And you thought WhatsApp was safe?

All you friends, relatives and well-wishers telling me to install whatsapp... Howzzzhaaat? ;)

Decompilation of Android APK

In case you people don't understand, MOST, if not all mobile applications require 'nearly' GOD level access to your phone. OK, I'll be kind this one time... because, I see  you frown... :D

Get the picture? ;))

Your so-called "smart"phone has SMS/MMS, Phonebook, Contacts, Camera (with photos / videos and god knows what else)... Email, notes, oh whatsapp!

Same goes for viber, truecaller and other junk called 'apps'. A good application should be 'free' without spying or screwing with your Android or iOS. The companies are NOT paying to get your information (privacy) and they are NOT paying for you to sign up and get screwed... Does it hurt? Bitch!

This is a RANT, if you haven't figured it out by now

Think twice about installing an application, next time... And you better listen to me when I talk!

Peace Out!

Firemon - Security Intelligence Platform (For Networks)

Disclaimer: Normally, I don't write about products or promote anything. This is NOT an endorsement or a promotion for Firemon and/or VMTurbo. The opinions and views scribbled herein must be taken with a grain of salt. My company is strictly vendor neutral !

Firemon - Company Overview

Consider this to be my notes from the session I attended at JW Marriott, Bangalore. 

Product: Appliance
Based on Cent OS 64-bit
DB Used: Postgres 64-bit
Licensing: Depends on Application Server and Number of Devices Required
Enables continual monitoring and understanding of Network Devices for Change, Risk and Compliance

Swag / Product information on Firemon

I had the opportunity to attend a session presented by James Frost, of Firemon EMEA team. Obviously he answered a few of my sensible questions. They gave away some cool swag. You (you as a reseller) are in business because you can do something better and more efficiently than your customer can do it. And you keep your customers because you can prove it. So, when it comes to managing firewalls, don’t just tell your customers that their firewalls are managed correctly. Show them with firemon!

Perks of being strong :D

The limitation of Firemon vs. a traditional SIM / SIEM is the scope of log aggregation and correlation that can be done (limited to Firewalls / Network Devices). Also, Firemon does NOT push policies or modify policies back to the firewall because, most vendors have no API support or Closed API. They plan to integrate Firemon with VMWare vShield which is opening up the debate of SDN (Software Defined Networks), which requires a separate post. With that said, its only fair to mention this product has a considerable edge over other firewall management products taking in to note the client's network context and covering change (in accordance with ITIL), risks and pre-emptive measures for managing change in an enterprise!

Check out their article on Enterprise Monitoring

One would relate this to VMTurbo (For VMWare - Virtualization) as vmturbo shows similar traits in pro-active monitoring and automating a lot of significant datacenter tasks. Not an apple to apple comparison per se, but NEW Products like Firemon and VMTurbo deserve a place in the enterprise where speed, automation and scalability need to be balanced by the IT Manager, productively using his costly IT resources to do other tasks at hand instead of closing tickets on a daily basis for Virtualization / Security.

Check out Firemon @ http://www.firemon.com
Check out VMTurbo @ http://www.vmturbo.com

Cheers,
Kish