F5 Networks

The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, recently announced that they are launching (Q4 of 2011) a publicly accessible registry that will document the security controls provided by various cloud computing offerings.  The idea is to encourage transparency of security practices within cloud providers and help users evaluate and determine the security of their current cloud provider or a provider they are considering.  The service will be free. CSA STAR (Security, Trust and Assurance Registry) is open to all cloud providers whether they offer SaaS, PaaS or IaaS and allows them to submit self assessment reports that document compliance in relation to the CSA published best practices.  The CSA says that the searchable registry will allow p... (more)

HTML5 Going Like Gangbusters But Will Anyone Notice?

HTML5 will certainly have an impact on web applications, but not nearly as much as hoped on the mobile application market There’s a war on the horizon. But despite appearances, it’s a war for interactive web application dominance, and not one that’s likely to impact very heavily the war between mobile and web applications. First we have a report by ABI Research indicating a surge in the support of HTML5 on mobile devices indicating substantially impressive growth over the next five years. More than 2.1 billion mobile devices will have HTML5 browsers by 2016, up from just 109 mil... (more)

What Do You Really Need?

When you go to buy a house, everyone would love to look into the ten million dollar mansion on the hill, but when making such a significant investment as a house, we control our desire to see outrageous, and look at what ever it is that we, given our income and outgo, can afford to pay for – be it pay for in cash or pay for every month for the next thirty years. The process to determine what type of house we want is pretty simple. So simple in fact that some of it happens subconsciously. “How many bedrooms are required for our family” is generally the first question, modified by ... (more)

Now It's Time for Efficiency Gains in the Network

One of the things that F5 has been trying to do since before I came to the company is reach out to developers. Some of the devices in your network could be effective AppDev tools if utilized to their full extent, and indeed, I’ve helped companies develop tools utilizing iControl that give application managers control over their entire environment – from VMs to ADCs. While it is a struggle for any network device company to communicate with developers, I think it is cool that F5 continues to do so. But increasingly, the Network is the place you need to go when attempting to addres... (more)

Application Security in the Cloud with BIG-IP ASM

Application threats are constantly evolving. Recent high-profile Internet attacks on organizations like HBGary, RSA, WikiLeaks, Google, Comodo, and others prove that no one is immune. Anyone could be a target, and perpetrators are extremely organized, skilled, and well-funded. Culprits are often better trained than the IT staff deployed to thwart the attacks, which are targeted, elaborate, and aggressive—not to mention creative. The attacks are multi-layered and constant, and seek not only to deface a website, but to steal valuable data. Customer data, intellectual property, st... (more)