Saturday, April 1, 2017

Fake Facebook post costs woman $500,000 in penalties

Fake Facebook post costs woman $500,000 in penalties

A judge in North Carolina has ordered a woman to pay $500,000 for writing a Facebook post falsely accusing her former friend of killing her son.
According to a report in Telegraph.co.uk, Jacquelyn Hammond from Asheville wrote on Facebook, in 2015, of Davyne Dial: “I didn’t get drunk and kill my kid.”
But Dial who claimed to have nothing to do with her son’s death sued Hammond for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Dial and Hammond’s friendship had broken down after the failed attempt to work together on the radio station.
“There are no filters on social media to say whatever you think behind the safety of your screen. She had made other untrue statements through the years, but when this happened, it was very painful,” said Dial.
The announcement delivered last month awarded Dial $250,000 in actual damages and $250,000 in punitive damages, for a total judgment of $500,000.
“I think people today don’t recognise the importance of their words,” said Missy Owen, a lawyer in North Carolina, adding that people should learn from Hammond’s mistake.
“Just because it is very easy to get your words out there does not mean you should. You can get in trouble anytime you make a false statement about someone else that damages their character or reputation.”
Publish date: April 1, 2017 1:00 pm| Modified date: April 1, 2017 1:00 pm
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Apple, Amazon and Google have joined the bidding for Toshiba’s chip unit

Apple, Amazon and Google have joined the bidding for Toshiba’s chip unit

Image: Reuters
Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Google have joined bidding for Toshiba’s NAND flash memory unit, vying with others for the Japanese firm’s prized semiconductor operation, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Saturday.
Toshiba shareholders on Thursday agreed to split off its NAND flash memory business, paving the way for a sale to raise at least $9 billion to cover U.S. nuclear unit charges that threaten the conglomerate’s future.
The Yomiuri newspaper said bidding prices from Apple, Amazon or Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, were not known.
The Nikkei business daily reported on Friday that U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Ltd have offered Toshiba about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) for the unit.
About 10 potential bidders are interested in buying a stake in the microchip operation, a source with knowledge of the planned sale told Reuters earlier.
Suitors include Western Digital Corp, which operates a chip plant with Toshiba in Japan, Micron Technology Inc, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc and financial investors.
Toshiba officials were not immediately available for comment.
Reuters
Publish date: April 1, 2017 12:47 pm| Modified date: April 1, 2017 12:47 pm
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Twitter has updated its character limit as it stops counting usernames in replies

Twitter has updated its character limit as it stops counting usernames in replies

Image Credits: REUTERS
Giving its over 300 million users more room to reply to other people’s tweets, Twitter has announced that it will not count usernames towards a 140-character limit. “Now, when you reply to someone or a group, those @usernames won’t count toward your Tweet’s 140 characters,” Sasank Reddy, Product Manager at Twitter, said in a blog post late on Thursday.
With this change, Twitter has simplified conversations. “Who you are replying to will appear above the Tweet text rather than within the Tweet text itself, so you have more characters to have conversations,” Reddy posted. You can tap on “Replying to” to easily see and control who’s part of your conversation.
“When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet,” the post further read. Last year, media reports said that Twitter is building a new feature that will allow users to tweet longer – even in 10,000 characters – than its traditional 140-character limit. The 140-character limit has been around as long as Twitter has and has become part of the product’s personality.
Publish date: March 31, 2017 11:11 am| Modified date: March 31, 2017 11:24 am

Samsung Galaxy S8 Microsoft Edition: A variant of the device that’s loaded with Microsoft apps

Samsung Galaxy S8 Microsoft Edition: A variant of the device that’s loaded with Microsoft apps

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Microsoft will sell Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ “Microsoft Edition” phones in Microsoft Stores.
The “Microsoft Edition” of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices will come along with all the Microsoft apps like Microsoft Office, OneDrive, Outlook, Cortana, Skype, LinkedIn, Wunderlist, OneNote, Bing, Groove, MSN News and more. Potential buyers can visit any Microsoft Store near them to check or buy a Samsung Galaxy S8 with all the Microsoft apps.
A Microsoft spokesperson detailed the version to Engadget, explaining that “Microsoft Edition arranges those productivity applications on the home screen and provides additional accessibility to other Microsoft-owned applications.”
According to the official statement provided by Microsoft to Thurrott, the consumers who buy Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices will receive a custom Microsoft image after the purchase. This image will not be pre-loaded on the smartphone and instead, Microsoft Store associates will help the customers set up their device in store.
This move by both the companies will help each other as Microsoft wants consumers to install its apps and use its services. On the other hand, Samsung also wants Galaxy S8 to be successful after the debacle that Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was for the company. Microsoft’s apps and services are also a great option to use when the S8 is paired with the Dex desktop dock.
After the failure that Microsoft Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile was, this can be seen as Microsoft’s attempt to move past the failure and a move towards its mobile-first services strategy. As part of the strategy, the company partnered with Samsung back in 2015 to bundle Microsoft apps in Samsung smartphones.
But with the launch of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, both the companies have stepped up their partnership to a whole new level. One important thing to note is that Microsoft has opened Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ for pre-orders before the launch on 21 April.
Another thing to note is that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ “Microsoft Edition” smartphones will include Cortana alongside Bixby and Google Assistant.
Publish date: March 31, 2017 11:09 am| Modified date: March 31, 2017 11:09 am

Apple will start assembling iPhones in India within a month, says Karnataka IT Minister Kharge

Apple will start assembling iPhones in India within a month, says Karnataka IT Minister Kharge

Image: Reuters
Apple Inc will be ready to start assembling high-end iPhones in the city in less than a month to boost its chances of gaining a foothold in the fast growing Indian market, Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge said on Thursday.
“In less than a month, we will have something out – Apple will start assembling and making its high-end iPhones at its plant in the city. Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron Corp will help Apple in doing so,” he told PTI in Bengaluru.
Kharge said making iPhones in India would help Apple lower prices, which will help it gain a foothold in the fast growing Indian market.
“Assembling and making of iPhones in Bengaluru will boost Apple’s chances of gaining a foothold in the fast growing Indian market because it will allow the company to lower prices,” he said.
Karnataka government has been in talks with the Centre for strengthening the ecosystem even as Apple is negotiating with it for its next level of production in India, he said.
Apple wants to bring its component manufacturers to India to make parts and export finished phones and is seeking tax concessions on import of key components. However the Indian government has rejected most of the demands of the US company.
Kharge said if the Centre was keen on taking on China, it should not give special treatment to Apple alone, but to other players, including Samsung and Lenovo, if they are desirous of opening a manufacturing units in India, especially Karnataka.
“My position with the central government has been don’t give special treatment to Apple alone, but treat other players equally. Open the entire ecosystem for high-end manufacturing of electronics if you really want to compete with China and Taiwan,” he said.
Kharge said government should also give companies, including Apple, certain timelines, subsidies and incentives to create a level-playing field for them.
“The government should give companies a timeline, say in 10 years they should be able to manufacture 100 percent of phones and its components by procuring them from the local market. Such a timeline should be given because we don’t have that environment now,” he said.
“The government should also give companies subsidies and incentives to create a level-playing field for them to strengthen the Indian ecosystem,” Kharge said.
Asked about the Stayzilla case, whose co-founder Yogendra Vasupal was arrested for alleged non-payment of dues filed by a Chennai based advertisement agency, Kharge said it should be a learning curve for startups to work under the parameters of the Indian legal system.
Vasupal was arrested on 15 March.
Publish date: March 31, 2017 9:54 am| Modified date: March 31, 2017 9:54 am
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WikiLeaks Vault 7 documents about vulnerable Cisco products exposes US govt’s stance on cyber security

WikiLeaks Vault 7 documents about vulnerable Cisco products exposes US govt’s stance on cyber security

Image Credit: REUTERS
When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disclosed earlier this month that his anti-secrecy group had obtained CIA tools for hacking into technology products made by U.S. companies, security engineers at Cisco Systems swung into action.
The Wikileaks documents described how the Central Intelligence Agency had learned more than a year ago how to exploit flaws in Cisco’s widely used Internet switches, which direct electronic traffic, to enable eavesdropping.
Senior Cisco managers immediately reassigned staff from other projects to figure out how the CIA hacking tricks worked, so they could help customers patch their systems and prevent criminal hackers or spies from using the same methods, three employees told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Cisco engineers worked around the clock for days to analyze the means of attack, create fixes, and craft a stopgap warning about a security risk affecting more than 300 different products, said the employees, who had direct knowledge of the effort.
That a major U.S. company had to rely on WikiLeaks to learn about security problems well-known to U.S. intelligence agencies underscores concerns expressed by dozens of current and former U.S. intelligence and security officials about the government’s approach to cybersecurity. That policy overwhelmingly emphasizes offensive cyber-security capabilities over defensive measures, these people told Reuters, even as an increasing number of U.S. organizations have been hit by hacks attributed to foreign governments.
Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior director of the White House Situation Room in the Obama administration, said now that others were catching up to the United States in their cyber capabilities, “maybe it is time to take a pause and fully consider the ramifications of what we’re doing.” U.S. intelligence agencies blamed Russia for the hack of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election. Nation-states are also believed to be behind the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the 2015 breach of the U.S. Government’s Office of Personnel Management.
CIA spokeswoman Heather Fritz Horniak declined to comment on the Cisco case, but said it was the agency’s “job to be innovative, cutting-edge, and the first line of defense in protecting this country from enemies abroad.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the CIA and NSA, referred questions to the White House, which declined to comment.
Across the federal government, about 90 percent of all spending on cyber programs is dedicated to offensive efforts, including penetrating the computer systems of adversaries, listening to communications and developing the means to disable or degrade infrastructure, senior intelligence officials told Reuters.
President Donald Trump’s budget proposal would put about $1.5 billion into cyber-security defense at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Private industry and the military also spend money to protect themselves.
But the secret part of the U.S. intelligence budget alone totaled about $50 billion annually as of 2013, documents leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden show. Just 8 percent of that figure went toward “enhanced cyber security,” while 72 percent was dedicated to collecting strategic intelligence and fighting violent extremism.
Departing NSA Deputy Director Rick Ledgett confirmed in an interview that 90 percent of government cyber spending was on offensive efforts and agreed it was lopsided. “It’s actually something we’re trying to address” with more appropriations in the military budget, Ledgett said. “As the cyber threat rises, the need for more and better cyber defense and information assurance is increasing as well.”
The long-standing emphasis on offense stems in part from the mission of the NSA, which has the most advanced cyber capabilities of any U.S. agency. It is responsible for the collection of intelligence overseas and also for helping defend government systems. It mainly aids U.S. companies indirectly, by assisting other agencies.
“I absolutely think we should be placing significantly more effort on the defense, particularly in light of where we are with exponential growth in threats and capabilities and intentions,” said Debora Plunkett, who headed the NSA’s defensive mission from 2010 to 2014.
Government Role
How big a role the government should play in defending the private sector remains a matter of debate. Former military and intelligence leaders such as ex-NSA Director Keith Alexander and former Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter say that U.S. companies and other institutions cannot be solely responsible for defending themselves against the likes of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
For tech companies, the government’s approach is frustrating, executives and engineers say. Sophisticated hacking campaigns typically rely on flaws in computer products. When the NSA or CIA find such flaws, under current policies they often choose to keep them for offensive attacks, rather than tell the companies.
In the case of Cisco, the company said the CIA did not inform the company after the agency learned late last year that information about the hacking tools had been leaked. “Cisco remains steadfast in the position that we should be notified of all vulnerabilities if they are found, so we can fix them and notify customers,” said company spokeswoman Yvonne Malmgren.
Side by Side
A recent reorganization at the NSA, known as NSA21, eliminated the branch that was explicitly responsible for defense, the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), the largest cyber-defense workforce in the government. Its mission has now been combined with the dominant force in the agency, signals intelligence, in a broad operations division.
Top NSA officials, including director Mike Rogers, argue that it is better to have offensive and defensive specialists working side by side. Other NSA and White House veterans contend that perfect defense is impossible and therefore more resources should be poured into penetrating enemy networks – both to head off attacks and to determine their origin.
Curtis Dukes, the last head of IAD, said in an interview after retiring last month that he feared defense would get even less attention in a structure where it does not have a leader with a direct line to the NSA director. “It’s incumbent on the NSA to say, ‘This is an important mission’,” Dukes said. “That has not occurred.”
Reuters
Publish date: March 30, 2017 7:14 pm| Modified date: March 30, 2017 7:14 pm
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Software-Defined Wide Area Network: An intelligent approach to global networking

Software-Defined Wide Area Network: An intelligent approach to global networking

Image Credit: Reuters
By Genius Wong
As enterprises look to deliver cutting-edge services to their tech-savvy customers, move into new markets, rethink their business models, and disrupt entire industries, the CIO needs to enable digital transformation across the IT estate. With the pace of technology innovation and the data explosion showing no signs of slowing down, it’s time to ask: is your network propelling your growth in the platform economy, or holding it back?
Video, IoT and Cloud creating new network challenges
The biggest challenges that the world’s networks face at present are the continuing demand for more bandwidth, the multi-layered nature of wired and wireless networks, and enterprises’ increasing dependency on cloud applications.
The growth in bandwidth demand is largely driven by video use by both businesses and consumers. By 2020, video will represent more than 80 percent of all Internet traffic, with nearly 1 million minutes of video content travelling across the Internet every second. The multi-layered nature of networks is also creating a whole new level of complexity that is set to become exacerbated by the Internet of Things, generating billions of new connections.
Additionally, enterprises are having to deal with a complex combination of private, public and hybrid cloud. Their on-premise applications might include enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions and sensitive customer data, whereas a private cloud might house Office 365 and mobility applications. A public cloud might have non-mission-critical applications, such as marketing automation tools. Enterprises also have to address the requirements of their increasingly mobile workforce, which makes data flows difficult to predict and manage.
Due to these challenges, a next-generation network will be needed to deal with heavier and more complex workloads than before. But what will this next generation business network look like?
Will the next-generation network be wired or wireless?
5G will undoubtedly play a key role in meeting businesses’ connectivity demands. But while these latest wireless technologies attract the lion’s share of attention in the media at present – with organisations such as the European Commission pushing the industry to accelerate 5G roll-outs – wired connections will not disappear anytime soon. In fact, they will play a role in addressing businesses’ needs for secure, easy-to-manage and cost-effective networking.
Wired connections and physical fibre infrastructures won’t disappear because they will be capable of carrying superior workloads than wireless alternatives for the foreseeable future. New 40G, 100G and even 400G technologies mean that speed and capacity will continue to grow to meet demand.
Another area where wireless connections still can’t match wired networks is security. It remains easier to control and monitor what traffic is going out or coming in to the network when using a physical wired connection. After all, wireless is a shared medium, so anyone who is in range of the signals can capture and potentially interfere with them.
SD-WAN – a promising technology
One of the technologies that many enterprises are looking at addressing their global network challenges is a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). While a nascent technology at present, SD-WAN is set for huge growth: Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 40 percent of WAN edge infrastructure refresh initiatives will be SD-WAN-based, up from less than 2 percent today.
An SD-WAN enables enterprises to deploy a new kind of hybrid network infrastructure that combines the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the Internet with security and reliability of a private MPLS WAN. This gives the CIO unprecedented control over the entire network infrastructure across all branch offices, and lowers the barriers for enterprises to expand into new geographies.
In practice, an SD-WAN enhances the performance of both on-premise and cloud applications. The CIO could change routing policies in real-time, and assign different policies for different offices depending on demand, for example. The ability to dynamically route traffic between the Internet and the private network, and use the public Internet for less business-critical applications, makes the enterprise network a lot more cost-effective.
An SD-WAN also improves the end user experience, as congestion is minimised and application responsiveness is maximised. This helps ensure that employees are able to enjoy faultless, secure access to applications and data to empower them to collaborate securely and seamlessly, wherever in the world they are. The benefits are clear: a boost in productivity and an improved bottom line.
Reinventing global networking
The practically ubiquitous connectivity granted by the Internet has unlocked new markets for enterprises and lowered the barriers for international expansion. It has paved the way for a whole new platform economy where new business models emerge and transform entire industries. Crucial for the growth of this platform economy is the data that fuels it, the applications that power it, the clouds that underpin it, and the connectivity that brings organisations and consumers together to create value from it.
But as the platform economy continues to grow, ubiquitous, reliable, easy-to-manage, superfast connectivity that brings enterprises, their employees and customers together on a global scale becomes paramount. That is there is a need to reinvent networking with innovations such as SD-WAN – only then will enterprises be able to grab their share of the growth opportunities that the new digitally driven, cloud-powered economy brings.
The author is President, Global Network Services, Cloud and Data Centre Services at Tata Communications
Publish date: March 30, 2017 5:54 pm| Modified date: March 30, 2017 5:54 pm

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