Andreas M. Antonopoulos

The definitive bitcoin book for developers, published by the leading technical publisher. A comprehensive overview of the technology behind bitcoin, providing a guide to the complex technology of cryptographic consensus networks and de-centralized digital currency.

Desktops and servers are being transformed by virtualization and multi-core CPUs, but that effect is a bit harder to see in security. Multi-core CPUs especially hold the possibility of completely transforming how and where we do security. One of the effects is to shift more of the security functions into the network. Another may be to radically change the software architecture within and across security appliances.

Weekly opinion column on security, identity and risk, published for three years and syndicated many times worldwide.

Every time there's a recession, crime goes up. Even good people will make poor decisions under economic pressure. From a security professional's point of view, recessions are a time of higher risk.

Security preparedness favors the operational over the technological and the generic over the specific. The emphasis on operational security means more skilled people and fewer shiny appliances. The emphasis on the generic means more broad security controls (encryption, authentication, audit and monitoring) rather than specific silver bullets (anti-X). Uncertainty makes us uncomfortable but in fact is an ally – the less we focus on specific threats and the more we accept uncertainty, the better… Show more

Security preparedness favors the operational over the technological and the generic over the specific. The emphasis on operational security means more skilled people and fewer shiny appliances. The emphasis on the generic means more broad security controls (encryption, authentication, audit and monitoring) rather than specific silver bullets (anti-X). Uncertainty makes us uncomfortable but in fact is an ally – the less we focus on specific threats and the more we accept uncertainty, the better we can prepare for new threats. Show less

Easy credit is not a benefit, it’s a bug.

[This article seems quite prescient in hindsight as it was at the very beginning of the depression]

A popular expression in security circles is to equate critical company intellectual property with the crown jewels. That comparison is apt in more ways than one. I’ve visited the Tower of London and the crown jewels. The crown jewels are protected by many layers of security, but the truth is that they make very poor targets for theft because they are far too distinctive to fence. To sell such items, a thief would have to take great risks and heavy discounts.

Real estate mavens will endlessly repeat the three criteria for a property: location, location, location. Data centers are real estate, too, so what are the three most important criteria for the data center?

Location is the most important consideration for a new data center, as with any piece of real estate. But, what makes a good location for a home does not make a good location for a data center.

It is relatively easy to sell the vision of the next-generation data center: Service-oriented applications running over a virtualized, service-oriented infrastructure. The benefits of agility, lower operational costs, better utilization and rapid application deployment represent motherhood and apple-pie - all good. Unless you're allergic to apples, that is.

Translating this vision into a series of discreet, incremental steps - a roadmap - is not so easy. Furthermore, selling the roadmap… Show more

It is relatively easy to sell the vision of the next-generation data center: Service-oriented applications running over a virtualized, service-oriented infrastructure. The benefits of agility, lower operational costs, better utilization and rapid application deployment represent motherhood and apple-pie - all good. Unless you're allergic to apples, that is.

Translating this vision into a series of discreet, incremental steps - a roadmap - is not so easy. Furthermore, selling the roadmap to upper management is a lot harder than selling the end-vision. So, instead of focusing solely on the end-goal, we suggest that each step of the journey can be just as valuable. The next-generation data center is self-fulfilling; each incremental step brings benefits that make it worthwhile long before you reach the final destination. Show less

A weekly newsletter and print article on new data center technologies, following the transformation of data centers from white-room mainframe housing to industrial commodity cloud-scale computing centers, over the years from 2004 to 2008.