I had the delight of talking to Val Bercovici, the founder & CEO at Chainkit, a Software-as-a-Service company that assembles cyber security solutions with a corporate assignment to eradicate sightless holes in cyber security and data privacy.

Today, we discuss Chainkit & Data Protection, what is chain of custody, and Blockchains – cases CXOs are far-fetched to have ever encountered in their careers while currently having no option.

#1 – Ransomware incidents and Cyberattacks are constantly increasing

We discuss what is ransomware cyber attack and how these incidents have been increasing significantly. We started with Val presenting his take on the present state of what seems to be a swell of new challenges in cybersecurity incidents and subsequent ransomware incidents, specifically focused on the healthcare industry, which was specified to transpire because the world is haggling with a global pandemic, cybercriminals are never lagging to take the edge of prospect where chinks in the armour emerge in any place they can witness a route to profit from any security vulnerability.

#2 – The massive impact of COVID19 and life before and after 2022

COVID19 has had a tremendous impact but didn’t this problem exist before 2022, so extensively so that I don’t believe anyone would contend that the effect the global pandemic has had is past influential concerning the growth in data security & cybersecurity, be it the evolution to Work From Home for multiple, or the augmented shift to Mobile technology in the likes of infirmaries, retail, and service sectors as a whole. Additionally, cybersecurity threat and ransomware have been around for decades, irrespective of the hazards and impacts around this space. In Val’s perspective, we confer how the existing state of the globe has altered the geography of data security and digital threat and what you witness as you spend time with communities faced with the requirement to respond.

#3 – Are we on the verge now where technology lives to decode this problem

Cybersecurity threats in healthcare, cyberattack, ransomware, data risk and data security aren’t new issues, nor are they new threats. However, they have noticed significant gains due to our pivot to communities being Data-Driven. We reside in an immensely Always On, Always Affiliated world – so the tremendous growth in risks linked to the tremendous growth of the attack surface should come as no lure to anyone, but the query I keep earning in boardrooms is “is there a solution to this, does the technology exist to solve it?” – I question Val to probe into this, we split this into two subparts.

We begin with the first half, and I request Val for his riff on this, i.e., should it be interpreted as snare when it comes to increasing cyber incidents to any bonafide business or tech expert. 

And to the subsequent part, I question Val if the technology exists today to handle and decode the issues of clamping & safeguarding data and, in the subject of prosperous hacks, hold the chain of custody in cyber security, as it’s anointed, to be able to chase and delineate the trespasser.

We again wrap up with little crystal orb goggling, as alliances are now enclosing to steer their way out of 2021 and mitigate into 2022 as we make it through the long and immensely challenging year, safely getting it through the auspicious Christian holiday term Christmas and unexplored waters.

After that, I invited Val to share his view and suggestion around how communities should equip themselves to manage the near future as they scrutinize to improvise business & technology approaches & subsidizing plans for the next 12 to 18 months?

To listen to our detailed conversation, make sure you tune in and enjoy a significant fireside conversation with one of the most ingenious thinkers in cyber security. Certainly, one of the greatest influences in thought administration in the war against cybercrime.

This podcast was made in partnership with Chainkit.

For more information please visit:

Chainkit website: https://bit.ly/chainkit-homepage

I caught up with Rupesh Chokshi, Assistant Vice President of Edge Solutions Product Marketing Management at AT&T Business, to discuss the latest trends and insights, and general state of Software Defined Wide Area Network technologies ( #SDI & #SDN / #NFV ) and solutions ( aka #SDWAN or SD-WAN ) and the products and services Rupesh and his team at AT&T Business and the AT&T network offer.

Rupesh leads the Enterprise Edge product marketing team for AT&T Business which focuses on product management, strategy and business development. He manages a significant global portfolio of market-leading, innovative technology solutions. The Enterprise Edge team is transforming services and networks using software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualisation (NFV) and SD-WAN technologies.

Rupesh Chokshi leads the Enterprise Edge product marketing team for AT&T Business which focuses on product management, strategy and business development. 

Rupesh manages a significant global portfolio of market-leading, innovative technology solutions for global business customers. The Edge Solutions team is transforming services and networks using software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV) and SD-WAN technologies.

Most recently, Rupesh has developed new offers for the AT&T Edge Solutions business to create value for customers by marketing software-based solutions at the edge that are agile and scalable. These bundled solutions encompass the newest technology trends including SDN, SD-WAN, 5G, NFV, voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and IoT.

Previously, Rupesh launched AT&T FlexWareSM and SD-WAN solutions globally in 200+ countries and territories with a game changing and award-winning edge solution. He has increased revenue growth by developing and implementing go-to-market plans for all customer segments. 

Rupesh also manages the ecosystem and strategic alliances with key vendors like Juniper Networks, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Cisco, and VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloudTM. AT&T has built joint value proposition offers with Systems Integrators such as IBM, DXC Technology and Tech Mahindra.

Rupesh began his career with AT&T Labs in 1997 and held several leadership positions in Technology, Sales & Marketing, Global Business, Systems Development, Enterprise IT Architecture, and Customer Experience. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the following technologies – SDN, NFV, SD-WAN, Security, SIP, VoIP, UC, IP Broadband, Ethernet, VPN, M2M, Cloud and Mobility.

Rupesh is also a published author and has spoken at several leading industry conferences such as Mobile World Congress, Gartner IT Symposium, Enterprise Connect, IT Roadmap and Interop.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Engineering in Production Engineering from BVM Engineering School at Sardar Patel University.

In this conversation, we talk about the details around how AT&T has developed software-based solutions at the edge to create value for customers that are agile and scalable.  These solutions encompass SDN, NFV, SD-WAN, #5G, voice over internet protocol (#VoIP) and IoT.

We talk about Software Defined Infrastructure ( SDI ) & Software Defined Networks ( SDN ) and how Software Defined Infrastructure and Software Defined Networks have changed the landscape of Wide Area Networks.

Rupesh also shares great insights into the depth and breadth of the AT&T Business portfolio of WAN & Edge services & solutions, and in particular where SD-WAN sits within the portfolio of services you currently offer.

Also discussed is virtualisation and flexible networking in the world of today’s Telco’s & CSP’s, and what the key benefits SD-WAN offers are, and in particularly how is it transforming how businesses leverage flexible virtual networking.

We also delve into what the key challenges CXOs face looking to use SD-WAN across their business, and discuss how should businesses be incorporating SD-WAN into their networking & technology strategies.

And we wrap up with Rupesh offering his views on what’s on the horizon for SD-WAN over the next 12 to 18 months and key actionable takeaways for decision makers.

This video was made in partnership with AT&T.

My latest podcast show focused on the power of digitisation & automation and the sheer excitement that transformation is causing among network engineers who are building an incredible infrastructure that is already enabling amazing things has just been published.

My featured guest for this topic is Dan Rodriguez, Vice President in Intel’s Data Centre Group and the General Manager of Intel’s Network Compute division. He’s a fellow who, as he puts it, is “accountable” to Intel for driving network transformation in collaboration with their partners. That covers everything from wireless networks to enterprise and it’s one of the fastest growing business units at Intel. 

And it really is a collaboration with some of the world’s leading telecommunication service providers. As you know from my other shows, telcos are dead centre in the middle of digital transformation and now here we are talking about the same thing from the other side of the partnership. I loved hearing the similarities in the journey – it gives me enormous faith in the strength of the collaboration, because partnership is *everything* these days (can you say “open source”?). 

Still, it’s easy to get swept up in the future of what a fully automated, cloud-based digital network will be able to accomplish and brush past the hard work it takes to get there. After all, in a lot of places, we’re still operating cell towers and physical, purpose-built networks. It’ll be a hybrid environment for some time to come.

But, as Dan says, the shift has happened. “The world does believe that this [software defined infrastructures] can be done, and it is already starting to roll out.” The market for virtualised network services is apparently growing at 20%, according to Dan.

What is Open Source Innovation

Intel, of course, are big drivers of open source and The Linux Foundation. One example out of numerous open source contributions is their Data Plan Development Kit that is designed to move data packets very fast on general purpose servers.

The larger plan is to enable customers to more easily transform and to lend strength to the industry wide digital transformation movement. Keep it as feasible as possible, keep costs down, and of course, bring speeds up.  

As per usual, the excitement is greatest when it comes to edge computing. Yes, there are lots of glitzy applications for 5G but edge computing is where the power is.

Dan has this view of thousands upon thousands of customer premises and network central offices, each with their own edge computing operation leveraging the power of digitised networks to an infinite array of real time services. And then – what happens to that data? Do we pull through the key bits to the centre or do we bring the intelligence to the edge? 

The answer (for now at least) is it depends on the requirements of the use case, but Dan had some great insights to share about the new generation of central offices jointly operated by Intel and it’s partners – have a listen to the podcast to hear the full story.

It was a little dizzying thinking across the incredible ecosystem that Intel brings to the table and how they leverage that both very broadly and very narrowly depending on industry, in both urban and rural spaces, at tiny and enormous scales.

I love that Intel is so much more than a CPU company (such a nostalgic term!), that they are so respected and have so much to offer the entire community.  

My thanks to both Dan and Intel for bringing him on the show. I strongly recommend a full listen to our conversation and a side trip into these other descriptions of what Intel is doing in network computing.

Reference links:

• Tune into my full podcast featuring Dan Rodriguez 
• 5G Infrastructure readiness
• Intel Social Hub: Modernising Communications Networks
• Intel, Nokia & Telia Industry 4.0 + 5G trial in Finland
• Intel Social Hub: Network Cloudification Requires a Village, not a Vacuum
• Intel Social Hub: 5G Mobile Core Transformation