Whether it's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or Reddit, chances are good that your employees are spending some time on at least one of these social networks during work hours. But before you run to IT and install company-wide web filters, there are a few things to consider about your employee's social media habits."Social media is more accessible than ever -- and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon -- so it's a great time for employers to get on board. If a company has a clear policy around social media usage at work and communicates those guidelines effectively, there should not be a need to block the sites, as employees will remain productive and engaged," says Tisha Danehl, vice president of Ajilon Professional Staffing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It seems Google would like people to think the Pixel is the first phone it has ever produced with its “Made by Google” ad campaign. The most devoted fans of the Android platform have never seen it that way. To them, the Nexus phones were about “pure Android,” but now they’re suddenly finding their phones have been demoted.Google has said there will be no new Nexus phones, and what's more, the Pixel and Pixel XL will get exclusive features that aren’t coming to the current Nexus line, and Nexus owners are understandably upset. How upset? Well, we cannot reprint some of what’s been said, if that gives you an idea.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Companies that focus on the immediate breach remediation costs may be missing the big picture, and could be under-investing in security as a result.Several studies have come out recently trying to get a handle on the total costs of a data breach, with a large variation in costs - from less than $1 million on average, to $6 million - based on the data sets and types of included costs.But the actual numbers could be several times higher.Take the Yahoo breach, for example, which could lead to a $1 billion drop in the company's value.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Enterprise software makers have tried to blend social tools and consumer technology for at least a decade. It's been a slow process, but by 2020 the biggest names in business software will likely be well-known consumer brands, instead of the stalwarts that dominated the market for decades, according to Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud storage service Box. Outsiders are redefining the future of workplace collaboration, and some of these companies, including Facebook, are focused on specific tools or technologies instead of platforms that try to serve every business need. The one-vendor-for-all-things-enterprise approach has no place in today's business landscape, Levie says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As connectivity grows, so do threats to the IT infrastructures under your care—and, by extension, your organization’s ability to profit and serve its customers. Security strategies that worked fine in the not-so-distant past have grown woefully inadequate as the technology terrain shifts.
You’ve probably heard the acronym SIEM being thrown around a lot these days and for good reasons. As security experts, we know that perimeter defenses simply aren’t enough anymore, and we need a holistic view of our IT infrastructures.
+ Also on Network World: SIEM market dynamics in play +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In a bid to retain customers, Samsung Electronics is giving larger financial incentives to people who choose to exchange the ill-fated Galaxy Note7 for another smartphone from the company, rather than seek a refund.In the U.S., the company is giving customers a US$25 bill credit through carriers and retailers to customers who return a Note7 for a refund or for any other branded smartphone. But if they choose to exchange the Note7 for any Samsung smartphone, they will get a whopping $100 bill credit from select retailers and carriers. The company did not immediately provide further details on the program.The company had earlier announced a $25 incentive for customers exchanging their Note7 for another Samsung product.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If dispersing data among storage nodes can make it more secure and less prone to loss, wouldn’t spreading it across far-flung cloud data centers make it even more so?If so, IBM has the right idea with its Cloud Object Storage service, which uses SecureSlice object storage technology that it acquired by buying Cleversafe last year.The storage-as-a-service offering becomes generally available on Thursday. It lets enterprises use both on-premises gear and the IBM Cloud to store unstructured data objects, which can include things like videos, photos and genomic sequencing data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Cisco has taken a look at its security capabilities and those of its partners and come up with a playbook to address ransomware.Ransomware Defense can incorporate a range of Cisco products and address different levels of concern customers might have about ransomware, says Dan Hubbard, the CTO for Cisco’s security business.More on Network World: Cisco Talos: Spam at levels not seen since 2010To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Will future developments in the realm of Artificial Intelligence be like the wild west or a more controlled situation? The real answer is probably somewhere in the middle but the government at least would like to see more measured research and development.The White House today issued report on future directions for AI called Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence. In it, the report comes to several conclusions – some obvious and some perhaps less so. For example, it accepts that AI technologies will continue to grow in sophistication and ubiquity, thanks to AI R&D investments by government and industry.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting claims that his country is behind any U.S. election-related hacking, saying "hysteria" is fueling the allegations."This has nothing to do with Russia's interests," he said on Wednesday at an investors conference in Moscow.Putin made the comments after the U.S. publicly blamed the Russian government last Friday for hacking U.S. officials and political groups in an effort to influence the upcoming presidential election.Stolen documents from those hacks, including sensitive emails, have been leaking online over the past months, potentially hurting the election chances of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft announced plans to offer its well-hyped HoloLens virtual reality headset in six new markets outside North America after what Microsoft calls "tremendous excitement and interest from developers and commercial customers and partners around the globe."Alex Kipman, technical fellow in the Windows and Devices group, made the announcement in a blog post that the company has opened pre-orders today in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The headset will begin shipping in those markets in late November. Interest in augmented reality (AR) and VR products has exploded this year thanks to the shipments of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, among many others. Microsoft is late to the market, but the buzz on HoloLens has been enormous. IDC predicts global revenues for the mixed reality (MR) market will grow from $5.2 billion this year to $162 billion in 2020.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
More than 400 participants, mentors, workshop speakers, judges and sponsors convened at the Reality, Virtually AR/VR hackathon sponsored by the MIT Media Lab last weekend, setting a hackathon record with 75 open-source project submissions.The winners were KidCity VR and Waypoint Rx.KidCity VR, built by Anish Dhesikan, Jacqueline Assar, Theji Jayaratne, Emily Pascual and Kachina Stude, is an HTC Vive educational application for children and parents to play together in virtual reality (VR). The team won $5,000 from Samsung’s Global Innovation Center for the best VR applicationTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s a common trait amongst cybersecurity professionals. When they meet each other, discuss their qualifications with prospective employers, or print their business cards, there is often an alphabet soup of initials by their names, specifying the many certifications they’ve achieved.Now some of these certifications are certainly worthwhile but over the last few years, the entire industry has gone gaga with dozens of new cybersecurity certifications offered by for-profit organizations. This has led to a marketing push with a consistent message that more certifications equate to more money, knowledge, and opportunities for cybersecurity professionals.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s a common trait amongst cybersecurity professionals. When they meet each other, discuss their qualifications with prospective employers, or print their business cards, there is often an alphabet soup of initials by their names, specifying the many certifications they’ve achieved.Now, some of these certifications are certainly worthwhile, but over the last few years, the entire industry has gone gaga with dozens of new cybersecurity certifications offered by for-profit organizations. This has led to a marketing push with a consistent message that more certifications equate to more money, knowledge and opportunities for cybersecurity professionals.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
What happens when fans of the Game of Thrones TV series work at a company that makes power equipment?This: Eaton
The Eaton ePDU G3 Throne
Behold the Eaton ePDU G3 Throne. Compare it to the original Iron throne, pictured here. Eaton commissioned a North Carolina artists to design the chair and then workers constructed it out of 35 rack power distribution unit. It has a total of 821 outlet receptacles. Now that’s a throne with some power capacity. Check out a slideshow of how the Throne was built here. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Affordable MDM options for small businessesImage by ThinkstockSmall and medium sized businesses (SMBs) have embraced BYOD. In a study of SMBs from the IT community, Spiceworks, 61 percent of respondents said they have a BYOD policy in place. However, the same study found that 56 percent of that group also said they had not implemented any mobile device management (MDM) strategies and didn't have plans to do so within the next six months.
While BYOD might allow these smaller businesses to save on hardware costs, it does open up unique risks for IT. With employees running on varying operating systems and hardware, it becomes difficult to implement secure solutions across the board, leaving sensitive data at risk. If just one employee's tablet falls into the wrong hands, you're going to wish you had some way to remotely wipe data on that device. But small businesses also have small IT departments -- sometimes consisting of only one person -- so a BYOD management strategy needs be straightforward, affordable and low-maintenance.
Just because your business doesn't have a big budget or a large staff doesn't mean you can't ensure that all your corporate data remains secure, no matter where Continue reading
Anaplan doesn’t come up in many conversations about unicorns – you know, the Ubers, Airbnbs and SnapChats of the world. But if your company is struggling with strategic planning, Anaplan is one unicorn you’ll want to learn more about. San Francisco-headquartered Anaplan’s cloud-based platform replaces spreadsheet mania as a way to handle large-scale strategic planning in real time. Companies such as HP, Intel and Morgan Stanley are streamlining sales management, forecasting and a variety of other applications using Anaplan, which simplifies life for everyone from senior managers to model builders and end users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
An assemblage of technological breakthroughs are rapidly morphing to create massive changes in how businesses operate.Artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) are just three of eight crucial “megatrends” that strategy consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says is going to significantly distort business.Those new forces should clearly be planned for. And although the consulting firm's advice is aimed at generalized CEOs, it's IT and technical teams that will have to lay the groundwork.Robots, augmented reality (AR), 3D printing, drones and virtual reality (VR) are also among PwC’s pick of “essential eight technologies” that the firm says in its report (PDF) (released during the summer) need to be considered by company chiefs to move their operations forward.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
British lawmakers want more transparency and less bias in decision-making -- not their own, of course, but in decisions made by AI systems.As more and more software systems and connected devices employ artificial intelligence technologies to make decisions for their owners, the lawmakers want to know what's behind their thinking. The U.K. Parliament's Science and Technology Committee has been studying the need for more regulation in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence.Recent advances in AI technology raise a host of social, ethical and legal questions, the committee's members said in a report published Wednesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Some 31 years ago, the RMS Titanic was discovered resting on the ocean floor. The legend of its sinking has been retold many times in books and movies. One compelling aspect of the story is the safety claims made by its creators. Even as reports of the disaster began to filter into New York, the vice president of the White Star Line stated, without qualification, “We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable.” Obviously reality betrayed those maritime engineers’ confidence.What lessons might this famous disaster teach engineers in modern data centers? In particular, how do we prevent hostile attacks—the “icebergs” that lurk on the seas we sail—from causing catastrophic breaches?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here