IDG Contributor Network: Blockchain the perfect data protection tool for banks using mainframes

Technophobic thrillers in popular media are always trying to convince us hackers are just a few malicious keystrokes away from crashing the world economy. And while doing such a thing is more complicated than just “deleting all the money,” one could certainly do a great deal of damage by changing what a computer thinks is true.Wouldn’t it be great if there were software that could guarantee which data was and was not correct, backed up by the most powerful computer processors available? I give you blockchain, which more and more fiscal institutions are using to protect their data, backed up by the undeniable power of mainframes.RELATED: Inside Bank of America's IT transformation Blockchain first entered the public’s (OK, the techie public’s) awareness in the orbit of Bitcoin, as a means of securing that controversial digital currency’s code against someone who decided to break into the right server and add a couple zeroes to their account. But Bitcoin haters need not close this tab in disgust just yet, as blockchain has come into its own as a reliable security measure for more than just black market storefronts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Blockchain the perfect data protection tool for banks using mainframes

Technophobic thrillers in popular media are always trying to convince us hackers are just a few malicious keystrokes away from crashing the world economy. And while doing such a thing is more complicated than just “deleting all the money,” one could certainly do a great deal of damage by changing what a computer thinks is true.Wouldn’t it be great if there were software that could guarantee which data was and was not correct, backed up by the most powerful computer processors available? I give you blockchain, which more and more fiscal institutions are using to protect their data, backed up by the undeniable power of mainframes.RELATED: Inside Bank of America's IT transformation Blockchain first entered the public’s (OK, the techie public’s) awareness in the orbit of Bitcoin, as a means of securing that controversial digital currency’s code against someone who decided to break into the right server and add a couple zeroes to their account. But Bitcoin haters need not close this tab in disgust just yet, as blockchain has come into its own as a reliable security measure for more than just black market storefronts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading

Cloud security still a work in progress

A few years ago, ESG (and other) research indicated that security concerns posed the biggest impediment for more pervasive use of cloud computing. What happened next?  Business executives and CIOs found that cloud agility, flexibility and potential cost savings were too good to pass up, creating a “cloud or bust” mentality. Naturally, CISOs had to do their best and go along for the ride whether they were ready or not.+ Also on Network World: The top 12 cloud security threats + So, how’s cloud security going at this point? ESG research indicates it is still a work in progress. As part of a recent survey, cybersecurity professionals were presented with a series of statements about cloud security and asked whether they agreed or disagreed with each one. Here are some of the results:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Blockchain the perfect data protection tool for banks using mainframes

Technophobic thrillers in popular media are always trying to convince us hackers are just a few malicious keystrokes away from crashing the world economy. And while doing such a thing is more complicated than just “deleting all the money,” one could certainly do a great deal of damage by changing what a computer thinks is true.Wouldn’t it be great if there were software that could guarantee which data was and was not correct, backed up by the most powerful computer processors available? I give you blockchain, which more and more fiscal institutions are using to protect their data, backed up by the undeniable power of mainframes.RELATED: Inside Bank of America's IT transformation Blockchain first entered the public’s (OK, the techie public’s) awareness in the orbit of Bitcoin, as a means of securing that controversial digital currency’s code against someone who decided to break into the right server and add a couple zeroes to their account. But Bitcoin haters need not close this tab in disgust just yet, as blockchain has come into its own as a reliable security measure for more than just black market storefronts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading

Cloud Security: Still a Work in Progress

A few years ago, ESG (and other) research indicated that security concerns posed the biggest impediment for more pervasive use of cloud computing.  What happened next?  Business executives and CIOs found that cloud agility, flexibility, and potential cost savings were too good to pass up, creating a “cloud or bust” mentality.  Naturally, CISOs had to do their best and go along for the ride whether they were ready or not.So, how’s cloud security going at this point?  ESG research indicates it is still a work in progress (note: I am an ESG employee).  As part of a recent survey, cybersecurity professionals were presented with a series of statements about cloud security and asked whether they agreed or disagreed with each one.  Here are some of the results:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Putting IoT to work

tkTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Review: Plantronics BackBeat 500 Series wireless headphones

Plantronics has been in the headphone/headset market for more than 55 years now (moon landing!), but most of their Bluetooth gear (aimed at entertainment, not the smartphone headsets) have been in the premium market. The BackBeat line of headphones include the Pro series (about $200 for the Pro 2), Fit series (about $130) and Go series ($129 for the Go 3).With companies like Apple forgoing the headphone jack on their new smartphones, the market for wireless headphones is now poised to surpass wired headphones in terms of sales. With these trends in mind, Plantronics has now entered the entry-level space (under $100) with its BackBeat 500 Series headphones ($79.99, now available). Aimed at first-time wireless headphone buyers, the BackBeat 500 still offers users features like 40mm-bass drivers, an over-the-head, on-ear fit and an up to 18 hour battery life. With multipoint Bluetooth supported, you can connect to multiple devices (such as a smartphone and laptop or tablet), and even switch between them automatically. For example, if you’re listening to music on the laptop and a phone call comes in, the headphones connect to the phone. Speaking of phones, there’s a microphone on the left earcup Continue reading

Samsung virtual assistant Bixby coming to Galaxy S8, then all smart Samsung appliances

If you are a fan of virtual assistants and Android phones, then you might regard Samsung’s jump into the race as better late than never. If you are not a fan of virtual assistants, then you might not like the Samsung Galaxy S8, which will have a dedicated button on the side of the phone to summon the assistant. Like it or not, Samsung said its virtual assistant will eventually be part of all its appliances.Yesterday, Samsung announced that its intelligent voice assistant Bixby will run on the Galaxy S8, which will launch next week. But Bixby is coming to all-things-Samsung, as the company said it will gradually be applied to all of its appliances.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Samsung virtual assistant Bixby coming to Galaxy S8 then all smart Samsung appliances

If you are a fan of virtual assistants and Android phones, then you might regard Samsung’s jump into the race as better late than never. If you are not a fan of virtual assistants, then you might not like the Samsung Galaxy S8 which will have a dedicated button on the side of the phone to summon the assistant. Like it or not, Samsung said its virtual assistant will eventually be part of all its appliances.Yesterday, Samsung announced that its intelligent voice assistant Bixby will run on the Galaxy S8 which will launch next week. But Bixby is coming to all-things-Samsung, as the company said it will gradually be applied to all of its appliances. “In the future, you would be able to control your air conditioner or TV through Bixby. Since Bixby will be implemented in the cloud, as long as a device has an internet connection and simple circuitry to receive voice inputs, it will be able to connect with Bixby. As the Bixby ecosystem grows, we believe Bixby will evolve from a smartphone interface to an interface for your life.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

56% off D-Link Wi-Fi AC750 Dual Band Range Extender – Deal Alert

Eliminate dead zones, reduce interference, and extend the range of your home Wi-Fi coverage with this D-Link Wi-Fi range extender. With next-generation AC750 performance, the DAP-1520 provides bandwidth up to 300Mbps on the 2.4Ghz, and 433Mbps on the faster, more reliable 5GHz bands. The unit is compact and fits discretely into any wall outlet. Right now its typical list price of $45.25 has dropped a significant 56% to just $19.99. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

56% off D-Link Wi-Fi AC750 Dual Band Range Extender – Deal Alert

Eliminate dead zones, reduce interference, and extend the range of your home Wi-Fi coverage with this D-Link Wi-Fi range extender. With next-generation AC750 performance, the DAP-1520 provides bandwidth up to 300Mbps on the 2.4Ghz, and 433Mbps on the faster, more reliable 5GHz bands. The unit is compact and fits discretely into any wall outlet. Right now its typical list price of $45.25 has dropped a significant 56% to just $19.99. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CBRS workshop to focus on burgeoning shared spectrum ecosystem

The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) gold rush is on, and the Wireless Innovation Forum is hosting a workshop in Las Vegas next week for those interested in becoming part of this new shared spectrum ecosystem.CBRS, as we explain in this FAQ, involves the opening up by the FCC of 150 MHz of spectrum to be shared for new commercial uses. The 3.5 GHz band will be shared among incumbents like the U.S. Navy, Priority Access License users (who win special access through an auction) and general users, which could include enterprises that want to build their private LTE networks for Internet of Things or other applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Huawei sees switch to flash as right time to rethink whole storage infrastructure

Huawei Technologies is going all flash with its latest enterprise storage system, the OceanStor Dorado V3.It's part of the new storage-as-a-service (STaaS) offering the company unveiled at Cebit on Monday, with which it aims to deliver the same experience on-premises and in the cloud. The Chinese equipment vendor is not the first to propose storage-as-a-service, but thinks now is the right time to make its move, as the convergence of big data, analytics and the internet of things increases the pressure on enterprise storage infrastructure.  "Large enterprises are talking of storage transformation, whether they should restructure their storage," said Wing Kin Leung, CTO of Huawei's enterprise business group.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New ARM Architecture Offers A DynamIQ Response To Compute

ARM has rearchitected its multi-core chips to they can better compete in a world where computing needs are becoming more specialized.

The new DynamIQ architecture will provide flexible compute, with up to eight different cores in a single cluster on a system on a chip. Each core can run at a different clock speed so a company making an ARM SoC can tailor the silicon to handle multiple workloads at varying power efficiencies. The DynamIQ architecture also adds faster access to accelerators for artificial intelligence or networking jobs, and a resiliency that allows it to be used in robotics, autonomous …

New ARM Architecture Offers A DynamIQ Response To Compute was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Mozilla beats rivals, patches Firefox’s Pwn2Own bug

Mozilla last week patched a Firefox vulnerability just a day after it was revealed during Pwn2Own, the first vendor to fix a flaw disclosed at the hacking contest."Congrats to #Mozilla for being the first vendor to patch vuln[erability] disclosed during #Pwn2Own," tweeted the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) Monday. ZDI, the bug brokerage run by Trend Micro, sponsored Pwn2Own.[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] Mozilla released Firefox 52.0.1 on Friday, March 17, with a patch for the integer overflow bug that Chaitin Security Research Lab leveraged in an exploit at Pwn2Own on Thursday, March 16. The Beijing-based group was awarded $30,000 by ZDI for the exploit, which combined the Firefox bug with one in the Windows kernel.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Mozilla beats rivals, patches Firefox’s Pwn2Own bug

Mozilla last week patched a Firefox vulnerability just a day after it was revealed during Pwn2Own, the first vendor to fix a flaw disclosed at the hacking contest."Congrats to #Mozilla for being the first vendor to patch vuln[erability] disclosed during #Pwn2Own," tweeted the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) Monday. ZDI, the bug brokerage run by Trend Micro, sponsored Pwn2Own.[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] Mozilla released Firefox 52.0.1 on Friday, March 17, with a patch for the integer overflow bug that Chaitin Security Research Lab leveraged in an exploit at Pwn2Own on Thursday, March 16. The Beijing-based group was awarded $30,000 by ZDI for the exploit, which combined the Firefox bug with one in the Windows kernel.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ARM steps up chip performance to catch up with Intel, AMD

Can ARM chips compete neck-and-neck with Intel and AMD on benchmarks? That could be happening sooner than you think.Starting next year, ARM processors will get significantly faster thanks to big changes in the company's Cortex-A chip designs. ARM is taking a page from rivals like AMD that have focused on raising the performance threshold in chips.ARM isn't known for superfast chips; it is instead mainly associated with power-efficient chips that give long battery life to devices. That focus has helped the company succeed in mobile devices, an area where Intel's power hungry chips failed.But applications like virtual reality and machine learning need more performance, and ARM is preparing its processors to take on those emerging applications. ARM is adding more cores, instructions, and faster pipelines in smaller spaces to boost performance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ARM steps up chip performance to catch up with Intel, AMD

Can ARM chips compete neck-and-neck with Intel and AMD on benchmarks? That could be happening sooner than you think.Starting next year, ARM processors will get significantly faster thanks to big changes in the company's Cortex-A chip designs. ARM is taking a page from rivals like AMD that have focused on raising the performance threshold in chips.ARM isn't known for superfast chips; it is instead mainly associated with power-efficient chips that give long battery life to devices. That focus has helped the company succeed in mobile devices, an area where Intel's power hungry chips failed.But applications like virtual reality and machine learning need more performance, and ARM is preparing its processors to take on those emerging applications. ARM is adding more cores, instructions, and faster pipelines in smaller spaces to boost performance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 reasons why China will rule tech, 2017 edition

China’s push to take over global technology leadership is relentless. It wants to lead in computing, semiconductors, research and development, and clean energy. It is accelerating science investment as the U.S. retreats.China may be planning a moon base. Surprised? Don’t be. It will soon have a manned space station. It is investing heavily in quantum technologies and it wants to be first to build an exascale supercomputer.In 2010, Computerworld looked at “Five reasons why China will rule tech.” Here's an update, and the case for China has grown stronger.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What to consider in developing BYOD policy

Why Have a BYOD Policy?Image by ThinkstockIn today’s work environment, employees are increasingly expected to be constantly available and communicating. Regardless of whether the company permits it, employees will use their personal devices for work. Instead of ignoring the inevitable, companies should develop and implement a BYOD policy that protects the company and balances productivity with security. Brandon N. Robinson Partner, Balch & Bingham LLP - Privacy and Data Security Practice, provides some tips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here