IT Executive news

• Illinois hospital chain to pay record $5.5M for exposing data about millions of patients

  04-08-2016 23:06
  
  Illinois' largest hospital chain today agreed to pay a $5.5 million fine by the government for lax data security that led to the exposure of more than 4 million electronic patient records.
  The fine against Advocate Health Care Network, the largest ever levied under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, is a result of the "extent and duration of the alleged noncompliance."
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began its
  
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• This new Skype bot lets you chat with Spock

  04-08-2016 22:49
  
  Microsoft has made no secret of its grand plans for chat bots, and this week it rolled out five new ones for Skype. Surely the most fun is "Spock," a bot that promises to help you "learn the ways of Vulcan logic."Back in April, Microsoft debuted a preview of Skype bots, the artificial intelligence-based helpers it hopes will make it easier for users to get things done. Today, more than 30,000 developers are building bots for Skype, it says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, plea
  
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• Black Hat: Quick look at hot issues

  04-08-2016 22:26
  
  Security subjectsImage by Reuters/David BeckerBlack Hat includes a variety of security topics from how USB drives are a menace and how drones are fast becoming a threat you need to pay attention to and much more. Here we take a look at just a few of the hot topics presented at the conference.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Raspberry Pi 3 gets the Windows 10 anniversary update

  04-08-2016 22:19
  
  After Microsoft released an anniversary update of Windows 10 for PCs, a version is now available for the popular Raspberry Pi 3 developer board.The Anniversary Update is for Windows 10 IoT Core, a slimmed-down version of the OS for Raspberry Pi 3 and other developer boards. Users develop gadgets, robots, drones, and other smart devices with Raspberry Pi 3.The update has new features, as well as performance and application-support improvements, Microsoft said. It also provides an easier inst
  
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• In DARPA challenge, smart machines compete to fend off cyberattacks

  04-08-2016 22:19
  
  The first all-machine hacking competition is taking place today in Las Vegas.
  Seven teams, each running a high-performance computer and autonomous systems, are going head-to-head to see which one can best detect, evaluate and patch software vulnerabilities before adversaries have a chance to exploit them.
  It’s the first event where machines – with no human involvement – are competing in a round of "capture the flag, according to DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  
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• Reward: $15K for nastiest Edge browser bugs

  04-08-2016 22:16
  
  Microsoft today launched another bug bounty for Edge, the default browser within Windows 10.
  The award program is similar to one Microsoft ran from April to June 2015 for the then-named Spartan. Microsoft officially rebranded Spartan as Edge in late April.
  Bounties of up to $15,000 will be paid for remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in Edge on the Insider builds. Insider is Microsoft's preview program which issues preliminary code to a large pool of volunteers.
  RCE vulnerabilities are
  
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• Melania Trump’s H-1B controversy explained

  04-08-2016 22:10
  
  Overseas fashion models working on H-1B visas is a peculiar part of the visa law. This visa is intended for high-skilled workers, such as those in computer-related occupations. But to work in the U.S. in the 1990s as a fashion model, the H-1B visa was Melania Trump's obvious visa choice.
  Ms. Trump, who in 2005 married Donald Trump, the Republican president nominee, has had a career as a fashion model and later became a citizen.
  Today, Ms. Trump's visa record is getting serious scrutiny. Did she
  
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• Qualcomm up in arms over LTE-U testing framework

  04-08-2016 22:05
  
  The announcement this week of a final testing protocol aimed at discovering, once and for all, whether LTE-U technology can coexist peacefully with existing Wi-Fi networks has the LTE-U camp up in arms, as Qualcomm issued a thunderous denunciation of the Wi-Fi Alliance’s framework.
  The plan, said Qualcomm senior vice president for government affairs Dean Brenner, is heavily biased against LTE-U and offers no real opportunity to demonstrate the technology’s ability to work harmonious
  
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• Google education guru: Classroom laptop bans make no sense

  04-08-2016 22:05
  
  Google Chief Education Evangelist Jaime Casap’s oldest daughter scored a full ride to college on a swimming scholarship but she only lasted one semester out of frustration with the lack of technology at the school. She had been used to taking notes on her laptop in high school, for example, but was told she couldn’t bring her device into the college classroom. 
  “I’ve been in education for 10 years and I remember talking to CIOs at universities saying technology is n
  
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• 34% off Go Cubes Chewable Coffee - Deal Alert

  04-08-2016 21:52
  
  Successfully funded on Indiegogo, Go Cubes are a more creative way to get your fix. They're made with real cold-brewed coffee -- the equivalent of 1/2 cup (50mg) in each chewable cube. They're also crafted with precise amounts of other safe, effective supplements that improve the caffeine intake for enhanced focus & clarity, so you can get the most out of your day. They come in 3 flavors, and with this particular deal you get a box of 20 four-packs (80 cubes) in assorted flavors fo
  
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• Surveys suss out Windows 10 enterprise migration timelines

  04-08-2016 21:01
  
  Enterprises are eager to get Windows 10 onto their workers' PCs. Or they're in no rush.
  They see the just-released Anniversary Update as a major milestone. Or they don't.
  And some expect to have a majority of their PCs running Windows 10 in just a year from now. Or they believe it'll take twice that long.
  Recent surveys of IT administrators, managers and professionals displayed those opinions, and more, showing little consensus on anything other than the broadest trends that first, corporate IT
  
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• 26% off Tracer360 All-Season Illuminated Reflective LED Visibility Vest - Deal Alert

  04-08-2016 20:50
  
  This innovative Tracer360 visibility vest from averages 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 325 customers (90% rate a perfect 5 stars -- read reviews). It is designed for maximum comfort and visibility year-round while cycling, running, walking, on a motorcycle or any other application where visibility is a concern, particularly at night. It features a full 360 degrees of illumination and 3M reflectivity, designed to catch the attention of the most distracted drivers up to 1/4 mile away. I
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 10 reasons you should use LibreOffice and not Microsoft Word

  04-08-2016 20:46
  
  The Document Foundation just released version 5.2 of its fully open source office suite LibreOffice. This release brings many new features and UI improvements. When I got the press release, I started updating LibreOffice on my MacBook. But here's the thing: I'm also a user of Microsoft Word.
  That made me pause and consider why I use LibreOffice when I am forking over $99 a year to Microsoft. The flash of introspection surprised me. I'm an unabashed open source and Linux fan, but I am kind of ag
  
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• Facebook battles to banish News Feed clickbait

  04-08-2016 20:34
  
  Another day, another change to Facebook’s News Feed.
  The social network’s crusade against clickbait, the highly technical term for garbage articles with misleading headlines, continues apace with an algorithmic tweak that downgrades articles with headlines like, “The Dog Barked At The Deliveryman And His Reaction Was Priceless.”
  That means you’ll see fewer stories like that in your News Feed.
  But hasn’t Facebok promised to banish clickbait before? Yes. In a 2
  
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• Stand-alone VR headset prices could drop with new Allwinner chip

  04-08-2016 19:08
  
  Most virtual reality headsets need to be tethered to PCs or smartphones; few are self-contained. A new VR chipset from Allwinner could change that, and also drive down headset prices.Allwinner's H8VR chipset could free VR headsets from being attached to smartphones or PCs. The H8VR can fit in plastic or cardboard VR headset, and it has a CPU, 4K video processing capabilities, memory and storage.The H8VR is targeted at low-cost VR headsets. Allwinner's chips are already being used in low-cos
  
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• 22% off Logitech C930e Business-Grade HD 1080p Webcam - Deal Alert

  04-08-2016 18:41
  
  The C930e webcam from Logitech is business-grade, making a professional impression with full 1080p HD video at a smooth 30 frames per second. It's the first with H.264 UVC 1.5 encoding, which processes video on-camera and takes the burden off your PC. The C930e features full pan, tilt and 4X digital zoom capability. It has a wide 90-degree extended view, making it ideal for meeting rooms, whiteboard presentations, product demos, and more. Smooth autofocus keeps your video image razor s
  
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• A cynic’s take on Apple’s diversity numbers

  04-08-2016 17:40
  
  Apple yesterday released updated diversity statistics that show how the company's faring against its commitment to increase diversity and inclusion. As a cynic, I'll grudgingly admit that the company's making slow and steady progress; over the past three years, global new hires of female employees rose from 31 percent in 2014 to 35 percent in 2015 and 37 percent this year, according to Apple. But there's still a long way to go.
  Among underrepresented minorities -- which Apple calls URMs and def
  
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• Black Hat: How to make and deploy malicious USB keys

  04-08-2016 17:17
  
  USB keys were famously used as part of the Stuxnet attack on the Iranian nuclear program and for good reason: it’s got a high rate of effectiveness, according to a researcher at Black Hat 2016.
  Of 297 keys spread around the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign 45% were not only plugged into victims’ computers but the victims then clicked on links in files that connected them to more malware, says Elie Burstzein, a Google researcher who presented the results.
  +More on Network Worl
  
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• 8 tips to get more bang for your big data convergence bucks

  04-08-2016 16:51
  
  How technology convergence can help CIOs do more with lessImage by ThinkstockCIOs and other IT decision-makers are used to having to do more with less. In the world of big data, they may be able to achieve orders-of-magnitude cost savings and productivity gains due to the convergence of development, IT ops and business intelligence (BI) strategy, exploiting advancements in open source software, distributed computing, cloud economics and microservices development.To read this article in full or t
  
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• Will Supreme Court settle network neutrality issue?

  04-08-2016 15:54
  
  Net neutrality foes work to get the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in and settle the matter of network neutrality, perhaps the most contentious issue in technology policy over the last decade.[ Related: U.S. appeals court upholds net neutrality rules, but fight is not over ]It is certainly possible, because opponents of the policy advanced by the Federal Communications Commission aren't conceding the fight after their recent legal setback.Last week, U.S. Telecom, CTIA and other trade organizations
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to keep your project in a state of happiness

  04-08-2016 15:45
  
  When organizations initiate a project, the level of enthusiasm is at an all time high, as it should be. All noses point in the right direction and people are ready to make things happen. They are ready for the fireworks to rumble. However, a few weeks into the project the first cracks start to appear. And some of those cracks are hard to repair. Why does this happen and what can be done about it?There can be many triggers that cause the happy state to change and sometimes change rapidly. Some of
  
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• Getting hackers to notice you

  04-08-2016 15:45
  
  Stop right thereAttendees mill about the Black Hat 2016 trade show floor seeking tools they need to do their work. See how vendors make every effort to have them stop by.BeerAlways a favorite, Kaspersky doles out cases of it during the opening conference reception.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• How millennials are shaping the future of work

  04-08-2016 15:39
  
  Technology is moving the workplace along at lightning speed and not all businesses are ready to catch up. But that modernization is key to the future of work, according to a recent study commissioned by Dell and Intel.
  Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) conducted 3,801 online interviews earlier this year, speaking with individuals working in nine different markets, including education, government, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media, and entertainment and retail. They focused on the futu
  
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• Tinder swipes too much personal information, says EU lawmaker

  04-08-2016 15:34
  
  Marc Tarabella wants to swipe left on Tinder's privacy policy.The company's terms of use breach European Union privacy laws, according to Tarabella, a member of the European Parliament.Tarabella particularly dislikes the way the company gives itself the right to swipe the personal information and photos of its users, and to continue using it even if they deactivate their accounts.It's not just Tinder: Tarabella is also unhappy about how much personal information Runkeeper keeps about runners' mo
  
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• The 15 best cities for information security pay

  04-08-2016 15:22
  
  (Insider Story)
  
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• Black Hat: We need agency focused on fixing internet’s problems

  04-08-2016 15:01
  
  The country needs a federal agency akin to the National Institutes of Health in order to fix the problems with the internet, keynoter Dan Kaminsky yesterday told a record crowd of more than 6,400 at Black Hat 2016.
  Private companies are dealing with the security problems they face without sharing the solutions or pushing for the underlying engineering changes that are needed to make the internet more secure, says Kaminsky, who famously discovered a serious vulnerability in DNS, which underpins
  
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• Closing the wage gap, one state at a time

  04-08-2016 14:01
  
  My first job out of college was as an editorial assistant for a large, international education, technology and B2B publishing house in New York. I was offered the job at an annual salary of $26,850. As an English literature major who graduated into a turbulent, uncertain employment market in the late 1990s, I was so thrilled to be offered a job in my field that it never occurred to me to try negotiating for better pay. Looking back now, I wonder exactly how much that decision has cost me over th
  
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• What's next for LinkedIn?

  04-08-2016 14:00
  
  LinkedIn shot for the moon with its first broadcast TV commercial in March, but the company quickly careened back earth when Microsoft scooped it up for $26.2 billion in June. The 14-year-old company is financially healthy, but the acquisition suggests LinkedIn may have hit a ceiling. Are the company's best days behind it?
  The social network for professionals is diverse, with business units that range from publishing and educational training to sales-lead generation. But LinkedIn is still prima
  
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• Top 6 SEO ranking factors of 2016

  04-08-2016 14:00
  
  Are links on other websites that point to your site an important Google-search ranking factor?The answer used to be blatantly obvious, and for some, it still is. Google, however, made major changes to its search engine algorithm during the past few years. The company also changed the way it displays search results. Then there are mobile search results, which can be different from desktop results, the possible impact (or not) of social media shares, the emergence of Google's RankBrain artificial
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Does Apple support gay gun rights?

  04-08-2016 14:00
  In yesterday’s post I covered how Apple jumped the shark by removing the handgun emoji. That got me thinking about how Apple has been supportive of gay rights, but has been silent on gay gun rights.As a gay guy I carry a firearm with me for personal protection. My preferred firearm is a Smith and Wesson M&P Compact in 9mm, with a Crimson Trace laser grip. The M&P Compact has been a great tool for me, and I feel much safer with it than without it.To read this article in full or to l
  
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• 57% off Executive Office Solutions Portable Adjustable Laptop Desk/Stand/Table - Deal Alert

  04-08-2016 13:50
  
  The Executive Office Solutions Portable Adjustable Laptop Desk/Stand/Table is designed to allow you to set up an office anywhere! It is easy to carry, with a light weight aluminum frame. This device makes a perfect desk for your laptop.  The adjustable legs allow you to rotate 360 degrees and lock it in place at various angles. This desk is also vented and connects to your computer via the  included USB cord to power two quiet CPU cooling fans.To read this article in full or to l
  
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• Ict on demand: transformatie zonder weerga

  04-08-2016 13:18
  Van besparingen op servers en personeel tot onbegrensde rekenkracht: cloud computing en de daaraan gekoppelde opkomst van ‘ict als dienst’ bieden – zeker voor kleinere organisaties – tal van voordelen.Tegelijkertijd roept deze vergaande centralisatie van ict allerlei vragen van technische,... lees meer
  
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• Internet of things: Early adopters share 4 key takeaways

  04-08-2016 12:30
  
  ARI Fleet Management manages 1.2 million things with wheels across North America and Europe, from telephone company trucks to corporate vehicles to railroad maintenance trucks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• What’s in a security score?

  04-08-2016 12:11
  
  Fair Isaac Corp., the company that issues credit scores for individuals, was tired of other analytics companies developing security scoring tools for businesses and then proclaiming themselves “the FICO of security scores.”
  So in May, FICO upped its own scoring game. It acquired cybersecurity firm QuadMetrics to create its own brand of enterprise security scores for enterprises. The new scoring tool, available in August, uses predictive analytics and security risk assessment tools t
  
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• Microsoft cranks up encryption in .Net Framework

  04-08-2016 12:00
  
  Microsoft has released .Net Framework 4.6.2, tightening security in multiple areas, including the BCL (Base Class Library). The new version also makes improvements to the SQL client, Windows Communication Foundation, the CLR (Common Language Runtime), and the ASP.Net web framework.
  The security focus in the BCL impacts PKI capabilities, and X.509 certificates now support the FIPS 186-3 digital signature algorithm. "This support enables X.509 certificates with keys that exceed 1024-bit," Microso
  
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• Do developers really care about security?

  04-08-2016 12:00
  
  Over the years, developers have been dogged by a reputation for placing security as an afterthought. Get a slick, full-featured experience up and running fast, and figure out how to deal with whatever holes crop up once QA gets its hands on the code.
  Organizations may have had a significant hand in fostering developers' laissez-faire attitude toward security by siloing teams in separate domains and giving development, QA, ops, and security operations isolated opportunities to levy their experti
  
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• Comcast proposes cheaper broadband, in exchange for your privacy

  04-08-2016 12:00
  
  Comcast has asked the Federal Communications Commission that it be allowed to offer discounted broadband in exchange for using more user data—and it's not even the first ISP to do it.
  A year ago, AT&T began offering  AT&T GigaPower broadband in Kansas City, Mo., with prices beginning at $70 per month. But there was a catch: If a customer wanted AT&T to “ignore” their online activities, it would cost almost $30 more per month. Now Comcast wants a piece of
  
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• Drones have potential for industrial sabotage

  04-08-2016 05:29
  
  Industrial facilities should be on guard against drones. Even off-the-shelf versions of the unmanned aircraft could be used to disrupt sensitive systems.
  On Wednesday, Jeff Melrose, a presenter at Black Hat 2016, showed how consumer drones could do more than just conduct aerial spying. The flying machines can also carry a transmitter to hack into a wireless keyboard or interfere with industrial controls, he said.
  It’s not enough to place a fence around a building to keep intruders out, ac
  
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• Banner Health alerts 3.7M potential victims of hack of its computers

  04-08-2016 04:57
  Banner Health, a provider of hospital services, has notified by mail 3.7 million people -- including patients, health plan members, healthcare providers and customers at its food and beverage outlets -- that their payment card and health plan data, among other information, may have been compromised.
  The provider said Wednesday that it discovered on July 7 that cyberattackers may have gained access to computers that process payment card data at the food and beverage outlets at some of its locati
  
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