How to detect a hacker before they steal your company's data
With massive data breaches uncovered daily or weekly, it’s hard not to be a bit numb to the urgency and magnitude of the issue. For most organizations, the problem is far from solved. Apathy in place of outrage at this juncture could diminish any help before it gets started. At the same time, misguided efforts will result in continued failure.
A giant Python-esque foot has not yet come down to condemn the ludicrousness of such a broad catastrophe but losses and damage have been mounting. This year, cybercrime overtook physical crime in the UK, marking a profound changing of the times. The National Crime Agency estimates the annual loss to UK businesses of £1 billion in direct costs, although the more realistic number is far greater, particularly considering the cost of stolen intellectual property and business secrets and other loss and damage not typically reported.
Software-defined LAN: Benefits and requirements
As networks evolve, the race is on to create and define the next generation of network infrastructure, one that enables more flexibility, adaptability, and scalability than ever before, underpinned by extreme efficiency.
The software defined network (SDN) has been a hot topic for many years, driving the future of networking by shifting the mind set around, planning, implementing, managing, and using networks. Traditionally, SDN has been an approach to using open protocols, such as OpenFlow, to apply globally aware software controls at the edge of a network to access network switches and routers that typically would use closed and proprietary firmware.
Four FinTech trends to look out for in 2017
Could 2017 be any more turbulent than 2016? Some would argue that because of last year’s unprecedented surprises, fluctuating markets and politics and real-world events, this year couldn’t possibly offer any more shocks.
In the midst of all of this, the technology world continues unabated, with the FinTech sector holding some exciting new developments for the year ahead. Here are four themes within the FinTech sector to keep an eye on in 2017:
Could your BYOD system be a threat to your business?
Nowadays, practically everyone is connected to the Internet at home, in the office and on the move. This has introduced fantastic opportunities for businesses and employees to operate smarter. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD); the concept of allowing employees to work in the office or remotely using their own devices, rather than company owned, has been around for a while now and really makes the most of this 'personal device era'. It’s convenient for employees to use their own devices, reduces burden on IT admin and saves Capex costs for the business. But, could BYOD end up being the company’s biggest threat?
Employees now have the opportunity to use their own personal devices for work purposes. The thought behind this is that employees are already familiar with their own devices and already have them on hand at all times. BYOD is generally a good thing, but it is not without its challenges and concerns. Like any new development, the risks need to be evaluated. But, in theory, team members will be more productive and happier at work with a BYOD scheme in place.
Five common misconceptions about disaster recovery
When disaster strikes, organizations need to be able to recover IT systems as quickly as possible. Not having a disaster recovery plan in place can put the business at risk of high financial costs, reputation loss and even greater risks for its clients, customers and employees.
Despite this, each year business continuity gets cut from the budget and companies continue to fail to invest in DR. Here are five common objections that continue to dominate the disaster recovery budget discussion and why IT leaders need to refute them.
Insurance company replaces claim workers with AI
We keep hearing how artificial intelligence won't leave people jobless, but instead will leave them with more time to tackle more demanding issues. However, if a Japanese insurance company is any indicator, that story doesn't hold water.
Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company just announced that it will "replace 34 claim workers with IBM's Watson Explorer". So yeah, 34 white-collar employees got replaced by an AI.
How omnichannel strategies will evolve in 2017
The messaging landscape has seen big changes in 2016, and its evolution is set to continue over the next 12 months. Omnichannel has been around for a while, but 2016 in particular has seen the concept truly take flight and become a key player in the growth of messaging.
With instant messaging apps making more noise, and adding larger enterprises to their commercial list, the developments in chatbots, and ever-expanding IoT, 2017 is set to see more activity in the communications ecosystem than ever before. Here are some of the things that will happen over the next 12 months, to shape omnichannel strategies of the future.
Intel unveils 7th-generation processors for desktops and high-end laptops
Mobile devices might be the hottest thing nowadays, but PCs are still important for many people, and Intel knows it. The company has announced new series of processors aimed at desktop computers and performance laptops.
The S series is designed for desktops. The H series is meant for high-end laptops and mobile workstations. The Y-series is for ultra-thin machines, and the U-series for ultraportables. As one might expect from new processors, these chips are expected to be faster, and consume less energy.
DevOps brings together the best elements of your IT team
Teamwork, agility and communication set apart the most successful IT teams from the rest. It should come as no surprise: developments in technology and IT are the driving force behind many of the changes in our fast-paced world.
The demands on the IT team have never been greater. There is pressure to deliver new features and software to users, added to vast data growth, budget constraints and the ever-present need to do more with less. To get ahead, IT teams have to rethink and reshape application development and IT operations as they need to be able to work together, understand each other and be adaptable and flexible. The DevOps approach is grounded in the belief that development and operations teams work as one, adapting to one another, and learning about the other’s work in order to better grasp the demands of their own role.
Three in four businesses collect IoT data
It looks like 2017 will be a great year for Internet of things industry. 451 Research's new report says that almost three quarters of all businesses worldwide, 71 percent of them to be exact, are gathering IoT data today.
The report is based on a survey of 1,000 organizations, scattered all over the globe. The best part about this figure is that it represents a three percent jump compared to its last report, which was released a quarter ago.
Banking apps are in dire need of an overhaul
It’s no secret that customers increasingly prefer to use mobile banking apps to manage their cash "on-the-go" over online banking. In fact, did you know that mobile banking apps are being used around 7,610 times a minute? Now consider this alongside the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recent announcement regarding UK banks having to offer the same customer service through its apps as can be found in high street branches. This means that customers will be able to access details of their entire finances through a single mobile phone app by 2018.
That’s a whole heap of data from bank statements, transfers, loans, overdrafts, savings, mortgages to name a few, for one person. Multiply this by the estimated 11 million of us who have already decided to swipe instead of log-on.
The drawbacks of hand coding
Those rare companies that decide to engage in hand-coding do it either because they lack the required information (they simply don't know there are packaged solutions out there) or, frankly, in my opinion, they are chasing a pipe dream. They often mistakenly believe that all a big data project takes is to feed data into a Hadoop cluster. They figure developing a dedicated on-premises infrastructure to feed and analyze big data will mean a 20 percent savings over a packaged solution.
However, according to Gartner, this approach results in a 200 percent increase in maintenance costs. And that's not all. Our past ten years’ experience in several integration projects, now in production, offers us the insight into the limits of a custom-coded approach. In reality, by developing in-house, companies expose themselves to three types of risks: operational, strategic, and economic.
How hybrid clouds and legacy apps will evolve in 2017
The reign of the cloud has begun. Employing a strong cloud strategy has escalated from being a luxury to a must have for the enterprise. Meanwhile, as companies around the world struggle with their digital transformation efforts, Bimodal IT has become the new norm, for good or bad. I anticipate we’ll see companies look to take their cloud strategies to the next level in an effort to bridge the divide between the two modes of IT in 2017.
They’ll do that through the use of hybrid approaches including the expansion of private cloud usage and new solutions that facilitate legacy application modernization. Here’s how I see those predictions playing out this year.
How to protect your company against a potential encryption backdoor policy
The election of Donald Trump has alarmed privacy advocates who worry that the self-described "law-and-order" president will take a more heavy-handed approach towards issues of security and privacy. Of particular concern are fears that there will be attempts to weaken or otherwise disable the encryption that is widely used to protect sensitive data and maintain user privacy.
Based on the proposed cabinet-level nominees put forth by Trump, these fears may be well-founded.
Why Etherium is the most promising Blockchain technology
With so much expectation placed on the impact of Blockchain technology, which platform is going to help the industry deliver on those expectations?
If you find that question surprising it is because you’ve only ever heard of Bitcoin when it comes to Blockchain technology, then you won’t be alone.
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