Microsoft Introduces SQL Server for Linux & Joined Linux Foundation 'Platinum Member'

The next version of SQL Server is now in public preview and available on Windows and Linux both. Linux has received SQL support for the first time ever.

According to Microsoft’s announcement on their official blog post,

SQL Server enables developers and organizations to build intelligent applications with industry-leading performance and security technologies using their preferred language and environment. With the next release of SQL Server, you can develop applications with SQL Server on Linux, Windows, Docker, or macOS (via Docker) and then deploy to Linux, Windows, or Docker, on-premises or in the cloud.

All of the native features of SQL Server available on Windows, in-memory online-transaction processing (OLTP), in-memory columnstores, Transparent Data Encryption, Always Encrypted, and Row-Level Security to name some.

Microsoft Joins Linux Foundation

Microsoft just joined the Linux Foundation as a high-paying Platinum member.Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation said,

"Microsoft is better able to collaborate with the open source community to deliver transformative mobile and cloud experiences to more people."

Google Joins .Net Foundation

The Redmond based company is becoming an advocate of open sourcing and will be committed to accepting community feedback and community contributions. Visual Studio for example went open source a year ago with .Net.

Google is also keen to have a portion of that pie and is officially becoming a member of the .Net foundation. There seems to be a pattern here with Microsoft going all in with Linux and sharing (almost) everything with it. Google had not been interested in .Net from the start and was in fact invested in Java, its competitor, with Android. With Oracle sueing Google over the use of Java in Android is is not strange to see the company is looking elsewhere. .Net is a major part of corporate development so Google joining hands with Microsoft on this front does not seem a crazy move.

The SQL server support for Linux is mostly to sway the audience from Oracle (Java again). SQL server is cheaper as well, and better support means that majority of corporate Linux users would go for SQL server instead.

Kali Linux 2016.2 - Ready for Pentesters & Hackers

As promised at the Black Hat and Def Con security and hacking conferences, Offensive Security – the creators of Swiss army knife for researchers, penetration testers, and hackers – has finally released the much awaited Kali Linux 2016.2.

Kali Linux is an open-source Debian-based Linux distribution designed to help ethical hackers and security professionals with a wide range of tools for penetration testing, forensics, hacking and reverse engineering together into a single package.

Earlier the Kali Linux distribution was known as BackTrack.

Kali Linux 2016.2 is an updated Live ISO image of the popular GNU/Linux distribution that includes the latest software versions and enhancements for those who want to deploy the operating system on new systems.

What's new?

Besides bringing the updated Live ISOs of Kali Linux, the Kali Linux team brings multiple variants of the GNU/Linux distribution with various Desktop Environments, specifically KDE, Xfce, MATE, LXDE, and Enlightenment – all available only for 64-bit platforms.

What's even more exciting is that, from Kali Linux 2016.2 onwards, the team promises to release updated Live ISO images of Kali with new software versions and the latest security patches every week.

Since Kali Linux has been the most advanced and widely used distro for penetration testing and forensics, this weekly update has come up as exciting news for those involved in various hacking and security-related projects.

It's been several months since the last update to the official Kali Linux Live ISOs, and there are a few hundred new or updated packages pushed to the Kali repositories.

This means that the packages incorporated in the previous Kali Linux ISOs need bug fixes and OS improvements, which are implemented in the most recent versions of the Linux distro.

"Since our last release several months ago, there's a few hundred new or updated packages which have been pushed to the Kali reports," the Kali Linux team's announcement reads. "This means that anyone downloading an ISO even 3 months old has somewhat of a long 'apt-get dist-upgrade' ahead of them."

You can download the latest Kali Linux 2016.2 ISOs from its official website now. The Kali Linux team has also promised to bring a lot of exciting announcements in the next few weeks, so keep an eye on its announcements for the latest updates

Skype For Linux: Microsoft Launches Alpha Client To Replace Aging App

Microsoft Corp. launched an alpha version of a new Linux client for its Skype chat and calling service, very tellingly named Skype for Linux Alpha. In a blog post Wednesday that announced the launch, the company said the client “is not a fully functioning Skype client yet” but had been launched anyway because it wants “to get it [the client] in your hands as soon as possible.”

Pointing out some of the differences between the new app and the version it replaces, the blog says users will “be using the latest, fast and responsive Skype UI, you can share files, photos and videos and send a whole new range of new emoticons.” The company is also asking for users to test the app and provide feedback so it can prioritize which features it should work on adding, improving or fixing.

Skype also seems keen on phasing out its older Linux client. Using the new alpha version, “you will be able to call your friends and family on the latest versions of Skype on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, but you won’t be able to make or receive calls to and from the previous versions of Skype for Linux (4.3.0.37).”

Linux users can download Skype for Linux Alpha from here.

Another feature announced Wednesday was the alpha version of Skype based on WebRTC (an interface that supports browser-to-browser communication without additional plugins). Using the same features as the new Linux client, it is targeted at users of Chromebook and Chrome on Linux. The offering for the Chrome browser will expand over the next few months to include landlines and cellphones as well, the company said.

If you have an existing Skype account, the WebRTC version can be accessed using this link.

Skype was first released in 2003 and Microsoft bought the company in 2011 for $8.5 billion.

10 Most Important Announcement of Microsoft Build 2016

Microsoft holds a Build Conference every year and recently these developer events have transformed from snoozers to exciting occasions. Last year, the company came up with Windows 10 – a major winner, Cortana – a reliable virtual assistant and HoloLens features – detailing what the product could possess as the leading AR product.

Let’s go through the 10 most important announcements at the 2016 edition of Microsoft’s Build Conference.

Bots Everywhere

Probably the most important announcement, as far as the future is concerned, was the revelation about bots. Conversations will be the next platform for computing and it’ll be handled by AI (Artificial Intelligence) bots. These bots will respond to what people say.

Satya Nadella said that Microsoft had made an error with Tay, the teen social bot. Tay made some racist comments and was shut down after one day. It was re-enabled yesterday for a few minutes before it was shut down again due to a major glitch. Nadella said they want to get the best of humanity, not the worst. But perhaps, the bot got too close to humans and represented the real face of how humans act.

Nadella says that human language will be the next UI layer, bots will be the new apps and virtual assistants will be the new meta apps. AI will be behind it all and will be integrated into other services like Skype. Cortana is an example of an AI bot from Microsoft which works within a browser and Skype.

Bot Framework for Devs

As far as the developers are concerned, this was the best announcement. Microsoft will be making it easier than ever for Bots to communicate with any of the chat apps whether it be WhatsApp or Slack. The company also revealed some new tools for bots and gave an example of how to create a bot for Domino’s Pizza using these tools. These bots will support natural language and will be able to communicate with multiple apps.

All of this run using Cortana Intelligence Suite, which runs using Microsoft Bot framework. It is a cognitive services platform like computer vision and natural language which the developers can make use of. The platform includes 22 APIs, available from today.

Cortana is Now Smarter

Windows 10 Anniversary Edition will be getting a huge update in terms of Cortana’s abilities. It will understand events based on time and predict calendar appointments based on emails and texts. For example, it can identify what you were working on last night or where you were last week.

Cortana is also coming to the Xbox to help gamers find new titles and to share tips & tricks on gameplay. It will work better with third party apps, depending on the developer’s level of integration.

Skype and Bots

Microsoft is pushing Skype to be something superior compared to the rest of the communication apps. Skype will now be able to talk with Cortana, which will communicate with another bot and communicate the user commands properly.

A demo was shown on how a bot from Cups and Cakes asked for an address to complete a delivery. Cortana was a broker in the conversations and displayed a map with info on the estimated arrival time. It can also reply to people just like Google Smart Inbox replies.

All of this can work inside of a Skype call as users can add video bots to the chats.

The Next Windows 10 Update

Microsoft is calling it an “Anniversary Update” for Windows. It will include a few new features and improve Windows 10. The OS and its browser will be getting biometric authentication in a new and improved manner.

Microsoft talked about a Universal Windows Platform. It will be open and will work across all Microsoft devices, be it a smartphone, PC or HoloLens. There’s a new Linux command as well, which convert legacy apps to the app platform.

Xbox and Windows Gaming is Now Integrated

Microsoft started off with the announcement that Forza, the popular racing game, will be created as a universal app for Windows. So the same game will work on Windows and Xbox. The same goes for Quantun Break and Killer Instinct.

That desktop app converter mentioned before will also work with win32-based games. The company showed off how Age of Empires II HD can be downloaded from Steam and converted to a universal app. It works on the latest games like the Witcher 3 as well. These games get the same Live Tiles and Notifications after the conversion.

Xbox One now doubles as dev kit too. Games and apps can now be developed using any retail Xbox One. Desktop apps run fine on the Xbox and the software displays how an app would look like on a big TV screen. A preview of the dev mode for Xbox is available from today. Finally, Microsoft is creating a new unified app store which will work across PC and Xbox.

HoloLens is Now Shipping

Yes, the HoloLens is now shipping but only to developers. It is not meant for consumers and will cost a lot, but what it means is that the hardware is nearly finalised and it’s close to being on sale.

The first HoloLens app is Galaxy Explorer, an interactive set of holograms of planets and galaxies which can be manipulated via gestures. The app and its source code are available to developers now. NASA also showed off OnSight and Destination Mars for HoloLens which will let the user walk the red planet from a scientist’s point of view.

A couple universities displayed their medical apps for HoloLens. There was an anatomy program which showed a real life body and all its organs. A professor from across the country, connected as an avatar and taught a lesson to the students in great detail.

Windows Ink Improvement

Stylus will be getting improved support from now on thanks to “Ink Workspace” which consists of a few pen-powered apps. Write a sticky note with a stylus and Cortana will automatically remind you when it is time to do that task. If you draw two points of interest on a map, it will automatically tell you the distance and the directions. Dragging on text will automatically highlight it and so on.

Microsoft also showcased a bunch of virtual stencils and rulers which will help in drawing on a screen.

Universal Apps for Windows 10

A ton of games and popular apps are coming to Microsoft devices as Universal Windows Platform Apps. Microsoft showed how developers can add some new graphical styles to their apps like motion blurs and highlight effects. Developers can add some code into their apps making them Ink compatible.

The software giant showed off a new tool for developers which will let them convert all of their existing 16 million apps to the new universal platform.

Linux Command Line for Windows

Bash – “Bourne Again Shell” – will now be available in Windows. What it means is that Windows will support Linux and native Ubuntu commands and binaries will run on Windows. To top it off, Microsoft and Canonical worked on it together.

It’s a big deal for developers who had to use Linux or third party tools to code using Linux commands. Now all of that is built into Windows.

Microsoft is Bringing SQL Server to Linux

SQL Server, Microsoft’s flagship relational database product, is now available on Linux in the form of an early private preview, with a full launch planned for mid-2017.

Until now, SQL Server was strictly a Windows product, but as Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s executive vice president of its cloud and enterprise group, writes today, the company has decided that it’s time to bring it to Linux as well.

“SQL Server on Linux will provide customers with even more flexibility in their data solution,” Guthrie writes. “One with mission-critical performance, industry-leading TCO, best-in-class security, and hybrid cloud innovations — like Stretch Database which lets customers access their data on-premises and in the cloud whenever they want at low cost — all built in.”

Microsoft says it plans to open up access to SQL Server on Linux as it gets closer to general availability.

Today’s announcement comes three days ahead of Microsoft’s planned SQL Server 2016 event in New York. Guthrie says Microsoft plans to announce a number of new features around SQL Server 2016, including better in-memory database, R, and data warehousing support, as well as new mobile apps for business intelligence.

Microsoft says it currently uses the SQL Server 2016 codebase to power more than 1.4 million SQL databases in its Azure cloud. SQL Server 2016, which is currently available as a public preview, will become generally available later this year.

Not too long ago, today’s announcement would have been unthinkable. Over the last few years, though, and especially under its new CEO Satya Nadella, the company has started to open up more of its services and put a stronger emphasis on open source.

Today’s announcement also fits into Microsoft’s overall emphasis on hybrid deployments. Microsoft already runs Linux in its cloud and recently announced a major partnership with Red Hat, for example. If it wants SQL Server to remain relevant, it needs to bring it to more platforms — including those that it previously regarded as competitors. On Linux, after all, products like MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL are also vying for a very similar slice of the market.

Linux Foundation Introduces "Zephyr", a tiny OS for Internet Of Things

The 21st century is witnessing a great change over in the daily life of folks with the advent of IoT devices that are capable of talking to each other without any human intervention.

Yeah! Now you do not have to individually cascade an instruction to each of your home devices to accomplish a task. All have gone automated with the actuators and sensors which are infused into the home appliances.

The fact is that your IoT devices would only comply within the family of same manufacturers. For example, if you have a Samsung smart refrigerator, and your wearable device is from Apple or any other vendors, then it couldn't sync as both are from different genres.

No need to worry now!

Zephyr: Future of IoTs

The Linux Foundation has broken all the barriers of compatibility issues by releasing a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) for Internet of Things devices, dubbed "Zephyr". This OS enables connected devices to communicate with the same protocol.

So, no more digital barricades between your thermostat and your wearable devices, as they could communicate with each other using the same protocols.

The Zephyr project is supported by multiple platforms like NXP Semiconductors, Synopsys, and UbiquiOS Technology and is licensed under Apache 2.0.

Why is Zephyr so important?

Zephyr stands out from the crowd as it provides a scalable, customizable, secure and open source operating system to be used across multiple architectures.

Doing so, Zephyr could help solve many of the current limitations that prevent, so far, Internet of Things from becoming really mainstream.

Zephyr is expected to take the best of both sides: low-consumption as well as speed. 

Here's some key points about Zephyr:

• Scalability: Universality of Interconnected devices
• Umbrella Platform: All smart devices could run under a single roof.
• Baby Footprint Kernel: Zephyr kernel can run on 8kb memory devices
• Modularity: Supports to integrate 3rd party modules for additional functions as intended by the developer.
• Licensing: As startups does not have to bother about any licensing clash, as a unique license file would be mailed to everyone.

Apart from the special features, Zephyr also supports technologies including Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, IEEE 802.15.4, 6Lowpan, CoAP, IPv4 and IPv6, NFC, Arduino 101, Arduino Due, Intel Galileo' Gen 2, and NXP FRDM-K64F Freedom board.

Security in Mind

Since connected devices are most hack prone items, these devices may malfunction when gets compromised.

However, Linux is more concerned about the Security of Individuals, and generally open source software is considered more secure, as anyone can inspect flaws and debug the code.

For this, the Linux Foundation is maintaining a dedicated security working group and a delegated security maintainer to be available through IRC Chats, so that anyone could help report the vulnerabilities in open discussions.

Although there are many other alternatives available for Internet of Things RTOS like Brillo from Google, Rocket from Intel, and Ubuntu Core from Canonicals, nothing would be as fascinating as Zephyr.

Playstation 4 Gets Hacked & Run Linux & Pokemon

It was only a matter of time before Sony’s next generation console PlayStation 4 was hacked.Fail0verflow was the team responsible for carrying out the feat, by getting Gentoo Linux on the console too.

The team demonstrated Linux on the PlayStation 4 at the 32nd Chaos Communication Congress (which is an event widely known as 32c3) on December 30, 2015.

How Dis Fail0verFlow Manage to Accomplish the Feat?

The hacking group managed to find a vulnerability in the PlayStation 4 gaming console by bringing up the Settings option, as this is the place where the Linux kernel-based operating system is launched.

Afterwards, the group managed to navigate to the User’s Guide section, where they were able to locate the vulnerability and successfully hack the console. Another reason why the team was successfully able to hack the machine was because there was a broken NOP command on the integrated AMD Radeon GPU. NOP, or No Operation, is used for timing purposes, and present to prevent further delay when launching the gaming application and the team were able to notice this, albeit with a small amount of effort.

Here is the group running a modified Pokémon ROM dubbed ‘PlayStation version’ on the PS4 via Linux.

What Works, and What Doesn't?

After the hack, the following components and instructions present on the motherboard remained functional:

• Timers
• IRQs (interrupt request)
• PCI
• Serial port
• Framebuffer
• Kernel mode setting
• HDMI encoder
• Ethernet
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• S/PDIF audio

3D hardware acceleration, USB ports, and the HDMI audio port did not respond after completing the hacking process, but the group has stated that they have figured out a way to make these three things work as well. As for the Blu-Ray disk read, Fail0verflow are still making an effort in order to make it work.

Does it seem like the PS4 will get hacked to run pirated games and backups? This development has certainly got everyone thinking about such a possibility in the near future.

R.I.P. "Ian Murdock" Creator of Debian Linux Dead at 42

Ian Murdock, the founder the Debian Linux operating system and the creator of apt-get, has passed away.

Yes, it is very sad to announce that Ian Murdock is not between us. His death has touched the entire software community. He was just 42.

The announcement of Murdock death came out via a blog post on Docker website, where Murdock was working as a member of the technical staff.

The cause of death is unclear at present, but Murdock tweeted the same day that he would commit suicide that night. His Twitter account had since been deleted.

However, at that time, some people speculated that Murdock’s account had been hacked and that the tweets were not by him.

Murdock posted some Tweets on Monday suggesting he had been involved in a police case and has been beaten by the police and charged with battery.

However, neither Docker, nor the San Francisco Police Department immediately commented on Murdock’s actual cause of death.

Murdock developed Debian in August 1993 — and yes the “ian” in the project’s name is from Ian Murdock.

In the past, He also worked at Sun Microsystems and served as the CTO of the Linux Foundation.

It is with deep regret that we say goodbye to our great friend, the most significant contributor to Linux community, our beloved Ian Murdock.

Kali Linux 2.0 Released

 

Our Next Generation Penetration Testing Platform

We’re still buzzing and recovering from the Black Hat and DEF CON conferences where we finished presenting our new Kali Linux Dojo, which was a blast. With the help of a few good people, the Dojo rooms were set up ready for the masses – where many generated their very own Kali 2.0 ISOs for the first time. But the excitement doesn’t end for us just yet. With the end of the cons, we now find ourselves smack in the middle of the most significant release of Kali since 2013. Today is the day that Kali 2.0 is officially released.

So, what’s new in Kali 2.0? There’s a new 4.0 kernel, now based on Debian Jessie, improved hardware and wireless driver coverage, support for a variety of Desktop Environments (gnome, kde, xfce, mate, e17, lxde, i3wm), updated desktop environment and tools – and the list goes on. But these bulletpoint items are essentially a side effect of the real changes that have taken place in our development backend. Ready to hear the real news?  Take a deep breath, it’s a long list.

Kali Linux is Now a Rolling Distribution

One of the biggest moves we’ve taken to keep Kali 2.0 up-to-date in a global, continuous manner, is transforming Kali into a rolling distribution. What this means is that we are pulling our packages continuously from Debian Testing (after making sure that all packages are installable) – essentially upgrading the Kali core system, while allowing us to take advantage of newer Debian packages as they roll out. This move is where our choice in Debian as a base system really pays off – we get to enjoy the stability of Debian, while still remaining on the cutting edge.

 

Continuously Updated Tools, Enhanced Workflow

Another interesting development in our infrastructure has been the integration of an upstream version checking system, which alerts us when new upstream versions of tools are released (usually via git tagging). This script runs daily on a select list of common tools and keeps us alerted if a new tool requires updating. With this new system in place, core tool updates will happen more frequently. With the introduction of this new monitoring system, we  will slowly start phasing out the “tool upgrades” option in our bug tracker.

 

New Flavours of Kali Linux 2.0

Through our Live Build process, Kali 2.0 now natively supports KDE, GNOME3, Xfce, MATE, e17, lxde and i3wm. We’ve moved on to GNOME 3 in this release, marking the end of a long abstinence period. We’ve finally embraced GNOME 3 and with a few custom changes, it’s grown to be our favourite desktop environment. We’ve added custom support for multi-level menus, true terminal transparency, as well as a handful of useful gnome shell extensions. This however has come at a price – the minimum RAM requirements for a full GNOME 3 session has increased to 768 MB. This is a non-issue on modern hardware but can be detrimental on lower-end machines. For this reason, we have also released an official, minimal Kali 2.0 ISO. This “light” flavour of Kali includes a handful of useful tools together with the lightweight Xfce desktop environment – a perfect solution for resource-constrained computers.

 

Kali Linux 2.0 ARM Images & NetHunter 2.0

The whole ARM image section has been updated across the board with Kali 2.0 – including Raspberry Pi, Chromebooks, Odroids… The whole lot! In the process, we’ve added some new images – such as the latest Chromebook Flip – the little beauty here on the right. Go ahead, click on the image, take a closer look. Another helpful change we’ve implemented in our ARM images is including kernel sources, for easier compilation of new drivers.

We haven’t forgotten about NetHunter, our favourite mobile penetration testing platform – which also got an update and now includes Kali 2.0. With this, we’ve released a whole barrage of new NetHunter images for Nexus 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. The OnePlus One NetHunter image has also been updated to Kali 2.0 and now has a much awaited image for CM12 as well – check the Offensive Security NetHunter page for more information.

 

Updated VMware and VirtualBox Images

Offensive Security, the information security training and penetration testing company behind Kali Linux, has put up new VMware and VirtualBox Kali 2.0 images for those who want to try Kali in a virtual environment. These include 32 and 64 bit flavours of the GNOME 3 full Kali environment.

If you want to build your own virtual environment, you can consult our documentation site on how to install the various virtual guest tools for a smoother experience.

 

TL;DR. Where’s My Kali 2.0 Download?

The tl;dr of this release is best explained by comparison: If Kali 1.0 was focused on building a solid infrastructure then Kali 2.0 is focused on overhauling the user experience and maintaining updated packages and tool repositories. Along with the arrival of 2.0 comes a whole lot of interesting updates… You can head down to our Kali Linux 2.0 Download page to get the goodness for yourself.

 

Still TL; Still DR. How Do I Upgrade to Kali 2.0?

Yes, you can upgrade Kali 1.x to Kali 2.0! To do this, you will need to edit your source.list entries, and run a dist-upgrade as shown below. If you have been using incorrect or extraneous Kali repositories or otherwise manually installed or overwritten Kali packages outside of apt, your upgrade to Kali 2.0 may fail. This includes scripts like lazykali.sh, PTF, manual git clones in incorrect directories, etc. – All of these will clobber existing files on the filesystem and result in a failed upgrade. If this is the case for you, you’re better off reinstalling your OS from scratch.

Otherwise, feel free to:

cat << EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://http.kali.org/kali sana main non-free contrib
deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security/ sana/updates main contrib non-free
EOF

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade # get a coffee, or 10.
reboot

 

Metasploit Community / Pro no longer ships in Kali

At the request of Rapid7, we have removed the Metasploit Community / Pro package from Kali Linux and now host the open-source metasploit-framework package only. For all of you who require Community or Pro, you will now need to download it from Rapid7 and then register and submit your personal details in order to get a license. In addition, the Rapid7 team no longer maintains the Metasploit package in Kali, which has brought with it some substantial changes – we’ve moved to a “native” setup, where rather than bundling all the required software needed to run Metasploit in one big package, we use native dependencies within Kali to support the metasploit-framework package. This results in a faster, smoother work experience and easier integration with Metasploit dependencies. For more information about this, check out our Metasploit Framework in Kali documentation page.

 

Starting up Metasploit Framework in Kali Linux 2.0

Due to the above-mentioned changes in the metasploit-framework package, there are some minor changes in how Metasploit is started in Kali – specifically, there is no longer a metasploit service. This is how you start up the Metasploit Framework with database support in Kali Linux 2.0:

# Start the Postgresql Database
/etc/init.d/postgresql start

# Initialize the Metasploit Framework Database
msfdb init

# Run msfconsole
msfconsole

Your Kali 2.0 FU Just Got an Upgrade

Kali Linux 2.0 is a serious step forward for us, as we continuously improve the distribution. We hope you enjoy the new look, features, tools, and workflow. As usual, you are invited to join our community via forums, bug tracker, Twitter, Facebook, and of course, IRC. Lastly, if you haven’t seen our Kali 2.0 Teaser video, here it is!