Weave: The virtual Docker network
London-based developer Zettio has open-sourced Weave, a tool to create a virtual network that connects Docker containers across multiple hosts.
Weave creates a network bridge on each host, connecting each container to the bridge via a veth pair (a pair of virtual network interfaces connected together). Weave routers then capture Ethernet packets from a bridge-connected interface and establish TCP connections that can traverse firewalls.
The technology allows the creation of run-anywhere applications with multiple containers, and works alongside Docker’s existing host.
More information can be found at Weave’s GitHub repository.
Tech industry groups urge Senate to swiftly pass the USA FREEDOM Act
A coalition of tech industry organizations have written to the U.S. Senate asking them to quickly pass the USA FREEDOM Act, a piece of legislation that is expected to stop the NSA’s online surveillance activities.
“The revelations about the U.S. government’s surveillance programs that began in June of 2013 have led to an erosion of public trust in the U.S. government and the U.S. technology sector,” wrote the coalition, consisting of the Software Alliance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, Reform Government Surveillance, and the Software and Information Industry Association in a joint letter. “In an effort to begin restoring that trust, the USA FREEDOM Act will prevent the bulk of collection of Internet metadata, call detail records, and other tangible things in a manner that both enhances privacy and protects national security.”
The coalition also stated that the NSA surveillance program revelations have had a negative economic impact in overseas markets for U.S. technology companies.
The full letter is available here.
Java, C++ hit all-time lows in programming language index
The Tiobe programming community index has released its September Report, showing Java and C++ hitting all-time lows in popularity—though they’re both still in the Top 5.
Since the start of the Tiobe Index in 2001, second-ranked Java and fourth-ranked C++ have never hit lower ratings (14.14% and 4.674%, respectively) based on the Tiobe formula analyzing language searches across a variety of sites. The report suggested this may be due in part to the widening scope of programming languages, as languages such as Objective-C, C# and BASIC climbed the September rankings.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that Java and C++ are on their way out,” the report stated. “There is still a huge demand for these programming languages.”
The full Tiobe Index report for September is available here.
DARPA announces STAC program to identify Java code vulnerabilities
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to shore up Java bytecode.
DARPA has announced a new program called STAC, or Space/Time Analysis for Cybersecurity, to develop sophisticated code that identifies complex software algorithm vulnerabilities, particularly in Java. The program will focus on addressing misuse of space and time resources that open the door for complex algorithmic attacks.
According to DARPA, “As new defensive technologies make old classes of vulnerability difficult to exploit successfully, adversaries move to new classes of vulnerability. Vulnerabilities based on flawed implementations of algorithms have been popular targets for many years. However, once new defensive technologies make vulnerabilities based on flawed implementations less common and more difficult to exploit, adversaries will turn their attention to vulnerabilities inherent in the algorithms themselves.”
More information can be found on STAC’s DARPA page.
