Amazon: A Succulent Target for Criticism
November 23, 2018
Heads up, Amazon, not everyone loves your shopping service. One example is the profane bassoonist. Yeah, that type of person exists in Amazonland. The story of the bassoon strap, a subscription service, and other money grubbing methods employed by the digital superstore infuse “What If Amazon.com Actually…Is A Horrible Website?”
The key point for me was this statement:
And then there are the outright scams. Like the unimaginable shipping prices on a cheap shower drain cover, which could only possibly mean they hope someone accidentally hits two-day shipping so they can charge them $1,000.
If accurate, Amazon is big, so large that making the store a tidy, positive experience has been slipping away.
I am not surprised. In fact, I expect this type of carelessness or clever mindfulness to continue. I received an email from no-reply at amazon dot com informing me that my email address had slipped from the nickle and dime clutching fingers of the online ecommerce and policeware vendor.
I wasn’t surprised. I learned from this source that Amazon was suffering what was called “connection failures.” Not good for a cloud outfit. No connection, no cloud. Yeah, bad. Nothing like downtime when engaged in warfighting at a government agency.
Putting Amazon’s challenge in perspective, the bundle of services and functions assembled for Amazon’s policeware push will raise some eyebrows.
Certain behaviors are ingrained into the company.
Yeah, $1,000 shipping. An accident.
Stephen E Arnold, November 23, 2018
Dongles, Security, and Keys: A New but Familiar Tune
November 22, 2018
Part of Google’s new product lineup is the Titan Security Key, selling for only $50. The Hacker News shares more information on the Titan Security Key in the article, “Google ‘Titan Security Key’ Is Now On Sale For $50.” Google first announced the security key at the Google Cloud Next 2018 convention.
The Titan Security Key is similar to Yubico’s YubiKey. It offers hardware-based two factor authentication for online accounts with the highest level of protection from phishing. The full kit offers a USB security key, Bluetooth security key, USB-C to USB-A adapter, and USB-C to USB-A connecting cable. The Titan Security Key is based on the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, U2F protocol and uses Google developed secure element and firmware. It adds another security level on top of passwords, an idea similar to the Tor browser. It is compliant with many popular browsers, email services, social media, and cloud services.
As more aspects of people’s lives migrate online, security is more important than ever. Tools like the Titan Security Key provide an extra level of security at a nominal price:
“According to Google, the FIDO-compatible hardware-based security keys are thought to be more safe and efficient at preventing phishing, man-in-the-middle (MITM) and other types of account-takeover attacks than other 2FA methods requiring SMS, for example. This is because even if an attacker manages to compromise your online account credentials, log into your account is impossible without the physical key. Last month, Google said it started requiring its 85,000 employees to use Titan Security Keys internally for months last year, and the company said since then none of them had fallen victim to any phishing attack.”
The Google Titan Security Key appears to be a simple and cheap way to ensure more security for individuals. One of the problems people face with online security is the lack of understanding, cost, and finding an effective product. Google appears to have created a great solution, but the one problem is that China made the Titan Security Key. China has all the schematics for the device and China is a hotbed for phishing attacks.
Microsoft, another me too outfit, has jumped on the bandwagon for dongles. Microsoft now offers native FIDO key login for Windows 10. What about losing a dongle?
Back to square one?
Whitney Grace, November 22, 2018
DarkCyber for November 20, 2018, Now Available: Part Four, Amazon Poised for Policeware Growth
November 20, 2018
DarkCyber for November 20, 2018, is now available at http://www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/301440474.
In this week’s program (the fourth in the DarkCyber four part series about Amazon’s new services), Stephen E Arnold reveals how the sense making and analytics system will allow Amazon to expand its services into regulatory agencies in the US and in other countries.
Amazon’s push into policeware enables a broad market push. In addition to serving the US government, Amazon’s technology for advanced intelligence analysis allows the company to provide regulatory agencies with high value ways to fulfill their mission. The Securities & Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service could become customers of the Amazon GovCloud based system.
Real time information processing and powerful analytics like cross correlation across disparate data sources can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of the agencies’ enforcement efforts.
Stephen E Arnold said, “Amazon’s push to provide services to a major US intelligence agency and to win the Department of Defense cloud computing contract worth about $5 billion are significant. Amazon’s apparent goal is to disrupt and then displace existing vendors of similar services. Amazon is well positioned to rework in a radical way the way city, county, state, and federal government agencies perform analytic and intelligence related work. Furthermore, Amazon’s platform reaches the UK law enforcement community, and it could migrate to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia as well. The impact of Amazon’s policeware is likely to be far more significant than a single JEDI contract.”
The final video in this DarkCyber series makes clear that Amazon has a strategic objective for its machine learning and advanced analytics platform.
In addition, commercial enterprises may seek to make sense of their business related data and information. Financial services firms and pharmaceutical companies are among the most information intensive businesses. Amazon could easily become a disruptive force in the traditional business intelligence market.
For more information about our for fee webinars about Amazon policeware, please, write benkent2020 at yahoo dot com.
Kenny Toth, November 20, 2018
Wal-Mart: Responding to the Bezos Brigade
November 15, 2018
It’s retail conflict.
Wal-Mart likes to be on top. Wal-Mart’s sales, however, have fallen due to Amazon and other online retailers, but they will not go down without a fight. Wal-Mart has decided to fight digital sales with a bigger, better digital supply chain super structure. The Motley Fool reports on Wal-Mart’s biggest investment in, “IBM And Microsoft Are Upgrading Wal-Mart’s Digital Supply Chain.”
Wal-Mart has teamed up with Microsoft and IBM to revamp its supply chain. (What no Amazon in the mix?) Azure is the official cloud infrastructure of Wal-Mart with an exclusive five year contract. All of the retailer’s Web sites will now run natively on Azure and taking advantage of Microsoft’s machine learning and data management tools. Azure’s insightful tools will also streamline Wal-Mart’s supply chain, watch energy levels, and control devices.
Wal-Mart allegedly uses IBM’s blockchain technology to monitor product origins and IBM also built an onboard system for suppliers. How does the new supply chain help Wal-Mart:
“The modernization of Wal-Mart’s supply chain with cloud, IoT, and blockchain services could improve the retailer’s operating margin, which has been weighed down by e-commerce and overseas investments, store renovations, and wage hikes in recent years. That digital foundation can also pave the way for Wal-Mart to install more robots in its warehouses and stores, thereby reducing its overall labor costs. A streamlined supply chain would also help Wal-Mart avoid food safety problems, which are becoming increasingly common across supply chains and multiple countries and states.”
The new system will also help the just-folks store regain some of the losses from its China suppliers due to President Trump’s MAGA activities.
The team up between Wal-Mart, IBM, and Microsoft is a joint effort to counter Amazon-their common enemy—The Bezos brigade. Long shot for sure.
Whitney Grace, November 15, 2018
Oracle Takes One on Nose
November 15, 2018
I read “Oracle Loses Protest of Pentagon Cloud Bid Seen Favoring Amazon.” Oracle, like IBM, wanted a big, hefty chunk of the JEDI contract. Who wouldn’t? According to the real news outfit ThomsonReuters:
The GAO decision issued Wednesday [November 14, 2018] deals a blow to Oracle’s push to expand its federal defense contracts, leaving the tech company with fewer options to improve its chances of winning the award. It also frees the Pentagon to pursue the single-source solution it has opted for all along.
Amazon’s decision to plunk a big office in the middle of bucolic Crystal City and environs suggests that Amazon wants to be close to the corridors of unaudited spending.
Here in Harrod’s Creek, we think Amazon gets a deal from Virginia and this modest decision about the sole source award for JEDI.
Perhaps Oracle should buy MarkLogic and embrace the XML thing. In parallel, Oracle could also pump more dough into Endeca or TripleHop?
Stephen E Arnold, November 15, 2018
Oracle: Grousing about Amazon and Wrestling with Revenue Alligators
November 14, 2018
One of my erstwhile fans sent me a link to a video allegedly revealing Larry Ellison’s deep disappointment with Amazon. Yep, Amazon, an online store with a bundle of database systems. You can view the video here.
News is news. But It seems that some time has passed since Oracle rolled out major technology announcements. What’s happened to Endeca by the way? Seeking Alpha’s “The Reason(s) Why Oracle’s Growth Story Is Crumbling” is semi news, and the write up raises the question, “What is happening with Oracle?”
Oracle’s quarterly earnings are down and the company’s growth is shrinking faster than the polar ice caps. Oracle might have made a mistake combining its cloud business together with its on-premise business. This move led to Oracle’s stock worth dropping:
“Several SA contributors have provided their take on those earnings, though, in my view, this piece by Shock Exchange puts it quite succinctly: Oracle’s cloud growth may have peaked. Indeed, Oracle’s Fiscal Q4 2018 cloud revenue of $1.57B was $200M below the Wall Street consensus, while 31% growth paled in comparison to SAP’s (SAP) 40% and Microsoft’s (MSFT) 53% for the same segment. For perspective, Oracle’s cloud revenue growth was 66% just a year ago.”
Despite the poor returns this year, Oracle stock is only a little off from its highest point, so the company is surfing along. Perhaps Amazon is a rallying point for the Oracle faithful?
Whitney Grace, November 14, 2018
IBM Watson: Now Tackling Travel Costs
November 13, 2018
Machine learning and artificial intelligence is really making a dent on corporate waste. Those interested in the bottom line are sitting up and taking notice. We discovered one inventive way to shed a few pounds of corporate flab from a recent IT News Africa story, “TravelPort, IBM Launch AI Travel Platform.”
According to the story:
“Delivered via the IBM Cloud, the platform uses IBM Watson capabilities to intelligently track, manage, predict and analyze travel costs in one place to fundamentally change how companies manage and optimize their travel programs… The new platform features advanced artificial intelligence, and provides cognitive computing, predictive data analytics using “what-if” type scenarios, and integrated travel and expense data.”
While corporate travel might not seem like it will change your life personally, unless you own a globetrotting company, it provides insight into a bigger picture. Take, for example, how oncology is slashing costs with AI with technology that detects cancer more accurately than human eyes. There is seemingly no end to ways in which AI can help pull a company from the red to the black. Even public services, like courtrooms, have begun using this tech to speed up the sentencing process. Watch for this to seep into your world, even if you don’t expect it.
Those surprising IBM Watson folks. Talented.
Patrick Roland, November 13, 2018
Amazonia: Chopping Digital Trees, November 12, 2018
November 12, 2018
After a few days wandering in the Peruvian mountains, I had a moment of either insight or oxygen deprivation. Amazon can yield Amazonia. No, not jungle insects. Digital information which provide some insight or shape shifting to the company which seems positioned to suck Google’s online revenue like a frisky mosquito.
Thus, we have the first installment of Amazonia:
Alexa Listens and Records
ITEM ONE: Everyone’s favorite surveillance device is in the news. According to a report from WMUR tv:
A judge has ordered Amazon to turn over recordings that might have been captured by an Echo smart speaker in the Farmington house where two women were stabbed to death in January 2017.
The write up points out:
“I think most people probably don’t even realize that Alexa is taking account of what’s going on in your house, in addition to responding to your demands and commands,” said Albert Scherr, a professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
Don’t have an Alexa device? Keep in mind that Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant now available on Windows 10 PCs as a standalone app. More info is here.
Alexa, are you connected to Sagemaker and DeepLens? Unfamiliar references, gentle reader? Worth tracking down our four part Amazon policeware series. Start here.
Oracle, What Database Will Amazon Use?
ITEM TWO: Amazon Eases Out the Troublesome Oracle
“Keep Talkin’ Larry: Amazon Is Close to Tossing Oracle Software” reveals that Amazon is about ready to undergo its final chemotherapy session. Most traces of the Oracle disease have now been eliminated. Sure, there are lingering side effects like Oracle PR creating inflammation in Amazon, but the end is in sight.
I learned from the real news, real accurate Bloomberg:
An executive with Amazon’s cloud-computing unit hit back at Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, who ridiculed the internet giant as recently as last month for relying on Oracle databases to track transactions and store information, even though Amazon sells competing software, including Redshift, Aurora and DynamoDB. Amazon’s effort to end its use of Oracle’s products has made new progress, Andy Jassy, the chief executive officer of Amazon Web Services, tweeted Friday. “In latest episode of ‘uh huh, keep talkin’ Larry,’ Amazon’s Consumer business turned off its Oracle data warehouse Nov. 1 and moved to Redshift,” Jassy wrote. By the end of 2018, Amazon will stop using 88 percent of its Oracle databases, including 97 percent of its mission-critical databases, he added.
Time’s are changing for the once dominant database giant.
Amazon: Free PR on a National Scale
ITEM 3: The location of a big Amazon office complex may be known. Surprise, Amazon’s giant PR play called HQ2, the erstwhile competition among cities for a second headquarters, may be over. Where is the online giant and policeware vendor heading? The Washington, DC, area. We learned in “Amazon and Microsoft Are Fighting for a $10 Billion Pentagon Contract — and HQ2 in Virginia Could Be Jeff Bezos’ Boss Move”:
“Let’s just put it this way. I don’t think the timing of Amazon moving its headquarters near D.C. is coincidental,” Daniel Ives, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, told Business Insider.
Yep, coincidence. But can Amazon win JEDI? Microsoft is trying to prevent the juicy plum from ending up in a Whole Foods shopping basket. But Amazon does have that other government cloud contract, and it seems to deliver what In-Q-Tel could not. Plus, the bitter harvest of the Distributed Common Ground project still lingers in some mess halls.
Stephen E Arnold, November 12, 2018
DarkCyber for November 6, 2018, Is Now Available: Part Two, Amazon’s Disruptive Thrust
November 6, 2018
DarkCyber for November 6, 2018, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/298831585
In this program, DarkCyber explains how Amazon is using open source software and proprietary solutions to reinvent IBM’s concept of vendor lock in.
Decades ago, IBM used mainframes and their proprietary hardware and software to create a barrier to change for government agencies using the systems. Amazon’s approach is to provide a platform which makes use of open source software to allow the US government to make necessary changes to software.
Amazon also offers value added functionality ranging from hardware like the DeepLens smart surveillance devices to patented analytics for real time cross correlation of data. Government agencies using these proprietary components will find themselves dependent on Amazon despite the support for open source software. Stephen E Arnold, author of CyberOSINT, said: “Amazon’s use of open source makes it easy for customers to make changes to the Amazon policeware system. However, Amazon’s value adding proprietary software allows Amazon to lock in government agencies who want access to Amazon’s most advanced services, features, and functions. Amazon wants to reinvent IBM’s approach to lock in for the 21st century.”
An added twist is that many of the providers of policeware and advanced intelligence systems use the Amazon cloud platform to deliver their products and services to US government agencies. Examples include Palantir Technologies, 4iQ and Webhose. Companies leveraging Amazon’s platform have an advantage over firms which use other cloud solutions. However, in the longer terms, Amazon can exercise control over vendors, partners, and integrators as part of a lock in strategy tuned to the 21st century computing realities.
Watch for the third part of this four part series on November 13, 2018.
Kenny Toth, November 6, 2018
DarkCyber for October 30, 2018, Is Now Available: Part One, Amazon Policeware
October 30, 2018
DarkCyber for October 30, 2018, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/297839909
Stephen E Arnold’s DarkCyber is a weekly video news and analysis program about the Dark Web and lesser known Internet services.
This week’s program is Part One of our four part series which examines Amazon’s new platform for law enforcement, intelligence, and warfighting software and solutions.
Amazon has developed and successfully deployed its GovCloud platform (classified and unclassified versions). For more than four years, Amazon has provided its machine learning platform and specialized capabilities to one of the largest covert organizations in the United States. The success of that program has encouraged Amazon to compete for the $5 billion JEDI program to provide cloud services to the US Department of Defense.
In this first of four videos about Amazon’s policeware capabilities, Stephen E Arnold discusses Amazon’s coordinated, organized approach to this new service area.
Since 2007, Amazon has systematically put developed and deployed administrative tools, advanced analytic functions like cross correlation, and the technology required to allow point and click access to a wide range of data. Stephen E Arnold, author of CyberOSINT, said: “Amazon’s investment in policeware, its GovCloud technology, and the specialized services for law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and intelligence professionals is important. Amazon’s initiative has the potential to revolutionize how government agencies process open source and classified information.”
The JEDI contract, however, is not the end game for Amazon. The larger objective is for Amazon to provide a range of services which will allow the company to provide regulatory and enforcement services to allies of the United States and meet the needs of local, county, and state agencies. Plus, Amazon has landed a law enforcement contract in the UK which suggests that the company will pursue similar engagements in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the so-called Five Eyes initiative.
Amazon, if it wins the JEDI deal, could change the way in which government agencies procure advanced technology and process test, image, numeric, and video data. One immediate impact will be to force additional changes in how US government procurements for policeware, war fighting, and intelligence systems are handled. Furthermore, the traditional Federal supply chain for policeware and sense making systems will be disrupted.
Watch for the second part of this four part series next week on November 6, 2018
Kenny Toth, October 30, 2018
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