IT Executive news

• IRS: Actually, that breach last year was way worse than we thought

  26-02-2016 23:08
  
  For U.S. taxpayers, the news just keeps getting worse about the cyberattack discovered last year on the IRS's Get Transcript application,At first, it looked like just over 100,000 taxpayers had been affected. Then, last August, the number was updated to more than 300,000.Now, it looks like a further 390,000 people's information could have been breached, bringing the total estimate to over 700,000."The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration conducted a nine-month-long investigation loo
  
  Read more

• Apple vs. the FBI: The legal arguments in a nutshell

  26-02-2016 22:16
  
  Apple has raised some interesting, and potentially winning, legal arguments in its motion to overturn a judge’s order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of a mass shooter.The FBI's request for Apple to write new software to defeat password protections on the phone violates the company’s free speech and due process rights, Apple argued Thursday in its motion to vacate Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym’s Feb.16 order.To read this article in full or to leave a commen
  
  Read more

• Intuit to close sale of Quicken by April 30

  26-02-2016 21:44
  
  Intuit yesterday said it will complete the sale of is Quicken personal finance software by April 30.
  "We expect the process to sell Demandforce, QuickBase and Quicken will be completed this fiscal quarter," Intuit said in prepared remarks Thursday during an earnings call with Wall Street.
  Intuit's current financial quarter runs from Feb. 1 to April 30.
  The Mountain View, Calif. company announced the sale of Quicken, as well as two other product lines -- QuickBase, a customizable database for sm
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Living and breathing innovation

  26-02-2016 20:42
  
  I’ve noticed that many organizations across industry sectors have innovation in their mission statement and core values. Yet, what’s often missing is a meaningful program with dedicated resources to guide and empower a culture of innovation. What you end up seeing is unstable adjunct programs that go away the minute there’s a budget cut.Recruiters often reference the values and mission of a company, and if innovation is included, more interest is generated. Who doesn’t wa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Fixing the Internet's routing security is urgent and requires collaboration

  26-02-2016 19:44
  
  The Internet is fragile. Many of its protocols were designed at a time when the goal was rapid network expansion based on trust among operators. Today, the Internet's open nature is what makes it so great for business, education and communication, but the absence of security mechanisms at its core is something that criminals are eager to exploit.In late January, traffic to many IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of the U.S. Marine Corps was temporarily diverted through an ISP in Venezuela. Ac
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: 3 words that explain why the consumer Internet of Things will get big, fast

  26-02-2016 19:39
  
  Gillian Tett has numerous written award-winning articles and books but one tweet  in response to a new feature from Tesla brilliantly sets the stage for understanding why consumers will embrace Internet of Things (IoT) more quickly than many people expect:I LOVE the idea of using my phone to get my car to drive itself out of the garage, heated up.Our first two words: “Who wouldn’t?”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Are you still struggling with your data?

  26-02-2016 19:35
  
  Data can help you find, understand and address underlying organizational issues. The first step is understanding the data.The struggle is real
  Many companies are struggling with the transition to data-centricity as the need to do so grows by the day. Data-centric companies understand that their businesses generate data from customer and internal interactions and that they can leverage that data to spot trends, to take proactive actions and meet customer and internal needs before people realize t
  
  Read more

• When the call to management comes

  26-02-2016 19:28
  
  Most of us who choose a career in IT do so because we love the hands-on work. We start out on the front lines as a developer, DBA, designer, administrator or support tech. With time, we grow into new roles as our natural drive and curiosity prompt us to learn — about the technical areas we have chosen, the products and platforms we work on, the new technologies we’d like to work on and the roles we have yet to play in technical organizations and projects.To read this article in full
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• This amazing art was created by neural networks, and now you can buy it

  26-02-2016 19:21
  
  Neural networks are often used for image recognition, but it turns out they can create some pretty incredible images as well.On Friday evening, the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts and Research at Google will host "DeepDream," a special exhibit and auction in San Francisco featuring artwork made using neural networks.Mike Tyka/Google Neural-network art by Mike Tyka.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Microsoft acquisition opens door for cross platform mobile application development

  26-02-2016 19:16
  
  This week, Microsoft announced the acquisition of enterprise mobile market leader Xamarin. The acquisition is the culmination of years of successful collaboration between the two companies in which we saw Xamarin become the favorite of .NET developventuring in the mobile world.From a capability standpoint, Xamarin provides a cross platform model to develop iOS, Android and Windows Phone applications using .NET. More recently, Xamarin extended its offering with solutions for monitoring, managing,
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Is your big data effort a big deal?

  26-02-2016 18:56
  
  Big data is a term that is tossed around quite a bit these days. In Gartner parlance, it’s at the top of the hype curve. Mention “big data” and people imagine answering impossibly hard JEOPARDY!©questions effortlessly. The reality is that big data IS a big deal, but you need to invest significant effort to make sure that your company is getting valuable outcomes from this venture, not just hype. My company, Synchrony Financial, recently conducted a survey and determined th
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Avoiding a digital Frankenstein

  26-02-2016 17:40
  
  Here’s a real-world story of what happened when a company decided it wanted to create a mobile-friendly website to improve customer engagement. As a CIO, you’ve undoubtedly seen similar instances or even had a similar experience in your organization. There’s an important lesson in this story that will help CIOs tussling for influence within the C-suite.The story starts as a classic build-vs-buy situation. A proactive and creative marketing department engaged a third-party firm
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Canonical's distribution of ZFS file systems violates GNU GPL

  26-02-2016 17:11
  
  I recently started using ZFS to build my file and media server with redundancy. (I have been waiting for Btrfs, which offers the same features as ZFS, to mature, but it’s taking way too long.) I used FreeNAS for a while that comes with ZFS but I needed more control over my server, and I am kind of a ‘Linux’ guy, no offense to BSD folks. So whenDebian added ZFS support, I got increasingly excited about ZFS on Linux. I installed it on my Debian server and even wrote a tutorial.
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: What problems are digital solutions solving?

  26-02-2016 16:19
  
  This year’s business conference season is in full swing, so I’ve been privy to the latest and greatest pitches from service providers around the world. The marketing has improved dramatically over the last few years. The presentations are shorter, the slideware is more direct and the speakers are more confident. “Digital” is everywhere, followed closely by “design thinking.” Cloud and as-a-service are old news. All of this should make a professional skeptic li
  
  Read more

• Facebook's Canvas a ‘big moment’ for mobile ads

  26-02-2016 16:01
  
  SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is trying to finish the job Apple started six years ago with its iAd platform: The social media giant wants to deliver immersive, full-screen mobile ads that let brands tell more detailed stories. Yesterday, Facebook released Canvas, a new ad format that marketers can use to string together video, photos, text and animation, to create experiences that take over users' smartphones and tablet screens. Canvas is essentially a mash-up of Facebook's many current ad type
  
  Read more

• How long can IT outsourcing deliver more for less?

  26-02-2016 15:40
  
  IT and business process outsourcing deals have been getting smaller in dollar value and shorter in duration for some time. And, according to analysis of 2015’s deal activity, enterprise digitization is strengthening that trend. The number of outsourcing contracts signed last year hit an all-time high, but annual contract values were down 8 percent, according to outsourcing consultancy Information Services Group (ISG).[ Related: IT outsourcing year in review: Grading our 2015 predictions ]T
  
  Read more

• Obama’s plan looks to revolutionize healthcare

  26-02-2016 14:55
  
  In what promises to be a massive big data initiative, the White House yesterday announced a series of government actions and private-sector commitments to better tailor medical care to individual patients.Through what President Obama is calling the Precision Medicine Initiative, the administration is tasking the National Institutes of Health with awarding grants to develop a vast database of volunteer patients that researchers could use to evaluate unique factors such as genetics, health history
  
  Read more

• CIO/CISO takes unorthodox route to the C-suite

  26-02-2016 14:34
  
  Most seasoned CIOs and CISOs looking for an exit have the luxury of hiring executive search firms to find them a landing spot. But sometimes chaotic business environments force IT leaders to take matters into their own hands.Such was the case for former Time Warner Cable CISO Tammy Moskites, who along with other members of the cable company's C-suite found herself out of a job in February 2014, part of Comcast's house-cleaning to make way for the merger (which ultimately failed). Word about Mosk
  
  Read more

• Capgemini breidt samenwerking met AWS uit

  26-02-2016 13:22
  Capgemini gaat klanten helpen bij de bouw en migratie van applicaties voor Amazon Web Services (AWS). Als onderdeel van het cloud services programma, dat voorziet in cloud adviesdiensten, migratie en managed business services, zal Capgemini onder meer investeren in een zogenaamde ‘migration factory’ voor... lees meer
  
  Read more

• Business leaders struggle with cloud, big data and IoT security

  26-02-2016 12:58
  
  Call it the security conundrum.Business leaders are racing to adopt new IT systems like cloud computing, big data and Internet of things (IoT), and yet at the same time express mounting concerns about the security of sensitive information in those environments.A new survey of more than 1,000 enterprise leaders conducted by 451 Research on behalf of the security vendor Vormetric helps quantify the situation.[ Related: Cybersecurity much more than a compliance exercise ]To read this article in ful
  
  Read more

• Verizon stelt IoT platform open voor ict-dienstverleners en concurrenten

  26-02-2016 12:51
  Verizon heeft deze week op het MWC bekendgemaakt dat het zijn IoT-platform ThingSpace openstelt voor andere telco’s en ict-dienstverleners. Sinds de introductie in oktober maken meer dan 4.000 developers gebruik van ThingSpace.Ook gaat de aanbieder een oplossing bieden voor beveiligingsvraagstukken, aansluitend... lees meer
  
  Read more

• Why meeting face-to-face still trumps videoconferencing

  26-02-2016 12:43
  
  I’ve been following the videoconferencing market for some time and it has been a fascinating ride. The technology was first demonstrated at the World’s Fair back in 1964 and it was slated to quickly replace the telephone. Thirty years later Intel entered this market only to have Andy Grove, one of the most successful tech CEOs of all time, later write it was the biggest mistake he’d ever made. HP entered this market a decade later with its amazing Halo system and then later sol
  
  Read more

• The 5 biggest reveals from Apple's motion to dismiss the FBI's court order

  26-02-2016 12:30
  
  On Thursday, Apple filed a motion to vacate the court order compelling the iPhone-maker to create a hackable version of iOS that the FBI can use to break into the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.
  In the filing, Apple’s main argument is that its software is protected speech, and that the government asking the company to fabricate software that goes against its beliefs is a violation of its First and Fifth Amendment rights.[ Related: Why Apple is right to fight
  FBI over iPhone
  
  Read more

• An IT leader who believes in the impossible

  26-02-2016 12:30
  
  The State of Connecticut, like many others, had to create a way for residents to buy health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010, better known as ObamaCare. Peter B. Nichol was one of the leaders who helped make that happen.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• ISIS group threatens Facebook and Twitter CEOs

  26-02-2016 12:02
  
  Frustrated by social networks' efforts to keep them at bay, the terrorist group ISIS has made direct threats against the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter.
  In a 25-minute video dubbed "Flames of the Supporters" and posted on the Russian-based instant messaging service Telegram, the Sons Caliphate Army displayed photos of Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey with digitally added bullet holes. Sons Caliphate Army is a purported hacking division of the Islamic State.T
  
  Read more

• Why you need to use Polymer for Web development

  26-02-2016 12:00
  
  Basic HTML is fine if all you want to do is make a superminimalist website. For enhanced functionality, you can turn to the myriad JavaScript libraries, but wouldn't it be better to have those functions directly in the browser?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• Review: Dell PowerEdge R330 stands tall for small shops

  26-02-2016 12:00
  
  Choosing a small-business or remote-site server has always involved trade-offs. You can’t spend too much, but you don’t want to aim too short and deploy undersized hardware that you’ll wind up replacing later.
  Further, you might not need all the bells and whistles of enterprise-class hardware, but you will need a few key items, such as extensive remote management features, redundant power supplies, hardware RAID, and, of course, reliability.[ See what hardware, software, devel
  
  Read more

• FBI, keep out! How to encrypt everything

  26-02-2016 12:00
  
  The FBI’s inability to crack a terrorist’s iPhone 5c shows the strong protection you can get for your private information on a mobile device. That same encryption is also available on your computer, at least in some cases.
  Given the increasing access to personal and corporate data sought by the U.S. government, as well as by other politicians, unscrupulous businesses, and criminal hackers, people should up their game on what they protect. Fortunately, it's not hard to do. (But be su
  
  Read more

• Facebook, Google, Microsoft to join tech industry in supporting Apple in court

  26-02-2016 04:57
  
  The tech industry is rallying behind Apple in its appeal against a court order asking it to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c, with Facebook, Google and Microsoft planning submissions in court in support of the iPhone maker.
  “The industry is aligned on this issue and Facebook is participating in a joint submission with other technology companies," a spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email Thursday.
  Other companies expected to join in making the submission are Twitter and Amazon.com,
  
  Read more

• Hottest tablets and laptops from MWC 2016

  26-02-2016 02:33
  
  Tablets, laptops and a lot of the in-betweenIt’s been a big year for the laptop/tablet combo device at MWC 2016. Spurred by the iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface and Surfacebook, there were competitors aplenty at this year’s show. Here are some of the highlights.RELATED: Coolest new Android & Windows phones of MWC 2016To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• Apple files motion to vacate FBI court order, claiming a violation of its constitutional rights

  26-02-2016 02:32
  
  Apple has just responded to the FBI’s court order, claiming that it’s a violation of the company’s rights to free speech.[ Related: Why Apple is right to fight
  FBI over iPhone access ]
  On Thursday, Apple filed a “motion to vacate” the court order compelling the iPhone-maker to help the FBI in breaking into the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters. In the document, Apple argues that its software is protected speech, and the government compe
  
  Read more

• A new algorithm from MIT could protect ships from 'rogue waves' at sea

  26-02-2016 01:15
  
  Predictive analytics can already help prevent churn and anticipate equipment failures, but MIT has applied it to a new realm altogether: protecting ships at sea from so-called "rogue waves."Also known as killer waves, rogue waves swell up seemingly out of nowhere and can be eight times higher than the surrounding sea. They can strike in otherwise calm waters with virtually no warning, causing untold devastation even to large ships and ocean liners.Now, MIT has developed a predictive tool it says
  
  Read more

• Best Apple iPhone 7 design concepts of 2016

  26-02-2016 00:20
  
  THE NEXT GREAT IPHONEApple is expected to roll out its next flagship smartphones, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, in the fall of 2016. But the creative minds of designers from around the world aren’t waiting to put forth their visions for what the new iPhones might look like and include for features. Here’s a look at the best we’ve seen so far…To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

Follow @ITExecutiveNews on Twitter!