This powerful shredder from AmazonBasics micro-cuts a letter-sized sheet of paper into 2,235 useless pieces of confetti, up to 17 sheets at a time. Inserted one at a time into the designated slot, it also destroys credit cards, CDs, DVDs, and Blu Rays, rendering them completely unusable. It features a generous 7-gallon bin that pulls out for easy disposal. This micro-cut shredder averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 170 people (82% rate a full 5 stars: read reviews). Its typical list price of $165 has been reduced 13% to $144.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For at least six months, the online store at the National Republican Senatorial Committee site had “hidden skimming software” in the form of malicious JavaScript code. It was far from the only store hackers had compromised via exploiting vulnerabilities in unpatched versions of ecommerce platforms, such as Magento. In fact, at least 5,925 stores were unwittingly participating in online skimming attacks run by multiple cybercriminal groups. Dutch researcher Willem de Groot estimated that 85 stores are compromised daily.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices. Click here to subscribe. At the recent Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, Gartner VP Neil MacDonald spoke about the technology trends for 2016 that provide the most effective business support and risk management. Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) are number one on the list. According to Gartner, companies' use of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications create new challenges to security teams due to limited visibility and control options. CASBs enable businesses to apply much-needed security policies across multiple cloud services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Best Deals of the Week, October 10th - October 14th - Deal AlertCheck out this roundup of the best deals on gadgets, gear and other cool stuff we have found this week, the week of October 10th. All items are highly rated, and dramatically discounted.27% off SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick 200GBThe SanDisk Connect wireless stick is a flash drive with a unique twist -- you can access it wirelessly. Whether it's in your pants pocket, in your bag, or on the picnic table at your campsite, the Connect wireless stick lets you stream media or move files wirelessly with up to three computers, phones or tablets simultaneously. Connections are made via built-in wifi (think "hotspot"), so no external wireless or internet services are needed. A USB connection is also available, if desired. Storage on this model is a generous 200GB. Reviewers on Amazon report at least 8-10 hours of battery life on one charge. This model is currently discounted 27%, from $119.99 down to $87.56. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For now, the US Secret Service has no reasonable assurance that its information systems are properly secured to protect Law Enforcement Sensitive case management information.That was but one of the conclusions laid at the feet of the US Secret Service today by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, John Roth in a scathing report on the agency tasked with protecting the President and other important government officials.+More on Network World: Federal cyber incidents grew an astounding 1,300% between 2006 and 2015+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
My brother has the CNN app on his iPhone and tells me the network just sent him this bit of rather startling news:
Uh … one can assume the twins starting a new life are the formerly conjoined Anias and Jadon McDonald.And Obama was addressing his rebuff to Trump.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A bipartisan group of 48 U.S. lawmakers wants two government agencies to explain a surveillance program in which Yahoo reportedly scanned all the messages of its email users on behalf of the FBI.After recent news reports of the email scanning program, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence need to brief Congress about the efforts, the lawmakers said in a letter to the two agencies.The first news reports about the program contained "conflicting reports about which legal authority was used" for the email scans, said the letter, organized by Representatives Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican, and Ted Lieu, a California Democrat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The TaoTronics energy-saving LED Desk Lamp comes with vision-friendly, low power consumption LED light source, adjustable color modes, and dimmable brightness settings, making this ideal for your dorm room, home or office. With a slight touch from your finger tips, you can switch between a strong white light to soft yellow light. 5 different color temperatures and 7 brightness levels for you to fine tune your illumination. This new generation of eco-friendly LED lighting consumes 75% less power than traditional incandescent lights, while providing the same amount of light. No more fumbling to get a charger, the USB port tucked away behind the touch panel comes in handy for when your smartphone or tablet needs a quick charge. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Earlier this month IBM and its customer Bank of Tokyo announced that they would begin piloting blockchain technology to automate business transactions between the two companies. The joint experiment is one of the first projects built on the open-source Hyperledger Project (the Linux Foundation-led blockchain platform) to explore contract management, the companies said. It’s also an early example of the benefits of using an existing IT outsourcing engagement to experiment with blockchain technology.[ Related: How blockchain will disrupt your business ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Royal Navy is testing just how much robot craft can do by themselves in military exercises off the British coast.Operation Unmanned Warrior 16 is a chance for allied nations and the defense industry to show off their latest maritime autonomous systems, as part of a broader military exercise called Joint Warrior."Fire and forget" torpedoes capable of homing in on the noise emitted by a target -- then sinking it -- have been around since World War II, but the systems involved in this exercise are less offensive.More than 50 craft are taking part this week, including uncrewed helicopters and underwater vehicles, and an autonomous rigid inflatable boat (RIB). They will perform tasks such as surveillance, intelligence-gathering and mine countermeasures.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Users around the world have had trouble accessing some HTTPS websites due to an error at GlobalSign, one of the world's largest certificate authorities.As part of a planned exercise, GlobalSign revoked one of its cross-certificates that allowed end-user certificates to chain to alternate root certificates. GlobalSign operates multiple roots, which are trusted in browsers and operating systems by default, and links them together through these cross-certificates.The revocation of such a certificate was interpreted by some browsers and systems also as a revocation of the intermediate certificates that chained back to it. This was not really the case or the company's intention.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When it comes to the cybersecurity skills shortage, ESG research reveals the following:
Forty-six percent of organizations claim that they have a “problematic shortage” of cybersecurity skills. This represents an increase of 18 percent compared to 2015.
A vast majority (87 percent) admit that it is “very difficult,” “difficult,” or “somewhat difficult” to recruit and hire cybersecurity professionals.
Yup, there is a definite shortage of cybersecurity professionals available, so recruiters are tripping over each other as they try to poach talent from their existing employers. According to a recently published report by ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), 46 percent of cybersecurity professionals are solicited to consider other cybersecurity jobs by various types of recruiters at least once per week! This situation has led to salary inflation and massive disruption. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
There will always be antagonists.In the hours that passed after VMware and Amazon Web Services announced one of the most significant recent partnerships in the cloud market, pundits on social media raised questions about what the arrangement means for enterprise customers.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Winners and losers from the big VMware-AWS Pact | Oops, news of the VMware-AWS deal leaked early on a VMware Blog +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Data security is a simmering issue in offshore outsourcing. The offshore workers who staff help desks, call centers and manage systems are accessing data in the U.S. The University of California IT employees, who will soon lose their jobs to overseas workers, are trying point this out.The IT employees say workers in India will have access to UCSF medical and financial information as well as to files with research and study data. The data will reside on hardware based in the U.S.They believe the university has an obligation to disclose its plans to the broader university community and give researchers, in particular, options about who can access this data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
From a global leader in flash memory technology, the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive is an ultra-small, low-profile drive with a storage capacity of 128GB, and enough speed to transfer a full-length movie in less than 30 seconds. It's a #1 Amazon Best Seller in its category with 4 out of 5 stars from over 2,500 people (read reviews). Its typical list price of $40 has been reduced 31% to just $28. See the discounted Flash Drive from SanDisk now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Computational workloads are growing, and processors, memory, and storage are getting faster at a blazing pace. Emerging technologies could leave computers choking for bandwidth.The potential chokepoint worries companies like Google, IBM, Samsung, and Dell, which are moving to remedy the problem. New specifications from two new consortia will bring data unprecedented boosts in data transfer speeds to computers as early as next year.OpenCAPI Consortium's connector specification will bring significant bandwidth improvements inside computers. OpenCAPI, announced Friday, will link storage, memory, GPUs, and CPUs, much like PCI-Express 3.0, but will be 10 times faster with data speeds of 150GBps (gigabytes per second).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The fallout from the Note7 debacle, which is expected to take a big chunk out of Samsung’s third-quarter profit, will keep hurting its business into next year, the company said.
The fourth-quarter impact on Samsung Electronics' operating profit will be "in the mid-2 trillion won range," the company said in a press release early Friday. Using the midpoint of 2.5 trillion South Korean won, that would be about US$2.2 billion. The damage will continue in the first quarter of next year, with an impact of about 1 trillion won, Samsung said.
The company announced Tuesday it had permanently stopped production of the Note7. It had launched a recall of the phone just weeks after it went on sale because of fires and explosions that destroyed some of the devices. Then, some replacement units it sent out as part of the recall had the same problem.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Don't be surprised if your company decides to do away with password logins. A new survey has found that most organizations are leaning toward phasing out password authentication.The results comes from Wakefield Research, which surveyed 200 IT decision makers in the U.S. last month. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they will probably do away with passwords completely in the next five years.Password login systems, though commonplace, are too vulnerable to hacking, according to SecureAuth, the company that commissioned the study. Not surprisingly, SecureAuth sells alternatives to password-based logins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The cloud partnership AWS and VMware announced Thursday makes Amazon's public cloud even more attractive for enterprises by letting them take the popular virtualization platform with them.The appropriately named VMware Cloud on AWS , announced at a press conference in San Francisco, will bring cloud-optimized versions of vSphere, VSAN and NSX software to the cloud platform. When users spin up a VMware environment on AWS, they'll get a cluster running the entire Software-Defined Data Center stack in the public cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
These headphones from Sound Intone fit comfortably over your ears and isolate your music while reducing outside noise. They connect via Bluetooth, and feature a generous 6 hour play time per charge. They fold up nicely when not in use and feature a scratch-resistant coating, making them ideal to take with you when travelling. Control your music right from the headset with play/pause/next/previous buttons. And a built-in microphone comes in handy for taking calls. That's a pretty full set of features when you consider its current price after the 40% discount is just $36. The P6 headphones average 4 out of 5 stars from over 730 people on Amazon (read reviews). See the discounted P6 from Sound Intone now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here