Two instances of tweets from U.S. National Park Service accounts that became political hot potatoes in the last few days were the result of bad password management, according to officials.The first incident took place on inauguration day when the main National Park Service account retweeted images from a CNN reporter that compared unfavorably the crowd size at President Donald Trump's inauguration with that of President Barack Obama's in 2009.When Trump began to openly dispute the images and smaller crowd sizes, the National Park Service deleted the retweet and apologized."We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you," it said on Saturday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For the past several years, I have been completely free of smartphones and cell phone. For a variety of reasons (mostly privacy related), I have simply avoided them.
My life really hasn’t been worse because of it. I still have portable computing devices (tablets, UMPCs, PDAs and the like) that allow me to communicate with the world while on the go—I just need to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to do so. A minor annoyance, to be sure, but it seems like a reasonable trade-off for the increase in personal privacy and security.
Then again, it’s been so many years since I’ve had a cell phone. What if my understanding of the value of having a good smartphone is outdated? What if smartphones have improved so dramatically that their value would outweigh the privacy concerns?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Keyboard is splash resistant, anti-skid, and features simultaneous operation of up to 19 keys without conflict and 12 multimedia keys. Rainbow LED Backlit with multiple modes including breathing, which exists on the mouse as well. The highly rated gaming keyboard/mouse combo is discounted 44%, from $57 to just $32. See it on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One of the leading cybercrime investigators at antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab was reportedly arrested in Russia as part of a probe into activities that could represent high treason.
According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, Ruslan Stoyanov, the head of the computer incidents investigation team at Kaspersky, was arrested in December as part of an investigation that also targeted Sergei Mikhailov, the deputy head of the Information Security Center at the FSB, Russia's internal security service.
Russian authorities are investigating Mikhailov in connection to the receipt of money from a foreign organization, an unnamed source close to the FSB reportedly told the newspaper.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A top-notch cybercrime investigator, who heads up the Kaspersky Lab team that investigates hacks, has been arrested by Russian law enforcement for possible treason.An unnamed source close to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told the newspaper Kommersant that Ruslan Stoyanov may be linked to an investigating into Sergei Mikhailov, a deputy chief of the FSB’s Center for Information Security. Both men were arrested in December.Kaspersky Lab confirmed the report of Stoyanov’s arrest in Kommersant, then tweeted the following statement: “The case against this employee does not involve Kaspersky Lab. The employee, who is Head of the Computer Incidents Teams, is under investigation for a period predating his employment at Kaspersky Lab. We do not possess details of the investigation.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A top-notch cybercrime investigator, who heads up the Kaspersky Lab team that investigates hacks, has been arrested by Russian law enforcement for possible treason.An unnamed source close to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told the newspaper Kommersant that Ruslan Stoyanov may be linked to an investigation into Sergei Mikhailov, a deputy chief of the FSB’s Center for Information Security. Both men were arrested in December.Kaspersky Lab confirmed the report of Stoyanov’s arrest in Kommersant, then tweeted the following statement: “The case against this employee does not involve Kaspersky Lab. The employee, who is Head of the Computer Incidents Teams, is under investigation for a period predating his employment at Kaspersky Lab. We do not possess details of the investigation.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that industry needs to learn from the Galaxy Note7 experience and put more safeguards in place during the design and manufacturing stages of lithium-ion batteries.CPSC said Samsung Electronics “has been accountable in taking steps to drive up the recall response rate and keeps pushing.” Samsung and the agency are working with the wireless industry, battery makers and electrical engineers to review voluntary standards for lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, said agency chairman Elliot Kaye in a statement.Samsung and external experts such as Exponent and Underwriters Laboratories will also share details from the investigation, she added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Did you know that January 12, 2017 was national Clean Off Your Desk day? No? You're not the only one who missed the official day of observance, but you can still start the year off with a clean workspace. Organizing your workspace can help to organize your mind, too.Dan Lee, Director of standing desk company NextDesk, knows a little something about the design and functionality of desks; here are his eight tips for cleaning and organizing your workspace (and your mind) for the year ahead.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s common knowledge that the best way to protect your home Wi-Fi network is by using a strong password. This will keep uninvited guests away and protect your network so eavesdroppers can’t intercept your communications. And we’ve known for more than a decade now that the old Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is so insecure that cracking it is practically child’s play.ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: 9 tips for speeding up your business Wi-Fi
Once you’ve protected your network with Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), here are four other vulnerability scenarios you should guard against.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
January is the month when employees are most likely to think about changing jobs, according to a survey by Glassdoor. Almost one in five jobseekers cited January as the most popular month to make a move, which means that resumes, cover letters and reference contacts are eagerly shared through social media, email and company websites.Cyber thieves are eager to take advantage of the busy hiring season, too, and they’ve come up with several ways to infiltrate corporate systems. Security pros offer their tips on what to watch out for, and how to stop them.Cyber criminals use LinkedIn and other social media sites to bypass company defenses
LinkedIn and other social networks are becoming targets for threat actors since they know it's a great way to bypass company's defenses, according to cybersecurity firm Cylance. LinkedIn is typically a site that is not blocked by network filters to allow HR departments the freedom to communicate with prospective job candidates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Cisco’s Webex Browser Extension contain a critical bug that can open up customers’ entire computers to remote code execution attacks if the browsers visit websites containing specially crafted malicious code.The company says it is in the process of correcting the problem, and has apparently made a few initial steps toward a permanent fix. It says there is no workaround available.+More on Network World: 10 of the latest craziest and scariest things the TSA found on your fellow travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Cisco has agreed to acquire AppDynamics for $3.7 billion in cash and assumed equity awards, scooping up the application performance management company just days before its expected initial public offering. The deal, which Cisco announced late Tuesday, is expected to close by the end of April.AppDynamics was going to be the first tech company to go public in 2017, with its initial offering set for Thursday, January 26. Tech industry insiders and investors were watching AppDynamics’s IPO closely, because Wall Street investors’ treatment of its business could signal how other companies would fare later in 2017.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
“Software companies are the medium through which investors give money to PR and advertising companies,” said Marv Goldschmidt, vice president of marketing at Lotus Development, a long time ago.His advice holds true today. The biggest problem mobile software developers have is getting their apps found, downloaded and installed. It isn’t creating great apps.Marketing campaigns boosting new-user download of an app are very expensive—so expensive that the leadership team at bookmarking app maker Pocket spent a week sequestered with designer impresario Jake Knapp focusing on the user experience to decrease early uninstalls, thus retaining more users per install without increasing marketing spend.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft gave users and administrators of OneDrive for Business some new features on Tuesday that they’ve requested for a while.The company also launched a new Mac client for its business-focused cloud storage service that can be deployed outside the confines of the Mac App Store. Users will also be able to sync files from SharePoint sites and OneDrive for Business shared folders to their desktops, like they have been able to for files that they own.IDC Research Manager Chandana Gopal said in an interview that she saw the new features are Microsoft’s attempt to play catch up with other players in the enterprise cloud storage market like Box and Dropbox, which already offer Mac clients and broad syncing of all the files stored in their services. What’s more, Box and Dropbox are working on making it possible for people to stream files from the cloud to the desktop when they need them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Sometimes it's not easy being a cyber criminal. In addition to law enforcement and private security companies, cyber thieves have to battle fraudsters out to beat them at their own game, but a web site offers to help.Ripper.cc has been maintaining a database of known “rippers” or scammers since June last year and security firm Digital Shadows, which has been investigating it, says it may help online black markets flourish.Fraud is a nagging problem in the cyber criminal world, according to Digital Shadows. Although some hackers believe in honor amongst thieves, others are peddling bogus goods, such as stolen credit card numbers or user credentials that turn out to be fake.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Call it the first real result from Microsoft's recently finalized $26B buyout of LinkedIn: The former has named the career networking site’s Kevin Scott as its new CTO, a job he will hold in addition to being LinkedIn’s SVP of Infrastructure.
Having not actually met Scott, where else to start learning about him than on his LinkedIn page, which features a nice fresh post dated Jan. 24, 2017 and titled “Dream Jobs”?
(I checked his Twitter profile too, but this self-described “Old School Geek, Husband, Father, Hacker of Things Large and Small” had no public posts there since late 2014.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Data scientists continue to be in huge demand, and you won't fare badly either if you have expertise as a technical program manager, data engineer or DevOps engineer, according to the latest rankings from a couple of big jobs-related websites.Glassdoor on Monday released its annual list of the Best Jobs in America, and I've zeroed in on those most techie in nature (though of course practically any job on such a list has a tech component these days). Tops for the second straight year is the job of Data Scientist, based on three key factors: earning potential, job satisfaction and job openings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung Electronics said its profit rose almost 20 percent in 2016 despite nearly flat sales and the costly recall of the Note 7 smartphone.The company reported an annual net profit of 22.7 trillion won (US$19.5 billion), up 19.2 percent, on sales of 201.9 trillion won (US$173.5 billion), up just 0.6 percent.Samsung saw some of its biggest sales gains in memory chips on the back of strong demand from smartphone makers. The company is one of the world's biggest memory chip manufacturers.The mobile division saw sales fall 3 percent in 2016 to 97.8 trillion won. It's Samsung's biggest division by sales and was hit by the recall of the Note 7 smartphone and slowing demand for high-end phones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft is expanding the free services it offers to help enterprise customers adopt its products.The company announced Monday that its FastTrack services now encompass Dynamics 365, Windows 10 and Microsoft Teams. Those come in addition to Office 365 and the Enterprise Mobility Suite, which were already covered under FastTrack.Each service is designed to help companies get the most out of products they've already subscribed to and adopt products that the company has recently released. FastTrack includes adoption guides, tools to find a Microsoft partner company to help with migration, and consulting help from Microsoft employees on particular issues.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here