Most banks aren't confident they can detect a data breach

data breach

Consumers are quite confident banks and insurers can keep their data safe, but these organizations aren’t that sure. A new report by Capgemini has shown that financial institutions lack a significant amount of confidence when it comes to data protection.

Just one in five (21 percent) of financial service organizations admitted they’re "highly confident" they could detect a data breach. On the other hand, 83 percent of consumers trust banks and insurers with their data.

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Plex gets Amazon Alexa compatibility

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When I want to stream locally stored media to my television, I turn to Plex. The popular service has apps for many devices such as Xbox One and Apple TV -- both of which I own. Heck, even my Samsung 4K TV has Plex support built in. Ultimately, the value of the service is found in both its ease of use and cross-platform support.

Never known to stand on its laurels, Plex is constantly improving, and today, it gets a really exciting new feature. Users of the service that are also owners of Amazon Echo or other compatible devices can now leverage the Alexa voice assistant to interact with Plex.

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Replicating the success of your favorite apps

Smartphone apps

In today’s digital age, many entrepreneurs spend a lot of their time thinking about how they can develop a startup that becomes the next great tech innovation story. If the measure of success is to be mentioned in the same breath as Netflix, Uber and Dropbox, it’s important to take a closer look at the things these companies have done right over the years.

While Reed Hastings, Travis Kalanick and Drew Houston have made a lot of correct choices over the course of their journey to reach the pinnacle of startup success, many of these strategic decisions have centered around their company’s mobile app.

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DAS could solve 5G indoor coverage problems

5G mobile

According to an often quoted stat from the analyst group Informa, approximately 80 percent of mobile phone calls are now made from inside a building. As the UK increasingly moves towards being a nation of urban dwellers, this figure is perhaps not surprising -- and indeed, factoring in the continuous increase in the use of mobile devices in the workplace -- research from Aruba HPE found that 60 percent of employees link mobile technology with the ability to be productive at work -- it could well be set to go even higher.

In the face of such statistics the assumption might be that the UK would boast strong indoor coverage, however a report by communications regulator Ofcom last year found quite the opposite. In-fact, according to Ofcom over half of the UK population had reported issues with voice and data services when making calls indoors.

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Google makes searching for NFL Super Bowl LI food recipes even better

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This Sunday, many people around the world will tune into Super Bowl LI. The annual NFL championship has become something of a holiday in the USA, as people have parties and cook special foods. In fact, some people are more interested in the eating aspect (and commercials), as opposed to the actual football game. While I personally enjoy watching the big game (Jets fan rooting for Falcons), I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also excited for chicken wings and taco dip.

If you will be cooking or preparing snacks for the Super Bowl, Google has a new way for you to interact with online recipe searches. When using the company's search app for food recipes, you will be treated to an all-new carousel interface.

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One in three iPhones in US is a Plus model

iPhone 7 Plus gold

In 2014, Apple introduced the first big iPhone, the iPhone 6 Plus. Since then, the company has offered a phablet version for each new incarnation of its hugely successful device. While Apple doesn't say how many buyers prefer it over the standard model, reports show that it accounts for a significant portion of sales.

In US, the Plus models have gained considerable traction, with Consumer Intelligence Research Partners saying that they made up 35 percent of the iPhone installed base as of 31 December 2016. And their popularity is growing, as a year prior that figure stood at 25 percent.

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Enterprises fear brand damage more than data breaches

Mobile fear

The biggest fear for organizations is long-term damage to brand and reputation, yet despite this three quarters lack a comprehensive risk management strategy.

This is one of the findings of a survey for risk intelligence company RiskVision carried out by the Ponemon Institute, it reveals that 63 percent of organizations are worried about reputation and brand damage. This is followed by security breaches (51 percent), business disruption (51 percent) and intellectual property loss (37 percent).

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Valve and game publishers face EU probe for geo-blocking, ASUS for online price-fixing

European Union EU flag gavel justice

Valve, the company behind games distribution platform Steam, is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators. Agreements in place between Valve and five game publishers that implement geo-blocking in titles could breach European competition rules.

Valve, alongside Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax, is under investigation to determine whether the practice of restricting access to games and prices based on location is legal. At the same time the European Commission is launching an investigation into ASUS, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for price manipulation.

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Detect missing software updates with UCheck

UCheck.200.175

RogueKiller developer Adlice Software has released a beta of UCheck, a simple software update-checker and application manager.

The program supports around 40 packages, including 7-Zip, CCleaner, Chrome, Firefox, Flash, GIMP, iTunes, Java, LibreOffice, Malwarebytes Anti-malware, OpenOffice, Opera, Skype and VLC Media Player.

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Speed of fixing bugs holds back software deployment

Computer bug

Developers want to deploy software releases faster, but the time taken to fix bugs is holding them back according to new research.

A survey for cloud testing platform Sauce Labs carried out by Dimensional Research reveals that 28 percent of those surveyed say they want to deploy hourly (up from 18 percent in 2016). Last year only eight percent said they were not deploying as fast as they wanted to, but that percentage has nearly doubled to 14 percent this year.

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Server downtime: What are the costs?

Server room

Server downtime -- it happens. Most large companies have at least once experienced the frustration that is having their servers down, whether it’s for a few minutes, hours or even days. It’s regarded as a part of life, something that happens that you can’t quite prevent, but in fact, server downtime costs companies millions of dollars yearly, either in lost business or in the distraction and psychological toll it takes on employees who have to deal with the problem.

But actually, these can be prevented by avoiding common server issues, implementing agile working practices and creating a plan should emergencies happen.

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Get Hacking For Dummies, 5th Edition ($20 Value) FREE for a limited time

hacking for dummies

Ethical hacking, also called penetration testing, entails thinking like the bad guys to find and plug any vulnerabilities in your system to keep it secure.

Hacking For Dummies explains how to protect your computers from malicious attacks. It usually retails for $20, but for a limited time you can download the fully updated 5th edition ebook version for free.

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Facebook rolls out creepy Discover People feature on mobile, suggesting you make friends with strangers

facebook_logo_phone

If you're using the Facebook app on your phone, you might notice the appearance of a new Discover People section. As you would probably guess this is a feature designed to connect you with people on the social network, but there's something of a creepy twist.

Unlike the current "People you may know" section which suggests that you might like to become friends with people because you have a common acquaintance, the experimental Discover People adopts a different approach. It suggests that you become friends with complete strangers.

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Facebook ordered to pay $500 million to ZeniMax in Oculus Rift lawsuit

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Facebook-owned Oculus must pay half a billion dollars to game company ZeniMax after a Texas jury deliberated in a case about the Oculus Rift headset. The jury found that Oculus co-founder, Palmer Luckey, failed to comply with a non-disclosure agreement.

Although now facing a $500 million bill, not everything in the case went against Facebook. Oculus was found not to have stolen trade secrets from ZeniMax, and the company plans to appeal against the charges for which it was found guilty.

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Let me tell you about Apple Fiscal Q1 2017

whisper secret

The measure of Apple fiscal first quarter 2017 isn't record revenues ($78.35 billion) but comparison to major competitors: More than three times Google ($26.06 billion) or Microsoft ($24.1 billion). Amazon announces tomorrow, Groundhog Day. Will the retailer's CEO, Jeff Bezos, see his shadow? The 3x multiplier nearly applies to net income: $17.89 billion, versus $6.64 billion and $5.2 billion, respectively, for the two rivals. Looked at differently, compared to Apple's same quarter in fiscal 2010, seven years later, profits exceed total revenues ($15.68 billion). That's an astounding comparison.

The results defy pundits' prognostications, including my own, about gravity pulling the company back to Earth. iPhone, as major source of revenue, can only stay up for so long, before slowing smartphone sales wreck havoc. That said, credit where it's due: CEO Tim Cook is, as I've asserted before, a logistics and manufacturing genius. He is a strategist, but not an innovation leader like predecessor Steve Jobs. Cook masterfully manages his inheritance, but he, nor Apple observers, should get lost in the quarter's glow: iPhone remains boon and bane.

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