IT Executive news

• IDG Contributor Network: Why growth-oriented CEOs must embrace new technology advancements

  19-01-2016 23:08
  
  An epoch is in the making as, over the next decade, every area of our life and work will be embedded with technology advancements. This pace of change will be far greater than what humankind witnessed during the industrial revolution, as the adoption of new technologies will occur at an exponential pace in every walk of life.I am advocating for CEOs to take charge of their company’s technology agenda for growth and success. I have spoken to six boards of listed companies in the last 12 mon
  
  Read more

• Facebook sets its sights on hate speech with million-euro initiative

  19-01-2016 22:34
  
  Hate speech has no place on the Internet, Facebook says, and this week it put at least some of its money where its mouth is.Specifically, the social network on Monday helped launch the Online Civil Courage Initiative, a new, million-euro effort designed to stamp out hate speech and extremism on the Internet in Europe.The new effort aims to support European nonprofit groups involved in the fight against online extremism, which has been reaching new heights amid the refugee crisis afflicting the r
  
  Read more

• SDN pioneer Big Switch lands big round, big names

  19-01-2016 22:18
  
  SDN pioneer Big Switch Networks has bagged another $48.5 million in funding and named a couple of industry luminaries to its board.
  Participants in the Series C round included Morgenthaler Ventures, Silver Lake Waterman, Triple Point Capital, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Accton, CID Group and MSD Capital, among others. Big Switch has raised $94 million since its founding in 2010.
  Named to the company’s board were former NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven and venture capital
  
  Read more

• Advocacy group calls on healthcare industry to adopt medical device security principles

  19-01-2016 22:18
  Advocacy group I Am the Cavalry is urging organizations that manufacture and distribute medical devices to adopt a cybersecurity version of the Hippocratic Oath.
  The group, which advocates for better security in life-impacting computers like those used in modern cars, medical devices or critical infrastructure, has published an open letter to the health-care industry, calling for a commitment to five principles when creating, using and maintaining medical devices.
  Those principles are security
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Jooby framework simplifies Java Web development

  19-01-2016 21:44
  
  When it comes to Web development, Ruby has the Sinatra framework and Node.js has Express.js. Now, Java has micro Web framework Jooby.
  Built by developer Edgar Espina, Jooby offers modular, stateless application development leveraging NIO (non-blocking IO) servers including Netty, Jetty, or Undertow.[ The art of programming is changing rapidly. We help you navigate what's hot in programming and what's going cold and give insights into the technologies that are changing how developers work. | Kee
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: What the board needs to know about cybersecurity compliance

  19-01-2016 21:16
  
  Board members are now facing lawsuits after large-scale cybersecurity breaches because the security breakdowns are considered a failure to uphold fiduciary duties. The Department of Justice has recently provided guidelines for cybersecurity awareness for board members. The CIO now has a responsibility to communicate the cybersecurity strategy to board members and make them aware of critical risks to help avoid personal liability.Details of day-to-day activities like software monitoring and firew
  
  Read more

• Verizon jumps into sponsored data, joining AT&T

  19-01-2016 21:10
  
  Verizon announced a sponsored data service on Tuesday called FreeBee Data, which offers mobile users toll-free data either via gigabytes or on a per-click basis.
  One of the models, called FreeBee Data 360, is available in beta starting Tuesday. Under the plan, content providers can give some or all their mobile content to consumers via an app or mobile website on a per gigabyte basis without using up a consumer’s data plan.
  The other model of FreeBee Data, which goes into beta on Jan. 25,
  
  Read more

• Panasonic to invest $1.6B in Tesla's Gigafactory

  19-01-2016 20:25
  
  Increasing its previous commitment to lithium-ion battery technology for electric vehicles and homes, Panasonic Corp. said it will spend up to $1.6 billion on Tesla Motor's Gigafactory.
  The investment in the factory, which is being build outside Reno, Nev. and is expected to cost $5 billion, is an attempt by Panasonic to cement its future in automotive electronics, Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga told reporters at CES this month.TeslaA Tesla Model S lithium-ion battery packTo read this artic
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The Internet of Very Cold Things: Sigfox extends its low-power radio network to Antarctica

  19-01-2016 20:17
  
  Sigfox, operator of a low-power, wide-area radio network for the Internet of Things, expects to be connecting objects on every continent by year-end, and has just checked off the most challenging of those: Antarctica.
  The company's first base station in the southern hemisphere could be a little further south, but not by much: It's at Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station, 200 kilometers in from the Antarctic coast, at an altitude of 1,382 meters.
  In Antarctica, Sigfox is far
  
  Read more

• Authentication startup brings on ‘Catch Me If You Can’ ID thief as adviser

  19-01-2016 20:17
  
  Authentication/identity-protection startup Trusona has enlisted the help of former identity thief Frank Abagnale -- the subject of the movie “Catch Me if You Can” -- to advise as it prepares to market what it claims to be an unbreakable cloud platform to make sure imposters don’t login.WikimediaFrank Abagnale
  Abagnale, now a security consultant, has helped out Trusona’s founder and CEO Ori Eisen before with his previous venture, ad-tracking and fraud prevention firm 41st
  
  Read more

• iOS 9.2.1 and OS X 10.11.3 are now available

  19-01-2016 19:37
  Apple on Tuesday released updates for iOS and OS X. Both updates are minor; Apple says that both contain security updates and bug fixes.
  iOS 9.2.1 also fixes a problem “that could prevent the completion of app installation when using an MDM server.”
  Before installing the updates, back up the data on your Mac and iOS device.iOS 9.2.1To install the iOS update on your device through a Wi-Fi or mobile connection:Open the Settings app.
  Tap General > Software Update.
  Tap Download and I
  
  Read more

• Intel's Skylake vPro chips will support Windows 7 after all

  19-01-2016 19:36
  Business users alarmed by Microsoft's recent announcement that new chips will not run on Windows 7 PCs need not fret. More than 100 business PCs coming with Intel's new "Skylake" Core vPro processors will run Windows 7, though the chips are tuned for Windows 10.Microsoft last week said PCs with certain Intel Skylake and next-generation "Kaby Lake" chips would support only Windows 10. The goal was to push enterprises to upgrade their PCs to the new OS. However, Microsoft is releasing a list of Sk
  
  Read more

• Apple is slightly more diverse now than years past, though still mostly white and male

  19-01-2016 19:15
  Apple reports a breakdown of its employees by gender and race to the federal government every year, and its recently released 2015 diversity figures show the company is improving, but its staff is still largely white and male.
  Apple is now 69 percent male and 31 percent female, a change of 1 percent in favor of women over 2014. The percentage of white employees also shifted downward, from 55 percent to 54 percent of the total company. Apple is now 18 percent Asian, up from 15 percent, and 8 per
  
  Read more

• The ultimate guide to small business networking

  19-01-2016 19:11
  
  Building a cost-effective network infrastructure is critical for SMBs, who are likely competing against large enterprises with sizable IT budgets. Small businesses need to deploy their limited tech resources wisely in order to create a business that’s agile, flexible, fast and efficient.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• Linium Selected as a Finalist for Innovation of the Year Award

  19-01-2016 19:00
  
  We’re excited to kick off 2016 in style! We’re pleased to announce that our Art of the Possible solution has been selected as one of the finalists for the Pink Elephant 2015 Innovation of the Year Award.  
  
  Read more

• How CIOs can scale scattered pockets of digital innovation

  19-01-2016 18:54
  
  Do you see little pockets of digital innovation throughout your company? Do you see challenges in bringing all of that innovation into a core enterprise strategy? If so, you're not alone.AstraZeneca Dave Smoley, CIO of AstraZenecaFor Dave Smoley, CIO of AstraZeneca, getting the company's business leaders to focus on an enterprise-wide digital strategy is a work in progress. "The reality is, we've got pockets of digital activity all over the place," says Smoley, who has been CIO of the $26-billio
  
  Read more

• Neiman Marcus wants to merge the online and in-store shopping experience

  19-01-2016 18:53
  
  High-end department store Neiman Marcus wants to improve more than its customer online buying experience. The company is working to use technology to merge its online and brick-and-mortar efforts.
  For some retailers, tech isn't just about creating a better e-commerce experience. It's about bringing brick and click together to create a whole new shopping experience and to provide retailers with more information about their customers.
  Neiman Marcus has been testing Bluetooth beacons -- think of w
  
  Read more

• Verizon's FreeBee Data 360 program lets companies pay for your mobile Internet usage

  19-01-2016 17:46
  
  Before 2016 comes to an end, the apps on your smartphone may be paying for your wireless data usage. Verizon announced on Tuesday that it will start testing a program where companies can pay to sponsor a user’s data. Those sponsorships mean Verizon subscribers can use an app or certain parts of an app without that usage counting against their data cap.
  The new program is called FreeBee Data 360 and currently comes in two flavors. FreeBee Data 360 lets a content provider, such as a news se
  
  Read more

• Congress eyes commission to tackle encryption debate

  19-01-2016 17:43
  
  Bipartisan congressional legislation will be introduced to create a national commission on security and technology that addresses the growing concern over encryption technology used by terrorists.
  Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Tex. plan to discuss their joint legislative proposal to create a Digital Security Commission later today, according to aides. McCaul is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee; Warner is a member of the Senate's Select Committee on Int
  
  Read more

• Arista Networks pops next-gen OS

  19-01-2016 17:39
  
  Arista Networks this week rolled out its next generation network operating system which, among other features, includes support for application containers.
  Arista’s EOS operating system powers the company’s data center and cloud switches. Its modularity and extensibility is considered key to Arista’s success in the switching market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: iOS 9.3: See how much data Wi-Fi Assist has used

  19-01-2016 17:14
  iOS 9.3 has some very cool features, but one that has been mostly overlooked is a change to Wi-Fi Assist. Wi-Fi Assist lets your iPhone switch to a cellular connection if your Wi-Fi connection is bad.While this is convenient, it also makes it possible to use more cellular data than you might realize, and that can be bad if it runs up a user's cellular data bill.How to see Wi-Fi Assist data usage in iOS 9.3In iOS 9.3 you can now easily see how much data Wi-Fi Assist has been using.Here's how you
  
  Read more

• Virtual reality meets 3D printing with HP's Sprout Pro

  19-01-2016 17:00
  
  HP is updating its innovative Sprout PC, which attempts to blend the real and digital worlds.The Sprout Pro all-in-one desktop is a souped up version of the original Sprout and retains its two most distinctive features: a touch-sensitive mat that sits on the desk in front of the PC and an arm that extends from above the monitor.The mat is a large canvas on which real objects can be scanned by a 3D camera in the arm. The arm also contains a projector that displays images on the mat.Real objects l
  
  Read more

• These are the 25 worst passwords of 2015

  19-01-2016 16:53
  Look on the bright side! There’s one good thing that comes out of all those website breaches every year: Security researchers get to comb through all those lists of usernames and passwords to remind us just how bad most of our passwords are. Now that we’re well into 2016, password management company SplashData just released its annual round-up of the worst passwords of 2015.
  The report is based on more than 2 million passwords that leaked online during the year. One trend the compan
  
  Read more

• Most Fortune 500 CEOs still sit on social media sidelines

  19-01-2016 16:44
  
  Despite all the time and energy many companies spend on social media today, the majority of Fortune 500 CEOs ignore the medium entirely. In fact, only 39 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are active on one or more of the six major social networks, according to a new study from Domo, a business management software provider. Domo checked Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube to see if the CEOs of all of the Fortune 500 companies had social accounts. One Fortune 500 company, Be
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Best Linux distros of 2016: Something for everyone

  19-01-2016 16:16
  
  There is something for everyoneImage by Swapnil BhartiyaThe beauty of Linux is that there really is something for everyone. Amazon, Facebook, and Google run their massive infrastructure on Linux. Companies like Samsung use it in their TVs, smartphones, and smart watches. And then there are ordinary users like you and me who use computers to do work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• 5 great Microsoft apps for people who hate Microsoft

  19-01-2016 16:16
  
  In 2008, I abandoned Microsoft Outlook for good, fed up with its bloated self. I also disavowed Windows in favor of the Mac OS.Fast forward eight years, and I'm back in the Outlook camp, at least on my iPhone and iPad Pro. And I use a lot of Microsoft software across my other devices, including a Microsoft Surface 3 tablet. Remember that old phrase? The more things change, the more they stay the same?Here's a quick look at what's new for Outlook on Android and iOS, along with shoutouts to four o
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Running desktop Linux on a tablet: A lid for every pot

  19-01-2016 16:09
  
  Android pretty much own the smartphone market with over 82% market share. Chrome OS is also making a serious dent in the PC market. Despite the dominance of these two Linux based distributions there are many users, including my friend Bryan Lunduke, who want to run 'regular Linux desktops' on tablets.
  Since the Linux community doesn't know the meaning of the word "impossible," I started looking around to see if someone had solved this particular problem.To read this article in full or to leave
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Interview: Cory Doctorow on digital locks and the threat to free and open source software

  19-01-2016 16:04
  
  Cory Doctorow is an activist in favor of liberalizing copyright laws, a proponent of the Creative Commons, and a celebrated author of many science fiction books that revolve around the same ideals for which he fights. He is also the co-editor of the popular site Boing Boing.
  Doctorow will be attending SCaLE 14x later this week to deliver a keynote presentation. I spoke with him by phone to discuss his upcoming talk. Following is the edited version of that conversation.
  Is this your first SCaLE
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Finding the right technology solution for your SME

  19-01-2016 16:04
  
  So you’ve made a decision to implement some new technology that will help your business. You’ve realized that you can no longer continue with the same old way of doing things; it’s time to move to the next level. Great! What’s next?SMEs often don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to IT. In most cases, they are great at their core business and are usually successful in delivering superior products and services to their customers. But when it comes to ma
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: The secret of digital disruption in one tweet

  19-01-2016 15:52
  
  As I see it, the difference between being a digital disruptor rather than disruptee boils down to acting on a principle that fits in one tweet with letters to spare:They’ll like smartphone apps better“They” are the people with whom you do business: customers, partners, or employees.  My claim is that however you’ve been interacting with them in the past—whether that’s marketing and selling to them, equipping them to do their job, or collaborating with the
  
  Read more

• Linux kernel flaw endangers millions of PCs, servers and Android devices

  19-01-2016 15:13
  
  For almost three years, a serious vulnerability in the Linux kernel could have allowed attackers to take full control over Linux-based PCs, servers, Android phones and other embedded devices.The flaw, which stems from the kernel's keyring facility, allows applications running under a local user to execute code in the kernel. As a result, an attacker with access to only a limited account on a Linux system can escalate their privileges to root.The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2016-0728, was found
  
  Read more

• Nginx Web server upgrade focuses on HTTP/2, authentication

  19-01-2016 14:30
  
  Nginx is upgrading the commercially supported version of its popular Web server, fitting it with new HTTP/2, authentication, and caching capabilities.
  Nginx Plus Release 8, being unveiled today, backs HTTP/2, which overcomes the performance and scalability limitations of the predecessor HTTP protocol. Users can deploy Nginx in front of an application, and the Web server deals with the complexity of HTTP/2. They get the benefits of a faster, more secure protocol, while websites go faster and the
  
  Read more

• A ray of hope in the fight against malvertising

  19-01-2016 14:24
  
  I recently wrote about how the Angler malware threat had affected my company. Adversaries have been buying space on legitimate advertising banner services, embedding malware in their fake ads, and using the unsuspecting ad agencies to serve their malware through legitimate websites to users, who might be innocently browsing major news and financial websites. It continues to be a problem for me.
  Today, for example, I got an alert about an infection attempt via a training website. I’m also
  
  Read more

• Report: Cybersecurity pros losing confidence

  19-01-2016 14:00
  
  Security professionals were less confident in their security infrastructure in 2015 than in 2014, according to a report released today by Cisco.
  In 2014, 64 percent of security pros said that their infrastructure was up to date, while only 59 percent felt the same way about 2015. In addition, in 2015, 54 percent said they strongly believe that they do a good job of building security into procedures for acquiring, developing, and maintaining systems, compared with 58 percent in 2014.
  "Despite al
  
  Read more

• Linux zero-day affects most Androids, millions of Linux PCs

  19-01-2016 13:28
  
  A new zero-day vulnerability has been discovered that allows Android or Linux applications to escalate privileges and gain root access, according to a report released this morning by Perception Point.
  "This affects all Android phones KitKat and higher," said Yevgeny Pats, co-founder and CEO at security vendor Perception Point.
  Any machine with Linux Kernel 3.8 or higher is vulnerable, he said, including tens of millions of Linux PCs and servers, both 32-bit and 64-bit. Although Linux lags in po
  
  Read more

• Can agile scale and does it matter?

  19-01-2016 13:28
  
  Five years ago, when I visited Zappos, CEO Tony Hseih pointed out that as organizations grow they become less effective. Each person you add increases productivity by a little less than the previous employee. Eventually, a large organization takes man-years to do what a small one could do in man-weeks. We understand this intuitively. Hseih claimed this was universal to nearly all business – yet it didn’t have to be. He used the example of cities, where more people condensed in a smal
  
  Read more

• Is it time to move from Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 to Windows 10?

  19-01-2016 13:13
  
  While standing in line at a burger joint recently, we spotted a sign in the manager's office that proclaimed, "Happy employees are productive." That pretty much sums up the Windows 10 experience from the user perspective. It's fast, feature-filled, easy to use and works across many types of devices. Although a unified experience across multiple devices (and using one account) was introduced in Windows 8, it remains a key factor in Windows OS usability. But because the mouse and keyboard still ru
  
  Read more

• Anonymous employee feedback tells only part of the story

  19-01-2016 13:12
  
  To compete successfully in a global, digital economy, your organization needs open communication and honest feedback from your employee. But if you're using only anonymous feedback tools to further transparency, you're only getting half the story.
  Communication and trust are key to greater transparency, and a healthy and productive workforce. But many of the mechanisms companies use to achieve open communication rely on anonymous feedback, which can actually be detrimental to transparency. Strik
  
  Read more

• Social engineering: 7 signs that something is just not right

  19-01-2016 12:42
  
  Keep an eye out for thisImage by ThomasThe best remedies a company can put in place start with education and teaching what to look for and what not to do. Morey Harber, vice president of Technology, BeyondTrust, lists some of the gotchas that should make your employees back away from the incoming email.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• IT careers: How to put your career on the fast track

  19-01-2016 12:30
  
  Kevin Kalahiki moved up fast after landing his first IT job during the boom days of the dot-com era.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• Review: Run Windows 10 on your Mac using VMware’s Fusion 8

  19-01-2016 12:00
  
  If the goal is hosting Windows (or Linux) on a Mac using a Type 2 hypervisor, Fusion8 is the tool for you. There’s a Standard version for end users and a Pro version for developers, as VMware wants to capture as many developers as it can and corral them into its ecosystem of products.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• US court bans the sale of some Samsung phones at Apple's request

  19-01-2016 08:27
  A federal court in California has banned the sale in the U.S. of Samsung smartphones that have features that infringe three patents owned by Apple.On Monday, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that the permanent injunction would come into effect 30 days after the entry of the order. The ban covers the implementation of features like the "slide-to-unlock" and auto word correction capabilities in some of Samsung's earlier phones.The smartphones
  
  Read more

• Why handwriting recognition on the iPad isn't a joke anymore

  19-01-2016 02:08
  
  Egg freckles. Eat up Martha. Cafe Fwiblob.
  There was a time when these words would have elicited instant giggles. Memes from the time before Twitter or Facebook, Apple’s Newton and its often-errant handwriting recognition offered a wellspring of humor for the minds behind Doonesbury and The Simpsons, a spot-on sendup of a technology that was so close yet so far.
  The signature feature of the original MessagePad was indeed worthy of ridicule. While Newton OS’s handwriting recognition
  
  Read more

• WhatsApp drops subscription fee, goes completely free

  19-01-2016 02:07
  Unlike most popular messaging apps, WhatsApp, the messaging service that Facebook bought in 2014, charges a $1 annual subscription fee after your first year of using the app. The idea here was to charge a small fee in lieu of serving up ads.
  Apparently, it hasn’t worked out as well as the company hoped: On Monday, the company announced that it was dropping the annual fee and would become a completely free service for end users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please cli
  
  Read more

• Faced with tech changes, retailers eye the need for innovation

  19-01-2016 02:03
  
  NEW YORK -- Since retailers - even major ones - tend not to spend money on research and development, many need guidance to keep up with the changestechnology is bringing to the industry.
  What need, according to IBM, is Innovation as a Service.
  Sure, IT and business leaders have heard of Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service. But Innovation as a Service?
  The concept underlies a partnership with technology companies looking to help retailers figure out what they need to connect br
  
  Read more

Follow @ITExecutiveNews on Twitter!