Pro tips for writing better code
Beginning coders often learn quickly that the ability to simply code in a particular language is only half the battle. The ability to write clear and reliable code is a different story -- one that requires knowledge of best practices, attention to detail, and experience with reviewing and editing code to optimize it.
Typically, when code is completed for a certain portion of a project, it gets passed on to another person (or multiple people) for review, revision, and extension. With this being the case, keeping your code clear and logical is essential to allow other team members to work efficiently. So how do you write better code? While certain programming languages have their own unique best practices, there are some general guidelines that you can follow no matter if you write with Python, Ruby, JavaScript, or your own preferred programming language.
Why you need to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and how to do it on the cheap!
By making Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, Microsoft gave people a choice of operating system, but also caused some confusion. Just what is the difference between the two, and is it worth upgrading to Pro if your computer came with the Home edition installed?
Well the answer to the second question is a resounding yes! This is definitely a worthwhile upgrade -- and to show you why, we're going to highlight all of the extra features and options Pro includes. If you decide that you do want to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional, we have a special offer that will save you a lot of money. You can buy a genuine Windows 10 Pro license for just $39.99!
How ICS project files can be used to attack businesses [Q&A]
Industrial control systems (ICS) are usually kept separate from internet facing and other business applications. But researchers at Claroty have discovered a way to exploit ICS project files as an attack vector.
The attack was demonstrated at the recent DEF CON conference. We asked Nadav Erez, Claroty's research team lead, to explain more about why these files are particularly attractive to attackers.
Over 27 billion records exposed in the first half of 2020
Although reports of data breaches are down 52 percent in the first half of this year, the number of records exposed over the same period has soared to 27 billion.
The latest Data Breach Report from Risk Based Security shows 2,037 publicly reported breaches from January to June, a 52 percent decrease compared to the first six months of 2019 and 19 percent below the same time period for 2018.
SecureLink extends vendor privileged access management to the cloud
As systems move to the cloud, organizations are faced with the problem of safely managing access for third-parties and vendors.
Specialist in this field SecureLink is launching a new version of its SecureLink for Enterprises platform, introducing features to expand vendor privileged access management (VPAM) capabilities to the cloud and strengthen reporting.
Debian-based MX Linux 19.2 KDE Edition now available for download
A couple months ago, MX Linux 19.2 was released. It's a really solid operating system that has been growing in popularity lately. The problem is, it uses Xfce for its desktop environment. While Xfce isn't bad, it isn't the most attractive DE -- it is designed with a bigger emphasis on being lightweight as opposed to having a lot of eye candy. For users with meager hardware, that is absolutely fine. However, for those with more powerful computers, there could be a feeling of disappointment by the ho-hum visuals.
Well, for those that love MX Linux 19.2 but want a more beautiful user interface, I have great news -- a KDE Edition of the operating system is now available for download. The distro uses KDE Plasma 5.14.5 and the Debian (AHS) 5.6 kernel. MX Linux 19.2 KDE comes with plenty of excellent software pre-installed too, such as GIMP 2.10.12, Mozilla Firefox 79, LibreOffice 6.1.5, VLC 3.0.11, and more.
Windows 10 0x800f0988, 0x800f081f or 0x800f08a errors? You are not alone
The August security updates for Windows 10 released by Microsoft last week are causing issues for people running the November 2019 Update (version 1909) and the May 2020 Update (version 2004).
Released last Patch Tuesday, 11 August, the KB4565351 and KB4566782 updates are causing various issues, ranging from failed installations, through error messages and BSoDs to problems with audio. For those experiencing installation issues, the following message has been reported: "There were some problems installing updates, but we'll try again later". Here's what you need to know.
Microsoft Translator now supports Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ)
Throughout the history of humanity, there have been countless spoken and written languages. Some are still actively used today, while others are no longer common. Sadly, some languages have even been lost forever.
Thanks to translation services, such as Google Translate and Microsoft Translator, it’s possible to converse with someone that speaks a language you don’t understand. Regarding the latter service, it now has support for the written Odia language. While you may not have heard of this language (I hadn’t), it is apparently spoken by millions of people globally.
Why security needs to focus on the user not the location [Q&A]
Keeping enterprise systems secure used to be a relatively simple matter of defending the network perimeter. But in recent times the increased sophistication of attacks, a shift to more remote working, and demands for more sophisticated identity management mean things are much more complex.
We spoke to Greg Keller, CTO of directory-as-a-service company JumpCloud who believes that the answer is to move the security perimeter to the user, wherever they are located.
Russia is targeting Linux with Drovorub malware
The NSA has issued a warning about a new round of cyberattacks by Russia. This time, the GRU (Główny Zarząd Wywiadowczy, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate) is targeting Linux machines.
To orchestrate the attacks, the GRU is using a malware suite called Drovorub. The suite is made up of four modules and uses a variety of techniques to hide itself and evade detection.
Ubuntu-based Linspire 9.0 is a Linux distro that costs money -- don't buy it
There are many great things about Linux-based operating systems. Not only are they often lightweight and good for older hardware, but they can be customized too thanks to the various available desktop environments. Unlike Windows, which only has one user interface, Linux distros can have several. Of course, one of the biggest benefits of Linux is that it is free. There are countless great operating systems based on the open source kernel that cost nothing, such as Ubuntu and Fedora.
The thing is, Linux-based operating systems don't have to be free. In fact, just because the Linux kernel is open source, that does not mean that a Linux distribution can't incorporate closed source code. This brings us to Linspire -- one of the rare Linux-based operating systems that costs actual money. Believe it or not, it isn't even cheaper than Windows 10 Pro! Version 9.0 was recently released, but you probably shouldn't buy it.
What do we want? Zero trust! When do we want it? Later!
Almost half, of the participants in a new survey say zero trust is critical to their organizational security model, with only two percent of business leaders believing zero trust non-essential for their enterprise security posture.
But the study from Illumio, based on responses from over 460 IT and security professionals, finds that real world adoption is lagging. Of the respondents who find zero trust to be extremely or very important to their security posture, only 19 percent have fully implemented or widely implemented their zero trust plan.
Google makes it easier to vote in the 2020 US Election
The stage is set for the 2020 US Election. We finally know the makeups of both tickets -- Trump and Pence (Republican) against Biden and Harris (Democrat). It is largely expected that the Democrats will win given Donald Trump’s horrible performance as president, but hey, you never know. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was considered the front runner, and we know how that turned out.
That’s why, if you want Joe Biden to be your next president, it is very important that you vote this year -- don’t become indifferent because you assume he is going to win. If you are a first-time voter or just someone intimidated by the voting process, I have good news. Google is making it very simple to learn how to register to vote and what is required to actually cast your ballot.
Remote work and organizational silos [Q&A]
The move to remote working, driven by the coronavirus pandemic, has highlighted a number of issues, not least the ability of all parts of an enterprise to collaborate.
Unless there's a means for departmental processes to work together, organizations will soon find themselves in a very siloed workplace. We spoke to Terry Simpson, technical evangelist at process automation company Nintex, to discuss how organizations can break down silos and increase collaboration across their teams even when working remotely.
Windows 10's new GPU controls are great news for power users
Microsoft is giving Windows users far greater control over graphics settings to allow anyone with multiple GPUs to customize how and when they are used.
The change means that it now possible to not only choose which GPU should be used by default, but also specify which GPU individual applications should use. As well as making it possible to maximize performance when required, the new controls also give additional power-saving potential.
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