IT Executive news

• As self-driving cars hit Pittsburgh's roads, Boston wants to be next

  14-09-2016 22:23
  
  The ride-hailing service Uber today announced that a small fleet of self-driving cars is  now serving customers in Pittsburgh along with its more typical fleet of privately-owned vehicles and their drivers.
  At the same time, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced he also wants on-street testing of self-driving cars in Beantown.
  Uber said it is inviting "our most loyal Pittsburgh customers to experience the future first.
  "If a Self-Driving Uber is available, we'll send it along with a safe
  
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• The guppies will get you

  14-09-2016 22:10
  
  Have you ever put your hand into a fish tank filled with guppies? They nibble on your fingers, but they are so small that their bites don’t hurt. Leave your hand in the tank long enough for your skin to get soft, though, and the guppies can begin to inflict damage.Naturally, this leads me to an analogy with IT. In it, the guppies are small inefficiencies, and the hand is the IT organization itself. When an IT organization doesn’t correct the large number of small inefficiencies that
  
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• A.I. and robotics could replace 6% of U.S. jobs by 2021

  14-09-2016 22:04
  
  In just five years, intelligent systems and robots may have taken up to 6% of U.S. jobs, according to Forrester Research in a report released this week.
  As artificial intelligence (A.I.) advances to better understand human behavior and make decisions on its own in complicated situations, it will enable smart software and robots to take on increasingly challenging jobs.
  That means robotics should be able to take over some jobs traditionally held by humans by 2021.
  For instance, Forrester predict
  
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• BrandPost: For the New CIO: Tackling the Tough Challenges on the Digital Business Journey

  14-09-2016 22:01
  
  The role of a new CIO is no walk in the park. The digital revolution is in full swing with no signs of slowing down, and no organization is immune from the impact of disruption, be it technologies, products, services or business models. As a result, the pressure is on for IT leaders — smoothly running cost-effective IT development and operations shops is not enough. The entire value proposition of IT, in fact, has seen a seismic shift from a focus on productivity and operational effic
  
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• Early Apple Watch Series 2 reviews praise the GPS and brighter screen

  14-09-2016 21:40
  
  The earliest reviews of the Apple Watch Series 2 went live on Wednesday. Series 2 is currently in the preorder phase, and launches in the first round of countries on Friday, September 16. Every reviewer agrees the Apple Watch experience has improved, largely due to watchOS 3. Apple is emphasizing the Apple Watch as a fitness device, where it gets competition from simpler trackers like the Fitbit line, as well as high-end sports watches like Garmin’s.To read this article in full or to leav
  
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• This new programming language promises a 4X speed boost on big data

  14-09-2016 21:24
  
  Memory management can be challenge enough on traditional data sets, but when big data enters the picture, things can slow way, way down. A new programming language announced by MIT this week aims to remedy that problem, and so far it's been found to deliver fourfold speed boosts on common algorithms.The principle of locality is what governs memory management in most computer chips today, meaning that if a program needs a chunk of data stored at some memory location, it's generally assumed to nee
  
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• After an epic iPhone 7 preorder fail, a pleasant surprise

  14-09-2016 21:20
  
  Another iPhone release, another drama filled with suspense, aggravation and — when I least expected it — a pleasant surprise.Like a few other West Coasters, I stayed up until after midnight on Friday, Sept. 9, to snag a new iPhone 7 Plus (128GB, matte black, AT&T). I had Apple.com open on my MacBook Air and the Apple iOS app fired up on both my iPad Pro and iPhone 6s Plus. I was ready for battle.However, Apple's klunky ordering process thwarted my every attempt to reser
  
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• iOS 10 adoption tops last year's 9 uptake rate in first day

  14-09-2016 21:08
  
  Although Apple stumbled yesterday as it issued iOS 10, the new mobile operating system has gained traction to outpace last year's upgrade by the end of its first full day.
  At the 24-hour milestone, iOS 10 accounted for 14.5% of all iOS editions detected by Mixpanel, whose metrics platform is widely used by mobile app developers to track usage and user engagement.
  That was higher than the 12.4% accumulated by iOS 9 last year at the same post-release point, but still significantly lower than the
  
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• Government, carmakers more worried than ever about vehicle cyberattacks

  14-09-2016 20:53
  
  Automakers and legislators appear to be coming together on the need for greater cybersecurity for vehicles that are increasingly connected to the internet and controlled by ever-more sophisticated computer systems and software.
  Volkswagen today announced it will form a cybersecurity company headed by Yuval Diskin, the former head of Israel's security agency. The company, CyMotive Technologies, will be 40% owned by the German automaker and the rest will be controlled by Diskin and two other form
  
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• Windows 10 Redstone: A guide to the builds

  14-09-2016 20:18
  
  Microsoft never sleeps. Even before the Windows 10 Anniversary Update was rolled out, the company began work on the next two major updates to Windows 10, code-named Redstone 2 and Redstone 3. (Redstone 1 was the code name for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.) Redstone 2 will likely be fully ready in the spring of 2017. It's not yet clear when Redstone 3 will be finished.
  If you want to test drive the upcoming updates, you don't have to wait until their final releases. As it did with the Anniv
  
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• $29 for This Premium 4-Course Training on Amazon Web Services- Deal Alert

  14-09-2016 20:13
  
  AWS, or Amazon Web Services, is the premier cloud computing platform that services companies worldwide. Master this in-demand platform, and you’re certain to command a hefty paycheck.Unsure where to start? The AWS Mastery Bundle is a 4-course bundle certain to make you an authority on all things AWS--and turn you into a certified cloud guru.The following courses are included in your bundle:
  AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam Prep - Master all you need to pass the AWS certification exam
  
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• Speed limits are starting to make their way into Google Maps

  14-09-2016 19:57
  
  One of the most frustrating parts of driving somewhere unfamiliar is trying to find out the speed limit. You don’t want to make that discovery after you’ve been issued a ticket for driving too fast.
  Google Maps is here to help. Some users on the Maps Beta are seeing speed limit signs pop up in when driving using both the Android app and with Android Auto.Take the mystery out of how fast you should drive with speed limits inside of Google Maps.To read this article in full or to
  
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• Self-driving Ubers are now arriving in Pittsburgh

  14-09-2016 19:47
  
  Uber has begun offering customers the chance to ride in one of its autonomous car prototypes. The new service has launched in Pittsburgh, where Uber carries out its high-tech research, and is a sign of confidence by the company in its self-driving car technology.The service is initially being offered to Uber's "most loyal" customers in the city as part of the Uber X service, the company said in a blog post that was short on technical details.The Ford Focus cars being used in the trial will
  
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• Law firm CIO: ‘I run more video than CBS’

  14-09-2016 19:47
  
  The challenges as the head of IT for a major international law firm with 700 attorneys, 1,500 total employees and 20 separate offices around the world aren’t exactly small, but Baker Donelson CIO John D. Green is up to the task – even when that task changes a little every day.
  Different parts of Baker Donelson’s sprawling practice have different needs, said Green, who sat down with Network World Tuesday at Riverbed’s Disrupt event in New York. The real estate practice, t
  
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• Windows Desktop apps are now in the Windows Store

  14-09-2016 19:40
  Developers can now distribute their Windows desktop apps to people shopping through Windows 10's app store, with an update from Microsoft Wednesday.It's a move powered by Project Centennial, which lets developers take older Windows apps (known in Microsoft parlance as Win32 apps), port them to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and then sell them on the Windows Store. The first of those apps are rolling out over the coming days, and developers can now submit their Centennial-converted ap
  
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• Brocade’s big new router is all about network size, automation

  14-09-2016 19:38
  
  Brocade this week rolled out a big data center router its says will handle and help manage the massive amounts of traffic expected to cross enterprise networks in the not-to-distant future.
  The Brocade SLX 9850 expands the Brocade data center routing family and supports 15x more total capacity than the current Brocade MLXe box via a 230Tbps non-blocking chassis fabric capacity for 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
  +More on Network World: Brocade CEO says they've built an easy button for
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Building businesses for the subscription generation

  14-09-2016 19:32
  
  You must have heard of the service economy — or, at a minimum, heard of paradigms such as "everything as a service." You can argue that the service economy consists of services (well, what else?) provided either as stand-alone or as add-ons to products.Providing services is not new. GE “servicing” the warranty on my air conditioner is anything but new. Me paying for a dry cleaning service is not new. Even hiring a taxi (wait, an Uber) as a service provider, not new.So in the la
  
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• H-1B bill pulled from House committee vote amid complaints

  14-09-2016 19:32
  
  The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has backpedalled on its plan to take up an increasingly controversial H-1B bill.
  The bill, which was intended to raise salaries of visa workers, faced a sharp debate on the committee, particularly from U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. She said it wouldn't do a "damn thing" to stop outsourcing, even by raising the salary limit.
  Introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Scott Peters (D-Calif.), the "Protect and Grow Am
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Augmenting the project manager

  14-09-2016 19:30
  
  "You can dream, create, design, and build the most beautiful place in the world, but it requires people to make it a reality." – Walt Disney
  The evolution and functional application of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise in many different ways and forms. The technology is going to impact the role of the project manager substantially in the next decade. We are shifting towards an era where intelligent machines work on our behalf rather than work on our command.The enthusiasm for th
  
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• Violin, still pushing flash speeds, looks to the cloud

  14-09-2016 19:22
  
  In flash storage these days, it takes more than speed to win over many enterprises.Violin Memory, an early player in enterprise flash, made strides more than a decade ago with storage arrays that outran spinning-disk systems for applications that needed data fast. Then the giants of the data center got into the game, and enterprises started looking at flash for their primary storage instead of targeted uses.That leaves Violin catching up. It’s added data services like replication and dedup
  
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• Volkswagen is founding a new cybersecurity firm to prevent car hacking

  14-09-2016 19:15
  
  As cars become more computerized, they're also facing a greater risk of being hacked. That’s why Volkswagen is founding a new cyber security company devoted to protecting next-generation vehicles.
  On Wednesday, the automaker said it would partner with a former Israeli intelligence agency director to jointly establish a new company, called Cymotive Technologies.
  It’s unclear how much Volkswagen is investing in the new firm, but security experts have been warning that internet-connect
  
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• Google may have to pay for news snippets under EU copyright reform

  14-09-2016 19:02
  
  A proposed reform of European Union copyright law grants online news publishers additional rights that could lead to the closure of services such as Google News if strictly enforced.Copyright law already provides reporters with protection for the news stories they publish, but in a draft directive published Wednesday the European Commission wants to create an additional, related right giving newspapers more powers to make news aggregators pay for using snippets consisting of, say, the headline a
  
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• Java 9 could be delayed until July 2017

  14-09-2016 18:37
  
  Java 9, the next major version of the enterprise language platform, should be delayed again, a high-ranking Java official at Oracle has advised. Instead of arriving in March 2017, it would come out four months later, in July.
  Emphasizing that more time is needed to develop the complex module system planned for the Java 9 release, Mark Reinhold, chief architect of the Java platform group at Oracle, proposed in a bulletin published on an OpenJDK mailing list that another delay should be effected.
  
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• Tenable brings network visibility into Google Cloud Platform

  14-09-2016 18:09
  
  Tenable Network Security has integrated Tenable SecurityCenter Continuous View with Google Cloud Platform, giving administrators better visibility into what is happening within their cloud infrastructure.
  Cloud-based infrastructure eases IT’s administrative woes and lowers operating costs, but the benefits don’t count for much if there is any doubt about the security of key applications running in the cloud. While system administrators can easily spin up new services and hosts,
  
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• Fears about ICANN transition are overstated, US agency chief says

  14-09-2016 18:08
  
  Concerns that the U.S. government's plan to end its oversight of the internet's domain name coordinating body would lead to new web censorship efforts are unfounded because of the current contract's limited scope, according to a top U.S. administration official.Critics fear that the end of the U.S. government's oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) would embolden other countries to censor the internet. But neither ICANN nor the U.S. governmen
  
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• Banks find big innovation payoff in hackathons

  14-09-2016 17:47
  
  Vishal Srivastava pulled an all-nighter coding one weekend building a mobile application that turned the onerous and sometimes awkward task of settling a restaurant bill into a game. An amusing twist on credit card roulette, the software includes monsters that eat their way around the screen before settling on the photo of the victim who must pay the tab.The app, Undutchly, won the $15,000 grand prize in a hackathon held last month at Plug and Play's Tech Center in Sunnyvale, Calif, hosted by U.
  
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• Extreme swallows Zebra’s WLAN biz for $55 million

  14-09-2016 17:27
  
  Looking to fill in some gaps in its own wireless LAN portfolio – such as security and managed services -- and jump into some new vertical markets like retail and transportation, Extreme Networks said it would buy Zebra Technologies wireless business for $55 million in cash.
  With the purchase, Extreme will get Zebra’s wireless LAN 802.11ac high-speed wireless access portfolio, which includes Zebra’s WiNG wireless operating system, NSight advanced network troubleshooting package
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple Watch 2 reviews roundup: Is it worth the money?

  14-09-2016 17:21
  
  When Apple announced the Apple Watch 2 it wasn’t exactly a surprise to anyone who follows the company, rumors had been running rampant for months before the official announcement. The newest version of the Apple Watch offers a brighter screen, built-in GPS and better CPU/GPU performance.But is it worth buying?Reviews of the Apple Watch 2 have started to come in, and I’ve compiled a roundup that should help you decide whether or not you want to buy the Apple Watch 2.Daring Fireball: A
  
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• Microsoft may dump Band fitness trackers as it backs away from hardware

  14-09-2016 17:09
  
  We’ve never been huge fans of Microsoft’s Band devices, but the fitness wearable does have a dedicated fan base. Unfortunately for its boosters, the Band 2 may be Microsoft’s final fitness tracker as the company continues to scale back its ambitions as a hardware company.
  ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft has no plans to roll out a new Band in 2016, according to sources. On top of that, Foley says there was a group inside Microsoft trying to get Band hardware
  
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• Cisco spotlights iOS 10's best business features

  14-09-2016 16:46
  
  When Apple released iOS 10 this week, it gained another important foothold in enterprise mobility. The company's latest software integrates with an updated version of Cisco Systems' networking protocols for its Wi-Fi routers to give businesses the ability to prioritize enterprise traffic, business apps and communications on corporate iOS devices. Almost a year ago, Apple and Cisco announced a plan to give iOS devices special treatment and critical capabilities for IT. The result of their pa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Will forensics thwart data thieves lurking in hospital EHR corridors?

  14-09-2016 16:35
  
  As Halloween approaches, the usual spate of horror movies will intrigue audiences across the country, replete with slashers named Jason or Freddie running amok in the corridors of all-too-easily accessible hospitals. Unfortunately, this horror movie scenario is similar to how data thefts often occur at medical facilities.Permission granter by Cognetyx.Digital finger printing user access pattern.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Microsoft releases one of its biggest security updates this year

  14-09-2016 16:33
  
  Microsoft released one of its biggest security updates this year, fixing 50 vulnerabilities in its products and 26 more in Flash Player, which is bundled with its Edge browser.The patches are split into 14 security bulletins, including the one dedicated to Flash Player, seven of which are rated critical. They address vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office web services and apps.For desktop deployments, administrator
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Linus Torvalds picks Dell XPS 13 as his next laptop

  14-09-2016 16:23
  
  A few months ago when I reviewed the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (2016), I wrote: This is the best Linux hardware I have ever seen. The polish, the feel, the look, the components ... everything about it is great.I just discovered: I was not alone.Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has also chosen the Dell XPS 13 Developers Edition as his next laptop. A few weeks ago, Torvalds wrote on his Google+ page that he was looking at the replacement for his old laptop. When I met Torvalds during Linu
  
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• The scourge of LEDs everywhere: Readers speak out

  14-09-2016 16:16
  
  We didn't claim that our recent story titled "Lights out! Why IT shops are disabling wireless AP LEDs" was tackling one of the world's major problems, but it clearly addressed one of the tech world's ongoing annoyances.
  Roughly 300 comments have been made about the story by those who found it on the Slashdot website, others chimed in on Reddit, and more contacted me directly. (The original story was prompted by discussion among IT professionals at universities, seeking ways to reduce light
  
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• When a project fails, don't blame your end users

  14-09-2016 15:55
  
  It’s an all-too-familiar tale: A CIO pushes a new process, platform or digital transformation effort across the company and when it fails (as 70 percent of all change programs do, according to the famous statistic reported by Harvard Business Review), the CIO pins the blame on uncooperative end users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• DataRobot aims to help create data science executives

  14-09-2016 15:35
  
  Data scientists are in short supply. But so too are managers that understand data science and machine learning enough to spot the opportunities for using these disciplines to optimize their businesses.McKinsey Global Institute has projected that by 2018, the U.S. alone will face a shortage of 1.5 million managers and analysts with the necessary analytics and data science expertise to fill demand.The business side of machine learning
  To combat this problem, Data science automation specialist Data
  
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• 56% off Poweradd Pilot X7 20,000mAh Power Bank for Smartphones and Tablets - Deal Alert

  14-09-2016 15:15
  
  This power bank from Poweradd delivers huge power. Its 20000mAh capacity means you can charge an iPhone 6 eight times, Samsung S6 over five times, or a a large capacity iPad Air 2 almost twice.  It will auto-detect the status of your device, to intelligently deliver power at the fastest possible speed with 2.1A max output. 900+ people rate this item 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon (read reviews), and its typical list price of $49.99 has been reduced a generous 56% to just $21.88.To read t
  
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• New Verizon, AT&T streaming options threaten net neutrality

  14-09-2016 14:35
  
  First T-Mobile, then AT&T and now Verizon. The rush by major wireless carriers to exempt content produced by their favored partners from data caps is an increasingly slippery slope.
  That exemption is called "zero-rating," and while the prospect of getting stuff for free is tempting, this gift horse is ultimately a threat to net neutrality and to competition on the Internet. If large content providers can pay for privileged access to consumers, smaller and arguably more innovative compa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 principles of effective feedback

  14-09-2016 14:30
  
  Feedback is an essential part of all communication. Simply put, it is a response that you make to something that you observe or hear. In a conversation or a discussion, it occurs when you speak. One person will offer an opinion or observation, and then you will offer yours.There are occasions however, where a response needs to be made that is removed from the situation that demands it; that is without the context to frame your remarks. Performance appraisals are a classic example of this. The st
  
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• Why IT will be key to successful VR marketing

  14-09-2016 14:01
  
  Many modern IT leaders are fascinated with virtual reality (VR), but they're also cautious about investing resources too early. Marketing opportunities in VR could speed up the timeline, however, and put pressure on CIOs to ensure they are leading the charge to blend marketing and VR with proficient technical underpinnings."CIOs can help marketers anticipate the implications of the technology," says Thomas Husson, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. IT professionals will
  
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• Meet Flock, a Slack rival that claims big productivity gains

  14-09-2016 14:00
  
  Numerous Slack contenders have already thrown their hats into the enterprise-messaging ring, but Flock is hoping to win with hard numbers. According to Flock, not only does its software load 2.5 times faster than Slack on both desktop and mobile, but it also helps teams achieve productivity gains of at least 30 percent.Originally launched in India roughly two years ago, the company announced its expansion into the U.S. market on Wednesday and revealed a customer list that includes big-name brand
  
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• Tips for keeping Gen-Z and millennial workers happy

  14-09-2016 13:59
  
  Forget everything you think you know about millennials and their successors, Generation Z, because your notions are probably false. What do these generations really want at work? Flexibility, in-person communication, a stable "home base" corporate office and the ability to travel, according to new research from Future Workplace, an HR executive network and research firm, and HR services and staffing company Randstad U.S.A.
  The research, the Gen Z & Millennials Collide @ Work report, was cond
  
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• A single ransomware network has pulled in $121 million

  14-09-2016 13:39
  
  A single ransomware author and distributor was able to collect $121 million in ransomware payments during the first half of this year, netting $94 million after expenses, according to a report released today."Ransomware has grown over the years, and in 2015 and 2016 we really saw a serious spike," said Vincent Weafer, vice president of Intel Security's McAfee Labs.Weafer estimated that total ransomware revenues could be in the hundreds of millions."And that's on the conservative side," he said.W
  
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• Project management: To debrief or not to debrief

  14-09-2016 13:28
  
  Many project managers may view the end of a project as a perfect opportunity to debrief, while others are onto their next project with very little time dedicated to debriefing. Some swear by the debriefing process and others simply bypass it altogether. Let's take a look at the process, its purpose, the benefits and, yes, the drawbacks.
  The debriefing process is conducted once the project activities have come to a close and the project is complete. It allows for transparent feedback by any/all p
  
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• NTP reflection attacks hit record high

  14-09-2016 13:27
  
  Distributed denial of service attacks that take advantage of misconfigured NTP servers were up 276 percent last quarter compared to the same time last year, reaching a new record high, according to a new report.
  Part of the reason for the increase is economics, said report editor Martin McKeay, security advocate at Akamai Technologies.
  In an NTP reflection campaign, the attacker sends a short message to an NTP server, and the NTP server replies with a significantly longer message. But instead o
  
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• European Union plans to offer free Wi-Fi to all

  14-09-2016 13:09
  Free Wi-Fi for all: That was one of the proposals to come out of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday.The project, WIFI4EU (Wi-Fi for you), aims to put free Wi-Fi hotspots open to all EU citizens in parks, squares, libraries and other public buildings.The Commission will provide €120 million (US$135 million) through 2019 to subsidize the purchase and installation of Wi-Fi hotspots in 6,000 or more locations, but the prov
  
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• Microsoft Intune to support Android for Work

  14-09-2016 13:00
  
  Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it has joined Google's Android for Work program and will support Google's container technology for mobile application management in a future release of Intune, Microsoft's own enterprise mobility management (EMM) server. The Microsoft blog post gave no timeline.
  Android for Work, initially released in winter 2015 as part of an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, brought to Android the same level of enterprise-grade protection for mobile apps that had previous
  
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• Digital transformation boosts captive offshore center growth

  14-09-2016 13:00
  
  Global in-house centers — wholly owned captive offshore operations that deliver offshore IT services to their parent companies — today provide a quarter of the offshore and nearshore digital services market, according to outsourcing research firm Everest Group. And that percentage is likely to grow as enterprise demand for digital transformation continues.
  [ Related: Digital transformation will shape 2016 ]
  “Global in-house centers (GICs) are typically more strongly integrated
  
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• Google offers $200K for top prize in new Android hack challenge

  14-09-2016 12:33
  
  Google yesterday announced a six-month bug contest that will pay up to $200,000 for an Android "bug chain," one or more successful exploits of previously unknown vulnerabilities.Dubbed "Project Zero Prize," it differed from hacking contests that take place over one or two days: Researchers can submit entries from now until March 14, 2017. In that regard, Google's contest resembled the limited-time bug bounties that rival Microsoft has offered to focus on, among other areas and applications, in W
  
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• The secret to boosting women in IT? Men

  14-09-2016 12:30
  
  Kathy Fuertes has steadily climbed the corporate ladder during her 27 years in IT, often with a gentle push from male colleagues who had her back.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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