7 tips for managing an IT outsourcing contract

IT organizations put great focus into drawing up their outsourcing contracts, but those agreements alone do not guarantee satisfactory outcomes. Attorney Brad Peterson has seen it time and time again. “Time and money are spent on drafting the contract—often a substantial amount of money. And a tremendous amount of potential value is created in that contract,” says Peterson, partner in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and leader of its technology transactions practice.But then the engagement is handed over to a well-intentioned supplier management team that wasn’t involved in the contract and often can’t make heads or tails of what’s in it. “It’s understandable. Contracts are complex and confusing, and relationship managers are selected based on their knowledge of technology or their skill in building relationships, not on their knowledge of how to run a contract,” Peterson says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers link Middle East attacks to new victim in Europe

Kaspersky Labs announced new research this morning that shows some links between the massive Shamoon attack that took down 35,000 computers in Saudi Arabia to a new attack against a target in Europe.The Shamoon attack, which occurred in 2012, was followed by a series of related against against Gulf States earlier this year. The attacks were widely attributed to Iran.The new malware, called StoneDrill, is, like Shamoon, a wiper -- it destroys all the data on a computer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers link Middle East attacks to new victim in Europe

Kaspersky Labs announced new research this morning that shows some links between the massive Shamoon attack that took down 35,000 computers in Saudi Arabia to a new attack against a target in Europe.The Shamoon attack, which occurred in 2012, was followed by a series of related against against Gulf States earlier this year. The attacks were widely attributed to Iran.The new malware, called StoneDrill, is, like Shamoon, a wiper -- it destroys all the data on a computer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 7 ways to improve your Joomla security

Joomla has exploded in popularity as an open-source website creation tool for individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and developers. It has been downloaded 78 million times and currently powers millions of websites.Joomla websites have not been entirely unaffected by the cyber crime problems that have plagued content management systems (CMSs) and the internet in general. A wave of fake jQuery attacks hit Joomla and WordPress sites in 2015 and 2016, affecting over 4.5 million sites.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 7 ways to improve your Joomla security

Joomla has exploded in popularity as an open-source website creation tool for individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and developers. It has been downloaded 78 million times and currently powers millions of websites.Joomla websites have not been entirely unaffected by the cyber crime problems that have plagued content management systems (CMSs) and the internet in general. A wave of fake jQuery attacks hit Joomla and WordPress sites in 2015 and 2016, affecting over 4.5 million sites.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumer Reports to grade tech products on security, privacy

Consumer Reports, a major source for gadget and appliance reviews in the U.S., plans to start rating products on data security and privacy.On Monday, the non-profit publication unveiled a set of new testing standards it hopes will push the tech industry to create safer products."The goal is to help consumers understand which digital products do the most to protect their privacy and security, and give them the most control over their personal data," the publication said.Already, cybersecurity  experts are constantly finding new tech products, whether they be cars or smart teddy bears, that are often poorly secured and easy to hack.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumer Reports to grade tech products on security, privacy

Consumer Reports, a major source for gadget and appliance reviews in the U.S., plans to start rating products on data security and privacy.On Monday, the non-profit publication unveiled a set of new testing standards it hopes will push the tech industry to create safer products."The goal is to help consumers understand which digital products do the most to protect their privacy and security, and give them the most control over their personal data," the publication said.Already, cybersecurity  experts are constantly finding new tech products, whether they be cars or smart teddy bears, that are often poorly secured and easy to hack.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Robots are malfunctioning, hurting people

A mounting list of robot-related accidents has experts questioning whether the devices will be prone to more dangerous malfunctions or even programmed attacks.Notable mishaps that have been documented include a robotic security guard knocking over a child at a California shopping mall, a demonstration robot smashing a window at a Chinese conference—it caused a bystander to get injured, and 144 deaths in the United States caused by robotic surgery. All this according to security firm IOActive.+ Also on Network World: How secure are home robots? + These incidents “clearly demonstrate the serious potential consequences of robot malfunctions,” the consultancy says in a white paper it recently published about existing robot security (PDF).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Robots are malfunctioning, hurting people

A mounting list of robot-related accidents has experts questioning whether the devices will be prone to more dangerous malfunctions or even programmed attacks.Notable mishaps that have been documented include a robotic security guard knocking over a child at a California shopping mall, a demonstration robot smashing a window at a Chinese conference—it caused a bystander to get injured, and 144 deaths in the United States caused by robotic surgery. All this according to security firm IOActive.+ Also on Network World: How secure are home robots? + These incidents “clearly demonstrate the serious potential consequences of robot malfunctions,” the consultancy says in a white paper it recently published about existing robot security (PDF).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Which Linux distros should newbies use?

Easy or tough?Image by ThinkstockLinux has a bad rap as a daily driver – the programs aren’t written to run on Linux, it’s tricky to install stuff, and so on. But it might surprise people who think along those lines to learn that plenty of the distributions out there are actually quite simple to use. Here’s our latest appreciation of the desktop Linux landscape.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

83% off TechMatte Air Vent Magnetic Universal Car Mount for Smartphones, 2 Pack – Deal Alert

The MagGrip Vent Car Mount is a sturdy, cradle-less device holding system focused on simplicity. Pop it onto your car's air vent, and magnets do all the work. Currently a 2-pack is discounted significantly to just $8 on Amazon, where the product averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 7,000 people. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CoDel and Active Queue Management

Buffering packets in a network is both good and bad. It is good because a buffer can hold packets from one stream while another stream’s packets are being processed, to take up and release short bursts of traffic, to hold and then release packets when there is a very short interruption on the wire (or during a route change), and in many other situations. However, queues are bad when there is a standing queue, which means a particular flow always has some number of packets in a particular queue along the path between the source and the destination. This normally occurs at the narrowest point along the path, or rather the link with the lowest bandwidth. In a previous post, I looked at BBR, a change to the way TCP computes its window sizes, that attempts to reduce the amount of traffic “in flight” between a sender and receiver to reduce the number of packets being held in a particular buffer along the way.

This post will consider another solution: CoDel. CoDel is essentially an improved tail drop mechanism that provides the correct signals to TCP to slow down its send rate, or rather to reduce the window size (and Continue reading

Microsoft paying a bug bounty of $30,000

First off, I have to issue something of a correction regarding last week's blog post on Intel price cuts. As it turns out, I have been informed that Intel didn't cut the prices, Micro Center cut them as a loss leader, something it frequently does. It doesn't change the bargain prices, just the motivation. So, I wanted to set the record straight on that. Onward. Microsoft is looking for a few good bugs. And people who will keep it quiet. OK, so I have no evidence of direct causality, but it seems convenient. Over the past few weeks, Google has embarrassed Microsoft twice by publicly disclosing security vulnerabilities in Windows 10 that still have not been patched after 90 days. Google has no mercy with its Zero Day disclosures and plays no favorites. Any company that does not fix a bug by 90 days after Google informs them of it will be hung out to dry. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft paying a bug bounty of $30,000

First off, I have to issue something of a correction regarding last week's blog post on Intel price cuts. As it turns out, I have been informed that Intel didn't cut the prices, Micro Center cut them as a loss leader, something it frequently does. It doesn't change the bargain prices, just the motivation. So, I wanted to set the record straight on that. Onward. Microsoft is looking for a few good bugs. And people who will keep it quiet. OK, so I have no evidence of direct causality, but it seems convenient. Over the past few weeks, Google has embarrassed Microsoft twice by publicly disclosing security vulnerabilities in Windows 10 that still have not been patched after 90 days. Google has no mercy with its Zero Day disclosures and plays no favorites. Any company that does not fix a bug by 90 days after Google informs them of it will be hung out to dry. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM’s new Q program to include a 50-qubit quantum computer

Characters named Q in film and TV have been portrayed as being exceptional. Q in the James Bond movies served up futuristic gadgets, and Q in Star Trek was omnipotent.A new quantum computing program called Q at IBM will be remarkable in its own right. In a few years, IBM plans to create a quantum computer with more than 50 qubits, which should push conventional computers one step closer to the trash heap.IBM Q will deliver paid quantum computing consulting and services to users. It's much like IBM's Watson, which uses conventional computers, but Q uses quantum computers.The 50-qubit quantum computer will be 10 times larger than a 5-qubit system already housed by IBM. And the new system will be able to do things that conventional computers can't do. It will accelerate drug discovery and make scientific discoveries, IBM said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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