Network Break
Packet Pushers
Network Break keeps you informed with fast, focused analysis of IT news, products, tech trends, and business outcomes. Blending sharp commentary with a touch of humor, hosts Drew Conry-Murray & Johna Till Johnson sift through the weekly landslide of press announcements, product launches, financial reports, and marketing decks to find the stories worth talking about. You come away with the information and context to make smart decisions in your organization and career … all in the span of a (longish) coffee break.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 19, 2025 • 43min
NB527: AWS Releases AI Agent for VMware Migration; Cisco Bullish On Customer AI Spending
Take a Network Break! Guest co-host Tom Hollingsworth steps in for Johna Johnson. We start with Google patching a significant Chrome vulnerability and de-elevating Chrome running with admin rights when it launches on Windows. On the news front, we discuss a report, unconfirmed as of recording time, that Arista is acquiring VeloCloud, then discuss Broadcom... Read more »
May 12, 2025 • 39min
NB526: Cisco Unveils Quantum Networking Prototype; Arista Earns Record Revenues
Take a Network Break! We start with follow-up from a listener on the best way to listen to our podcast that helps the most. The answer? Any listen on any platform helps. Even better is to tell a friend! We discuss two critical security issues. First, CISA adds active exploits against known SonicWall vulnerabilities to... Read more »
May 5, 2025 • 32min
NB525: Cisco, IBM Recruit AI for Threat Response; HPE Air-Gaps Private Clouds
Take a Network Break! This week we catch up on the Airborne vulnerabilities affecting Apple’s AirPlay protocol and SDK, and get an update on active exploits against an SAP NetWeaver vulnerability–a patch is available, so get fixing if you haven’t already. Palo Alto Networks launches the AIRS platform to address AI threats in the enterprise,... Read more »
Apr 28, 2025 • 24min
NB524: Forward Networks Adds Endpoint Discovery; Intel Forecasts Q2 Layoffs
Take a Network Break! We start with a Red Alert for SAP NetWeaver’s Visual Composer Metadata Uploader, and then dive into a new endpoint discovery feature from Forward Networks, and Ericsson adding clientless ZTNA to its SASE offering. Aviatrix adds a Secure NAT Gateway for Microsoft Azure as a way to help Azure customers navigate... Read more »
Apr 21, 2025 • 50min
NB523: CVE’s Reprieve, Google WAN For Sale, NVIDIA Pledges More US-Made Chips
Take a Network Break! We start with a red alert for the CVE program, which nearly lost government funding before CISA stepped in, and then raise an alert for a Dpanel vulnerability. Google makes its Cloud WAN available to enterprises and governments that want connectivity options, a US District Court rules Google’s ad business a... Read more »
Apr 14, 2025 • 54min
NB522: Git Turns 20, An iPhone Airlift, Cybersec Silence Speaks Volumes
Take a Network Break! Guest co-host Ned Bellavance steps in for Johna this week. We start with a Fortinet vulnerability, and then opine on a memo from Shopify’s CEO on the company requiring and measuring AI use by employees. Git celebrates 20 years, DARPA names 15 companies to participate in a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative to... Read more »
Apr 7, 2025 • 43min
NB521: Optics Advances in the Data Center; Google Extends Gmail’s End-to-End Encryption
Take a Network Break! We check in on a serious Firefox vulnerability, explore NIST’s latest post-quantum encryption algorithm, and discuss a broken auto-update functionality in VMware Workstation. NetBox adds config drift detection to its network automation software, the startup Lightmatter tackles co-packaged optics, and Corning launches Glassworks AI in a bid to replace copper cabling... Read more »
Mar 31, 2025 • 25min
NB520: When Good LLMs Do Bad Things, Dell’s Workforce Downsizes and Quantum Key Distribution From Space
Grab a virtual doughnut to blaze through this week’s IT news with Johna Johnson and John Burke as Drew Conry-Murray is enjoying his glazed, filled and sprinkled vacation donuts. Today, we’re going to talk about getting good LLMs to do bad things, Dell’s workforce downsizing, Cloudflare’s recent outage, some developments in space networking, and more.... Read more »
Mar 24, 2025 • 41min
NB519: Google Bids $32 Billion for Cloud Security Startup; NVIDIA Makes Nice With Quantum Computing
Take a Network Break! This week we cover Google’s $32 billion acquisition of CNAPP provider Wiz, Cloudflare offerings for AI security and support for post-quantum encryption, and NVIDIA’s pledge to open a quantum research center in Boston. NVIDIA has also announced new switch platforms with co-packaged optics for greater efficiency, Cisco shares details on its... Read more »
Mar 17, 2025 • 38min
NB518: Clock Starts For New Intel CEO; Arista Load Balancing Targets AI Infrastructure
Take a Network Break! We start with warnings about an Apple Webkit zero day and ransonware exploits against known Fortinet vulnerabilites, and discuss attribution issues with the X DDoS attack. Intel names Lip-Bu Tan as Chief Resurrection Officer, but how long does he have before investors get antsy? HPE plans to lay off thousands of... Read more »
