IT Executive news

• The Dropbox data breach is a warning to update passwords

  31-08-2016 23:39
  
  Recent data breaches underline the need for Internet users to regularly update the passwords for all their Internet accounts.On Wednesday, Spotify reset the passwords of an unspecified number of users, just a day after data on 68 million accounts from Dropbox began reaching the Internet.In a notice to users, Spotify said their credentials may have been compromised in a leak involving another service, if they used the same password for both.“Spotify has not experienced a security breach and
  
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• Who is watching after your agile money? Part III

  31-08-2016 23:35
  
  Part III: A recommendation on how to manage agile investments
  Going agile at scale is a complex undertaking for enterprises with a rich tradition of running waterfall programs. And arguably the journey is no less significant in size and scope than the transformation of the global automotive companies in the ’80s with the introduction of lean manufacturing, the inspiration behind agile development.
  When traditional mass-producers like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler decided to replace th
  
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• 24% off Zackees LED Turn Signal Bike lights

  31-08-2016 23:05
  
  The use of turn signals drastically increases safety of cars. Now cycling can have that same benefit with these turn signal gloves from Zackees. These machine washable gloves are made from premium materials -- tough, flexible leather and breathable spandex. The LED lights are powerful and bright, running on rechargeable coin batteries that will last for several weeks of moderate daily use before needing a charge. Ambient light sensors increase brightness 4x during the day. These gloves aver
  
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• Google lets Android users search in their apps

  31-08-2016 20:31
  
  Don’t you hate it when you can’t find that piece of info you know is buried in one of your apps?
  If you’re an Android user, Google is going to help you with that.
  The company announced Wednesday the launch of Apps, a new search mode designed to enable users to search for information in the apps on their Android phones.
  “We use apps to call friends, send messages or listen to music. But sometimes, it’s hard to find exactly what you’re looking for,” Timo
  
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• Windows 10's new beta lets computers download updates from other PCs

  31-08-2016 20:30
  Microsoft is trying to make it faster for people to download Windows updates by using the vast network of PCs around the world to deliver them. A new beta build of Windows 10 released on Wednesday enables Delivery Optimization by default, which lets PCs download update bits from other computers connected to the internet. Those bits can be delivered alongside those brought in from Microsoft's servers, to help speed up the process of downloading updates, especially on less reliable netwo
  
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• Lenovo will ditch hard keyboards in planned Chromebook and 2-in-1s

  31-08-2016 20:30
  
  Lenovo's new Yoga Book will be a sleek folding laptop with stunning secrets inside.Opening up the device reveals a big surprise: It has no hard keyboard. The keyboard area instead has a versatile touch panel that turns into a smartphone-like virtual keyboard, a draw pad, or a digital notepad.The new touch input panel, which has a back-lit virtual keyboard, is a big deal for Lenovo. It will be featured in a new line of 2-and-1s and laptops and is Lenovo's ambitious attempt to break a decades-old
  
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• Lenovo adds Google Daydream products to its roadmap

  31-08-2016 20:30
  
  Lenovo is joining Google's fledgling effort to bring virtual reality to the masses with new devices planned for the Daydream hardware and software platform.Google's Daydream brings virtual reality to users via mobile devices. Users can fit Daydream-compatible Android smartphones in VR headsets to roam 3D worlds, interact with friends, and view streaming movies."We have some Daydream products on the roadmap," Jeff Meredith, general manager and vice president of Lenovo’s Android and Chrome C
  
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• 10 under-the-radar software products users love

  31-08-2016 20:27
  
  Top mid-market software productsG2 Crowd, an online platform hosting more than 100,000 user reviews, has shared its list of top mid-market software products as rated by users of such tools based on how much they like the software and would recommend it to others. While you might be familiar with some of the products on this list, you won’t find much in the way from the highest profile software companies, such as Microsoft and Salesforce.com. “Like the majority of smaller organization
  
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• Instagram finally lets you zoom in on photos and videos

  31-08-2016 20:22
  
  The two-finger zoom gesture is old hat by now—we’ve been doing it for almost 10 years, after all. And starting Wednesday, it finally works in the one app that needed it the most, the photo-centric social network everyone’s hopelessly addicted to: Instagram.
   
  Starting today, you can pinch to zoom on photos and videos in feed, on profiles and on Explore. Dive into an adorable puppy’s smile or into every detail of your friend’s new shirt. Over the past six month
  
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• A new OpenSUSE Linux is coming to town, and it's all about stability

  31-08-2016 19:51
  
  Linux users come in many shapes and sizes, but those in the business world typically steer clear of the bleeding edge. That's why the OpenSUSE project recently switched to a two-pronged development approach, with one version focused on constant updates and another on enterprise-grade stability. On Wednesday, the latter took a big step forward.The first beta version of OpenSUSE Leap 42.2 is now available, giving enterprises and other stability-minded users the chance to check it out and get a tas
  
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• Galaxy Note7 business review: A fabulous phone with few flaws

  31-08-2016 19:43
  
  Earlier this month, Samsung unveiled the Note7, the latest addition to its Galaxy smartphone lineup. The Note7 builds on all the best features of the previous generation Note5 phablet and includes many of the new Galaxy S7's (GS7) top capabilities. After spending three weeks with the Note7, and using it every day alongside my iPhone 6s Plus, it's clear the Note is not only the best business smartphone Samsung has made, it's the best all-around phone the company has released. Ever. In many w
  
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• Asus may be planning Microsoft HoloLens competitor in its VR push

  31-08-2016 19:37
  
  Virtual reality headsets are considered the hot new PC devices, and Asus is planning to stake a claim of its own. Asus on Wednesday said it intends to release VR headsets. VR headsets can be versatile 3D PCs that make 2D laptops and desktops look pale in comparison, Asus said at the IFA trade show in Berlin."Asus has a few VR options coming up really soon. Once that happens, you will be free from devices and immersed in 360 degrees of pure entertainment that will blow you away," said J
  
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• Microsoft adds options to Office testing program

  31-08-2016 19:18
  
  Microsoft yesterday added cadence choices for beta testers in its Office Insider preview program, mimicking a practice it has long used for Windows 10.
  Previously, only Mac users of Office 2016 were able to pick between "slow" and "fast" preview release tempos. Now, the same options are available to customers running Office on Windows and Windows Mobile. Microsoft added that the two-track setting is "coming soon" to Android and iOS customers.
  "The Fast level provides even earlier builds of Offi
  
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• The next version of Fedora picks up Rust

  31-08-2016 19:13
  
  You know a language has arrived when its toolchain ships as a standard component with operating systems.
  Rust, Mozilla's language for safe and speedy systems level programming, has landed a prime-time slot in the next edition of Fedora Linux, according to the change set for the first public alpha for Fedora 25.[ InfoWorld celebrates Linux at 25: A pictorial history. | How Linux changed the world. | Linus Torvalds on the evolution and future of Linux. | Containers and unikernels prove less is mo
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Are Americans too dumb to be good developers?

  31-08-2016 19:00
  
  Are Americans too dumb to be good developers? Many people feel the opposite — that we might be smarter than anyone else on the planet! But what does it mean to be a "good" developer? Does it mean having raw brainpower and IQ? Or something else?An American-run software outsourcing company in China used to brag that it only hired Chinese developers with IQs greater than 140. But it had to lower the bar to an IQ of 120 when hiring Americans. On one hand, that feels like a dig at Americans. On
  
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• Facebook's new algorithm will help save VR movies from shaky-cam

  31-08-2016 19:00
  
  Facebook wants to make sure that any VR home movies shared on its social network won't make people puke. That's why the company is building a new video stabilization algorithm that will help smooth out all of the bumps and shakes that come from wielding a 360-degree camera. 
  The new algorithm is designed for stabilizing 360-degree videos in particular, something that Facebook says is important for addressing the growing amount of spherical footage. Previous stabilization technology was des
  
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• HPE CIO tackles tough 'spin merge' with CSC

  31-08-2016 18:54
  
  It’s become fashionable to call CIOs chief integration officers because they integrate acquired assets, blend on-premises infrastructure and cloud technology, and collaborate with several stakeholders on digital services.HPE Scott Spradley, CIO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.You can call Scott Spradley, CIO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a chief separation officer. Spradley is racing to complete his second major asset split within 12 months, extracting HPE's $20 billion enterprise services
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: A ride share innovation that could save Uber and Lyft

  31-08-2016 18:30
  
  At the time of writing this blog, the exact phrase “transportation as a subscription” was found only three times on the internet. It was used once accidentally. The other two uses occurred within the last three months.Let's collectively rally for Uber and Lyft to make a change that can save them both from the onslaught of competition in the ride share marketplace. We can call this product innovation “transportation as a subscription” — or TaaSu.We are reaching a sat
  
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• Asus embraces the round face trend in smartwatches with the ZenWatch 3

  31-08-2016 18:23
  
  Asus showed off a new smartwatch Wednesday that offers an elegant look and embraces the round design that’s become the norm in the world of Android Wear.
  A major talking point for the ZenWatch 3 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor, a new processor aimed specifically at optimizing performance and battery life in wearables like this. This is the first round Android Wear watch from Asus, and it comes in three different configurations: gunmetal, silver, and rose gold. The ZenW
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: IoT and multi-cloud take center stage at upcoming Cloud Foundry Summit

  31-08-2016 18:05
  
  Cloud Foundry Foundation, a collaborative project of the Linux Foundation, is organizing the next Cloud Foundry Summit in Frankfurt (Germany), between September 26 - 28, 2016. 
  In addition to regular sessions, the summit will also host three pre-conference training sessions: Cloud Foundry for Beginners, microservices on Cloud Foundry and operating a platform. 
  The Cloud Foundry Foundation oversees the development of Cloud Foundry, the open source cloud computing platform as a service
  
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• Hands-on: Samsung's Gear S3 smartwatch is big, bold, and ready to phone home

  31-08-2016 18:00
  
  Remember when Samsung released no fewer than seven wrist-worn wearables during the course of a year? It’s been two years since that smartwatch binge, and we thought that the mobile powerhouse had gotten its smartwatch ambitions under control. Well, apparently not. On Wednesday, Samsung revealed not one, but two versions of the Gear S3 smartwatch—and just like that, the wearables arms race is back.
  The two new Tizen OS-based watches will compete for elbow room with the Gear S2 smartw
  
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• Apple's new 2TB iCloud storage tier will give your iPhone tons of space

  31-08-2016 17:30
  Just one week before Apple is expected to show off the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the company launched a 2TB iCloud storage tier for $20 a month.
  That’s a significant amount of space, but Apple is reportedly gearing up to add a 256GB option to its upcoming iPhone lineup. As 9to5Mac noted, Apple typically offers iCloud storage plans that are eight times the size of the iPhone’s internal storage options. The iPhone 6s tops out at 128GB, and the previous iCloud storage max was 1TB.
  Do
  
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• 14 hot network jobs, skills for 2017

  31-08-2016 17:25
  
  Recruiting and staffing specialist Robert Half Technology released its annual guide to U.S. tech salaries, which finds IT workers can expect slightly bigger pay bumps than many other professionals are getting.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• BrandPost: SQL 2005 End of Life

  31-08-2016 17:21
  With the end of SQL Server support back in April, it’s time to face the facts: no more feature updates, no more application fixes, and no more security patches or anything else related to SQL Server 2005. It’s over. Kaput. After more than two months now, there’s simply no way more avoiding it—it’s time to upgrade and we can help.Everybody struggles with SQL, but the good news is there is a way to get you where you need to be. Get the expertise you need to succeed.F
  
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• BrandPost: Do More with a Surface Device

  31-08-2016 17:15
  Ever since the release of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book last fall, these two products continue to change and excite the mobility and device landscape. New use cases continue to be uncovered in verticals such as healthcare, retail, education, manufacturing, and financial services. The advanced technology and world-class hardware design of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book make working across verticals a seamless, productive experience. These two business-ready devices have the latest Intel® Cor
  
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• 56% off Vansky Bias Lighting for HDTV USB LED Multi Color Strip Accent Lighting - Deal Alert

  31-08-2016 17:08
  
  This bias lighting strip, currently discounted by 54% on Amazon from $49.99 down to just $21.99, reduces eye-strain caused by differences in picture brightness from scene to scene in movies, shows and games, by adding a subtle backlight to your monitor or TV.  The LED lights can be changed with up to 20 color selections customizing and setting the mood of your workspace. The strip is easy to install and can be cut to size and plugs directly in the USB port of the TV or monitor.  Just P
  
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• Acer's new Chromebook is designed to welcome Android apps

  31-08-2016 16:33
  
  Acer's versatile Chromebook R 13 is one good device to run Android apps because it can function as a laptop or tablet.The 2-in-1 has a rotating 13-inch full HD screen that gives it dual functionality. The touchscreen gives it a mobile-like interface to run Android apps.The device has Chrome OS, but Google is making it possible to run Android apps from Google Play store on newer Chromebooks. Acer will add Android app support to the new Chromebook, the company said.Android app support adds to
  
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• BrandPost: The DX Economy: Transform or Perish

  31-08-2016 16:29
  Most of today’s IT and business conversations include references to big data, analytics, mobility, Internet of Things, social media, security, and cloud—and while they all play increasingly critical roles in the evolution of business, the bottom line is all about going digital. Digital transformation, what IDC calls DX, will determine the winners and losers. It’s a case of transform or perish—and your infrastructure, centered on your network, will be the foundation on wh
  
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• Acer's new Spin laptops double as tablets and start at $250

  31-08-2016 15:51
  
  Acer is getting serious about laptops with 360-degree hinges.
  Ahead of the annual IFA conference in Berlin, the company announced the new Acer Spin line as part of its fall lineup. The Spin line features four different laptops packing 360-degree hinges, with prices starting at $250. And if Windows isn’t your thing, Acer also unveiled a convertible Chromebook with the largest display yet for a Chrome OS device with a 360-degree hinge—though that's not technically part of the Spin bra
  
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• Irritated iPhone 6 users sue Apple over 'touch disease' defect

  31-08-2016 15:24
  
  Dozens of angry iPhone 6 users are posting complaints on Apple forums, claiming their expensive smartphones have succumbed to "touch disease," a flaw that makes the screens unresponsive and the devices useless. The iPhone owners are particularly upset because Apple will not fix or replace phones that are no longer under warranty without charging additional fees.The complaints started to appear more than a year ago, but they went mostly unnoticed until iFixit, a site that "tears down" d
  
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• 16% off Logitech Bluetooth Audio Adapter for Bluetooth Streaming - Deal Alert

  31-08-2016 15:15
  
  The Logitech Bluetooth Audio Adapter is all you need to turn your favorite speakers into a wireless sound system for your smartphone and tablet.  It connects to any powered speakers with a standard plug-and-play 3.5 mm or RCA connection—PC speakers, your home stereo system, even your A/V receiver. Simply plug your speakers or stereo system into this small and unobtrusive Bluetooth Audio Adapter, press the pairing button, and you’re ready to stream. Relax in your favori
  
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• SAP builds next-gen data warehouse for the cloud

  31-08-2016 15:10
  
  With an eye on the need for more scalable, real-time analytics, SAP today unveiled SAP BW/4HANA, its next-generation data warehouse product for the real-time digital enterprise.BW/4HANA will support on-premises deployments, but will also be available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC), says Neil McGovern, senior director, Product Marketing, SAP Data Warehousing."We're trying to give our customers some options," he says. "AWS is infrastructure as a service (IaaS) &md
  
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• Opening up Z-Wave code may help to make IoT hum

  31-08-2016 15:00
  
  Home IoT is still reaching for mainstream use. The main backer of Z-Wave, a widely used in-home networking standard, just did something that might help take it there.On Wednesday, chip vendor Sigma Designs made the interoperability layer of Z-Wave available free to the public. This is the code that allows all Z-Wave products to work together. Now anyone can download the code, develop software with it, and give that code to others.Like others in the fledgling IoT business, Z-Wave's backers want t
  
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• Acer is betting your pets need gadgets too

  31-08-2016 14:50
  
  In the battle to sell more stuff to consumers, Acer has a new target: your pets.The company will soon begin selling a high-tech pet monitor that can serve live video of a dog or cat to its owner via a smartphone or tablet app. Later, the camera will be supplemented with additional gadgets including a treat dispenser and cat teaser.The products are Acer's first step into the "petware" market. Its interest was sparked by two recent interns at the Taiwan company, who suggested looking at the burgeo
  
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• Bang & Olufsen puts a new spin on the portable Bluetooth speaker

  31-08-2016 14:30
  
  Audiophiles may roll their eyes at the very idea of portable Bluetooth speakers, but high-design hi-fi firm Bang & Olufsen just unveiled two of them in Berlin.The BeoSound 1 and 2 are certainly not pocket-sized and at €1295 (US$1495) and €1695 (US$1895) respectively they won't fit many pocketbooks either, but then that's never been the company's goal.The smaller of the two speakers, the BeoSound 1 is 327 millimeters high and weighs 3.5 kilograms. It's a sturdy truncated cone of smo
  
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• Meet the newest member of SAP's Hana family: a data warehouse

  31-08-2016 14:00
  SAP has already placed big bets on Hana, and now it's adding more with a new data warehouse tailored specifically for the in-memory computing platform.Launched on Wednesday, SAP BW/4Hana promises to minimize data movement and duplication by enabling data to be analyzed wherever it resides, whether within or outside the enterprise. It can also integrate live streaming and time-series sensor data collected from internet of things (IoT) environments. Back in 2014, SAP added Hana support to its
  
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• Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 will power Google Daydream phones

  31-08-2016 13:30
  
  The first smartphones to use Google's Daydream virtual reality platform are coming later this year, and many could have Qualcomm's latest processor, the Snapdragon 821.
  On Tuesday, Qualcomm shared more details about the new flagship processor, which is the company's fastest to date. It has a 10 percent faster CPU and 5 percent faster graphics processor than the Snapdragon 820, which is in top smartphones like LG's G5 and Samsung's Galaxy S7.
  Mobile chip makers often tweak processor designs to i
  
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• Crooks are selling a skimmer that works on all chip card readers

  31-08-2016 13:15
  
  Think that your new EMV-compliant chip-reading point of sale terminal will keep crooks from stealing your customer credit card info?
  Think again.
  Researchers have spotted a website setting EMV skimmers -- at www.emvskimmer.com, if it hasn't already been taken down -- that claims to sell "the most advanced EMV chip data collector in the world."
  And it's a scary piece of equipment.
  According to the seller, it's powered by the point of sale terminal, and can hold information on up to 5,000 credit
  
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• How to keep viral memes from spreading malware in your enterprise

  31-08-2016 12:10
  
  Perhaps the worst news about Pokemon Go is how attackers are using it to spread malware. This is not the first time bad-guy hackers have leveraged the popularity of games to spread malicious software. Viral memes spread malware, too, via drive-by attacks as people visit malicious sites that draw them by hosting or linking to the internet-based cultural sensation.
  Users assume that games and meme sites have integrity. This makes it easy for the hackers to push compromising software onto consumer
  
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• Een op de vijf managers neemt digitaal voortouw

  31-08-2016 12:08
  Slechts een op de vijf leidinggevenden toont digitaal leiderschap en baseert zich op data bij beslissingen en opereert op transparante wijze. Een groot deel van de beslissers bij organisaties is dus niet klaar voor het digitale tijdperk en laat daardoor allerlei kansen lopen. Daarop duidt onderzoek in opdracht van... lees meer
  
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• Fujitsu now making DRAM killer with 1,000x performance boost

  31-08-2016 12:02
  
  Fujistu Semiconductor Ltd. has become the first manufacturer to announce it is mass producing a new RAM that boasts 1,000 times the performance of DRAM but stores data like NAND flash memory.
  The new non-volatile memory known as Nano-RAM (NRAM) was first announced last year and is based on carbon nanotube technology.
  Fujitsu Semiconductor plans to develop a custom embedded storage-class memory module using the DDR4 interface by the end of 2018, with the goal of expanding the product line-up int
  
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• TypeScript 2.0 borrows from Rust and Swift

  31-08-2016 12:00
  
  With the TypeScript 2.0 release candidate, Microsoft's typed superset of JavaScript mimics a tagged unions type capability featured in languages like Rust and Swift. Through this feature, developers can cut down on writing boilerplate code.
  Daniel Rosenwasser, Microsoft program manager for TypeScript, used an example in which two types, "Circle" and "Square," have a union type, "Shape." In TypeScript 1.8, writing a function to get the area of Shape required a type assertions for each type, wher
  
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• Review: SentinelOne blocks and dissects threats

  31-08-2016 12:00
  
  SentinelOne EPP brings good malware detection, excellent forensics, and flexible remediation to business networks(Insider Story)
  
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• Lessons from high-profile IT failures

  31-08-2016 12:00
  
  It has not been a good few months for the health and consistency of airline information technology. Two huge outages within a couple of weeks of each other -- caused by simple component failures -- resulted in massive passenger disruptions and cost two U.S. airlines millions of dollars in lost revenue and customer compensation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 5 ways to lighten your helpdesk's workload

  31-08-2016 11:46
  
  Ways to lighten your helpdesk's workloadImage by ThinkstockIT help desk tickets can quickly get repetitive with employees needing assistance with the same list of problems day in and day out. But as businesses grow more reliant on technology, the IT department has become a major player in modern business, which means you might need to consider how much time is wasted on troubleshooting these minor IT gripes."It is critical for IT departments to have the bandwidth to focus on expanding company ca
  
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• Windows 10 Mobile review: Small fixes show this plucky phone OS won’t give up

  31-08-2016 10:38
  
  Windows 10 Mobile's Anniversary Update is a leap of faith for a lonely phone OS, but a new Wallet app and wireless Continuum options prove Microsoft isn't ready to give up.
  
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• Capgemini komt met nieuwe managed SOC-services

  31-08-2016 10:19
  Samen met IBM Security heeft Capgemini een nieuwe generatie managed security operations centers (SOC's) opgezet. De pay-as-you-go service maakt investeringen in tijd, geld en middelen voor cybersecurity en scholing overbodig.
   
  “Het is op dit moment een uitdaging voor bedrijven om mensen met de juiste... lees meer
  
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• 4 tips to help build your professional brand

  31-08-2016 10:08
  
  In today's digital world, building your personal brand isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. And if you don't craft your personal brand by design, it'll be constructed by default.
  "With digital media, the 24/7/365, hyper-connected social media-enabled lifestyle nowadays, having a polished, professional personal brand is absolutely a necessity, not just for employees and job-seekers, but for C-suite executives," says Karen Tiber Leland, founder and president of Sterling Marketing Group and author of
  
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• Nieuwe opleiding tot growth hacking

  31-08-2016 09:41
  Net afgestudeerde marketers, developers, designers en data-analisten kunnen in een half jaar 'growth hacker' worden bij de Growth Hackers Society, die trainingen verzorgt. Studenten zetten een daadwerkelijk growth hacking-project op bij een bedrijf. Volgens de organisatie ligt zo een baan bijj toekomstige... lees meer
  
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• Dropbox changed passwords after 68M account records were compromised

  31-08-2016 08:45
  
  Dropbox’s move last week to ask users who had signed up before mid-2012 to change their account passwords followed the discovery of a large dump of email addresses and passwords related to these accounts.
  The online storage company confirmed late Tuesday reports that 68 million user email addresses and hashed and salted passwords from an incident in 2012 had been compromised.
  Dropbox said that the password reset the company completed last week covered all of the affected users so that the
  
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