Rombertik malware destroys computers if detected

A new type of malware resorts to crippling a computer if it is detected during security checks, a particularly catastrophic blow to its victims.The malware, nicknamed Rombertik by Cisco Systems, is designed to intercept any plain text entered into a browser window. It is being spread through spam and phishing messages, according to Cisco’s Talos Group blog on Monday.Rombertik goes through several checks once it is up and running on a Windows computer to see if it has been detected.That behavior is not unusual for some types of malware, but Rombertik “is unique in that it actively attempts to destroy the computer if it detects certain attributes associated with malware analysis,” wrote Ben Baker and Alex Chiu of the Talos Group.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VCE’s VxRack systems want to be Vblocks for the next generation

EMC’s VCE division wants to take the engineered systems approach it’s honed with its Vblocks into next-generation mobile and cloud applications.On Monday, it introduced the VCE VxRack System, a hyperconverged platform designed to scale out to thousands of racks of computing and storage capacity. Where Vblocks are designed to run traditional business applications like ERP (enterprise resource planning), VxRack is built for a new era.The Vblock coverged architecture has been a success among customers looking to run traditional mission-critical enterprise applications. It was the founding product of VCE, which was formed in 2009 as a joint venture among VMware, Cisco Systems and EMC, and it remains VCE’s flagship, the company;s CEO Praveen Akkiraju said on Monday at EMC World, where the VxRack System was announced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft picks security for the enterprise win

Microsoft is betting that good security support will be key to keeping its enterprise customers from straying to rivals.At the kickoff of the company’s Ignite conference for IT professionals, Microsoft executives unveiled a number of advanced security services, and took jabs at competitor Google for not being as mindful of security.“Google takes no responsibility to update their customers’ devices, leaving end-users and businesses increasingly exposed every day they use their Android devices,” said Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s executive vice president of operating systems. “Google just ships a big pile of code, and then leaves you exposed with no commitments.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google buys Timeful to boost its apps’ time management skills

Google has acquired startup Timeful, whose iOS app uses machine learning to help people plan their days.People link Timeful to their calendars and then enter tasks, projects, events and hobbies into the app. For example, a user can tell Timeful he likes to jog four days a week, wants to finish painting a room by the end of the month and has a work presentation due on Friday.Timeful’s algorithm will use this information to create a schedule tailored to a person’s needs and preferences. The more information that is entered into Timeful and the more people use the app, the better it becomes at learning users’ activity patterns, schedules and habits.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google buys Timeful to boost its apps’ time management skills

Google has acquired startup Timeful, whose iOS app uses machine learning to help people plan their days.People link Timeful to their calendars and then enter tasks, projects, events and hobbies into the app. For example, a user can tell Timeful he likes to jog four days a week, wants to finish painting a room by the end of the month and has a work presentation due on Friday.Timeful’s algorithm will use this information to create a schedule tailored to a person’s needs and preferences. The more information that is entered into Timeful and the more people use the app, the better it becomes at learning users’ activity patterns, schedules and habits.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco passes the torch

Three years into his two- to four-year window, John Chambers retired. And 16 months after a succession plan was disclosed, Chuck Robbins was tapped to replace him.Robbins, Cisco’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, will become the 31-year-old company’s fourth CEO on July 26 as Chambers steps aside after 20 years at the helm. Chambers will become executive chairman.+MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: New Cisco CEO: Meet the real Chuck Robbins; How Chambers kept a high profile+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cerf thinks encryption back doors would be ‘super risky’

Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf argued Monday that more users should encrypt their data, and that the encryption back doors the U.S. FBI and other law enforcement agencies are asking for will weaken online security.The Internet has numerous security challenges, and it needs more users and ISPs to adopt strong measures like encryption, two-factor authentication and HTTP over SSL, said Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google, in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.Recent calls by the FBI and other government officials for technology vendors to build encryption workarounds into their products is a bad idea, said Cerf, co-creator of TCP/IP. “If you have a back door, somebody will find it, and that somebody may be a bad guy,” he said. “Creating this kind of technology is super, super risky.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cerf thinks encryption back doors would be ‘super risky’

Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf argued Monday that more users should encrypt their data, and that the encryption back doors the U.S. FBI and other law enforcement agencies are asking for will weaken online security.The Internet has numerous security challenges, and it needs more users and ISPs to adopt strong measures like encryption, two-factor authentication and HTTP over SSL, said Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google, in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.Recent calls by the FBI and other government officials for technology vendors to build encryption workarounds into their products is a bad idea, said Cerf, co-creator of TCP/IP. “If you have a back door, somebody will find it, and that somebody may be a bad guy,” he said. “Creating this kind of technology is super, super risky.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cool ways to celebrate Star Wars Day

May the Fourth be with youImage by Lucas Films Inc.May 4 is International Star Wars Day, the unofficial holiday where we celebrate the Force, X-wings, Ewoks and women wearing their hair in the shape of their favorite breakfast pastries.  But how do you give your week that particular galaxy-far-far-away flavor? Some suggestions follow.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Cisco CEO: Meet the real Chuck Robbins

New man in chargeImage by Shutterstock/CiscoCisco’s choice of Chuck Robbins, Senior VP of Worldwide Field Operations, as the company’s next CEO came as a surprise given that two Cisco presidents were seen as frontrunners for the job. But a look at the 49-year-old Robbins’ background might explain why he is being given the reins of this $47 billion networking company. He’s not just a sales guy…To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

EMC’s XtremIO gets bigger, packs in more flash

EMC says enterprises like its XtremIO all-flash storage array, so in version 4.0, the company is offering more of it.The latest software for the product it introduced in 2013 will let customers tie together more systems in a cluster and also include new features for replication, copy management and other capabilities. It’s due out by the end of June.XtremIO 4.0 is a free software upgrade that will automatically boost scaling ability for clusters already in the field. Users who want to invest in new hardware will have another way to increase capacity, by using a new, higher capacity version of the X-Brick, the basic building block of an XtremIO system. Customers will be able to order that product by the end of June, though EMC hasn’t said how much it will cost.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: IKEA’s Internet of Things plans imagine the networked kitchen

You may have read about furniture retailer IKEA's plans to introduce wireless smartphone charging in some of its furniture. Its Selje nightstand includes a Qi-compatible charger, for example. Charge your phone wirelessly while you slumber, and only for $60. Well, that's just the beginning of the future for the 315-store, 9,500-product company. IKEA's future kitchen ideas include networked devices, shelves that act as refrigerators, tabletops that cook, and instant food delivery by drone.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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