Enterprise IT

Bank Internet Links Can Give Hackers Keys to Vaults
May 13, 2013

Willie Sutton once said that he robbed banks because that's where the money was. If Sutton were living today, he might have made the career move to hacker. That would allow him to do what he liked to do best -- steal money -- on a global scale, which is what a ring of bank robbing hackers have been doing. Eight of the alleged cybercrooks were arrested in the U.S. last week.

Icahn Leads New Pitch to Win Dell Shareholders
May 11, 2013

Two of Dell's largest stockholders, Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, have teamed up to propose an alternative to Michael Dell's plans to take his computer company private. The new deal on the table, issued in a letter to board members, involves a leveraged recapitalization that will pay investors and keep them on as shareholders in a public company.

FCC Plan to Boost Inflight WiFi Takes Off With Turbulence
May 11, 2013

As more airlines begin to offer WiFi, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is proposing to increase the bandwidth available for inflight wireless broadband. The FCC is essentially basing its proposal on Qualcomm's submission to the government from July 2011. This raises the question of whether the FCC is perhaps too closely tied to one company in this area.

From BI to KPIs to Benchmark Success in the Cloud
May 10, 2013

Organizations of all sizes across an assortment of industries are using a growing set of cloud analytics solutions to address their Big Data, business intelligence and data integration challenges. Escalating competitive pressures and customer expectations are forcing organizations to find new ways to tap internal and external data sources to achieve their business goals.

Twilio Lets Devs Build Contact Centers in the Cloud
May 09, 2013

Twilio last week rolled out capabilities that extend its communications API platform into the cloud contact center market. The new functionality is aimed at companies that want to migrate part or all of their traditional contact center operations to the cloud, or those that want to enhance existing traditional operations with a cloud-based component.

Obama May Pick Twitter Lawyer for Privacy Post
May 08, 2013

The Obama administration appears to be sending a message to privacy advocates that it's taking their issue seriously by creating a new position devoted to it -- and choosing a high-profile tech lawyer to occupy it. The White House reportedly is tagging Nicole Wong, Twitter's legal director for products, for a top privacy post.

Adobe Crowds Its Cloud, Says Buh-Bye to Boxed Software
May 07, 2013

Adobe announced major changes to its business model this week and revealed that from now on, it will sell its software via a monthly subscription plan and forgo boxed software and perpetual licenses. The maker of popular creative software such as Photoshop and InDesign unveiled the new policy at its MAX conference this week.

HP Goes to Work With New ProBooks for SMBs
May 07, 2013

HP, facing difficulties in its desktop and laptop sales, on Monday unveiled two new series in its ProBook notebook computer line for small and medium businesses. The ProBook 400 series has five laptops with screen sizes ranging from 13.3 to 17.3 inches that are up to 36 percent thinner and 18 percent lighter than previous notebooks.

Federal Workers Lead Telecommuting Upsurge
May 07, 2013

U.S. government employees led a big jump in the use of technology to work from home or other locations, instead of their normal offices, during an annual telecommuting exercise in March. For employers and vendors, the message seems clear that the market for telework and mobile workplace equipment and software has only one way to go -- up.

IE8 Exploit Had US Nuke Workers in Its Sights
May 06, 2013

A zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer 8 let hackers compromise a U.S. Department of Labor website linked to a database used by former Energy Department employees who had worked with nuclear weapons or uranium. That database was also used by Labor Department claims examiners. Security firm Invincea first reported the attack.

New IT Tools Untie Tangled Webs of Business Data
May 06, 2013

Information may indeed be power, but organizations large and small are finding that they have to expend more energy than ever just to keep up with the data streams flooding their infrastructures. It's not just the internal data that provides intelligence about their businesses. Organizations are also having to manage all that external Big Data that can help them land new customers.

Risk and Compliance: The Yin and Yang of Security
May 04, 2013

Mushrooming industry and government mandates that govern IT security have led to a highly regulated environment and annual compliance fire drills. Compliance, however, does not necessarily equal better security. We are reminded of this fact nearly every day when breaches make headlines. So what role should compliance and risk management play?

Years Inside Intel Could Be New CEO's Biggest Handicap
May 03, 2013

Intel announced Thursday that COO Brian Krzanich will take the helm on May 16, replacing current CEO Paul Otellini, who will retire this month after 38 years with the company, eight of them as its chief. Krzanich has his own long history at Intel. The 52-year-old joined the company 31 years ago as a newly minted college graduate.

Asana Positions Itself for the Enterprise
May 02, 2013

Asana on Wednesday announced Organizations, a feature that stakes its claim in the enterprise space. What is new with Organizations is its scalability; it is designed to support companies of 100 employees or more. Asana was launched by Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and Google and Facebook veteran Justin Rosenstein, and there are more than a few similarities between Asana and Facebook.

Big IT Firms Apply Talents to Fed Cybersecurity Research
April 30, 2013

Protecting Internet information has become a costly enterprise, with worldwide spending on security estimated at $60 billion in 2012. That figure will grow to $86 billion by 2016, according to a Gartner study. To help ensure that those investments are being spent wisely -- and to keep technology a step ahead of threats -- 11 major companies have joined a program designed to research data security.

Report: Criminals Put a Bull's-eye on Web Infrastructure
April 29, 2013

Cybercriminals have begun focusing their malicious endeavors on the sinew of the Internet to reap greater rewards. For months now, Net bandits have targeted key infrastructure elements -- from the domain-naming service to certificate-issuing authorities to hosting services -- in order to spread cash-producing malware. "They're going after the infrastructure of the Internet," said Dave Jevans, chairman of Marble Security.

PowerMap Lets Users Visualize the Lay of the CRM Land
April 29, 2013

PowerObjects has released PowerMap, a new add-on for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. "It is a way to create a visualization of geolocation in the database," said PowerObjects CEO Dean Jones. At its core, PowerMap does what the name suggests -- allows users to plot addresses of a group of entities on a map within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Wanted in Healthcare: More Wireless Devices for In-Home Patients
April 27, 2013

The machine-to-machine communications industry is undergoing a period of fundamental change and significant growth. Encouraged by declining chipset and sensor costs, manufacturers are increasingly embedding their products with wireless connectivity. Mobile operators and key players in industries as diverse as automotive, oil and gas, and healthcare all have a strong interest in pursuing this growing market.

Amazon Droops Following Profit-Light Q1 Report
April 26, 2013

The market digested the earnings report Amazon released on Thursday, and toward the end of trading Friday it was clear investors were less than pleased, with the company's stock down by about 6.5 percent. Little wonder: Amazon reported that its net income decreased 37 percent to $82 million in the first quarter, compared with $130 million in the first quarter of 2012.

House C'tee Chair Tells Consumer Protection Chief to Take a Hike
April 24, 2013

If CFPB Director Richard Cordray ever imagined that House of Representatives Republicans would eventually warm up to the bureau, that hope has surely been dashed by now. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, on Monday sent a letter to Cordray, saying that he would be barred from testifying before the committee because his appointment as director was invalid.