some of the biggest challenges in enterprise technology right now includes outdated UI/UX, mixing cloud and on-premise services, standing out of the crowd, following consumer technologies, catering to one customer, balancing feedback and focus, and lots more.

In such a scenario, companies often turn to their solution providers and partners for solutions to their key problems. Thus, your team as a channel partner has to come up with answers that are flexible and as per the requirement of the situation. You also have to give your team some leeway where, in the interest of your company’s reputation, they would be able to serve your customers better.

Customer service in today’s world is an essential part of a company. With the increasing competition in all industries, the challenge is to deliver high-quality solutions accompanied by great customer service. However, this task is not a piece of cake.

Here are some suggestions on how you, as a channel partner can efficiently address challenges faced by your customers:

Understand Your Customer’s Expectations

The first and possibly the biggest challenge is to understand the diverse and constantly changing customer expectations. Since customers can be diverse by gender, race, age, generation, and so on, it is very critical to speak to your customers to understand their specific problems. Always approach them with a “no one size fits all” strategy. It is important for a business to get to know its clients, customers, and consumers. Find out their needs, expectations, preferences, opinions, and suggestions for improvement.

Reach Out to Your Customers

Researching and gathering data about your customers is paramount to solving their problems. There are plenty of ways to advertise and get through the customers. Use a mix of print media, radio, television, phones, email, social media and of course, face-to-face campaigns to reach out to your customers. Indulge in surveys, competitions and so on to gather information about your customers’ pain points, so you are better prepared to address those problems. Implementation of a customer feedback service and gathering data from customers will help you understand and work towards better customer experience.

Consistency

Consistency is probably the most difficult challenge to achieve. Great customer service must be delivered to all customers, across all business channels, 24/7. Each and every experience of each and every customer must be equally good. What affects customer satisfaction are cumulative experiences across multiple touch points and in multiple channels over time. Hence, consistency can be achieved by having clear-cut policies on delivering great customer service.

Exceed Customer Expectations

As a channel partner, it is not just enough to meet your customer’s expectations. The fact that these expectations are constantly changing, you must then be always a step ahead. You need to understand that the expectations of customers are set by your competitors. Stay ahead of the competition by being updated with new initiatives and suggestions based on customer feedbacks and current industry trends.

Employ Skilled Professionals

Having a skilled workforce is the best thing a channel partner could ever have. However, you also need to understand that though hiring skilled employees is one thing, retaining them is another. Companies must have structured programs to teach and train new hires about company policies, values, culture and practices in dealing with customers. Additionally, considering that customer service is one of the most stressful jobs, companies must also provide benefits that offer work-life balance and support lifestyle activities that can reduce stress and boost productivity.