intel_logo_building

A company reborn: Intel ditches Atom chips to focus on the cloud, the Internet of Things and 5G

Big changes are afoot at Intel. A spokeswoman has confirmed that the company is scrapping its Sofia and Broxton mobile Atom chips, and will instead shift focus to more profitable ventures. Having invested billions of dollars in Atom for smartphones and tablets Intel is now switching its attention to the world of connected devices.

Giving Atom chips the chop comes just after the company announced 12,000 job cuts and effectively walked away from the PC market. In moving away from mobile devices as well, Intel is undergoing a rebirth. It is looking to focus on key areas of growth, particularly the cloud and IoT as well as 5G, memory, and data center products.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Whisper

How to boost your free Microsoft OneDrive storage back up to 15GB

Last year, Microsoft announced plans to drop the free OneDrive storage amount from 15GB down to 5GB, and also discontinue the 15GB camera roll bonus.

Earlier this week we learned that the software giant will be putting this plan into action from July, which means if you’re currently using more than 5GB of storage you will either have to remove some files to get under the new limit, or upgrade to a paid plan. But hold on a minute. Before you do either, there is a third option which you can use to keep your free storage at 15GB.

By Wayne Williams -
microsoft_logo_building

Microsoft takes just 7 hours to patch colossal Office 365 vulnerability that exposed companies' data

Companies are often criticized for the length of time it takes them to patch security problems found in software. But this week Microsoft exceled itself, taking just 7 hours to patch a serious security hole in Office 365 that made it possible to gain unrestricted access to businesses' cloud accounts.

A problem with the SAML authentication system meant that it was possible to gain access to just about any Office 365 account, including accessing connected services like Outlook, OneDrive and Skype for Business. More than this, the exploit allowed an attacker to infiltrate companies and organizations such as Verizon, Georgia State University and British Airways who use Office 365. The researchers who unearthed the issue have praised Microsoft for dealing with it so quickly.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
free-stuff

Enterprise Microsoft Azure users get free one-year support

In order to hasten the transition from its traditional retail products to its cloud based products, Microsoft has just announced that it will be offering one year of free technical support to Azure users.

From May 1, 2016 through to June 30, 2017 users who purchase Azure Services under an Enterprise Agreement (EA) will receive a year of free support from the company.

By Anthony Spadafora -
cloud network

Cloud native networking helps businesses exploit public clouds

As more businesses turn to the use of public cloud services, they're keen to find ways to gain more visibility into their deployments and make them more secure.

Cloud native networking pioneer Aviatrix Systems is addressing this with the launch of its Cloud Native Networking 2.0. The solution combines a software-defined network controller and software gateways to enable businesses using a combination of public, private and hybrid clouds to quickly and easily roll out virtual private clouds.

By Ian Barker -
dropbox_project_infinite

Dropbox previews Project Infinite to blur the boundaries between the cloud and local storage

At its Dropbox Open in London, Dropbox unveiled a preview of its new Project Infinite technology. At its heart, it's a simple idea. Regardless of whether files have been synced to a device or not, they will show up in Dropbox on the desktop.

The aim is to reduce the reliance on browser-based tools which can slow down workflow. It allows for collaborators to gain instant access to files their co-workers have shared with them and allows files stored in the cloud to be treated in the same way as those stored locally.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Compliance gauge

Rackspace improves compliance handling for mixed infrastructures

When businesses have specific compliance requirements -- because of the industry they're in for example -- managing them across cloud and hybrid infrastructures can be a tough challenge.

Managed services specialist Rackspace is addressing this by adding CloudPassage Halo as the underlying security and compliance platform behind its Rackspace Compliance Assistance service, targeting companies that prefer to outsource the management of their compliance initiatives.

By Ian Barker -
File sharing

Globalscape delivers faster enterprise file transfers

With increased cloud usage and more demand for remote working, the ability to move large files around efficiently has become more and more important.

Delays or latency in moving data can create serious challenges for a business and the size of files being moved is increasing, causing additional strain on bandwidth.

By Ian Barker -
microsoft_logo_building

Weak Lumia sales prove Microsoft should put an end to Windows 10 Mobile

It is hard to take Windows 10 Mobile seriously when Microsoft announces sales of just 2.3 million Lumias in a whole quarter. If you ever thought that the platform can actually be competitive in today's market, now is the time to wake up. This year, smartphones sales are expected to reach 1.5 billion units. If Microsoft manages to move 10 million Lumias in 2016, Windows 10 Mobile's market share would likely be around the one percent mark.

Microsoft is not the only Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile vendor, but it is the largest by far. It sells about 90 percent of the smartphones running the tiled operating system, so its performance has a major impact on the platform's popularity.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
network

Choosing asset management software

Asset management is often seen as something as a chore and something that's relegated to a few hours work with an Excel spreadsheet.

But that makes it hard to keep up to date and may not deliver all of the information needed to effectively keep track of equipment and software.

By Ian Barker -
kim_dotcom

Dotcom: If you're still using Mega, back up your cloud-based files right now

It seems that Mega -- the enfant terrible of the cloud storage world -- could be on the brink of closure. Founder of Mega (formerly known as Mega Upload), Kim Dotcom took to Twitter to warn people to back up their files ASAP.

Not for the first time, Mega is out of the control of Dotcom, and is currently in the hands of what he refers to as "the fifth most wanted criminal in China". For many people the idea of their cloud storage being in criminal hands would be concerning enough, but Dotcom says that Bill Liu wants to float the company in Hong Kong.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Backup key

More than a third of enterprises don't backup business data

The results of a new survey show that many organizations continue to demonstrate a complacent, lax attitude toward backups, leaving them vulnerable to evolving threats.

The study from cloud-based backup provider CloudBerry Lab finds that almost half of respondents (49 percent) have only one copy of their business data, which could cause major operational disruption in the event that data becomes inaccessible.

By Ian Barker -
Cloud access

Migrating Oracle apps to the cloud

With companies of all sizes across the globe waking up to the benefits of moving some or all Oracle applications to the cloud, the cloud is rapidly becoming a star in many IT strategies of organizations. The benefits include the reduced need for up-front capital investment in order to accelerate return on investment, as well as gaining greater business insight and an excellent user experience.

The reality of today’s cloud technology is now matching -- or even exceeding -- the hype of a few years ago. However, some organizations are still cautious about moving business-critical applications to the cloud, based on perceived risks that are often overstated and based on outdated concerns.

By Mark Vivian -
Shipping containers

Microsoft Azure's Container Service now generally available

Microsoft Azure's Container Service in now available to help companies deploy and manage containers using their choice of software.

Users of the service will be able to move their container workloads to the cloud easily and can still run their operations using open-source tools. The two most popular tools -- Mesosphere’s Data Centre Operating System (DC/OS) and Docker’s Swarm and Compose -- will be both be supported by Azure Container Service and users will be able to continue running their operations using the one they prefer.

By Anthony Spadafora -
hand stop

Stop using shortened URLs to share private content

Generating a shortened URL to share content may seem like a good idea, but it may also expose you to unnecessary security risks, a new research paper shows. Titled Gone in Six Characters: Short URLs Considered Harmful for Cloud Services, it explains how short URLs can be used by malicious players to plant malware, copy personal files, and retrieve all sorts of personal information, like your home address, among other things.

URL shorteners, as their name suggest, are meant to bring long links, that can contain dozens of characters, usually down to just a few letters and numbers. That has some clear benefits: shortened URLs suit SMS messages and tweets better, look nicer in conversations, and allow services to track the number of clicks for a specific link, among other things. But the fact that they only contain a handful of characters makes them susceptible to brute-force search.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
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