Verizon Partners Up With Distil Networks to Offer Bot Protection, Cisco Acquired AppDynamics and More in This Week’s News

Eduardo Rocha Senior Sales Engineer and Security Analyst
4 Min read

Verizon Will Offer Bot Protection Through Distil Networks

Last week Verizon Digital Media Services and Distil Networks announced a partnership aimed at delivering bot protection services across Verizon’s Edgecast CDN. Verizon is expanding their current security portfolio which offers DDoS mitigation, DNS protection, Web Application Firewall, TLS encryption and managed security services. Distil Networks uses advanced fingerprinting techniques to distinguish malicious bots from legitimate users with a high rate of accuracy.

Ralf Jacob, president for Verizon Digital Media Services, stated “With Distil’s accurate and proactive approach to protecting against sophisticated malicious bots, we are pleased to expand our security offerings to thwart web bot attacks.

Book a demo today to see GlobalDots is action.

Optimize cloud costs, control spend, and automate for deeper insights and efficiency.

Book a demo today to see GlobalDots is action.

In partnering with Distil on bot mitigation, Verizon’s enterprise CDN security will gain protection against automated threats including web scraping, application DoS, account hijacking, transaction and digital ad fraud. The service will be immediately made available to all current Verizon Digital Media Services customers.

Bizety also predicts that the newly founded partnership is just a step toward Verizon’s future acquisition of Distil Networks. A deal they estimated will total over $400M.

Verizon and Distil Networks partnership announcement with branding and slogan.
Image Source

Read More: Bizety

Ripper.cc to Offer Protection for Cybercriminals

As Cisco attempts to grow beyond their traditional core business to keep pace with industry trends, the acquisition of AppDynamics represents the next step in their efforts. AppDynamics has around 2 000 paying subscribers and notable clients as NASDAQ, Nike, Kraft and even Cisco itself. The deal is supposedly worth $3.7 bn, which almost doubles the US based software firm November 2015 valuation of $1.9 bn.

With this move, set to close in April 2017, Cisco enforces their efforts to stay ahead of emerging technologies, especially cloud tech and IoTUpon acquisition, AppDynamics will join Jasper, a cloud-based software company bought last year for $1.4 bn, and will continue to operate under current CEO David Wadhwani.

In a recent interview, Rob Salvagno, Cisco’s head of acquisitions, stated that the company was looking to bring in AppDynamics talent and not only their technology but didn’t confirm if all 1 200 employees would be kept at Cisco.

Read more: CloudPro

Ripper.cc to Offer Protection for Cybercriminals

Even cybercriminals need protection. Ripper.cc is a new service intended to help Dark Web users to aviod being scammed. The service was established in June 2016, and its release was announced on a hacking forum. The service holds information on over 1 200 scammers and it operates by cross-referencing its database of scammers across forums. Aptly named “blacklist” – it contains contact informations and fraud scheme details. It also provides Chrome and Firefox extensions, a plugin for Psi Plus and profile creation.

According to a report published by security firm Digital Shadows, criminals in the cyber underground became used to paying a “ripper tax”. Fraud is widely spread in the cybercrime environment and services like Ripper.cc threat to stop the trend. Along Ripper, Dark Web criminals use Kidala.info to track and identify “rippers” – a term used for scammers on Dark Web forums and marketplaces. The creators announced to release Ripper.cc services as open-source to prove there’s no malicious code in any of their features. They also plan to enable ads as well as introduce an escrow service.

The emergence of this kind of services is yet another example of the ongoing industrialization of hacking and the increasing levels of professionalism in modern cybercrime.

Screenshot of the Ripper website with navigation and top rippers.
Image Source

Read more: Hacking Threat, Digital Shadows Blog

Microsoft’s Revenue Exceeds Predictions

With revenue for the quarter reaching $26.1 bn, Microsoft topped analyst predictions of $25.3 bn. The tech giant continues to close the gap with AWS, so the results come as no surprise considering high demand for Microsoft’s “intelligent” cloud services. The company’s revenue spiked mostly because of Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Centre, Azure, and other enterprise solutions. Also, their commercial cloud efforts, spearheaded by Office 365, amounted well over $14 bn.

“Accelerating advancements in AI across our platforms and services will provide further opportunity to drive growth in the Microsoft Cloud.” said Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella.

The recent revenue report is the first since the $26 bn LinkedIn acquisition in December. The service achieved $228 mil in revenue although generated a $100 mil net loss for the quarter. As for their PC unit and other legacy businesses, they continued a negative 5% YoY trend with PC and Mobile divisions raking in $11.8 bn. Also, Microsoft’s gaming division underperformed with a 3% decline as Xbox loses momentum since the 2013 release.

Nadella also announced plans for a stronger push into AI predicting further growth for its Office 365 platforms.

Read more: CloudPro

Oracle to Let Go 450 “Hardware” Employee

In order to re-focus their efforts in the cloud, Oracle will axe 450 positions in its Santa Clara and Burlington hardware divisions. These decisions could be due to last quarterly figures which showed a 20% decline in software and 13% in hardware revenues. On the other hand, SaaS and PaaS revenue soared, reaching 68% YoY growth propelling Oracle as one of the fastest growing cloud companies in the last quarter.

Anonymous reports speculate that 1 800 positions are on the line with hardware and software developers on the radar, as well as managers, technicians and other staff. Co-CEO Safra Katz, said they were evaluating their hardware division expenses, discretely suggesting that the company could cut back in order to reduce losses.

Oracle company logo displayed on a modern glass building.
Image Source

Read more: CloudPro

Latest Articles

What is an API Security Audit?

 In January 2024, a misconfigured API exposed 650,000 private messages. These included passwords and internal communications. No exploit chain. No zero-day. Just a public-facing endpoint with no authentication. This wasn’t an isolated incident. From T-Mobile and Twitter (now X) to Kronos Research and the US Treasury, attackers have consistently used APIs as entry points. They […]

Ganesh The Awesome
26th June, 2025
The Ultimate API Security Checklist for 2025

APIs are now the top attack vector in enterprise apps. In 2024 alone, breaches tied to APIs cost an average of $4.88 million, and that number is rising fast. Attackers exploit gaps in API authentication, input validation, and outdated endpoints to compromise systems. Legacy controls no longer suffice, and the OWASP API Top 10 outlines […]

Ganesh The Awesome
26th June, 2025
10 API Security Best Practices for 2025

APIs are the backbone of today’s interconnected software. They power everything from mobile apps and SaaS platforms to internal microservices and partner integrations. But their rapid growth has left many security teams flat-footed. In 2025, many attackers prefer to exploit API misconfigurations hiding in plain sight. What used to be fringe cases (token leakage, zombie […]

Ganesh The Awesome
23rd June, 2025
API Security in 2025: Practical Assessment & Modern Protection Strategies

APIs are no longer an edge case. In 2025, they’re a core requirement for maintaining trust, compliance, and operational continuity. As organizations build more API-driven systems—from customer apps to internal microservices—the exposure risk compounds. And quickly, too. Even mature security teams are finding that traditional tools can’t keep pace with the volume, velocity, and nuance […]

Ganesh The Awesome
23rd June, 2025

Unlock Your Cloud Potential

Schedule a call with our experts. Discover new technology and get recommendations to improve your performance.

    GlobalDots' industry expertise proactively addressed structural inefficiencies that would have otherwise hindered our success. Their laser focus is why I would recommend them as a partner to other companies

    Marco Kaiser
    Marco Kaiser

    CTO

    Legal Services

    GlobalDots has helped us to scale up our innovative capabilities, and in significantly improving our service provided to our clients

    Antonio Ostuni
    Antonio Ostuni

    CIO

    IT Services

    It's common for 3rd parties to work with a limited number of vendors - GlobalDots and its multi-vendor approach is different. Thanks to GlobalDots vendors umbrella, the hybrid-cloud migration was exceedingly smooth

    Motti Shpirer
    Motti Shpirer

    VP of Infrastructure & Technology

    Advertising Services