Migrating from Windows Server 2003: 9 things to consider
It’s been a long time coming, but on July 14 this year the support for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 will end.
This may well prove to be a challenge for some IT professionals, but it certainly doesn’t have to be a problem. Here, Rory Higgins, product manager at Eaton, outlines nine points to help IT professionals prepare for life beyond Windows Server 2003 and even to discover that this unavoidable change is actually an opportunity.
A VMI strategy is the optimum solution for BYOD adopters
In the BYOD era, enterprises are searching for the optimum mobile work environment -- one that will strike the right balance between security and user needs.
The enterprise’s goal is to achieve the highest level of security. Employees, on the other hand, want the simple, fun user experience they get as consumers. A Virtual Mobile Infrastructure (VMI) strategy can be the ideal solution.
Apple Watch is too expensive for most consumers
One in ten US broadband households plan to buy a smartwatch in 2015, however, 84 percent of them won’t spend over $250 on the device, according to recent wearable research.
The survey, from Parks Associates, suggests that the price point of $100 (£65) to $250 (£160) is roughly equivalent to a high-end fitness tracker.
Young people are all for equality in games
If game designers opt for a male protagonist thinking it would make it easier to tap into the predominantly male gaming audience, then they’re in for a nasty surprise.
A recent study conducted by Time has shown that most boys don’t really care which gender the main character is, as well as that they’re aware that women are underrepresented in video games.
Hacking collectives target major firms for profit
Security researchers at Symantec have discovered that a number of well-known hacking collectives are actually highly trained independent groups targeting large corporations for financial gain.
The likes of Apple, Facebook and Twitter have all faced cyberattacks in the past and it is now thought that this is only viable if the information that is acquired is then sold or traded through some "financial market".
Being proactive about security is the best defense against cyber attacks
Edinburgh council was the target of a cyberattack this week, and the details of more than 13,000 email addresses were stolen. The council was quick to issue a warning to all those who have an account with the authority, saying they might experience an increase in spam and phishing.
It said: "We are taking this incident very seriously. We have made sure that our service providers have reinforced the security of our website and we will continue to monitor security regularly".
How to protect yourself against ransomware
Regardless of whether you’ve been hit with ransomware or not, protecting your network from these types of attacks is now an integral part of any network security framework for both individuals and companies. Protecting yourself from intrusions and attacks requires securing your main layers of defense by utilizing Security Awareness Training and antivirus/anti-phishing software.
If you consider a computer network (even a simple one, like your home computer) to consist of a series of layers that any malware or virus needs to penetrate, the outermost layer would consist of your users themselves. After all, it takes a user’s interaction in order to initiate or allow a network intrusion. Only AFTER a user has clicked or visited a malicious link, will your secondary and tertiary layers (firewalls and antivirus) come into play. Thus, the very first layer you will need to harden is that of the human operator. It is only in recent years that the importance of this layer of security has come to be recognized. In the past, software has been relied upon as a catch-all for these types of situations. Software just by itself is not enough anymore, users must be trained to prevent such attacks from happening in the first place.
The history of Windows
Windows 10 is just around the corner, with Microsoft confirming a 29 July release date for its new operating system.
The general opinion appears to be positive for Windows 10, with 73 percent of IT pros saying they will deploy it within the first two years, despite there still being a few kinks to sort out.
Swiss Post testing drone deliveries
Switzerland’s postal service started testing drone parcel deliveries, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The testing, done together with Swiss WorldCargo and Matternet, will investigate the technology and determine the cost-effectiveness of such a business idea, although flying postmen are not expected to be widely used for the next five years.
Google's now testing self-driving car in Texas
This week has been a particularly exciting week for Google, as the company has started testing its self-driving car in Austin, Texas. The car in question is a specially equipped Lexus prototype, and with the new change of scenery the company is hoping that with it will learn more about the car’s performance in a different environment and road conditions, and how it reacts.
They have been testing self-driving cars since 2009, but most of the testing was done within Silicon Valley. Outside of Silicon Valley, Mountain View in California has been the primary testing ground, but with the ramping up of testing Google hopes that the self-driving technology should be ready for commercial use by 2020.
Windows 2003 gets a proper send-off, launching into space
In a tribute to Windows Server 2003, which reaches its end of life on July 14, disaster recovery provider Databarracks, together with the University of Surrey’s Electronics and Amateur Radio Society, launched a Windows 2003 disk into space.
Based on mass and the weather conditions on the day, the team predicts the balloon carrying the disk reached an altitude of 100,000 feet -- compared to the altitude of 30,000 to 40,000 feet for most commercial aircrafts -- before bursting and traveling back down to Earth.
The pain of outages, for companies and customers
I remember working on an IT helpdesk, responsible for managing technical and administrative issues for multiple large-scale sites. The particular network I worked on was especially large, with desktops, Exchange servers, etc., and the resources to potentially maintain the work flow of sites and keep our clients satisfied. The keyword here is 'potentially', as sites experienced network outages at a rate well beyond reasonable.
When receiving call after call and listening to every voice, no matter how stoic or exasperated, I quickly picked up on a common tone. I heard dissatisfaction, disappointment, a loss of trust and confidence. Not only was I realizing the failure of a system, but also the permanent damage to the reputation of the IT firm that I represented, its purpose to be keeping our clients working.
New OpenSSL vulnerability could be the next Heartbleed
The OpenSSL Project team has issued a warning about a new "high severity" flaw. More details about it will be released on Thursday.
"The OpenSSL project team would like to announce the forthcoming release of OpenSSL versions 1.0.2d and 1.0.1p. These releases will be made available on 9th July. They will fix a single security defect classified as 'high' severity. This defect does not affect the 1.0.0 or 0.9.8 releases". This alert and update information was released on Monday.
Linus Torvalds says we shouldn't fear AI
Linux founder Linus Torvalds doesn’t understand the fear Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Professor Stephen Hawking and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak share about artificial intelligence.
Musk said creating artificial intelligence would be equal to “summoning a demon”, and has even donated millions to protect humans from the impending doom. Torvalds, on the other hand, describes such fears as "bad" science fiction, during a Q&A session with Slashdot users.
Tips on running a successful Kickstarter campaign
When people decide to start new ventures, the traditional ways of obtaining financing have typically involved asking friends or family for money, using savings or credit cards. Some entrepreneurs may opt to obtain financing via venture capital firms. However, venture capitalists tend to be very picky about the types of ventures that they will fund and there are often stringent terms attached to any funding that is granted.
As a result, crowdfunding has offered an alternative option that allows entrepreneurs to get access to capital without so much red tape. Crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter, have built entire companies on the dreams of entrepreneurs looking to make their ventures the next big thing. However, the reality is that working with a crowdfunding site isn’t always a formula for success either.
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