Verizon has been busy building a diverse Internet of Things (IoT) portfolio that includes sensors used on farms as well as on city streets.On Monday, the wireless carrier announced it is buying Sensity Systems for an undisclosed sum.Sensity, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has focused on using energy-efficient LED lighting to help cities build an IoT platform on city streetlights. The platform can include the use of various sensors on a streetlight pole to monitor weather and city services ranging from parking to public safety.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Aruba, a division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, announced software today that's designed to help companies speed up secure integration of mobile devices and Internet of Things objects into their networks.Called Aruba Mobile First Platform, the software is based on application programming interfaces (APIs) for use by third-party developers and developer teams inside companies to help them boost automation with IoT devices and allow mobile workers to be more efficient.Mobile First is built on Aruba OS 8.0, the company's new operating system, which is deployed as a virtual machine on a server appliance.Also, Aruba announced enhancements to its existing Aruba ClearPass software for Mobile First to make it easier for IT security teams to integrate cloud-hosted services into ClearPass. This means customers can more easily build software workflows for Enterprise Mobility Management packages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Aruba, a division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, announced software today that's designed to help companies speed up secure integration of mobile devices and Internet of Things objects into their networks.Called Aruba Mobile First Platform, the software is based on application programming interfaces (APIs) for use by third-party developers and developer teams inside companies to help them boost automation with IoT devices and allow mobile workers to be more efficient.Mobile First is built on Aruba OS 8.0, the company's new operating system, which is deployed as a virtual machine on a server appliance.Also, Aruba announced enhancements to its existing Aruba ClearPass software for Mobile First to make it easier for IT security teams to integrate cloud-hosted services into ClearPass. This means customers can more easily build software workflows for Enterprise Mobility Management packages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Growth in smartphones will only reach 1.6% for all of 2016, mainly because of sales declines in developed markets like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe, IDC predicted Thursday.The analyst firm also said that iPhone shipments for the entire year will decline by 12% globally compared to 2015, while Windows Phone shipments will decline by 75%. Sales of Android smartphones produced by a number of manufacturers will increase by 6.7%, and grab 85% of the global market for all of 2016.The iPhone decline was partly attributed to Apple customers waiting to purchase the next-generation iPhone, IDC said. That phone, probably in a couple of sizes, is widely expected to be announced along with an upgraded Apple Watch at an event next Wednesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Iris scanner technology is emerging in smartphones, including the new Samsung Note 7, but is expected to come soon to cars and ATM machines to verify a user’s identity.Experts say an iris scan can be more reliable than a fingerprint scan, which is a big reason it is expected to be used in more devices in coming years. Each iris, the colorful part of the eye that forms a ring around the pupil, is unique and therefore a good biometric indicator.Samsung’s Android 6-based Note 7, which shipped on Aug. 19, takes advantage of the technology as well as the Windows 10 Mobile-based HP Elite X3.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Iris scanner technology is emerging in smartphones, including the new Samsung Note 7, but is expected to come soon to cars and ATM machines to verify a user’s identity.Experts say an iris scan can be more reliable than a fingerprint scan, which is a big reason it is expected to be used in more devices in coming years. Each iris, the colorful part of the eye that forms a ring around the pupil, is unique and therefore a good biometric indicator.Samsung’s Android 6-based Note 7, which shipped on Aug. 19, takes advantage of the technology as well as the Windows 10 Mobile-based HP Elite X3.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
After a company has been hacked and the hack has been discovered to be a harmful one, top executives and IT leaders normally huddle in a room to assess the loss.It's usually not a pretty scene.It's not as if heads are exploding. It is more like what some might call a tense "come to Jesus" moment."It's not good," said cyber security expert Tyler Cohen Wood. She's participated in post-hack forensics sessions at companies and has witnessed the faces of panicked executives firsthand. Inspired eLearning
Tyler Cohen Wood is cyber security advisor to elearning company Inspired eLearning, and was previously a Defense Intelligence Agency cyber deputy division chief.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
After a company has been hacked and the hack has been discovered to be a harmful one, top executives and IT leaders normally huddle in a room to assess the loss.It's usually not a pretty scene.It's not as if heads are exploding. It is more like what some might call a tense "come to Jesus" moment."It's not good," said cyber security expert Tyler Cohen Wood. She's participated in post-hack forensics sessions at companies and has witnessed the faces of panicked executives firsthand. Inspired eLearning
Tyler Cohen Wood is cyber security advisor to elearning company Inspired eLearning, and was previously a Defense Intelligence Agency cyber deputy division chief.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Nearly a fifth of shoppers would avoid at a retailer that has been a victim of a cybersecurity hack, according to a survey.The 2016 KPMG Consumer Loss Barometer report surveyed 448 consumers in the U.S. and found that 19% would abandon a retailer entirely over a hack. Another 33% said that fears their personal information would be exposed would keep them from shopping at the breached retailer for more than three months.The study also looked at 100 cybersecurity executives and found that 55% said they haven't spent money on cybersecurity in the past yearand 42% said their company didn't have a leader in charge of information security.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Nearly a fifth of shoppers would avoid at a retailer that has been a victim of a cybersecurity hack, according to a survey.The 2016 KPMG Consumer Loss Barometer report surveyed 448 consumers in the U.S. and found that 19% would abandon a retailer entirely over a hack. Another 33% said that fears their personal information would be exposed would keep them from shopping at the breached retailer for more than three months.The study also looked at 100 cybersecurity executives and found that 55% said they haven't spent money on cybersecurity in the past yearand 42% said their company didn't have a leader in charge of information security.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
MIT researchers have found a way to transfer wireless data using a smartphone at a speed about three times faster and twice as far as existing technology.The researchers developed a technique to coordinate multiple wireless transmitters by synchronizing their wave phases, according to a statement from MIT on Tuesday. Multiple independent transmitters will be able to send data over the same wireless channel to multiple independent receivers without interfering with each other.Since wireless spectrum is scarce, and network congestion is only expected to grow, the technology could have important implications.ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD 9 tips for speeding up your business Wi-Fi
The researchers called the approach MegaMIMO 2.0 (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) .To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year, private sector companies globally spent more than $75 billion on security software to safeguard their systems and data.That number is expected to grow about 7% annually, according to Gartner and other analyst firms. It doesn’t include all the massive amounts spent on fraud prevention by banks, a number that is widely underreported and expected to reach into the billions annually.Has all that spending made private sector data and systems any safer? Is customer personal data any safer?MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 6 simple tricks for protecting your passwords
The general answer is no, according to many analysts, but that’s not necessarily because the latest software is considered ineffective.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year, private sector companies globally spent more than $75 billion on security software to safeguard their systems and data.That number is expected to grow about 7% annually, according to Gartner and other analyst firms. It doesn’t include all the massive amounts spent on fraud prevention by banks, a number that is widely underreported and expected to reach into the billions annually.Has all that spending made private sector data and systems any safer? Is customer personal data any safer?MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 6 simple tricks for protecting your passwords
The general answer is no, according to many analysts, but that’s not necessarily because the latest software is considered ineffective.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Global smartphone sales jumped 4.3% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, but iPhone sales declined for the third straight quarter, market research firm Gartner said today.Gartner’s figures for second-quarter smartphone growth were more optimistic than numbers reported by Strategy Analytics and Canalys recently. Both had reported modest growth of no more than 3% in smartphone shipments.IDC last month reported second-quarter shipments were flat, growing just 0.3%.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Three civil rights groups have filed a formal complaint against Baltimore City police for using cell site simulator technology to investigate potential crimes, calling the process racially biased and unauthorized.The groups called the use of Stingray phone tracker technology "racially discriminatory," and even a disruption of emergency calling services, according to the complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) early today.The 37-page complaint by the Center for Media Justice, Color Of Change and the Open Technology Institute at New America calls on the FCC to enforce two sections of the Communications Act. That act requires the police to obtain a federal license to operate cell site (CS) simulator equipment on frequency bands that are exclusively licensed to cellular phone carriers in Baltimore, according to the complaint.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google Fiber is reportedly hoping to rely on wireless technology instead of fiber-optic cables in about 12 major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas, where it has planned faster internet service.
Google's parent company Alphabet has also suspended Google Fiber gigabit speed projects in San Jose, Calif., and Portland, Ore., according to unnamed sources in a Wall Street Journal report.
Google Fiber officials could not be reached to comment on the report. The report also said that Google Fiber is also hoping to boost its high-speed internet expansion by leasing existing fiber or asking cities or power companies to build the networks, instead of Google Fiber building its own.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center will soon provide classified supply chain threat reports to critical U.S. telecommunications, energy and financial businesses.The effort is designed to reduce threats against a vast private supply chain of equipment and services that could result in the theft of vital data or disrupt operations in critical systems. Supply chain threats are not well understood by security professionals, yet the supply chain is relatively easy to manipulate by foreign governments like Russia and China, as well as criminal gangs, hackers and even disgruntled workers, according to NCSC officials.The Office of the Director of National Intelligence described the threats to private sector supply chains in a press release on Thursday and released a video on supply chain risk management.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center will soon provide classified supply chain threat reports to critical U.S. telecommunications, energy and financial businesses.The effort is designed to reduce threats against a vast private supply chain of equipment and services that could result in the theft of vital data or disrupt operations in critical systems. Supply chain threats are not well understood by security professionals, yet the supply chain is relatively easy to manipulate by foreign governments like Russia and China, as well as criminal gangs, hackers and even disgruntled workers, according to NCSC officials.The Office of the Director of National Intelligence described the threats to private sector supply chains in a press release on Thursday and released a video on supply chain risk management.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Each of the nation's largest wireless carriers brag about having a great network, but comprehensive testing shows that network performance varies significantly from city to city.RootMetrics recently posted its latest rankings for the top 125 U.S. metro areas, which show that the two biggest U.S. cities rank pretty low. New York came in at 59th, while Los Angeles came it at 99th.The nation's third-largest city, Chicago, did well for a big city and was ranked fifth. Atlanta, the ninth-largest city, ranked third. No other top-10 city finished in the top 10 rankings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With their purchases of DirecTV, AOL and Yahoo, the nation's two biggest wireless carriers -- AT&T and Verizon -- have pivoted beyond their traditional business in the search for alternative revenues.Those purchases -- the latest being Verizon's announcement Monday to snap up Yahoo for $4.8 billion -- came about because the carriers realized more than two years ago that traditional wireless services are becoming saturated in the U.S. As a result, wireless services revenues have shrunk or remained flat in recent quarters.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Matt Hamblen