A look ahead at the state of the database in 2016
With security breaches and controversies over encryption, thinking about securing the data inside organizations is in the spotlight. How best to store and manage data is on the minds of most CIOs as they head further into the New Year.
Here’s what to watch for in 2016
Create and share your CV in minutes with Kickresume
Did you wake up on January 1st full of plans to change your life, get a new job, maybe a whole new career? Only to find that, somehow, your enthusiasm has faded and you’re back to work, as usual?
The key is to start small, with simple steps that’ll take you in the right direction, but won’t leave you feeling overwhelmed. Like creating and sharing your CV with the Chrome extension Kickresume.
Apps are far less secure than you imagine
Protection solutions specialist Arxan Technologies has just released its fifth annual State of Application Security report which takes an in-depth look into the security of some of the most popular mobile apps available.
The company found a huge discrepancy between consumers’ beliefs regarding the level of security built into the apps, and the degree to which developers of these apps actually address known application vulnerabilities. Worryingly, 90 percent of the applications tested were vulnerable to at least two of the OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Mobile Top 10 Risks. These are the most critical risks facing apps.
Intel Skylake-based PCs freeze during complex workloads
A bug in Intel’s Skylake architecture was discovered by a team of mathematicians called the Mersenne Community. The group has been using Intel systems to search for prime numbers for the past 20 years and had yet to encounter any problems until now.
According to the Mersenne community, they experienced system freezes while running GIMPS (Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search) Prime95 software. By employing tens of thousands of machines to run hand-coded assembly language 24 hours a day, this group has found all of the record prime numbers during the last 20 years.
Warning! Windows 8 will no longer receive security updates from today
If you’re still using Windows 8 it’s now time to upgrade because that operating system is about to get a whole lot less secure.
From today, January 12 2016, Microsoft will stop issuing security patches for its 3-year-old tiled OS, which will mean users will no longer be safe from newer threats.
Apple previews upcoming iOS 9.3 features for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
If you want a very secure and feature-rich Unix-like mobile operating system, Apple's iOS is incredible. In fact, many forward thinking folks, like myself, envision a day where it becomes a desktop OS too, potentially replacing OS X. While iPad Pro is a good first step, the iOS operating system still has a long way to go in that regard.
Today, Apple announces the features for the upcoming iOS 9.3 -- currently in beta. While hardly revolutionary, this evolutionary upgrade is packed full of some really cool new things. It may even be able to help you sleep better. No, really; iOS 9.3 could improve your overall health and well-being.
Amazon may release a new Echo, but here's what I really want
The Amazon Echo is a great device and I've made no secret of the fact that I use it a lot and like it very much. It's capable of doing quite a bit and more features come along all the time. We've witnessed, just recently, the addition of the game Jeopardy! as well as minor updates that didn't always go in favor of the users, but still improved the overall product.
A new report, well really a rumor because Amazon hasn't confirmed it (and I tried asking), claims the company has plans for a portable version of the digital assistant.
Police could tap into router data to verify digital alibis
Law enforcement agencies are missing out on a vast amount of valuable data that could be used to convict criminals, or prove innocence. Dan Blackman from Edith Cowan University, Australia says that police are missing out on swathes of data that could be gathered from Wi-Fi devices.
For privacy advocates it's a suggestion that is likely to make the gag reflex kick in, but Blackman says that router data could be a valuable tool in fighting crime. Information such as device MAC addresses, coupled with data about connections to routers can be used to place individuals at the scene of a crime -- or away from it -- but timeliness is the key to success.
The pros and cons of implementing a bug bounty program
A recent incident with the Facebook Bug Bounty program has led to many different reactions supporting both Facebook and the security researcher. Regardless of who is right in that whole story, the one fact is clear: the researcher went far beyond what the social media site had initially expected, and got access to the sensitive data the company didn’t really want to share with anybody, including the researchers’ community.
These days bug bounties have become very popular, raising more and more questions about their efficiency and effectiveness. We will try to understand how and if bug bounties can be used to test your corporate web applications. I intentionally omit bug bounties for stand-alone software (e.g. Chrome or various IoT applications) as it’s a different topic.
Security time bomb: Businesses are not ready for the end of Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 support
The end of support for older versions of Internet Explorer has been known about for some time now. Despite the fact that there has been plenty of time to prepare for a move away from Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10, many businesses are simply not ready and security experts warn that this could lead to a spate of attacks from hackers.
Microsoft has been encouraging people to move to Internet Explorer 11, or Edge in Windows 10 for a while, and the countdown comes to an end tomorrow -- 12 January. From this point forward, there will be no more patches or security fixes issued. Security analysts fear that with Internet Explorer 9 and 10 accounting for 36 percent of IE and Edge use, and with more than 160 vulnerabilities discovered in Internet Explorer in the last three years, there are risky times ahead.
How to scale your DevOps efforts
All companies -- from retail, to media, to IoT -- are increasingly becoming software companies. Data loss, security threats, service downtime and performance issues can sink a business. As a result, DevOps has evolved from an island of marginalized system administrators to an organization-wide cultural shift.
Companies like Netflix, Ticketmaster and Etsy understand that DevOps entails established processes, interconnected systems for monitoring and diagnosing, and org-wide vigilance about incident response. As our businesses continue to become more software-driven, Heavybit’s community of developer-focused entrepreneurs, advisors and investors provide tips and tactics to scale your DevOps efforts:
Google further legitimizes YouTube creators with upcoming interview of President Obama
As the media landscape changes, alternative media is becoming much more popular. Creators on online platforms like YouTube and Twitch are becoming stars, rivaling their mainstream media counterparts. In other words, someone like PewDiePie could possibly attract a bigger crowd than some network TV stars.
Unfortunately, there is still a stigma that being a YouTube creator, for example, is a lesser level of celebrity. Well, Google is aiming to change this, and today, it announces that it will continue the tradition of giving some YouTube stars the opportunity to interview President Obama a few days after his final State of the Union address. Does this further legitimize YouTube creators?
Should your business build a mobile app?
You are thinking about having an app built to help grow your business. After all, the biggest and the best all have apps, so should you, right? Ideally, you do need an app for your business.
In fact, a recent study published by the Gallup Poll reports that 52 percent of the population checks its smart phones several times per hour, and of the remaining 48 percent, 20 percent of the people claim to check their phones once per hour. These numbers are a marketing team’s dream! So many easy to reach people in one place! So yes, you need an app!
Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 3 dies tomorrow
Products, no matter how much we may like them, don't last forever. You don't want to be the person keeping a batch of Palms in the freezer for future use -- and there are people who do that. Product cycles run their course and technology moves forward.
Microsoft customers, in some cases, move forward very grudgingly. That's especially true of business, particularly ones who had to be dragged off of IE 6 -- they now need to be dragged even further from that comfort zone.
Security trends to watch in 2016
2015 was a year for the record books in information and cyber security. Dozens of new vulnerabilities were uncovered, and government organizations, businesses and individuals continued to find themselves victims of high-profile data breaches.
As we settle into the new year, we don’t expect this trend to slow down. We foresee more security issues on the horizon that must be addressed in order to ensure privacy for companies and consumers in the year ahead. Here are our predictions on what’s coming in 2016:
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