Smackdown: Office 365 vs. G Suite productivity

Google has been trying for years to get businesses to abandon Microsoft Office in favor of what it now calls G Suite, the collaboration-oriented trio of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, plus companion apps Gmail and Drive. Microsoft has long been the productivity standard-bearer, with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, supplemented by Outlook and most recently OneDrive.Office 365 vs. G Suite: DocumentsOffice 365 vs. G Suite: SpreadsheetsOffice 365 vs. G Suite: PresentationsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

3 enterprise-strength file sync services to check out

This should be the year your organization looks to dump its consumer file-sharing software. Don't get me wrong -- many of those services are great for individuals, but they're not really suitable for enterprises. There are other products, however, that offer the file sync that Dropbox and Box and others do so well and so seamlessly, while also providing enterprise-level controls around access, encryption, identity, and more.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Experts warn businesses not to over-buy on unlimited data plans

Unlimited data plans, like the one announced this week by Verizon, are mostly irrelevant to large businesses that negotiate lower prices with carriers for large pools of data, voice and text for hundreds of workers.But smaller businesses -- say, those with fewer than 50 workers -- could benefit from an unlimited plan, especially if they don't have an assigned telecom manager who manages wireless contracts."Smaller organizations that don't have the staff or capacity to manage their mobility budgets could benefit" from an unlimited plan, said Michael Nziolek, vice president of strategic consulting at Tangoe, a telecom expense management consultancy.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Too many victims say yes to ransomware

If you are a victim of ransomware, don’t pay!That has been the mantra of the FBI for several years now – one that was forcefully echoed by one of the nation’s highest-profile security bloggers – Brian Krebs – in a recent post.But based on the statistics, either a lot of people aren’t listening, or it’s a bit more complicated than that. The reality is that the success of ransomware isn’t just increasing. It’s exploding.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Too many victims say yes to ransomware

If you are a victim of ransomware, don’t pay!That has been the mantra of the FBI for several years now – one that was forcefully echoed by one of the nation’s highest-profile security bloggers – Brian Krebs – in a recent post.But based on the statistics, either a lot of people aren’t listening, or it’s a bit more complicated than that. The reality is that the success of ransomware isn’t just increasing. It’s exploding.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

9 simple ways to raise capital for your ecommerce startup

It is easier than ever, or so it seems, to open a new business, especially an ecommerce or tech business. But getting money to fund your startup, especially with so many new businesses competing for the same pool of seed money, can be tough. So which methods, or sources, are the most likely to get or give you the money you need to grow your business? Following are nine of the best, according to entrepreneurs and investors.“In the first six months of building my startup, Humblee, we participated and won the Make It in Brooklyn pitch competition,” says Zuley Clarke, cofounder, Humblee. “In addition to the prize money, we received valuable feedback from influential judges, made connections with investors and generated a buzz surrounding our business. Winning the pitch competition was incredible, but the benefits of simply entering [a pitch competition] are great too.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Report: some small cities have surprisingly high number of exposed devices

Trend Micro this morning released a report about the exposed cyberassets in the top U.S. cities and most critical industry segments -- and in many cases, it was the smaller municipalities that had the largest number of problems."Larger cities had fewer systems being exposed," said Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro.Houston, for example, had 3,900,208 exposed devices, compared with 1,031,325 in New York City, even though New York has nearly four times as many people.But many of the cities with the highest numbers of exposed devices were even smaller. Sometimes, much, much smaller.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Report: some small cities have surprisingly high number of exposed devices

Trend Micro this morning released a report about the exposed cyberassets in the top U.S. cities and most critical industry segments -- and in many cases, it was the smaller municipalities that had the largest number of problems."Larger cities had fewer systems being exposed," said Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro.Houston, for example, had 3,900,208 exposed devices, compared with 1,031,325 in New York City, even though New York has nearly four times as many people.But many of the cities with the highest numbers of exposed devices were even smaller. Sometimes, much, much smaller.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 Internet of Things companies to watch

Network World increasingly has been writing about companies transforming their businesses via the Internet of Things rather than just tracking the latest IoT vendor announcements. But after taking a spin through our ongoing and interactive startup funding timeline, we figured it was a good time to round up some of the latest startups to rein in venture capital for their IoT-related businesses. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 Internet of Things companies to watch

Network World increasingly has been writing about companies transforming their businesses via the Internet of Things rather than just tracking the latest IoT vendor announcements. But after taking a spin through our ongoing and interactive startup funding timeline, we figured it was a good time to round up some of the latest startups to rein in venture capital for their IoT-related businesses. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 features Linux could borrow from other systems

7 features Linux distros should addImage by LinuxLinux (or, GNU/Linux, if you prefer) distributions are absolutely amazing—stable, fast, flexible. Your average Linux-based system is a veritable powerhouse of functionality—a tour de force of what computers can accomplish. But from time to time, other operating systems have some pretty great ideas. Here are seven of my personal favorites that Linux distributions might want to consider “borrowing.” Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple smartphones outsold Samsung’s in Q4

Apple has overtaken Samsung Electronics in smartphone sales for the first time in two years -- but don't count on it staying ahead for long.Samsung sold 76.8 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, giving it a market share of 17.8 percent, but it was just beaten by Apple, which sold 77 million iPhones for a 17.9 percent share, according to figures from Gartner.The fourth quarter is usually a strong one for Apple, boosted by holiday sales of the new generation of iPhones it releases each September, said Anshul Gupta, a research director at Gartner.For Samsung, though, 2016 ended particularly badly, dominated by the fiasco around the recall of its incendiary Galaxy Note7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Doubts abound over US action on cybersecurity

How should the U.S. respond to cyber attacks? That’s been a major question at this year’s RSA security conference, following Russia’s suspected attempt to influence last year’s election. Clearly, the government should be doing more on cybersecurity, said U.S. lawmakers and officials at the show, but they admit that politics and policy conflicts have hampered the government's approach.  “I wish the federal government could do this, but it’s very hard, unfortunately, due to partisan politics,” said Virginia State Governor Terry McAuliffe, during a speech at the show. “They haven’t been able to take the lead on this issue as they should have.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Doubts abound over US action on cybersecurity

How should the U.S. respond to cyber attacks? That’s been a major question at this year’s RSA security conference, following Russia’s suspected attempt to influence last year’s election. Clearly, the government should be doing more on cybersecurity, said U.S. lawmakers and officials at the show, but they admit that politics and policy conflicts have hampered the government's approach.  “I wish the federal government could do this, but it’s very hard, unfortunately, due to partisan politics,” said Virginia State Governor Terry McAuliffe, during a speech at the show. “They haven’t been able to take the lead on this issue as they should have.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T plans a national IoT network with LTE-M by midyear

AT&T is accelerating its rollout of LTE-M, an IoT network that’s already being used to track shipping containers and pallets, monitor water use and connect fleets to the internet.The carrier said Tuesday it will have nationwide LTE-M coverage in the U.S. by the middle of this year, six months ahead of schedule. Previously, AT&T had said LTE-M would cover the U.S. by year’s end.That means everywhere in the country that AT&T has an LTE network, it will also offer LTE-M. By the end of the year, it will have LTE-M across Mexico too, creating a broad coverage area for businesses that operate on both sides of the border.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here