HPE shows off The Machine prototype without memristors

In 2004, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's Kirk Bresniker set out to make radical changes to computer architecture with The Machine and drew out the first concept design on a whiteboard.At the time Bresniker, now chief architect at HP Labs, wanted to build a system that could drive computing into the future. The goal was to build a computer that used cutting-edge technologies like memristors and photonics.It's been an arduous journey, but HPE on Tuesday finally showed a prototype of The Machine at a lab in Fort Collins, Colorado.It's not close to what the company envisioned with The Machine when it was first announced in 2014 but follows the same principle of pushing computing into memory subsystems. The system breaks the limitations tied to conventional PC and server architecture in which memory is a bottleneck.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Interop ITX: Hot Products and Services

Secure platforms as a service allow you to focus on function

Even though larger cloud providers offer security and implementation guidelines, companies still face significant risks and challenges when deploying secure applications to the cloud. A new class of security-focused cloud platforms promises to bridge this gap, bringing best-practices and regulatory compliance with the convenience of platform as a service (PaaS).Notable examples of this type of company include Datica, Healthcare Blocks and Aptible, all founded in 2013 and all container-based. These companies boast elite security and DevOps teams that work to secure their products and write new features.Their services are available at low price points and provide a convenient security framework that allows their customers to focus their development efforts on function rather than security.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Secure platforms as a service allow you to focus on function

Even though larger cloud providers offer security and implementation guidelines, companies still face significant risks and challenges when deploying secure applications to the cloud. A new class of security-focused cloud platforms promises to bridge this gap, bringing best-practices and regulatory compliance with the convenience of platform as a service (PaaS).Notable examples of this type of company include Datica, Healthcare Blocks and Aptible, all founded in 2013 and all container-based. These companies boast elite security and DevOps teams that work to secure their products and write new features.Their services are available at low price points and provide a convenient security framework that allows their customers to focus their development efforts on function rather than security.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

China pays for Windows XP addiction as ‘WannaCry’ hits

The WannaCry ransomware has wormed its way into tens of thousands of Windows PCs in China, where Windows XP runs one in five systems, local reports said Monday.More than 23,000 IP addresses in the People's Republic of China (PRC) show signs of infection, the country's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center (CNCERT) told Xinhua, the state-run news agency, on Monday.[ Further reading: Fighting ransomware: A fresh look at Windows Server approaches ] "Intranets in many industries and enterprises involving banking, education, electricity, energy, healthcare and transportation have been affected in different extents," CNCERT said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

China pays for Windows XP addiction as ‘WannaCry’ hits

The WannaCry ransomware has wormed its way into tens of thousands of Windows PCs in China, where Windows XP runs one in five systems, local reports said Monday.More than 23,000 IP addresses in the People's Republic of China (PRC) show signs of infection, the country's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center (CNCERT) told Xinhua, the state-run news agency, on Monday.[ Further reading: Fighting ransomware: A fresh look at Windows Server approaches ] "Intranets in many industries and enterprises involving banking, education, electricity, energy, healthcare and transportation have been affected in different extents," CNCERT said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Vocal theft on the horizon

Your voice is yours alone – as unique to you as your fingerprints, eyeballs and DNA.Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it can’t be spoofed. And that reality could undermine one of the promised security benefits of multi-factor authentication, which requires “something you are,“ along with something you have or you know. In theory, even if attackers can steal passwords, they can’t turn into you.But given the march of technology, that is no longer a sure thing. Fingerprints are no longer an entirely hack-proof method of authentication – they can be spoofed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Vocal theft on the horizon

Your voice is yours alone – as unique to you as your fingerprints, eyeballs and DNA.Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it can’t be spoofed. And that reality could undermine one of the promised security benefits of multi-factor authentication, which requires “something you are,“ along with something you have or you know. In theory, even if attackers can steal passwords, they can’t turn into you.But given the march of technology, that is no longer a sure thing. Fingerprints are no longer an entirely hack-proof method of authentication – they can be spoofed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybercrooks fight over DDoS attack resources

As more groups get into the denial-of-service attack business they're starting to get in each other's way, according to a report released this morning.That translates into a smaller average attack size, said Martin McKeay, senior security advocate at Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai Technologies Inc.There are only so many devices around that have the kind of vulnerabilities that make them potential targets for a botnet."And other people can come in and take over the device, and take those resources to feed their own botnet," he said. "I'm seeing that over and over."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybercrooks fight over DDoS attack resources

As more groups get into the denial-of-service attack business they're starting to get in each other's way, according to a report released this morning.That translates into a smaller average attack size, said Martin McKeay, senior security advocate at Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai Technologies Inc.There are only so many devices around that have the kind of vulnerabilities that make them potential targets for a botnet."And other people can come in and take over the device, and take those resources to feed their own botnet," he said. "I'm seeing that over and over."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 most in-demand tech skills

Trying to land a new job or angling for a promotion? Recruiters and hiring managers are always on the hunt for ideal candidates with just the right mix of tech savvy, experience and soft skills to give their organizations a competitive advantage. But all technology skills are not created equal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

3 ways your culture may be sabotaging innovation

"If businesses fail to unify the company with a common goal, they risk a mis-allocation of resources, internal competition that halts project completion, and they'll miss out on a wealth of creative ideas," says Pellas.Shifting corporate culture takes effort, but the payoff is worth the push. Pellas offers three reasons why your corporate culture is leaving innovation stagnant, and how you can work to shift workers' attitudes.[ Related story: Want to foster innovation? Get out of your comfort zone ] To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook hit with maximum fine for breaking French privacy law

The French data protection watchdog has imposed its harshest penalty on Facebook for six breaches of French privacy law.The breaches include tracking users across websites other than Facebook.com without their knowledge, and compiling a massive database of personal information in order to target advertising.The French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL) began its investigation of Facebook and its European subsidiary, Facebook ireland, after the company made changes to its terms and conditions outlining the practices in January 2015.CNIL wasn't the only organization concerned by Facebook's changes: data protection authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Hamburg, Germany also began investigations around the same time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Digital signature service DocuSign hacked and email addresses stolen

Digital signature service DocuSign said Monday that an unnamed third-party had got access to email addresses of its users after hacking into its systems.The hackers gained temporary access to a peripheral sub-system for communicating service-related announcements to users through email, the company said. It confirmed after what it described as a complete forensic analysis that only email addresses were accessed, and not other details such as names, physical addresses, passwords, social security numbers, credit card data or other information.“No content or any customer documents sent through DocuSign’s eSignature system was accessed; and DocuSign’s core eSignature service, envelopes and customer documents and data remain secure,” DocuSign said in a post. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Digital signature service DocuSign hacked and email addresses stolen

Digital signature service DocuSign said Monday that an unnamed third-party had got access to email addresses of its users after hacking into its systems.The hackers gained temporary access to a peripheral sub-system for communicating service-related announcements to users through email, the company said. It confirmed after what it described as a complete forensic analysis that only email addresses were accessed, and not other details such as names, physical addresses, passwords, social security numbers, credit card data or other information.“No content or any customer documents sent through DocuSign’s eSignature system was accessed; and DocuSign’s core eSignature service, envelopes and customer documents and data remain secure,” DocuSign said in a post. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Security and IoT

A great essay by Bruce Schneier about (lack of) security in IoT and why things won’t improve without some serious intervention.

Small Cell Forum seeks advice from large enterprises

The carrier-led Small Cell Forum has revealed the names of the founding members of an Enterprise Advisory Council designed to help address the need for more wireless coverage to meet rising demand.The Forum — whose members include the likes of AT&T, Cisco and Huawei —had previously said it was forming such a council, but had not disclosed any member organization names. It also had said it was working with hotels and others in the hospitality industry to plot strategies for boosting cellular coverage to meet the needs of their customers (an industry, by the way, that hasn't always been very hospitable when it comes to wireless service, as seen in the Wi-Fi blocking schemes of some).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Small Cell Forum seeks advice from large enterprises

The carrier-led Small Cell Forum has revealed the names of the founding members of an Enterprise Advisory Council designed to help address the need for more wireless coverage to meet rising demand.The Forum — whose members include the likes of AT&T, Cisco and Huawei —had previously said it was forming such a council, but had not disclosed any member organization names. It also had said it was working with hotels and others in the hospitality industry to plot strategies for boosting cellular coverage to meet the needs of their customers (an industry, by the way, that hasn't always been very hospitable when it comes to wireless service, as seen in the Wi-Fi blocking schemes of some).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Enabling the Software-Defined Branch with NSX

Reimagining the edge

While the importance of the cloud is obvious to anyone, the increasing importance of the edge is often overlooked.  As digitization and the Internet of Things are  leading to an exponential growth in the number of devices, the amount of data that is being generated by sensors in devices such as self-driving-cars, mobile endpoints and  people tracking systems for retail is astronomical. Analyzing and turning that data into immediate actions is key to success in the era of digitization. The cloud enables massive data storage and processing, but it does not always lend itself to real time processing and immediate actions. Latency and the sheer amount of data to be transmitted are much less of a factor for the edge compared to the data center. In order to make instant decisions, some of the data processing needs to happen at the edge.  At the same time, a large number of employees no longer work form the corporate HQ, but have ever increasing expectations with regards to application access regardless of their physical location.  Distributed computing across the edge, along with high performance cloud access and distributed security enforcement give organizations “the edge”. Centralizing management and operations with distributed control and Continue reading

The WannaCry ransomware might have a link to North Korea

As security researchers investigate last Friday’s massive attack from the WannaCry ransomware, they’ve noticed clues that may link it with a North Korean hacking group that has been blamed for attacking banks across the world.The evidence is far from a smoking gun, and may prove inconclusive. But security researchers have noticed a similarity between an earlier version of WannaCry and a hacking tool used by the Lazarus Group.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here