Microsoft’s year in review: The highs and lows of 2016

After the turmoil and chaos of the Ballmer years, the Nadella Era of Microsoft is almost boring. The company is executing well with a few misfires—nobody's perfect or flawless—controversy is minimal and employees seem content for the first time in ages. CEO Satya Nadella enjoys a 95 percent approval rating, according to Glassdoor. That doesn't mean 2016 was an uneventful year, just quieter than in the past with no major blowups. But let's look back at the year that was in Microsoft highs and lows. High: Microsoft introduced its real-time translation technology for Skype, creating the sort-of equivalent to the Star Trek universal translator where voice conversations would be translated in real time. We learned why the Skype translator came out. Nadella saw it still running as a lab project and lit a fire under the researchers to productize it. He wanted to see more of an effort to make commercial projects out of research experiments, and the translator was one of them. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Exaggerating the End of NetEng

The argument around learning to code, it seems, always runs something like this:

We don’t need network engineers any longer, or we won’t in five years. Everything is going to be automated. All we’ll really need is coders who can write a python script to make it all work. Forget those expert level certifications. Just go to a coding boot camp, or get a good solid degree in coding, and you’ll be set for the rest of your life!

It certainly seems plausible on the surface. The market is pretty clearly splitting into definite camps—cloud, disaggregated, and hyperconverged—and this split is certainly going to drive a lot of change in what network engineers do every day. But is this idea of abandoning network engineering skills and replacing them wholesale with coding skills really viable?

To think this question through, it’s best to start with another one. Assume everyone in the world decides to become a coder tomorrow. Every automotive engineer and mechanic, every civil engineer and architect, every chef, and every grocer moves into coding. The question that should rise just at this moment is: what is it that’s being coded? Back end coders code database systems and business logic. Continue reading

WUMT is a viable Windows Update alternative

WUMT is short for Windows Update MiniTool, a free software tool that handles Windows updates without requiring use of the built-in Update & Security facility in Windows 10. WUMT, which originally appeared on the Wilders Security Forums in October 2015, comes from an anonymous Russian translator who goes by "Mr. X." He maintains the tool on a Spanish language page on blogspot, where he regularly updates the program, currently numbered 30.09.2016 (which corresponds to its release date at the end of September 2016). You can also download the tool from MajorGeeks.com.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Samsung reportedly wraps up probe into exploding Galaxy Note7s

As Samsung looks to publicly move past the Note7 debacle with a series of upcoming carrier updates designed to brick any remaining devices, the company is also moving forward with its internal investigation of the issue. According to a report from South Korea-based The Investor, Samsung has wrapped up its probe of the phablet’s exploding batteries.Very few details are offered in the report, but the publication says Samsung’s findings have been sent to the appropriate agencies, Korea Testing Laboratory and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration-approved UL. Thus far, Samsung has been mostly mum on the cause of Note7 fires around the world, but independent third-party investigations have pointed to the devices’ extreme thinness as a likely culprit. A representative for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Medical data: Accessible and irresistible for cyber criminals

How valuable is personal healthcare data?Apparently it depends. Based on at least some price comparisons on the Dark Web – the underground online marketplace for cyber criminals – electronic health records (EHR) are not even close to premium goods.McAfee, now a division of Intel Security, reported recently that the price for an individual medical record ranges from a fraction of a cent to $2.50, while a so-called “fullz” record – name, Social Security number plus financial account information from a credit or debit card can fetch $14 to $25.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Medical data: Accessible and irresistible for cyber criminals

How valuable is personal healthcare data?Apparently it depends. Based on at least some price comparisons on the Dark Web – the underground online marketplace for cyber criminals – electronic health records (EHR) are not even close to premium goods.McAfee, now a division of Intel Security, reported recently that the price for an individual medical record ranges from a fraction of a cent to $2.50, while a so-called “fullz” record – name, Social Security number plus financial account information from a credit or debit card can fetch $14 to $25.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Mobile banking trojans adopt ransomware features

Cybercriminals are adding file-encrypting features to traditional mobile banking trojans, creating hybrid threats that can steal sensitive information and lock user files at the same time.One such trojan is called Faketoken and its primary functionality is to generate fake login screens for more than 2,000 financial applications in order to steal login credentials. The malicious app also displays phishing pages to steal credit card information, and it can read and send text messages.Faketoken's creators have added the ability to encrypt user files stored on the phone's SD card sometime in July and have since released thousands of builds with this functionality, according to researchers from Kaspersky Lab.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Mobile banking trojans adopt ransomware features

Cybercriminals are adding file-encrypting features to traditional mobile banking trojans, creating hybrid threats that can steal sensitive information and lock user files at the same time.One such trojan is called Faketoken and its primary functionality is to generate fake login screens for more than 2,000 financial applications in order to steal login credentials. The malicious app also displays phishing pages to steal credit card information, and it can read and send text messages.Faketoken's creators have added the ability to encrypt user files stored on the phone's SD card sometime in July and have since released thousands of builds with this functionality, according to researchers from Kaspersky Lab.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How edge compute is making cameras ‘conscious’

Cameras used to be more about the lenses and the aperture, but today’s security and sportscams are building in technology to make them “conscious,” using edge computing and on-chip processing to get past challenges around massive data generation and poor image quality and bringing exciting new capabilities, such as facial and object recognition, in the camera itself.Take the example of Silk Labs, a company using intelligent real-time video to alert people when a package has been delivered at the home door or alert them about a stranger at the door. Or consider Knit, a camera that can see how well your baby is sleeping, inform parents about her sleep trends and monitor breathing for peace of mind during the night—all without any devices attached to the child. And more will come. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Has Amazon Overthrown Apple as the ‘I Hate Buttons’ Leader?

 

Steve Jobs is notorious for hating buttons. Here's Jobs explaining the foulness of buttons during his famous iPhone introduction:

What's wrong with their [other phones] user interface? The problem with them is really sort of in the bottom 40. They all have these keyboard that are there whether you need them or not to be there. And they all have these control buttons that are fixed in plastic and are the same for every application. Well every application wants a slightly different user interface, a slightly optimized set of buttons just for it. And what happens if you think of a great idea six months from now? You can't run around and add a button to these things. They're already shipped. So what do you do? It doesn't work because the buttons and the controls can't change.

The iPhone solved the button problem with a new multi-touch screen and by using your finger as the pointing device (not a nasty nasty stylus). We all know how this works now, but it was novel back in the olden days.

The iPhone was one of three new products based on revolutionary user interface development: the mouse and the Macintosh; the click-wheel Continue reading

Can Teridion Really Boost Internet Throughput?

Teridion claims to bring cloud optimized routing to dynamic content delivery. The home page continues We go beyond traditional CDN and WAN optimization combining the best of SDN and NFV to generate a better QoS and QoE for customers of cloud-based content , application, and service providers. Got that? Perhaps it’s not the most succinct elevator pitch, but Teridion’s concept is at the very least interesting, and as a thought exercise it’s a fascinating look at how the Internet both enables us, yet fails us in so many ways. Even if the product is not for you, the problem Teridion claims to solve is an good thought exercise in and of itself, and it brings to the forefront the reliance we place on the internet despite the fact that we have no control over how our traffic traverses it.

Morpheus

Perhaps Morpheus is being slightly misleading in the image above, but otherwise the statement is pretty much true, although this isn’t a product intended for purchase by home users, for example. At its core, Teridion’s product concept is actually fairly simple. The Internet is used as a conduit to move data between locations around the world because it’s significantly more cost effective than Continue reading

Intel’s Joule 550x computer ships, but initial units heavily overpriced

Intel is now shipping a new single-board computer, the Joule 550x, that will challenge the dominance of Raspberry Pi.The board was announced in August but didn't ship right away. The Joule 550x is a full-fledged computer on a small circuit board, and it packs more horsepower and graphics capabilities than the Raspberry Pi 3.But at prices of up to US$349, the Joule 550x costs about 10 times more than Raspberry Pi 3. The board is now available from online retailer Mouser. It is available for $291 on Newegg.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 5 most common data privacy misconceptions

Average internet users are starting to realize they should be protecting their personal information better. But do they understand why?Protecting private data is more important than many people realize, and also quite simple. I’d like to unpack the top five most common misconceptions of cybersecurity to demonstrate why you should learn how to protect yourself and your data. 1. I have nothing to hide. Why do I need my data to be encrypted?No skeletons in your closet? No searches you’d prefer didn’t surface? That’s fine, but what about your credit card information, passwords and Social Security number? Just because you don’t have dirty laundry to air doesn’t mean your personal data isn’t worth protecting.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 5 most common data privacy misconceptions

Average internet users are starting to realize they should be protecting their personal information better. But do they understand why?Protecting private data is more important than many people realize, and also quite simple. I’d like to unpack the top five most common misconceptions of cybersecurity to demonstrate why you should learn how to protect yourself and your data. 1. I have nothing to hide. Why do I need my data to be encrypted?No skeletons in your closet? No searches you’d prefer didn’t surface? That’s fine, but what about your credit card information, passwords and Social Security number? Just because you don’t have dirty laundry to air doesn’t mean your personal data isn’t worth protecting.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: The economic model of Marai

Several media outlets have reported that a botnet based on the TR-064/TR-069 Mirai variant is being used to provide DDoS as a Service. These so-called Booter/Stresser or DDoS-for-hire services allow anyone willing to pay the price the ability to mount a DDoS attack against targets of their choice. Of course the fact that a botnet, Mirai-based or otherwise, is being used to make money should not come as a shock to anyone. Indeed, that is the whole purpose of this botnet. The economic model roughly mimics that of a mobile virtual network operator or MVNO. —Arbor

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Senators call for special committee to investigate Russian election hacking

The election is well over, but the storm is still brewing with no end in sight when it comes to trying to figure out what to do about Russian hacks aimed at influencing the election.On Sunday Dec. 11, US Senators John McCain, Chuck Schumer, Lindsey Graham and Jack Reed urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell not to allow an investigation into Russian interference of the election to become a partisan issue. It’s an issue which “should alarm every American.”That same day, President-elect Donald Trump blew off the idea that the intelligence community had a clue as to whom was behind the hacks. His transition team later added, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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