IT Executive news

• 46% off VIAIR 85P Portable Air Compressor - Deal Alert

  16-11-2016 23:20
  
  Maintaining proper tire pressure improves gas mileage and the lifespan of your tires, and also cuts down on the likelihood of a blowout or the unexpected flat that may leave you stranded. The Viair 85P is a small 12-volt portable air compressor with a built-in LED work light that lets you inflate your vehicle's tires quickly and quietly by simply plugging it into your vehicle's power port (cigarette lighter adapter). It's small enough to keep in your trunk, and features a 10-foot cord, a built-i
  
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• Power to the people: Solar panel sales to soon surpass leasing

  16-11-2016 23:11
  
  Direct ownership of solar power panels will overtake third-party ownership next year as more consumers are choosing to buy, rather than lease, their panels.
  According to GTM Research's latest report, U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2016-2021, 55% of all U.S. residential solar capacity installed in 2017 will be purchased by customers paying either in cash, or through a solar loan financing arrangement; that number is expected to grow to 73% of all solar systems installed in 2021. GTM ResearchRe
  
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• IBM readies cybersecurity simulation center

  16-11-2016 22:47
  
  CAMBRIDGE -- Government agencies, law enforcement, security experts, and businesses joined IBM Security as they opened the industry's first commercial Cyber Range at their new global headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., today.
  The range is a live operational environment where they kicked off a simulation, a fictional Fortune 500 company is running in real time. The goal for those who visit the lab is for them to engage in an experience that feels as real as possible, said Caleb Barlow, vice presid
  
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• LinkedIn's CEO really loves Snap's Spectacles

  16-11-2016 22:44
  
  Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, is very impressed with Snap's Spectacles and the way they've been launched through vending machines that appear in locations for a limited time.The Spectacles are picture-taking sunglasses that cost US$130 and interface with Snapchat.Weiner said he's tried a pair after a friend brought back several pairs from a vending machine that was setup in Big Sur, California, over the weekend."I think it’s pretty impressive to see what [Snap CEO Evan Spiegel] has don
  
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• 39% off LOOP International Travel Plug with USB Charging and Power Bank - Deal Alert

  16-11-2016 22:31
  
  If you travel internationally, or know someone who does, this may be one to consider. LOOP Electronics travel adapter is an all-in-one travel plug that not only keeps you powered in over 150 countries, but also includes dual USB charging ports and a battery backup (power bank) for when you need power or charging but can't locate a plug. The adapter has a built-in fuse, is made of fire-resistant materials, and comes with an 18-month warranty. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from
  
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• The state of solar power looks bright in 2017 (+video)

  16-11-2016 21:16
  
  By 2017, solar power capacity in the U.S. will have nearly tripled in less than three years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
  Combined wind, utility-scale and distributed solar power accounted for more than 66% of all new capacity installed in the U.S. last year. Already, more than twice the number of Americans -- about 209,000 -- work in the solar industry compared with coal and by 2020, that number will double to more than 420,000, according to the Solar Energy Industry Associ
  
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• Security experts divided on ethics of Facebook's password purchases

  16-11-2016 20:56
  
  Last week, Facebook CSO Alex Stamos told conference attendees in Lisbon that the company buys stolen passwords on the black market, and some security experts are questioning the ethics and benefits of this approach.
  “Paying for stolen passwords only reinforces the criminal business model and further encourages hackers to steal passwords," said Amichai Shulman, founder and CTO at Redwood Shores, Calif.-based security vendor Imperva, Inc.
  Paying off hackers has other consequences as well.
  "
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Five ways inadequate requirements wreak havoc with enterprise software purchases

  16-11-2016 20:21
  
  There are multiple reasons why major software purchases fail, but one of the most common is that of an inadequate requirements analysis. The problem is caused by people being unfamiliar with requirements gathering techniques, and by grossly underestimating the amount of work involved.
  Requirements are to software selection as foundations are to a building. Get them wrong or leave things out and there always will be problems. This article examines the consequences of missing requirements in the
  
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• How to make sure Black Friday doesn’t overwhelm your online store

  16-11-2016 19:53
  
  Although vendor-written, this contributed piece does not promote a product or service and has been edited and approved by Network World editors.
  Black Friday are two words that shoppers can’t wait to hear. The shopping lists are ready, money has been set aside and now all shoppers have to do is sit in front of their computers and start filling up their e-carts. Imagine their anger and disappointment if their transactions fail to go through or if they can’t even access your e-commerc
  
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• Why Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Slack tackle the enterprise differently

  16-11-2016 19:44
  
  SAN FRANCISCO — Today's workforce uses a growing arsenal of tools to achieve various business objectives, and some of the biggest companies in technology are battling to ensure companies use their tools in the enterprise. During yesterday's Code Enterprise conference, executives from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Slack shared visions for the future of enterprise tech and spotlighted differences in their scopes and strategies. The four companies approach business from different backgr
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Forget about the cloud: imagine the hybrid multi-cloud fog

  16-11-2016 19:30
  
  The notion that all workloads should run in hyperscale public cloud data centers has a certain appeal, but is overly simplistic. An examination of today’s digital leaders shows that their infrastructure strategies are substantially more complex. They typically involve a hybrid mix of legacy environments, private and public clouds (as well as the use of colocation facilities and managed services); more than one public cloud at the infrastructure, platform or applications layer; and a spectr
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What to do when they don't respond

  16-11-2016 19:05
  
  A friend of mine has started dating again. She had a first date. She and her date exchanged a few texts the week afterward. She’s comfortable with digital communication and the unspoken protocol.
  Apparently at one point he expected a response sooner than she got back to him. His next text said, “Well, you lost interest quickly.”
  Really? She doesn’t respond according to your timeline and this is your assessment? You can be sure there won’t be a second date.
  I&r
  
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• GE wants Predix to be the Windows of industrial IoT

  16-11-2016 18:52
  
  General Electric five years ago launched a software platform intended to create applications that could take their cues from sensor-equipped turbines. The idea was that companies could improve productivity by reducing manual check-ups and save millions of dollars in operational costs by anticipating when their planes, trains and other heavy equipment would require maintenance.Fast forward to today and Predix, as the distributed OS is known, may become for the industrial internet of things (IoT)
  
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• 10 tips from the front lines of enterprise public cloud use

  16-11-2016 18:27
  
  What have GE, Citigroup, FedEx, Bank of America, Intuit, Gap, Kaiser Permanente, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase learned from using the public cloud?
  A group of representatives from each of these companies has worked for the past six months with the Open Networking User Group (ONUG) to develop a whitepaper exploring challenges of using hybrid cloud. ONUG’s Hybrid Cloud Working Group (HCWG) includes not only valuable tips from their experiences using the cloud, but also a wish-list of h
  
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• Energiebedrijf zet IT over naar AWS Cloud

  16-11-2016 18:19
  Enel, een van ’s werelds grootste energiebedrijven, aanwezig in meer dan 30 landen, heeft bijna zijn volledige IT operatie overgezet naar Amazon Web Services. Dit is een operatie van die 9 maanden in beslag nam, 30 landen beslaat, 9.500 servers omvat plus zo’n 6 petabyte aan data.Naar verluidt is Enel de... lees meer
  
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• 29% off Hubsan X4 RC Quad Copter with Camera - Deal Alert

  16-11-2016 18:05
  
  Lets start here: the Hubsan X4 quadcopter is just $37 after the current 29% discount on Amazon, where it averages 4 out of 5 stars from over 500 people (read reviews). So if you've been thinking about buying a quadcopter, you don't have a whole lot to lose on this one. The X4 is lightweight and durable, with an optional protection ring included that's designed to keep it safe through the inevitable crash. A 6-axis flight control system with adjustable gyro sensitivity make it very easy to fly,
  
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• US lawmakers balk at call for IoT security regulations

  16-11-2016 18:03
  
  The U.S. government needs to pass regulations mandating internet of things security measures before device vulnerabilities start killing people, a security expert told lawmakers.A massive distributed denial-of-service attack aided by IoT devices in October "was benign" because a couple of websites crashed, said Bruce Schneier, a veteran cybersecurity researcher and lecturer at Harvard University. But the next attack may be more dangerous.With cars, airplanes, thermostats, and appliances now
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Project managers have the skills to become CEOs, so why don’t they?

  16-11-2016 18:00
  
  Project managers are some of the best candidates to be CEOs, because to carry out their usual work they have to bring together all the disparate aspects of theory, reality, vision, process, finances, value, politics and human nature to create successful outcomes. Project managers often manage projects that cross all organizational functions and get to see the organisation as a whole entity rather than from the "siloed" view of a particular functional program.When you demonstrate success in manag
  
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• Every version of SQL Server 2016 now gets its full feature set

  16-11-2016 17:57
  
  Microsoft packed SQL Server 2016 with new advanced features that are supposed to help it compete with a host of other database software. But some of the advanced capabilities in the relational database software were restricted to the most expensive Enterprise edition. That's about to change.The first service pack for SQL Server 2016 will give developers a consistent set of features across the Express, Standard and Enterprise editions. That means it's possible to build an app that relies on a fea
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How a CIO can enable getting apps to market faster

  16-11-2016 17:25
  
  Remember the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus? It was about improving communication so you can get what you want out of a relationship. It reminds me of the challenge of IT and business stakeholders communicating effectively. When they do achieve this goal, it helps companies get apps to market faster or capabilities for user needs quicker. But it’s easy for something to get in the way of the relationship or even for an important advantage of the relationship to be overlooked.
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Will Super Mario Run be a big dud?

  16-11-2016 16:41
  
  Nintendo has announced that Super Mario Run will be released for iOS devices on December 15. The game will be free to try, but if you want the entire thing you'll need to pay $9.99. You can try each of the three game modes for free though, so you can get a feel for what the game offers before buying it.While I have no doubt that many iOS gamers are eagerly looking forward to playing Super Mario Run, I’m not one of them. I'm actually somewhat skeptical about Super Mario Run, despite being i
  
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• Meet Cisco’s Founders Forum members

  16-11-2016 16:39
  
  Cisco Talent ShowCisco has acquired 193 companies over its history, and in an effort to retain as much talent from its buyouts as possible, the company has created a Founders Forum consisting of 46 entrepreneurs who started and/or led businesses Cisco has purchased. These creative minds meet quarterly to share ideas. Here is a sampling of the members, who are listed alphabetically by acquired company name.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Beyond brainstorming: 4 cool action items hatched from Cisco ideation session

  16-11-2016 16:39
  
  Matt Cutler, whose startup Cisco bought three years ago, found himself moving from an outfit with eight people to one with tens of thousands. He looked forward to accessing resources beyond his reach at Collaborate.com, but was wary of being able "to get stuff done" within the larger organization.
  One way he’s been able to get stuff done is through Cisco’s little-known Founders Forum for the entrepreneurial leaders of companies it has acquired. Passionate about the sort of modern wo
  
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• Cisco Founders Forum: One creative way to keep & energize talent

  16-11-2016 16:38
  
  The tech industry brims with examples of bright entrepreneurs who have struck it big by selling their startups and then hightailing it out of those larger companies once contractually eligible so that they can pursue their next venture.
  So what the heck is Matt Cutler still doing at Cisco three years after selling his mobile collaboration startup to the networking giant? Well, among other things, he’s teaching a bunch of his peers who have stayed at Cisco after having their own companies
  
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• Microsoft doubles down on Linux love, joins foundation

  16-11-2016 16:30
  
  After a long campaign against open source and Linux, Microsoft has for the past few been pushing its love of the popular operating system. On Wednesday, the company made that even more official by joining the Linux Foundation, an organization that shepherds development of the operating system's kernel and provides funding for open source projects.Microsoft also launched the public beta of SQL Server on Linux, the much-anticipated port of the relational database software that was first announced
  
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• Microsoft and Google bury the hatchet in one small way

  16-11-2016 16:30
  
  There's no love lost between Google and Microsoft. The two companies have been fiercely competitive with one another in the public cloud, productivity and operating system markets, at times leaving users in the lurch.
  There's one small glimmer of hope in the relationship between the two companies: Google has joined the .NET Foundation, to help drive forward the programming language framework Microsoft originated.
  Google will be a part of the technical steering group for the foundation, which he
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Linux has won, Microsoft joins the Linux Foundation

  16-11-2016 16:30
  
  I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time. Microsoft has officially joined the Linux Foundation as a platinum member. You heard it right. Microsoft has joined the Linux Foundation as a top tier member. Microsoft and the Linux Foundation just made the announcement at the Connect(); // 2016 event in New York.
  I recall in an earlier interview with Jim Zemlin,  the executive director of the Linux Foundation, when I asked him about the possibility of Microsoft joining the Linu
  
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• SWIFT has not seen its last 'bank robbery'

  16-11-2016 15:58
  
  A former CSO of the World Bank Treasury calls the SWIFT system outdated and open to malware attacks. Those vulnerabilities could lead to manipulation of financial transactions.
  SWIFT is the interbank financial messaging system for sending international money transfer instructions. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, which the industry refers to as the SWIFT co-op maintains this system.
  CSO looks at the SWIFT co-op’s denial of the real issue, the cost of attac
  
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• DataStax buys DataScale, plans to launch managed cloud service

  16-11-2016 15:53
  
  Distributed database software vendor DataStax announced today that it had completed the acquisition of DataScale, a specialist in cloud-based management services for data infrastructure, paving the way for a fully managed version of DataStax's offering in early 2017.
  "There is a huge need for an always-on, distributed database," says Martin Van Ryswyk, executive vice president of Engineering, DataStax. "Whether you're in retail, transportation, the hotel business — everyone has to have an
  
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• Amazfit's $50 Arc wearable tracks heart rate but lacks key features

  16-11-2016 15:45
  
  Every day, I receive what seems like 6 million email pitches from PR representatives. Most have subject lines that don't exactly capture my imagination. But this one did: "Test $50 HR Monitor & Activity Tracker w/20 Day Battery?"The email referred to Amazfit's Arc, a $50 activity-tracking wristband with an optical heart-rate (HR) sensor and 20-day battery life, according to its maker. That's an unusual combo, so I took the bait and tested the tracker. Based on my experiences, I rec
  
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• Pakweg helft organisaties onderbouwt beslissingen met data

  16-11-2016 15:44
  Nederlandse organisaties die investeren in data-driven marketing zijn positief over de opbrengst: een hogere klanttevredenheid en groei van de omzet. Toch wordt minder dan de helft van de organisatiebesluiten onderbouwd met inzichten uit data. Daarop duidt onderzoek door de Data Driven Marketing Association... lees meer
  
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• IT Career Roadmap: IT project manager

  16-11-2016 14:13
  
  Behind every IT project are the unsung heroes of the technology industry: project managers. PMs are tasked with making sure projects come in on-time, on or under budget and with high-quality standards. But what does it take to become an IT project manager?"This is one of the great part about this career: There's no specific 'right' background as far as education goes that you need to be a good project manager. We've seen PMs come from all sorts of diverse study areas: English majors, general lib
  
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• 32 IFTTT applets to help you handle the holidays

  16-11-2016 14:00
  
  If you've not yet used or created any IFTTT "recipes," the holiday season is as good a time as any to start. After all, who wants to take valuable attention away from a New Year's Eve celebration to post a greeting to your social media followers?
  If you've never heard of IFTTT, it stands for "If This, Then That." And it's a free service that connects other services and invokes automated actions, such as auto backup of your Instagram photos to Google Drive.  Automated IFTTT tasks used to be
  
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• 4 employee benefits that will improve retention

  16-11-2016 13:59
  
  Most businesses offer no shortage of benefits to employees, but what happens when your employees aren't aware most of those benefits exist? While free lunch and snacks in the break room are easy enough to spot, and appreciate, there are plenty of overlooked benefits hiding in your onboarding handbook.
  Dean Aloise, global HR consulting leader at Xerox HR Services, a division of Xerox focused on HR consulting, says that businesses are looking for more "value" in their benefits beyond flashy perks
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How project management software could be the emperor's new clothes

  16-11-2016 13:00
  
  When I work with companies on project management assessments, I often hear software systems getting blamed for failures, delays and problems. They're either too complex or badly aligned to process. Either that or I hear that some other new system would fix everything. Indeed, that's what the sellers of such solutions promise — a golden ticket to project management success, the silver bullet for all your problems.Some actually deliver, but when they don’t, the software itself is
  
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• Five things AIs can do better than us

  16-11-2016 13:00
  
  For millennia, we surpassed the other intelligent species with which we share our planet -- dolphins, porpoises, orangutans, and the like -- in almost all skills, bar swimming and tree-climbing.In recent years, though, our species has created new forms of intelligence, able to outperform us in other ways. One of the most famous of these artificial intelligences (AIs) is AlphaGo, developed by Deepmind. In just a few years, it has learned to play the 4,000-year-old strategy game, Go, beating two o
  
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• Is critical infrastructure the next DDoS target?

  16-11-2016 12:17
  
  The massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack last month on Dyn, the New Hampshire-based Domain Name System (DNS) provider, was mostly an inconvenience.
  While it took down a portion of the internet for several hours, disrupted dozens of major websites and made national news, nobody died. Nobody even got hurt, other than financially.
  But the attack, enabled by a botnet of millions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, inevitably led to speculation on what damage a DDoS of that scale or
  
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• Will Trump let China beat the U.S. in supercomputing?

  16-11-2016 12:01
  
  SALT LAKE CITY -- President-elect Donald Trump says he likes to win, which means that being in second place in supercomputing -- behind China -- may be a non-starter for him. That's the hope, at least, among some at the SC16 supercomputing conference here.
  Today, China has the world's two fastest supercomputers. China also has 171 systems on the Top 500 supercomputer list, which was updated this week. That's the same number as the U.S., and China is moving swiftly to build big systems.To read t
  
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• Eclipse Che cloud IDE joins Docker revolution

  16-11-2016 12:00
  
  Eclipse Che 5.0 is making accommodations for Docker containers and Language Server Protocol across multiple IDEs. The newest version of the Eclipse Foundation’s cloud-based IDE and workspace server will be available by the end of the year.
  The update offers Docker Compose Workspaces, in which a workspace can run multiple developer machines with support for Docker Compose files and standard Dockerfiles. In the popular Docker software container platform, a Compose file is a Yet Another Mark
  
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• Best Android Black Friday 2016 deals on tablets, phones and more

  16-11-2016 10:07
  
  Android EverywhereThat little green Android elf is everywhere this Black Friday 2016 shopping season to help retailers slash the price of tablets, phones and more running Google’s mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel.Here’s where to look if you want to compare Android products to those from Apple or running Windows.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Snapchat parent reportedly headed for an IPO

  16-11-2016 05:47
  
  The company behind the Snapchat messaging app has reportedly filed papers for an initial public offering that could value it at up to US$25 billion, according to news reports.Snapchat changed its name to Snap in September to reflect the company’s growing interest in new markets beyond its messaging platform that lets users send disappearing photos and stories. It recently introduced its video camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles.The company said that the name change would make it e
  
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• Laid-off IT workers fight University of California outsourcing

  16-11-2016 02:38
  
  Audrey Hatten-Milholin has worked at the University of California, San Francisco for 17 years. But come February, her job in the IT department as a system architect will be taken over by a worker from India.
  Even worse, Hatten-Milholin has been asked to train her replacement.
  “It’s horrible. Really horrible,” she said on Tuesday. “You want to treat people decently. But on the other hand, I’m pretty ticked off I have to do this.”
  Hatten-Milholin was among abou
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How the API economy is igniting a cultural shift in businesses

  16-11-2016 01:50
  
  We are in the middle of a generational shift in technology. The convergence of digital forces—namely mobile, SaaS, cloud, big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and social—is creating a massive disruption in the market and altering consumer expectations. Today, everything needs to be personalized, dynamic, always on and always mobile.As a result, there’s no shortage of organizations hoping to reinvent themselves for the digital age. Success in today’s fast-paced economy relie
  
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• Akamai: Look for IoT devices to attack during Thanksgiving, Christmas

  16-11-2016 00:20
  
  The annual holiday uptick in denial of service attacks will likely continue this year only this time with a new devastating weapon: Internet of Things (IoT) devices, according to Akamai.
  In its quarterly State of the Internet/Security Report, the company says certain types of DDoS attacks are on the rise compared to the third quarter last year, both in size and number. That doesn’t bode well for users of the internet starting next week.
  “Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the holiday seas
  
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