Enterprise apps built with IBM’s MobileFirst management and development platform can now be made more aware of their surroundings.The new capabilities, included in an upcoming MobileFirst update, could give app users more information about their location and let enterprises more granularly tailor their apps to user needs, said Mike Gilfix, vice president of IBM’s MobileFirst platform.MobileFirst is IBM’s package to build enterprise mobile applications that tie directly into the data and business logic of backend IT systems.The software is targeted at those organizations that don’t have sufficient in-house IT or development staff to fully build and support apps. About 75 percent of organizations have a backlog of up to 20 mobile apps that they plan to build, but haven’t yet, according to a survey commissioned by IBM and conducted by OutSystems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google has released a security scanner to help its cloud customers guard against attacks on their Web applications.Google Cloud Security Scanner, now available as a free beta for Google App Engine users, is designed to overcome a number of limitations often found in commercial Web application security scanners, noted Google security engineering manager Rob Mann in a blog post announcing the new service.Commercials scanners can be difficult to set up. They can over-report issues, leading to too many false positives. They are designed more for security professionals than developers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Hitachi Data Systems is purchasing business intelligence software maker Pentaho to incorporate analysis into Internet of Things systems it’ll build for the healthcare, public safety and other industries.“Hitachi owns the infrastructure and Pentaho owns the data integration and analytics platform and know-how to harness the value in big data,” wrote Pentaho CEO Quentin Gallivan in a blog post detailing the rationale behind the acquisition.Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of global conglomerate Hitachi, and focuses on IT and data center support and integration. It has been working to expand into the IoT market, which will generate over $2 trillion in business for all industries by 2020, according to Goldman Sachs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Internet Explorer is getting major repairs, as Microsoft has issued 41 patches to fix memory vulnerabilities in its browser.The Internet Explorer patches are part of the company's routine monthly release of security and bug fixes for its software products, called "Patch Tuesday." Microsoft Office and both the desktop and server editions of Windows are also getting fixes in this batch.Overall, Microsoft issued patches to cover 56 different vulnerabilities, which are bundled into nine separate security bulletins.Three of the bulletins are marked as critical, meaning they fix vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious attackers without user intervention. System administrators should tend to critical vulnerabilities as quickly as possible. These bulletins cover Internet Explorer and both the server and desktop editions of Windows.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Joab Jackson