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WordPress released 5.1.1

WordPress 5.1.1 is now available; this is a Security Release that does not introduce new particular functions but focuses on solving security problems and improving the current system.
In particular it proposes 14 improvements and bugfixes (available here), including functions to facilitate the transition to the minimum version of PHP that will be requested by WordPress 5.2 (released in late April) and a sanitization of the comments stored in the database in order to prevent Cross-Site Scripting attacks.

Joomla 3.9.4 is available
Joomla has released version 3.9.4 of the popular CMS.
Version 3.9.4 is a security release that does not introduce functional innovations but a system of problems. Among the improvements of this version we report the remediation of 3 Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, the addition of plugins for Terms of Use and Privacy Consent, functions tracked for User Action Logs, adding subtitles to featured articles.
More details are available in this Joomla blog post.

DDoS attacks and Botnets

The FortiNet Threat Landscape Report Q1 2018 report is now available

FortiNet has published the Threat Landscape Q1 2018 report, which analyzes data collected between January and March 2018.

The report shows that most (55%) of infections due to a botnet lasted less than a day, 18% less than two days and only less than 5% more than a week, a sign that botnets are constantly evolving.

The infection due to the Mirai botnet is the one that lasts longer: on average 5 and a half days; but Ghost is the prevailing botnet.

Although 268 different botnets have been identified, their number and activity is declining in the analyzed period; the activity of crypto-jacking, that is generation of cryptocurrencies, is the main one.

New versions of Nextcloud are available

Nextcloud is updated by releasing versions 13.0.3 and 12.0.8.

The improvements introduced by the new version include: support to host databases through IPv6, OAuth compatibility, better log system and prohibition management, better management of errors in Workflow and addition of links to privacy policy, always in a GDPR perspective as described in the GDPR Compliance Kit. The changelogs are available at this address.

The iOS client was also updated, which introduces total support with Apple mobile devices.

Please note that version 11 no longer has active support.

Previous article -> An introduction to Docker pt.2

The Docker introduction series continues with a new article dedicated to two fundamental elements of a containers ecosystem: volumes and connectivity.
That is, how to let two containers communicate with each others and how to manage data on a certain folder on the host.

Storage: volumes and bind-mounts

Files created within a container are stored on a layer that can be written by the container itself with some significant consequences:

• data don’t survive a reboot or the destruction of the container.
• data can hardly be brought outside the container if used by processes.
• the aforementioned layer is strictly tied to the host where the container runs, and it can’t be moved between hosts.
• this layer requires a dedicated driver which as an impact on performances.

Docker addresses these problems by allowing containers to perform I/O operations directly on the host with volumes and bind-mounts.