Firewalls give enterprises a false sense of security
The recent US elections served up plenty of drama and even more suspense as the campaign entered its final stretch. Pollsters and forecasters crunched data continuously to accurately predict the paths to victory or defeat for both parties.
One of the most publicized concepts was the supposed "blue firewall", a group of states that had consistently voted for the Democratic party in past elections. If the Democrats could hold onto their lead in these states, they’d all but guarantee victory, or so the polling experts predicted…
The 3 ’esses’ of continuous database processes -- Speed, Scale and Simplicity
The driving force behind the shifts we’ve seen to Agile, DevOps and Automation, are the business needs of the companies we serve. Doing more with less and delivering it sooner than the competition is what differentiates leading companies from the rest of the pack.
Once a competitor delivers relevant features, which are faster and better quality, you WILL lose market share. In the age of Agile Development, enterprises must be capable of moving rapidly to deal with ever changing requirements, while still providing quality results, all while dealing with limited resources.
Why cybersecurity is an essential part of any enterprise’s security plan
Online, hooked up, plugged in and "on the cloud". Whether it is your own personal information such as saved passwords or credit card information or if it is your client's’ personal information, so much of our personal lives can now be easily accessed just with a little Wi-Fi. With our new found accessibility -- everything at the click of a button -- our lives have become all that much more convenient, and our businesses and assets have become all that much more vulnerable. Cybercrime has boomed over the last decade and has become a real problem for businesses, large and small alike.
In the U. S. alone, more than 35,000 computer security incidents happen each day, and that is only the reported attacks. Many more attacks happen but go unreported as businesses aren’t legally required to report some types of attacks. According to PwC’s 2015 US State of Cybercrime Survey, a total of 79 percent of respondents detected a security incident in the past year. The security firm Gemalto estimated that in 2015 alone, more than 700 million data records were compromised, but unfortunately only 37 percent of organizations have implemented a dedicated cyber incident response plan.
6 IoT devices you may not have considered
The Internet of Things, or IoT, seems to be the big headline in tech news lately.
Perhaps you’ve heard of smart remotes, outlets, thermostats or alarm systems, but with all the recent development in this area, there are probably quite a few devices that you haven’t yet considered. Here are six worth adding to your tech radar.
Employees' bad security habits put businesses in danger
Employees have poor security practices and use completely unsecured private devices for work, putting their organizations at huge risk of cyber-attacks, a new report by WinMagic says. After polling workers in the UK, the report says more than four in ten (42 percent) use private devices for work, accessing corporate data and e-mail accounts.
More than half (52 percent) use private accounts, including enterprise file sharing services (EFSS), which they use to either store or access corporate files. Only a third (34 percent) say they had never done so. Laptops, smartphones and USB devices are the top three personal devices used for work, and Hotmail, Gmail and Dropbox are the top three online services used by employees.
Optimizing your website for Google's mobile-first index
Google have begun rolling out their new mobile-first index. This update will prioritize the mobile version of your website for its ranking signals, falling back on the desktop version when there is no mobile content. In short, this means Google will create and rank its search listings based on the mobile version of content (even for listings that are shown to desktop users).
If you have neglected mobile SEO in the past, it’s now more important than ever that you up your game. Here are 10 tips to future-proof your website, and make sure it succeeds in the new mobile-first index.
Many of UK's NHS trusts continue to rely on Windows XP
Nine in ten NHS trusts still rely on Windows XP, even though Microsoft stopped supporting the platform with new patches and security fixes a year and a half ago.
This information was released by Citrix, and it is based on a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. Out of 63 trusts Citrix reached out to 43 responded, and 90 percent say they still use Windows XP.
Managing collaboration tools in the enterprise
Most companies have some sort of electronic communications policy. It’s probably been updated ad-hoc over the last few years to include new communications applications, but often lacks the enforcement tools that companies initially used when email first came about. With Facebook looking to take center stage in business communications with Workplace it’s time for organizations to start taking the governance of social and collaboration platforms more seriously.
For heavily regulated industries, such as financial services, the initial driving force behind managing data communications more effectively was compliance with a myriad of acronym loaded legislation from MiFID II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II) to MAR (Market Abuse Regulation). But there was a significant upside for firms achieving compliance -- improved security and reduced exposure to internal fraud and litigation.
Artificial intelligence can improve productivity
There is a challenge, both within and out of the workplace, which we have all faced at some point when tackling a task. We have the skills. We have the ability. We know what we need to do, and yet an activity becomes a chore, and a time-consuming burden.
The productivity puzzle is a broad, complex one, but this is undoubtedly one facet of it. Mundane activities without question are often crucial to our day to day, and need to be done. But as humans we need mental stimulation, and the creative applications of our skills to keep us engaged. When these creative opportunities are limited, when occupations risk becoming a cycle of repetitive or dull activity and productivity suffers.
The benefits of cloud-connected spreadsheets
This year has been the year of spreadsheet distress. Spreadsheet errors have been blamed for a number of high profile corporate meltdowns including one in the rail franchise bid process for the West Coast mainline that is said to have cost the tax payer around £60m.
Spreadsheet calculations represent up to £38 billion of private sector investment decisions per year and simple errors could be putting billions of pounds at risk. With so many high profile incidents filling the newswires, it may seem unlikely that the spreadsheet is set for a reprieve in 2017. However, new developments in IT are set to allow businesses to cling on to their beloved spreadsheets in 2017 and make them robust enough to satisfy regulators and auditors who have already indicated that they consider them, in their existing state, to be a major potential risk.
Senior leaders holding new tech adoption back
IT managers in UK organizations believe their senior leaders are intentionally holding back the adoption of new technologies, as they fear that could endanger their position within the company. This is according to a new report by global cloud communications provider 8x8, which surveyed 260 IT managers in UK organizations.
Almost half (45 percent) of IT managers are suspicious senior leaders are holding technology back for reasons of "self-preservation". Same IT managers, a third of them (34 percent), believe their company is making full use of the latest technology. Among C-suites, that percentage is up to almost a half (49 percent).
GDPR predictions for 2017
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into force on May 25, 2018. This means that IT teams have more than a year to audit their IT systems, check existing customer records and data, and ensure that these systems respect the new set of rules that will be in place.
However, the gap between intentions and actions can be a big one. So what do I predict will happen around GDPR in 2017?
Low-code platforms help businesses quickly create apps
Although we’ve long since entered the digital age, many organizations remain saddled with legacy IT systems, unable to keep up with the growing and ever-changing demands of the business. Not only that, with resources stretched, many IT departments are left with no choice but to prioritize day-to-day management over business innovation. And yet despite considerable challenges like these, there’s also good news: Low-code platforms are helping to bridge the gap between business needs and IT capabilities.
Low-code platforms give businesses the ability to create the apps they need quickly and simply, taking much of the pressure off IT. The result is secure, reliable apps that meet critical business needs while also ensuring that IT maintains control over key business functions such as data management.
HP announces printer security services
HP has redesigned the way it protects printers, setting a new industry standard, the company announced in a press release this week.
Its new Secure Managed Print Services (MPS) offer "advanced" security professional services and solutions, as well as expanded core delivery capabilities, which now include a new remote fleet security management service. The company also says it will be pre-configuring its print devices for security.
The big security problems in 2017
If there’s one thing you can say with certainty about cyber-security in 2017, it’s that many companies are going to fail because they are simply not doing the right thing. Fundamental flaws still exist.
Until the technical people lift their heads up and see that security and business are different sides of the same coin, we will inevitably see more damaging attacks. When security people learn to speak in the language of business they will begin to understand just where in the organization they need to apply their expertise.
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