IDG Contributor Network: What enterprises should take away from the CIA leak

The recent document leak detailing CIA spying campaigns and hacking techniques has fostered conversations and news stories on how to balance intelligence gathering with privacy, as well as discussions on the agency’s extensive spying capabilities. What hasn’t been discussed as much is what enterprises (and governments in one case) can learn from the WikiLeaks Vault 7 leak.To me, three key takeaways are that leaks can happen to any organization, figuring out what entity carried out an attack is difficult to do, and we’re in an era when nation-state weapons end up in the hands of criminals. Collectively, these development make practicing information security more complex than ever. Now, let’s explore each one in more detail.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Use Optane Memory Like A Hyperscaler

The ramp for Intel’s Optane 3D XPoint memory, which sits between DDR4 main memory and flash or disk storage, or beside main memory, in the storage hierarchy, is going to shake up the server market. And maybe not in the ways that Intel and its partner, Micron Technology, anticipate.

Last week, Intel unveiled its first Optane 3D XPoint solid state cards and drives, which are now being previewed by selected hyperscalers and which will be rolling out in various capacities and form factors in the coming quarters. As we anticipated, and as Intel previewed last fall, the company is …

Use Optane Memory Like A Hyperscaler was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

IDG Contributor Network: Automation rolls on. What are you doing about it?

The only constant in work is that work changes. It shifts. It pivots. It requires new skills, new training, new ideas. This has always been the case. But today, with everything becoming connected to the internet and digitization reshaping the definition of value in entire industries, the rate of change is increasing dramatically.In IT specifically, automation technology is driving a new wave of change, making many rote operations tasks that we’ve performed manually for decades a thing of the past. All of this is great news; after all, how many of us truly enjoy the laborious and time-intensive process of manually configuring and troubleshooting devices using Command Line Interface (CLI)?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Automation rolls on. What are you doing about it?

The only constant in work is that work changes. It shifts. It pivots. It requires new skills, new training, new ideas. This has always been the case. But today, with everything becoming connected to the internet and digitization reshaping the definition of value in entire industries, the rate of change is increasing dramatically.In IT specifically, automation technology is driving a new wave of change, making many rote operations tasks that we’ve performed manually for decades a thing of the past. All of this is great news; after all, how many of us truly enjoy the laborious and time-intensive process of manually configuring and troubleshooting devices using Command Line Interface (CLI)?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Remote working works. Here’s data that proves it

Traditionalists are notoriously hard sells. I don’t mean politically; I mean technologically.While remote working might not sound controversial, the ideological divides are clearly drawn.Over the past few years, Google, Yahoo and Best Buy have all made headlines with their “no remote working” policies. The most recent entry into this hardline approach is IBM. Just last month, CMO Michelle Peluso announced in a private video to marketing staff: Move on site, or move out.After 19 straight quarters of declining revenue, the decision to relocate their dispersed teams to one of six “strategic” offices is driven not just by the bottom line, but by an underlying assumption about what makes great teams great. As Peluso explained:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

802.11ay Wi-Fi: “It’s going to be a very scalable spec”

Peraso Technologies, one of the early players in 802.11ad (WiGig) gigabit wireless networking, is also readying for enhanced Wi-Fi technology called 802.11ay that promises higher speeds and greater reach. The Toronto-based company, whose semiconductors enable smartphones, tablets and other devices to exploit unlicensed 60 GHz wireless technology, is bullish on 11ay to support an even wider range of products than 11ad.  (See Also: Our FAQ on 802.11ay)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FAQ: What is 802.11ay wireless technology?

Products based on the IEEE 802.11ad (WiGig) standard have really only begun rolling out over the past year, but an effort to deliver an enhancement dubbed 802.11ay that promises to deliver faster and longer range W-Fi networks is gaining steam. Here’s the lowdown on this newest in the 802.11 WLAN series… I can’t believe I have another 802.11something-or-other to keep track of. Believe it. Though really think of 802.11ay as an enhancement of 11ad in the unlicensed 60 GHz millimeter wave band of spectrum, so it should be a pretty natural upgrade. And it could really be worth any trouble given potential speed and range improvements.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Canceling the OVS Cookbook Project

In my list of proposed 2017 projects, I mentioned that I wanted to launch an open source book project. In late February, I launched The Open vSwitch Cookbook, an unofficial—as in not formally affiliated with the Open vSwitch (OVS) project—effort to gather together OVS “recipes” into an open source book. Today, I’m shutting down that project, and here’s why.

It really comes down to wanting to be a better member of the OVS community. I honestly hadn’t anticipated that the OVS community might prefer that the information I was going to gather in these “recipes” be collected in the OVS documentation (which has undergone a tremendous transformation). Instead of creating yet another source of information for OVS, I’ll focus my efforts on expanding the upstream documentation. This will take some effort on my part—I’ll need to learn reStructuredText and spend some time understanding how the docs are organized now—but I think that it’s the better long-term option for the OVS community as a whole.

And what about my goal for launching an open source book project? I’ll continue to evaluate options on that front to see if it makes sense, and I’ll post here if and when something happens.

Apple releases iOS 10.3 for iPhone and iPad owners

After a steady dose of multiple betas, Apple today finally introduced a final version of iOS 10.3 for both iPhone and iPad users. While most iOS updates in between major numerical releases don't often bring much to the table, iOS 10.3 is certainly an exception. Most notably, iOS 10.3 introduces a new file system dubbed Apple File System -- or APFS for short -- which brings with it stronger encryption along with better optimization for accessing flash storage.That aside, there are more than  a few consumer-facing features that are worth checking out, including new animations when opening up an app and a new "Find My AirPods" feature for those who enjoy Apple's relatively new wireless headphones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Amazon Prime Members Get Up To $75 off Kindle E-Reader Bundles Through 4/3 – Deal Alert

Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers, and this time the discount runs through 4/3 only.  $30 off: Paperwhite, Kindle, and Kindle for Kids Bundle $50 off: Voyage and Paperwhite Essentials Bundle $75 off: Voyage Essentials Bundle To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Talos warns of Apple iOS and MacOS X.509 certificate flaw

Cisco Talos today warned of a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation feature of Apple macOS and iOS that could let an attacker remotely execute code and steal information.X.509 security certificates are widely used and integral to many Internet protocols, including TLS/SSL, which is the basis for HTTPS, the secure web browsing protocol.+More on Network World: 5 burning questions with new IETF Chair and Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper+“For most people, securely connecting to a website seems as simple as checking to make sure the little padlock in the address bar is present. However, in the background there are many different steps that are taken to ensure you are safely and securely connecting to the websites that claim they are who they are. This process includes certificate validation, or making sure that the servers that users are connecting to present “identification” showing they are legitimate. This helps to protect users from fraudulent servers that might otherwise steal sensitive information,” Talos wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Talos warns of Apple iOS and MacOS X.509 certificate flaw

Cisco Talos today warned of a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation feature of Apple macOS and iOS that could let an attacker remotely execute code and steal information.X.509 security certificates are widely used and integral to many Internet protocols, including TLS/SSL, which is the basis for HTTPS, the secure web browsing protocol.+More on Network World: 5 burning questions with new IETF Chair and Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper+“For most people, securely connecting to a website seems as simple as checking to make sure the little padlock in the address bar is present. However, in the background there are many different steps that are taken to ensure you are safely and securely connecting to the websites that claim they are who they are. This process includes certificate validation, or making sure that the servers that users are connecting to present “identification” showing they are legitimate. This helps to protect users from fraudulent servers that might otherwise steal sensitive information,” Talos wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Stanford Brainstorm Chip to Hints at Neuromorphic Computing Future

If the name Kwabena Boahen sounds familiar, you might remember silicon that emerged in the late 1990s that emulated the human retina.

This retinomorphic vision system, which Boahen developed while at Caltech under VLSI and neuromorphic computing pioneer, Carver Meade, introduced ideas that are just coming around into full view again in the last couple of years—computer vision, artificial intelligence, and of course, brain-inspired architectures that route for efficiency and performance. The rest of his career has been focused on bringing bioinspired engineering to a computing industry that is hitting a major wall in coming years—and at a time …

Stanford Brainstorm Chip to Hints at Neuromorphic Computing Future was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Intel’s next-gen hyperfast Optane SSDs for PCs to ship in April

Intel will begin shipping its next-generation non-volatile Optane memory for PCs beginning April 24.Intel, which developed the Optane memory with its partner Micron under the name "3D Xpoint," said the new storage will allow PCs to boot twice as fast and increase internal storage performance by 14 times.Additionally, Intel claims the mass storage devices will launch applications faster. For example, Microsoft Outlook will launch up to 5.8 times faster; games will launch up to 67% faster; and files stored in memory can be located up to four times faster.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumers sue Microsoft, allege Windows 10 upgrade destroyed data, damaged PCs

Three people from Illinois last week sued Microsoft, claiming that the free Windows 10 upgrade they had installed on their PCs caused "data loss and damage to their computers."Lawyers for the trio asked a Chicago federal court Thursday to grant the case class-action status, which would allow other Americans to join the litigation."Many consumers have had their hard drives fail because of the Windows 10 installation," alleged the complaint. "Many consumers have had their existing software and data rendered inoperable by the Windows 10 installation."All three of the plaintiffs asserted that after accepting the free Windows 10 upgrade -- a one-year deal that ran from 2015 to 2016 -- some data on their Windows PCs had been destroyed. One said that she had had to purchase a new personal computer after the one upgraded to Windows 10 was crippled.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco announces cornucopia of product updates at Enterprise Connect

The industry’s largest collaboration show, Enterprise Connect, gets underway this week in Orlando, Florida. The show has become the place for vendors to show off the latest and greatest, and the week started off with Cisco announcing some new products and updates to existing ones. Cisco’s collaboration business has been on quite a roll of late, as it has released a number of new solutions, including the game-changing Spark Board, which was unveiled earlier this year. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco announces cornucopia of product updates at Enterprise Connect

The industry’s largest collaboration show, Enterprise Connect, gets underway this week in Orlando, Florida. The show has become the place for vendors to show off the latest and greatest, and the week started off with Cisco announcing some new products and updates to existing ones. Cisco’s collaboration business has been on quite a roll of late, as it has released a number of new solutions, including the game-changing Spark Board, which was unveiled earlier this year. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Carnegie Mellon hacking contest aims to get IT security talent started young

Carnegie Mellon University this week launches its third annual online capture the flag (CTF) contest aimed at introducing middle and high school students to the world of IT security — and just maybe attract some of them into a segment of the job market hungry for talent.Anyone can register to play the free picoCTF online hacking contest beginning on March 31 and ending April 14, but only U.S. students in grades 6-12 are eligible for some $30K in prizes. CMU says about 30,000 people have partaken in picoCTF, a game in which participants must reverse engineer, hack, decrypt and do whatever it takes to solve a challenge.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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