Security is the top challenge for IT pros
Security is the biggest challenge among IT professionals across the globe, trying to keep their company’s business running, a new survey suggests.
A report titled "The 8 Issues Derailing IT Team Innovation", was created by Ipswitch who tried to uncover the biggest issues IT departments are facing as 2016 approaches.
Dell's Alienware Steam Machine is officially up for pre-order
Way back in early June we learned of two manufacturers for Steam Machine gaming computers. One of those was Dell who, at the time, had a very brief window open for pre-orders. Those customers are still waiting now, more than four months later.
But things are getting closer and, as of today, Dell has opened up pre-orders for everyone. So far the machine has not leaked out and no review units have been issued. Dell points out that "Up until now only a select few inside the halls of Alienware and Valve had the chance to experience the Alienware Steam Machine in all its glory".
Flash isn't dead yet, but it might as well be
After being hit by another malware attack this week, Adobe issued a batch of 69 patches for Flash, but also for its other products, including Reader and Acrobat.
This is yet another in Adobe’s many attempts to try and save its (in)famous product, that’s been like a punching bag for hackers lately, exposing many of the plugin’s vulnerabilities. However, the frequent patches and quick responses from Adobe don’t seem to be helping the plugin much, as both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have both blocked it.
Sling TV is offering customers free HBO this weekend
If you've cut the cord on your cable or satellite TV then you have an increasing list of choices for things you can still watch. One of the newest players is Sling TV, which had a number of channels available right from the start and has since been adding more. In fact the service managed to score HBO right before Game of Thrones began its 2015 season run.
Now, as a reward for customers, this weekend Sling TV will be offering free HBO to everyone. Of course these sorts of offers are also a hope that some people will decide to keep it. In that case, you can expect to add $15 to your monthly bill.
Predictive Analytics and Customer Intelligence: The benefits and challenges facing organizations today [Q&A]
The level of accuracy in predictive analytics relies heavily on the quality of data. However, it is often overlooked that the quality of data relies on an organization’s ability to seamlessly integrate with the various systems that collect unique customer data, as well as the ability to analyze the data in context. Predictive analytics can come up short if the data remains in silos across the organization (the web team sees website analytics, loyalty teams see membership levels, marketing team sees email conversions, etc.).
I spoke to Dominik Dahlem, Senior Data Scientist at Boxever -- a customer intelligence and predictive marketing company for airlines and travel retailers -- about the past, present, and future of predictive analytics.
Politicians panic after law change could leave them open to surveillance
The world of politics is filled with people who many would consider to be out of touch with real life. All too often politicians are treated differently, and this has certainly been the case when it comes to NSA and GCHQ surveillance of phone and internet traffic. In the UK a court has ruled that a ban on intercepting politicians' communication is not valid.
The Wilson Doctrine -- named after former prime minister Harold Wilson -- stated that "there [will] be no tapping of the telephones of Members of Parliament". This has now been ruled to have no legal force, sending politicians into a fit of panic. They are due to hold an emergency debate next week.
Lenovo won't sell Surface because it sees Microsoft as a competitor
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has proven to be very popular with business users, enough to push Dell and HP to announce that they would officially sell and support the device, alongside their own Windows offerings. Dell and HP are the third and second-largest PC vendors, respectively, so, naturally, market leader Lenovo was expected to also join the Surface Enterprise fold.
That has yet to happen, but it is not due to the lack of customer demand as some folks might be inclined to believe. The reason why Lenovo does not want to sell Surface Pro 3 is because, well, it sees Microsoft as a competitor.
App Store revenue is 80 percent higher than Google Play
App Annie has released its mobile app market report for Q3, and the headline news is that Apple continues to make more money with iOS, whereas Google’s download numbers are increasing with Android.
It is, though, the money made which really counts, and the global indexed revenue from Apple’s App Store is now 80 percent higher than Google Play, according to App Annie’s figures.
American households have a false sense of online security
One in five American households was impacted by a data breach in the last year, yet 40 percent failed to properly secure their wireless routers.
This is one of the findings of a new survey from security company ESET and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). It reveals that despite the number of breaches 79 percent of Americans still feel safe in their connected homes, with almost half (49 percent) showing a remarkably strong sense of confidence.
Check your PC network security with Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
Many antivirus tools and security suites now include "vulnerability scanners" which check PCs for security issues.
But despite its age, Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer still does a more thorough job than most, without costing you anything at all.
Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and fifty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x/10 in the past seven days.
Lots of games this week again and only a few applications. It should not be surprising considering that the games category is by far the most popular in terms of downloads and activity.
Trends and opportunities in enterprise storage [Q&A]
The enterprise storage market has undergone significant change in recent years. In particular it's seen the rise of flash and the consequent decline of disk as a storage medium.
But what effect are these changes having on business? And what trends can we expect to see in the future? We spoke to Arun Agarwal, CEO of storage specialist Infinio, to find out his view of the market.
BBC starts to block VPN users from accessing iPlayer
Streaming video services are frequently tied to specific countries and steps are taken to prevent people in other parts of the world using them. This is nothing new, and there has been something of an on-going battle between service providers and users who try to find a way around any blocks that may be put in place.
Now the BBC is going to war, and it has VPNs in its sights. VPNs are frequently used by those outside of the UK to view programmes on BBC iPlayer -- but they are also used by security-conscious users. But the BBC is not concerned about the security side of things, just that the tools can be used to bypass geo-restrictions. TorrentFreak reports that UK-based VPN servers are now detected and blocked.
Addressing the IT security talent gap [Q&A]
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in the US and the Department of Homeland security is calling for more attention to be paid to securing systems.
But whilst cybersecurity is a growing industry we risk a developing skills gap where workers aren't qualified or prepared for jobs in the field. We spoke to Andrew von Ramin Mapp, CEO of Data Analyzers, a cyber security and digital forensic firm, to get his view on how the industry can address this.
How to uninstall antivirus
You don’t need an antivirus package any more? It should be easy: just run the uninstaller and try something else.
Sounds great, until the uninstaller hangs, crashes, or won’t run at all. And you can’t install a new version because it demands you remove the old one first.
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