ERP System Provides Flexibility and Security

For many organizations, enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the glue that holds together the fabric of the organization. It provides the data, insight and automation that are essential for operating effectively in today's digital business environment.

At Synalloy, a manufacturer of products and systems incorporating metals and chemicals, the need for a more flexible and agile ERP framework had moved to center stage a few years ago. "We required an ERP system that would help us manage operations and aid in acquisitions," explains Mike Padden, corporate director of IT.

The company, which operates facilities in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, manufactures items for industries ranging from consumer goods and food producers to automotive and oil and gas companies. Because Synalloy relies on a shared services model and aggressively targets other firms for acquisition, it operates with different companies and divisions.

Consequently, "We needed a system that offered greater flexibility, so that employees could log into each individual company and handle various functions without encountering problems," Padden explains. "We have very different types of businesses with different needs, but we require a standardized set of processes."

In the past, the organization tapped a mix of ERP vendors, and this led to a complex, unwieldy and expensive IT and business framework. It also boosted demands on the IT department.

In many cases, employees attempting to handle tasks had to use four or five different ERP systems and handle processes manually. When they required data in a particular system, it could require lengthy load times.

Read More: http://www.baselinemag.com/erp/erp-system-provides-flexibility-and-security.html

Super-sharp 3D cameras may come to your smartphone

Many 3D cameras and scanners produce rough images, especially as they get smaller and cheaper. You often need a big laser scanner just to get reasonably accurate results. If MIT researchers have their way, though, even your smartphone could capture 3D images you'd be proud of. They've developed a technique that uses polarized light (like what you see in sunglasses) to increase the resolution of 3D imaging by up to 1,000 times. Their approach combines Microsoft's Kinect (or a similar depth camera), a polarized camera lens and algorithms to create images based on the light intensity from multiple shots. The result is an imager that spots details just hundreds of micrometers across -- you'd be hard-pressed to notice any imperfections.

The concept would need significant tweaking for a smartphone-sized 3D camera, since it revolves around a mechanical filter. You'd likely have to use grids of polarization filters over the sensor, and that would drop the effective resolution. You wouldn't get 23-megapixel cameras for a while, folks. However, it would still be good enough that you could snap a photo of an object from your phone and get a high-quality 3D printout.



Read More: http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/02/polarized-3d-imaging/

Big Data and Hadoop Development 2016

What is Big Data?

Let’s demystify this concept. Simply put, Big Data can be defined as the compilation of huge datasets that can’t be processed making use of conventional computing methodologies. It is neither one single tool nor a procedure. It rather engages multiple areas of technology and business.

Big Data Management & It’s Significance

For companies of every size, data management has gained an added dimension over the years. From being considered as a core competency today it is viewed upon as a crucial differentiator that holds the key to verify market winners. In the recent times, the government bodies as well as Fortune 1000 organizations have immensely benefited from the enhancements brought upon by the web pioneers. Furthermore, these companies are also outlining fresh and revolutionary practices and re-estimating the present strategies to review the methods in which they can convert their businesses with the usage of Big Data. This attempt has made them realize the basic nature and importance of Big Data. Forward thinking organizations today have understood that Big Data indicates a harmonious blend of innovative initiatives and technologies that involves data that is fast-changing, extremely varied and colossal.

However, in this highly developed and high-tech era, that makes it possible for companies to realize the real utility and value that Big Data management entails. For instance, modern day retailers have the choice to keep a track of user web clicks in order to recognize and outline the customer behavioural trends. This in turn allows them to ideate better and enhance their existing marketing and promotional campaigns, pricing structure as well as the stockage. The utilities are able to track the levels of household energy usage and forecast the energy outages and also emphasize on effective consumption of energy. Even government bodies and brands like Google using Big Data management can track and spot the surfacing of disease outbreaks through the social media signs. Furthermore, leading oil and gas corporations can derive the result of sensors in drilling devices in order to arrive at secure and effective drilling decisions.

The Big Data Benefits

Therefore, some of the visible core benefits of Big Data across multiple industry verticals usually include:

Making use of important data in social media platforms like the preferences and product awareness of customers, product organizations and how the retail companies are planning production

Marketing agencies are efficiently utilizing the vital data that is stored in social networking sites like Facebook and constantly updating their know-how about their campaign responses, promotions as well as the advertising channels

Hospitals make use of big data concerning the previous medical history of chosen patients in order to offer fast and improved service

Read More: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/node/365113

Is self-driving technology becoming commoditized?

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- George Hotz’s claim that he built a driverless car in his garage has created a debate on Wall Street about the future for automotive technology suppliers such as Mobileye.

The 26-year-old hacker boasted in a Bloomberg Businessweek article that he developed a cheaper alternative to Mobileye technology used by Tesla Motors Inc. and that Elon Musk offered him a “multimillion-dollar bonus with a longer time horizon that pays out as soon as we discontinue Mobileye.” The revelation sent the stock down 7.2 percent that day and wiping out this year’s gains.

While Hotz’s exploits certainly highlight that the computing know-how for autonomous driving is becoming cheaper and more accessible, that doesn’t mean Mobileye’s business model is in trouble, according to research firm Gartner Inc. Mobileye has also locked in contracts with nearly all the top automakers from General Motors to Ford Motor Co.

Hotz’s achievement “demystifies the blackbox surrounding these technologies, and it will continue to increase the commoditization of the components,” Thilo Koslowski, vice president and automotive practice leader at Gartner, said by phone. “The magic still exists in putting it all together and doing it reliably.”

Mobileye’s edge 

That involves having the financial firepower to deal with insurance liabilities, regulatory hurdles, the threat of cyber attacks on connected cars and the absolute perfection of the automated driver-assistance system, he added.

Musk said as much in a tweeted rebuttal to Hotz’s claim: “Getting a machine learning system to be 99% correct is relatively easy, but getting it to be 99.9999% correct, which is where it ultimately needs to be, is vastly more difficult.”

Mobileye co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Amnon Shashua, a computer science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called Hotz’s claims “nonsense,” arguing that any student of his could achieve the same in six months.

Read More: https://www.autonews.com/article/20151220/OEM06/151229999/is-self-driving-technology-becoming-commoditized?

5 Massive Trends Firing Up Technology Stocks In 2016

Technology stocks outperformed the stock market this year. Some massive trends should continue firing up the tech sector in 2016 and beyond.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLK) and Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) — the two largest tech ETFs — both returned about 3% in this year while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) lost 0.7%, according to Morningstar. The biggest drivers in both ETFs were Microsoft (MSFT), +19% gain year to date; Facebook (FB), +33%; and Alphabet (GOOGL), +43%. Apple (AAPL), the biggest holding in both ETFs, shed 2%.

First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN) rallied an eye-popping 21% this year. In addition to Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL), it has to thank Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) for its outsized pop. The online retailer and video streaming service rocketed a mind-blowing 114% and 142%, respectively, in 2015.

iShares North American Tech-Software (IGV) surged 10% this year. Microsoft (MSFT), +19% year to date; Adobe (ADBE), + 26%; and Salesfore.com (CFM), +30%, led the charge.

Based on fourth-quarter estimates and actual results earlier this year, the technology sector’s sales growth was almost nonexistent at +0.1%, according to FactSet. But it was superior to the S&P 500 (SPY)’s, 3.4% dip. The tech sector is on track to grow earnings by 3.5% for 2015 while S&P 500 (SPY) earnings fall 0.5% .

Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2015/12/20/5-massive-trends-firing-up-technology-stocks-in-2016/

Technology can keep people in touch

This is the fifth in a series about how technology affects child growth and skill development.

Q: What are some positive effects of technology on child growth and skill development?

A: The Washington Post released a survey of teens in 2012 stating they have incorporated social media sites and texting into their daily lives but still prefer face-to-face communication. They believe these social media technologies have enabled them to keep in touch with more friends, to get acquainted with other students at their schools and to connect with students with whom they share interests. One in five stated using social networking helps them feel more popular, confident and sympathetic toward others.

This national study of more than 1,000 youth between 13 and 17 years of age by the child advocacy group Common Sense Media generally contradicts the myth that using social media is harmful because of the risks of bullying by peers, isolation, online predators and the release of private/personal information. However, the report talked about “Facebook fatigue.” Forty-one percent of cellphone users said they are addicted, and 36 percent would like to return to a time before Facebook was invented.

Many teens expressed weariness from the constant pressure from texting and posting on social media. Teens have mixed feelings about digital communication and online technology. Research about the developmental and behavioral effects of technology on youth is scant.

Teens still favor texting in communicating online, with two-thirds stating they text everyday. Facebook is the preferred social site over Twitter, Google and MySpace. More teens think social networking helps their friendships than those who feel it does not — 50 percent vs. 4 percent. Half of all the teen respondents surveyed preferred real-life communication.

Our collective embrace of the Internet, social media sites and mobile-mediated devices is obvious in public places. Most individuals are connected on media to others, not talking to the person or persons with whom they are sitting. Dr. Keith Hampton, a communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania and principal author of the Pew Research study “Social Networking Sites and Our Lives,” articulated concerns about technology and social relationships.

Read More: http://www.hdnews.net/lifestyle/community/technology-can-keep-people-in-touch/article_8fa055a0-f093-5ef4-99b3-bbbca54fd48e.html

How to measure the value of big data

Data itself is quite often inconsequential in its own right. Measuring the value of data is a boundless process with endless options and approaches – whether structured or unstructured, data is only as valuable as the business outcomes it makes possible.

It is how we make use of data that allows us to fully recognise its true value and potential to improve our decision making capabilities and, from a business stand point, measure it against the result of positive business outcomes.

There are multiple approaches to improving a business’s decision-making process and to determine the ultimate value of data, including data warehouses, business intelligence systems, and analytics sandboxes and solutions.

These approaches place high emphasis on the importance of every individual data item that goes into these systems and, as a result, highlight the importance of every single outcome linking to business impacts delivered.

Big data characteristics are defined popularly through the four Vs: volume, velocity, variety and veracity. Adapting these four characteristics provides multiple dimensions to the value of data at hand.

Essentially, there is an assumption that the data has great potential, but no one has explored where that might be. Unlike a business intelligence system, where analysts know what information they are seeking, the possibilities of exploring big data are all linked to identifying connections between things we don’t know. It is all about designing the system to decipher this information.

Read More: http://www.information-age.com/it-management/strategy-and-innovation/123460041/how-measure-value-big-data

The rise of robots, virtual reality coming soon

Virtual reality and robots could soon become more commonplace in U.S. homes if recent predictions for 2016 play out.

Technology improvements, new gear rollouts and lower costs are expected to spark greater interest in virtual reality technology from Facebook's Oculus, Google as well as Sony, HTC and others, according to Juniper Research.

Two consumer devices are already available: A VR headset made by Oculus for Samsung Galaxy smartphones, and Google Cardboard, which works with any smartphone. Juniper expects those devices and competing gear to get even more popular over the next five years.
"The technology is now poised to transform the entertainment industry, including games and video, in the next few years, whilst offering the potential to quickly expand into other markets such as industrial and healthcare," according to a recent Juniper report.

"We might get to a point where there's enough ubiquity of virtual reality where you can really build a company in this market today," Box CEO Aaron Levie said in an interview with CNBC. Levie's firm sells enterprise software for content management and file sharing.

There are already more than 200 companies developing virtual reality technology including hardware and software, and they're worth a combined $13 billion, according to research from VB Profiles.

Read More: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/11/the-rise-of-robots-virtual-reality-coming-soon.html

China Wants to Replace Millions of Workers with Robots

China is laying the groundwork for a robot revolution by planning to automate the work currently done by millions of low-paid workers.

The government’s plan will be crucial to a broader effort to reform China’s economy while also meeting the ambitious production goals laid out in its latest economic blueprint, which aims to double per capita income by 2020 from 2016 levels with at least 6.5 percent annual growth. The success of this effort could, in turn, affect the vitality of the global economy.

The scale and importance of China’s robot ambitions were made clear when the vice president of the People’s Republic of China, Li Yuanchao, appeared at the country’s first major robotics conference, held recently in Beijing. Standing onstage between two humanoid entertainment robots with outsized heads, Li delivered a message from China’s leader, Xi Jinping, congratulating the organizers of the effort. He also made it clear that robotics would be a major priority for the country’s economic future.

Many of the robots on show at the conference’s exhibition hall were service or entertainment robots such as automated vacuum cleaners, cheap drones, or quirky looking machines designed to serve as personal companions. But there were also many industrial robots that signaled the real impetus for China’s robot push: its manufacturing sector.

China is already the world’s largest producer of everything from clothes to electronics, but much of it depends on low-cost, low-skill labor. And even as economic growth has slowed, wages continue to rise across the country as the economy evolves. The Chinese government is also eager to see its workforce diversify and its manufacturing industries become more technologically advanced.

Read More: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/544201/china-wants-to-replace-millions-of-workers-with-robots/

Robotics teams compete in first ever league play

Learning a new language between the start of term and Dec. 12 can be daunting, but the Midland High School’s robotics teams are confident it’s not out of their league. Teams from both Midland High and Lee High are competing today in the First Tech Challenge with robots programmed using Java, a change-up from last year.

“The competition changed platforms for both electronics hardware and software this year requiring teams to use Java as a new language as they build apps (applications),” said Cory Callaway, Midland High’s robotics adviser. “Midland High’s teams have been working furiously to design, build, test, redesign, and modify our robots to meet the challenges of this year’s competition.”

Teams compete from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum.

Java is considered mainstream in the tech and programming world because of its user-friendly language. The apps act as software pieces for Android phones, which are the “"brains” of the students’ robots, according to Callaway.

“We’re an engineering community, and ... engineering is continuing to incorporate more robotics technology,” he said. “College students are learning programming and coding when they’re not exposed in high school, so those exposed in high school are ahead. It’s a competition that fits the academic side of the growth in the industry right now.”

It marks the first time for the Panhandle and Plains Region to incorporate “league play,” which lets teams compete in events and accumulate points that determine the seeding for invitational qualifier matches. It also marks a first for the Petroleum Museum hosting a robotics event.

“While working with the Petroleum Museum over the past couple of years, our conversation took a natural turn toward working together to help provide more opportunities to the students of Midland,” Callaway said.

Stacie Hanna, the museum’s director of education, said it was a step toward the museum’s desire to incorporate more science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) into its education curriculum.

Read More: http://www.mrt.com/news/education/article_8eabd836-a08e-11e5-9fe3-df1e4eb1ee2e.html

Robotics, data driven technologies and futuristic design: Work is complete on ‘the most advanced factory in the world’

The £48m Factory 2050 is now open at the University of Sheffield’s new advanced manufacturing campus on Sheffield Business Park.

It is the first building to complete on the 50-acre Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing site, which will eventually create 1,800 jobs and is a step towards the development of the UK’s first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District.

The glass-walled “reconfigurable” Factory 2050 will be used in research programmes designed to revolutionise the manufacturing process, and has been designed by architects Bond Bryan, who worked with the concept of creating a circular factory first mooted in 2005, but not achievable due to budget constraints.

Factory 2050 will be home to the AMRC’s Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG), which is currently installing cutting edge manufacturing and assembly technologies, advanced robotics, flexible automation, next generation man-machine interfaces and new programming and training tools that will drive its research, ready for it to be fully operation in spring next year.
The factory has been designed to rapidly respond to the demands of its customers, switching production between different high-value components and one-off parts - but aesthetics were also at the forefront of the design process.

Bond Bryan Architects, which has a history of designing Advanced Manufacturing Research Centres nationally, said the building’s modern design proved that flexibility does not need to rely on traditional building form and layout.

Read More: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/future-yorkshire/research/robotics-data-driven-technologies-and-futuristic-design-work-is-complete-on-the-most-advanced-factory-in-the-world-1-7619165

European colocation market growth buoyed by M&A and Safe Harbour, says CBRE

The European datacentre colocation market continues to go from strength-to-strength, with investment in the sector nearing $9bn in 2014, according to research from global property advisor CBRE.

The organisation cited the rise in mergers and acquisitions in the colocation sector during the second quarter of 2015 as a key investment driver, and has fuelled market growth by 6% overall in 2015.

The second half of 2015 has seen Equinix make a $3.6bn bid to acquire fellow colocation provider Telecity Group, a deal that looks set to shake up the competitive landscape across Europe in 2016. This is particularly in the wake of the European Commission’s ruling that both firms must sell-off some of their facilities in London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt for the deal to go ahead.

Aside from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, the research picks up the uptick in interest from large-scale IT infrastructure and web companies in opening datacentres in Europe, with London emerging as the most popular location.

“IT infrastructure companies are dominating the European datacentre market. We’ve seen overall demand dynamics mirror what these firms are doing,” said Andrew Jay, head of datacentre systems at CBRE.

“The implications are wider as well, with operators seeing proof that deploying an on-off ramp to the cloud in a datacentre will attract enterprise customers, so securing the IT Infrastructure providers to your premises is becoming vital.”


Read More: http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500258245/European-colocation-market-growth-buoyed-by-MA-and-Safe-Harbour-says-CBRE

As BYOD becomes common, the importance of Internet Security

Today's workforce is reliant on computers, laptops and smartphones as the infrastructural extensions of an organization. These devices, endowed with the power of the internet, carry important documents and passwords that form a virtual identity for organizations, especially with BYOD policies becoming a trend. Therefore, it is essential organizations ensure that they have the best of internet security to guarantee that their identity is not compromised or important data lost.

The advent of the internet opened up yet another platform for fraudsters, who not only hack computers, steal private passwords, documents and files, but are also identity thieves. Despite this, some SMEs and big enterprises are still very complacent in terms of internet security and seem to believe that their computers are invisible. They have still not realized that the moment their job requires them to log on to the internet, they can easily fall prey to such online thugs.

In order to ensure this security, not only the CIOs, but the employees of a company should understand a few simple things about being on the internet and act accordingly. The foremost thing to know is where online data is stored, along with understanding the encryption of that data. With the growing popularity of big data and intellectual property amongst the corporates, these elements are constantly under the risk of loss, theft or exposure to unwanted entities. Similarly, personal data such as credit card information and corporate confidential data and information are under the same threat. There are many laws and regulations mandating data loss prevention with the objective of privacy protection and cross border data transfer. Today with BYOD policies, it is very difficult to control the flow and storage of the data, especially with the plethora of social media and other file sharing applications.

Read More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/security/as-byod-becomes-common-the-importance-of-internet-security/articleshow/50167658.cms

Managed Security Services Prove Their Worth

The world of cybersecurity changes every day. New threats enter the security landscape, and organizations leverage new and better tools to deal with these threats. At the same time, business users travel around the world, carrying notebooks, tablets and smartphones that contain sensitive information. How can enterprises continue to secure data in such a dynamic environment?

Cloud-based security solutions — known as Security as a Service, delivered by managed security service providers — fill this gap. Cloud-based security offerings provide organizations with the flexibility to respond to an increasingly diverse spectrum of attacks. Once considered fringe products, Security as a Service offerings now play a critical role in building strong defenses.

The Benefits of Security as a Service

Security as a Service providers offer several key benefits that simply aren’t found in traditional on-premises offerings. Cloud-based products are often scalable, affordable options that offer state-of-the-art security controls with only a fraction of the administrative burden needed to support on-premises systems.

Cloud providers design their service offerings with scalability in mind. The hundreds or thousands of customers they serve simultaneously demand highly scalable solutions that easily accommodate both predictable and unpredictable spikes in usage. If an organization’s website sees a sudden spike in demand — perhaps with the arrival of a seasonal peak or because of media coverage — an on-premises solution may not cope with that demand without a time-consuming and expensive hardware upgrade. Cloud security offerings can automatically scale to meet changing needs.

Read More: http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2015/11/managed-security-services-prove-their-worth

Hardware Encryption Market Expected to Reach $296.4bn by 2020

A new report by Allied Market Research forecasts that the world hardware encryption market is to show a CAGR of 54.6% from 2010- 2020 and be worth just over $296 billion.

The World Hardware Encryption—Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014–2020 report proposes that hardware encryption is considered as the most effective form of data protection against unauthorized access, aligning with the actions of various governments across the globe who are coming out with stringent regulations pertaining to data protection. This is seen as a key development that further supplements the demand of hardware encryption as a key data security technology.

The hard disk drives (HDD) segment was found to be the highest revenue generating segment, constituting 57% of the total market revenue in 2014 and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the analysis period. The segment of encrypted USB flash drives is forecast to grow significantly and register highest CAGR of 58.8% during the forecast period. The increasing demands of robust memory storage devices that are highly compact, offer maximum storage and render better security of data are key factors, which would drive the growth of this segment.

Looking at regions and vertical industries, Asia-Pacific was revealed to be the largest revenue generating region for hardware encryption, followed by North America and Europe, as is set to be the highest revenue generating region, constituting nearly 33.5% of the total market revenue. The region is also likely to registering a CAGR of 56.9% during the forecast period, supplemented by factors such as strong economic growth, development in enterprise IT infrastructure and the large scale outsourcing of BPO operations to China, India and Malaysia.


Read More: http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/hardware-encryption-2020/

Disk Encryption: The Good and The Slow

Simple screen locks in the form of PINs and patterns have been around for a long time, but only recently, with the launch of Android Honeycomb, did full disk encryption make an appearance on Android. Encrypting and decrypting user data on the fly, i.e., during read and write operations, boosted device security considerably, based on a device master key.

Prior to Android Lollipop, the aforementioned master key was based on the user’s password only, opening it up to a host of vulnerabilities through external tools like ADB. However, Lollipop carries out full disk encryption at the kernel level, using a 128bit AES key generated at first boot, which works in tandem with hardware-backed authentication like TrustZone, ridding it of the ADB vulnerability.

Disk encryption can be done at two different levels, namely, at the software level or at the hardware level. Software encryption uses the CPU to encrypt and decrypt data, either using a random key unlocked by the user’s password, or by using the password itself to authenticate operations. On the other hand, hardware encryption uses a dedicated processing module to generate the encryption key, offloading the CPU load and keeping the critical keys and security parameters safer from brute force and cold boot attacks.

In spite of newer Qualcomm SoCs supporting hardware encryption, Google opted for CPU-based encryption on Android, which forces data encryption and decryption during disk I/O, occupying a number of CPU cycles, with device performance taking a serious hit as a result. With Lollipop’s mandating full disk encryption, the Nexus 6 was the first device to bear the brunt of this type of encryption.

Read More: http://www.xda-developers.com/disk-encryption-the-good-and-the-slow/

Docker Doubles Down on Security With Nautilus, Hardware Encryption

BARCELONA, Spain—As Docker container adoption grows, so too does the need for robust security. Today at the DockerCon EU conference here, Docker announced several new security-focused efforts, building on existing security that Docker has been pushing this year.
During the opening two-hour general keynote session, Docker founder Solomon Hykes emphasized that developers do care about security, but it's important that security is actually usable.

"You can give developers the most secure tools in the world, but if the tools get in the way, they won't use it and the result is unusable security, which is really not security at all," Hykes said. "By providing usable security tools, we can move the needle on improving security for everyone."
Docker's foray into security tools got its first big push in August, when Docker Content Trust debuted alongside the Docker 1.8.0 release. Docker Content Trust makes use of the open-source Notary project, which aims to enable secure updating by way of authenticated and signed application images.

Part of the Content Trust approach relies on encryption keys, which are now being hardened further. Hykes announced new experimental support for hardware encryption with Yubico USB keys. Going a step further, Hykes and Docker actually gave all attendees of the DockerCon EU keynote their own key.

In an interview with eWEEK, Nathan McCauley, director of security at Docker, explained that the Yubico technology is all about hardware encryption and not so much about two-factor authentication. Yubico builds USB keys that are compliant with the FIDO Alliance Universal Second Factor (U2F) specification. The Yubico key Docker uses is a hardware-encrypted token that never reveals the private root encryption key that is used to sign an application image.
The hardware encryption support is currently in the experimental branch of Docker, and it could land in the Docker 1.10 release later this year or early 2016, according to McCauley.

Read More: http://www.eweek.com/security/docker-doubles-down-on-security-with-nautilus-hardware-encryption.html

It's official: Australia can be a force in technology

What a dramatic week for Australia's long-ignored, suddenly centre-stage, technology sector.
It started with a high-profile and largely cheered policy announcement from the federal government on innovation. It ended with the triumphant IPO on the Nasdaq for Atlassian, the most significant technology company this country has produced to date.
Sandwiched between was one of the more riveting (and bizarre) stories we've encountered in a long time, when a previously unknown Sydneysider by the name of Craig Steven Wright emerged as a possible founder of crypto-currency bitcoin.

To add to the excitment, just a few hours after this revelation (looking less and less likely, but still not totally discredited) surfaced in the US technology press (led by the Conde Nast magazine Wired), a leased suburban residence in the North Shore of the city connected to Wright was raided by police and tax authorities. Keep watching.

At this point, it's safe to say that technology has crashed through into the economic consciousness of the nation. For a country where the corporate scene has long been dominated by gigantic miners and resources companies, big banks and domestic oligopolies, it's a big change in mindset, and it's only going to get bigger.
Australians have long been world beaters when it comes to consuming technology. And not bad at creating it. The old mantra goes we're just not good at commercialising it. Only evidence has been mounting the old mantra is wrong, and this week (fiendish hoax or not) the evidence became overwhelming.

Read More: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-is-showing-the-world-it-can-be-a-force-in-technology-20151210-glk82w.html

Self-Service Tech Market to Exceed $31B by 2020

The global self-service technology market will exceed $31 billion in five years, according to a report by Allied Market Research. The market will have an annual growth rate of 13.98% that will be largely driven by enterprises operating in sectors such as retail, banking, and healthcare.

According to the study, the self-service technology market is driven by the need to provide more convenience to customers while also saving on costs. With self-service kiosks, organizations can provide more convenient and efficient service while cutting down on manpower. The survey found that “North America accounted for the maximum adoption of self-service technologies with 44% share in the overall global revenue.”

Healthcare Facilities Using Self-Service Kiosks

Around the world, healthcare facilities are using self-service kiosks to give their patients a better experience. In Bolivia, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center is now offering patients new self-service kiosks that let them check-in for preregistered appointments. The kiosk lets patients “update demographic information, review insurance information, scan ID and insurance cards, sign consent forms with an electronic signature, make credit card payments on previous account balances.”

Patients are encouraged to use the self-service kiosks in an effort to make healthcare simpler and more convenient. In Tennessee, Maury Regional Medical Center is letting patients use self-service kiosks to pay for their healthcare with any major credit card, checking account, or PayPal account.

Healthcare facilities are looking to self-service kiosks to provide quick, accurate, and efficient services. With self-service kiosks, patients can check-in quickly instead of waiting for a staff member to sign them in. In addition, instead of tediously entering the same information into multiple different forms, patients can use self-service kiosks to fill out forms electronically. The healthcare industry can benefit from the automation that self-service kiosks provide.

Read More: http://www.acuantcorp.com/Self-Service-Tech-Market

How data center vendors and operators can maximize their facilities’ performance

Power usage effectiveness has been an important metric in the data center world for some time now. Companies running data center facilities typically strive for the lowest PUE they can achieve in order to reduce their operating costs and promote their green environmental credentials.

In an earlier article, my colleague Srikanth Murugan demonstrated how to cut through the marketing hype of competing claims about PUE performance. I would now like to take the subject a little further and focus on the economics of PUE and how data center vendors and operators can maximize their facilities’ performance.

Selecting the ideal location

Stable power grids, low energy prices and year-round access to “free cooling” drove a number of large Internet companies to build data centers in the Nordics where conventional wisdom dictated they could most easily achieve extremely low PUE values. Google in Finland and Facebook at The Node Pole in Sweden are two such examples. However, increasingly relaxed data center temperature and humidity ranges – as defined by ASHRAE – have now made low PUE deployments possible for a much wider range of geographical locations.

Cooling developments

A key area of technical development here are evaporative indirect free air cooling systems, now available from an increasing number of cooling technology suppliers. Using an evaporative cooler, dry outside air of 32 degrees can still be used to cool down air in the data center to 22 degrees, thus delivering meaningful savings from reduced electricity needed for powered cooling.

Even more exiting from an economic perspective is that for some locations this enables the use of outside air for cooling all year round, resulting in a lower maximum PUE and bringing significant capital expenditure savings.


Read More: http://www.rcrwireless.com/20151208/opinion/reality-check-the-economics-of-data-center-power-usage-effectiveness-tag10

Texas Colo with Efficient Data Center Cooling System Launched

Aligned Data Centers, a data center provider formed earlier this year, has launched its first colocation facility in Plano, Texas, featuring a water-efficient data center cooling system designed by its sister company Inertech, whose systems are also deployed at eBay, Lenovo, and Telus data centers, among others.

In addition to using very little water, the design of the cooling system is the primary enabler for Aligned’s unusual colocation business model. Offering a compromise between physical data center capacity and elastic cloud infrastructure, the company offers what it calls on-demand colocation services, meaning customers only pay for the capacity they actually use, with the ability to scale their deployment up or down as they go along.

Aligned COO Thomas Doherty told us in an earlier interview that the cooling system’s modular design was what gave the provider the flexibility to change the amount of capacity provisioned for any single client on-demand.

In addition to the Plano facility, Aligned is building a larger data center in Phoenix and scouting for additional locations in California, Illinois, Virginia, and New Jersey, the company said in a statement.


Read More: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/11/23/texas-colo-efficient-data-center-cooling-system-launched/

5 mobile security flaws you should know

Windows Phone, Android, iOS — no operating system is completely bulletproof from security problems.

Mobile devices can be a scary thing to think about after major security vulnerability emerged in July in Android, called the Stagefright bug — which lets cyber criminals hack a smartphone simply by sending a text message.

A Stagefright 2.0, which allowed a hacker to gain control of a smartphone via an MP3 or MP4 video, sprang up in October before Samsung, Google, LG and other tech giants enforced monthly security smartphone security updates following the original bug, according to the Guardian.

Apple devices can also be susceptible to security problems.

A hacking team received $1 million from startup company Zerodium after the group discovered an unknown, or zero-day, vulnerability in iOS.

But such risks are not limited to just smartphones.

"I think they're in the spotlight right now because they can do so many things, and carry so much information and interfaces," said Jan Volzke, Vice President of Reputation Services at Whitepages, a contact information and identity verification company.

Here's a quick list of top mobile security flaws you should know:

Clicking on links or opening a suspicious email enables hackers to collect and access sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers and SMS messages.

They can even steal credit card numbers and online banking transactions directly and install spyware on a device to access personal data.

Experts at the Alcatel-Lucent's Motive Security Labs confirmed a rapid increase of mobile device infections, with a 25% spike in 2014, compared with 20% in 2013, according to the Motive Security Labs H2 2014 Malware Report.

Read More: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/5-mobile-security-flaws-article-1.2451562

Brain-Computer Interface Lets You Control IoT Devices

Researchers at Brown University joined forces with a Utah-based company, Blackrock Microsystems, to create a brain-computer interface that lets you send commands to the Internet of Things around you.

The company is awaiting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Once approved, the device begins testing on volunteers, and it will go on sale as one of the first digital health commercial devices that you’ll be able to buy from a digital health store.

WHAT IS BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE?

A brain-computer interface can give paralysed people the power to control TVs, computers and wheelchairs with their thoughts. A device that let them run all IoT devices, home and at work. Allows them to control autonomous cars. Or even communicate with other people, across the world.

Inside the device is a wireless processor that costs about $15.000. Called the “Cereplex-W” CPU, it is not the first CPU for a brain-computer interface designed by BrainGate. A company that has as a primary goal the design of tech for physically challenged individuals.

But, this time the company went a step further with this device that lets them communicate and control connected devices through thought.

The wireless, 96-channel CerePlex W brain-computer interface is the first commercial device able to detect, digitise and convey a neural signal, via wireless to a receiver.

Read More: https://wtvox.com/cyborgs-and-implantables/brain-computer-interface-implantable/

Here’s why LTE networks are about to become much more useful

There’s more to LTE than just speeding up communications between mobile devices, and its increasingly faster speeds – now at 150 Mpbs and expected to hit 600 Mpbs by 2018 – is beginning to benefit enterprise networks.

In a recent webinar, 451 Research analyst Christian Renaud noted that many conference attendees are eschewing the free WiFi offered at event facilities in favor of tethering to an LTE network because it’s faster.

“It’s getting far faster and more ubiquitous,” he said. At this rate, the speed of wireless connections will begin to exceed the speed of wired connections in the next few years.

In addition, the worldwide footprint has grown to 422 LTE networks in 143 countries, and all but 12 countries globally have committed to LTE networks, said Renaud. This footprint is now poised to become a platform for innovation and growth in applications as cloud computing, mobility in the workforce, the Internet of Things (IoT) and security have an impact on networks, he said.

Industrial IoT is now becoming a reality, said Renaud, and it means operational technology that historically wasn’t connected to the network is going to be, and it’s going to add further complexity to enterprise networks. Data center and WAN congestion is increasing pressure to offload non-core applications to the cloud, he said, while existing MPLS and private WANs are too “brittle” and interfering with the ability to quickly respond to new applications and services.


Read More: http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/heres-why-lte-networks-are-about-to-become-much-more-useful/378966

Mobile wallet for government services will be a reality soon

If you think that it was only banks that are going the app way, the latest being SBI, you might be in for a happy surprise. If reports are to be believed, Indian government would soon be launching a mobile wallet service for government services.

As of now, most government payments and receipts are done either through cash or cheque. However, using this app, one would be able to electronically pay for all kind of government services. This is a step in the direction of Modi government's plan of creating a cashless, or less cash, economy and making India a digitally savvy country.

"Our endeavour through this project is to ensure that at least 90%, if not more, of all government payments happen through some or the other electronic mode, be it through credit card, RTGS, DBT or mobile," a senior official aware of the project called 'epayment' told ET.

A report of a Task Force on Aadhaar-Enabled Unified Payment Infrastructure which was released in 2012 came out stating that the cost of cash transactions is equivalent to 5-7% of GDP, which can be reduced by one-third if payments are done electronically. The report also recommended electronic payments for a sum more than Rs 1,000 by the government and government institutions.

Read More: http://www.businessinsider.in/Mobile-wallet-for-government-services-will-be-a-reality-soon/articleshow/50026480.cms

All you need to know about mobile wallets

Aiming towards a cashless society, mobile wallets are still a new but a rapidly growing concept. It will be a long time before traditional wallets reach the museums, since a major slice of our population still doesn't own credit cards, people who have turned to mobile wallets are increasingly happy with them. The reason for this is obvious: Mobile wallets have made payment process absolutely seamless.

If you are still new to the concept, here's what you need to know:

What is a mobile wallet?
To put it simply, a digital or a virtual wallet is to a traditional wallet what an email is to postcards. Most of these wallets work through apps that you can download on your smartphones, hence the term 'mobile wallet.'

Like Uber has made hailing a taxi just a few taps away, a mobile wallet makes payments as easy as few taps by the user on his smartphone. So even if you do not have cash and the thought of going to the ATM seems too time consuming, a mobile wallet will enable you to make transactions. Just make sure you have money in the wallet, which you can add through credit/debit card and netbanking.

Kinds of mobile wallets
There are four kinds of mobile wallets: Open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed.

With an open mobile wallet, you can pay for goods and services with your digital money, withdraw cash from ATMs and banks, and transfer money to other users of the wallet. These wallets also let you transfer money to mobile number bank accounts.

On the other hand, with a semi-open mobile wallet, you can pay for transactions with merchants who have a contract with the company. There is no option of withdrawing money.

Read More: http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-mobile-wallets/50072274

ANZ launches Android mobile wallet across the Tasman

ANZ Bank NZ has released a contactless payments service for Android smartphones with a zero liability protection against fraudulent debit and credit transactions.

Called goMoney Wallet, the new application is integrated into the bank's existing Android app, which allows customers to check balances, transfer money and make payments. It will be available from tomorrow.

ANZ Australia also intends to launch a mobile wallet early next year, a bank spokesperson told iTnews.

The Australian version will take a different approach to the Kiwi mobile wallet, however, and will operate as a standalone application that is not integrated with goMoney.

ANZ Australia launched the ePOS iPhone-based solution for merchants to accept credit card payments in 2010.

Liz Maguire, the bank's NZ head of digital channels and transformation, said the driver for developing the mobile wallet came from customers.

"A mobile wallet was the number one request from ANZ goMoney customers when they were surveyed this year," Maguire said.

She said the mobile wallet uses host card emulation technology via NFC supported on newer devices running Google's Android operating system, and at merchants with contactless payments terminals.

Payments can only be performed within two centimetres of the terminal and with the phone active and providing confirmation, as a precaution against accidental transactions.

ANZ said the goMoney app uses "high-grade encryption and sophisticated fraud monitoring systems". Card details are sent encrypted via NFC to the terminal, and the system meets Visa's security certification requirements, the bank said.

Read More: http://www.itnews.com.au/news/anz-launches-android-mobile-wallet-across-the-tasman-412740

The security risks of IoT devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t a new concept, but it has gained momentum especially within the last year, as more and more connected devices have come to market. While connecting everything brings added convenience to our everyday lives, it’s crucial to understand what we may be compromising from a security perspective, and importantly, which devices could pose a threat either now or in the future.

With so many connected devices we decided to take a look at those that have made the headlines so far this year. Cars, for instance, have only recently become connected, although they have long been computerized. However, with poor Internet security expertise some manufacturers are being caught out.

In April, Cyber security experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek revealed a software flaw that allowed them to take control of a Jeep Cherokee on the move -- all from a laptop computer at home. Hacking into the Jeep’s electronics through the entertainment system, they were able to change the vehicle’s speed, alter its braking capability, and manipulate the radio and windscreen wipers. The two described the hack as "fairly easy" and "a weekend project".

A few months later, news broke that researchers had hacked a Tesla Model S, once again via the car’s entertainment system. Although it took closer to a year to pull this hack off, the researchers were able to apply the hand brake, lock and unlock the car, and control the touch screen displays. Tesla quickly developed a fix, which has been sent to all of the affected vehicles.

Hacked vehicles are an obvious cause for concern, but the hazards presented by apparently innocuous devices such as the "smart fridge" or "connected toaster" also warrant equal consideration. The thought of a hacker gaining control of your refrigerator may be less daunting than them taking control of your steering wheel on the motorway, but these products can act as a gateway to much more sensitive information.

Read More: http://betanews.com/2015/11/30/the-security-risks-of-iot-devices/

Britain has declared war on Internet security

For the past two and a half years, many have hoped that the mass surveillance programs revealed by U.S. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden would inspire serious reform of Western intelligence agencies, nudging the post-9/11 national security pendulum back in the direction of privacy and civil liberties. Unfortunately, the opposite is occurring.

With few exceptions, the past year has seen governments around the world double down on intrusive mass surveillance. Unprecedented and draconian new laws crafted in the name of fighting crime and terrorism have emerged in France, Australia and many other countries. Last month the U.S. Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a deceptively named bill that has nothing to do with security and everything to do with having companies give more of their customers’ data to U.S. government agencies. And last week, U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May presented a long-awaited draft of the new Investigatory Powers Bill, a collection of sweeping reforms that would give more powers to British police and spy agencies, including the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the NSA’s close ally and longtime collaborator.

The U.K. draft law is a nightmarish cocktail of bad ideas from both sides of the pond — an authoritarian wish list that goes beyond even the NSA’s powers. Rather than roll back its most indefensible abuses, the text makes clear that the British government intends to retroactively legitimize the most invasive and legally dubious surveillance activities that Snowden exposed. As Snowden put it, the bill is an attempt “to fit the law around the spying, rather than making spying fit the law.” If successful, it will have dire consequences in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

Read More: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/11/britain-has-declared-war-on-internet-security.html

The future of internet security

CYBER CRIME IS A MULTI MILLION POUND business. In the UK alone, the Cabinet Office estimates the cost of cyber crime to be in the region £27bn every year, and that number is only snowballing as we move towards a society where everything and everyone perpetually relies on information, and nothing is obscure.

We have become almost entirely dependent on the continued availability,
accuracy and confidentiality of information and communications technology. But as well as significant benefits, this has enabled old crimes to be committed in new and more subtle ways, meaning that as tech progresses, so do the criminals relying on it.

Cyber crime, hacks and data breaches are becoming more prevent, and within the last couple of years, they have hit some of the world's biggest service providers. It's now not a matter of if your company will get breached, but when, and what can be done to try and prevent the inevitable.

Security has now passed well beyond hacking for fun and is now often fuelled by the potential to obtain large quantities of money without physically robbing a bank. Major conglomerates are being targeted, and real people are having their personal information and finances put at risk every day.

So in five years' time, as technology becomes even more pervasive and cyber criminals find it even easier to take advantage of organisations that at the same time are taking more security precautions, how will the threat landscape look?

Read More: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/2433753/the-future-of-internet-security

Sound waves could power hard disk drives of the future

Our need to store data is growing at an astonishing rate. An estimated 2.7 zettabytes (2.721) of data are currently held worldwide, equivalent to several trillion bytes for every one of the 7 billion people on Earth. Accessing this data quickly and reliably is essential for us to do useful things with it – the problem is, all our current methods of doing so are far too slow.

Conventional hard-disk drives encode data magnetically on spinning discs, from which the data is read by a sensor that scans over its surface as it rapidly rotates. Their moving parts introduce the potential for mechanical failures, and limits the speeds possible. This slows everything down.

Much faster are solid-state storage devices, which have no mechanical parts and store data as tiny electrical charges. Most modern laptops, all modern smartphones and digital cameras, and many other devices use this technology – also known as flash memory. However, while solid-state devices are much faster they have a much shorter lifespan than hard disks before becoming unreliable, and are much more expensive. And despite their speed, they're still far slower than the speed at which data travels between other components of a computer, and so still act as a brake on the system as a whole.

A solid-state drive that encodes data magnetically would be ideal. IBM is developing one variation, known as racetrack memory. This uses collections of tiny nanowires hundreds of times thinner than a human hair. Data is magnetically encoded as strings of ones and zeros along the nanowire, but although it can move data through it far faster than typical hard disks, a key challenge is to find ways to make the data "flow" through the nanowires in order to pass it across the sensors that read and write data to the wire. This can be achieved by applying magnetic fields or electric currents, but this generates heat and reduces power efficiency, affecting battery life.

Read More: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-technology-metal-wires-solar-cells.html

3D Cameras Give Computers Brains, Much Bigger Brains

When the world shifted away from film-based cameras, digital cameras started to change how we interact with one another. Think selfies and social media, for starters. What if you could capture in 3D and view all angles of an object or person? That is partly what the Google GOOGL +0.00% Cardboard project allows in a virtual reality/augmented reality sort-of-way, with your smartphone. But you don’t need a special viewer with new 3D technology.

This video gives you an idea of what’s coming when you have a 3D camera — this particular scene above was done by Patrick Eleazar from Realidyne, using a GoPro Spherical cam setup (and some post-processing work). If you place your cursor in the video, you can move around in the scene — try it - drag left, right, up or down and you will see a near-360 degree view. Within his YouTube channel, there are several others to give you an idea of what’s possible in 3D.

3D cameras, to date, have not been widely adopted, but as I suggested in Is The 3D Camera Tipping Point Here? Apple, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Sony, we are about to see and experience more change. Partly, I believe we are going to see consumer adoption, thanks to devices like the Kinect, and now, Orbbec with its Astra Pro (which depends on being connected to a computer via USB) and Persee, a 3D camera-computer (which does not need a computer to operate).

Most of the 3D devices, gesture capture and motion tracking types, are receiving and processing only through a more powerful computing device – your laptop or the Xbox gaming console. Persee is different in that it has an onboard computer, charged to process what you are seeing and capturing, in real time. Arguably, this is a shift.

Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2015/10/28/3-d-cameras-give-computers-brains-much-bigger-brains/

3D Camera Market Expected to Reach $2B in 2020

Allied Market Research's new report "World Smartphone 3D Camera-Market Opportunities and Forecast, 2014-2020" forecasts that the world smartphone 3D market would garner $2,028.8 million by 2020, registering a CAGR of 48.2% during the forecast period of 2015-2020.

There is 3D and 3D

Stereoscopic 3D camera technology is the most preferred and cost effective technology for smartphone 3D camera. Stereoscopic technology would drive the market significantly throughout the forecast period (2015-2020) and would maintain its dominant position in the market.

Whereas, the time of flight 3D camera technology segment, is expected to exhibit a faster growth, with a CAGR of 51.8% during the forecast period, owing to its accurate sensing of the object feature.

Key findings of the study 

• World smartphone 3D camera market is expected to grow rapidly owing to increased smartphone adoption, technological advancements and availability of unique features such as picture clarity and depth sensing
• Time of flight technology for smartphone 3D camera would grow at a CAGR of 51.8% during 2015-2020, owing to its accurate sensing feature
• Smartphone 3D camera with resolution of 8-16MP, would generate highest revenue throughout the forecast period, growing at a CAGR of 48.3%
• Asia-Pacific proves to be one of the most lucrative and fastest growing regions, in terms of growth. The market in the region is expected to grow at a CAGR of 48.6% during 2015 - 2020

Read More: http://www.stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/history/digital/4153-3d-camera-market-expected-to-reach-2b-in-2020

Modular data centers new target for Aecom and Project Frog

The announcement of a partnership between Project Frog, an innovator in the design and delivery of smart buildings, and Aecom, a global infrastructure firm with more than two decades of experience building data centers, has led to the announcement of their combined Rapid Deployment Team focused on the delivery of data center buildings with a modular infrastructure to customers who would not be well served by the traditional build process for a major data center facility.

Based around the Project Frog Converge flat-pack data center building platform with the addition of Aecom's integration expertise the partnership expects to be able deliver rapidly constructed modular data center structure suitable for builds in the 1 MW to 50 MW range, which covers the vast majority of data center projects.

The two companies expect the standardized, two-story data center structures with stacked data center modules to reduce the costs associated with design, construction and deployment as well as allowing for leaner operational costs. Ease of construction and deployment could also encourage customers to scale data center builds in a more on-demand fashion, reducing the tendency to over provision data center builds.


Read More: http://www.zdnet.com/article/modular-data-centers-new-target-for-aecom-and-project-frog/

IBM vs. Intel Corporation: The Data Center Battle Escalates

IBM (NYSE:IBM) used to sell Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) -powered low to mid-range servers. But last year, IBM sold that unit to Lenovo to focus on selling high-end servers and mainframes powered by its own Power processors instead.

Since then, IBM has positioned its remaining data center businesses directly against Intel, which holds a formidable 99% market share in server chips. In July, it announced the creation of a 7nm chip, which seemingly targeted Intel's plans to launch 10nm chips in 2017. It also expanded its "Open Power" initiative, which shares processor specs, firmware, and software with partners to fuel the third-party production of Power-based servers.

That's why it wasn't surprising when IBM recently partnered with Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX), a maker of FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), to counter Intel's acquisition of FPGA maker Altera. FPGAs are less powerful than IBM's or Intel's server chips, but they can be reprogrammed, making them well-suited for custom uses in connected cars, consumer devices, and airplanes. IBM and Intel are both using FPGAs to complement their server chips by accelerating workloads.

What Big Blue wants
IBM's revenue has fallen for 14 consecutive quarters, due to sluggish demand for its core IT services, software, and hardware. Big Blue wants investors to focus on the growth of its "strategic imperatives" -- cloud, analytics, mobile, social, and security -- which posted 17% annual sales growth last quarter, or 27% on a constant-currency basis excluding its divested System x (Intel-powered server) business. That growth was solid, but it wasn't enough to offset the steep declines in its other aging businesses.

Last quarter, IBM's hardware revenues plunged 39% annually and accounted for less than 8% of its top line. Power Systems revenues slipped 3% and system storage revenues fell 19%, but z Systems mainframe revenues rose 15%. The decline in Power Systems revenue was expected, due to Intel's dominance of the data center market. But the growth in mainframes was surprising, since analysts had predicted the death of fridge-sized mainframes for decades.

Read More: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/24/ibm-vs-intel-corporation-the-data-center-battle-es.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004

Readying Your Data Center for the Internet of Things

As 2015 draws to a close, companies are looking ahead to the New Year and crafting business plans for a successful 2016. As you look to refine your ever-evolving Internet of Things (IoT) strategy, it would be wise to position data center infrastructure at the core of your plan.

As IoT continues to develop, computer systems and communications networks are in overdrive trying to keep up with the demand and scale of all the data that is being generated. In order to meet these increasing infrastructure capacity requirements, a growing number of organizations are moving away from traditional on-premises corporate IT facilities and turning to service providers that deliver data center services such as colocation and cloud computing. In fact, market research firm IDC reports IoT alone will generate the need for 750 percent more data center capacity in service-provider facilities than consumed today.

What Colocation Delivers
For companies that may be new to data center colocation, its benefits range from security to transparency. With colocation, instead of maintaining computing systems in a private data center, an organization houses them in a data center owned and managed by a colocation provider.

The colocation customer organization retains all control over its systems, but the colocation provider manages the data center security, network connections, power, and cooling. In some cases, the colocation provider offers value-added services to customers, such as a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) system that provides additional layers of visibility and control.

One of the top benefits of colocation is scalability. Additional capacity can be brought on quickly, which is a key requirement for fast-growing IoT deployments. Colocation also allows for lower total cost of ownership, meaning organizations can typically maintain their data center operations for much lower total cost than they could build and operate a private data center.

Read More: http://www.iotevolutionworld.com/fog/articles/413555-readying-data-center-the-internet-things.htm

Windows 10: Enabling BitLocker hardware encryption fails with November update

Windows users seem to be experiencing an issue with enabling BitLocker hardware encryption after updating to their system to November update, which Microsoft is calling its major update to Windows 10 that brings version 1511, build 10586. This happens with the clean installation of the November update.

Windows BitLocker drive encryption is a security feature that Microsoft claims provides better data protection for your PC by encrypting the data stored on your Windows operating system volume. BitLocker uses Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to protect Windows OS and data as well as ensures the computer is not tampered with even when it is lost. The TPM is a microchip built into the computer and used to store information including encryption keys.

You can use BitLocker without a TPM, for which you need to change the default behaviour of the BitLocker setup wizard by using Group Policy, or configure BitLocker. When you are using BitLocker without TPM, the encryption keys are stored on a USB flash drive.

BitLocker encryption issue with November Update

According to a user, nesoi, who has reported this on the Microsoft TechNet forum, the BitLocker encryption worked fine before the update. It even works with Windows 10 build 10240, which is the RTM build, released prior to the November update.


Read More: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/windows-10-enabling-bitlocker-hardware-encryption-fails-november-update-1530069

Dimension Data launches Managed Security Services in Middle East and Africa

Dimension Data today announced the launch of its Managed Security Services (MSS) in Middle East and Africa. Dimension Data's MSS are a suite of managed and cloud-based services to help organisations establish compliance, minimise business impact, and reduce overall security risk in the face of today's emerging threats.

"Our MSS offerings represent a new milestone in our security capabilities and will strengthen Dimension Data's position as a leading managed security services provider in Middle East and Africa," said Sean Duffy, Security Executive at Dimension Data Middle East and Africa.

"These services offload the burden of real-time network monitoring, advanced security analysis, and global intelligence correlation to Dimension Data, while allowing businesses to keep complete insight into critical business information."

MSS is a global offering, currently delivered by Dimension Data's 24x7 Security Operations Centres (SOCs). The services will be complemented by the extensive knowledge and experience of Dimension Data's professional security services teams across Middle East and Africa.

MSS identifies and solves real-time security risks through a proven, continuous management process. Organisations can outsource the management of specific security activities and services so they can achieve the business flexibility needed to manage IT infrastructure while focusing on core business objectives.


Read More : http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147634

Managed Security Services Prove Their Worth

The world of cybersecurity changes every day. New threats enter the security landscape, and organizations leverage new and better tools to deal with these threats. At the same time, business users travel around the world, carrying notebooks, tablets and smartphones that contain sensitive information. How can enterprises continue to secure data in such a dynamic environment?

Cloud-based security solutions - known as Security as a Service, delivered by managed security service providers - fill this gap. Cloud-based security offerings provide organizations with the flexibility to respond to an increasingly diverse spectrum of attacks. Once considered fringe products, Security as a Service offerings now play a critical role in building strong defenses.

The Benefits of Security as a Service

Security as a Service providers offer several key benefits that simply aren’t found in traditional on-premises offerings. Cloud-based products are often scalable, affordable options that offer state-of-the-art security controls with only a fraction of the administrative burden needed to support on-premises systems.

Cloud providers design their service offerings with scalability in mind. The hundreds or thousands of customers they serve simultaneously demand highly scalable solutions that easily accommodate both predictable and unpredictable spikes in usage. If an organization’s website sees a sudden spike in demand — perhaps with the arrival of a seasonal peak or because of media coverage — an on-premises solution may not cope with that demand without a time-consuming and expensive hardware upgrade. Cloud security offerings can automatically scale to meet changing needs.

Read More: http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2015/11/managed-security-services-prove-their-worth

Two-thirds of Britons will own a smartphone by 2018, research finds

By 2018 two-thirds of Britons will own a smartphone and be an avid tablet user, according to new research.

The surge in popularity of portable devices to consume TV, video and other media shows no signs of abating, according to media agency ZenithOptimedia’s New Media Forecast.

The report found that by the end of this year 51% of Britons will own a tablet, up from just 3.5% just five years ago, which ranks the UK the seventh highest in the world.

By 2018, 65% of Britons will own or have regular access to a tablet device, which will rank sixth behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.

The rise of the tablet is mirrored in the smartphone world with 55% of the UK population expected to own one by the end of this year, rising to 69% by 2018.

“The rapid spread of mobile technology is transforming media consumption and marketing communications across the world,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at ZenithOptimedia. “For more and more people, their smartphone or tablet is the first place they look for information or entertainment. Marketers need a mobile-first approach to communicate with these people effectively.”

Read More : http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/23/two-thirds-of-britons-will-own-a-smartphone-by-2018-research-finds

4G drives smartphone growth in Sept quarter

Shipments of smartphones in the third quarter of 2015 grew by over 21 per cent mainly on the back of rising demand for affordable 4G devices.

According to the International Data Corporation's (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 28.3 million smartphones were shipped to India in the third quarter of 2015, against 23.3 million units for the same period last year.

In the period under review, 4G enabled devices witnessed a near three-fold increase in unit shipments over Q2 2015. Samsung emerged as the biggest 4G player in India with its sub-$150 LTE models such as Galaxy Grand Prime and Galaxy J2.

“The growth in the smartphone market was helped by rising demand for affordable 4G smartphones,” Karthik J, Senior Market Analyst, client devices for IDC, said in a statement.

E-tailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon continue to drive shipments of the Chinese vendors, who have been aggressively trying to capture the 4G smartphone market in India,” he added.

The closing weeks of the quarter witnessed incremental supplies as many vendors were preparing their channels in lieu of the festive season and online mega sale programmes.

In addition, growth was also driven by low-cost phones with larger screens.

Read More: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/4g-drives-smartphone-growth-in-sept-quarter/article7908326.ece

Apple, Google and Microsoft: weakening encryption lets the bad guys in

Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Twitter, Facebook and 56 other technology companies have joined together to reject calls for weakening encryption saying it would be “exploited by the bad guys”.

After Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook’s claims that “any backdoor is a backdoor for everyone”, the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents 62 of the largest technology companies worldwide, said: “Encryption is a security tool we rely on everyday to stop criminals from draining our bank accounts, to shield our cars and airplanes from being taken over by malicious hacks, and to otherwise preserve our security and safety.”

The debate over encryption, which has become the bedrock of the internet used by almost every transmission that needs to be secure and increasingly those that don’t, has erupted after the terrorist attacks on Paris.

The Information Technology Industry Council’s chief executive, Dean Garfield, said: “Weakening security with the aim of advancing security simply does not make sense.”


Tech industry groups urge US to avoid policies that would weaken encryption
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End-to-end encrypted communications mean that only the sender and receiver can view the contents of the message, which governments say has put intelligence services at a disadvantage.

Read More : http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/23/apple-google-microsoft-weakening-encryption-back-doors