Skype’s Impressive Growth, Sonus Updates SBC Portfolio

Skype Traffic Grew 36% in 2013

Market research firm TeleGeography reports that Skype’s international traffic volume continues to grow significantly. TeleGeography estimates that Skype’s on-net (Skype to Skype) international traffic grew 36% in 2013, to 214 billion minutes. By comparison, International telephone traffic from fixed and mobile phones continues increasing by 7 % in 2013, to 547 billion minutes. While international PSTN traffic still carries most international traffic, Skype’s minutes are growing more rapidly: in 2013, Skype added 50 percent more than the combined international growth of every telco in the world.

Commenting in a statement on the trend, TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert said, “The rapid spread of OTT services is making life ever more challenging for international service providers, but the PSTN will not disappear anytime soon. No other network comes close to matching the global reach of the PSTN. While Facebook has approximately 1.2 billion monthly users, at year-end 2013, the PSTN connected to just over 8 billion fixed and mobile subscribers worldwide.”

In other news, Sonus has introduced new software enhancements to the Sonus SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 Session Border Controllers. Release 3.1 is designed to improve Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice environments and more easily manage and scale enterprise Unified Communications (UC) networks. The upgrades by Sonus enable media quality monitoring for the entire Lync call, including the SIP trunk portion, providing information about delay, jitter and packet loss so network engineers to proactively monitor and troubleshoot call quality of experience issues for the entire session. With its latest upgrade, Sonus can also dynamically monitor available bandwidth over the back-up link and direct calls over either the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or, depending on bandwidth availability, a 3G/4G, digital subscriber line (DSL) or other alternate connection.

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How to rescue your PC from ransomware

Don't negotiate with e-terrorists. Be a hero and rescue your hostage PC.

With the nasty CryptoLocker malware making the rounds--encrypting its victims' files, and then refusing to provide the unlock key unless a payment of $300 is made via Bitcoin or a prepaid cash voucher--ransomware is back in the spotlight.

You can remove many ransomware viruses without losing your files, but with some variants that isn't the case. In the past I've discussed general steps for removing malware and viruses, but you need to apply some specific tips and tricks for ransomware.A The process varies and depends on the type of invader. Some procedures involve a simple virus scan, while others require offline scans and advanced recovery of your files. I categorize ransomware into three varieties: scareware, lock-screen viruses, and the really nasty stuff.

+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD What to do if ransomware takes over your PC +

Scareware

The simplest type of ransomware, aka scareware, consists of bogus antivirus or clean-up tools that claim they've detected umpteen issues, and demand that you pay in order to fix them. Some specimens of this variety of ransomware may allow you to use your PC but bombard you with alerts and pop-ups, while others might prevent you from running any programs at all. Typically these invaders are the easiest type of ransomware to remove.

Lock-screen viruses

Next is the ransomware variety I call lock-screen viruses, which don't allow you to use your PC in any way. They display a full-size window after Windows starts up--usually with an FBI or Department of Justice logo--saying that you violated the law and that you must pay a fine.

The really nasty stuff

Encrypting malware--such as CryptoLocker--is the worst variant, because it encrypts and locks your personal files until you pay up. But even if you haven't backed up your files, you may have a chance to recover your data.

Removing ransomware

Before you can free your hostage PC, you have to eliminate the hostage taker.

If you have the simplest kind of ransomware, such as a fake antivirus program or a bogus clean-up tool, you can usually remove it by following the steps in my previous malware removal guide. This procedure includes entering Windows' Safe Mode and running an on-demand virus scanner such as Malwarebytes.

If the ransomware prevents you from entering Windows or running programs, as lock-screen viruses typically do, you can try to use System Restore to roll Windows back in time. Doing so doesn't affect your personal files, but it does return system files and programs to the state they were in at a certain time. The System Restore feature must be enabled beforehand; Windows enables it by default.

To try System Restore, shut down your PC and locate the F8 key on your PC's keyboard. Turn the PC on, and as soon as you see anything on the screen, press the F8 key repeatedly. This action should bring up the Advanced Boot Options menu; there, select Repair Your Computer and press Enter. Next you'll likely have to log on as a user; select your Windows account name. (If you don't have a password set, leave that blank.) Once logged on, you'll find shortcuts to a few tools; click SystemRestore.

If you don't see the Repair Your Computer option on the Advanced Boot Options menu, you can use your Windows disc (if you have that) to access the recovery tools. Click Repair your computer on the main menu before proceeding with the installation. Alternatively, you can create a Windows System Repair Disc on another PC running the same Windows version, and then boot to that disc on the infected PC to reach the same recovery tools.

If System Restore doesn't help and you still can't get into Windows to remove the ransomware, try running a virus scanner from a bootable disc or USB drive; some people refer to this approach as an offline virus scan. My favorite bootable scanner is fromA Bitdefender, but more are available:A Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Norton, and Sophos all offer antivirus boot-disk software, as we mentioned in PCWorld's recent roundup of the best boot-drive programs.

If you still have no luck after trying Safe Mode and an on-demand scanner, performing a System Restore, and running an offline virus scanner, your last resort is likely to perform a factory restore. Most ransomware isn't that tenacious, however.

Recovering hidden and encrypted files

With that out of the way, it's time to repair the damage. If you're lucky, your PC was infected by malware that didn't encrypt your data, but merely hid your icons, shortcuts, and files.

You can easily show hidden files: Open Computer, press the Alt key, select Tools, and click Folder Options. On the View tab, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then click OK.

If your data reappears after you elect to show hidden files, that's great--it means there's an easy fix for your woes. Open Computer, navigate to C:\Users\, and open the folder of your Windows account name. Then right-click each folder that's hidden, open Properties, uncheck the Hidden attribute, and click OK.A Boom! Done.

If you still can't find your data, and your files really have been malware-encrypted, you're in trouble: Usually it isn't possible to just decrypt or unlock your hostage files, because the decryption key is typically stored on the cybercriminal's server. Some victimized users have reported that some pieces of malware will keep their promise, decrypting and returning your files once you pay (in particular, CryptoLocker's handlers have been diligent about releasing the files of infected users who pay the ransom demand), but I don't recommend paying.A

This is why we constantly tell you to back up your PC on a regular basis.

If you previously set and created backups, scan them for viruses on another PC (one that is not infected) if at all possible. If all of your important files are backed up, you can proceed in removing the malware and then simply restoring your backed-up files.

If you don't have a backup system in place, you might be able to recover some files from Shadow Volume Copies--if the malware hasn't deleted them. Shadow Volume Copies is part of Windows' System Restore feature. Either right-click Select files/folders and open Properties to view the Previous Versions list, or use a program called Shadow Explorer to browse the snapshots.

But don't rely on that. Start backing up your PC today, and do it regularly.

Preventing ransomware and malware infections

Avoiding ransomware is much the same as avoiding other types of other malware.

Always run a good antivirus utility and keep Windows and browser-related components (Java, Adobe, and the like) updated. Keep your browser clean to prevent adware invasions that could lead to malware infections. Always, always be wary of unexpected email attachments and spam. (CryptoLocker spreads via .zip files sent as email attachments, for example.)

And just to beat this dead horse one more time: Always have a good backup system in place, just in case your PC does become infected and you can't recover your files. Yes, it's that important.

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Triple hop issue with ASP.NET delegation Part I: Our Windows XP Pro desktops

Last Friday we had an issue in production: we have a very simple web application with one single page on our intranet that consumes an array of web services. These web services talk to a back end SQL Server.

All in all this is a very typical scenario and like most companies with .NET technology we have web applications using ASP.Delegation in the intranet, the only particular point regarding this web page is that it is called inside an old legacy windows application (not a .NET app). For remote users, this old legacy application is used via Terminal Services.

For our remote users also, the application didn’t work and our DBA was registering a bunch of anonymous requests coming from the web server box…

On the other hand we set up our web services tracing to debug and were able to see the end user credentials on each HTTP request, so the end user had managed to authenticate using Integrated Windows Security on our web box and the web service trying to open a SQL connection to the back end.

We used impersonation and Integrated Windows Authentication on our web application and web services (this is an intranet after all). ASP.NET impersonation gave us the chance to restrict the access on the back end based on AD groups and at the same time gave us the ability to audit the user’s actions to a very fine grained degree (user name).

The PROBLEM with our Windows XP Pro desktop users

The application worked for our desktop users if and only if they had logged off and on their desktops in the past 48 hours. If the desktops users hadn’t logged on for a while, like me, that I lock my computer instead of logging myself off, the application didn’t work either and the sql box passed an anonymous login attempt back to our web tier. The web services then passed a SOAP Exception with the NT Service/Anounymous user error message to our web app…

System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. —> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Login failed for user ‘NT AUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS LOGON’.

At first we thought it was the same problem, but it turns out the TS users couldn’t use the application even when they logged of and back on, not even when the TS server was restarted, hrm….

By dividing and conquering we applied the kerbtray.exe tool on our web server and one of the desktops and enabled Kerberos logging on both boxes. We noticed that when the application worked the user logged in the web server box used Kerberos, but after a few days the logging defaulted to NTML.

SOLUTION for the Windows XP Pro Desktops
It turns out this was a bug in the kerberos.dll running on Windows XP SP2, SP3 has this problem solved. More information can be found on this MSDN thread. Also the hotfix for Windows XP Professional SP2 can be found on this Microsoft Knowledge Base article. Although this article describes a different problem the hotfix provided here contains the fixed kerberos dll.

There are quite a bit of articles regarding ASP.NET delegation

And quite a few MSDN forum threads, like this one I initiated and has a heated discussion with the moderator, my fault most of it.

The best resources I have found so far, and I hope this digested summary will help you if you have the same double/triple hop issue, are:

Ken Schaefer’s blog post regarding IIS and Kerberos Part 5 – Protocol Transition, Constrained Delegation, S4U2S and S4U2P.

Keith Brown’s article on MSDN: Credentials and Delegation
and
nunos’s Blog: Concerning the credentials double hop issue

and the best of all is a webcast by Yung Chou *all kudos to his explanation of Protocol Transition*

MSDN Webcast: Getting Delegation to Work with IIS and ASP.NET:
The Ins and Outs of Protocol Transition (Part 1 of 2) (Level 300)

This webcast specifically helped us troubleshooting and fixing the second part of our problem, our failed connection when the end users connected remotely via terminal servers.

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Data scientists: IT's new rock stars

Data scientists: IT's new rock stars
These days, just showing up to work as a data scientist will get you attention.

The evolution of the data scientist role is making even those who are successful in IT wish they could go back.

In an interview with Network World last month, Robert Stroud, a member of ISACA’s Strategic Advisory council and vice president of innovation and strategy at CA Technologies, called the data scientist a “hard sought-after role” and compelled those entering the technology job market target that field.

"If I were starting my career again, I’d be going into this space," Stroud says.

The hype for data scientists was given some weight in American Journalism Review’s recent profile of Buzzfeed’s director of data science, Ky Harlin. Buzzfeed's growth has been massive in the past few years, reaching an average of 55.2 million uniquely visitors, according to September 2013 numbers from Quantcast. That's more than Craigslist and AOL, and within reach of Yahoo and Amazon.com. Essentially, Buzzfeed has made a business out of viral content, and Harlin is responsible for sustaining that.

RELATED: What it takes to be a data scientist

Who's hiring data scientists?
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According to the AJR profile, Harlin created his own algorithms that identify when and why specific pieces of web content will go viral.

"There are many variables we look at, both quantitative and descriptive,” Harlin told AJR. “Quantitative factors are things like the amount of times something’s been shared on Facebook, while descriptive factors are things like what’s contained in the text of the article. We employ machine learning algorithms that help us map out the relationship between those variables and shareability."

What's more interesting is where Harlin developed those skills – a medical imaging company. According to AJR, Buzzfeed's founder and CEO Jonah Peretti sought out Harlin while he was working in the medical imaging field, and brought him in for an interview about what data science could do for his media company. In the interview, Peretti found just how versatile data science skills can be.

"There are actually a lot of similarities between medical imaging and content publishing on a purely mathematical level," Peretti told AJR. "Both fields are looking for patterns in vast data sets. And during the interview, [Harlin] was clearly more interesting in understanding how content spreads than medical imaging, so I knew he would be good."

The rest of the details on Harlin's role and how he became the company's "secret weapon," as AJR described him, are available in that article, which is an interesting peak behind the curtains at the fastest-growing media company in the world.

However, the mere fact that a technology employee would be the center of a lengthy profile in the American Journalism Review should be an eye-opener. The kind of attention it’s been gathering has sent experts in the field out to start spread the word. In a June 2012 interview with Network World, Laura Kelley, Houston vice president for IT staffing and consulting firm Modis, advised those with MBAs to seek out certifications for statistical software programs, and those with computer science degrees to pursue an MBA. Facebook and Google have both been looking to bring on data scientists for years. In October 2012, the Harvard Business Review called data scientist “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” Data scientists like Harlin can go from work in the medical imaging field to a high-profile job at a media startup, and even though, like most tech workers, his day-to-day job rarely changes, they'll get press coverage. It seems the Harvard Business Review was right.

It all makes sense. Data scientists represent the new age of IT, where employees will not only contribute to a company’s business goals, but help identify them in the first place.

"This is where you add real business value," he says. "Where an IT person is not just running machines anymore, but fundamentally taking good information and helping the business make true business decisions so that they can adjust the business in real time based on this information. If used well, you’ll be able to spot trends and opportunities far faster than you could in the past."

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