Microsoft is doing its part protecting its users from hackers, but it can’t do everything on its own.

According to new figures released by Secunia Research in its Country Reports, covering Q2 2016 for 12 countries, the number of unpatched Windows machines is on the decline. Compared to Q1 this year, when 6.1 percent of systems were unpatched, only 5.4 percent are not up to date now. Same time last year, the figure was 10.3 percent.

Continue reading →

One way to access data efficiently and accelerate the development and deployment of analytics apps is to build an API. APIs are a natural way to access data, whether it be personalization scores for web content or a service to assess the risk of a part failing.

There are a number of benefits to using an API for data access. First, it restricts the user to efficient requests. Google Analytics is a prime example. A query API gives you access to the rich data in your Google Analytics instance. While the API is fairly flexible, it allows Google to more accurately describe the types of queries that can be performed efficiently.

Continue reading →

During the recent Defcon hacking conference, held last week in Paris, a hacker demonstrated how he could make fraudulent payments through Samsung Pay.

Samsung says it knew of this and considers it an acceptable risk. It claims the method is almost too difficult to pull off, and no different than fraud methods we see today with credit cards.

Continue reading →

Each day, executives in Federal agencies and departments balance the public’s growing need for services with budget discipline -- "doing more with less".  They rely on predictive analytics and machine learning to make government work better, ensuring tax compliance, enforcing the law, detecting fraudulent claims, and understanding public needs.

The most demanding analytics work is often ad-hoc and time-sensitive, and requires an ability to scale up quickly. Consider the following scenarios:

Continue reading →

Remember that cyber-experiment when a couple of hackers managed to take control over a speeding car in the middle of the highway?

Well, IOActive has published a study, entitled Commonalities in Vehicle Vulnerabilities, after three years of testing, and the results are quite scary.

Continue reading →

Intel is buying machine learning start-up Nervana, and it’s paying some serious money for it. According to multiple media sources, the 48-person start-up was acquired for a stunning $408 million (£312m).

Nervana is an artificial intelligence company which is looking to integrate AI beyond the usual software -- it wants to squeeze it into the chips themselves. And who better to team up with to achieve that goal than Intel -- one of the biggest chipmakers in the world.

Continue reading →

There has been a "sharp increase" in the number of lost and stolen corporate data in the past two years, according to a new report by the Ponemon Institute and Varonis Systems. But it’s not as straightforward as you’d think.

The new report, titled Closing Security Gaps to Protect Corporate Data: A Study of U.S. and European Organisations, says that 76 percent of respondents experienced either data loss, or theft, in the past 24 months.

Continue reading →

Micron has announced a new 3D NAND chip for mobile devices, claiming it will give your smartphones more storage capacity and possibly even reduce the use of SD cards.

The memory technology, based on the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.1 standard, will come at first as a 32GB solution. The company promises its module will offer users seamless HD video streaming, higher bandwidth gameplay and faster boot up time.

Continue reading →

If you’re counting on a Hybrid IT strategy as a way to save money, you may wish to think again, according to recent research by Vanson Bourne, conducted on behalf of Sungard Availability Services. The survey of 700 IT decision-makers across the US and Europe in major financial services, retail, healthcare and other organizations found that half have seen IT costs stay the same or rise since adopting a Hybrid IT strategy. Of course, that means the other half have realized cost savings, suggesting that the price tag attached to a hybrid estate can vary wildly according to approach.

On the other hand, if you anticipate that hybridization will have a positive impact on your business despite any increase in costs, you’ll be reassured to discover that 94 percent claim to have done just that. Despite the growing skills gaps and the potential complexity of blending cloud resources with existing on premise IT environments, almost three-quarters of enterprises report that Hybrid IT is key to staying competitive. IT leaders cite an increase in business agility (46 percent), improved customer service (41 percent) and faster product development (34 percent) as beneficial outcomes.

Continue reading →

Kaspersky Lab's security researchers have found a new cyber-espionage malware, most likely built by a nation-state to use against other states' organizations.

Dubbed "ProjectSauron", it is "particularly interested" in accessing encrypted communications. The malware hunts such communications down using an "advanced modular cyber-espionage platform", comprised of a number of different and unique tools.

Continue reading →

Another day, another major data breach. This time it’s Oracle’s MICROS, its point-of-sale division, that got hurt. According to security researcher Brian Krebs, who first disclosed the breach in a blog post (you can read it here), chances are that a Russian organized cyber-crime group is behind this.

The group, called Carbanak, is believed to have inserted malicious code in the company’s software and, apparently, 700 internal systems were compromised as a result.

Continue reading →

Many IT teams are looking for a way out of the quagmire of delayed projects, questionable quality, and missed deliveries in which they often find themselves without writing blank cheques. The concept of DevOps has taken the IT world by storm, but has the day-to-day practice caught up?

Brian Dawson, DevOps expert, CloudBees discusses how this new approach can help these IT projects can progress and transform businesses.

Continue reading →

Companies are jumping on the cloud bandwagon at a rapid pace. In fact, Gartner predicts that the public cloud services market will grow 16.5 percent to $204 billion in 2016.

If you attend any IT conferences, you’ve heard the buzz. "What have you moved to the cloud?" "What are you planning to move?" On top of that, the goal of moving some part of your infrastructure to the cloud may have burrowed its way into your annual performance objectives. The pressure is on. It’s time to make the move. Or is it?

Continue reading →

"It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a drone!" may soon be a phrase we’ll all be saying. Our skies will be buzzing with these wireless devices, each on a separate mission from safe and timely delivery of a transplant patient’s new organs to expansion of critical search-and-rescue efforts. It’s clear that drones aren’t just for fun and games, but will help improve our lives in countless ways.

Drones are already in operation in a variety of industries, helping to save millions of dollars and support thousands of jobs. Telecommunications companies are now better able to monitor and maintain infrastructure, as well as plan for large-scale events, due to drone use. Complicated construction projects that require 100-foot ladder climbs can be completed in less time with less risk to employees with the assistance of drones. Energy and retail sectors are eager to enhance productivity and efficiency via unmanned aerial systems.

Continue reading →

The Brexit vote is yet to make a more significant impact in the UK’s tech job market, according to a new Dice report. The career site for the tech community surveyed 1,200 UK tech professionals and recruiters, and found that people are generally not making any dramatic movements because of Brexit.

It says that just above a fifth (22 percent) changed their career plans since Brexit. While more than half think a positive vote on the referendum would have a negative impact on the UK’s tech job market, 44 percent say they’re now looking for a new job in the EU.

Continue reading →