Shodan search engine starts unmasking malware command-and-control servers

There's now a new tool that could allow companies to quickly block communications between malware programs and their frequently changing command-and-control servers.Threat intelligence company Recorded Future has partnered with Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected devices and services, to create a new online crawler called Malware Hunter.The new service continuously scans the internet to find control panels for over ten different remote access Trojan (RAT) programs, including Gh0st RAT, DarkComet, njRAT, ZeroAccess and XtremeRAT. These are commercial malware tools sold on underground forums and are used by cybercriminals to take complete control of compromised computers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Shodan search engine starts unmasking malware command-and-control servers

There's now a new tool that could allow companies to quickly block communications between malware programs and their frequently changing command-and-control servers.Threat intelligence company Recorded Future has partnered with Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected devices and services, to create a new online crawler called Malware Hunter.The new service continuously scans the internet to find control panels for over ten different remote access Trojan (RAT) programs, including Gh0st RAT, DarkComet, njRAT, ZeroAccess and XtremeRAT. These are commercial malware tools sold on underground forums and are used by cybercriminals to take complete control of compromised computers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google’s surging Chromebooks will test Microsoft’s new Windows 10 S PCs

Microsoft for years has been trying to tackle the growing threat of Google's Chrome OS, which is siphoning PC market share away from Windows.The company's new Windows 10 S operating system, announced on Tuesday, will be Microsoft's latest attempt to tackle Google's surging Chrome OS. The OS is targeted at the education market, which in the U.S. is dominated by Chromebooks.Even with the new Windows OS, worldwide Chromebook shipments are expected to grow by double digits this year, analysts from IDC and Gartner said. The market share of Chromebooks has been growing up consistently since 2015.The new Windows OS is built like Chrome OS. PCs with Windows 10 S will be able to download apps only from the Windows App store. The OS is more like a "container" that will run apps secured and verified by Microsoft. A version of Microsoft's Office Suite will also come to Windows 10 S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

46% off Razer Kraken Pro Gaming Headset for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 – Deal Alert

On top of being optimized for extended wear, the Razer Kraken Pro is outfitted with a fully retractable microphone, in-line volume controls and mute toggle, giving you easy access to all its features. Powered by large, high-quality drivers, this full-sized headset provides you with immersive gaming audio for hours on end.  The 3.5mm combined audio jack and splitter cable ensure that you have mic support on your mobile devices as well as full connectivity to any gaming setup.This gaming headset currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from over 1,400 people (read reviews) on Amazon, where its typical list price of $79.99 has been recently dropped 46% to just $42.99.  See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lessons Learned From Facebook’s Split Network Backbone

Distributed applications, whether they are containerized or not, have a lot of benefits when it comes to modularity and scale. But in a world of feature creep on all applications, whether they are internally facing ones running a business or hyperscale consumer applications like Google’s search engine or Facebook’s social media network, these distributed applications put a huge strain on the network.

This, more than any other factor, is why network costs are rising faster than any other aspect of the datacenter. Gone are the days when everything was done in three or four tiers, with a Web server like …

Lessons Learned From Facebook’s Split Network Backbone was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Worth Reading: Avoid falling into the hybrid cloud hype

Despite the many cloud benefits, most IT departments have yet to figure out how to manage their cloud usage effectively. DevOps is often still in control of cloud deployments and, in many cases, costs are spiraling out of control. A reaction has been to treat cloud management primarily as financial management by focusing on bills. To truly optimize cloud decisions and build an effective hybrid-cloud strategy, however, organizations must ignore the hype and take a methodical, data-driven approach to evaluating the options against the business requirements and the associated applications. —Data Center Journal

The post Worth Reading: Avoid falling into the hybrid cloud hype appeared first on rule 11 reader.

Sketchy report claims iPhone 8 won’t launch this year

In a brand-new research report that you might want to take with a huge grain of salt, analysts at Deutsche Bank say the release of Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 8 may be pushed back until 2018.While we've seen reports that the iPhone 8 release date might be delayed sometime until October or November, this is the first projection we've seen claiming we might not  see a brand-new iPhone 8 model in 2017 at all.The research note, obtained by Business Insider, reads in part: Report suggests no new iPhone 8 this calendar year. As we have written in previous [research notes], several supply chain reports have suggested that key component shortages and technical challenges could delay the release of a high-end iPhone 8 device this fall. We believe this report further underscores the uncertainty around the timing of Apple's next- generation iPhone model.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Quick guide to where AR stands today

It has been a busy 2017 for augmented reality (AR). Often perceived as the lesser-known cousin to virtual reality (VR), AR is now stealing the spotlight. Over the past few months, there have been augmented reality developments from nearly all the leaders in tech. From Facebook’s announcements at its F8 developer conference to Apple’s rumored AR glasses, there is no doubt that the AR space is heating up.However, with so many newsworthy happenings, it can be challenging to keep up with it all. To help you, here’s your quick guide to where the big AR players stand today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

15 ways to make meetings more productive

Let’s be honest, almost no one likes meetings. They can be disruptive, tend to go on for too long and often feel like a waste of time.But meetings don’t have to be boring, drawn out affairs. Meetings, when done right, can produce new ideas, solve problems and help move projects forward.Here are 15 ways you can make your organization’s meetings must-attend gatherings that make attendees feeling like they accomplished something.[ Related: How to make meetings more productive ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why AI careers can start with a degree in linguistics

A linguistics degree traditionally prepares students for careers in academia, professional writing or translation, but as technology continues to advance, these graduates are finding their skills in high demand from an unlikely place-positions in artificial intelligence.Companies in the AI market are turning to those with linguistic backgrounds to help aid in things like product development and customer service, says Caterina Balcells, chief linguistic officer at conversational search technology company Inbenta."Linguistics is important to better understand users and how they're communicating with a company. If we can develop tech that uses natural language processing to help customers find what they're looking for, then that reduces the need to have a person do that, and it improves customer satisfaction at the same time," Balcells says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Microsoft plans to reinvent business productivity

Microsoft's Office applications haven't changed much over the past 25 years. Indeed, a time-traveller from 1992 who knew how to use Word 5.5 for DOS or Mac System 7 would have to get used only to the tools moving from vertical menus to the horizontal ribbon.  Yes, Microsoft successfully brought Office back to the Mac after years of neglect. It also used the acquisition of Accompli and Sunrise to quickly get high-quality email and calendar apps onto iOS and Android — those teams are revitalizing the Outlook applications on PC and Mac, and the new To Do service is trying to do the same thing, based on the popular Wunderlist app. Yes, there are some clever new tools in Word and PowerPoint that use machine learning to improve spell checking and automate slide design, and the monthly updates keep adding more features. And, yes, the hidden gem that is OneNote is finally getting significant investment to make the note-taking tool more useful on more platforms.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft adds a Surface Laptop to its growing stable of devices

Microsoft has added a new laptop to its growing stable of Surface devices, and it's amazingly thin and fast.The Surface Laptop has performance, features and design that will redefine the category, said Panos Panay, corporate vice president at Microsoft during an event in New York City on Tuesday.The 13.5-inch laptop is the first pure laptop in the product line and offers an elegant design. Microsoft's other portable Surface devices include the Surface Pro, which is a tablet, and the Surface Book, which is a 2-in-1.The Surface Laptop is 14.5 millimeters thick and weighs 1.25 kilograms. It runs on Intel's Core i5 or i7 processors based on the Kaby Lake architecture, and has up to 1TB of SSD storage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft to cut update ties between Edge and Windows 10

Microsoft will sever the update ties between Windows 10 and its default browser, Edge, to give company developers a way to refresh the browser more often than twice a year, according to an online report."Users will finally be able to get updates to the Edge browser via the Windows Store, which will allow Microsoft to add new features more frequently," wrote Rich Woods of Neowin Monday, citing unnamed sources within Microsoft.Since the mid-2015 launch of Windows 10, Edge feature updates have been limited to the times when the operating system itself was upgraded. There have been four iterations of Edge thus far: The original of July 2015, dubbed version 12; then November 2015's version 13; August 2016's version 14; and April 2017's version 15.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Red Hat beefs up its OpenShift containerization platform

Red Hat is beefing up its OpenShift containerization-as-a-service offering with a new developer tool for packaging apps into containers, foundations for incorporating microservices into those applications, and tighter integration of Amazon Web Services functionality with the platform. The biggest news, as far as Red Hat is concerned, is that it will offer native access to AWS from within OpenShift Container Platform later this year. That will make it possible for enterprises to configure AWS services from within the same interface they use to create and deploy containerized applications.It made the announcements at the Red Hat Summit in Boston on Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Troubleshooting: Basics

It’s 2AM, the network is down, and the CEO is on the phone asking when it is going to be back up—the overnight job crucial to the business opening in the morning has failed, and the company stands to lose millions of dollars if the network is not fixed in the next hour or so. Almost every network engineer has faced this problem at least once in their career, often involving intense bouts of troubleshooting.

And yet—troubleshooting is a skill that is hardly ever taught. There are a number of computer science programs that do include classes in troubleshooting, but these tend to be mostly focused on tools, rather than technique, or focused on practical skill application. I was also trained in troubleshooting many years ago as a young recruit into the United States Air Force—but the training was, again, practical in bent, with very few theoretical components.

Note to readers: I wrote a short piece on troubleshooting here on rule11, but I have taken that piece down and replaced it with this short series on the topic. I did start writing a book on this topic many years ago, but my co-authors and I soon discovered troubleshooting was going Continue reading

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