Tenant and Multi-Tenant Security: It's All About Scope

While at InfoSec World 2012’s summit on Cloud and Virtualization Security, the first talk was on Securing your data. The second was on penetration testing to ensure that data was secure. In essence it has always been about the data but there is a huge difference between what a tenant can do and what the cloud or virtual environment provider can do with respect to data protection and security. This gap is apparently becoming wider instead of smaller as we try to understand tenant vs cloud provider security scopes. There is a lack of transparency with respect to security, but at the same time there are movements to gain that transparency. But secret sauces, scopes, legislation, and lack of knowledge seem to be getting in the way.

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization. Can’t you find something more important to do?

16 years after it introduced roaming profiles with the launch of Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft has decided to give it another go. In a blog post on Wednesday Karri Alexion-Tiernan (Director of Product Management for Microsoft Desktop Virtualization) announced the public beta of two new technologies, a major update to Microsoft App-V and an all new roaming profile solution User Experience Virtualization (UE-V). Both products will ship as part of a future Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) release.

RackSpace calls Citrix’s Bluff over CloudStack. Citrix Folds.

Citrix has given up Project Olympus which was based on the Open Source OpenStack platform in favor of its own Open Source CloudStack initiative (formerly known as Cloud.com), which it is contributing to the Apache foundation and has re-licensed under the partner-friendly Apache Open Source license (rather than the GPL).

Dell to expand cloud and thin client business through Wyse acquisition

Dell continues its expansion into the cloud and virtual desktop market with the announcement on Monday that it has reached agreement with Wyse Technologies to acquire the company.

Dell has had a long partnership with Devon IT,the Dell OptiPlex FX 130 and FX 170 thin clients and the Dell FX100 Zero Client are OEM editions of the Devon IT TC2, TC5, and TC10. Dell also OEMs Devon IT’s VDI Blaster software thin-client and its Echo Management Console software. All of which are considered to be high quality products. So if Dell already has access to its own thin client products and management software why did it need a thin client vendor of its own, and why didn’t it pick Devon IT instead of Wyse.

Application Security using Secure Cloud Storage

VMware’s Project Octopus and others like ownCloud and Oxygen Cloud have stirred some interesting ideas about Application Security. Those applications that make use of SSL, nearly every web application, can make use of secure data storage for certificate verification means. What makes SSL MiTM attacks possible, is mostly related to poor certificate management. If there was a way to alleviate the need for the user to be involved in this security decision, then SSL MiTM attacks would be significantly reduced.

Centrix Software Simplify Windows 7 Migration

In supporting increasing needs for agility in a world driven by the increasing consumerization of IT (CoIT), desktop transformation can no longer be seen as an infrequent process. To quickly deliver change, you need to best understand what the impact of that change is. Auditing should be continuous as seasonal or limited use applications that may be missed through manual processes will be identified and flagged as they occur. Centrix look to assist with the latest release of Workspace IQ which includes Management Reporting, Business Group Reporting, Integration with License Dashboard and Windows 7 hardware compatibility assessment.