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New research released by AttackIQ based on a study by the Ponemon Institute reveals some worrying trends on the level of accountability for IT security and a lack of confidence in determining the effectiveness of security technologies.

Ponemon surveyed over 570 IT and IT security practitioners in the US and finds 63 percent of survey respondents say their IT security leadership doesn't report to the board on a regular basis, and 40 percent say they don't report to the board at all.

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As mobile and cloud computing use increases it creates security, performance, quality and cost issues for organizations.

Akamai is launching enhancements to its Intelligent Edge Platform which will enable businesses to address security, media delivery, and web performance challenges by utilizing distributed workloads and intelligence closest to the digital touchpoint where the user interacts with data and applications.

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Assuming you have Windows 10 1903 (Windows 10 May 2019 Update) installed, you should find that you now have Tamper Protection enabled.

Microsoft has announced that the security feature is now generally available for Microsoft Defender ATP customers, and at the same time it has enabled the feature by default for all Windows 10 users. But just what is Tamper Protection?

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Microsoft has announced that it is introducing new filters that will enable Xbox Live players to avoid language they may find offensive or unacceptable. It is hoped that the AI-powered system will help to reduce trolling and bullying.

The system will be optional and will offer three levels of language filtering, as well as the option of remaining unfiltered. It's an expansion of Microsoft's family settings, and the company says it recognizes "that while some adults use profanity without any ill intent while gaming, parents with small children likely won't find this same experience acceptable".

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We all know that standards of privacy and surveillance vary around the world. But which places are best at protecting your privacy?

Research from security testing site Comparitech finds that no single country is consistent in protecting the privacy of its citizens, most are actively monitoring citizens, and only five could be deemed to have 'adequate safeguards'.

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Does your laptop have USB-A ports? Gross! Don't you know no one uses them anymore? Everyone uses USB-C now. I am, of course, being facetious -- USB-C, while great, still has a long way to go before dethroning the ubiquitous Type A. With that said, there are computers that are USB-C only, such as Apple's MacBook Pro. Owners of those computers have to get dongles to use their USB-A devices.

Tomorrow, however, Google is making it possible to ditch the dongle when using a Titan security key. You see, the search giant is launching a USB-C variant of the two-factor authentication device. Not only will it be more convenient for those with USB-C laptops, but this new model looks nicer too (it's pretty).

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A cyber threat is basically any type of threat that is computer related in nature. To be clear, a computer could be a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet or even a smartphone. All of these devices have particular types of threats that they can be exposed to that users need to be aware of to ensure that they can protect themselves and their confidential information. 

Given the number of different types of devices that can be exposed to cyber threats, there are a number of different types of issues that can present themselves. Each of these threats is unique in its own right and poses a different type of issue for the user, but typically they all have the same end result… the impacted system is somehow compromised and the user, or the user’s information, is placed at risk. While the list below is extensive, it is not all inclusive. There are far too many types of threats out in the wild of the Internet to list in one article. What I do hope to do is to list those that are most prevalent and give the reader a good overview of what the threat is and how it is often used to do damage to both home and corporate networks. 

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The most successful distributed brand managers know that local marketing is a necessary part of a national and global marketing strategy, as consumers look for a personalized and tailored experience that is relevant to their needs and specific to their location. Organizations are looking towards self-service marketing to streamline processes for local teams and facilitate local efforts at the corporate level.

When done right, local marketing offers an excellent return on investment. In 2017, Google found that businesses made $2 in revenue from every $1 invested in local advertising through AdWords and retailers advertising locally on Facebook achieved an average ROI of 152 percent. However, deploying a local marketing strategy across the distributed network can be challenging for corporate marketing teams. To maximize the chances of local marketing success, local marketers need to carry their weight. That's where self-service marketing comes in to play.

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Back in 2006 Apache Hadoop emerged and soon began to revolutionize the nascent world of big Data. It’s one of the key factors that helped shape a new industry and -- with the cloud -- helped drive a raft of new consumer industries and business services.

But the data lakes of Hadoop became a challenge to manage, and many Big Data and analytical projects became more of a quagmire than a sparkling lake of truth. What’s more the number compute engines overpopulated. They were operationally complex and demanded specialized skills to maintain. Those data lakes became very disparate compute engines, sharing the same storage whilst they operated disparate workloads. It became a mess. Managing them with the tools available was no picnic.

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Security leaders have every reason to worry about the evolving threat landscape. As cyber threats proliferate (ranging from HTTP phishing to state-sponsored ransomware), the cyber talent and skills gap only grows wider.

As if this weren’t enough to keep CISOs and CIOs up at night, IT and security teams are less confident than ever in their organizations’ abilities to defend against the latest cyber attacks. Research shows at least 80 percent of IT, security, and other professionals don’t feel adequately prepared to defend their organizations. And at least 68 percent doubt their organizations’ readiness to thwart advanced threats.

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We have already seen Apple launch its new range of iPhones, and OnePlus bring new additions to its range of handsets -- now it is Google's turn.

Tomorrow in New York, the company is holding its Made By Google '19 event, and at it we can expect to see not only the launch of the Pixel 4 and Pixel XL, but also -- in all likelihood -- the Pixelbook Go. There may be a few other surprises, and you can tune into the live stream to get the news as soon as it happens -- and find out how many of the rumors are true.

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Over the last few months there have been a seemingly endless stream of reports of updates from Microsoft that have caused various problems with Windows 10. From breaking the Start menu and interfering with game audio, to preventing printing and causing issues with Edge, Microsoft's quality control has been brought into serious question of late.

So how do you like the idea of avoiding updates while Microsoft -- hopefully -- sorts itself out and starts to implement more rigorous update tests before unleashing them on the public? Here's what you can do.

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Increasing overlap of IT systems with operational technology and industrial control systems poses a range of cybersecurity risks.

Visibility and control specialist Forescout Technologies wants to help organizations uncover and manage these risks with the addition of a new Asset Risk Framework to its its industrial control system security solution SilentDefense.

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IBM is reinforcing its commitment to diversity and inclusion in the open source field with the launch of the IBM Open Source Community Grant.

Announced at this week's All Things Open conference in Raleigh, NC, the grant -- which will be awarded quarterly -- will see the winner receive $25k in cash and $25k in Cloud Credits in order to support their efforts dedicated to education and skill building for women, minorities, and/or under-served communities.

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If you are a fan of arcade-style fighting games such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or The King of Fighters, you know that modern game controllers are quite deficient when playing them. Yes, you can get by with a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller, but the d-pad and face buttons just aren't ideal. Fans of this genre prefer controllers such as the one that came with the Sega Saturn -- six face buttons and a proper d-pad. I fondly remember buying the ASCII Pad FT for Dreamcast to truly enjoy the great library of fighters.

Now, Razer is delivering a proper fightpad for both the PlayStation 4 and PC. Called "Raion," it features six face buttons -- four of which are labeled with PS4 shapes, such as circle and triangle. I rather like that it is wired too, as nothing is worse for a gamer than running out of battery power in the middle of playing a game.

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