Gartner’s top 10 security predictions

Forward looking IT security pros need to better address known risks, monitor closely the value of shadow IT devices and solve the inherent weaknesses introduced by the internet of things, Gartner says.The consulting firm has taken a look at five key areas of security concern that businesses face this year and issued predictions on and recommendations about protecting networks and data from threats that will likely arise in each.The areas are threat and vulnerability management, application and data security, network and mobile security, identity and access management, and Internet of Things security. Gartner’s findings were revealed at its recent Security and Risk Management Summit by analyst Earl Perkins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry goes into the red as revenue drops by a third

It looks as though BlackBerry CEO John Chen will still be in charge long enough to launch another couple of phones -- although don't expect any new flagship models.Chen was re-elected chairman of the board for another year on Wednesday.He still plans to launch two new mid-range phones in the next nine months, one of them as early as July. They'll be cheaper than the Priv, BlackBerry's first Android phone, but with the same level of security, he said Thursday.Shareholders might not have given him such strong support if they'd seen the numbers the company reported Thursday for the first quarter of its 2017 financial year.Revenue dropped to US$400 million in the three months to May 31, down 39 percent from $658 million a year earlier.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry goes into the red as revenue drops by a third

It looks as though BlackBerry CEO John Chen will still be in charge long enough to launch another couple of phones -- although don't expect any new flagship models.Chen was re-elected chairman of the board for another year on Wednesday.He still plans to launch two new mid-range phones in the next nine months, one of them as early as July. They'll be cheaper than the Priv, BlackBerry's first Android phone, but with the same level of security, he said Thursday.Shareholders might not have given him such strong support if they'd seen the numbers the company reported Thursday for the first quarter of its 2017 financial year.Revenue dropped to US$400 million in the three months to May 31, down 39 percent from $658 million a year earlier.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A ‘Brexit’ may have a sunny side for tech

The tech industry mostly opposes the prospect of the U.K. exiting the European Union -- a view that's supported by polls and in statements.Ahead of Thursday's vote on the idea, London's mayor, for instance, joined 140 representatives of the city's "leading tech and creative firms" to release a letter urging a vote for "remain.""Our capital has the potential to be the Los Angeles, New York and Silicon Valley to the rest of Europe -- and fuel the creation of new jobs across Britain. Let's not put that at risk," London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote in the letter today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to prepare for (and prevent) ransomware attacks

You've likely heard all about "crypto ransomware," or simply "ransomware," a specific type of malware that attempts to hold your digital existence hostage by encrypting personal files and then offering decryption keys in exchange for payment. When the malware first takes root, it shows no outward signs that anything is wrong. Only after the malware does its nefarious work in the background are you presented with the ransom, typically via demands for Bitcoin or other forms of digital currency.Some early ransomware was riddled with software bugs that made it possible to recover encrypted files that had been held hostage, but newer variants that use robust symmetric and asymmetric encryption are much more troublesome. (Symmetric encryption is typically used to rapidly scramble files, and the asymmetric encryption can then be applied to the original symmetric keys so data can only be recovered by cybercriminals with the appropriate private keys.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to prepare for (and prevent) ransomware attacks

You've likely heard all about "crypto ransomware," or simply "ransomware," a specific type of malware that attempts to hold your digital existence hostage by encrypting personal files and then offering decryption keys in exchange for payment. When the malware first takes root, it shows no outward signs that anything is wrong. Only after the malware does its nefarious work in the background are you presented with the ransom, typically via demands for Bitcoin or other forms of digital currency.Some early ransomware was riddled with software bugs that made it possible to recover encrypted files that had been held hostage, but newer variants that use robust symmetric and asymmetric encryption are much more troublesome. (Symmetric encryption is typically used to rapidly scramble files, and the asymmetric encryption can then be applied to the original symmetric keys so data can only be recovered by cybercriminals with the appropriate private keys.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BYOD can pose privacy risks to employees

Companies that use remote device management software to oversee employee devices used for business have the ability to collect a lot more information than employees may be comfortable with, according to a report released today."The intent of these MDM solutions is not to spy on employees, but to monitor for things like malware and general security," said Salim Hafid, product manager at Bitglass, which produced the report.But if the company wants to, these tools provide the ability to do a lot more, he said. That includes seeing where the phone is located, what apps are on the phone, and even what websites the user was accessing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BYOD can pose privacy risks to employees

Companies that use remote device management software to oversee employee devices used for business have the ability to collect a lot more information than employees may be comfortable with, according to a report released today."The intent of these MDM solutions is not to spy on employees, but to monitor for things like malware and general security," said Salim Hafid, product manager at Bitglass, which produced the report.But if the company wants to, these tools provide the ability to do a lot more, he said. That includes seeing where the phone is located, what apps are on the phone, and even what websites the user was accessing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Rethinking The WAN

PQ Show 83: Sonus Networks & Microservice Orchestration (Sponsored)

On todays episode of Priority Queue, sponsor Sonus Networks joins us to explore microservice orchestration for networking, particularly in the context of OpenStack. The post PQ Show 83: Sonus Networks & Microservice Orchestration (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Solid-State Drives: 7 Things To Know

Google Fiber will add urban coverage and wireless by acquiring Webpass

Google Fiber is acquiring Internet service provider Webpass to be able to increase its urban coverage quickly and offer customers a combination of fiber and wireless delivery of high-speed Internet. For Google Fiber, which has typically worked with cities in planning and building a fiber network from scratch, the acquisition will give the Alphabet business a headstart in many markets, particularly in dense urban areas. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Google did not immediately comment on the acquisition. Webpass in San Francisco owns and operates its Ethernet network, thus removing its dependence on phone and cable companies. It has operations in San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago and Boston. The company offers business connections from 10 to 1,000 Mbps and to residential customers service from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google Fiber will add urban coverage and wireless by acquiring Webpass

Google Fiber is acquiring Internet service provider Webpass to be able to increase its urban coverage quickly and offer customers a combination of fiber and wireless delivery of high-speed Internet. For Google Fiber, which has typically worked with cities in planning and building a fiber network from scratch, the acquisition will give the Alphabet business a headstart in many markets, particularly in dense urban areas. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Google did not immediately comment on the acquisition. Webpass in San Francisco owns and operates its Ethernet network, thus removing its dependence on phone and cable companies. It has operations in San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago and Boston. The company offers business connections from 10 to 1,000 Mbps and to residential customers service from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Career advice from the programming masters

As a career path, software development couldn't be hotter. Programming languages are proliferating and the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that demand for developers will grow at rate of 17 percent from 2014 to 2024 -- much faster than the 7 percent average for all occupations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

A look inside the Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution

Windows administrators have a problem -- passwords. Specifically, administrator passwords that lurk out there, identical across machines, just ready to be compromised. But there is finally a solution at the right price that mitigates this problem almost completely. Interested? Let's dive in.The solutionTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

A look inside the Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution

Windows administrators have a problem -- passwords. Specifically, administrator passwords that lurk out there, identical across machines, just ready to be compromised. But there is finally a solution at the right price that mitigates this problem almost completely. Interested? Let's dive in.The scenario The issue at hand is simple: Every Windows NT-based box, as far back as Windows 2000 and up to Windows 10, including all of the server releases, has a local administrator account. This account, sometimes called the "500" account after the group ID number it has within the bowels of the Windows operating system, has full control over the machine on which it is located. It does not by default have any domain privileges. (Domain administrator accounts, of course, also have by default full control over local machines that are members of the domain -- but this can generally be scoped to a more limited set of permissions if necessary.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

A look inside the Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution

Windows administrators have a problem -- passwords. Specifically, administrator passwords that lurk out there, identical across machines, just ready to be compromised. But there is finally a solution at the right price that mitigates this problem almost completely. Interested? Let's dive in.The solutionTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

More code deploys means fewer security headaches

Organizations with high rates of code deployments spend half as much time fixing security issues as organizations without such frequent code updates, according to a newly released study.In its latest annual state-of-the-developer report, Devops software provider Puppet found that by better integrating security objectives into daily work, teams in "high-performing organizations" build more secure systems. The report, which surveyed 4,600 technical professionals worldwide, defines high IT performers as offering on-demand, multiple code deploys per day, with lead times for changes of less than one hour. Puppet has been publishing its annual report for five years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

More code deploys means fewer security headaches

Organizations with high rates of code deployments spend half as much time fixing security issues as organizations without such frequent code updates, according to a newly released study.In its latest annual state-of-the-developer report, Devops software provider Puppet found that by better integrating security objectives into daily work, teams in "high-performing organizations" build more secure systems. The report, which surveyed 4,600 technical professionals worldwide, defines high IT performers as offering on-demand, multiple code deploys per day, with lead times for changes of less than one hour. Puppet has been publishing its annual report for five years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

3 tips for better data visualizations

Making charts with data is easy. Coming up with charts that show what's important in your data takes skills beyond simply mastering visualization software.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)