Nokia has struck partnerships with the three biggest public cloud providers to combine their respective technologies to develop packages suited to addressing 5G use cases for its customers. 

Partnering with Microsoft, Nokia hopes to integrate its mobile network technologies with Microsoft Azure cloud-based services and its developer ecosystem to build 4G and 5G private wireless use cases for enterprises. 

The firm will offer its cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN), Open RAN, Radio Access Controller (RIC) and multi-access edge cloud (MEC) with the Azure Private Edge Zone, which allows for data processing close to the user.  Nokia will also integrate its 5G RAN with Azure 4G/5G core to showcase how blending these technologies can support Microsoft’s enterprise customers.

An agreement with AWS will see Nokia research and enable its Cloud RAN and Open RAN to support the development of 5G products, with this partnership centred on developing proof of concepts to explore how the networking technologies can be deployed. 

The programme will see engineering teams from both firms delve into how Nokia’s RAN (Radio Access Network), Open RAN, Cloud RAN and edge computing systems can work seamlessly with AWS Outposts. This partnership will allow service providers and 5G-ready businesses to use AWS across the entirety of their mobile network. 

In working together with Google Cloud, meanwhile, Nokia hopes to develop new, cloud-based 5G radio systems. The two companies will collaborate on a joint product combining Nokia’s networking tech with Google’s edge computing platform and appliances ecosystem. The aim, ultimately, would be to develop use cases to solve 5G scenarios for businesses across the world. 

Work is already underway to focus on Cloud RAN, integrating Nokia’s 5G technologies with Google’s edge computing platform, which runs on Anthos. The 5G standalone network will also be tested on the Anthos platform as a cloud-native deployment.

With these partnerships, Nokia is aiming to move away from traditional infrastructure and towards the cloud, with network operators able to launch new services much more quickly by taking advantage of virtualisation and edge computing. 

The deals were announced shortly before Nokia revealed it would be cutting up to 10,000 jobs over the course of the next two years as part of wider efforts to restructure its business groups and make cost savings. The firm intends to invest heavily in R&D and future capabilities, including 5G, cloud and digital infrastructure as part of a wider package of long-term investments.  

Nokia has struck partnerships with the three biggest public cloud providers to combine their respective technologies to develop packages suited to addressing 5G use cases for its customers. 

Partnering with Microsoft, Nokia hopes to integrate its mobile network technologies with Microsoft Azure cloud-based services and its developer ecosystem to build 4G and 5G private wireless use cases for enterprises. 

The firm will offer its cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN), Open RAN, Radio Access Controller (RIC) and multi-access edge cloud (MEC) with the Azure Private Edge Zone, which allows for data processing close to the user.  Nokia will also integrate its 5G RAN with Azure 4G/5G core to showcase how blending these technologies can support Microsoft’s enterprise customers.

An agreement with AWS will see Nokia research and enable its Cloud RAN and Open RAN to support the development of 5G products, with this partnership centred on developing proof of concepts to explore how the networking technologies can be deployed. 

The programme will see engineering teams from both firms delve into how Nokia’s RAN (Radio Access Network), Open RAN, Cloud RAN and edge computing systems can work seamlessly with AWS Outposts. This partnership will allow service providers and 5G-ready businesses to use AWS across the entirety of their mobile network. 

In working together with Google Cloud, meanwhile, Nokia hopes to develop new, cloud-based 5G radio systems. The two companies will collaborate on a joint product combining Nokia’s networking tech with Google’s edge computing platform and appliances ecosystem. The aim, ultimately, would be to develop use cases to solve 5G scenarios for businesses across the world. 

Work is already underway to focus on Cloud RAN, integrating Nokia’s 5G technologies with Google’s edge computing platform, which runs on Anthos. The 5G standalone network will also be tested on the Anthos platform as a cloud-native deployment.

With these partnerships, Nokia is aiming to move away from traditional infrastructure and towards the cloud, with network operators able to launch new services much more quickly by taking advantage of virtualisation and edge computing. 

The deals were announced shortly before Nokia revealed it would be cutting up to 10,000 jobs over the course of the next two years as part of wider efforts to restructure its business groups and make cost savings. The firm intends to invest heavily in R&D and future capabilities, including 5G, cloud and digital infrastructure as part of a wider package of long-term investments.  

AMD has unveiled its third-generation Epyc Milan data centre CPUs, which is claims are the «world’s fastest» server processors. 

The hardware, which is already available, is the first set of AMD chips for the server market to be built on the company’s powerful 7-nanometer Zen 3 architecture. 

AMD claims Epyc Milan produces twice the power of Intel’s rival Xeon Cascade Lake Refresh chips in HPC, cloud and enterprise workloads, and claims it offers a better price-to-performance ratio.

AMD’s confidence comes from as a result of its Zen 3 architecture, which is a microarchitecture that has brought similar benefits with AMD’s Ryzen 500 series of chips, which have become increasingly popular in the desktop PC space. 

«With the launch of our 3rd Gen AMD Epyc processors, we are incredibly excited to deliver the fastest server CPU in the world. These processors extend our data centre leadership and help customers solve today’s most complex IT challenges, while substantially growing our ecosystem,» said Forrest Norrod, senior vice president and general manager, Data Center and Embedded Solutions Business Group. 

«We not only double the performance over the competition in HPC, cloud and enterprise workloads with our newest server CPUs but together with the AMD Instinct GPUs, we are breaking the exascale barrier in supercomputing and helping to tackle problems that have previously been beyond humanity’s reach.»

‘Zen 3’ refers to cores of which there are 64 within the 7003 series that is said to deliver up to twice the performance for HPC workloads compared to the competition. For cloud providers that need more computing power and security, the 7003 series has the «highest core density», according to AMD, and also includes AMD Infinity Guard protection.

Already, the AMD Epyc Milan series is being used by some of the biggest names in tech in a variety of ways. AWS will add it to its core Amazon EC2 instance families later this year, and it will also feature in Dell‘s new PowerEdge XE8545 server. Google Cloud will embed the EPYC 7003 series processors in a new compute optimised virtual machine and Microsoft has announced multiple virtual machine offerings that will be powered by the 7003 series. 

Other uses cases include Lenovo, Oracle, HPE, VMware, Tencent and many more. 

AMD has unveiled its third-generation Epyc Milan data centre CPUs, which is claims are the «world’s fastest» server processors. 

The hardware, which is already available, is the first set of AMD chips for the server market to be built on the company’s powerful 7-nanometer Zen 3 architecture. 

AMD claims Epyc Milan produces twice the power of Intel’s rival Xeon Cascade Lake Refresh chips in HPC, cloud and enterprise workloads, and claims it offers a better price-to-performance ratio.

AMD’s confidence comes from as a result of its Zen 3 architecture, which is a microarchitecture that has brought similar benefits with AMD’s Ryzen 500 series of chips, which have become increasingly popular in the desktop PC space. 

«With the launch of our 3rd Gen AMD Epyc processors, we are incredibly excited to deliver the fastest server CPU in the world. These processors extend our data centre leadership and help customers solve today’s most complex IT challenges, while substantially growing our ecosystem,» said Forrest Norrod, senior vice president and general manager, Data Center and Embedded Solutions Business Group. 

«We not only double the performance over the competition in HPC, cloud and enterprise workloads with our newest server CPUs but together with the AMD Instinct GPUs, we are breaking the exascale barrier in supercomputing and helping to tackle problems that have previously been beyond humanity’s reach.»

‘Zen 3’ refers to cores of which there are 64 within the 7003 series that is said to deliver up to twice the performance for HPC workloads compared to the competition. For cloud providers that need more computing power and security, the 7003 series has the «highest core density», according to AMD, and also includes AMD Infinity Guard protection.

Already, the AMD Epyc Milan series is being used by some of the biggest names in tech in a variety of ways. AWS will add it to its core Amazon EC2 instance families later this year, and it will also feature in Dell‘s new PowerEdge XE8545 server. Google Cloud will embed the EPYC 7003 series processors in a new compute optimised virtual machine and Microsoft has announced multiple virtual machine offerings that will be powered by the 7003 series. 

Other uses cases include Lenovo, Oracle, HPE, VMware, Tencent and many more. 

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has awarded a strategic IT infrastructure contract to services provider Capgemini, with the aim of improving the user experience of its internal platforms.

The contract is said to be worth £600 million and will run for five years, with the option to extend for an additional two years if needed.

The MPS is looking to improve its IT infrastructure services within the Pegasus Programme, a digital policing programme to procure new key IT suppliers for the police.

Capgemini will be working on moving the MPS away from its multi-supplier “Towers” model, essentially separated categories of services that led to unnecessary fragmentation.

The bulk of the contract work will involve amalgamating services such as the service desk, network services, end user services, cyber security services, and others under a single umbrella.

“We are delighted to have been chosen as the strategic infrastructure services provider for MPS, one of the world’s leading police forces and one of the largest public sector organisations in the UK,” said Nive Bhagat, CEO of Cloud Infrastructure Services at Capgemini.

Capgemini has a history of providing services to the police, including helping it to transform its budget control back in 2008. The contract was signed with the London’s Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime who have used Capgemini in the past in projects involving email services or agile scrum teams.

Angus McCallum, chief digital and technology officer at the Metropolitan Police, said: “Capgemini will help us continue to develop the next stage in our journey towards Met’s digital policing vision.

“Capgemini was chosen as our infrastructure partner based on the strong capabilities demonstrated throughout the bid process. We look forward to working closely with Capgemini in the delivery of critical infrastructure services over the coming years.»

Last year, Capgemini signed a three-year partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust to modernise its ICT estate.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has awarded a strategic IT infrastructure contract to services provider Capgemini, with the aim of improving the user experience of its internal platforms.

The contract is said to be worth £600 million and will run for five years, with the option to extend for an additional two years if needed.

The MPS is looking to improve its IT infrastructure services within the Pegasus Programme, a digital policing programme to procure new key IT suppliers for the police.

Capgemini will be working on moving the MPS away from its multi-supplier “Towers” model, essentially separated categories of services that led to unnecessary fragmentation.

The bulk of the contract work will involve amalgamating services such as the service desk, network services, end user services, cyber security services, and others under a single umbrella.

“We are delighted to have been chosen as the strategic infrastructure services provider for MPS, one of the world’s leading police forces and one of the largest public sector organisations in the UK,” said Nive Bhagat, CEO of Cloud Infrastructure Services at Capgemini.

Capgemini has a history of providing services to the police, including helping it to transform its budget control back in 2008. The contract was signed with the London’s Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime who have used Capgemini in the past in projects involving email services or agile scrum teams.

Angus McCallum, chief digital and technology officer at the Metropolitan Police, said: “Capgemini will help us continue to develop the next stage in our journey towards Met’s digital policing vision.

“Capgemini was chosen as our infrastructure partner based on the strong capabilities demonstrated throughout the bid process. We look forward to working closely with Capgemini in the delivery of critical infrastructure services over the coming years.»

Last year, Capgemini signed a three-year partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust to modernise its ICT estate.

Hackers are targeting legacy Linux systems with sophisticated malware believed to have been developed by cyber criminals backed by the Chinese state.

The malware, branded RedXOR, encodes its network data with a scheme based on the XOR Boolean logic operation used in cryptography, and is compiled with a legacy compiler on an older release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

This, according to Intezer researchers, suggests RedXOR is being used in targeted attacks against legacy systems.

Its operators deploy RedXOR to infiltrate Linux endpoints and systems in order to browse files, steal data, upload or download data, as well as tunnel network traffic. The backdoor is also difficult to identify, disguising itself as a polkit daemon, which is a background process for managing a component that controls system-wide privileges.

“Based on victimology, as well as similar components and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), we believe RedXOR was developed by high profile Chinese threat actors,” said Intezer researchers Avigayil Mechtinger and Joakim Kennedy.

“Linux systems are under constant attack given that Linux runs on most of the public cloud workload. Along with botnets and cryptominers, the Linux threat landscape is also home to sophisticated threats like RedXOR developed by nation-state actors.”

Upon installation, the malware moves its binaries to a hidden folder dubbed ‘po1kitd.thumb’, as part of its efforts to disguise itself as the polkit daemon. The malware then communicates with the command and control server in the guise of HTTP traffic, from where instructions are then sent.

Researchers have monitored the server issuing a total of 19 separate commands, including requesting system information and issuing updates to the malware. The presence of «on and off» availability in the command and control server also indicates the operation is still active, the researchers claim.

To build the backdoor, the hackers used the Red Hat 4.4.7 GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) compiler, which is the default GCC for RHEL 6. This was first released in 2010.

Mainstream support for RHEL 6 only ended recently, in November 2020, meaning a swathe of servers and endpoints are likely still running RHEL 6. Intezer, however, hasn’t disclosed the number of, or nature of, the victims it’s identified. According to Enlyft, roughly 50,000 companies use RHEL installations.

Although the discovery of Linux malware families has increased in recent times, backdoors attributed to advanced threat groups, such as nation state-backed attackers, are far rarer.

Researchers are confident in their attribution, however, identifying 11 distinct similarities between RedXOR and the PWNLNX backdoor, as well as parallels with the XOR.DDOS and Groundhog botnets – all associated with hackers supported by the Chinese state.

The samples discovered were also uploaded from Indonesia and Taiwan, countries known to be targeted by state-backed hackers operating from China.

Hackers are targeting legacy Linux systems with sophisticated malware believed to have been developed by cyber criminals backed by the Chinese state.

The malware, branded RedXOR, encodes its network data with a scheme based on the XOR Boolean logic operation used in cryptography, and is compiled with a legacy compiler on an older release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

This, according to Intezer researchers, suggests RedXOR is being used in targeted attacks against legacy systems.

Its operators deploy RedXOR to infiltrate Linux endpoints and systems in order to browse files, steal data, upload or download data, as well as tunnel network traffic. The backdoor is also difficult to identify, disguising itself as a polkit daemon, which is a background process for managing a component that controls system-wide privileges.

“Based on victimology, as well as similar components and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), we believe RedXOR was developed by high profile Chinese threat actors,” said Intezer researchers Avigayil Mechtinger and Joakim Kennedy.

“Linux systems are under constant attack given that Linux runs on most of the public cloud workload. Along with botnets and cryptominers, the Linux threat landscape is also home to sophisticated threats like RedXOR developed by nation-state actors.”

Upon installation, the malware moves its binaries to a hidden folder dubbed ‘po1kitd.thumb’, as part of its efforts to disguise itself as the polkit daemon. The malware then communicates with the command and control server in the guise of HTTP traffic, from where instructions are then sent.

Researchers have monitored the server issuing a total of 19 separate commands, including requesting system information and issuing updates to the malware. The presence of «on and off» availability in the command and control server also indicates the operation is still active, the researchers claim.

To build the backdoor, the hackers used the Red Hat 4.4.7 GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) compiler, which is the default GCC for RHEL 6. This was first released in 2010.

Mainstream support for RHEL 6 only ended recently, in November 2020, meaning a swathe of servers and endpoints are likely still running RHEL 6. Intezer, however, hasn’t disclosed the number of, or nature of, the victims it’s identified. According to Enlyft, roughly 50,000 companies use RHEL installations.

Although the discovery of Linux malware families has increased in recent times, backdoors attributed to advanced threat groups, such as nation state-backed attackers, are far rarer.

Researchers are confident in their attribution, however, identifying 11 distinct similarities between RedXOR and the PWNLNX backdoor, as well as parallels with the XOR.DDOS and Groundhog botnets – all associated with hackers supported by the Chinese state.

The samples discovered were also uploaded from Indonesia and Taiwan, countries known to be targeted by state-backed hackers operating from China.