Microsoft Matches the Amazon AWS Security Certification
December 21, 2019
DarkCyber wants to point out that the JEDI deal has not closed. But one of Microsoft’s weaknesses has been remediated. The news is probably not going to make Amazon’s AWS government professionals smile. In fact, the news could ruin the New Year for the Bezos bulldozer.
Stars and Stripes explained in “With New Pentagon IT Certification, Microsoft Narrows the Cloud Security Gap with Amazon” that:
on December 12 Microsoft became the second company to hold the Pentagon’s highest-level IT security certification, called Impact Level 6, Defense Information Systems Agency spokesman Russ Goemaere told The Washington Post in an email. The temporary certification lasts three months, after which a longer one will be considered, Goemaere said. The news of Microsoft’s certification was reported earlier by the Washington Business Journal. The certification means that, for the first time, Microsoft will be able to store classified data in the cloud. Defense and intelligence agencies typically use air-gapped, local computer networks to store sensitive data rather than the cloud-based systems that most companies now use to harness far-off data centers. Previously, Amazon was the only cloud provider trusted with secret data.
The Grinch may want to contact Amazon customer service and ask for an explanation. DarkCyber is not sure if certification is the same as “real” security, but checklists matter. When billions are at stake, one small item can have significant impact. For more detail, see “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The book is just $9.00 on Amazon. The 1957 book is classified as inspirational and religious poetry.
Yep, categories are important too.
Stephen E Arnold, December 22, 2019
DarkCyber for December 17, 2019, Now Available
December 17, 2019
Robert David Steele, a former CIA professional, learned about Stephen E Arnold’s blockchain research. Steele interviewed Stephen. This week’s DarkCyber is an extract of the original interview. You can access the video on Vimeo.
Kenny Toth, December 17, 2019
Amazon Presentations: Reinvent December 2019
December 16, 2019
If you want to experience Amazon, you can access the presentations from the December 2019 Reinvent Conference. The presentations focus on the nuts and bolts of AWS, sessions from happy partners, and the mechanics of moving from Microsoft to the AWS platform. Some AWS information becomes difficult to find over time. For now, you can access “Amazon FSx for Windows File Server” at this link. There are five presentations about blockchain too. No links to policeware, intelware, or public sector applications.
Stephen E Arnold, December 16, 2019
Azure Is Better at Hybrid Computing Because AWS Is an Orchid
December 12, 2019
There’s an interesting explanation of the DoD’s JEDI award in “Opinion: Microsoft Fairly and Squarely Beat Amazon in $10 Billion Pentagon Cloud Contract.” The reason is:
In 2017, Microsoft designed Azure Stack to meet hybrid cloud computing needs, a distinction from AWS, which was designed for cloud-only computing needs without the flexibility of leveraging on-premise servers. That has led Amazon to chase Microsoft with hybrid-cloud offerings such as AWS Outposts, which launched in November of 2018 — well after the Pentagon bid had been opened. As of the first half of 2019, Microsoft was the only company among the top three cloud providers that has a generally available hybrid cloud. Microsoft’s Windows operating system has run on servers for decades, and it was a natural extension to offer Azure Cloud to run on-premise. Microsoft’s hybrid strategy has resulted in 95% of Fortune 500 companies using Azure today. That is a staggering statistic, which shows the superiority of hybrid cloud compared with traditional cloud computing. As J.B. Hunt, one of Azure’s Fortune 500 customers, said: “Microsoft didn’t ask us to bend to their vision of a cloud.”
Amazon is unlikely to agree. Amazon’s lawyers definitely will view this explanation as insufficiently developed to justify dropping the lawsuit.
The problem is that “one throat to choke” seems like a great idea. But the reality is that there usually are many throats to choke regardless of who is the contract winner.
The idea of a common platform or framework, data harmonization, and smooth access control are easy to talk about.
Reality is a little more chaotic. Read the original write up and decide. Then consider how likely it is that a single individual or a small business has a single throat to choke when something goes wrong. Throat choking is preceded by finger pointing, and none of the technology giants deliver reliability, ease of use, and fantasy land solutions.
Reality. Messy. Azure is a hybrid. AWS is an orchid. Neither is guaranteed a long, healthy existence if the gardener forgets to water the plants, the insects decide to chow down, or a road grader grind ouy a new information highway.
Lawyers? Guaranteed money. Other parties? Not guaranteed much.
Probably not.
Stephen E Arnold, December 12, 2019
Amazon Fraud Detection: A Possible Application
December 11, 2019
DarkCyber noted “The AI Enabled Taxman.” The write up explains that smart software is in use to assist government tax authorities in their work. What countries are using the smart systems? Nordic countries, according to the write up. Plus, India is heading down this path as well. With Amazon’s fraud detection capabilities, perhaps that company will move in a similar direction.
The write up points out:
For instance, in Denmark, AI tools are said to flagged 85 of every 100 cases, with 65 of them found to outright tax frauds. Since then, various governments have been exploring the potential of AI to nab culprits.
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2019
Amazon: What Does the S Team Do without a Policeware Leader?
December 9, 2019
GeekWire published the members of Jeff Bezos’ S Team. The idea is that the TV show A Team has been upgraded by 17 letters. There is an S Team member for fashion and for Alexa, but none for policeware. You can get the list of S Team members in “Amazon Expands Bezos’ Elite ‘S-Team,’ Adding 6 Execs from Emerging Branches of the Company.” Perhaps the omission of a public sector Amazon manager signals that the company is not interested in government contracts, work for law enforcement departments, and countries interested in using Amazon’s blockchain technology? That is a possibility. DarkCyber believes that there is a commitment at Amazon for policeware and developing services to assist authorities in determining if tax returns are on the up and up. The apparent exclusion of a designated policeware “owner” suggests that the company wants to continue its low profile approach to this high potential revenue sector.
Stephen E Arnold, December 9, 2019
AWS Storage Is Evolving
December 8, 2019
This is not your mom’s Simple Storage Service. An article at SiliconAngle describes how “Amazon’s New Storage Chapter Eyes NFS Support, Integrates from the Top-Down.” Writer Betsy Amy-Vogt explores details revealed at the recent AWS Storage Day event in Boston. She embeds some video coverage by theCUBE, her publication’s live streaming studio; see the write-up to view those excerpts.
Demand for easily accessible online storage is growing thanks to the rise of machine learning and edge computing. AWS is adding features to its S3 Glacier and EBS storage solutions, expanding support for file formats like NFS (Network File System), and beefing up security and management tools. Amy-Vogt writes:
“When a customer chooses to move to the AWS Cloud, Amazon takes care of administration, provisioning and maintenance. ‘You literally click three or four buttons to create a file system, and you no longer have to worry about it ever again,’ [AWS’s Wayne Duso] stated. Amazon also promises to maintain data in a secure environment. ‘Security is job number one for us,’ Duso stated. ‘We take care of all the security elements.’ Ease of integration is also a major benefit, especially to companies wanting to take advantage of new intelligent technologies, Duso pointed out. The wide range of AWS’ products means that advanced tools for building and deploying machine-learning models, such as AWS SageMaker, can be integrated with file storage services, such as FSx for Lustre and EFS, bringing even more simplicity to the process. ‘Customers don’t have to worry about storage; they don’t have to worry about sharing; they don’t have to worry about scaling. It’s all there for them,’ Duso said. Cloud brings global scale, but data must remain close to the user to avoid issues with availability and latency. AWS addresses this by creating regions where data is available in multiple locations. ‘Our regions are built to have, at minimum, three availability zones,’ Duso explained.”
Besides reducing latency, storage in multiple locations also serves as a backup. You can see Duso explain the AWS storage strategy at length in one of those videos embedded in the source article. He pledges that customers who use the AWS platform to manage their storage workload free up plenty of time to focus on other parts of their business.
Cynthia Murrell, December 8, 2019
Amazon Fraud Detector: Policeware Service?
December 6, 2019
The camel is poking its nose into another tent. Navigate to “Amazon Fraud Detector.” The service makes it easy to identify potentially fraudulent online activities. The service seems to focus on a commercial use case. There may be a government or public sector application or two enabled as well. Which is more important? Both are equally important.
The commercial push is likely to provide a new revenue stream for Amazon from individuals, mid sized sellers, and quite large commercial operations. Equifax-like outfits? Maybe a JPMorgan-like enterprise?
The government push is part of the company’s policeware initiatives. What’s this policeware you reference? If you are curious, I have a free eight page summary of a forthcoming chapter which will appear in a book about blocking in 2020.
To get on the list for the free white paper, just write darkcyber333 at yandex dot com. Name, company email, and agency required, however.
Stephen E Arnold, December 6, 2019
Arnold Interviewed about Amazon Blockchain Inventions
December 5, 2019
Robert David Steele, former CIA professional and open source intelligence expert, interviewed Stephen E Arnold about Amazon’s blockchain inventions. Arnold recently completed a chapter for a forthcoming academic press book about blockchain. That chapter and its information prompted journalists from the US and France to interview Arnold about his findings. Arnold’s information was included in news stories appearing in the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and Le Monde.
Steele obtained an exclusive video interview with Arnold about his Amazon blockchain research. Among the topics discussed in the 30 minute program are:
- The “trigger” for the research
- Sources of data and research methods
- The major findings from the 18 month research project
- The likely trajectory of Amazon’s products and services incorporating the company’s more than 12 blockchain inventions.
- How to obtain a summary of Arnold’s research findings.
You can view the video at this link. Steele has compiled links to other Amazon information obtained from Arnold at this link.
Kenny Toth, December 5, 2019
Amazon Trumped?
December 5, 2019
DarkCyber does not have a dog in this fight. The fight? Jeff Bezos versus the President of the United States. If the information in “Trump Bezos Round 2: Amazon Faces Broad Antitrust Probe of Cloud Business” is accurate, lawyers involved in the matter will have a very good chance to generate some billable hours.
The write up reminds the reader that Amazon lost the $10 billion Department of Defense JEDI deal. Amazon then sued on the basis of the President’s pushing back against Amazon.
The write up reports:
But now, as Bloomberg details, investigators at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have been asking software companies recently about practices around Amazon’s cloud unit, known as Amazon Web Services. Specifically, the outreach by the FTC signals that the agency, which is already looking at Amazon’s conduct in its vast online retail business, is taking a broader look at the company to determine whether it could be violating antitrust laws and harming competition.
Interesting. Mr. Bezos has money and a newspaper. The President has presidential things. Will presidential things trump the Bezos bulldozer?
In a comment to the write up, Sticky_Pickles said: “When you try to sue the government…”
But DarkCyber is thinking of the lawyers working on the matter. Winners.
Stephen E Arnold, December 5, 2019
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