Headaches likely to grow over auto cybersecurity concerns

The concerns around the cybersecurity of your car are likely magnify in the near term while experts try to figure out what can be done simply to eliminate risks.But while some short-term fixes may develop, forthcoming government auto cybersecurity standards won’t happen until at least 2018. Furthermore, technologies, such as message encryption and authentication, which can be used to secure and verify the legitimacy of communications occurring along in-vehicle networks—cannot be incorporated into existing vehicles. Rather, such technologies must be incorporated during the vehicle design and production process, which according to experts, will take approximately 5 years to complete, according to a report out this week by the Government Accountability Office.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ask Me Anything About HTTP/2

HTTP/2 AMA Webinar

We're big fans of HTTP/2 at CloudFlare. Our customers make up the majority of HTTP/2 enabled domains today. HTTP/2 is a key part of the modern web, and its growth and adoption is changing how websites and applications are built.

On Thursday April 28, 2016, our friends at CatchPoint are hosting a live AMA (Ask Me Anything) with experts from CloudFlare, Akamai, and Google answering questions in real time about the protocol's features, adoption, and future.

When: Thursday April 28, 2016 from 2pm-3pm Eastern Time (1600-1700 UTC)

How: Ask questions ahead of time (and vote on questions). Join in real-time on Thursday.

Who: CloudFlare's own Suzanne Aldrich will join Ilya Grigorik from Google, Tim Kadlec from Akamai, and Andrew Smirnov from Catchpoint.

Need the basics on HTTP/2 ahead of time? Visit the CloudFlare HTTP/2 website.

“The Good Wife” TV show could teach you a few things about modern technology

The CBS legal and political drama The Good Wife ends its 7-season run on May 8, and if you’re not a regular viewer of the show it might surprise you to learn how clever the writers are at coming up with plots ripped from the day’s top technology news headlines. Back in 2007 I documented “What ‘The Sopranos’ taught me about technology,” and here’s my rundown of what The Good Wife has taught its audience about tech and its influence on everything from politics to the law to sex (yes, I confess this show is one of my guilty pleasures). For the uninitiated, The Good Wife in the show title is Alicia Florrick, who had put aside her legal career during her husband Peter’s rise in politics, only to get back into it after he ruins their marriage by cheating on her. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

“The Good Wife” TV show could teach you a few things about modern technology

The CBS legal and political drama The Good Wife ends its 7-season run on May 8, and if you’re not a regular viewer of the show it might surprise you to learn how clever the writers are at coming up with plots ripped from the day’s top technology news headlines.  Back in 2007 I documented “What ‘The Sopranos’ taught me about technology,” and here’s my rundown of what The Good Wife has taught its audience about tech and its influence on everything from politics to the law to sex. For the uninitiated, The Good Wife in the show title is Alicia Florrick, who had put aside her legal career during her husband Peter’s rise in politics, only to get back into it after he ruins their marriage by cheating on her. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s Edison board now links up to IBM’s Bluemix cloud service

Intel is making it easier to create smarter and more functional gadgets, robots, drones, and wearables using its Edison developer board.The company has made a series of improvements to its latest IoT Developer Kit 3.0, which is used to program functionality into devices.The developer kit adds support for a wider range of sensors and adds connectivity to IBM's Bluemix cloud service. The kit also has improved programming tools and integration with Google's Brillo and Android.Edison has been used as a developer board to prototype and test devices. The new features provide a springboard to make Edison a viable platform for end products. The board could be used in products such as smart helmets, but it is too big for small electronics and some wearables.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

2FA for Mother’s Day

One of the things that stands out in Verizon's 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report is that “63% of confirmed data breaches involve using weak, default or stolen passwords.”The thing is, many of the breaches could have been prevented had a company been using two-factor authentication (2FA).Authors of the Verizon report wrote: We are realists here, we know that implementation of multi-factor authentication is not easy. We know that a standard username and password combo may very well be enough to protect your fantasy football league. We also know that implementation of stronger authentication mechanisms is a bar raise, not a panacea. Even with all of that, 63% of confirmed data breaches involved leveraging weak/default/stolen passwords. This statistic drives our recommendation that this is a bar worth raising.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

2FA for Mother’s Day

One of the things that stands out in Verizon's 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report is that “63% of confirmed data breaches involve using weak, default or stolen passwords.”The thing is, many of the breaches could have been prevented had a company been using two-factor authentication (2FA).Authors of the Verizon report wrote: We are realists here, we know that implementation of multi-factor authentication is not easy. We know that a standard username and password combo may very well be enough to protect your fantasy football league. We also know that implementation of stronger authentication mechanisms is a bar raise, not a panacea. Even with all of that, 63% of confirmed data breaches involved leveraging weak/default/stolen passwords. This statistic drives our recommendation that this is a bar worth raising.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Save 69% on Dell XPS 13 13.3″ Full HD Signature Edition Laptop – Deal Alert

The Dell XPS 13 9343-2727SLV 13.3" Full HD Signature Edition Laptop is powerful, feature-packed, and currently discounted over $1,600 on Amazon, making this a very good option for the money if you're considering a new machine for home or school. With the current 69% discount you can order it for just $719 via Amazon.It's 13-inch screen display is virtually borderless, and at 1920 x 1080 resolution it delivers twice as many pixels as standard HD (720p). It's CPU is an Intel Core i5-5200U 2.20GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.70 GHz. For memory you're looking at a generous 4GB DDR3L 1600MHz. And for storage, 128GB solid-state. Battery life is listed at up to 15 hours. The body is made from aluminum and carbon fiber, so it weighs in at only 2.6 lb making it super portable as well. See the dramatically discounted Dell XPS 13 on Amazon to learn more.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BI review: Tableau, QlikView, MicroStrategy and Oracle OBIEE

Among the most important buying criteria for BI tools are scalability and performance, usability and UI, ease of development, and mobile/cloud based customization. An effective BI solution should be able to access any data source and provide capabilities for internal and external users from the same platform, as well as provide better integration with other systems (e.g. CRM, ERP).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Mac sales tumble 12% in second-biggest downturn since ’07

Apple yesterday said it sold 4 million Macs in the March quarter, a 12% decline from the same period the year before, and a larger contraction than for the personal computer business as a whole.The year-over-year downturn in Mac sales was the second straight down quarter, and excepting a brutal 22% drop at the end of 2012, the largest since Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007.Analysts at IDC and Gartner earlier this month pegged the continued contraction of the PC industry at 11.5% and 9.6%, respectively. Both also missed the actual Mac number for the quarter in their forecasts for Apple, overestimating by 11% to 13%: IDC had tapped shipments at 4.5 million, while Gartner said it was 4.6 million.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

U.S. cyberwar against ISIS could use methods and tactics criminals use against enterprises

Cyberwar against ISIS could bring into play tools and tactics that corporate security pros face every day, only this time they will be used as part of a larger objective than criminal profit.The goals of the offensive are to disrupt communications within ISIS and between the group and potential recruits, according to a story in the New York Times.To meet those goals, U.S. Cyber Command could use such means as DDoS and man-in-the-middle attacks, banking Trojans and even ransomware-type attacks that irreversibly encrypt machines (but skip the ransom), experts say.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

U.S. cyberwar against ISIS could use methods and tactics criminals use against enterprises

Cyberwar against ISIS could bring into play tools and tactics that corporate security pros face every day, only this time they will be used as part of a larger objective than criminal profit.The goals of the offensive are to disrupt communications within ISIS and between the group and potential recruits, according to a story in the New York Times.To meet those goals, U.S. Cyber Command could use such means as DDoS and man-in-the-middle attacks, banking Trojans and even ransomware-type attacks that irreversibly encrypt machines (but skip the ransom), experts say.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Errata Security 2016-04-27 17:48:00

Who's your lawyer. Insights & Wisdom via HBO's Silicon Valley (S.3, E. 1)

The company's attorney may be your friend, but they're not your lawyer.  In this guest post, friend of Errata Elizabeth Wharton (@lawyerliz) looks at the common misconception highlighted in this week's Silicon Valley episode.

 
by Elizabeth Wharton


Amidst the usual startup shenanigans and inside-valley-jokes, HBO's Silicon Valley Season 3, Episode 1 contained a sharp reminder: lawyer loyalty runs with the "client," know whether you are the client.   A lawyer hired by a company has an entity as its client, not the individuals or officers of that company.  If you want an attorney then hire your own. 

Silicon Valley Season 3, Episode 1- Setting the Scene (without too many spoilers, I promise)
Upon learning of a board room ouster from the CEO to the CTO role, the startup company's founder Richard storms into the meeting with two board "friends" in Continue reading

Almost two-thirds of software companies contributing to open source

Open source’s march toward preeminence in business software continued over the past year, according to a survey released today by open source management provider Black Duck Software and venture capital firm North Bridge.Roughly two-thirds of respondents to the survey – which was administered online and drew 1,300 respondents – said that their companies encouraged developers to contribute to open-source projects, and a similar proportion said that they were actively engaged in doing so already. That’s a 5% increase from the previous year’s survey.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: OpenStack users talk benefits, challenges of open source clouds + IBM lines up all-flash storage to help power cognitive computingTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here