The history of ransomware

Suprisingly long historyImage by ThinkstockRansomware has been the most pervasive cyber threat since 2005. According to publicly available information, ransomware infections have outnumbered data breaches 7,694 to 6,013 over the past 11 years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Businesses are rushing into IoT like lemmings

Companies are rapidly adopting IoT even though many don’t know if they’re getting a good return on their investment. Two-thirds of companies are now using or planning to use IoT, according to a global survey by research firm Strategy Analytics. That’s up from just 32 percent last year. But 51 percent of those aren’t sure whether the new technology is paying off, said Laura DiDio, an analyst at the firm. That doesn’t necessarily mean the internet of things isn’t saving them money or improving their businesses, DiDio said. But many organizations evaluate and deploy new technologies in such a fragmented way that they don’t know the full effects of their actions. It's actually better with IoT than with most other new technologies, where an even higher percentage can't measure the benefits, she said. But a disorganized approach isn't helpful in any case.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ask Some HTTP/2 Pros The Hard Questions

We're big fans of HTTP/2 and our customers make up the majority of HTTP/2 enabled domains today. HTTP/2 is a key part of the modern web, and its growth and adoption is changing how websites and applications are built.

On Thursday July 21, 2016, join web performance experts Ilya Grigorik (Web Performance Engineer at Google) and Suzanne Aldrich (Solutions Engineer at CloudFlare), as they discuss the latest in HTTP/2 and Server Push, the tools and resources you can use today to build fast and scalable web apps, and ways to speed up your content on any device.

When: Thursday July 21, 2016 from 1pm-2pm Eastern Time (1500 – 1600 UTC)

Who: CloudFlare’s own Suzanne Aldrich and Ilya Grigorik from Google

Need the basics of HTTP/2 and Server Push? Visit the CloudFlare HTTP/2 website.

OurMine is now breaking into Minecraft accounts

The same hacking group that took over Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter account has now found a way to break into accounts connected to the hit game Minecraft.The group, OurMine, made the claim on Tuesday in a video demonstrating its hack. The attack is aimed at the user login page run by Minecraft's developer, Mojang.OurMine isn't revealing all the details behind the hack. The group said it works by stealing the Internet cookies from the site, which can be used to hijack any account. All that OurMine needs is the victim's email address.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OurMine is now breaking into Minecraft accounts

The same hacking group that took over Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter account has now found a way to break into accounts connected to the hit game Minecraft.The group, OurMine, made the claim on Tuesday in a video demonstrating its hack. The attack is aimed at the user login page run by Minecraft's developer, Mojang.OurMine isn't revealing all the details behind the hack. The group said it works by stealing the Internet cookies from the site, which can be used to hijack any account. All that OurMine needs is the victim's email address.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The hacking group that pwned Zuckerberg’s Twitter account broke into Minecraft

The same hacking group that took over Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter account said on Tuesday it had found a way to break into accounts connected to the hit game Minecraft. The group, OurMine, made the claim in a video in which it demonstrated the hack, which was aimed at the user login page run by Minecraft's developer, Mojang. Later on Tuesday, Microsoft, which bought Mojang two years ago, said it had fixed the issue.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The hacking group that pwned Zuckerberg’s Twitter account broke into Minecraft

The same hacking group that took over Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter account said on Tuesday it had found a way to break into accounts connected to the hit game Minecraft. The group, OurMine, made the claim in a video in which it demonstrated the hack, which was aimed at the user login page run by Minecraft's developer, Mojang. Later on Tuesday, Microsoft, which bought Mojang two years ago, said it had fixed the issue.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s Azure cloud revenue doubles, but phone sales plummet

Microsoft's cloud push continued to pay off last quarter, with revenue from its Azure services more than doubling from the same period last year, the company reported Tuesday.Overall revenue for the quarter was down, however, thanks partly to a steep decline in Microsoft's handset business. Total revenue for the three months ended June 30 was $20.6 billion, Microsoft said, down from $22.2 billion last year. Net profit was $3.1 billion.Microsoft's retreat from the smartphone market hurt its device sales significantly. Phone revenue sank 71 percent, after the company back pedaled from its Nokia acquisition to focus on a few models of Windows phone.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security Startup GuardiCore Raises $20M

A case where deception is on your side.

Here’s all the gear you need for a Pokémon Go adventure

Here's all the gear you need for a Pokémon go adventureImage by Blair Hanley FrankPokémon Go is hotter than a Charizard right now, but the game asks a lot from players. It’s a huge battery hog, and long sessions require a lot of physical endurance. Here’s what you need in your Go bag to make your time in the field last, based on my year of experience playing Ingress, its predecessor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook brings high-speed laser communications into focus

Facebook says it has developed a laser detector that could open the airwaves to new high-speed data communications systems that don't require dedicated spectrum or licenses. The component, disclosed on Tuesday in a scientific journal, comes from the company's Connectivity Lab, which is involved in developing technology that can help spread high-speed Internet to places it currently doesn't reach. Getting Internet signals to new areas is typically done using wireless, because it's much more cost-efficient than running cables to communities outside of urban areas. But traditional wireless comes with speed limitations and requires radio spectrum that often needs to be purchased from the government.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security teams consulted too late on digital transformation

IT decision-makers who have responsibility for security believe security teams are brought in too late to have a meaningful effect on digital transformation initiatives, according to a new study. Dimensional Research, commissioned by by Dell, recently surveyed 631 IT decision-makers with responsibility for security from companies with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, Scandinavia and the Benelux region. Ninety-seven percent of respondents report their organizations were investing in digital technologies to transform their business: 72 percent of the respondents said their organizations had active projects in mobile, 68 percent in cloud and 37 percent involving the Internet of Things (IoT) — all areas commonly associated with digital transformation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security teams consulted too late on digital transformation

IT decision-makers who have responsibility for security believe security teams are brought in too late to have a meaningful effect on digital transformation initiatives, according to a new study. Dimensional Research, commissioned by by Dell, recently surveyed 631 IT decision-makers with responsibility for security from companies with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, Scandinavia and the Benelux region. Ninety-seven percent of respondents report their organizations were investing in digital technologies to transform their business: 72 percent of the respondents said their organizations had active projects in mobile, 68 percent in cloud and 37 percent involving the Internet of Things (IoT) — all areas commonly associated with digital transformation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T sees cost savings with drone inspections of cell towers

AT&T expects to save money by using drones instead of workers to inspect its 65,000 cellular transmission towers nationwide. Part of the savings will occur as the cost of deploying drones drops because of new Federal Aviation Administration regulations that expand the use of drones for commercial uses. The service provider wants to hire contractors using drones in all 50 states to inspect the towers. These towers, often more than 100 feet high and with components sometimes out of the reach of workers who climb to the top, require constant refinements and attention, an AT&T official said Tuesday. AT&T AT&T is using drones to inspect its cell towers high above the ground and can feed live video to an engineer in a remote office. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Infotrek Episode 7: Windows Server 2016

Guest Juan Cruz joins the Infotrek crew to talk about the new features of Windows Server 2016 and why we’re still waiting for it.

The post Infotrek Episode 7: Windows Server 2016 appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Worth Reading: Hyperties

Today’s “cloud” is characterised by a broadband “dumb pipe” that takes us to “someone else’s computer”. The pendulum is now in the process of swinging away from the “dumb pipe” model, towards adding functionality back into networks (by which I include gateway devices, like a home hub). SDN/NFV is just one example of this trend. —CircleID

The post Worth Reading: Hyperties appeared first on 'net work.

Dark data? Not if Teradata and Nuix can help it

Big data may promise a world of new insight, but if it can't be analyzed, you can kiss that potential goodbye. Enter Teradata and Nuix, which on Tuesday teamed up to bring so-called "dark data" to light.Dark data is generally considered any data that gets overlooked and underused, often because employees don't know it's there or don't know how to access it. It's widely thought that dark data accounts for a majority of most companies' information assets.Through their partnership, the companies will integrate Nuix's namesake data processing and indexing engine with Teradata's Aster Analytics software, giving organizations a new way to uncover their dark data and analyze it on the spot.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Limited time offer: Pre-Order The Complete iOS 10 Developer Course – Deal Alert

What better way to prepare for iOS 10’s arrival than with nearly 200 hours of premium training? Pre-order the Complete iOS 10 Developer Course for $29, and you’ll be more than set to craft stunning apps certain to top the iTunes Store leaderboard.Whether you’re mastering the fundamentals of programming, or digging into iOS 10-specific features (improved AI and Siri function, anyone?)--this course will have you covered. And afterwards, dive into the bonus ‘The Complete iOS 9 Hacker Training’ course really brush up on your skills. You’ll make dozens of apps with Swift 2 and Xcode 7, giving you a hefty portfolio of apps that’ll more than prep you for the iOS 10 revolution.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Lost underground? IoT beacons help subway riders find their way

Navigating through a subway is like a scavenger hunt: You have to look for clues on where to go next.And GPS, though it works well above ground where satellites provide coordinates to find your bearings, can't help. Underground you can't get accurate coordinates to determine your location and choose a path. Multiple underground floors, thick walls and dozens of stairways mean a different solution is needed—one that: Has virtual guideposts that allow a person to get their bearings deep underground Is affordable so that hundreds of beacons can be installed for better accuracy Is a self-powered system that doesn’t require batteries Underground in Tokyo: Navigating the Shibuya Station Tokyo is attempting to solve the navigation problem in its Shibuya Station. The station, a maze with eight train lines, has more than a million people traveling its confusing pathways and platforms every day. To help those commuters, the city is implementing an ambitious project that uses augmented reality (AR), Bluetooth beacons and a mobile app to direct passengers to their destination. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ericsson Will Slash Jobs and Cut R&D Amid Weak Sales

The company is banking on 5G to prompt a turnaround.