Microsoft gave its privacy policy and service agreement a facelift Thursday, and offered users a new central clearinghouse to manage privacy settings for all the data the company keeps about them. The newly-minted privacy dashboard (included in the Security and Privacy section of Microsoft’s account administration page) gives users links …
Google and Adobe have teamed up to reduce Chrome’s battery usage by cutting down on the amount of Flash content the browser plays automatically. The new functionality, enabled by default in the latest beta release of Chrome, will automatically pause bits of Flash content the browser determines “arent central to …
Facebook has released a stripped down version of its Android app aimed at growing its service in developing countries and other areas with poor connectivity. The Facebook Lite app is less than 1MB in size—far less than the regular app—making it quick to download and install. It retains core features …
The U.S. is investigating a massive data breach that exposed personal information on around 4 million federal government workers, according to news reports Thursday. China is suspected of having a hand in the attack, described by an unnamed official as “one of the largest thefts of government data ever seen,” …
The U.S. government is investigating a massive data breach that exposed personal information on around 4 million federal government workers. China is suspected of having a hand in the attack, described by an unnamed official as “one of the largest thefts of government data ever seen,” the Wall Street Journal …
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency asset freeze of two U.S. brokerage accounts connected to schemes to manipulate Avon and other stocks, thwarting any ability to cash in on ill-gotten proceeds. According to an SEC complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the agency has tracked a …
Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) today closed its acquisition of data integration, visualization and analytics specialist Pentaho, building on its growing presence in Internet of Things (IoT), operational technology (OT), big data and machine-to-machine (M2M) analytics. “IoT isn’t just about ‘big’ data — it’s also about small data that drives big …
The average large enterprise saw 106 previously-unknown pieces of malware an hour last year, up from just 2.2 the year before, according to a new report. Check Point Software Technologies gathered network traffic from more than 60,000 enterprise gateways last year and the increase in new malware was “frightening,” said …
Businesses have been diligently working to defend against attacks and exploits for years. The problem is that much of the conventional wisdom about security is reactive and most of the security tools available are only effective against known threats. The rise over the last year or so in targeted zero …
Looking to bolster query capabilities for its NoSQL database, Couchbase this week is trumpeting the arrival of its N1QL “next-generation” declarative query language, which brings SQL-like querying to Couchbase Server, the company’s distributed, JSON document datastore. Although currently available only for Couchbase, the technology could be adopted by competitors for …
Cisco’s intention to buy Piston Cloud Computing and IBM’s acquisition of Blue Box Group, both announced this week, are bids to make private cloud platform OpenStack less of a headache for IT departments. For public, private and hybrid clouds, management capabilities are a vital differentiator and something that becomes even …
The wait is over for people who want to leave Apple’s stores with the new Apple Watch. Starting in two weeks, “some models” of the wearable will be available for purchase in Apple stores, the company said Thursday. An Apple spokesman separately specified that the Watch would be available for …
Cisco’s intention to buy Piston Cloud Computing and IBM’s acquisition of Blue Box Group, both announced this week, are bids to make private cloud platform OpenStack less of a headache for IT departments. For public, private and hybrid clouds, management capabilities are a vital differentiator and something that becomes even …
A U.S. Senate committee has voted to approve a bill aimed at curbing abusive lawsuits by so-called patent trolls. The bipartisan Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act, introduced in late April, now heads to the full Senate for consideration after the Senate Judiciary Committee vote Thursday. The bill targets …
Adding to a growing portfolio of software development applications, CA Technologies has acquired Grid-Tools, whose software automates the process of testing newly-built applications. CA customers will be able to use Grid-Tools’ products to build software using agile development methodologies, in which small teams work in close collaboration to quickly build …
A U.S. Senate committee has voted to approve a bill aimed at curbing abusive lawsuits by so-called patent trolls. The bipartisan Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act, introduced in late April, now heads to the full Senate for consideration after the Senate Judiciary Committee vote Thursday. The bill targets …
A strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter, and there are 25,400,000 nanometers in one inch. Now consider this, Micron this week announced it’s producing NAND flash based on transistors only 16-nanometers in size, and each microscopic cell is capable of storing three bits of data. The new …
Sprint committed on Thursday to building and managing a free, intelligent Wi-Fi network along a 2.2-mile streetcar line under construction in Kansas City, Mo. The project will be part of one of the largest smart city projects in North America, according to earlier statements by city officials and Cisco, which …
The U.S. National Security Agency is reportedly intercepting Internet communications from U.S. residents without getting court-ordered warrants, in an effort to hunt down malicious hackers. The previously undisclosed NSA program monitors Internet traffic for data about cyberattacks originating outside the U.S., according to a New York Times article published Thursday …
Google Photos, an amped up cloud-based photo storage service, organizer and editor, was one of the big unveils at the Mountain View, Calif. company’s I/O developer conference last week. Reviewers raved about it. Bloggers bragged it up. Analysts applauded it. “Google Photos looks amazing,” wrote independent analyst Ben Thompson, on …
The U.S. National Security Agency is reportedly intercepting Internet communications from U.S. residents without getting court-ordered warrants, in an effort to hunt down malicious hackers. The previously undisclosed NSA program monitors Internet traffic for data about cyberattacks originating outside the U.S., according to a New York Times article published Thursday …
Dropbox wants to gain a stronger foothold in the enterprise, and on Thursday it rolled out several new Dropbox for Business features that sweeten the deal for corporate users. New tiered admin roles are designed to help delegate day-to-day responsibilities, which could make life easier for IT administrators charged with …
Recognizing the growing tension between IT departments and enterprise users eager for more self-serve analytics tools, MicroStrategy has added heightened security and governance capabilities to the latest version of its namesake BI platform. MicroStrategy 10 Secure Enterprise, which arrives a full six years after version 9 of the platform, promises …
The Securities and Exchange Commission staff today made available additional analysis related to its proposed rules for pay ratio disclosure. The analysis by the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) considers the potential effects of excluding different percentages of employees from the pay ratio calculation. The analysis is posted …
Earlier this month, in Monterey, Calif., a meeting organized by the Produce Marketing Association provided an opportunity for a group of local growers of crops such as lettuce, artichokes and strawberries to find out how the latest digital technologies were changing agriculture. Participants heard about how technologies like robots, drones …
Apple today said that it has nearly eliminated the backlog in Apple Watch orders, and would start selling some models in its retail stores within two weeks, or by June 18. “We’re making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience,” …