IT Executive news

• Why the former CIO of Gap moved from clothes to cloud

  12-05-2016 22:14
  
  One Big Bang digital transformation was enough for Tom Keiser. After overhauling legacy IT systems and updating ecommerce platforms, the former Gap CIO has joined SaaS provider Zendesk as its first CIO. The move comes more than a year after leaving the apparel retailer. Now Keiser will build out IT, security and data analytics capabilities for a cloud service provider seeking to top $1 billion in revenues by 2020.Zendesk founder and CEO Mikkel Svane told CIO.com via email that he hired Keiser fo
  
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• Edge's share of Windows 10 browsers continues slide

  12-05-2016 21:56
  
  Microsoft's Edge browser has slipped to its smallest-ever percentage of Windows 10 in the U.S., according to data from a consortium of government websites.
  Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, was used by 22.1% of those running the new operating system in April, data from the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) showed. DAP tallies visits to more than 4,000 websites on over 400 different domains maintained by U.S. government agencies. The traffic predominantly originates in the U.S., although be
  
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• Four major trends in enterprise mobility  

  12-05-2016 21:41
  
  This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices.  Click here to subscribe.  
  If you want to get some insight to the trends of mobility in the enterprise, the guy to talk to is Ojas Rege, vice president of strategy for MobileIron. I caught up with him recently and he talked about four major trends that will have a big impact in the years ahead.
  The first trend is what is happening from the application security perspective. Enterprises started to get interested
  
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• Microsoft's fascinating GigJam service is open to anyone who wants an invite

  12-05-2016 20:56
  
  Anyone can get into the private beta of MIcrosoft's new GigJam productivity service, which is aimed at helping teams of people collaborate in real time over the Internet, the company announced Thursday. GigJam combines data from a variety of services including Microsoft's own Office 365, Trello, Dropbox, and Salesforce. Users can then bring that information into a shared workspace, allowing them to quickly work together.Users can easily redact part of the information they're sharing with ot
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Cybersecurity and the promise of machine learning

  12-05-2016 20:15
  
  Will Machine Learning come to rescue for cybersecurity? Or is it just more empty promises. This is the third part of a short series on cybersecurity. Watch the video below and let's discuss. (9 mins)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: You can't get there with Scrum

  12-05-2016 19:31
  
  A lot of business units and a lot of organizations today are obsessed with Agile. Even in departments where all development is outsourced. Even those that never build their own software and always rely on procurement to get what they need. They're asking that of their vendors, their business analysts and even their business users.Everyone is excited with Scrum and beating folks over the head with it.... And they expect marvelous results.Unfortunately though, most of these companies will never ge
  
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• Apache incubating project promises new Internet security framework

  12-05-2016 19:27
  
  VANCOUVER, BC -- A new incubating project at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) promises a more secure Internet that doesn't require monolithic trust hierarchies and centralized certificate authorities. And it could eliminate the need for complex passwords, too.
  At ApacheCon North America in Vancouver yesterday, telecommunications juggernaut NTT Group, along with its Silicon Valley-based innovation center NTT i3 and cryptography and cybersecurity specialist MIRACL, joined forces to contribute
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Linux is the largest software development project on the planet: Greg Kroah-Hartman

  12-05-2016 19:21
  
  Greg Kroah-Hartman is second in command in the Linux kernel community. In addition to doing great work on device drivers, he also maintains the stable tree of the Linux kernel.In his keynote presentation at CoreOS Fest in Berlin this week, Kroah-Hartman offered some inside perspective on just how massive the Linux kernel project is. And I also had a chance to sit down with him to talk about the kernel and security.Let's start with the code base. Kroah-Hartman said the latest release (4.5) made t
  
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• Dangerous 7-Zip flaws put many other software products at risk

  12-05-2016 19:13
  
  Two vulnerabilities recently patched in 7-Zip could put at risk of compromise many software products and devices that bundle the open-source file archiving library.
  The flaws, an out-of-bounds read vulnerability and a heap overflow, were discovered by researchers from Cisco's Talos security team. They were fixed in 7-Zip 16.00, released Tuesday.
  The 7-Zip software can pack and unpack files using a large number of archive formats, including its own 7z format, which is more efficient than ZI
  
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• Lawmakers probe large data breaches at US bank insurance agency

  12-05-2016 18:43
  The personal banking information of about 160,000 U.S. residents walked out the door of the federal government's bank insurance agency on removable media of employees departing in recent months.During the last seven months, seven departing employees at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have left with personal banking information on thumb drives and other removable media, agency officials told a congressional subcommittee Thursday.The FDIC, which provides deposit insurance to U.S.
  
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• Evernote and Google team up to show Drive-stored content directly inside your notes

  12-05-2016 18:00
  
  Evernote and Google may be competitors when it comes to notes, but the two companies are burying the hatchet to bring some helpful cross-service integration to users with a foot in both worlds.
  Starting today, any Google Drive content you add to an Evernote notebook will appear as rich content with thumbnail previews, rather than simple hyperlinks—meaning you’ll be able to browse and use your Drive-stored content without ever needing to leave Evernote’s confines. Evernote&rsqu
  
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• BlackBerry's Android security survey blatantly promos PRIV

  12-05-2016 17:00
  
  This morning, BlackBerry released the results of a survey of more than 8,000 U.S. Android smartphone users between the ages of 35 and 54. The company conducted the online research between April 11 and April 13, 2016, using Google's Consumer Surveys service, which aims to help organizations reach their target audiences for market research, and then solicit what's supposed to be unbiased information through a third party: Google.The survey's most notable findings include:To read this article in fu
  
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• BrandPost: Driving Innovation at a Large Company – Five Lessons Learned

  12-05-2016 16:33
  
  When a $40,000 investment returns tens of millions of dollars, it is a story worth telling. How did it begin? By identifying a highly qualified, albeit unconventional, audience and driving production, interest and awareness using unique methods, we bring you this tale.It all began four years ago with the crazy idea of creating a Linux-based developer laptop by directly engaging the developers themselves. At Dell, the thought of creating a “niche” product, for an “obscure”
  
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• The perils of the public market: Investor reflects on why vendors are going private

  12-05-2016 15:44
  
  Dell may be the largest tech company to ever go private, but it is by no means the only vendor that has decided it would be better off to pursue strategic options without the constant second guessing of public investors.  To learn more about the trend, Network World Editor in Chief John Dix talked with Seth Boro, a Managing Partner at private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which has taken Riverbed, Dynatrace and many other network companies private, and with Kevin Thompson, CEO of SolarWinds, a
  
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• SolarWinds CEO reflects on taking the company private

  12-05-2016 15:44
  
  Dell may be the largest tech company to ever go private, but it is by no means the only vendor that has decided it would be better off to pursue strategic options without the constant second guessing of public investors.  To learn more about the trend, Network World Editor in Chief John Dix talked with Seth Boro, a Managing Partner at Private Equity firm Thoma Bravo, which has taken Riverbed, Dynatrace and other network companies private, and with Kevin Thompson, CEO of SolarWinds, a
  
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• 90% off Essential JavaScript Coding Course Bundle - Deal Alert

  12-05-2016 15:32
  
  Lifetime access to 15 courses for just $29, which boasts a generous markdown from its original price of $1,080.
  
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• 8 awesome (and sometimes free) conference call services

  12-05-2016 15:20
  
  Conference calls are a big part of work life today — sometimes too big. Because we spend so much time in meetings, we want conference-calling systems that that launch quickly and work flawlessly so we can get the information we need and move on to other pressing matters. The capability to browse a post-meeting transcript or zoom through an audio recording would be big bonuses, especially for fastidious note-takers who don't always catch everything in real time.The good news is that the lea
  
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• A key security takeaway from Walmart's chip-and-PIN suit against Visa

  12-05-2016 15:07
  
  Payment card users can't make financial services giants such as Visa behave themselves. When it comes to debit card security, however, they can use all of the features built into new chip-and-PIN cards to protect sensitive data — even if card companies don't enforce the safeguards, according to Dimitri Sirota, a long-time security professional who founded BigID, which develops security software for financial services companies.
  Walmart on Tuesday filed suit against Visa and char
  
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• U.S. House of Representatives bans Yahoo Mail and Google App Engine over malware concerns

  12-05-2016 14:51
  The IT department of the U.S. House of Representatives has blocked access to Yahoo Mail and the Google App Engine platform due to malware threats.
  On April 30, the House’s Technology Service Desk informed users about an increase in ransomware related emails on third-party email services like Yahoo Mail and Gmail.
  "The House Information Security Office is taking a number of steps to address this specific attack," the Technology Service Desk said in an email obtained and published by G
  
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• 50% off Spigen Tough Armor Volt iPhone 6s case with Wireless Charge Receiver - Deal Alert

  12-05-2016 14:51
  
  This Tough Armor Volt case from Spigen is stylish and tough, but takes it to the next level with an integrated wireless charging receiver for Qi wireless charing compatibility.Mentioned in this articleSpigen® [Tough Armor Volt... See it on AmazonMilitary-grade certified drop protection keeps your device safe while maintaining a slim profile. And its wireless charging receiver can be easily removed for wired charging. It currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 6,500 peo
  
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• CIO May 2016 Digital Magazine: Making IoT magic

  12-05-2016 14:44
  
  Download the CIO May 2016 Digital Magazine.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Popular messaging apps present real enterprise threat

  12-05-2016 14:00
  
  Today's mobile device owners commonly use messaging apps to send selfies, command bots to order takeout and collaborate with their coworkers — sometimes simultaneously, and oftentimes via the same app. Nothing in particular precludes messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook's Messenger, Skype or Telegram from being used for work, play and everything in between. However, these consumer-focused apps are becoming the de facto software for corporate communication, and IT professionals have go
  
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• iPad Pro early adopters share pros and cons

  12-05-2016 14:00
  
  On Nov. 11, 2015, Apple began taking online orders for its then-new iPad Pro. At the time, CEO Tim Cook said the 12.9-inch tablet would replace notebooks, as well as desktop PCs, for "many, many people," according to an article on The Telegraph.co.uk. 
  Six months later, we decided to use the online Help a Reporter Out database to ask a number of business and IT executives for their thoughts on Apple's enterprise tablet, and if it had, in fact, replaced their laptops or desktops.To read thi
  
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• Criminals taking a bigger bite of health breaches

  12-05-2016 14:00
  
  The percentage of health care data breaches due to criminals has risen from 20 to 50 percent since 2010, but health care organizations are failing on defense, according to a new study.
  On average, the percentage of health care organizations hit by a data breach has stayed steady, in the high 80s and low 90s, according to Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder at Ponemon Institute, which conducted the study, but the number of breaches due to accidentally lost devices has dropped.
  Most recently, ran
  
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• BrandPost: Taking the Sting out of Ransomware

  12-05-2016 14:00
  
  In December of 2014, the entire police department of Tewksbury, Mass., just outside of Boston, got held up by the data equivalent of gunpoint. It happened when malicious code infected the department’s computer system, encrypted critical files to effectively hold them hostage, and then demanded payment to an anonymous thief to return them.It was just one example of a rising tide of such cyber-attacks employing malware known as ransomware.Cyber Muggings
  Unlike other cybersecurity breaches, w
  
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• 'Me'ternity leave? Is she serious?

  12-05-2016 13:54
  
  Maternity leave is no picnic. You're recovering from childbirth. You have a brand-new human you're suddenly responsible for. There's barely time to shower or eat. Let's not even talk about how little sleep there is, for anyone. (For the record, I went back to work two weeks -- yes, two weeks -- after my son was born. I had a very demanding freelance client whose money we could not survive without. Judge away.) So, when this woman starts complaining that she's missing out, and that she should get
  
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• The sport of threat hunting, and who should be in the game

  12-05-2016 13:42
  
  “Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• After smashing two Atoms, Intel sees mobile future in atomic research

  12-05-2016 13:29
  
  Weeks after cancelling two generations of Atom mobile chips, Intel is paving the way for future low-power mobile technologies with a new research collaboration with a French atomic energy lab.Fundamental research leading towards faster wireless networks, secure low-power technologies for the Internet of Things, and even 3D displays will be the focus of Intel's collaboration with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).Intel and the CEA already work together in the fiel
  
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• Word geen Kodak

  12-05-2016 13:25
  Innoveren, ook als dat op korte termijn leidt tot teruglopende inkomsten? Veel offshore IT-dienstverleners worstelen met de vraag in hoeverre ze moeten kannibaliseren op hun bestaande, stevig bemenste diensten. Zeker nu klanten hun IT-activiteiten in toenemende mate automatiseren en public-cloudoplossingen steeds... lees meer
  
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• IT resume makeover: Breaking through tech jargon

  12-05-2016 13:02
  
  Resume writer Donald Burns was faced with an interesting challenge this time around -- he needed to take a resume that was already in good shape and make it even better. This month, makeover candidate, Sudhakar Gorti, COO and CTO for Environmental Data Resources, recruited Burn's help take his resume from tech-focused to one that showcased his business acumen. This was especially important because his ultimate 10-year goal is to move out of the tech world and become a business executive.To read
  
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• 60% consumenten vindt online diensten inconsistent

  12-05-2016 13:02
  Ruim acht op de tien consumenten wisselen van device bij het uitvoeren van online taken en organisaties zijn hier in hun online services nog onvoldoende op ingericht: een minderheid van 40% van de consumenten vindt dat bedrijven een consistente en gepersonaliseerde ervaring bieden. Daarop duiden een analyse en... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why did Apple make the Apple Watch?

  12-05-2016 13:00
  
  I’ve owned an Apple Watch since it was first released, and I’ve found it to be a delightful and incredibly useful product. But I never stopped to wonder much about what exactly motivated Apple to create it in the first place.Frankly, I had supposed that Apple just wanted to enter the wearables category. And, of course, that it wanted yet another hit product to increase the company’s profits. While those things certainly played a role to one degree or another, it turns out that
  
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• How to make Android and iOS play nicely together

  12-05-2016 13:00
  
  Even if you love Android, you can’t totally ignore iOS. You probably have plenty of family members or friends who use iPhones. Or you may dabble with the other side on your own with an iPad, which isn’t a bad option considering the Android tablet space could use really use a new Nexus flagship.
  As you’re probably aware, you can forget about using most Apple services on Android. Apple Music is a rare exception, though much like iTunes on Windows, you get the feeling it will alw
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Are you killing your startup’s chances for success?

  12-05-2016 12:34
  
  Tada, look what we’ve created!
  I split startup founders into two (very broad) categories:The problem solvers: Founders who have designed a product based on a deep understanding of a real problem for a reasonable sized target audience.
  The geniuses (seriously)!: Founders who have created a technological masterpiece… and don’t quite know what to do with it. Tada, look what we’ve created!
  The problem solvers: Have endorsed strategic marketing from early on and are wor
  
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• Free download: Windows 10 tips & tricks

  12-05-2016 12:30
  
  From managing updates and protecting your privacy to speeding up your system and getting the most out of Cortana, these tips can help you use Windows 10 to its full potential. (computerworld.com)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 6 ways data is taking over retail

  12-05-2016 12:30
  
  Retailers now swim in more data than they know what to do with. And they’re working overtime to digest that data — collected from e-commerce transactions and via merchandising, CRM and POS systems — to glean useful insights. Many are turning to predictive analytics in an effort to use cutting-edge data science to forecast trends and personalize messaging. Data even plays a role in brick-and-mortar stores, where new metrics allow retailers to study in-store behavior at a level o
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 4 ways project managers can make their CEOs happy

  12-05-2016 12:17
  
  Customer happiness is Job 1.1 for the project manager. I would say it's Job 1.0, but I've always said that Job One is effective and efficient communication and I don't feel it's a good idea for me to flip flop. I am not a politician. So, if customer happiness is Job 1.1, then CEO happiness has to be right up there...like Job 1.2 or Job 1.3. What I'm trying to say is Happy Wife, Happy Life...and Happy CEO, Happy Career/Salary/Corporate Ladder/Corner Office.So, if you want your CEO to be happy, th
  
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• MacGyver IT: 19 more tools for IT heroes

  12-05-2016 12:00
  
  MacGyver IT: 19 more tools for IT heroesSince my original incarnation of “MacGyver IT” tools four years ago, IT’s on-the-go role has evolved well beyond troubleshooting critical systems in the field. Thanks to an evolution of IT responsibilities and a revolution in technologies, in particular around IoT and video, the mix in our kits is quickly transforming.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Opera rolls out power-saving mode, claims battery life can be extended 50%

  12-05-2016 09:00
  
  Opera, which seems determined to pack generations worth of improvements into a few short months, boasts yet another reason for you to switch browsers: a “low-power mode” that the company promises will extend your laptop’s battery life by up to 50 percent.
  Like other, recent releases, the new feature will first appear as part of a developer edition of the Opera 39 browser for both Mac and Windows PCs. 
  This follows a native ad blocker that Opera first featured as part of a
  
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• Lyft agrees to more than double payment to drivers in court settlement

  12-05-2016 08:34
  Lyft has agreed to pay US$27 million to settle a dispute with drivers in California, under pressure from the judge who found the earlier proposed payment of $12.25 million was too small.The ride-hailing company and its rival Uber Technologies are keen to settle with the drivers in class-action lawsuits, without having to agree to their reclassification as employees, which would push up their costs.The companies currently classify their drivers as independent contractors, which does not require t
  
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• Mozilla wants US to disclose to it first any vulnerability found in Tor by government hackers

  12-05-2016 06:28
  Mozilla has asked a court that it should be provided information on a vulnerability in the Tor browser ahead of it being provided to a defendant in a lawsuit, as the browser is based in part on Firefox browser code.“At this point, no one (including us) outside the government knows what vulnerability was exploited and whether it resides in any of our code base,” wrote Denelle Dixon-Thayer, chief legal and business officer at Mozilla, in a blog post Wednesday.Mozilla is asking the U.S.
  
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• Cloud: Just what the doctor ordered

  12-05-2016 03:14
  
  Two of the most risk averse industries are healthcare and financial services. Yesterday I wrote about how banks are increasingly using public IaaS cloud services. A new study this week finds that health care are warming to the cloud too.
  Two years ago HIMSS Analytics and Level 3 found that 22% of health care providers planned to use cloud for back-office functions. This year, the number more than doubled to 46.7%. Just over one in three respondents said they have some sort of patient engagement
  
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• New Siri sibling Viv may be next step in A.I. evolution

  12-05-2016 03:13
  
  With the creators of Siri offering up a new personal assistant that won't just tell you what pizza is but can order one for you, artificial intelligence is showing a huge leap forward.
  Viv is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform built by Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, the creators of the AI behind Apple's Siri, the most well-known digital assistant in the world.
  Siri is known for answering questions, like how old Harrison Ford is, and reminding you to buy milk on the way home.
  Viv, though, p
  
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• How toy street lamps are shedding new light on quantum computing

  12-05-2016 00:49
  
  If you've ever had a train set, you might remember the tiny street lamps that are often part of the model landscape. Today, the bulbs from those toy lamps are helping to shed light on quantum computing.In fact, there's been a spate of developments lately in quantum computing, and not just IBM's announcement of its upcoming cloud service. Here are three recent advances from research institutions around the world.Toys at workQuantum computers are eagerly anticipated for the huge gains they promise
  
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