Windows 10 Anniversary Update: A guide to the builds

This summer, one year after the initial launch of Windows 10, Microsoft will release its first major update: the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It will be delivered in the usual way -- via Windows Update -- and will install automatically on its own.However, if you're curious (or apprehensive) about the upcoming update, you don't have to wait until the final release date to check it out. Microsoft has been releasing public preview builds, each one a little bit closer to the final version. Anyone can get and install those builds by first becoming part of Microsoft's Windows Insider Program, then joining what's called the Fast Ring.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

16 ways to build a better dev team

For all the talk of rock-star developers, we all know it takes a strong, coherent team working in concert to get the best work done. So here’s the question: What does it take to establish a great team of developers who create great products and work well across departments?We reached out to tech executives and engineering managers who have done exactly that and asked them to share their hard-earned wisdom of team building.[ Find out how to handle the real-world problems faced by developers, with InfoWorld's professional programmer's business survival guide. | Keep up with hot topics in programming with InfoWorld's Application Development newsletter. ] From finding the best fit for your next hire to keeping your team fresh and motivated, the following collective advice will have your team coding at its best.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trying to track down a phisher

Tracking down the phisherImage by REUTERS/Danish IsmailSeveral weeks ago, a key member of the WatchGuard Technologies finance team was targeted by a spear phishing attempt. Spear phishing is a type of phishing attack in which the perpetrator customizes their attack to a particular individual or group of individuals. The attacker gathers information on the victim and then tailors the attack to be more likely to fool the target. The would-be attack arrived as an email appearing to come from the finance employee’s manager, requesting an urgent wire transfer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trying to track down a phisher

Tracking down the phisherImage by REUTERS/Danish IsmailSeveral weeks ago, a key member of the WatchGuard Technologies finance team was targeted by a spear phishing attempt. Spear phishing is a type of phishing attack in which the perpetrator customizes their attack to a particular individual or group of individuals. The attacker gathers information on the victim and then tailors the attack to be more likely to fool the target. The would-be attack arrived as an email appearing to come from the finance employee’s manager, requesting an urgent wire transfer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Massive Acer security breach exposes highly sensitive data of 34,500 online shoppers

Computer maker Acer recently revealed to California’s Attorney General (AG) that hackers broke into the company’s online store and grabbed sensitive customer data. The leaked data includes information such as customer names, addresses, and credit card numbers including expiry dates and three-digit CVC security codes. The hack affects 34,500 customers based in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as first reported by ZDNet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Massive Acer security breach exposes highly sensitive data of 34,500 online shoppers

Computer maker Acer recently revealed to California’s Attorney General (AG) that hackers broke into the company’s online store and grabbed sensitive customer data. The leaked data includes information such as customer names, addresses, and credit card numbers including expiry dates and three-digit CVC security codes. The hack affects 34,500 customers based in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as first reported by ZDNet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT talent biggest roadblock to digital transformation

A global study from IDT, conducted in collaboration with SAP, surveyed 81 executives (65 percent of which identified themselves as CIOs) and found that 80 percent of businesses cite digital transformation as a priority. However, according to the report, only 35 percent of respondents said their business actually had a "clearly defined digital transformation strategy."Although digital transformation is important to businesses, companies are still dragging their heels on developing a strategy. One thing that might be holding businesses back the most is hiring, according to a study from The Hackett Group. The study found that for midsized and large businesses, one of the biggest roadblocks with digital transformation has been actually finding and sourcing talent with the right skills.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple may finally get clearance for stores in India

Apple may finally get clearance to set up its stores in India, following the Indian government’s decision Monday to liberalize rules requiring local sourcing of some products sold in foreign-owned, single-brand stores.The iPhone maker operates in the country through third-party owned, exclusive stores run by partners like Imagine, in addition to selling through retail chains and online e-commerce websites. But Apple considers the design and layout of its own stores a key element of its branding and retail experience.The Indian government, in a statement Monday, said the local sourcing requirements, which had been a hurdle for Apple to get clearance for its own branded stores, have been relaxed for up to three years. The new rules include a relaxed “sourcing regime” for an additional five years introduced for “entities undertaking single-brand retail trading of products having ‘state-of-art’ and ‘cutting edge’ technology."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Spearphishing attacks target boards

With great power comes great responsibility -- and also a great big target painted on your head. At least, that's the case lately with corporate boards of directors and cybercriminals launching spearphishing attacks."Since the beginning of the year we have serviced about 350 different clients that have had spearphishing attacks," said Michael Bruemmer, vice president for data breach resolution at Experian Information Solutions. "About a third were specifically targeted at board members."Board members get emails asking them for tax information or requesting bank transfers, which they typically forward to the company employee who is responsible and asking them to take care of it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Spearphishing attacks target boards

With great power comes great responsibility -- and also a great big target painted on your head. At least, that's the case lately with corporate boards of directors and cybercriminals launching spearphishing attacks."Since the beginning of the year we have serviced about 350 different clients that have had spearphishing attacks," said Michael Bruemmer, vice president for data breach resolution at Experian Information Solutions. "About a third were specifically targeted at board members."Board members get emails asking them for tax information or requesting bank transfers, which they typically forward to the company employee who is responsible and asking them to take care of it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to make mobile apps with FileMaker 15

The business world is full of inventories, catalogs and other lists that sit in spreadsheets or databases that would be more useful if you could take them out of the office. With FileMaker Go and FileMaker WebDirect, you can.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

5 Reasons We Started the Ansible Container Project

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Here at Ansible, we recently announced a new project called Ansible Container. Its purpose is to allow users to build, deploy, and orchestrate containers at scale, all from Ansible playbooks.

It’s still a young project, barely a month old at this point -- but we’re excited by it, and we think it has a great deal of potential. Here are five reasons why.

1. Because our community has been using Ansible to manage containers for quite a while now.

Ansible has been successful, in large part, by following where our community leads, and our community has been using Ansible to help manage containers for nearly as long as Ansible has been around.  Our community wrote the original Docker module in October 2013, and that module and other container modules have been among the most frequently used Ansible modules ever since. There are hundreds of community-maintained Ansible container images in Dockerhub, and there are excellent blog posts in which Ansible community members describe their own best practices for building and deploying containers. The next logical step was to start a project to bring together some of these best practices into tools that anyone could use.

2. Because the new Docker Continue reading

Acer online store breached, 34,000 customer credit cards stolen over the last year

If you live in the U.S. or Canada and purchased an Acer device from the company within the last year from its online store, then your credit card information is likely in the hands of cyber thugs. According to a sample breach notification letter sent to the California Attorney General’s office, Acer said, “We recently identified a security issue involving the information of certain customers who used our ecommerce site between May 12, 2015 and April 28, 2016, which resulted in unauthorized access by a third party.” Acer Mark Groveunder, Acer’s vice president of customer service, warned affected customers that the data stolen included names, addresses, credit card numbers as well the associated expiration date and three-digit CVV security code.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Acer online store breached, 34,000 customer credit cards stolen over the last year

If you live in the U.S. or Canada and purchased an Acer device from the company within the last year from its online store, then your credit card information is likely in the hands of cyber thugs. According to a sample breach notification letter sent to the California Attorney General’s office, Acer said, “We recently identified a security issue involving the information of certain customers who used our ecommerce site between May 12, 2015 and April 28, 2016, which resulted in unauthorized access by a third party.” Acer Mark Groveunder, Acer’s vice president of customer service, warned affected customers that the data stolen included names, addresses, credit card numbers as well the associated expiration date and three-digit CVV security code.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 8 tips to secure those IoT devices

As more and more Internet-connected devices find their way into our homes and businesses, it’s important to remember that they represent a security risk. The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly, and in the rush for convenience, our privacy and safety is often an afterthought. Leaving them unsecured is the digital equivalent of leaving the back door unlocked.INSIDER: 5 ways to prepare for Internet of Things security threats There are 5.5 million new things getting connected every day in 2016, as we head toward more than 20 billion by 2020, according to Gartner. That’s an awful lot of devices. They might bring all sorts of handy new features, but, whether it’s the latest cutting-edge baby monitor or a wireless doorbell camera that links to your phone, it’s also a network-connected computer and should be treated as such. Here are eight tips to help you secure those IoT devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Platform9 is the latest to ease the container deployment woes

The Docker initiative has been an amazing thing to watch.Over only a few short years, Docker has taken a pre-existing technology (the concept of Linux containers) and built a massive ecosystem around it. In the process, Docker (the company, as distinct from the open source project) has built itself an incredible valuation that it needs to try and live up to.+ Also on Network World: How Docker can transform your development teams +But that valuation, and attempt to justify it, are somewhat countered by the fact that Docker also relies on an ecosystem of vendors that all try to justify their existence. Thus the challenge remains: what should Docker (the company) do for itself, and what should it leave for third-party vendors to resolve?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDNSkills Plan Moving Forward

Hi to those of you subscribing and following. For those of you who have been watching of late, this is a brief note to let you know what’s going on, and what my plan is for ramping back up with writing posts here in this blogspace. Short version: I expect to be back to normal by August sometime, and I may post a few items here and there in the mean time.

Continue reading

Riding the new Wi-Fi wave (part 1)

Wireless mesh networking has been around for many years with business-level products and services, but it’s been pretty scarce in the home network space. The most famous user of a wireless mesh network (in which Wi-Fi clients talk to access nodes that can talk to other nodes, instead of a single router) is the wireless audio provider Sonos. But for the most part, improvements in Wi-Fi meant you still bought a singular router that you’d connect to a modem (or you have a combination modem/router given to you by your broadband provider). If you wanted to extend your network or improve coverage in parts of your house, you would need to buy a repeater/extender, which created an extra “hop” for network traffic (not optimal for services/apps that have a need for speed).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here