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• 

  FCC votes in favor of Net Neutrality... just

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 8:44pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The Net Neutrality debate has been rumbling on for quite some time now, but today something of a milestone has been reached. After the campaign gained the support of President Obama, Twitter, and many others, today was the Federal Communications Commission vote on a number of proposals put forward by chairman Tom Wheeler.

  It is a victory for Net Neutrality and a great step towards ensuring that the internet remain open and free from controls by companies or government. The policy states, among other things, that ISPs may not charge for prioritization of web traffic. The vote was far from being a landslide. Two Republicans opposed to the policy changes kept the result to a 3-2 vote in favor of the proposals.

  While the ban on paid prioritization has been the main focus of much of the net neutrality campaign, it is not the full story. The newly approved rules mean that broadband connectivity will be reclassified as a telecommunications service, introducing greater regulation, and there will be greater control of paid deals between content providers and broadband companies.

  As well as being blocked from creating a two-tier internet where certain types of traffic is given greater priority over others, broadband providers will not be permitted to accelerate or block connections for a fee. The definition of broadband has been opened up, so the proposals will apply to mobile providers as well as to companies providing connection through landlines, fiber and the like.

  The vote was well-received across the tech industry, and CEO of Xirrus Wi-Fi, Shane Buckey said:

  The FCC's decision on net neutrality further validates its goal to provide more affordable and distributed Wi-Fi to the U.S. This foundational step supports IT infrastructure investment to provide more reliable Internet connectivity and improved quality of service for their users regardless of the internet service provider.

  But not everyone is happy. The US Telecommunications Industry Association is planning legal action against the changes and Verizon denigrated the vote as "misguided", adding:

  Today's decision by the FCC to encumber broadband internet services with badly antiquated regulations is a radical step that presages a time of uncertainty for consumers, innovators and investors.

  Opponents of net neutrality have been left licking their wounds but, even in light of the vote, it's unlikely that we have heard the end of this debate yet. Nevertheless, history has been made.

  Photo credit: mindscanner / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google cheapens Android Play Store -- sells top app search spots to highest bidder

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 7:29pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Not everything has to be monetized. In business, the goal is profits, true, but that is not the sole reason for existence. The money is earned by the hard work of employees, and relationships built with customers. If you have no customers, you have no profits -- never forget that. If a company takes advantage of customer trust and the overall relationship, the customers may become fatigued to the practices.

  This brings us to Google. It is a company that is near and dear to our hearts. The world is a better place because of the search giant and its offerings. With that said, the company and its founders have become wealthy thanks to its customers. Those customers give Google access to their lives in exchange for free Gmail, Maps and more -- it is a contract between both parties. Today, Google crosses a line, creating fatigue by inserting ads into Play Store search results. It is a straw on our collective backs.

  "With more than 100 billion searches every month on Google.com, we've seen how search ads shown next to organic search results on Google.com can significantly improve content discovery for users and advertisers, both large and small. Search ads on Google Play will enable developers to drive more awareness of their apps and provide consumers new ways to discover apps that they otherwise might have missed", says Michael Siliski, Product Management Director, Google Play.

  Siliski further explains, "in the coming weeks, a limited set of users will begin to see ads from a pilot group of advertisers who are already running Google search ads for their apps. We’ll have more to share in the coming months about the expansion of this program as we look at the results and feedback. We believe search ads will be a useful addition to Google Play for users and developers alike, and we hope this will bring even more success to our developer community".

  

  So let me get this straight.

  A consumer goes to the store and chooses an Android smartphone instead of an iPhone or other competitor. They then sign up for a monthly service plan, often on contract, that costs quite the pretty penny. Then, that consumer decides to buy an app. They agree to the terms and conditions, allowing Google to track their behavior. Next, they type in their credit card data, showing that they trust Google with financial information.

  Lastly, they enter in the type of app that they want, expecting the top result to be the most appropriate based on the search. Instead, the first result is an ad. Even if the top result is relative, the trust they handed to Google is now tainted.

  A good analogy is baseball. You invest time watching and rooting for your favorite team. You even buy the shirts and hats. Then, you manage to save up enough money to go to the stadium to watch that team. Finally, you want to buy a soda, or bottle of water, and the concession stand charges $10. Insulting.

  Google inserting ads into app search results is like being charged $10 for a cup of soda at a sporting event. Despite your emotional relationship with the team, plus the time and money invested, they still have to nail you for every cent -- Google, aren't you better than this?

  Maybe I am naive to expect more from a company that makes money from advertisements and user-tracking, but consumers should demand better treatment. Yes, the search-giant will make even more money from this, but at what cost?

  Besides consumers, indie-developers will be hurt too,  as they won't have the money to compete. It is bad for everyone involved...except of course Google.

  Are you fed up with having everything monetized? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Ronald Sumners / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Emailage fights fraud with email address scoring

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 6:42pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Email is the most common form of digital ID, used to login to websites, complete transactions and more besides. This means that over time each email address develops its own unique reputation and digital life based on its past behavior and actions online.

  Phoenix-based startup company Emailage has used this to develop a risk scoring system for email addresses which will help companies to reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions. Emailage has successfully flagged over 2 million transactions as risky in the past year alone, amounting to $150 million it's saved customers. The company has now received $3.8 million in venture capital funding to further develop its product.

  "Email is the most unique and common ID in the online world," says Rei Carvalho, CEO of Emailage. "By using our proprietary machine learning algorithms across a vast consortium of data, we are able to stop fraudsters in real time. As our customer base grows, our solution becomes more powerful and our industry-leading fraud detection rates will continue to improve. We are excited to use this financing to grow quickly and expand our offerings".

  Emailage customers have already benefited from faster approval rates for 60 percent of transactions and improved pinpointing of the the most risky transactions with an average hit rate of 25 percent. Some customers are detecting 50 percent or more of their total fraud just by analyzing risk based on the email. Having this information available in real time not only prevents fraudulent transactions from occurring but also helps recognize reputable new customers that may have been declined based on other criteria.

  More information on how email scoring is able to help prevent fraud is available from the Emailage website.

  Photo Credit: Balefire/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Agile versus waterfall development: The case for agile

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 6:39pm CET par Alok Sinha

  

  Agility and flexibility are top of mind when it comes to delivering IT projects. With that being the case, the traditional waterfall development approach, which requires each step of a project to be completed before the IT team can move onto the next, seems a bit outdated.

  Enter the agile development technique. This iterative development method should be the go-to today. It's based on collaboration and continuous development, and differs from the waterfall approach in that it can be characterized as being adaptive rather then predictive. Essentially, with agile, the requirements gathering, development and testing happen concurrently versus consecutively. Let’s take a closer look at why this development method makes more sense for most businesses today. And then, we’ll briefly examine a newer method -- DevOps -- which, too, is becoming more common. Regarding agile:

  It’s More Collaborative

  Many companies, both large and small, are already using agile development for their internal and external development needs. In some cases, vendors will use agile development methods in collaboration with customers. In a typical agile development set-up, requirements are developed in collaboration with the user and written in a format that explains in non-technical language what is needed.

  For example, a requirement may be as simple as a consumer, for example, wanting to have the ability to make a payment to a friend for their portion of a dinner bill. This broad requirement is then broken down into a series of "stories" each describing an action. These could be things like: "access system x", "initiate payment", "carry out security checks", and so on. Each story is worked on collaboratively by a group of developers, ideally with the user involved throughout, making it the more collective, hands on approach, instead of the more siloed method of waterfall development.

  It’s More Customer-Centric

  The agile development method is more customer focused, and more efficient, than the typical waterfall requirements-gathering process -- in which all requirements are gathered, and the project mapped out in full, up front.

  Agile code development typically begins with each team first writing the test script that will prove each "user story" is complete (again, as referenced above, these are descriptions that capture actions like "access system" or "initiate payment"). Code is then written, often by pairs of developers collaborating and acting as an instant checks and balances system, and tested against that test script on a continuous basis. This allows for any errors to be caught during the development process and fixed in real time. On the other hand, in a waterfall process, all development is finished before testing begins, which leaves room for a backlog of errors to have built up. Some glitches may be difficult to find, and the testing process takes longer as a consequence.

  It’s More Adaptable

  Aside from being more collaborative and more customer-centric (and therefore making the development process quicker and delivering better quality software), agile development also makes it easier for development teams to cope with changing requirements. This means the software delivered at the end of a project is likely to be better suited to the user’s purpose. The user is invited back to view and test the code that has been developed at regular intervals in the process -- if they are unable to join for the duration -- to ensure it delivers what they expected. Because code is developed to "user stories", which describe just a small part of the overall requirement, it is easier to change a single, or even a number of, stories that have been developed over a short period of time and related tests, than to potentially have to go back through hundreds or thousands of lines of code to work out what needs to be revised.

  For its collaborative nature, its customer-centricity and its adaptability, I would argue that agile development over waterfall is the better option in most business cases today. It’s the less bulky option and enables businesses to better discover and address user’s needs. In addition to agile, another development model that’s becoming more common is DevOps. Agile bridged the gap between development and testing being sequential activities in two large steps, into multiple sprints of smaller steps. This allowed developers to avoid a potentially large set of errors at the end of the development effort. DevOps brings testing and user acceptance testing (UAT) much closer and allows for continuous deployment, which is very much needed in cloud environments. Either method is suitable for businesses today and could be considered more present-day than the waterfall method of the past.

  Alok Sinha is President -- Global Application & Engineering Services -- at Xchanging, a global, publicly held business process, procurement and technology services company. To learn more, please visit www.xchanging.com.

  
• 

  Patent trolls beware -- EFF to testify before Congress

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 5:59pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  While the phrase "patent troll" is not technically correct, it has become synonymous with a business model that is almost universally loathed. Companies that are created as a front and used to buy up patents and then extort, for lack of a better word, money from smaller businesses -- typically ones they feel they can push around for an easy and quick profit. Unfortunately the tactic works in many cases as those facing litigation can't afford to fight and end up settling to save money.

  This practice has brought about a cry for reform of the patent system, which many feel is irrevocably broken. Now Congress is listening and today the Electronic Frontier Foundation will take center stage to plead its side of the argument.

  An attorney for the organization is set to speak. "Armed with vague and overbroad patents that never should have issued, patent trolls pressure small businesses to pay unjustifiable licensing fees. Businesses receiving these demand letters often lack the resources to fight back or to coordinate with others faced with similar demands. In her testimony Thursday, [Vera] Ranieri will urge Congress to enact measures to protect small businesses from abusive and deceptive demand letters, including enacting disclosure requirements that would help both lawmakers and the public to understand the damage patent trolls do to America's economy", the EFF announces.

  This isn't a new fight for the EFF, it has been going after what it calls "bad patents and abuse of the system" for sometime now. The organization has been gathering information for more than two years in an effort to gain reform.

  Things are hardly likely to be decided today -- the wheels of congress turn slowly and sometimes seem to spin in place. There is also the specter of campaign backers with deep pockets and influence. However, at least the EFF is being given its chance.

  Photo Credit: Dariush M/Shutterstock

  
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  Cloud-hosted script library simplifies web development

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 5:59pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Developers often find themselves repeatedly going over the same ground when it comes to adding functionality like forms or product pages.

  California-based Cloudward is aiming to make life easier for web app developers with the launch of Cloud Snippets. These are cloud-hosted scripts, powered by Google Cloud Services, that allow anyone to instantly add forms, surveys, landing pages, ecommerce product listings, and more using the simplicity of Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive.

  Developers can add a Cloud Snippet to any website, including platforms like WordPress, Weebly, Squarespace and Wix, or any HTML page. All they have to do is copy and paste the JavaScript code and publish it. Cloud Snippets also gives developers the code allowing them to make customizations as required.

  "Cloud Snippets are important because they allow anybody to easily build an independent, embeddable web app," says Cloudward co-founder and CTO Danny Kolke. "For the first time, a web designer or developer has the power to build sophisticated web functions without having to know PHP, Python, Java, etc. Small agencies and web designers can use Cloud Snippets to gain big-agency capabilities. Small businesses can easily add complex functionality to their websites. And enterprises gain development flexibility".

  

  Cloudward has set up a Snippet Store which has lots of free snippets for developers to get started. It intends to open this up as a marketplace for other web designers and developers to build and sell their own custom snippets.

  Current snippets include one to create a content slideshow by taking images and tagline descriptions from a Google Sheet and displaying them in a slider, and one to take addresses from a Google Sheet and display each on a map with a marker and an information window.

  You can find out more about Cloud Snippets on the Cloudward website.

  Photo Credit: dencg/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Corel VideoStudio X8 adds Freeze Frame effect, NewBlue pack

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 5:08pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Corel Corporation has unveiled VideoStudio Pro X8 ($79.99) and VideoStudio Ultimate X8 ($99.99), the latest versions of its versatile consumer video editor.

  Both editions add a new Freeze Frame effect (just select a frame and set the duration), while the bundled NewBlue Video Essentials II brings 10 plugins, including Chroma Key, Lens Correction, Picture-in-Picture and Vignette.

  A smart new Audio Ducking feature detects music or narration, then automatically drops the volume of video background noise to make sure they don’t clash.

  New overlay and masking options give you more creative freedom in choosing how video objects blend with the background.

  Enhancements include more accurate motion tracking; screen capture which can now record system and microphone sound; MKV import; MOV H.264 export, and smarter project and media file management tools.

  XAVC S support means the program can handle the latest cameras, with resolutions up to 4K 3840 x 2160.

  The Ultimate X8 version adds a special effects pack with 10 further applications, which now includes proDAD Adorage and NewBlue FX Essentials IV.

  A 30-day trial build of VideoStudio Pro X8 is available now.

  
• 

  Pivot or Divot: How a first time founder learns to navigate the realities of running a startup

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 3:36pm CET par Justin Burdine

  

  Starting a tech business in today’s rapidly evolving landscape presents a real challenge: how do you conceptualize an idea, develop it, and push it to market before the idea becomes obsolete in the face of new technology?

  Firepype was first conceptualized in 2011­­ -- eons ago by tech standards. Amazingly, there is still no other product that offers automated media distribution the same way this does. The basic prototype came together pretty quickly for the first client, in a matter of weeks. Then it became time to refine the idea into an elegant, marketable package, and the forward momentum slowed to a crawl as I searched for the right team to help turn my vision into a reality.

  Probably the biggest truth in startups is that challenges are inevitable. The question is not whether you can avoid challenges, but how you deal with them. Will you view each​ challenge as a Pivot​ ​ opportunity, or will it cause a Divot​ ​ in your forward progress?

  One startup that made a hugely successful Pivot was Canadian ­based Ludicorp. Stewart Butterfield and his dev team had built the massively multiplayer online RPG Game​ Neverending, ​released in 2002, which among other tools allowed users to share photos. Game development was shut down in 2004, but the company capitalized on the popular photo­sharing code and repackaged it as a photo­sharing service they called Flickr. This phoenix­ rising­ from ­the­ ashes move was so successful that Yahoo bought Ludicorp and Flickr a year later for a reported $22 to $25 million. Today Flickr remains one of the strongest parts of the Yahoo empire, with more than 92 million users.

  We found a big Pivot opportunity for Firepype early in beta testing. While we had conceptualized the product to automatically distribute all types of media, we had first focused on video. Yet it turned out a high percentage of our users were more interested in posting podcasts. So we modified our business model to focus on automatic podcasting, and really built out that market first. We still offer other automated applications, but we are listening to what the users need as our direction for how to prioritize development efforts.

  Another Pivot moment came when our lead developer needed to move on shortly after we finished the initial build. This could have been a Divot, and it did slow the company’s forward progress for a while. But I held on to the mindset that this was a setback and not a brick wall, and that persistence paid off. Before long I was able to bring on a new developer with a fresh perspective and a whole new skill set, and the project Pivoted back into the fast lane.

  Divots are deadly for startups. Small Divots can set you back, while large ones have the potential to send the entire venture off the rails. Either way, they can leave you with battle scars. However, the secret of navigating Pivots and Divots is that every Divot is​ really an opportunity to Pivot for success. Having this mindset really helps inspire good​ problem­ solving when challenges arise.

  Photo Credit: Michael D Brown/Shutterstock

  Justin Burdine is the founder and director of Firepype, LLC, an automated media distribution service that allows customized file processing and automatically uploads to various media outlets.

  
• 

  New tool simplifies translating apps into different languages

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 3:03pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Developers put a lot of time and resources into the technical aspects of their apps. But when it comes to selling them in other markets there's often little left for localization.

  Now OHT-Mobile, part of One Hour Translation, has a solution with the launch of Lingui, a low-cost way to localize apps quickly without the need for extra manpower, complicated processes or even the requirement to send updates to the App Store or Google Play.

  "Having spent a lot of time and effort developing their application, one of the biggest challenges facing developers is how to make their applications accessible and engaging for users around the world," says Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Translation. "Lingui by OHT-Mobile allows developers to cut out the time consuming and expensive process of localizing applications for multiple audiences".

  Lingui simplifies the development process by inserting a few lines of code into the app that detect text in the UI and allow the option to translate in a number of ways. There's the choice of automatic translation, professional human translation or crowd sourced translation. Once the process is complete, the update goes live instantly and everywhere allowing app users to choose from all active languages.

  "Until now any newly translated apps would have to be uploaded to the relevant app stores, delaying the time to get the app to market. What's more, users often had to update the app in order to get support for new languages or updated translation," says Shoshan. "With Lingui, your app translations and supported languages are managed on OHT-Mobile's cloud. Updated translations or additional languages are simple and easy to add. There is no need to republish the app in the market or to update the app on the user's device".

  Lingui will be on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from the 2nd-5th March or you can find out more on the One Hour Translation website.

  
• 

  Run Android on your PC desktop with Droid4X

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 2:45pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Android apps aren’t just for your phone and tablet. Install Droid4X and you can run Android on your PC, too, taking full advantage of the extra screen resolution and more easily sharing files and data.

  As with many similar applications, Droid4X is essentially a wrapper around VirtualBox, with Android 4.2.2 provided on a custom virtual machine. But you don’t need to know any of the low-level details, as the program manages all of those itself.

  Installation takes a while, not too surprising as there’s so much data involved (the final package takes up almost a gigabyte of drive space). We wondered several times if it had stalled, but no, we just should have been more patient: get on with something else and it’ll complete eventually.

  On launch the regular Android start screen appeared in a 1280×720 resolution window. There are very few apps installed by default, but as you get the Play Store that doesn’t matter very much (you can also install apps by dragging and dropping APKs from the desktop).

  A left-hand toolbar gives access to various features. You can set up the program to use the keyboard as a controller (or your phone, if you install another package). There’s an option to share folders between the PC host and your Android host. You can simulate a GPS location, take a screenshot, "shake" the device with a click, adjust the screen resolution and more.

  Less obvious features include a shared keyboard (Ctrl+C in one environment, Ctrl+V in another), while in theory you can zoom in and out by holding Ctrl/ CMD and spinning your mouse wheel (although this didn’t always work for us).

  We ran into some odd issues, including YouTube playing audio only by default (video was only visible when we played it full-screen). But most apps ran without problems, speeds were good, and on balance -- especially for a beta -- Droid4X performed very well.

  
• 

  LG announces 4G LTE-enabled Watch Urbane smartwatch

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 1:29pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  The average smartwatch relies on a smartphone to show relevant information. Those notifications, emails, messages, directions and the like are not pulled from thin air, after all. Making such devices pretty much useless when, for instance, the smartphone runs out of juice or is not within pairing distance. This is where having a cellular radio inside can make a huge difference.

  LG is among the few vendors that sees just how useful cellular radios can be for smartwatches, as today it announces a 4G LTE version of its recently-unveiled Watch Urbane Android Wear smartwatch. Unlike the original, the new Watch Urbane LTE -- which rivals Samsung's Gear S -- runs LG's own Wearable Platform. The South Korean company is touting it as "the world’s first LTE-enabled smartwatch".

  4G LTE might seem overkill for a device that is not designed for content consumption, and this shows in the increased battery size -- 700 mAh, compared to just 410 mAh for the vanilla Watch Urbane. LG didn't mention battery life when it announced Watch Urbane nor in the case of Watch Urbane LTE, so I can only assume it's decent but not spectacular.

  For instance, a typical Android Wear device lasts around a day or so before it needs to meet the charger. Wearable Platform doesn't look like it's more energy efficient, or else LG would have said so in the press release. Its claim, that Watch Urbane LTE lasts for days in standby is not relevant, given that users will be interacting with their devices quite frequently. However, talk time is said to be "impressively long", whatever that means.

  So what can Watch Urbane LTE do that Watch Urbane can't? Well, first of all, it lets the user make and take calls, and send and receive SMS messages, without relying on a smartphone to take the heavy load. On supporting carrier networks, it offers push-to-talk, so Watch Urbane LTE users can use their smartwatches like walkie-talkies. Of course, it can also go online.

  What's also interesting about Watch Urbane LTE is that its third side button doubles as a beacon, with a long press, calling a contact of choice and sharing the user's coordinates. It can come in handy in case of emergencies, assuming there's cellular coverage there.

  Watch Urbane LTE's connectivity options may not be "light years beyond the competition", as LG suggests, but they exceed those of competing smartwatches, mainly because there is NFC on board. LG is quick to point out the upside in having NFC when it comes to making mobile payments.

  Needless to say, there are lots of sensors inside Watch Urbane LTE, as well as pretty good specs for a smartwatch. For more information on this, check out our coverage of Watch Urbane (the only other difference is the 1 GB of RAM, instead of the 512 MB of RAM in the vanilla model). Watch Urbane LTE is only going to be offered in silver, according to LG (no gold option, sorry folks). There is no information on availability and pricing.

  
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  Do you know where Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev is? You could be $3 million richer

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 12:24pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev is a Russian hacker who could make you rich in a couple of different ways. He is the gentleman who is thought to be the architect behind the Zeus botnet as well as the infamous CrytoLocker scam that holds data hostage for a ransom. Those are two of the largest problems facing today's computer users and each still persists while Bogachev remains elusive.

  He has twice been indicted in US courts, once in Nebraska and, more recently, in Pennsylvania. The array of charges is quite long, including conspiracy, money laundering, computer fraud, identity theft and more. These indictments mean little as long as he remains on the run.

  Now the US State Department has issued a three million dollar reward if you can lead them to his capture and ultimate conviction. "Also known online as 'lucky12345' and 'slavik', Bogachev allegedly acted as an administrator in a scheme that installed malicious software on more than one million computers without authorization. The software, known as 'Zeus” and 'GameOver Zeus', enabled contributors to the scheme to steal banking information and empty the compromised accounts, resulting in the theft of more than $100 million from U.S. businesses and consumers", the notice reads.

  Meanwhile the Federal Bureau of Investigation has teamed up with the State Department and a press release from it also announces the reward. It also adds that "Bogachev is on the FBI’s Cyber’s Most Wanted list and is believed to be at large in Russia".

  If you happen to have any information then you can submit via tips.fbi.gov. Otherwise just be alert online so that you don't become his next victim.

  Photo Credit: Photosani/Shutterstock

  
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  Using the power of big data to understand customers

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 12:18pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Companies are increasingly tuning into the importance of understanding their customers in order to make their marketing more effective and big data has a key role to play in providing them with the information to do so.

  A new infographic produced by Hadoop solutions specialist Datameer looks at how companies are using big data to build their brands and boost revenue.

  Big data analysis can help to increase customer acquisition, reduce churn and enable businesses to develop more innovative products with features that customers actually want. The graphic uses two examples, the first being a credit card company that was able to achieve a 25 percent better conversion rate and reduce its annual advertising spend by $3.5 million thanks to big data.

  The second example is an online game company that was able to understand the features that make players stay for longer and introduce new elements to boost revenue.

  You can see the full infographic below and read more on the Datameer blog.

  

  Image Credit: Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock

  
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  Facebook can put users on suicide watch

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 12:07pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  A few months ago Twitter was criticized for teaming up with suicide prevention charity Samaritans to automatically monitor for key words and phrases that could indicate that someone was struggling to cope with life. Despite the privacy concerns that surrounded Samaritans Radar, Facebook has decided that it is going to launch a similar venture for Compassion Research Day in a bid to prevent suicides.

  Working with mental health organizations including mental health organizations Forefront, Now Matters Now, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Save.org, Facebook aims to provide greater help and support for anyone considering suicide or self-harm.

  Unlike Twitter's tool, Facebook is not automatically monitoring content that is posted on the social network. Instead, users are invited to get in touch if they notice troubling content from any of their contacts, and Facebook will then reach out with the offer of help, support and tips.

  Introducing the feature, Facebook said:

  For those who may need help we have significantly expanded the support and resources that are available to them the next time they log on to Facebook after we review a report of something they’ve posted. Besides encouraging them to connect with a mental health expert at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, we now also give them the option of reaching out to a friend, and provide tips and advice on how they can work through these feelings. All of these resources were created in conjunction with our clinical and academic partners.

  Of course, stumbling across a post that indicates suicidal thoughts can be troubling for the reader as well. With this in mind, Facebook is providing additional tools for anyone who reports such content. Facebook has teams working round the clock to talk to people on both sides of the suicidal thoughts story.

  The services are rolling out in the US over the next couple of months, and there are plans to extend the program globally.

  
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  Yet more aggressive Android adware found on Google Play

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 11:55am CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Google Play is supposed to be the safe place to download Android apps from, but that’s increasingly not the case. Three weeks ago security firm Avast detailed how it had found three popular Android apps riddled with Adware in Google’s store.

  Today Bitdefender reports that it has found ten Google Play apps that are packed with aggressive adware that can do all sorts of nasty things.

  According to the security company the apps can "subscribe users to premium-rated numbers using scareware messages or install additional apps that pack in even more ads".

  You might think you could just uninstall a problem app, but these disguise themselves, so the user isn’t entirely sure of the source of the ads.

  "If someone figures out that one of these apps is responsible for all the browser redirects and scareware messages, he’ll have a hard time finding and uninstalling the app in the Application Manager menu as it hides under the vague new name and not, for instance, 'What is my ip?' Less tech-savvy users will be thrown off the scent and the app will remain installed and running indefinitely", says Bitdefender security researcher Liviu Arsene.

  So how are these apps getting past Google? Arsene says it’s probably "because the URL used to redirect users doesn’t actually disseminate malicious .apk files. Its purpose is to redirect browsers -- Android’s native browser, Chrome, Firefox, Facebook or even TinyBrowser -- to a specially created URL that tosses users around from one ad-displaying website to another".

  It’s clear Google needs to do something to prevent Android adware from continually appearing on Google Play, but exactly what remains to be seen.

  Image Credit: DeiMosz / Shutterstock

  
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  Lack of employee context hinders protection efforts

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 11:44am CET par Eric Ouellet

  

  Even with significant security solution spend, program maturity and external third-party certification efforts, organizations continue to struggle to adapt and protect themselves from attackers employing new and innovative approaches that take advantage of the very systems put in place to thwart them.

  Today’s attackers are very sophisticated, well-funded and patient. They act more like detectives and scientists as they follow a systematic approach to understand their targets’ environments, their nuances and day-to-day operations even better than you do. They know that security point solutions have an important role to play in protecting your environment but that they also have their limitations. Attackers test these to understand exactly when an organization reacts and when it does not. But it doesn’t end there.

  These malicious actors know that because of the significant noise level generated by individual security solutions, even with the best of teams, security operations typically gets overwhelmed from data overload. They also know that internal security teams suffer from a severe lack of consolidated visibility and contextualization across the individual security solution deployed within your environment. Specifically, they know that when a user triggers an event in one system, it typically is not correlated with other events reported in another security solution by this same user. This is important because what might first appear to be benign noise in one security solution perhaps becomes the event that tips the scale of importance when taken in context with events reported in other security solutions.

  Attackers exploit this gap in a security operation’s risk visibility to hide in plain sight. They masquerade within the activities of existing entities such as regular users, system accounts, administrative accounts and privileged user accounts while subtly mutating normal behaviors to elevate privileges, install various hacking tools and, over time, gain greater access to sensitive systems and data. The wolf truly is in sheep’s clothing and it is walking amongst the flock picking up the crown jewels along the way.

  The best way to start addressing these new attack approaches: user behavior analytics. First, organizations must continue to deploy point solutions that mitigate specific technology and operational threats. Next, they must also link security solutions together in a coordinated fashion to get the most leverage and effectiveness from their security investments. Finally, the last, and arguably the most critical, piece of the puzzle is gaining a clear understanding of the typical actions and behaviors from each type of entity operating in your environment. This forms the foundation for establishing baselines that act as guides, identifying anomalous behaviors indicative of something that should be investigated.

  So, how do organizations take this from concept to reality? They should:

  • Establish automation processes to baseline employee behaviors and identify anomalies
  • Build processes to automate responses for non-malicious user activities by assigning them to training and monitoring for recidivism
  • Escalate users with clear indicators of compromise to investigative teams for immediate action

  Focusing on a users’ overall behavior instead of individual events in isolation provides the leverage that finally tips the scales in the favor of your security team instead of attackers. It removes the noise and shines a light on what is most important to your organization right now.

  Photo credit: Olivier Le Moal / Shutterstock

  Eric Ouellet is Vice President of Strategy at Bay Dynamics. Eric brings more than 25 years of experience in various disciplines within the information technology industry. He is responsible for Bay Dynamics’ overall market and product strategy, positioning, communications and channel and partner enablement. Prior to Bay Dynamics, he spent 10 years at Gartner, were he defined and established some of the highest growth areas in the fast-paced security industry. Eric is a well respected public speaker, prolific author and holds several industry designations including CISSP, ISSAP and ISSMP, amongst others.

  
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  You can now download Windows 7 ISOs directly from Microsoft -- here's how

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 11:26am CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Can’t find your Windows 7 disc but need it to do a fresh install or run a copy of Windows in a virtualized environment? The obvious solution is to download a copy of the operating system in ISO format.

  Oddly though, Microsoft has avoided offering Windows 7 ISOs for download -- the only solution previously was to grab a copy from Digital River, Microsoft’s official content delivery partner for Windows 7. That’s all changed now though, as a new Microsoft Software Recovery center lets you download Windows 7 directly from the software giant itself.

  The process of grabbing an ISO is very straightforward, but you will need to have your product key to hand. So if you can’t find the documentation that came with your disc (and can’t find the disc itself) and your Windows installation is so screwed up you can’t get the product key from there, you’re in trouble.

  If Windows is working you can find out the key by using NirSoft’s ProduKey. Just run it and the details will be displayed in the program window (along with keys for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office if installed). Right-click the entry to copy the key.

  Once you have the details to hand, go to the Software Recovery Center and enter the key into the Product Key box. Select your product language and click the button to Verify Product Key. When the key has been validated you’ll be able to download the Windows 7 ISO and burn it to disc or a USB flash drive.

  Microsoft Software Recovery only accepts retail keys. If you have an OEM version of Windows you’ll have to find another way of grabbing the ISO. Digital River is no longer an option as the links have been removed.

  Windows 8.1 users can get an ISO of that operating system from here, and ISOs for Windows 10 Technical Preview can be found here.

  
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  Samsung's 128-Gigabyte UFS 2.0 memory promises faster smartphones

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 10:26am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Samsung has announced that it has started mass-production of 128 GB ultra-fast embedded memory. Described as an industry first, the memory is based on the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard and is 2.7 times faster than the commonly used eMMC 5.0.

  With performance of 19,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second), the memory offers sequential read and write speeds comparable to SSDs. Despite this, the memory draws half the level of power of existing mobile memory.

  Aimed at the high-end smartphone market, Samsung's UFS 2.0 memory is available in 128GB, 64GB and 32GB versions. Current eMMC will continue to exist for mid-range handsets, but the increased speed and reduced power consumption of UFS will see the development of faster phones at the top end of the market with battery life which is far better than what can currently be achieved.

  Jee-ho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing for Samsung said:

  With our mass production of ultra-fast UFS memory of the industry's highest capacity, we are making a significant contribution to enable a more advanced mobile experience for consumers. In the future, we will increase the proportion of high-capacity memory solutions, in leading the continued growth of the premium memory market.

  As well as improvements to speed and battery life, there are also space savings to be made. Samsung explains that the ePoP (embedded package on package) memory can be placed directly on top of a logic chip to help keep physical size to a minimum.

  
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  China drops leading western tech brands for state purchases

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 9:37am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  China has decided to remove some of the world’s leading technology brands from its state approved purchase lists and replace them with thousands of locally built products.

  Some say this move comes as a response to revelations of widespread cyber-surveillance conducted by the West, while others believe this is more of a way for China to protect domestic technology industry from fierce competition.

  The biggest casualty of the new lists is the US network equipment maker Cisco Systems, which in 2012 had 60 products on the Central Government Procurement Center’s (CGPC) list, but by late 2014 had none.

  Apple, Intel and McAfee all joined Cisco and were removed from the purchase lists.

  The number of products on the list, which covers regular spending by central ministries, jumped by more than 2,000 in two years to just under 5,000, but the increase is almost entirely due to local makers.

  An official at the procurement agency said there were many reasons why local makers might be preferred, including sheer weight of numbers and the fact that domestic security technology firms offered more product guarantees than overseas rivals.

  "The Snowden incident, it’s become a real concern, especially for top leaders", said Tu Xinquan, Associate Director of the China Institute of WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. "In some sense the American government has some responsibility for that; (China’s) concerns have some legitimacy".

  China’s change of tack coincided with leaks by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden in mid-2013 that exposed several global surveillance programs.

  Image Credit: Tang Yan Song / Shutterstock

  Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

  
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  Control Explorer’s 'Send To' menu with Send To Manager

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 8:42am CET par Mike Williams

  

  Windows Explorer’s "Send To" menu can be a convenient way to copy, send or open files. Just right-click, select "Send To", and chose whatever drive or application you need.

  Most programs don’t make use of the menu, unfortunately, but grab a copy of Send To Manager and you can easily tweak it yourself.

  Portable and no-strings free, the program is easy to use. Just launch it to display any current application shortcuts. Our test PC contained "Fax Recipient" and "Skype".

  If you're curious what a particular shortcut is for, right-click it and select Google > Shortcut. A browser window will open with the results of a Google search. If you’re sure the shortcut is unnecessary, right-clicking and selecting "Remove" will make it disappear.

  Clicking Menu > Add New Shortcut gives you the option to add a new shortcut of your own. To give this a try, point the program at C:\Windows\Notepad.exe, and call the shortcut “Notepad”. Click "Add" to finish. Now right-click a small file, select Send To > Notepad and Notepad will open to display the file -- a simple way to view its raw contents.

  You can do this in other ways, of course, more commonly by adding an "Open with Notepad" entry to the top-level right-click menu for any file. But we’ll bet that your file context menu is already considerably longer than you'd like, so hiding the option under "Send To" could make more sense, and it’s certainly good to have the choice.

  There's no great need for third-party software to manage the "Send To" menu. Just find the appropriate folder – \Users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo, probably – and delete or create shortcuts as required. But if you’d like a helping hand then Send To Manager does simplify the process, and at least it has no adware or other hassles to get in your way.

  
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  Google aims to secure enterprise BYOD with Android for Work

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 3:21am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Android has successfully secured its place as the most used mobile operating system. With this in mind it should come as little surprise that more and more people are bringing Android devices into the workplace -- and for IT departments this can be something of a security nightmare. Today Google announces Android for Work with the aim of grabbing the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) market and making Android more secure and manageable in the workplace.

  What does this mean? Work profiles are being introduced to keep business apps and data separate from each other, so employees can use a single device to manage their personal work life. For both employer and employee this brings a number of advantages.

  One of the benefits of the BYOD philosophy is that you B your own D. Workers can choose the handset they want to use rather than being issued the same as everyone else, and there's the obvious advantage of having one device to deal with rather than two. While an employee can remotely manage work apps, workers can rest assured that their own personal apps and data are left untouched. This segregation of work and personal data is exclusive to Lollipop devices.

  The Android for Work app delivers secure mail, calendar, contacts, documents and browsing to handsets running pre-Lollipop versions of Android. A new store, Google Play for Work, allows for easy deployment of selected apps, and Google has a number of partners on board to help expand the range of supported apps.

  Rajen Sheth, Director of Product Management, Android and Chrome for Work, said:

  Together with a wide range of management, application and device makers, we believe the Android for Work program provides businesses and workers with the choice and flexibility they need to get things done at work.

  Names like BlackBerry, Box, Adobe, Dell, HTC and Citrix will help to bring secure business apps to phones and tablets, and a standardized set of APIs will allow for easy management of new and legacy devices through the same dashboard.

  More details are available at the Android for Work website.

  
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  Microsoft technology invites non-human nurses into your home -- will you let it in?

  Publié: février 26, 2015, 2:27am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Technology is increasingly changing our lives. It seems like every day, a new technological advance is revealed that impacts humanity. Virtual reality masks like Oculus, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard, for example, are changing the way we look at the world. You can travel anywhere by simply looking through a face-mask -- you can take a vacation without leaving your living room.

  As the world's population lives longer, and continues to engage in self-destructive behavior, healthcare is one of the few industries guaranteed to never slow down. Unfortunately, as more and more people become insured by Obamacare, getting an appointment with a healthcare professional is getting increasingly difficult. If we can't produce more doctors and nurses, we could have a crisis. What if, however, nurses and doctors didn't have to be human? What if a non-human could come into your home and examine you? A popular Microsoft technology is making this a reality.

  "Silicon Valley-based Sense.ly is working to bring a human face to telemedicine. The company's Kinect-powered 'nurse avatar' provides personalized patient monitoring and follow-up care -- not to mention a friendly, smiling face that converses with patients in an incredibly lifelike manner. The nurse avatar, affectionately nicknamed Molly, has access to a patient's records and asks appropriate questions related directly to the patient's past history or present complaints. She has a pleasant, caring demeanor that puts patients at ease. Interacting with her seems surprisingly natural, which, of course, is the goal", says The Kinect for Windows Team.

  The team further explains, "a growing number doctors and hospitals are recognizing the value of applications such as Sense.ly. In fact, the San Mateo Medical Center is one of several major hospitals that have recently added Molly to their staff, so to speak. The value of such solutions is particularly striking in handling patients who suffer from long-term conditions that require frequent monitoring, such high blood pressure or diabetes".

  

  "Molly" (seen directly above) should help patients, healthcare professionals and insurance carriers. A Windows machine and Kinect accessory are easily achievable components, making this relatively realistic.

  Patients will have more time for themselves, as they may not have to wait in line to see a doctor or nurse. The Kinect-based solution can be installed in a patient's home or in a local clinic. Not to mention, some sick people may avoid monitoring their health due to long waits and inflexible office-hours; Molly doesn't need to sleep, go to the bathroom or take a vacation. A patient that has greater access to a healthcare professional -- human or not -- should ultimately be healthier.

  Healthcare professionals will be able to focus on the truly sick, leaving the more trivial or routine things to the non-human Molly. This should free-up time for nurses and doctors, which in turn should lead to improved healthcare for patients. Why? The professionals should gain more opportunities for rest.

  Cost-savings is the big seller, however, and insurance carriers may be the big winners. By installing Molly in the home of a patient with a chronic illness, costly trips to the doctor may be avoided. This could, in theory, lower healthcare premiums as the cost of the Kinect hardware decreases.

  Would you be open to inviting non-human nurse into your home? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Julien Tromeur / Shutterstock