Trump nominee suggests IRS cybersecurity and staffing boosts

Cybersecurity and staffing upgrades at the Internal Revenue Service appear to be in store, assuming Steven Mnuchin is confirmed as Treasury Secretary in the new Trump Administration.Mnuchin, a former CIO and executive vice president for Goldman Sachs, told senators in a five-hour confirmation hearing on Thursday that he is "very concerned about the lack of first-rate technology at the IRS" as well as staff cuts in recent years. Mnuchin is expected to be confirmed, and would likely work with Trump to pick the next IRS director.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Half of work activities could be automated by 2055

Fears that accelerating automation is going to eat its lion's share of jobs continue to plague corporate sectors. However, new research from McKinsey Global Institute may talk folks afflicted with automation phobias down from the ledge.The research group says that although half of today’s work activities could be automated, it may not happen until 2055. Or 2035. Or even 2075. Where the statistic falls along the S curve depends on various factors, such as breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and economic conditions, says Michael Chui, a McKinsey Global Institute partner and an author of the report. Chuiand other researchers analyzed 800 occupations and 2,000 job tasks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Billionaire Needs a New SDN Network in Quest to Cure Cancer

The SDN network uses Juniper's programmable switches.

Spanish police nab suspected hacker behind Neverquest banking malware

Spanish police have arrested a Russian programmer suspected of developing the Neverquest banking Trojan, a malware targeting financial institutions across the world.The 32-year-old Russian citizen known as Lisov SV was arrested at the Barcelona airport, Spain's law enforcement agency Guardia Civil said on Friday.The FBI had been working with Spanish authorities to track down the suspect through an international arrest warrant, according to a statement from the agency. The FBI, however, declined to comment on the man's arrest.Neverquest is designed to steal username and password information from banking customers. Once it infects a PC, the malware can do this by injecting fake online forms into legitimate banking websites to log any information typed in. It can also take screenshots and video from the PC's desktop and steal any passwords stored locally.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Spanish police nab suspected hacker behind Neverquest banking malware

Spanish police have arrested a Russian programmer suspected of developing the Neverquest banking Trojan, a malware targeting financial institutions across the world.The 32-year-old Russian citizen known as Lisov SV was arrested at the Barcelona airport, Spain's law enforcement agency Guardia Civil said on Friday.The FBI had been working with Spanish authorities to track down the suspect through an international arrest warrant, according to a statement from the agency. The FBI, however, declined to comment on the man's arrest.Neverquest is designed to steal username and password information from banking customers. Once it infects a PC, the malware can do this by injecting fake online forms into legitimate banking websites to log any information typed in. It can also take screenshots and video from the PC's desktop and steal any passwords stored locally.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bird on a Fence

The post Bird on a Fence appeared first on 'net work.

Strategic Imperatives Could Soon Be 50% of IBM

'Core' IBM could be only 50% of the company in 2018.

SDxCentral Weekly News Roundup — January 20, 2017

Cisco announces a new data and analytics training program; U.S. Army signs a five-year contract with IBM to build a cloud system.

Users greet Avaya bankruptcy with shrugs

The news that sprawling networking company Avaya has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is being greeted with nonchalance by at least some of its customers, for whom the saga of the firm’s financial troubles has been a reality for some time.Avaya’s a big company with several focus areas – some lines, like networking products, are performing well. Others, including unified communications and phone systems, are not, and it’s these that have dragged the company into Chapter 11.+MORE FROM NETWORK WORLD: Avaya says bankruptcy is a step toward software and services + Verizon, volunteer firefighters make peace; T-Mobile’s Legere can stand downTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Users greet Avaya bankruptcy with shrugs

The news that sprawling networking company Avaya has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is being greeted with nonchalance by at least some of its customers, for whom the saga of the firm’s financial troubles has been a reality for some time.Avaya’s a big company with several focus areas – some lines, like networking products, are performing well. Others, including unified communications and phone systems, are not, and it’s these that have dragged the company into Chapter 11.+MORE FROM NETWORK WORLD: Avaya says bankruptcy is a step toward software and services + Verizon, volunteer firefighters make peace; T-Mobile’s Legere can stand downTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Open letter to Avaya management: Don’t sell the networking business

The fate of Avaya has finally been determined. It’s not being broken up, shut down or having parts stripped off it in a fire sale. Instead, Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to help shed the $6 billion debt load that is weighing the company down.The question for the company now is what happens next? Obviously the business will be restructured. I believe the management team will keep the call center and UC businesses intact, as they go together like “rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.” But what happens to the networking business? Post restructuring the networking division might be a more attractive asset to buy because many of the things weighing it down, such as pensions and debt, won’t be an issue. Avaya could sell it, then use the money to make an acquisition that could bolster its UC and CC business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Open letter to Avaya management: Don’t sell the networking business

The fate of Avaya has finally been determined. It’s not being broken up, shut down or having parts stripped off it in a fire sale. Instead, Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to help shed the $6 billion debt load that is weighing the company down.The question for the company now is what happens next? Obviously the business will be restructured. I believe the management team will keep the call center and UC businesses intact, as they go together like “rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.” But what happens to the networking business? Post restructuring the networking division might be a more attractive asset to buy because many of the things weighing it down, such as pensions and debt, won’t be an issue. Avaya could sell it, then use the money to make an acquisition that could bolster its UC and CC business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

46% off ZeroLemon ToughJuice USB-C 30000mAh Power Bank, Dual Layer Rugged External Battery/Portable Charger for Apple MacBook, iPhone, Google Pixel XL, Samsung & More

ZeroLemon describes their ToughJuice power bank as the world's toughest external battery pack, with 30000mAh capacity and a rugged anti-shock exterior. With enough juice to get you up and running again and again on a single charge, ToughJuice provides up to ten charges to a smartphone, two charges to a tablet or multiple charges to nearly any other device. It features four USB ports (1 QuickCharge 2.0 port, with legacy 5V/2A support and 3 Ports for 1A charging) but more importantly it features USB-C/Type-C Compatibility: the USB-C/Type-C port makes the battery pack compatible with the new MacBook, charging at 5V/2.5A and other USB-C powered devices. The device averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 200 people (read reviews), and its list price is currently discounted to $69.99. See the discounted ZeroLemon ToughJuice power bank now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

46% off ZeroLemon ToughJuice USB-C 30000mAh Power Bank, Dual Layer Rugged External Battery/Portable Charger for Apple MacBook, iPhone, Google Pixel XL, Samsung & More – Deal Alert

ZeroLemon describes their ToughJuice power bank as the world's toughest external battery pack, with 30000mAh capacity and a rugged anti-shock exterior. With enough juice to get you up and running again and again on a single charge, ToughJuice provides up to ten charges to a smartphone, two charges to a tablet or multiple charges to nearly any other device. It features four USB ports (1 QuickCharge 2.0 port, with legacy 5V/2A support and 3 Ports for 1A charging) but more importantly it features USB-C/Type-C Compatibility: the USB-C/Type-C port makes the battery pack compatible with the new MacBook, charging at 5V/2.5A and other USB-C powered devices. The device averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 200 people (read reviews), and its list price is currently discounted to $69.99. See the discounted ZeroLemon ToughJuice power bank now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Oracle Buys Apiary for Its API Integration Cloud

Oracle provides the platform, and Apiary provides the API designs and governance capabilities.

Worth Reading: A new propaganda agency is born

The newly created Global Engagement Center is tasked with coordinating the Federal Government’s efforts to “understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation… aimed at undermining United States national security interests.” This appears to be the government’s response to the as-yet unsubstantiated claims of “Russian hacking” that allegedly stole the election. No definition of what constitutes “propaganda and disinformation” or “national security interests” is given. In practice, these words can mean anything the Center would like them to mean. —Intellectual Takeout

The post Worth Reading: A new propaganda agency is born appeared first on 'net work.

Delivering Load Balancing Services with Data Center NFV Technology

New data center NFV strategies are now emerging.

Google pushed developers to fix security flaws in 275,000 Android apps

Over the past two years, Google has pressured developers to patch security issues in more than 275,000 Android apps hosted on its official app store. In many cases this was done under the threat of blocking future updates to the insecure apps.Since 2014, Google has been scanning apps published on Google Play for known vulnerabilities as part of its App Security Improvement (ASI) program. Whenever a known security issue is found in an application, the developer receives an alert via email and through the Google Play Developer Console.When it started, the program only scanned apps for embedded Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials, which was a common problem at the time. The exposure of AWS credentials can lead to serious compromises of the cloud servers used by apps to store user data and content.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google pushed developers to fix security flaws in 275,000 Android apps

Over the past two years, Google has pressured developers to patch security issues in more than 275,000 Android apps hosted on its official app store. In many cases this was done under the threat of blocking future updates to the insecure apps.Since 2014, Google has been scanning apps published on Google Play for known vulnerabilities as part of its App Security Improvement (ASI) program. Whenever a known security issue is found in an application, the developer receives an alert via email and through the Google Play Developer Console.When it started, the program only scanned apps for embedded Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials, which was a common problem at the time. The exposure of AWS credentials can lead to serious compromises of the cloud servers used by apps to store user data and content.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Show 323: Making The Most Of Wireshark

Todays episode gets good and nerdy on Wireshark and packet analysis. Well talk about how to get the most out of the Wireshark tool with guest Kary Rogers. The post Show 323: Making The Most Of Wireshark appeared first on Packet Pushers.