Google wants to shame Apple into adopting RCS in its Messages app
RCS is a cross-platform messaging protocol designed as a successor to the outdated SMS and MMS standards, and Google today launches a new website to try and shame Apple into adopting it.
If you have an iPhone and message Android-owning friends regularly using the Apple’s Messages app, then you’ll know that the message bubbles show up in different colors -- blue for fellow iPhone owners, and green for those on Android. However, you might also have encountered problems like low res photos and videos, missing read receipts and typing indicators, and broken group chats when engaging in cross-platform messaging. This, Google says bluntly, is down to Apple.
Cybercrime doesn't take vacation: How to work securely this summer season
As global travel restrictions continue to ease this summer, many will wander to new destinations. Recent research anticipates that 208 million American adults (80.84 percent) plan to travel this summer with more than 20 percent of those planning to travel internationally. While this is a positive forecast for the travel and hospitality sector, for cybersecurity, it presents a host of potential risks. Insecure WiFi connections and personal device usage, to name a few.
As malicious activity proliferates and cybercriminals become more discrete and persistent with their attack methods, organizations and their employees must be vigilant at all times, unfortunately even when on vacation. Simply checking company emails on a personal device while connected to public WiFi at a café or airport could have massive repercussions for an organization. Employees must always take precautions, as cybercriminals will be looking to exploit organizations during employee downtime. While it is best to completely avoid bringing your corporate devices on vacation, fortunately, there are measures that we can all take to reduce our risk of falling victim to an attack while working from unfamiliar locations.
Reprogramming the enterprise: How IT teams aim to keep pace with demand
Over the past two decades, the role of IT in the enterprise has shifted from peripheral to strategic. Businesses are now digital-first and technology plays an integral role in driving innovation, differentiation, and sharpening the competitive edge. The past two years have not only shown us what digital channels are capable of, it has placed them front-and-center in the battle for customer engagement. This has forced yet more rapid evolution in enterprises. They are striving to build teams that can respond to the demand for seamless, multi-channel customer experience while fending off competition from disruptive digital native start-ups.
Recently we conducted research among senior IT decision-makers to uncover the key areas of focus, the challenges, and how they are writing new rules for the digital era. The results show how IT teams are effectively reprogramming the enterprise and drawing on new technologies as they seek to deliver outstanding digital experiences with reassuring security levels, while also wrestling with the challenges of talent shortages in the industry.
80 percent of enterprises use open source software and nearly all worry about security
A new study reveals that while 80 percent of enterprises are using open source software (OSS) -- set to rise to 99 percent in the next year -- a mere one percent say they aren't worried about security.
The report from Synopsys, based on research by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), shows that in response to high profile supply chain attacks 73 percent of respondents say they have increased their efforts significantly to secure their organizations' software supply chain.
IBM makes open source tookit available to fight software supply chain attacks
The power of software supply chain attacks was amply demonstrated by SolarWinds but two years on some organizations are still vulnerable thanks to the use of source code management (SCM) systems.
IBM's X-Force Red ethical hacking team has been able to successfully gain access to SCM systems during an adversary simulation engagement in most cases.
WhatsApp is gaining some great new privacy features including screenshot blocking
WhatsApp is not only one of the popular messaging apps out there, it is also one that is subject to some of the fastest development work. Existing features are constantly being tweaked, new options are being added all the time, and Mark Zuckerberg has just revealed three exciting new privacy-focused features.
In an announcement on his personal Facebook page, the CEO of Meta teased a trio of new features which will help to improve the privacy of group and one-on-one chats. The upcoming additions are part of a new global campaign from WhatsApp that focuses on and promotes privacy and security features.
Apple's rumored VR headset will be huge for the enterprise: Here's what IT needs to be thinking about now
After many years of speculation, Apple’s entrance into the VR/AR market is finally imminent. CEO Tim Cook hinted in an interview last month that he is "incredibly excited about AR" and to "stay tuned" to see what Apple has to offer. The Board has allegedly tested a headset out. The latest rumors suggest that Apple will unveil something by January 2023.
Whenever it happens, Apple releasing some sort of VR/AR device will be an absolute game changer for the industry. Apple moves markets. Its technology is always excellent. It knows how to drive mass appeal. Apple’s headset will, without a doubt, help push XR to widespread adoption, and maybe not in ways you’d expect. When people think of Apple products, their mind typically goes to consumer technology -- but it’s actually the enterprise that will likely come first in reaping the benefits of this new headset.
4.5 million devices exposed to oldies but baddies vulnerabilities
Despite the fast changing nature of the world of cybersecurity, it seems that when it comes to vulnerabilities there's still a place for the golden oldies.
New research by Rezilion find that more that 4.5 million internet-facing devices are still vulnerable to vulnerabilities discovered between 2010 to 2020. What's more, for most of these vulnerabilities, active scanning/exploitation attempts have taken place in the past 30 days too.
How businesses can improve their cyber resilience [Q&A]
Governments are keen for enterprises to improve their cyber resilience, but research from Skurio finds just under half of private and public sector organisations surveyed say that lack of resources and in-house expertise prevent their organisation from keeping up with and protecting against new cyber threats.
We talked to Jeremy Hendy, CEO of Skurio, about the barriers to businesses becoming more cyber resilient and the calls to action for C-suite, info-security departments, and the industry
Twitter comes clean about serious security incident affecting millions of accounts
Twitter has confirmed that a hacker was able to exploit a security vulnerability on the social platform earlier this year, gaining access to the private data of millions of users.
In total, 5.4 million accounts were affected, with the attacker able to link account names to email addresses and phone numbers. While the incident took place back in January this year, Twitter has also revealed that the exposed user data was made available to buy just last month. In what will be regarded by many as something of an understatement, the company says that "it is unfortunate that this happened".
How to improve collaboration between developers and product owners
Technical teams sometimes have difficulties getting along, as the scope of work across a project can be so diverse. In any profession, if a team member doesn’t understand the value of what their colleague brings to the group, this can cause conflict, so close and frequent communication is key.
Research from Harvard Business Review supports this philosophy, with high-performing teams reaching out to each other ten times per day, compared to an average of six. This shows how regular check-ins strengthen bonds within the group, which subsequently reduces errors and disagreements as everyone has a clear idea about each person’s role in the team.
Glorious unveils GMMK Numpad
I absolutely hate keyboards with number pads. Why? Because I do not use the number pad -- I use the numbers on the top row of the keyboard. And so, having a number pad on my keyboard is simply wasteful. It causes the keyboard to be wider than necessary, taking up extra space on my desk. This is why I prefer tenkeyless keyboards.
Understandably, some people do prefer having a number pad. Wouldn't it be cool if number pads were simply always offered as a separate accessory? While dedicated number pads have been around for years, a new such gaming-focused product from Glorious might be the coolest ever. Called "GMMK Numpad," this macro pad connects via Bluetooth, but it can charge and connect using USB-C too. The mechanical pad even features a knob and slider. Best of all, it can be extensively configured by the user.
Why are enterprises overspending on the cloud?
Cloud services have grown exponentially in recent years, with businesses embracing the solutions to provide scalability, agility, and access to new applications. Most organizations have already embraced the cloud or are planning to do so -- and the increased movement of infrastructure to the cloud is described as “inevitable” by 95 percent of enterprises polled recently.
Despite this momentum, enterprises are growing frustrated with some limitations of cloud services and are starting to wonder if more can be achieved. Cloud is not always meeting businesses’ expectations, with inadequate management tools, issues with accessing data, and inflexible pricing plans often resulting in dissatisfied customers.
GitHub rival GitLab ditches plans to delete inactive repositories
GitLab recently announced plans that meant repositories that were part of its free tier would be erased after a year of inactivity. This led to complaints from users of the GitHub rival, saying that it was unfair and that the decision made no sense.
Having listened to the negative feedback, GitLab has now announced a change of heart. Inactive repositories will no longer be deleted when they have not been active for a while, but there will still be consequences for inactivity.
DuckDuckGo to block Microsoft tracking scripts after user uproar about recent revelations
DuckDuckGo likes to bill itself as a privacy-centric search engine and web browser, and it is hard to deny that it is more private than the likes of Google search and Chrome. But earlier this year, it came to light that there was an agreement in place between the company and Microsoft that meant the DuckDuckGo browser did not block all trackers from the maker of Windows 11.
When users learned that DuckDuckGo was granting a level of leniency to Microsoft there was an understandable backlash. Now the company has announced it is to offer "more privacy and transparency" after failing to meet users expectations, and will block Microsoft tracks -- most of the time.
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