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Post by Admin on Apr 16, 2014 8:03:09 GMT -9
IBM Launches Disaster Recovery Via SoftLayer Virtual Server Recovery is now available through IBM's SoftLayer unit; resiliency services to come.
(Click image for larger view and slideshow.) IBM on Monday launched disaster recovery as a service on its SoftLayer cloud. The service can recover workloads that were running under Linux, Windows, or IBM's AIX "in a matter of minutes," according to a video linked to the announcement.
IBM's announcement came a day before a major move by VMware into disaster recovery. VMware seeks to exploit its strong position in datacenter virtualization by taking over more of the disaster recovery function at the vCenter management console.
Though VMware announced disaster recovery for its ESX hypervisor virtual machines, IBM made no reference to specific types of virtual machines, such as VMware's ESX, Microsoft's Hyper-V, or Red Hat's KVM. IBM's video says its service could be used with Windows, Linux, or IBM's Unix AIX applications. AIX uses IBM's specific form of virtualization, so VMware could not recover its workloads.
In effect, IBM is making one of its existing managed services, Virtual Server Recovery (VSR), available through its SoftLayer datacenters. At a later date, it will expand VSR to include a wider set of services called Business Continuity and Resilience Services.
[For more on disaster recovery, see Inside A Bank's Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery Plan.]
VSR automates the recovery of specific applications, servers, and cloud-based data in the event of an outage. It replicates whole systems in real-time. The replication includes database dependencies, system files, the application itself, and user data. The replication is independent of the specific hardware running the original application.
IBM is known to have extensive expertise in disaster recovery, and the announcement contained few specific statements from IBM executives about what was new to the service. Instead, it mainly illustrated how an existing managed service is now available through the SoftLayer cloud, as well as through previous IBM consulting sources.
At a future date, IBM will add Resiliency Consulting Services from the SoftLayer cloud. The consulting service can integrate legacy IT environments with either a private cloud or the SoftLayer public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service. The service will help companies assess what applications need greater resiliency and determine how to implement and test it.
IBM is opening two new cloud-based resiliency centers in Raleigh, N.C., and Mumbai, India. These will join the 15 new SoftLayer datacenters that IBM plans to add this year. The announcement said IBM already operates 150 resiliency centers. Combined with the new additions, the resiliency service will be available in many locations around the globe, cutting network latencies and allowing data to remain close to its point of national origin.
IBM also made managed security services available through its SoftLayer cloud unit. The services will bring IBM security operations and intelligence analysts to customers needing help in identifying threats, tracking incidents, and pinpointing potential vulnerabilities. The services can be integrated with existing on-premises security systems, according to the announcement.
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Post by Admin on Apr 17, 2014 13:26:56 GMT -9
GERMAN MEDIA CEO SAYS GOOGLE, FACEBOOK ARE BECOMING TOO POWERFUL Apr 17, 2014 03:52 PM EDT | Jordan Ecarma (j.ecarma@autoworldnews.com)
Tags Google, Internet, Eric Schmidt, Axel Springer, Facebook, privacy Google Logo A Google logo is seen at the entrance to the company's offices in Toronto on Sept. 5, 2013. (Photo : Reuters) Google's near ubiquity in the Internet world is under fire from a top European media executive who wrote an open letter accusing both Google and Facebook of bringing the world closer to a surveillance state.
In the missive addressed to Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of newspaper publisher Axel Springer noted that his company has had a good marketing relationship with Google but lamented being backed into a corner, BBC News reported.
Like Us on Facebook Axel Springer was essentially forced to work with the Mountain View, Calif-headquartered tech giant because "we know no search engine alternative to increase our online reach," Mathias Dopfner wrote in the letter, as quoted by BBC News.
The European media company publishes some 200 newspapers and magazines, has a strong online presence and works in television and radio.
Google is close to becoming a monopoly, and its business model is operated in a way that "in less reputable circles would be called a protection racket," Dopfner wrote, as quoted by The Guardian.
Publishing the open letter in Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Dopfner pointed out the underestimated power of rapidly burgeoning tech companieslike Google and Facebook.
"With the exception of biological viruses, there is nothing with such speed, efficiency and aggressiveness that spreads like these technology platforms, and this also lends its creators, owners and users with new power," Dopfner wrote.
The media executive detailed his concerns about Google's reach and how it affects privacy.
"No one knows as much about its customers as Google. Even private and business emails are read by Gmail and analyzed if the need exists," Dopfner wrote.
Facebook was also taken to task when Dopfner remembered being at a conference where the social network's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was asked about user privacy when it comes to collected data.
"And Zuckerberg said: 'I do not understand your question. Those who have nothing to hide, have nothing to fear,'" Dopfner wrote.
"Again and again I had to think about this sentence. It's terrible. I know it is certainly not meant that way. This is a mindset that was fostered in totalitarian regimes not in liberal societies. Such a sentence could also be said by the head of the Stasi or other intelligence service or a dictatorship."
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Post by Admin on Apr 18, 2014 9:09:08 GMT -9
US Government Is Paying To Undermine Internet Security, Not To Fix It from the bleeding-heart-security dept The Heartbleed computer security bug is many things: a catastrophic tech failure, an open invitation to criminal hackers and yet another reason to upgrade our passwords on dozens of websites. But more than anything else, Heartbleed reveals our neglect of Internet security. The United States spends more than $50 billion a year on spying and intelligence, while the folks who build important defense software — in this case a program called OpenSSL that ensures that your connection to a website is encrypted — are four core programmers, only one of whom calls it a full-time job. In a typical year, the foundation that supports OpenSSL receives just $2,000 in donations. The programmers have to rely on consulting gigs to pay for their work. "There should be at least a half dozen full time OpenSSL team members, not just one, able to concentrate on the care and feeding of OpenSSL without having to hustle commercial work," says Steve Marquess, who raises money for the project. Is it any wonder that this Heartbleed bug slipped through the cracks? Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher who saved the Internet from a similarly fundamental flaw back in 2008, says that Heartbleed shows that it's time to get "serious about figuring out what software has become Critical Infrastructure to the global economy, and dedicating genuine resources to supporting that code." The Obama Administration has said it is doing just that with its national cybersecurity initiative, which establishes guidelines for strengthening the defense of our technological infrastructure — but it does not provide funding for the implementation of those guidelines. Instead, the National Security Agency, which has responsibility to protect U.S. infrastructure, has worked to weaken encryption standards. And so private websites — such as Facebook and Google, which were affected by Heartbleed — often use open-source tools such as OpenSSL, where the code is publicly available and can be verified to be free of NSA backdoors. The federal government spent at least $65 billion between 2006 and 2012 to secure its own networks, according to a February report from the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. And many critical parts of the private sector — such as nuclear reactors and banking — follow sector-specific cybersecurity regulations. But private industry has also failed to fund its critical tools. As cryptographer Matthew Green says, "Maybe in the midst of patching their servers, some of the big companies that use OpenSSL will think of tossing them some real no-strings-attached funding so they can keep doing their job." In the meantime, the rest of us are left with the unfortunate job of changing all our passwords, which may have been stolen from websites that were using the broken encryption standard. It's unclear whether the bug was exploited by criminals or intelligence agencies. (The NSA says it didn't know about it.) It's worth noting, however, that the risk of your passwords being stolen is still lower than the risk of your passwords being hacked from a website that failed to protect them properly. Criminals have so many ways to obtain your information these days — by sending you a fake email from your bank or hacking into a retailer's unguarded database — that it's unclear how many would have gone through the trouble of exploiting this encryption flaw. The problem is that if your passwords were hacked by the Heartbleed bug, the hack would leave no trace. And so, unfortunately, it's still a good idea to assume that your passwords might have been stolen. So, you need to change them. If you're like me, you have way too many passwords. So I suggest starting with the most important ones — your email passwords. Anyone who gains control of your email can click "forgot password" on your other accounts and get a new password emailed to them. As a result, email passwords are the key to the rest of your accounts. After email, I'd suggest changing banking and social media account passwords. But before you change your passwords, you need to check if the website has patched their site. You can test whether a site has been patched by typing the URL here. (Look for the green highlighted " Now Safe" result.) If the site has been patched, then change your password. If the site has not been patched, wait until it has been patched before you change your password. A reminder about how to make passwords: Forget all the password advice you've been given about using symbols and not writing down your passwords. There are only two things that matter: Don't reuse passwords across websites and the longer the password, the better. I suggest using password management software, such as 1Password or LastPass, to generate the vast majority of your passwords. And for email, banking and your password to your password manager, I suggest a method of picking random words from the Dictionary called Diceware. If that seems too hard, just make your password super long — at least 30 or 40 characters long, if possible. Republished from ProPublica
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Post by Admin on Apr 21, 2014 7:15:27 GMT -9
Facebook Nearby Friends App Tracks Locations In A Classy Way
Facebook Logo (Photo : Reuters) Nearby Friends isn't perfect, but it could be the best of the bunch. You'd have thought something like Facebook's new feature, "Nearby Friends," in which users can track how far they are from friends in order to possibly meet (or simply take note), would have been invented before something like "Cloak," in which users track certain "friends" so they can avoid them. To be fair, location apps have been around long before both of the recently mentioned ones. "Nearby Friends" might be the best of them all, Tech Crunch reported.
An important part about Nearby Friends is that, for now, it's an opt-in feature (meaning it has to be activated by the user). Thus, your friends will only know where you are if both you and them scrolled through Facebook's "more" tab and activated the app. For further privacy, you can select the friends with whom you want to share location information.
Another key feature is that it gives proximity before exact location. Similar apps from other companies focused more on location, which wasn't always easy to track and something people weren't always comfortable to disclose. Nearby Friends allows you to share your exact location with specific individuals only after first seeing their proximity data. If, for example, you notice you're less than a mile away from a friend, you may want to share your exact location as the impetus for a convenient social call.
The app still needs some tinkering and it's going to require a mass following before it catches on, but it has the potential to be the best of the bunch, according to Tech Crunch.
"Personally, I've already found Nearby Friends useful to see which friends were at a concert, and who lives in my neighborhood to grab brunch with," wrote TC's Josh Constantine. "I'm looking forward to trying to use it to meet up with friends in SF's Dolores Park, one of the use cases that it's creator and former Glancee CEO Andrea Vaccari tell me inspired the feature."
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Post by Admin on Apr 22, 2014 7:35:38 GMT -9
Despite your fancy-schmancy security tech, passwords still weakest link in IT defences So concludes Verizon's new global data-breach probe By John Leyden, 22 Apr 2014
3 Big data security analytics techniques The use of stolen login credentials continues to be the most common way for network intruders to access sensitive information. Two out of three breaches were the result of weak or swiped passwords, making a case for strong two-factor authentication, according to Verizon’s latest annual Data Breach Investigations Report.
The telco's researchers reckon 94 per cent of all security cock-ups last year each fall into one of nine basic attack patterns: a malware infection; an insider's misuse of privilege; physical theft or loss of gear; web-app compromise; denial-of-service attacks; cyber-espionage; point-of-sale intrusions; payment-card skimmers; and miscellaneous errors such as sending an email to the wrong person.
On average, just three threat patterns cover 72 per cent of the security incidents in any one industry, although the exact mix varies from industry to industry.
For example, in the financial services sector, 75 per cent of security headaches were caused by attacks on web application, distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults, and card skimming. Meanwhile, 54 per cent of all manufacturing sector attacks were attributed to cyber-espionage and DDoS floods. In the retail sector, the majority attacks are tied to DDoSing (33 per cent) followed by point-of-sale intrusions (31 per cent).
Who is nicking your secrets? While attacks from beyond an organisation's network borders still outweigh insider betrayals, the latter is not the increase, especially when it comes to stolen intellectual property. The report points out that 85 per cent of insider and privilege-abuse attacks took advantage of access to corporate computer networks, and 22 per cent took advantage of physical access.
The compromise-to-discovery timeline continues to be measured in months and even years, as opposed to hours and days. Third parties – rather than the victims themselves – continue to detect the majority of breaches.
“After analysing 10 years of data, we realise most organisations cannot keep up with cybercrime – and the bad guys are winning,” said Wade Baker, principal author of the report series. “But by applying big data analytics to security risk management, we can begin to combat cybercrime more effectively and strategically.
“Organisations need to realise no one is immune from a data breach. Compounding this issue is the fact that it is taking longer to identify compromises within an organisation – often weeks or months, while penetrating an organisation can take minutes or hours."
"Attackers are getting faster and faster while the defenders are slow," according to Baker, who told El Reg that greater intelligence sharing may help. He said sysadmins should keep a closer eye on network traffic flowing out of an enterprise for signs of compromise and improved filtering should help.
"We might have to sacrifice usability for better security," he added.
Where are attacks coming from? More than 1,300 confirmed breaches of data security were analysed for the latest report, as well as more than 63,000 reported attacks on computer systems. For the first time, the dossier includes security incidents that didn't result in network break-ins, in order to gain a better understanding of the threats IT admins face. Over the entire 10-year range of this study, the tally of data breaches now exceeds 3,800, and 49 organisations from around the world contributed data and analysis to this year’s report.
Incidents of cyber-espionage increased four-fold over the last 12 months with China and countries in eastern Europe blamed for most of the snooping.
The newest edition of Verizon's report records 511 incidents of cyber-spying compared to 120 in 2013, an increase only partly explained by bigger survey numbers. China is still the leading launchpad of cyber-espionage activity, while more than 20 per cent of attacks were traced as far as eastern Europe. Just two per cent of the breaches attributed to cyber-espioange were blamed on Western European or US actors.
Baker told El Reg that Verizon had widened its network of reporting organisations, and included vendors such as Kaspersky Labs and FireEye into the fold. This has given it a wider picture of cyber-espioange activity that was the main talking point of the 2013 edition of its report. Even so, most of the reporting agencies hail from either North America and Europe. "We're seeing more of what's going on but it's still not a complete picture," he said.
Cyber-espioange has increased to account for about 25 per cent of breaches analysed, but the desire to steal money is still strong among hackers: financially motivated attacks accounted for more than 50 per cent of security break-ins.
Verizon's latest report covered the period from November 2012 to November 2013. The decade-spanning series of dossiers is considered among the best of its type in the infosec business. The study collates data from cops and g-men (including the US Secret Service), vendors and CERTs across many countries as well as information gleaned from running Verizon's managed security services business. About 50 organisations contributed intelligence, as listed in a preview statement on the report. ®
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Post by Admin on Apr 23, 2014 7:52:38 GMT -9
Microsoft expands ad-free Bing search for schools Updated 9:18 am, Wednesday, April 23, 2014
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft is expanding a program that gives schools the ability to prevent ads from appearing in search results when they use its Bing search engine. The program, launched in a pilot program earlier this year, is now available to all U.S. schools, public or private, from kindergarten through the 12th grade.
The program is meant to create a safer online environment for children, but also promote use of Bing, which trails market leader Google.
Microsoft Corp. is also giving away a first-generation Surface tablet computer to schools where community members sign up to use the ad-supported version of Bing outside of the school.
The program is tailored so that 60 parents and friends who do 30 Bing searches a day can earn their school a Surface in a little over a month. There is no limit on the number of Surface devices a school can earn.
Microsoft has some unsold inventory of the first generation Surface in stock after booking a large write-down on the devices last year.
Matt Wallaert, a Microsoft employee who created the "Bing in the Classroom" program, said the company hopes that some of the program's goodwill leads to more Bing usage.
"We absolutely are an ad-supported business, but we think that schools are not the time and place for that," he said. "Obviously we hope that parents will hear that message and want to use Bing at home."
Google Inc. says it has offered ad-free search and email for schools through its Google Apps for Education product since 2007.
Microsoft also has created some 500 lesson plans that encourage the use of search to answer questions. The questions aren't the kind that can be answered by just typing them into the search field.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2014 8:00:44 GMT -9
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) laid out its proposal for new rules surrounding net neutrality. Consumer advocacy groups are crying foul on what they consider a turnaround in the government’s stance, while internet service providers (ISPs) are praising the new rules.
Earlier this year, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled against the FCC in a case brought forward by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ). The judge agreed with the telecom company in ruling that the FCC was overreaching its authority, as accorded by Congress, in preventing ISPs from charging content providers for preferred treatment. The prior rules did not classify internet providers as utilities like telephone companies are classified, thus preventing stricter regulations around the industry.
Net Neutrality At the heart of the issue is the long unwritten rule surrounding “net neutrality,” which implies the openness and unbiased treatment of all content available on the World Wide Web. The concept has allowed content providers, large and small, the same gateway to reach users at same speeds and equal access.
As internet traffic has continued to grow, that gateway has become increasingly crowded. Social media and mobile internet have disrupted the way business is done, and resulted in technologies that continue to evolve. Service providers have pushed against the barrier in order to be able to monetize the gateway, which caused the FCC to come up with new rules that it presented on Thursday.
The Proposal The official proposal will be presented a little down the road. However, some insiders have already had a preliminary glimpse at what is on paper. According to sources, Tom Wheeler, current Chairman of the FCC, has tried to reach a middle ground with proposed rules that would allow ISPs to charge content providers to ensure uninterrupted and speedy delivery of content.
The proposal allows companies to negotiate with each other to have content delivered uninterrupted to subscribers, and at a predetermined cost to content developers and providers. The proposal is currently being circulated to other commissioners where amendments could get proposed. Once the group reaches a consensus, the proposal will be submitted on May 15 for ratification.
Parties Involved The issue about free and neutral internet has brought some of the largest and most well-known corporations into the ring facing off with each other. On one side of the argument are content providers big and small. This includes companies such as Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Google Inc. (GOOG), and Facebook, Inc. (FB), while the other side comprises ISPs such as Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC).
Telecoms such as AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon are also watching the shifts in the industry. Since telecoms are not classified as utilities, they were not necessarily affected directly, but a precedent set here could determine how these companies are able to monetize on their networks. The two currently provide broadband internet and video services through their wireline segments, AT&T’s U-Verse and Verizon’s FiOS.
Broadband services hold potential for some of the fastest subscriber growth for these companies, which they could leverage to grow a saturated subscriber base for wireless services. Additionally, they can gauge the industry on how best to capitalize an additional revenue stream in which content providers can now pay to get a substantial competitive advantage over peers as they choose to either create partnerships or agreements amongst one another.
Conclusion The proposal still awaits a vote from the remaining four commissioners that govern the FCC. While the decision is pending, all signs point to a change in policy that many consider a significant blow to advocates of internet openness.
Consumers are crying foul over what they consider a betrayal by the FCC. The Obama Administration has been pro-neutrality but its hands are tied since the Commission is an independent body. If the proposal gets approved as drafted, large content companies could drown out smaller competition by hogging bandwidth for themselves.
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Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2014 7:17:49 GMT -9
Please note no support for XP:
Microsoft Warns of Internet Explorer Zero-Day Bug BY CHLOE ALBANESIUS APRIL 28, 2014 09:43AM EST14 COMMENTS As Symantec noted, this will be the first zero-day vulnerability that will not be patched for Windows XP users. Internet Explorer (IE) logo Microsoft has released a security advisory that warns about remote code executions in various versions of Internet Explorer. "This issue allows remote code execution if users visit a malicious website with an affected browser," Microsoft said. "This would typically occur by an attacker convincing someone to click a link in an email or instant message." The bug affects Internet Explorer 6 - 11, though according to security firm FireEye, "the attack is targeting IE9 through IE11." "We believe this is a significant zero day as the vulnerable versions represent about a quarter of the total browser market. We recommend applying a patch once available," FireEye said. Microsoft said that Enhanced Protected Mode, on by default in IE10 and IE11, as well as Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) 4.1 and EMET 5.0 Technical Preview, "will help protect against this potential risk." But until a patch is released, IE users should be on high alert and not click on any sketchy links or travel to unknown sites, or temporarily switch to another browser. At this point, Microsoft said it is "aware of limited, targeted attacks" using the IE flaw. "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights." As Symantec noted, "this will be the first zero-day vulnerability that will not be patched for Windows XP users, as Microsoft ended support for the operating system on April 8, 2014." However, the EMET toolkit "is available for Windows XP users," the company said.
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Post by Admin on Apr 29, 2014 6:37:00 GMT -9
Incorrect reports are swirling that a major flaw in Internet Explorer has been fixed through a security update from Adobe on Monday.
But Adobe's update fixes a completely separate issue -- which means Internet Explorer users are still at risk as they await a patch from Microsoft.
The confusion arose after security company FireEye revealed a big Internet Explorer flaw in a post on Friday, saying that hackers were using the bug to run malicious software on users' computers. (Microsoft followed up with its own "security advisory" on Saturday.) FireEye recommended that users disable Adobe Flash, saying "the attack will not work" in that case.
So when Adobe issued a Flash Player security update on Monday, several media outlets reported the patch would fix the Internet Explorer problem.
In reality, Adobe's update fixes a serious but separate problem: a Flash bug that is actively being used to attack visitors of a Syrian government website. Security firm Kaspersky Labs posted about that issue on Monday, and Adobe credited Kaspersky in its security update for the alert.
That Flash bug is significant, and users should download Adobe's update. But it's entirely separate from the wider Internet Explorer problem.
It's easy to see where the confusion came from -- Adobe's post said Monday's updates fix problems that could "potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system," a description that sounds like it could refer to the Internet Explorer issue.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is working to fix that wider Internet Explorer bug. Until then users should exercise caution, and take steps like running alternative web browsers and downloading a Microsoft "toolkit" to help guard against attacks.
First published April 29th 2014, 7:17 am
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Post by Admin on Apr 30, 2014 7:10:59 GMT -9
Wheeler lays out latest Open Internet ideas in plea to critics
April 30, 2014 | By Samantha Bookman
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler took to the FCC website's blog Tuesday in a continued attempt to counter criticism of the commission's soon-to-be-released net neutrality revisions. Calling some industry analysts' and experts' commentary on the proposed changes "misinformed," Wheeler said the proposal was not a final decision, but instead a "formal request for input" on Open Internet rules.
Tom Wheeler, FCC
He also emphasized that the delay in implementing rules was having a negative effect on companies doing business via the Internet.
"Today Internet Openness is being decided on an ad hoc basis by big companies. Further delay will only exacerbate this problem," Wheeler wrote. "The NPRM is seeking input on the best way to protect and promote the Open Internet."
Pointing out that net neutrality rules have been debated--or tied up in court--for ten years now, Wheeler said the commission is looking for some sort of rule it can put in force. "We are asking for comment on a proposed a course of action that could result in an enforceable rule rather than continuing the debate over our legal authority that has so far produced nothing of permanence for the Internet."
He also expanded his explanation of what constitutes a "commercially reasonable" standard, in the current draft's definition, saying that anything that creates a "fast lane" that degrades service for consumers and companies "would be shut down."
Karl Bode of DSL Reports was critical of the latest post's claims that the revised Open Internet order would be tough and enforceable. "Except that it won't. The old rules had an ocean of intentional loopholes and don't cover wireless--just like the new rules," he wrote. "As many have pointed out, Wheeler's moves actually create more uncertainty as the agency continues to try and use Section 706 of the Communications Act in a way that's not particularly legally defensible."
He called the commissioner's examples of commercially unreasonable behavior vague. "Wheeler's comments to date strongly suggest his threshold for what's going to be considered anti-competitive behavior will be stratospherically-high, and as is the case now--carriers will still be able to get away with anti-competitive behavior provided they're relatively clever about it."
The FCC has seen a rash of criticism since The Wall Street Journal broke a story detailing the latest Open Internet revision last week. GigaOM's Stacey Higginbotham was particularly critical. "The FCC should man up and say exactly what it is doing here: It is implementing a double-sided market for the internet that could allow businesses to enter into commercial relationships with ISPs--who do not operate in a competitive market in the U.S.--for faster delivery of their content."
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2014 6:18:02 GMT -9
T-Mobile posted a $151 million first-quarter loss despite adding a net 2.4 million customers — its best quarter ever in terms of subscriber growth.
But the telecom company's efforts to acquire new customers have proven expensive, particularly its willingness to cover the fees for new subscribers that break contracts with other companies. The investment has paid off, with T-Mobile's subscriber growth outpacing rivals AT&T and Verizon combined.
SEE ALSO: Our Addiction to Phone Subsidies Keeps the Wireless Industry Broken
The new subscribers helped revenue jump 19%, which excludes the income from the recently acquired prepaid business MetroPCS. Overall, T-Mobile now claims 49.1 million U.S. subscribers.
Investors appeared willing to focus on the subscriber growth story, as shares in T-Mobile rose 8% in after hours trading. Investors appeared willing to focus on the subscriber growth story, as shares in T-Mobile rose 8% in after hours trading.
In addition to the earnings news, Bloomberg reported that Sprint was pursuing a T-Mobile acquisition. The two companies have reportedly been in talks for some time.
Re/code reported that while interest remains, a deal is not imminent.
Sprint, the third-largest U.S. mobile company by subscribers, also posted a loss in the first quarter of $151 million but does not have the customer growth to show for it.
A rapidly growing subscriber base only makes T-Mobile a more attractive acquisition despite the lack of profit. A combined Sprint and T-Mobile would encompass about 102 million customers, putting it firmly in league with AT&T and Verizon.
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Post by Admin on May 2, 2014 6:36:25 GMT -9
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Hackers have attacked the government agencies, defense contractors, energy companies and banks by exploiting the software flaw in Internet Explorer. That's according to FireEye (FEYE), the cybersecurity firm that revealed the software flaw last week. The company discovered that hackers took advantage of a bug in the Internet Explorer Web browser to secretly take control of computers.
The cyber offensive has been dubbed "Operation Clandestine Fox," and affects all versions of Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Web browser. Microsoft has issued a fix, but FireEye's announcement on Thursday showed there are already victims. FireEye also spotted that hackers are now specifically targeting older computers running on the outdated Windows XP operating system and those using the Internet Explorer 8 version of the browser. Among those still using Windows XP are the Defense Department, the IRS, and bank ATMs. That's a problem, because Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) has taken its 12-year-old operating system off life-support, ceasing security updates (although it did, in this case, apply an update to Windows XP). Consider this a wake-up call. It's easy to ignore Internet security scares, especially when there's a deluge of news about them. In the month of April alone, we were bombarded with news about the pervasive Heartbleed bug, a massive AOL hack and the Internet Explorer glitch. But there are real world consequences. The Heartbleed bug was used to steal personal information of Canadian taxpayers. The AOL (AOL) hack led to a flood of spam (that could link to infected websites.) An attack like Clandestine Fox is of the more serious variety -- a cyber reconnaissance mission by a foreign government that reveals weaknesses in industries crucial to the United States' economy, defenses and power. It targeted power plants, banks, government agencies and military technology, which is essentially a precursor for war, said David Kennedy, CEO of security consulting firm TrustedSec. "They're going after the core critical infrastructure of the United States, so in the event of a war, they can take it down," Kennedy said. "The scary part is that the financial sector and energy are extremely vulnerable."
A typical power plant, for example, makes expensive investments on equipment that's meant to last decades. It's common to find 1970s-era software on turbines, Kennedy said. That's a danger. "When you have old technology, the defenses they made back then aren't adequate today," he said. FireEye wouldn't say who is launching the attack, but offensives of this nature are typically conducted by foreign governments. In the past, cybersecurity firms have pointed to China and Iran. To top of page
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Post by Admin on May 5, 2014 9:05:37 GMT -9
SWATCH OPPOSES APPLE’S IWATCH TRADEMARK, SAYS IT’S TOO SIMILAR TO OWN ISWATCH MONIKER By Trevor Mogg — May 5, 2014 The course of launching a new tech product never did run smooth, it seems. We’ve known for some time that Apple is almost certainly working on a smartwatch, though a steady stream of rumors and leaks over the last year have suggested it’s been rather hard going, with various design difficulties hindering its development. The latest headache for Apple may link to the name of its rumored wrist-based computer. Last year the Cupertino company started filing the iWatch label with various patent offices around the world, but now watch giant Swatch has piped up to say it’s not happy about it. Claiming the moniker to be too similar to that of its iSwatch timepiece, the Swiss firm told Bloomberg over the weekend it’s been making contact with the relevant authorities in countries where Apple has filed the name. Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said that while there no plans to take Apple to court over the issue, it was “normal procedure to protect your own brand name,” adding, “We act like this for all other brand names that we have protected.” Hayek said Apple may be trying to “make inroads” on the Swatch brand name because “the two are similar.” The firm currently offers two iSwatch devices. Both are digital, water-resistant units that sell for $100 and $140, according to Swatch’s website. Bloomberg said the iSwatch brand name is registered in “several dozen” countries, with the famous watchmaker keen to protect it. It’s not clear precisely what steps the company plans to take, or even if it would have any chance of winning a case were it at some stage to take matters further with the US tech titan. Apple started registering the iWatch name last summer, with filings spotted for countries such as Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Columbia. The company will be hoping Swatch’s objections come to nothing, especially as it’s already endured disruptive fights with various firms over similar trademark issues, though admittedly those cases involved identical names as opposed to a similar one as we see with the iSwatch. With tech companies looking for new markets to exploit now that the smartphone sector is reaching saturation point, wearable tech is expected to be the next big thing. Apple boss Tim Cook said in February his company is working on “some really great stuff” in “new categories,” with the iWatch rumored to be among its plans. Whether it launches with that name, however, is now open to question. Read more: www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/swatch-opposes-apples-iwatch-trademark/#ixzz30rjbOlw8 Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook
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Post by Admin on May 6, 2014 9:42:17 GMT -9
Google Debuts Classroom, An Education Platform For Teacher-Student Communication Posted 1 hour ago by Darrell Etherington (@drizzled)
Google is tackling the persistent need in education for better software with Classroom, a new tool launching in beta preview to help teachers make, collect and track student assignments, and to help them better communicate with their classes.
The Classroom app is part of Google’s Apps for Education lineup of products, and it uses Docs, Drive and Gmail to make assignment creation and tracking easier than when you’d do those things manually. Basically, Google has taken a process that many were already using and streamlined it to make it more useful. Google has a huge advantage over other startups trying to do the same as a result; there’s an immense built-in existing population of users to get onboard.
It also incorporates class communication tools, letting teachers make announcements, ask questions and field student responses in real-time. Plus the whole thing’s free for schools, and Google also won’t even use the data that moves through the platform or display ads in Classroom, either, in accordance with its new policy announced last week.
So far, Google is keeping Classroom invite-only, with educators invited to apply to the preview program for access. They’ll open the gates to that first group of pilot testers in around a month’s time, and Google expects to release it widely by September – in time for the next school year.
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Post by Admin on May 6, 2014 10:38:43 GMT -9
Apple says it encrypts email attachments you receive on your iPhone or iPad -- but it doesn't, according to a security researcher. German security expert Andreas Kurtz has discovered that anyone in possession of your Apple device might be able to access files sent to you via email, even if your phone is locked with a passcode.
It's a major security flaw, but it's worse for people with older iPhones and iPads. It's less bad for folks with newer ones. Since the release of the iOS 4 software in 2010, Apple has assured customers that files are guarded with an added layer of security. When you lock your phone, the email attachments in your phone are supposed to be individually locked too. Here's why: Even if hackers manage grab your phone, hook it up to a computer and bypass the passcode that locks your entire device, they still aren't supposed to be able to read the files. Email attachment files are a jumbled mess of letters and numbers unless you unlock the whole phone.
But that's not actually happening, Kurtz found. The files aren't encrypted that way. He was able to plug an iPhone 4 into a computer, go around the passcode and see those files.
There are several methods available to hackers allowing them to access an iPhone's files even when it is locked and protected with a passcode. In theory, those files should be encrypted -- appearing as a jumbled mess of numbers and letters. But Kurtz found that email attachments aren't, in fact, encrypted. Kurtz was able to access email attachments on a locked iPhone 4 -- just by plugging it into a computer and using some passcode-bypassing software. Importantly, that method won't work on newer devices, because they don't allow computers to access raw files. But the software flaw is still present on new devices, such as the iPhone 5S and iPad 2. That means that if hackers figure out how to reach those files, they'll find them unencrypted. Kurtz, the co-founder of NESO Security Labs in Heilbronn, Germany, tested for the flaw in an iPhone 4, iPhone 5s and iPad 2. He first reported the findings on his personal blog on April 23. Kurtz said he reached out to Apple and the company told him it was already aware of the problem. But when the company issued a software update to iOS 7.1.1 and did not include a fix, Kurtz posted his findings. "Considering the long time iOS 7 is available by now and the sensitivity of email attachments many enterprises share on their devices, I expected a near-term patch," he wrote. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) told CNN it plans to issue a fix in a future software update, but the company would not say when that would happen. To top of page
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