Hot security startups to watch

While there’s talk that investment dollars for security startups are getting harder to find, entrepreneurs still manage to deliver a range of hardware, software and services that protect data, networks and corporate reputations.This roundup of 13 such companies that we’re keeping an eye on runs the gamut from cloud security services to fraud prevention to protecting supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and Internet of Things devices.+ SEE LAST YEAR'S LIST of Security startups to watch +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco: IP traffic will surpass the zettabyte level in 2016

IP traffic will grow in a massive way as 10 billion new devices come online over the next five years.Those are just a couple of the amazing facts found in Cisco’s 11th annual Visual Networking Index look at all things in the communications world.+More on Network World: The most momentous tech events of the past 30 years+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hot security startups to watch

While there’s talk that investment dollars for security startups are getting harder to find, entrepreneurs still manage to deliver a range of hardware, software and services that protect data, networks and corporate reputations.This roundup of 13 such companies that we’re keeping an eye on runs the gamut from cloud security services to fraud prevention to protecting supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and Internet of Things devices.+ SEE LAST YEAR'S LIST of Security startups to watch +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Check your BITS, because deleting malware might not be enough

Attackers are abusing the Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to re-infect computers with malware after they've been already cleaned by antivirus products.The technique was observed in the wild last month by researchers from SecureWorks while responding to a malware incident for a customer. The antivirus software installed on a compromised computer detected and removed a malware program, but the computer was still showing signs of malicious activity at the network level.Upon further investigation, the researchers found two rogue jobs registered in BITS, a Windows service that's used by the OS and other apps to download updates or transfer files. The two malicious jobs periodically downloaded and attempted to reinstall the deleted malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Check your BITS, because deleting malware might not be enough

Attackers are abusing the Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to re-infect computers with malware after they've been already cleaned by antivirus products.The technique was observed in the wild last month by researchers from SecureWorks while responding to a malware incident for a customer. The antivirus software installed on a compromised computer detected and removed a malware program, but the computer was still showing signs of malicious activity at the network level.Upon further investigation, the researchers found two rogue jobs registered in BITS, a Windows service that's used by the OS and other apps to download updates or transfer files. The two malicious jobs periodically downloaded and attempted to reinstall the deleted malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon to bid $3B for Yahoo’s core Internet business

Verizon Communications will be bidding about US$3 billion for the Internet assets of ailing Yahoo, according to a newspaper report.The communications company will try to beat other potential bidders  such as private-equity firm TPG with a deal that would likely aim to combine Yahoo Web properties, with over 1 billion users a month, with Verizon’s growing business in online ads, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.The bidding is far from final and Yahoo is expected to hold at least one more cycle of bidding, WSJ said quoting people familiar with the matter. But the price offered by Verizon could be an indicator of which way the fight for the acquisition of the Internet company is going.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

U.S. Cyber Command struggles to retain top cybersecurity talent

At U.S. Cyber Command, the top brass has made recruiting top talent a leading priority, but those efforts have been slowed by challenges in attracting and retaining the next generation of cyber warriors.Maj. Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of Cyber Command's Cyber National Mission Force, spoke to those struggles in a recent online event hosted by Federal News Radio.[ Related: 'HACKERS WANTED' Report: NSA Not Having Trouble Filing Cybersecurity Jobs ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

U.S. Cyber Command struggles to retain top cybersecurity talent

At U.S. Cyber Command, the top brass has made recruiting top talent a leading priority, but those efforts have been slowed by challenges in attracting and retaining the next generation of cyber warriors.Maj. Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of Cyber Command's Cyber National Mission Force, spoke to those struggles in a recent online event hosted by Federal News Radio.[ Related: 'HACKERS WANTED' Report: NSA Not Having Trouble Filing Cybersecurity Jobs ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security blindspots: websites, network architects, and third-party code

It is no easy task to secure today's digital enterprise. With all of the irons in the fire of the digital ecosystem, there is a lot that can compromise the corporate website. Both website visitors and Internet users are vulnerable to web-based malware, and it is increasingly more difficult for security practitioners to thwart web-based attacks.Even with the daily occurrence of breaches, some organizations are not thinking about security, especially those enterprises for whom a large percentage of their revenue comes directly through the website. Many companies that do worry about security, think of it in terms of restricting internal users from accessing what might be potentially risky sites.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Polycom RealConnect makes multi-vendor videoconferencing easy

Videoconferencing and the enterprise have had a good old love-hate relationship over the past few decades. It’s kind of like what’s happening with Tom Brady and the NFL. Both know they’re better off with each other, but there’s so much historical pain that it’s hard to move on and give each other another shot.Enterprise video has come a long way over the past five years, but there are so many painful memories of how things were that many IT and business leaders don’t want to give video another chance. However, it’s worth taking another look. Complicated user interfaces have been replaced with easy-to-use touchscreens. IT no longer has to roll around carts and spend half the meeting time trying to dial the other side’s ISDN SPID. Quality issues have all but been resolved, and modern systems work fine now even over low bandwidth connections.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Four top innovators are leaving Cisco

Four Cisco Systems executives who led “spin-in” ventures that became important parts of the company have resigned.The longtime leaders decided to leave the company on June 17 because of “a disconnect regarding roles, responsibilities and charter” after a new Cisco business unit was announced, according to an internal memo posted Monday by CEO Chuck Robbins and seen by IDG News Service. The move was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Engineers Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain and Luca Cafiero, and marketer Soni Jiandani, nicknamed “MPLS” after their first initials, started several companies with Cisco’s backing that later were absorbed back into the networking giant. The companies included Andiamo Networks in storage, Nuova Systems in data-center switching and Insieme Networks in SDN (software-defined networking).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Four top innovators are leaving Cisco

Four Cisco Systems executives who led “spin-in” ventures that became important parts of the company have resigned.The longtime leaders decided to leave the company on June 17 because of “a disconnect regarding roles, responsibilities and charter” after a new Cisco business unit was announced, according to an internal memo posted Monday by CEO Chuck Robbins and seen by IDG News Service. The move was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Engineers Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain and Luca Cafiero, and marketer Soni Jiandani, nicknamed “MPLS” after their first initials, started several companies with Cisco’s backing that later were absorbed back into the networking giant. The companies included Andiamo Networks in storage, Nuova Systems in data-center switching and Insieme Networks in SDN (software-defined networking).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Egnyte wants to protect business data, wherever it’s stored

Egnyte, an enterprise-focused file sync and sharing startup, is expanding beyond its roots in holding onto companies' data for them, and now aims to protect any data a company has, no matter where it's stored. Egnyte Protect is a service that aims to provide a single tool for controlling and securing company data that's stored in private data centers and in the public cloud. It's based on the content protection capabilities that are built into Egnyte's file sync and share product, and works with products including SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive, the company said Tuesday. Moving into the content services business means that Egnyte can meet enterprises where they are, even if they never plan to use its file storage service, which is now known as Egnyte Connect.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Five ways Google can make the Chrome browser and Android work closer together

Google has quite the duopoly with Android and Chrome. The latter is the world’s most popular mobile operating system, while Chrome dominates the charts when it comes to browser usage.So it’s long past time to make these two stalwarts play together a little more closely. Yes, we know that the Google Play Store is coming to Chromebooks, but there are still millions of people who either by choice or necessity do their desktop computing in Windows or OS X. Android and Chrome complement each other in a few ways already. Your browsing history and active tabs can sync across devices. Chrome supports rich notifications for most of the Google and third-party services that you probably use across mobile and the desktop.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How agile helps attract and retain millennial tech pros

For IT organizations hungry for talent, agile is key to helping attract and retain the next generation of engineers and developers, because the principles of the methodology dovetail with millennials' intrinsic motivation.Autonomy, mastery and purpose One of the hallmarks of the millennial generation is its need for autonomy, mastery and purpose in the work they're doing, and a demonstrable impact on the success of the companies they work for and the larger world around them. It's one of the reasons millennial software engineers embrace the agile methodology, with its emphasis on flat management, self-regulating teams, business context, iteration and ability to adapt quickly to changing needs and demands, says Dave West, product owner at Scrum.org.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

7 reasons mobile payments still aren’t mainstream

Despite the fact that they received plenty of media attention during the past few years, "proximity" mobile payments, or mobile payments made at retailers' points of sale (PoS), have yet to hit the mainstream. Multiple reasons why exist, but perhaps the most significant roadblock thus far: Today's mobile payment systems simply don't offer a strong enough value proposition to compel consumers to use them consistently.To date, the market has seen four alternative-payment success stories, according to Penny Gillespie, a research director of digital commerce with Gartner: PayPal, for online payments; Visa Signature debit cards; payroll cards; and gift cards. Each option offers "strong value propositions to consumers, as well as to merchants," Gillespie says, because they provide something new and beneficial that wasn't available before. Gift cards, for example, let consumers to easily send funds to friends and family, they make it easy for recipients to spend that money, and they drive recipients to stores, which benefits retailers. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here