The craziest stories of the tech sector

Network World started its Wider Net stories in 2003 in an effort to lighten up our news pages, acknowledging that there is a lot more to the world of enterprise networking and IT other than speeds and feeds of switches and routers and WAN links. The story approach was modeled somewhat after the Wall Street Journal's famed and quirky front page A-Hed articles (i.e., the middle column), but tended more to networking topics, from "When animals attack…networks" to the story of networking's most famous couple, Alice and Bob of security lesson fame. While Network World did away with its formal weekly Wider Net articles when the publication switched over to publishing twice a month, we've tried to continue mixing in lighthearted pieces through our blogs and in other places on our website and print magazine. Here are some of our favorites:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft follows AWS into France with plan for new Azure data center

Microsoft is adding to its European cloud infrastructure, with plans to open new data centers in France next year, CEO Satya Nadella said Monday.The company has already spent US$3 billion growing its European cloud capabilities. These include data centers in the U.K. hosting Azure and Office 365 services, and in Germany hosting Azure.The French data centers will host Dynamics 365, Microsoft's new ERP and CRM offering, in addition to Azure and Office 365.The company has already won over the the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence and German auto parts manufacturer ZF to its cloud services. Ireland's Health Service Executive and the Franco-Japanese car-making partnership Renault-Nissan Alliance are also customers, it said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

37% off Elite Tactical Waterproof Flashlight 1200 Lumen Cree LED with Zoom For Self Defense – Deal Alert

The Elite Tactical Pro 300 Series Tactical Flashlight is constructed from heavy-duty, military grade material, and claims to be the best and brightest flashlight on the market with a powerful 1200 lumen intensity. It's built with Cree LED technology and is complete with a zoomable feature that allows you to concentrate light into specific areas, something they've indicated could be useful in situations requiring self-defense. The design is waterproof and shockproof making it ideal for rainy nights, emergency use during a flood or storm, or while camping, hunting, or hiking. Keep it in your kitchen cupboard, your car or an emergency kit. The Pro 300 comes with rechargeable batteries for extra convenience. The Elite Pro 300 averages 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon and its typical list price of $30 has been discounted 37% to $19. Tired of your flashlight breaking whenever it's run over by an airplane? Check out the discounted Elite Pro 300 on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

U.S. cellular carriers charge too much, and here’s proof

If you think your mobile phone bill is too damn high, you’re absolutely right. Like many people, I’ve always felt I was overpaying for mobile service. (Talk to IT departments at companies large and small, and many will tell you that despite significant corporate discounts, they also feel they pay too much. )And there’s no doubt we’re all paying a lot. According to a J.D. Power report, the average U.S. monthly cell phone bill was a whopping $73 in 2014. Those are the most recent averages I could find, but if you look at data plans from the big four U.S. carriers, data plans start at around $50 a month, depending on how much data you’re buying, and head straight up from there. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump calls for US to use offensive cyberweapons

The U.S. government needs to be ready to use its offensive cyberweapons in response to attacks from other nations, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday.The U.S. has significant offensive cybercapabilities, but it has been shy about deploying them, Trump said during a speech in Herdon, Virginia. "This is the warfare of the future," he said. The U.S. should also increase its use of cyberweapons to attack terrorists, Trump said. President Barack Obama has failed to protect the nation's cybersecurity and a new focus is needed, added Trump, who has largely avoided technology issues in his campaign. Trump said he will create an international cybersecurity task force to battle hackers, and he will ask U.S. military leaders for suggestions on how to improve the nation's cyberdefenses. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump calls for US to use offensive cyberweapons

The U.S. government needs to be ready to use its offensive cyberweapons in response to attacks from other nations, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday.The U.S. has significant offensive cybercapabilities, but it has been shy about deploying them, Trump said during a speech in Herdon, Virginia. "This is the warfare of the future," he said. The U.S. should also increase its use of cyberweapons to attack terrorists, Trump said. President Barack Obama has failed to protect the nation's cybersecurity and a new focus is needed, added Trump, who has largely avoided technology issues in his campaign. Trump said he will create an international cybersecurity task force to battle hackers, and he will ask U.S. military leaders for suggestions on how to improve the nation's cyberdefenses. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Rise of the SPI: Atlassian spin or a better variation of the API?

I’ve long been a proponent of organizations that have an API-driven strategy. API (Application Programming Interface) is a term used to describe the technical integration points between applications, between devices and between services. It is, for want of a better analogy, the small piece of code that acts as the universal socket into which other tools, products or devices can plug. In a time where legendary venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen famously quipped that software is eating the world, APIs are the technology pieces that give software teeth.So, given my bullishness about the API space, I was interested to hear from Atlassian about a new concept, Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs), and how they can do more, be more and achieve more.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Can credit cards with CVVs that automatically change every hour kill off card fraud?

When shopping online and paying with a credit card or debit card, you have to enter the three-digit CVV (card verification value) from the back. These are card-not-present transactions, and entering the security code is supposed to help verify that you physically have the card. But cyber thugs have plenty of ways to get hold of your CVV and burn through your money until you happen to notice the purchases and cancel your card. In fact, card-not-present transactions made up 65 percent of all card fraud.A French digital payment security company called Oberthur Technologies (OT) thinks it can do away such fraud by changing static CVVs to dynamic CVVs, which change every hour. If a crook gets hold of your card number, his or her shopping spree could last no more than an hour; after the security code changes, the card number would be useless.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Can credit cards with CVVs that automatically change every hour kill off card fraud?

When shopping online and paying with a credit or debit card, you have to enter the three-digit CVV (card verification value) from the back. These are card-not-present transactions and entering the security code is supposed to help verify that you physically have the card. But cyber thugs have plenty of ways to get hold of your CVV and burn through your money until you happen to notice the purchases and cancel your card. In fact, card-not-present transactions made up 65 percent of all card fraud.A French digital payment security company called Oberthur Technologies (OT) thinks it can do away such fraud by changing static CVVs to dynamic CVVs which change every hour. If a crook gets hold of your card number, his or her shopping spree could last no more than an hour; after the security code changes, the card number would be useless.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Data leaks evolving into weapons of business destruction

Most of the recent data breaches involve customer information such as user names and passwords, credit card numbers, and medical histories. The companies hacked are hurt -- they have to contact victims, pay for credit monitoring services and fines, and may lose customers, brand reputation, and market value -- but that is collateral damage.Or it has been.Increasingly, attackers are using data leaks to target the companies themselves, going after proprietary or embarrassing information and releasing it in such a way as to do the most harm.That's a change that companies need to be aware of, said Andrew Serwin, co-chair of the global privacy and data security group at San Francisco-based law firm Morrison & Foerster.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ICANN transition moves forward, despite last-minute attempt to block it

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the long-time coordinator of the internet's Domain Name System, is independent of U.S. government oversight, at least for now.The U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration's planned turnover of ICANN oversight to the wider internet community happened early Saturday morning, despite a last-ditch lawsuit filed by four state attorneys general attempting to block the move.Late Friday, a judge in Texas refused to issue an injunction that would have forced the NTIA to retain its oversight of ICANN's coordination of the Domain Name System root and IP addressing functions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ICANN transition moves forward, despite last-minute attempt to block it

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the long-time coordinator of the internet's Domain Name System, is independent of U.S. government oversight, at least for now.The U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration's planned turnover of ICANN oversight to the wider internet community happened early Saturday morning, despite a last-ditch lawsuit filed by four state attorneys general attempting to block the move.Late Friday, a judge in Texas refused to issue an injunction that would have forced the NTIA to retain its oversight of ICANN's coordination of the Domain Name System root and IP addressing functions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Designing a 21st century business? Ask an 8-year-old

“If you ever happen to find yourself in Indonesia, there are two important things you need to know about the way the internet operates there. The first thing is before anyone can look at anything online all of the content first has to pass through this tiny, disorganized, chaotic server room in Jakarta. The second thing you need to know is that there’s a man in charge of that room” — and he can take anything offline at any time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

IDG Contributor Network: No IoT project is an island. Oracle connects IoT to mainstream enterprise apps

No man is an island.Neither are enterprise IoT projects. Enterprise technology is meant to enhance customer service and improve business efficiency. Internet of Things (IoT) projects have to integrate with other business applications to make this happen. How do you bridge IoT islands to mainland business applications?A recent project by Ephlux with Oracle IoT Cloud Service shows the way. The need The project involved a commercial HVAC contracting service that handled the installation and repair of several thousand air conditioners. The company was struggling to provide good customer service without eroding their profit margins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Decoy networks are the secret to deflecting hackers

Attackers have a time advantage over static computer networks because the bad guys can simply hover around the network for long periods, study it and look for an advantage. The computer network is usually just sitting there, dawdling like unfortunate prey silhouetted in a hunter’s rifle scope.The observing hackers can even disappear for a while, return and find nothing’s changed. The vulnerabilities are still in place. Bang! The perp hits when it’s convenient, and it’s all over.The best solution to this time-advantage problem are computer defenses that sense malevolent investigations of the network and then squirt the attack over to a fake network that proffers no intelligence about the genuine network, according to some. They were written about as long ago as 2004 in the International Journal of Digital Evidence (PDF).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Designing your business for the 21st century

“Most companies are simply not designed to survive. They become successful on the basis of one big idea or breakthrough product,” says CEO Mike Walsh of Tomorrow, a global consultancy that helps design 21st century businesses. The companies that will thrive in the near future are the ones not only embracing change but breaking the rules. Learn how to leverage disruptive innovation, solve business problems with social networks and apply “the new lean IT mindset” to sharpen your focus on how future customers will think, talk and transact.

IoT malware behind record DDoS attack is now available to all hackers

The source code for a trojan program that infected hundreds of thousands of internet-of-things devices and used them to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks has been published online, paving the way for more such botnets.The code for the trojan, which its creator calls Mirai, was released Friday on an English-language hackers' forum, cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs reported over the weekend. Krebs' website was the target of a record DDoS attack two weeks ago that was launched from the Mirai botnet.The trojan's creator, who uses the online handle Anna-senpai, said that the decision to release the source code was taken because there's a lot of attention now on IoT-powered DDoS attacks and he wants to get out of this business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT malware behind record DDoS attack is now available to all hackers

The source code for a trojan program that infected hundreds of thousands of internet-of-things devices and used them to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks has been published online, paving the way for more such botnets.The code for the trojan, which its creator calls Mirai, was released Friday on an English-language hackers' forum, cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs reported over the weekend. Krebs' website was the target of a record DDoS attack two weeks ago that was launched from the Mirai botnet.The trojan's creator, who uses the online handle Anna-senpai, said that the decision to release the source code was taken because there's a lot of attention now on IoT-powered DDoS attacks and he wants to get out of this business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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