IBM Watson/ XPrize open $5 million AI competition for world-changing applications

IBM and the XPrize organization have opened registration and set guidelines to competing for a $5 million purse to those interested in building advanced AI-based applications that could address the world’s biggest issues – everything from clean water to better energy resources.According to IBM and XPrize, the four-year competition aims to “accelerate adoption of AI technologies, and spark creative, innovative and audacious demonstrations of the technology that are truly scalable and solve societal grand challenges.+More on Network World: Cisco: IP traffic will surpass the zettabyte level in 2016+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM Watson/ XPrize open $5 million AI competition for world-changing applications

IBM and the XPrize organization have opened registration and set guidelines to competing for a $5 million purse to those interested in building advanced AI-based applications that could address the world’s biggest issues – everything from clean water to better energy resources.According to IBM and XPrize, the four-year competition aims to “accelerate adoption of AI technologies, and spark creative, innovative and audacious demonstrations of the technology that are truly scalable and solve societal grand challenges.+More on Network World: Cisco: IP traffic will surpass the zettabyte level in 2016+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AWS, Microsoft cloud win US government security approval

Three vendors, including Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, have won a key U.S. government authorization that allows federal agencies to put highly sensitive data on their cloud-computing services.The AWS GovCloud, Microsoft's Azure GovCloud, and CSRA's ARC-P IaaS have received provisional authority to offer services under the high baseline of the government's Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a set of security standards for cloud services.The FedRAMP high baseline, including more than 400 security controls, allows federal agencies to use AWS for highly sensitive workloads, including personal information, AWS said Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AWS, Microsoft cloud win US government security approval

Three vendors, including Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, have won a key U.S. government authorization that allows federal agencies to put highly sensitive data on their cloud-computing services.The AWS GovCloud, Microsoft's Azure GovCloud, and CSRA's ARC-P IaaS have received provisional authority to offer services under the high baseline of the government's Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a set of security standards for cloud services.The FedRAMP high baseline, including more than 400 security controls, allows federal agencies to use AWS for highly sensitive workloads, including personal information, AWS said Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Does more data really lead to better decision?

There is a popular adage within many quarters of the “big data” world that the more data you have, the more accurate your decision making will be. Is this really true? Or, as I’ve pointed out in the past, are our analyses less representative than ever before? -Forbes

The post Worth Reading: Does more data really lead to better decision? appeared first on 'net work.

Location of images on Junos Space after upload

Just a note for my own reference really –

The images you upload via the GUI to upgrade Space end up on the filesystem in /var/cache/jboss/jmp/<imageversion> directory.  In that directory is the actual image, plus a file called appVersionListFile.txt – this file seems to tell the system what other Space apps it is compatible with.

It seems to upload the image into this directory, and then extracts all the various .rpm files from it into /var/cache/jboss/jmp/payloads/<imageversion> directory.

I confirmed this by performing an ‘rm -rf <imageversion>’ on both the above directories, then uploading another image via the GUI again.  Both directories re-appeared.  I doubt this is recommended by TAC though, so do this at your own peril.

Register Now for the Docker 1.12 Hackathon

With the recent announcement of Docker 1.12, we are happy to announce that today marks the first day of the Docker 1.12 Hackathon! Now that the hackathon is open for registration, participants are encouraged to hack using the new features included in Docker 1.12 including: Swarm Mode, the Service Deployment API, and the built-in routing mesh.

For the Docker 1.12 Hackathon, we are using a platform called DevPost, which allows participants to review the rules, submit their hacks, view other hacks, participate in and start discussions, and easily find other participants with similar interests or complementary skills to join forces with! Submissions are due on Monday, July 25th followed by a week-long judging period.

The judging panel for the Docker 1.12 Hackathon include three Docker Captains and two Docker employees:

• Phil Estes – Docker Captain and Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM Cloud Open Technologies
• Arun Gupta – Docker Captain and VP of Developer Relations at Couchbase
• Laura Frank – Docker Captain and Senior Engineer at Codeship
• Mano Marks – Director of Developer Relations at Docker
• Mike Coleman – Technical Evangelist at docker

Each of our five judges will assign a rating of 1-5 Continue reading

The number of corporate users hit by crypto ransomware is skyrocketing

The prevalence of ransomware programs, both those that encrypt data and those that don't, has exploded over the past two years, with companies being increasingly targeted.Based on an analysis by security vendor Kaspersky Lab, more than 2.3 million users encountered ransomware between April 2015 and March, a jump of almost 18 percent over the previous 12 months.This includes programs that only lock the computer's screen to prevent its use as well as those that hold the data itself hostage by encrypting it -- the so-called cryptors. The rise of cryptors in particular has been significant, accounting for 32 percent of all ransomware attacks last year compared to only 7 percent the year before, according to Kaspersky Lab.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The number of corporate users hit by crypto ransomware is skyrocketing

The prevalence of ransomware programs, both those that encrypt data and those that don't, has exploded over the past two years, with companies being increasingly targeted.Based on an analysis by security vendor Kaspersky Lab, more than 2.3 million users encountered ransomware between April 2015 and March, a jump of almost 18 percent over the previous 12 months.This includes programs that only lock the computer's screen to prevent its use as well as those that hold the data itself hostage by encrypting it -- the so-called cryptors. The rise of cryptors in particular has been significant, accounting for 32 percent of all ransomware attacks last year compared to only 7 percent the year before, according to Kaspersky Lab.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Ad blocking rapidly escalating, says researcher

IDG Contributor Network: Ad blocking rapidly escalating, says researcher

Large parts of the internet may need to quickly adopt alternative revenue methods to thwart a massive surge in ad blocking.Ad blocking is not going away, says eMarketer, a research firm that has just published startling projections. In fact, the digital marketing expert says more than a quarter of U.S. internet users will use ad blockers to perform ad-free web browsing in 2016. A double digit (34 percent) increase will lead to 69 million ad blocker users this year, eMarketer predicts.And it’s going to get worse. The researcher says that number will be closer to 86 million ad blocking internet users in 2017. That’s growth of another 24 percent and will mean that almost a third (32 percent) of all internet users will use the barriers next year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Gartner’s top 10 security predictions

Forward looking IT security pros need to better address known risks, monitor closely the value of shadow IT devices and solve the inherent weaknesses introduced by the internet of things, Gartner says.The consulting firm has taken a look at five key areas of security concern that businesses face this year and issued predictions on and recommendations about protecting networks and data from threats that will likely arise in each.The areas are threat and vulnerability management, application and data security, network and mobile security, identity and access management, and Internet of Things security. Gartner’s findings were revealed at its recent Security and Risk Management Summit by analyst Earl Perkins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Gartner’s top 10 security predictions

Forward looking IT security pros need to better address known risks, monitor closely the value of shadow IT devices and solve the inherent weaknesses introduced by the internet of things, Gartner says.The consulting firm has taken a look at five key areas of security concern that businesses face this year and issued predictions on and recommendations about protecting networks and data from threats that will likely arise in each.The areas are threat and vulnerability management, application and data security, network and mobile security, identity and access management, and Internet of Things security. Gartner’s findings were revealed at its recent Security and Risk Management Summit by analyst Earl Perkins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry goes into the red as revenue drops by a third

It looks as though BlackBerry CEO John Chen will still be in charge long enough to launch another couple of phones -- although don't expect any new flagship models.Chen was re-elected chairman of the board for another year on Wednesday.He still plans to launch two new mid-range phones in the next nine months, one of them as early as July. They'll be cheaper than the Priv, BlackBerry's first Android phone, but with the same level of security, he said Thursday.Shareholders might not have given him such strong support if they'd seen the numbers the company reported Thursday for the first quarter of its 2017 financial year.Revenue dropped to US$400 million in the three months to May 31, down 39 percent from $658 million a year earlier.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry goes into the red as revenue drops by a third

It looks as though BlackBerry CEO John Chen will still be in charge long enough to launch another couple of phones -- although don't expect any new flagship models.Chen was re-elected chairman of the board for another year on Wednesday.He still plans to launch two new mid-range phones in the next nine months, one of them as early as July. They'll be cheaper than the Priv, BlackBerry's first Android phone, but with the same level of security, he said Thursday.Shareholders might not have given him such strong support if they'd seen the numbers the company reported Thursday for the first quarter of its 2017 financial year.Revenue dropped to US$400 million in the three months to May 31, down 39 percent from $658 million a year earlier.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A ‘Brexit’ may have a sunny side for tech

The tech industry mostly opposes the prospect of the U.K. exiting the European Union -- a view that's supported by polls and in statements.Ahead of Thursday's vote on the idea, London's mayor, for instance, joined 140 representatives of the city's "leading tech and creative firms" to release a letter urging a vote for "remain.""Our capital has the potential to be the Los Angeles, New York and Silicon Valley to the rest of Europe -- and fuel the creation of new jobs across Britain. Let's not put that at risk," London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote in the letter today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to prepare for (and prevent) ransomware attacks

You've likely heard all about "crypto ransomware," or simply "ransomware," a specific type of malware that attempts to hold your digital existence hostage by encrypting personal files and then offering decryption keys in exchange for payment. When the malware first takes root, it shows no outward signs that anything is wrong. Only after the malware does its nefarious work in the background are you presented with the ransom, typically via demands for Bitcoin or other forms of digital currency.Some early ransomware was riddled with software bugs that made it possible to recover encrypted files that had been held hostage, but newer variants that use robust symmetric and asymmetric encryption are much more troublesome. (Symmetric encryption is typically used to rapidly scramble files, and the asymmetric encryption can then be applied to the original symmetric keys so data can only be recovered by cybercriminals with the appropriate private keys.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to prepare for (and prevent) ransomware attacks

You've likely heard all about "crypto ransomware," or simply "ransomware," a specific type of malware that attempts to hold your digital existence hostage by encrypting personal files and then offering decryption keys in exchange for payment. When the malware first takes root, it shows no outward signs that anything is wrong. Only after the malware does its nefarious work in the background are you presented with the ransom, typically via demands for Bitcoin or other forms of digital currency.Some early ransomware was riddled with software bugs that made it possible to recover encrypted files that had been held hostage, but newer variants that use robust symmetric and asymmetric encryption are much more troublesome. (Symmetric encryption is typically used to rapidly scramble files, and the asymmetric encryption can then be applied to the original symmetric keys so data can only be recovered by cybercriminals with the appropriate private keys.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BYOD can pose privacy risks to employees

Companies that use remote device management software to oversee employee devices used for business have the ability to collect a lot more information than employees may be comfortable with, according to a report released today."The intent of these MDM solutions is not to spy on employees, but to monitor for things like malware and general security," said Salim Hafid, product manager at Bitglass, which produced the report.But if the company wants to, these tools provide the ability to do a lot more, he said. That includes seeing where the phone is located, what apps are on the phone, and even what websites the user was accessing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BYOD can pose privacy risks to employees

Companies that use remote device management software to oversee employee devices used for business have the ability to collect a lot more information than employees may be comfortable with, according to a report released today."The intent of these MDM solutions is not to spy on employees, but to monitor for things like malware and general security," said Salim Hafid, product manager at Bitglass, which produced the report.But if the company wants to, these tools provide the ability to do a lot more, he said. That includes seeing where the phone is located, what apps are on the phone, and even what websites the user was accessing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here