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Thieves using a $17 power amplifier to break into cars with remote keyless systems
Cars with keyless entry systems are capable of searching for a wireless key fob that is within a couple feet of the vehicle, but car thieves can use a $17 “power amplifier” to boost the key searching capabilities, sometimes up to around 100 meters, and pull off a high-tech car break-in.After almost becoming a victim of a high tech car heist again, Nick Bilton over at The New York Times said he is now keeping the keys to his 2013 Prius in the freezer. There had been a rash of mysterious car break-ins near his Los Angeles address, including three break-ins to his own car; all cars involved had remote keyless systems that come with a wireless key fob which is used to unlock the doors and start the engine instead of using a physical key.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
WEBCAST: Aerohive
Gigabit Speed Wireless Networks with 802.11ac
With the development of 802.11ac, WLANs surpass the gigabit speed barrier. Watch this webinar recording featuring author of "802.11ac: A Survival Guide" (O'Reily), Matthew Gast, for a discussion on 802.11ac and why it's posed to become the 802.11 standard of choice and how to incorporate it into your network plans. View now>>
RESOURCE COMPLIMENTS OF: MacIT Conference
What Are Leading Corporations Doing About Apple?
Find out at MacIT® July 14–16. This year's event is bigger and better than ever, with more than 70 and speakers and 40 sessions focused on all aspects of deploying and managing Apple in the enterprise. Get the practical tools you need to put iOS and OS X tools to work in your world. Mark your calendar, July 14–16. Register now and save!
Lessons from Altoona: What Facebook's newest data center can teach us
Over the past year, Facebook has thrown some interesting wrenches into the gears of the traditional networking industry. While mainstream thinking is to keep most details of your network operations under wraps, Facebook has been freely sharing its innovations. For a company whose business model is built on people sharing personal information, I suppose this makes perfect sense.What makes even more sense is the return Facebook gets on their openness. Infrastructure VP Jason Taylor estimates that over the past three years Facebook has saved some $2 billion by letting the members of its Open Compute Project have a go at its design specifications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
Ben and Jerry's spoof Apple's "1984" ad in new BRRR-ito commercial
Largely considered one of the best TV commercials to ever hit the air, Apple's award-winning "1984" ad is ripe for parody, even in 2015.Putting that thought into practice, Ben & Jerry's today rolled out a new commercial for their upcoming BRRR-ito product. As the name implies, think ice cream delightfully wrapped up in a waffle cone shell, a'la a standard burrito.To help get the word out, Ben and Jerry's new commercial liberally borrows quite a few directorial cues from Apple's "1984" ad, resulting in an all around great and super creative advert.Check it out below. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
Hewlett Packard Enterprise just released its new logo, and it's really boring
This week CEO Meg Whitman released the logo for the newly created Hewlett Packard Enterprise division of the soon to be split up company.Count me in the camp that is disappointed.Whitman unveiled the new logo in a blog post: “We needed a logo and a design system that would be singular and defining. We needed a design that would express our renewed commitment to focus and simplicity. And we needed a logo that would be as transformative, flexible and agile as we are becoming, while standing out from the pack.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
Study: Self-driving cars will make a lot of people sick
A recent study conducted by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute predicts that passengers in self-driving cars will be more likely to experience motion sickness than in traditional automobiles.Specifically, the study estimates that anywhere between 6% and 10% of passengers would experience some level of motion sickness "often, usually, or always," while as many as 12% would feel moderate or severe motion sickness "at some time."The researchers looked at the factors that contribute to motion sickness – "conflict between vestibular and visual inputs, inability to anticipate the direction of motion, and lack of control over the direction of motion" – and estimated how much more likely passengers would be to experience them while traveling in self-driving cars. They concluded that these factors "are elevated in self-driving vehicles."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
IDG Contributor Network: Inside AZ Labs, a facility 'certified at the highest level' of cybersecurity
Think your data center and IT research facilities are secure? Unless you work for a military contractor, or at Apple, it's probably nothing like AZ Labs in Mesa, Arizona. AZ Labs, or Arizona Laboratories for Security & Defense Research, is a cyberfortress. Literally. Like something out of a Cold War drama, the four-building campus is "certified at the highest level" of security. Dane Mullenix, the director of AZ Labs, declined to define what "the highest level" means, but it's way, way higher than Top Secret. These building were constructed in the 1980s by the Air Force to serve as an advanced research facility, with 250 scientists creating systems as diverse as pilot interface software for the F-16 fighter jet, advanced night-vision optics, and the command center used by the USAF. The facility is adjacent to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, which used to be the Williams Air Force Base.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
WHITE PAPER: Kony Inc
Selecting a Mobile App Development Platform Solution
Compare the top mobile application development platforms that should be on every enterprise shortlist. Learn More
What has changed now that Microsoft's Lync is Skype for Business?
Just one month after releasing a technical preview, Microsoft has announced the availability of the new Skype for Business client and Skype for Business Online, its planned replacement for the Lync communication software.Skype for Business is part of the April monthly upgrade for Office 2013, while Skype for Business Online is going to be introduced into Office 365. It will eventually replace Lync Online, however, customers who need a little more time to migrate over to Skype for Business Online will have the option to switch from Lync for at least a little while.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
BYOD leading to increasingly risky behavior among employees
In the seventh season of the hit TV series The Office, Michael Scott unveils his movie called "Threat Level Midnight." In the movie, agent Michael Scarn is brought out of retirement by the President to protect the NHL All-Star Game from being blown up by the evil Goldenface. To accomplish this, Agent Scarn must go through some difficult tasks. such as learning to skate and play hockey as well as recover from a gunshot wound. Scarn, of course, does this because the Threat Level to the All-Star Game is fast approaching midnight.Businesses today are approaching their own "Threat Level Midnight," but this threat doesn't come from a single, evil super villain. Rather, it comes primarily from the internal employees in an organization and their habits when using their personal mobile devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
OIG audit finds potential for abuse in FBI forensic kiosks and FBI site hacked
Imagine if after one hour of training, you had access to a FBI digital forensic kiosk that could allow you to “quickly and easily” view and then extract data stored on cell phones, but you don’t have to hand over this “evidence” to an FBI Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory. You could also carry out digital forensics on hard drives and “loose files” to locate “deleted, encrypted, or damaged file information.” After an hour of training, you were supposed to “sign a Letter of Acknowledgment” that you had legal authority to use the kiosk for forensics on cell phones and loose media, but that wasn’t always enforced; there are no “sufficient” controls in place to ensure you used the kiosk for only law enforcement purposes and it is “possible for a user to use a Kiosk without proper legal authority, thereby engaging in a Fourth Amendment violation.” Do you think you might be tempted to misuse the forensic kiosk?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
IDG Contributor Network: Bad cell service? Just start your own telco
We've all enjoyed a good moan about our cellular phone service over the years. Iffy coverage, bizarre billing practices, and infuriating customer service have all provided a source of jovial dinner table chat in my home. As the expression goes: you've got to laugh or you'd cry.But our trials are nothing compared to what some people experience. Many in rural areas have no service at all.Those unfortunate souls have, until now, had no redress. When powerful telco won't provide service, you simply don't have service.However, in Mexico, that's changing. Just as individual citizens in some Mexican communities have bandied together to create their own prisons (due to a lack of them), citizens are also creating their own local cellular systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
HTC 'working closely' with Microsoft on a Windows 10 smartphone
The Microsoft and HTC love/hate relationship seems to be swinging back to the love side of the spectrum, as the Chinese handset maker said it plans to offer a new phone on its latest hardware running Windows Phone 10.At the launch of the HTC One M9+ in India this week, an HTC executive was asked if a Windows version of the handset might be on the way. Chia-Lin Chang, the company's chief financial officer and president of global sales (there's something you don't see every day, one person handling finance and sales), would neither confirm nor deny whether HTC would eventually release a One M9+ for Windows, but he did say that the company is "working closely" with Microsoft on a Windows 10 device, according to the WP phone enthusiast site Windows Central.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
WHITE PAPER: IBM
Business Value of Creating Exceptional Digital Experiences
Customers and employees alike expect an exceptional digital experience. Read this IDC Report to learn more about IBM's Exceptional Digital Experience Solutions. Learn More
How Cisco keeps channel partners out in front of market trends
I've been covering Cisco as an analyst now for the better part of 15 years. Prior to my analyst career I worked for a Cisco reseller, and prior to that I was a customer of the company. All in all, I guess I've been watching Cisco and the networking industry for the better part of 25 years.Throughout that time period, I've heard a steady drumbeat of people predicting the downfall of the networking industry's 800-pound gorilla. Despite the predictions of increased competition, commoditization, and other factors, Cisco has continued to thrive as a company. Sure, it's not the same hyper-growth company it was in the late 90s, but at almost $50 billion and 60%+ gross margins, even 3% to 5% growth is impressive.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
Megacode ransom paid to decrypt server shared by 5 law enforcement departments in Maine
After a law enforcement server shared by three city (town) police departments and a sheriff’s office was infected with ransomware and the cops in Maine chose to pay a bitcoin ransom to decrypt the files, what moral of the ransomware story did the sheriff learn? Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett told the Boothbay Register, “Next time, we'll just pay the ransom on the first day and be done with it. It's like a jail — it's very safe and secure, but that can mean nothing if you leave the door unlocked.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
Antivirus competitors join arms to take down a huge botnet
A group of antivirus competitors joined together with Interpol to take down a massive botnet of more than 770,000 compromised machines worldwide.Trend Micro, Microsoft, and Kaspersky Labs teamed up to go after SIMDA, an elaborate botnet in which malware modifies HOSTS files on Windows machines from reputable sites like Facebook, Bing, Yahoo, and Google Analytics, and redirects people to malicious sites. Even after the SIMDA backdoor has been removed, infected HOSTS files can remain.Trend took the lead on the project and provided information such as the IP addresses of the affiliated servers and statistical information about the malware used. Crooks used the SIMDA malware to remotely access PCs and steal personal information as well as install and spread other malware. Research from Trend Micro found redirection servers located in 14 countries and infections were found in at least 62 countries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
RSA Conference Should Push For Technology Integration
Just a few days until the start of the RSA Conference and I expect an even bigger event than last year – more presentations, vendors, cocktail parties, etc. The conference will likely focus on security technologies like endpoint security, cloud, security, threat intelligence, IAM, and others which I described in a recent blog. While these individual technologies will own the spotlight, there is another pervasive security technology trend (and enterprise security requirement) that will be far less visible – technology integration. To be clear, large organizations are certainly in the market for more effective security technology solutions in a number of areas. For example, ESG research reveals that 51% of organizations plan to add new endpoint security controls as a countermeasure for advanced threats (note: I am an ESG employee). Nevertheless, these individual tools will have to exchange data, plug into messaging buses, and accept commands from a variety of other security analytics, policy management, and command-and-control systems. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
IDG Contributor Network: How smartphone sensors can make expensive weather-monitoring equipment obsolete
Currently, millions of drivers are traveling around our cities collecting data on road traffic with their smartphones. The objective: crowd-sourced traffic conditions.Drivers simply install an app onto their smartphones. The device collects data, and then the system shares the nuances of traffic jams with other app users for the "common good," as Google's Waze, the app's developer, describes it.Waze and the GPS sensor In that case, speed and location is calculated by the smartphone's GPS sensor. Waze has somewhere between 20 and 50 million users, depending on who you listen to.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
AMD pulls back: Less ARM in the cloud, more NOC power consumption
I have a certain sadness as I write this. Data center computational densities have incurred a setback.There was a time when it looked as though ARM might give power-hungry Intel designs a run for their money in the world of high-density computing. It's the sort of density that cloud providers need: rack after rack, crammed to the gills, chilled, high-speed buses. But power costs a lot of money, alternate energy initiatives aside.AMD had bought SeaMicro, whose high-density chassis full of power-sipping ARM CPUs form large arrays of calculative strength, without the hefty bill from the power company for oceans of coulombs. HP had initially announced Project Moonshot, the cartridge-based high-density server with ARM, or FPGA cartridges to slowly sip power, but ultimately delivered its chassis with Intel Atom. ARM blades are still available, and FPGAs are said to be shipping.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
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