2016 - Page 10 of 10

Intel’s 72 Core Processor: Knights Landing

hardwarecores, intel, knights landing, processorOphtek, LLC

Jan 2016

Intel is constantly striving to push the capabilities of desktop computers and their 72 core processor promises to deliver amazing performance.

This chip – known as Knights Landing – is part of Intel’s Xeon Phi processor family and will start being shipped with select workstations in early 2016. It’s rumored to be Intel’s most powerful chip yet, so this could be the final step in bringing the power of supercomputers to businesses of all sizes.

As this could make a huge difference in how your business operates, I’m going to take a look at why the Knights Landing chip should be on your radar.

Working with Workstations

Almost all businesses have desktop PCs and these are adequate for uses such as word processing, data entry and running general admin tasks. However, the power contained in this hardware is not sufficient for everyone. And that’s where workstations step in.

A workstation may look like a desktop PC, but it’s considerably larger. This increase in size is indicative of the processing power required for complex computing tasks e.g. video editing, engineering programs and state of the art graphics software.

But what exactly can Intel add to the current workstation landscape?

The Power of Knights Landing

Knights Landing will be able to take on huge workloads that a standard PC would barely struggle to get to grips with before grinding to a halt. It can achieve this because the Knights Landing processor is capable of producing over 3 teraflops of performance power.

Knights Landing – comprised of standard x86 processors and new, specially designed processors – will bring a huge 16GB of MCDRAM memory which will boost your applications’ performance in a way you didn’t know possible. In fact, this memory will deliver nearly five times more bandwidth than DDR4 memory which is currently considered state of the art.

These figures, of course, sound very impressive, but what will they bring to the market?

What Will Knights Landing Do?

Scientific researchers need to carry out fiendishly complex calculations to aid their research, but the computing power required to process these sums is exceptionally high. So that’s why the scientific community will be Knights Landing’s first port of call.

Currently, these scientists would need access to a Xeon Phi supercomputer to even write and test their calculations. However, the advent of Knights Landing presents an opportunity for scientists to tinker with their code on PCs before running it on a supercomputer. This will free up resource heavy supercomputers purely for the high-end number crunching.

But working out these calculations is only the tip of the iceberg. Knights Landing’s raw power will help bring high performance computing to the masses. Graphic designers and video editors will suddenly find that they have the power to deal with big data. This will transform small businesses and freelancers’ output and capabilities to a level previously considered unthinkable.

When Should You Purchase a Knights Landing Workstation?

Costs and availability of a Knights Landing workstation are going to seriously affect whether you can purchase one anytime soon. It’s currently seen more as a tentative step into this new frontier of computing rather than a product for the masses.

However, over time, it’s highly likely that this technology will become more available and affordable for consumers. It, therefore, remains a viable game changer to businesses who work with high-end data.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

The Hidden Dangers of the GlassRAT Trojan

Security, Uncategorizedglassrat, malware, trojanOphtek, LLC

Jan 2016

We all know that trojan viruses are the masters of stealth when infecting systems, but the GlassRAT Trojan may just be the stealthiest trojan yet.

We’re constantly advised to be on our guard against ‘zero day vulnerabilities’ which are brand new viruses that attack software before the vendor is aware of a breach. However, what many of us aren’t aware of is the threat of zero detection malware threats.

In the case of the GlassRAT Trojan, it’s been stealthily operating since 2012, so that’s over three years of security carnage it’s been able to quietly carry out. Obviously, this new form of security threat is something you need to be aware of, so let’s take a look at it.

What is GlassRAT?

The GlassRAT Trojan appears to be undetectable by most antivirus programs and this is due to it being signed with a seemingly legit digital certificate. However, the digital certificate is far from legit as it looks as though it’s been ‘borrowed’ from a separate Chinese software company.

The Trojan seems to have been targeting Chinese nationals working at multinational companies and infiltrates security systems with its digital certificate. The ‘dropper’, which delivers the Trojan via a fake Flash installation, erases itself from the system once it has installed its malware.

The malware is then clever enough to avoid detection by standard security scans and proceeds to carry out the following cybercrimes:

Transfer unauthorized files
Steal data
Transmit information about the victim’s system

Given that GlassRAT has been operating for three years without trace it represents a significant threat to data security.

Who’s Behind the GlassRAT Trojan?

It’s suspected that GlassRAT originated in China due to its targeting of Chinese nationals and the stolen Chinese digital certificate, but this is purely speculation at present and, perhaps, seems a little too obvious.

From the limited information available, it may be possible to link the GlassRAT activities with previous malware attacks. Previous cyber-attacks on Mongolian and Philippine authorities used two domains which are also connected with GlassRAT, so investigations continue to look into this as a possibility.

However, at present, the creators of GlassRAT are still at large and it’s fair to say they have had plenty of time to cover their tracks.

How Do You Combat Threats Such as GlassRAT?

The enigmatic nature of the GlassRAT trojan certainly makes it a difficult beast to protect against. However, businesses can help their security efforts by ensuring they follow basic security procedures such as:

Monitoring all incoming files
Training staff on the dangers of unknown attachments.

Although GlassRAT is very difficult to detect, it’s not impossible. By arranging detailed network forensics to be carried out on your systems, zero detection malware threats can be uncovered. This approach will highlight any suspicious activity to identify any particularly deceptive malware.

The question, though, that remains is: just what else is stealthily lurking on our systems and putting vast quantities of data at risk?