Worth Reading: Big buffers and reality

This whole big buffer nonsense has gotten out of hand (kinda like Trump and his H-yuge Border Wall or Clinton and her lack of ethics) and it’s time for this issue to be put to rest. For the last few years, the main messaging from Arista has been that you need big buffers for everything, especially for big data applications. I’m not saying it doesn’t make for a good marketing soundbite… —Packet Pushers

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The era of identity-based applications

Identity and access management (IAM) has always been a heavy burden for large organizations. Why? Multiple folks across companies—business people, software developers, IT operations, human resources, security, compliance auditors, etc.— play some role across the IAM spectrum.As a result of this IAM group hug, technology decisions tend to be made tactically without any central oversight or integrated strategy. But this behavior may be changing. According to ESG research, 49 percent of large organizations claim they now have a formal enterprise-wide strategy in which IAM technology decisions are managed by central IT. In other words, someone in IT is now responsible and accountable for all IAM technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Era of Identity-based Applications

Identity and access management (IAM) has always been a heavy burden for large organizations.  Why?  Multiple folks across companies – business people, software developers, IT operations, human resources, security, compliance auditors, etc. – play some role across the IAM spectrum.As a result of this IAM group hug, technology decisions tend to be made tactically without any central oversight or integrated strategy but this behavior may be changing.  According to ESG research, 49% of large organizations claim they now have a formal enterprise-wide strategy in which IAM technology decisions are managed by central IT (note: I am an ESG employee).  In other words, someone in IT is now responsible and accountable for all IAM technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Asana’s new feature lets users ‘track anything’

Asana is making it easier for users to adapt its work-tracking software to more than just task management.The company announced Thursday that it's launching support for creating custom fields inside the product, so that it's possible for people to use the same service they rely on for tracking work tasks to also manage other things. So, a recruiting team could use custom fields to track a candidate's name, status, interview times and more.The custom fields feature was first announced last year at an Asana press event. It's an important part of how the company plans to expand its product to reach not only its current user base, but also businesses with more complicated and customized workflows.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: SIM cards on the way out in cellular IoT

The miniscule slivers of plastic known as the SIM card are on their way out, at least in the machine-to-machine (M2M) space. The adoption of an embedded specification by the wireless industry is behind the change, explains Juniper Research in a press release about its recent report (subscription) on M2M for the Mobile Network Operator (MNO) vertical.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pokémon Go guide app with half a million downloads hacks Android devices

Security researchers have found a malicious application on Google Play that had over 500,000 downloads and was designed to gain complete control over Android devices.The application masqueraded as a guide for the popular Pokémon Go game and used multiple layers of obfuscation to bypass Google Play's malware detection mechanisms, researchers from Kaspersky Lab said in a blog post.The app contains a malicious module that doesn't execute immediately. Instead, the app waits for another application to be installed or uninstalled in order to determine if it's running on a real device or in an emulated environment, like the ones used to detect malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pokémon Go guide app with half a million downloads hacks Android devices

Security researchers have found a malicious application on Google Play that had over 500,000 downloads and was designed to gain complete control over Android devices.The application masqueraded as a guide for the popular Pokémon Go game and used multiple layers of obfuscation to bypass Google Play's malware detection mechanisms, researchers from Kaspersky Lab said in a blog post.The app contains a malicious module that doesn't execute immediately. Instead, the app waits for another application to be installed or uninstalled in order to determine if it's running on a real device or in an emulated environment, like the ones used to detect malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech leaders, activists call for Obama to pardon Snowden

Tech luminaries Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, and Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, have joined a new campaign pushing for a pardon of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.Other supporters of the PardonSnowden.org campaign, launched Wednesday, are Harvard law professor and tech policy author Lawrence Lessig; tech investor Esther Dyson; noted cryptographer and MIT professor Ron Rivest; and Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow.The campaign, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, asks supporters to sign a letter asking President Barack Obama to pardon the former NSA contractor. "Snowden’s actions ... set in motion the most important debate about government surveillance in decades, and brought about reforms that continue to benefit our security and democracy," the letter says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech leaders, activists call for Obama to pardon Snowden

Tech luminaries Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, and Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, have joined a new campaign pushing for a pardon of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.Other supporters of the PardonSnowden.org campaign, launched Wednesday, are Harvard law professor and tech policy author Lawrence Lessig; tech investor Esther Dyson; noted cryptographer and MIT professor Ron Rivest; and Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow.The campaign, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, asks supporters to sign a letter asking President Barack Obama to pardon the former NSA contractor. "Snowden’s actions ... set in motion the most important debate about government surveillance in decades, and brought about reforms that continue to benefit our security and democracy," the letter says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC Chair’s update on 5G wireless, robocalls, business data services & more

The following statement was made by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the United States Senate during a hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission" on Sept. 15.Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our work at the Federal Communications Commission. Since we last met six months ago, the Commission has continued to make strong progress on our policy agenda.  While I am pleased with this progress, our work is far from done.  With each passing day, communications technology grows more important to our economy and quality of life.  That means there’s no letting up at the Commission.  We must continue to promote core values like universal access, public safety, consumer protection, and competition at the same bold pace we have consistently maintained. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC Chair’s update on 5G wireless, robocalls, business data services & more

The following statement was made by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the United States Senate during a hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission" on Sept. 15.Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our work at the Federal Communications Commission. Since we last met six months ago, the Commission has continued to make strong progress on our policy agenda.  While I am pleased with this progress, our work is far from done.  With each passing day, communications technology grows more important to our economy and quality of life.  That means there’s no letting up at the Commission.  We must continue to promote core values like universal access, public safety, consumer protection, and competition at the same bold pace we have consistently maintained. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC Chair’s update on 5G wireless, robocalls, business data services & more

The following statement was made by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the United States Senate during a hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission" on Sept. 15.Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our work at the Federal Communications Commission. Since we last met six months ago, the Commission has continued to make strong progress on our policy agenda.  While I am pleased with this progress, our work is far from done.  With each passing day, communications technology grows more important to our economy and quality of life.  That means there’s no letting up at the Commission.  We must continue to promote core values like universal access, public safety, consumer protection, and competition at the same bold pace we have consistently maintained. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Moto G4 Play: Solid budget phone with a removable battery and microSD card

Testing the Moto G4 Play during the past week was pleasant, if not nostalgic.In a way, the Moto G4 Play’s removable battery, microSD card and one-handed, light, sturdy plastic form factor has a retro-design and feel to it. A metal and glass premium exterior is not a reasonable expectation because at $149 it is a budget-priced phone. In the budget category, it is good option.The removable batteries and microSD cards that were designed out of smartphones a few years ago over consumers’ objections are nice features. microSD cards have started to reemerge in some phones, offering 128GB of ROM and promising to increase that to 1TB when compatible cards become available. Few phones, though, have a removable battery.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

70% off Omaker M4 Portable Bluetooth Shower and Outdoor Speaker with 12 Hour Playtime – Deal Alert

The M4 speaker from Omaker is IP54 rated, so its rugged splash, shock and dustproof design makes it ideal for shower and outdoor use. The latest Bluetooth 4.0 technology helps it pair quickly with your device (tap-to-pair with NFC capable devices) and maintain a long 33-foot connection range. Crystal clear sound quality and robust bass is realized through a 3W audio driver and passive subwoofer. The M4 is capable of producing 12 hours of music at 80% volume, up to three times longer than similar-sized portable speakers. It  fully recharges in just 3 hours using an included Micro USB cable. The unit averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 4,400 people on Amazon (read reviews), many of which report sound quality that rivals more expensive speakers. Amazon indicates that its list price has been reduced significantly to just $26.99. See the discounted Omaker M4 speaker now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

NFV PoC: Proof of Collaboration

Download the 451 Research Advisory NFV PoC: Proof of Collaboration to gain valuable recommendations for moving forward with an NFV plan.

SAP turns to NTT to add driver data to its connected car analytics system

Safer passengers and healthier drivers might be among the outcomes of a new trial by a German software company and a Japanese telecommunications operator.NTT, the Japanese co-inventor of a sensing fabric used in health-monitoring clothing, is pairing up with business software developer SAP to collect and process real-time data on drivers' heart rate and alertness.SAP already sells a real-time analytics tool, Vehicle Insights, for processing data from connected vehicles.In the trial with NTT it will add information from NTT's IoT analytics platform to the database, allowing the analytics system to look for -- and perhaps act on -- links between drivers' state of health and other vehicle telemetry.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Clinton dodges H-1B question, but Trump wants changes

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump responded to series of questions about science policy, including two questions on immigration.What the answers reveal is this: Clinton and Trump are as divided as night and day on H-1B reforms. Trump supports reform and U.S. worker protections; Clinton simply avoided answering the question.But both candidates support the idea of making it possible for foreign students who graduate from U.S. schools to remain in this country. The only difference is that Clinton outlines a way to accomplish this policy objective, and Trump does not.The questions were put together by ScienceDebate.org, a group representing dozens of professional scientific organizations. The candidates' answers were released Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 ways to avoid alert fatigue

So much noiseImage by ThinkstockAs a company grows, more tools are required, and with more tools come more alerts and often a breakdown of processes and procedures to handle them. Soon enough, the alerts coming from each of your systems and tools sound like an obnoxiously loud cocktail party, everyone having different conversations about different things. As a result, Security and DevOps teams become so desensitized to these alerts that even when the system flags a truly anomalous activity, it may get ignored due to burnout.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Awareness training: How much is too much?

Security experts agree that humans are the weakest link in the security chain. Virtually all of them agree that security awareness training can strengthen many of those weaknesses.But how best to do that can generate some debate.Lysa Myers, a security researcher at ESET, summarized in a recent post what she said was a collective message from several presentations at the recent Black Hat conference: While it is possible to train employees to be "hyper-vigilant, it can create more problems than it solves.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The best messaging apps with end-to-end encryption

There is a growing consciousness about the desire to keep one’s messages private. Some are concerned about hackers, or worry about the government spying on them, but most people just agree with the general principle that what you say in your chat conversations ought to stay between you and the people you chat with.It’s not a pleasant idea to think that your messages could be archived for perpetuity on a large company’s server or analyzed by some algorithm. The quest for privacy has birthed a whole generation of apps that promise to give you exactly that. Services like Telegram and Signal have turned the phrase “end-to-end encryption” into a popular discussion. We're here to help you figure out what this is all about and which apps to try.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here