IT Executive news

• CIO seeks to build the ‘killer app’ for logistics

  24-09-2015 23:24
  
  It didn't take long for Tim Kutz to shake things up at Echo Global Logistics. Within a month of joining the freight broker as CIO in May, he moved the IT managers out of their offices and into an open seating arrangement. The move was as much a mind game as it was a practical solution to foster better collaboration. Kutz, who typically arrives at the company's Chicago office at 6:30 a.m. and doesn't leave until 6:30 p.m., wanted his colleagues to see his work ethic."There's a lot more energy, a
  
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• 7 best podcasts for tech enthusiasts

  24-09-2015 21:29
  
  Best podcasts for tech enthusiastsImage by ThinkstockMost IT workers these days face some type of commute. Even if you work from home, there are times during the day when you listen to music or talk radio. With all the great offerings available today, why not listen to something that can not only entertain but can also increase your tech knowledge?The resurgence of podcasts has added another option for listening choices. You can stream them, listen to them live or download them and listen to the
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The day Yogi Bear died: Why you should peer review everything

  24-09-2015 21:14
  
  An icon is gone. Yogi Berra, the legendary New York Yankees catcher and Hall of Famer, passed away recently at the age of 90. He was a great hitter, a great fielder, a great teammate and a legendary wordsmith. One thing he wasn’t, though, was a picnic basket stealing cartoon brown bear with a green hat and a sidekick named “Boo Boo.” The Associated Press initially reported the death of “Yogi Bear,” the cartoon character named after Yogi Berra. It was corrected, but
  
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• What would a US-China cybertreaty really mean?

  24-09-2015 21:08
  
  After weeks of meetings, the U.S. and China appear to be on the verge of an historic first agreement on hacking and cyberespionage. But besides smiles on the faces of Presidents Obama and Xi in front of TV cameras, what might a deal actually accomplish?The two sides are talking because companies are increasingly being hacked for their corporate secrets. Last year the U.S. Department of Justice indicted five Chinese military hackers for attacking U.S. companies and earlier this week National Secu
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Adblock Fast: A free and open source ad blocker for iOS 9

  24-09-2015 20:59
  
  Ad blockers have quickly becomes some of the most downloaded items in Apple's app store. But most of them will cost you at least a nominal amount of money if you want to unlock all of their features. Adblock Fast is a free and open source alternative to other iOS ad blockers.The creators of Adblock Fast run a successful app studio that apparently is quite profitable, so they have no interest in charging people money to use Adblock Fast on their iOS devices. Here's some background information abo
  
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• It's official: North America is out of new IPv4 addresses

  24-09-2015 20:54
  North America has finally run out of new addresses based on IPv4, the numbering system that got the Internet where it is today but which is running out of space for the coming era of networking.The American Registry for Internet Numbers, the nonprofit group that distributes Internet addresses for the region, said Thursday it has assigned the last addresses in its free pool. The announcement came after years of warnings from ARIN and others that IPv4 addresses were running out and that enterprise
  
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• Google finally brings its Keep note-taking app to iOS

  24-09-2015 20:21
  
  One of the ongoing frustrations with using Google services on iOS is that the company is often late to bring its new tools to Apple's mobile platform. Strategy-wise, it makes sense, since Google is competing for primacy in the mobile market and pushing the best version of its apps to users of iOS could give Apple a competitive advantage.However, it also means that iPhone and iPad users can end up waiting for years to get access to the company's products through official apps. That's the case wit
  
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• OVH's SOHO router aggregates and encrypts four DSL connections

  24-09-2015 20:04
  
  What has four Internet connections but only one RJ45 socket? That was the riddle French hosted services provider OVH posed before its customer conference held on the outskirts of Paris Thursday.The answer is OverTheBox, a way for SOHO users to aggregate services from up to four ISPs, whether cable, ADSL, VDSL, SDSL or fiber, and put them behind a single static IP address with extensive denial-of-service protection.Load-balancing routers are nothing new, but this one makes it possible to use exis
  
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• Millennials want to be leaders — but not without big salaries, perks

  24-09-2015 20:01
  
  The millennial generation is often associated with career ambition, thanks largely to their role models, many of who are successful entrepreneurs and startup leaders. So it's not surprising that 70 percent of millennials expect to be in management positions within the next five years, according to a recent Staples Advantage Workplace Index survey conducted by Redshift Research. However, of the 1,531 U.S. workers surveyed (664 "Gen Xers;" 534 millennials; and 333 "Boomers"), 29 percent of millenn
  
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• ZingBox: Startup brings Cisco, Stanford pedigree to IoT security

  24-09-2015 19:40
  
  ZingBox, an Internet of Things security startup whose founders have ties to Cisco and Stanford University, is working on software that guards IoT devices from threats on the Internet.
  May Wang
  The year-old company’s focus is upgrading routers and gateways with intelligence to detect when IoT devices are behaving abnormally, indicating that they might be compromised, says May Wang, CTO of the company and a co-founder who spent 14 years at Cisco in its office of the CTO where she was a prin
  
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• Facebook goes down and Twitter lights up

  24-09-2015 19:39
  
  Facebook crashed for at least 10 minutes today and then struggled to fully come back online.
  When users tried to open or refresh their Facebook pages a little after 12:30 p.m. ET today, they were greeted not with their news feed but with a largely blank screen that simply said, "Sorry, something went wrong. We're working on it and we'll get it fixed as soon as we can."
  The site began to come back online around 12:50 p.m., though some users reported still having trouble loading the site until ab
  
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• The 25 most powerful enterprise networking companies

  24-09-2015 19:38
  
  The bosses are here It’s the 25 companies that have the biggest effects on how U.S.-based enterprise networks operate. They’re a diverse bunch – some make switches, others chips. Some are big carriers, others are big fish in little ponds. And plenty aren’t, technically speaking, networking companies at all. Nevertheless, these are our picks for the biggest influencers on the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The CIOs case for moving to a cloud-based accounting system

  24-09-2015 19:25
  
  Our CIO explained that the on-premise software environment he inherited was archaic. There were “100+ applications being used. Users had to buy software, hardware and then maintain and support it. It took an army to keep the applications up to date with upgrades, patches and fixes and general operations and maintenance support.”The case for moving to the cloud was easy from his point of view. His company was able to reduce the headcount required to support their applications, save on
  
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• New malware program infects ATMs, dispenses cash on command

  24-09-2015 19:17
  
  Security researchers have discovered a new malware program that infects automated teller machines (ATMs) and allows attackers to extract cash on command.The program is dubbed GreenDispenser and was detected in Mexico. However, it's only a matter of time until similar attacks are adopted by cybercriminals in other countries, researchers from security firm Proofpoint said in a blog post.GreenDispenser is not the first malware program to target ATMs. In October 2013, security researchers from Syman
  
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• Dell expands campus, data center switches

  24-09-2015 19:05
  
  Dell this week expanded its campus and data center switching lineup with products designed simplify topologies and support new data rates.
  In the campus, Dell unveiled the C9010 Network Director switch and the C1048P Rapid Access Node. These new switches are intended to flatten network topologies into two tiers but with logical connectivity to make those two tiers appear as one.
  +MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: Dell celebrates disaggregation’s first anniversary+
  The switches are based on Broadcom&
  
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• Microsoft strikes deal with China's Baidu, gets a chance to upgrade more than half a billion PCs to Windows 10

  24-09-2015 18:51
  
  Microsoft yesterday said it had struck a deal with China's Baidu, best known to Westerners as the country's largest search provider, to push Windows 10 to China's massive consumer market.
  For its part, Baidu will use its own distribution channel, including an application labeled "Windows 10 Express," to offer consumers the official Windows 10 upgrade download. Also, Baidu has committed to crafting "universal" Windows apps -- those that run on all forms of Windows 10, albeit after some tweaking
  
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• BrandPost: Three Ways Big Data Helps Manufacturers Think Bigger

  24-09-2015 18:45
  
  Everyone is talking about Big Data—and yes, databases are immense. A gigabyte used to sound like a lot. Today, we talk about terabytes without blinking. And while Big Data isn’t anything new for manufacturers, leveraging it for competitive leadership is.Just ask Inteva Products, a major automotive component maker. Inteva doesn’t just inspect their sunroof motors visually—they actually listen to them run to make sure they’re not too loud. The company stores thousand
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: If you’re stuck on “app versus web,” you’ve already lost

  24-09-2015 17:39
  
  The Pew Research Center reports that 92 percent of U.S. adults have a cellphone of some kind. Almost all (90 percent) say that their phone is frequently with them, while nearly a third (31 percent) never turn off their phone. Deloitte expects digital interactions to influence 64 cents of every dollar spent in retail stores by the end of 2015. I’ve expected the shift in consumer behavior toward what I’ll call “mobile-first, always-on” would so evident that the time wh
  
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• EXIN en ITAMOrg werken samen op gebied IT asset management

  24-09-2015 16:50
  Internationaal exameninstituut EXIN gaat een ​​nieuw certificeringsprogramma lanceren voor IT asset management. Het nieuwe programma is ontwikkeld in samenwerking met ITAMOrg, de internationale organisatie voor professionals op het gebied van IT asset management.Het programma maakt deel uit van... lees meer
  
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• Firefox's tracker-killing private browsing mode hits beta

  24-09-2015 16:04
  
  Mozilla’s all-new ”stealth mode” for Firefox is one step closer to becoming a standard feature of the popular web browser. The latest Firefox Beta builds for PCs (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and Android come packed with a new featured called Tracking Protection.
  True to its name, Tracking Protection actively blocks third-party tracking. To do this, Tracking Protection prevents any element of a webpage from loading that may have code designed to track your browsing habits.
  Let&rsq
  
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• Are your biggest security threats on the inside?

  24-09-2015 15:44
  
  The now infamous Ashley Madison website has had a pretty successful run at helping its clientele be disloyal. So perhaps some would view it as poetic justice if the website became one of the most scandalous breaches in history at the hands of one of its own. At least that is the conclusion of IT security analyst John McAfee, who noted recently “yes, it is true. Ashley Madison was not hacked – the data was stolen by a woman operating on her own who worked for Avid Life Media.&rdq
  
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• Ransomware pushers up their game against small businesses

  24-09-2015 15:41
  After extorting millions from consumers over the past few years, file-encrypting ransomware creators are increasingly focusing their attention on victims who are more likely to pay up: small and medium-sized businesses.Throughout June and July, over 67 percent of users who clicked on malicious links in CryptoWall-related emails were from the SMB sector, researchers from antivirus vendor Trend Micro found. An additional 17 percent were from within large enterprises.CryptoWall is one of the most w
  
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• Firefox's new IM, privacy features are worth a look

  24-09-2015 14:56
  
  There's a lot going on with Firefox. Two new versions of the browser debuted in just two days; one's ready to go, and the other, more interesting one is still in beta.The finished version, Firefox 41, offers a number of tweaks, but its main claim to fame is an enhanced instant messaging (IM) feature. Firefox 42 is all about making it harder for sites to track people who visit them.One of the best things about the Mozilla Foundation, and its Firefox browser, is the "openness;" the beta version is
  
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• Social media bans in college sports offer lessons for enterprises

  24-09-2015 14:00
  
  NCAA sports programs bring a lot of publicity and money to colleges and universities. In many sports, particularly football and basketball, star players rise to celebrity-levels of popularity. These stars are not professionals, and universities do not pay them, but they are public figures and as such, they often draw significant media coverage. Several recent social media bans and usage limitations meant to restrict college athletes raise the questions of whether or not academic institutions vio
  
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• Big data krijgt langzaam voet aan de grond in Nederland

  24-09-2015 13:46
  Bedrijven zijn druk bezig om big data-toepassingen neer te zetten, ofschoon het vaak nog aan kennis ontbreekt. Het beschikbaar maken van data op allerlei manieren voor analyse, wat wel een business data lake wordt genoemd, is ook geen gemeengoed. Daarop wijst onderzoek van EMC Nederland.Een derde van de ondervraagden... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to assess your strengths and weaknesses to be a more effective IT leader

  24-09-2015 13:28
  
  You’ve been in your new IT leader job for a short time now and you’re still excited about taking on this new assignment.
  You’ve been following the suggestions I gave in my previous posts on how to get off to a great start during your first 90 days.
  But you may be feeling overwhelmed at this point. And maybe a little worried that you’ve stepped into a situation that is bigger and more complex than you anticipated. You may even be wondering if you’re the right person
  
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• Cybersecurity hall of fame names inductees

  24-09-2015 13:12
  
  Incoming class The National Cyber Security Hall of Fame has announced its recent class of inductees. In noting them we also highlight some of the past winners. The hall of fame recognizes the history and contributions of pioneers, innovators and educators who influenced the industry. The inductees are chosen by a board of advisers. Pictured from left to right are: Susan Landau, Steven Lipner, Cynthia Irvine, Ron Ross, and Jerry Saltzer is in front.To read this article in full or to leave a comme
  
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• Privacy group calls for a boycott of tech companies supporting CISA

  24-09-2015 12:59
  
  Privacy advocates are stepping up their lobbying efforts against the controversial cyber threat information sharing bill currently in Congress after several tech giants indicated their support.
  Activist group Fight for the Future criticized Salesforce for supporting legislation which would "grant blanket immunity for American companies to participate in government mass surveillance programs like PRISM, without meaningfully addressing any of the fundamental cyber security problems we face in the
  
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• Apple devs: Don't let Apple's Xcode validation scare you

  24-09-2015 12:45
  
  The Apple App Store has long enjoyed a sterling reputation for screening out malware. But last weekend, the company pulled apps infected with XcodeGhost malware from the Chinese Apple App Store -- infected apps that had apparently been created with a counterfeit version of Apple's Xcode IDE by unsuspecting developers.
  As a precaution, Apple emailed its developers on Tuesday, recommending that they validate their installed version of Xcode using a simple procedure to ensure it wasn't a hacked ve
  
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• Changing the whistleblower-retaliation culture

  24-09-2015 12:43
  
  If you've spent any time reading or watching the news this year, you've heard about at least one major data breach. Not only do those headline-grabbing events damage the company's reputation, they also put clients and customers at risk, because their data can easily get into the hands of the public.In the wake of these incidents, you would think companies would appreciate a heads-up before a cyber-security threat becomes a reality. However, that's not always the case. Internal whistleblowers oft
  
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• 10 must-have Apple Watch apps making the most of watchOS 2

  24-09-2015 12:12
  Watch apps go nativeImage by AppleThird-party Apple Watch apps needed work when the device shipped in April, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Developers built apps for a piece of hardware most had never laid eyes on, let alone used, and they didn’t have access to the watch’s integral parts: its sensors and its face.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Consumers are keeping smartphones, tablets and PCs longer

  24-09-2015 12:08
  
  Consumersare holding on to their tablets, laptops and smartphones for longer periods, leading Gartner to predict a 1% contraction in shipments of all types of devices globally this year.
  The Gartner forecast, announced Wednesday, is a reversal from one quarter ago when the research firm predicted overall growth of 1.5% for devices globally, when compared to 2014.
  "Replacement activity across all types of devices has decreased, said Ranjit Atwal, a Gartner analyst. "Users are extending the lifet
  
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• Kansas City presses on with emerging 'smart city' corridor (with video)

  24-09-2015 12:01
  
  Matt Hamblen Kansas City, Mo.'s 2.2-mile streetcar line, coming next year, sits in the center of an innovation district that will include smart city elements like free Wi-Fi, station interactive kiosks and sensors to guide traffic and control streetlights.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The upcoming 2.2-mile downtown streetcar line in Kansas City, Mo. will be the focal point of an ambitious smart city project involving Cisco, Sprint and smaller app developers who plan to combine their engineering talents in
  
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• Microsoft cuts deals in China with government organizations and companies

  24-09-2015 08:51
  Microsoft announced three new tie-ups in China on the same day that the country's President Xi Jinping and a delegation visited its campus at Redmond, Washington.The seven deals with Chinese companies and government institutions will likely give Microsoft greater access to the country's large market. Other companies like Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard have also announced ties with Chinese companies, a market that has been proving complex for U.S. companies because of the strong backing of the
  
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• Apple lists 25 apps impacted by XcodeGhost

  24-09-2015 06:34
  Apple has identified 25 apps on its stores that had used a rogue version of its Xcode development tool, and advised users to update the affected apps to fix the issue on their devices.Figuring in the list are the WeChat app from Tencent and the Didi ride-hailing app, which had been identified earlier as affected. Other apps included in the list released by Apple on its China website include local chatting tool Encounter, the app for Baidu Music and China Unicorn's customer service app.To read th
  
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• US rank drops to 55th in 4G LTE speeds

  24-09-2015 02:51
  
  The U.S. has fallen to No. 55 in LTE performance as speeds rise rapidly in countries that have leapfrogged some early adopters of the popular cellular system.The average download speed on U.S. 4G networks inched up to 10Mbps (bits per second) in the June-August quarter, according to research company OpenSignal. That was an improvement from 9Mbps in the previous quarter, but the country's global ranking fell from 43rd as users in other countries enjoyed much larger gains. The U.S. was o
  
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• BrandPost: 2 Huge Mistakes Businesses Make Buying Collaboration Software

  24-09-2015 02:16
  
  Email may have pioneered virtual communications, but now, there’s a better way to manage projects, share files, send updates, centralize information, archive conversations and connect teams. Collaboration software, online project management and team workspaces are not only helping evolve teamwork but also solving our biggest problem with email: noise.
  Back-and-forth conversations and long email threads no longer permeate employees’ inboxes. Now, instead of seeking an “Inbox Ze
  
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• Datiphy tracks what data is up to for security, auditing purposes

  24-09-2015 02:06
  
  Datiphy, a service provider founded in Taiwan, has bundled its technology for sale as a software package to make inroads in the U.S. as a security/data auditing tool that detects and reports suspicious access to databases.
  The company has been selling its service in Asia-Pacific since 2011 but has decided to improve the user interface and give it natural-language search to make it more attractive in the U.S. where the large enterprises it seeks as customers want to have an on-premises platform,
  
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• A diesel whodunit: How software let VW cheat on emissions

  24-09-2015 01:51
  
  Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn announced today he is stepping down as the result of his company's cheating on emission tests, bypassing environmental standards and landing the company in regulatory hot water.
  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Volkswagen was able to cheat emissions tests for half a million of its U.S.-sold cars. The software that enabled cars to thwart emissions tests is in as many as 11 million other vehicles, Volkswagen admitted Tuesday.
  Diesel cars f
  
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• What I learned from an evening spent in the digital dark

  24-09-2015 00:56
  
  Monday afternoon I was working in my home office when my Internet went down. Sadly that's not all that uncommon, but I needed to attend an online meeting. Since my office phone service is through Vonage, no Internet meant no phone either. Of course I have a cellphone as backup so I grabbed that and...no cell service.I had no Internet and neither of my phones was working. I have to admit it felt a little bit surreal. There I was, alone in my home office and totally cut off, digitally at least, fr
  
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