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IDG Contributor Network: Holy Batman! Look at how IoT has transformed police cars

The Batmobile is the ultimate crime-fighting vehicle. Today’s police cars aren’t far behind, thanks to IoT and new connectivity solutions.Meeting the needs of both public safety and law enforcement on a tight budget is challenging. Four major requirements first have to be met. How do you respond quickly to a wide range of incidents that might occur over a large area at any time with limited police resources? How can information (such as car license plates) be collected and referenced against online databases while traveling at high speeds? How can sensors capture and process information in order to give police officers more time? How can encounters between the police and public be easily recorded in detail? Multi-WAN routers, IoT systems, vehicle scanners, body cameras and a crime database all come together to make this possible.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 top apps for sharing large files

These days, it's common for people to get work done using more than one device -- whether you're sending out an email on your smartphone, checking Slack on your tablet or crafting spreadsheets on your PC. And it's created a demand for storage options that let you easily access files -- especially oversized files -- across numerous devices and operating systems, no matter where you are. The good news is that just one quick Google search will uncover an overwhelming number of companies that want to help you painlessly share large files.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 12 Free Cloud Storage options But with so many options, it can be hard to figure out which ones offer the best features at a reasonable price for your specific needs. If you just need a way to store and share your smartphone pics, then you're going to need different storage options than a freelancer, small business or large corporation. Luckily, there is an option for everyone. Here are seven of the best apps to share, store and edit large files no matter what device you're on.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Micron’s super-fast 3D Xpoint SSDs will ship through storage partners

Intel won't be the only company gearing up to sell super-fast SSDs based on the new 3D Xpoint storage and memory technology; other storage companies will also offer them with technology provided by Micron. Micron detailed its 3DXpoint plans Tuesday at the Flash Memory Summit conference in Santa Clara, California. Intel and Micron are taking divergent paths to bring 3D Xpoint to customers. Intel will sell its own 3D Xpoint SSDs and memory DIMMs, while Micron is partnering with well-established storage companies to sell 3D Xpoint SSDs. SSDs and DRAM will run much faster with 3D Xpoint, which essentially unifies storage and memory. Intel claims 3D Xpoint will be 10 times denser than DRAM, and it has shown the technology being 10 times faster than current SSDs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

An engineer uses IoT to tackle illness

Daniel Strabley's day job is helping to protect the U.S. from weapons of mass destruction. He works on a software suit that interacts with sensors to detect chemical and radiation threats. The sensor information, as you may imagine, is complicated, and one of his tasks is to make it understandable to users.This means that anyone, from an Army private not long out of high school to a Ph.D.-holding nuclear physicist, needs an interface that is meaningful to their knowledge level.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 12 most powerful Internet of Things companies The work on detecting weapons of mass destruction is similar in concept to what Strabley is doing to help his wife's grandfather, who is suffering from dementia. He has written software that can help people with varying degrees of cognitive issues, and is using sensors such as Amazon's new IOT buttons, to improve communication.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Global IT challenges: Privacy, standardization, transformation top the list

It's one of an IT leader's biggest nightmares: Imagine you've got a division in Russia, which has very strict privacy laws regarding employees' rights to control their information, and there are 12 employees who refuse to allow their information to leave company walls.Whether it's introducing new UPS products or services such as My Choice to the marketplace, or implementing large-scale integrated capabilities like World Wide Express Saver Freight -- which rely on multiple systems -- "we choreograph the deployments across our teams and systems. We would first beta-test the releases in the individual markets such as the U.S., Europe and Asia, prior to executing the global deployment, testing all facets of the solution including the installation and functionality," Costides says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

IT managers critique enterprise flash-storage products

The market for enterprise flash array storage is highly competitive, with traditional storage vendors battling against innovative startups. Tech buyers are typically looking at factors such as ease of use, improved data management, performance, deduplication algorithms, a small footprint and low power usage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

White House software code sharing policy gains steam

The White House has released its Federal Source Code policy that promotes reuse of new source code developed by government agencies across the federal government.The new policy also sets up a pilot program “that requires agencies, when commissioning new custom software, to release at least 20 percent of new custom-developed code as Open Source Software (OSS) for three years,” Tony Scott, U.S. CIO and Anne E. Rung, chief acquisition officer, wrote in a memorandum to heads of departments and agencies on Monday.The federal government spends every year over US$6 billion on software through more than 42,000 transactions, but agencies that procure custom-developed source code do not necessarily make their new code broadly available for reuse by the federal government.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DARPA wants to build very low frequency wireless systems

Wireless transmitters that operate at very or ultra low frequencies (0.3‐30 kHz) typically require some big antenna complexes to handle their communications. Scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said they are interested looking to eliminate that issue and develop smaller physical structures that could handle new long-distance communication applications. + DARPA wants huge Holy Grail of mobile ad hoc networks DARPA in search of a 100 Gb/sec wireless technology that can penetrate clutter+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers hit Oracle’s Micros payment systems division

Russian cybercriminals have infiltrated systems at Micros, an Oracle division that is one of the world's biggest vendors of point of sale payment systems for shops and restaurants, according to an influential security blogger.The hack has affected 700 computer systems at Micros and is thought to have begun with infiltration on a single machine at the company, said Brian Krebs on his Krebs on Security blog on Monday.The incident is worrying for the potential size of the hack and the systems affected. Oracle acquired Micros in 2014, when it said Micros systems are used in more than 330,000 sites in 180 countries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

4 signs you’re a victim of ransomware

The word ransomware conjures images of kidnappers and ransom notes. But that doesn't quite capture the reality of PC ransomware. In fact, "it’s not always obvious when ransomware is the problem," says Mike Cobb, director of engineering at data recovery and digital forensics firm DriveSavers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Hacked companies still prioritize innovation over cybersecurity

Eight out of 10 executives surveyed acknowledge that their companies had been compromised by cyber attacks in the past two years, according to a new study by KPMG. Yet less than half of the 403 CIOs, CISOs and CTOs the firm surveyed said that they had invested in information security in the past year.“We’re still seeing companies taking a passive or reactive approach toward cybersecurity, when in fact cyber should be a top-line business issue thought about and practiced company-wide," says Greg Bell, leader of KPMG's U.S. cyber practice. Bell spoke to CIO.com after publishing his “Consumer Loss Barometer" report in July.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why (and how) to start planning your HoloLens apps

Augmented reality isn't new. Boeing has been using it since the 1990s to speed up installing the hundreds of miles of writing inside its planes. But those early systems were both clunky and expensive, and, so far, more portable augmented reality wearables like Google Glass haven't taken off. Microsoft's mixed reality HoloLens looks set to change that.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Researcher scams fake tech support scammer, infects scammer’s PC with Locky ransomware

While the big security news was happening in Las Vegas at conferences, security researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski’s story was too funny to pass up – at least if you loathe scareware scams.After only 30 minutes on a new computer, his parents surfed to an online tech support scam which claimed their PC was infected with Zeus. Ivan Kwiatkowski Fairly atrocious attempt at scareware by tech support scammers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

23% off HDMI Cloner Box for Gaming or HD Video Stream Capture, No PC needed – Deal Alert

Here's a device any gamer or video enthusiast may want to have on hand. Connect a game console, DVD, or any video source to this gadget via its HDMI input, and with the push of a button it captures and saves the video stream to any attached USB flash drive, with no PC required. Advanced hardware H.264 encoding captures your live gameplay or video playback in 1080p Full HD, while keeping the file size low and capturing speeds high. Averaging 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 170 customers (read reviews), the gadget's $129.99 list price has been reduced 23% to $99.99. With the unit you'll get a free 16gb USB stick to get you started (enough for several hours of video). See the discounted cloner box now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microduino mCookie; a platform for experimenting with the Internet of Things. Great idea but …

If you’re experimenting with the Internet of Things, you now have a huge range of platforms to choose from. Many of these platforms are essentially bare boards and hooking up sensors often requires adding breadboards, breaking out the soldering iron, and down and dirty wiring. While there’s nothing actually wrong with any of this as a way to experiment and develop ideas, it’s less than ideal where getting quickly from a concept to a working device is the goal. So it was that Microduino’s mCookie system was designed to make IoT experimentation fast and easy as well as inexpensive.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A supercomputer is taking on humans in a hacking contest at DEF CON

Can a supercomputer beat humans in a hacking contest? We're about to find out.For the first time, a fully automated supercomputer is trying to compete with humans in a major hacking contest, and so far the machine is hanging in there.The supercomputer, known as Mayhem, is among the teams taking part in this year’s Capture the Flag contest at the DEF CON security conference in Las Vegas.The game involves detecting vulnerabilities in software and patching them, and humans have been playing it at DEF CON for years.Now computers are getting in on the act. DARPA, a U.S. defense agency, recently held an all-machine competition, awarding $2 million to the team that did best.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bigfoot data: Disney patent to track visitors by their shoes

We are truly in the era of all-encompassing analytics. Today, everything you click on, everything you post, where you go, what you purchase, and who you’re connected to are all data points to be captured, categorized, cross-indexed, tabulated, and analyzed. “O! M! G!” you may be muttering “Will surveillance never end?” Sure it will end. When hell freezes over. Nope, the surveillance cat is out of the bag, the monitoring pigeon has flown the coup, and the privacy bridge has been burnt. Welcome to the future. As if to underline that reality, the latest foray into quantifying you, has just been patented by Disney. In a recent filing titled System and method using foot recognition to create a customized guest experience, the company that bought you “a people trap run by a rat” (I kid you with love, Disney) has raised (lowered?) the bar on knowing who you are by proposing that they will track you by looking at ... wait for it ... your footwear.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Best Deals of the Week, August 1-5 – Deal Alert

Best Deals of the Week - Deal AlertCheck out this roundup of the best deals on gadgets, gear and other cool stuff we have found this week, the week of August 1st. All items are highly rated, and dramatically discounted!53% off Inateck USB 3.0 Dual-Bay Hard Drive Cloning StationThis gadget from Inateck will duplicate any 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch SATA HDD/SSD drive quickly and automatically without the need for a computer, by just pushing a button. The unit currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 530 customers (read reviews). With a typical list price of $69.99, this 53% off deal puts it at just $32.99. See the discounted Inateck HDD/SSD cloning station now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT security suffers from a lack of awareness

As consumers we have become obsessed with connected devices. We like the idea of smart homes, smart cars, smart TVs, smart refrigerators or any machine that can be automated with sensors and an IP address. Yet fewer tasks in IT today inspire more fear than the prospect of protecting corporate networks from this proliferating wave of connected devices. The internet of things phenomenon expands the threat surface exponentially, in turn boosting business risk.But CIOs often aren’t aware of all of the devices that make inviting targets for hackers. "One of the fundamental issues that faces the internet of things is knowing that they're there and giving them some identity,” says Gartner analyst Earl Perkins. "You can't manage what you can't see."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds need to do a better job of measuring telecommuting benefits

With one of the largest telecommuting communities – over 1 million -- in the country many of the Federal agencies that support it have little information to show about its benefits.Watchdogs at the Government Accountability Office this week issued a report that found that many agencies “had little data to support the benefits or costs associated with their telework programs. All of the selected agencies could provide some supporting documentation for some of the benefits and only two could provide supporting documentation for some of the costs.”+More on Network World: Black Hat: Quick look at hot issues+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here