IBM and ABB partner to focus on Internet of Things and Industrial artificial intelligence

ABB has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the Swiss engineering company said on Tuesday, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the Internet of Things.

In a joint statement ABB said it would combine its digital offering, which gathers information from machinery, with IBM’s expertise in artificial intelligence featured in its Watson data analytics software. The two companies will jointly develop and sell new products.

“This powerful combination marks truly the next level of industrial technology, moving beyond current connected systems that simply gather data, to industrial operations and machines that use data to sense, analyse, optimise and take actions that drive greater uptime, speed and yield for industrial customers,” ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer said in a statement.

For example, instead of manual machinery inspections, ABB and IBM intend to use Watson’s artificial intelligence to help find defects via real-time images collected by an ABB system, and then analysed using IBM Watson.

ABB has identified digital technology – where machinery communicates with control centres to increase productivity and reduce downtime – as a driver of growth. It now gets around 55 percent of sales from products that are digitally enabled.

As part of the drive, the company last year signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft to roll out digital products for customers in the robotics, marine and ports, electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors.

To spearhead its strategy, it appointed former Cisco executive Guido Jouret as its first chief digital officer last year.

Reuters

Publish date: April 25, 2017 12:30 pm| Modified date: April 25, 2017 12:30 pm

U.S. Trade Group Hacked by Chinese Hackers ahead of Trump-Xi Trade Summit

Thursday, April 06, 2017 Swati Khandelwal


Researchers have uncovered a Chinese cyber-espionage against the United States ahead of the trade summit on Thursday between US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping.

According to a new report published today by Fidelis Cybersecurity firm, the Chinese APT10 hacking group implanted a piece of malware on the "Events" page of the US National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) website in February.

Dubbed 'Operation TradeSecret,' the attack against the NFTC site is seen as an attempt to conduct surveillance on the main industry players and lobbyists closely associated with U.S trade policy activities.



Researchers say hackers placed a malicious link on the NFTC website, inviting the organization's board of directors to register for a meeting in Washington DC on March 7. But clicking on the link deployed a spying tool called "Scanbox."

Dates back to 2014, Scanbox – previously used by nation-state threat actors associated with the Chinese government – has the ability to record the type and versions of software a victim is running and run keyloggers on compromised computers, said Fidelis researcher John Bambenek.

"This attack was really at its core a reconnaissance attack. Anyone who visited this calendar entry would expose their software versions and use a JavaScript keylogger that could expose their identity," said Bambenek.
"Traditionally these attacks are used to precisely identify targets and help them craft targeted phishing attacks using exploits they know the victim is vulnerable to."The malicious link was active on the NFTC website between February 27 and March 1. The malware was already removed from the site by the time Fidelis contacted NFTC.



The NFTC's staff and board represent many influential people and companies -- from President Rufus Yerxa, the U.S. Ambassador to GATT to executives from major companies including Google, Amazon, eBay, IBM, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, KPMG, Pfizer, Visa, Ford, Halliburton, and Walmart.

Although Fidelis detected no further attacks on NFTC board members, the security firm believed the hackers were after a full range of entities relevant to the trade negotiations due to take place Thursday between US and China.

This is the second time in a week when APT10 cyber espionage campaign has come to light. A report released this week by BAE Systems, and PwC also claimed that APT10 was targeting managed IT services providers (MSPs) and their customers across the globe to steal sensitive data.

IBM beta tests AI cyber security services from Watson for 40 global clients

Image Credits: REUTERS

By tech2 News Staff /  08 Dec 2016 , 09:32

IBM announced that more than 40 global clients in industries as varied as financial services, healthcare and education have joined the IBM Watson for Cyber Security beta program. The program uses the Watson AI to provide security services to these companies. Clients include Sun Life Financial, SCANA, California Polytechnic State University and Avnet.

The AI will help to identify and prioritise threats, allowing security analysts to make better and faster decisions. Watson uses machine learning and natural language processing to pull out the relevant information from vast amounts of data. A poll conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value among security professionals shows that more than sixty percent believe that emerging cognitive technologies will have an important role to play in combating cyber crime.

Sandy Bird, Chief Technology Officer, IBM Security, says “Customers are in the early stages of implementing cognitive security technologies. Our research suggests this adoption will increase three fold over the next three years, as tools like Watson for Cyber Security mature and become pervasive in security operations centers. Currently, only seven percent of security professionals claim to be using cognitive solutions.”

IBM Watson can determine if a security event or offence matches with the behavior of any known malware or cybercrime campaign. If so, then Watson can pull the relevant background information, and known approaches for tackling the malware or attack. IBM Watson also helps at identifying suspicious behavior, by providing contextual information about the behavior which will allow a security analyst to better decide if the suspect activity is indeed malicious.

IBM security monitors over thirty five billion security events every day, in more than a hundred and thirty countries, and IBM owns over three thousand security related patents.

66% of organizations won't recover after cyberattack, study says

cyberattack  DDOS

By Conner Forrest | November 17, 2016, 8:48 AM PST

A recent study performed by IBM's Resilient and the Ponemon Institute found that 66% of organizations would be unable to recover from a cyberattack. The results of the 2016 Cyber Resilient Organization study were released Wednesday, and show a decline in organizational resilience against cyberattacks.

Of the respondents, 32% of IT and security professionals ranked their resilience as high. That same number was 35% in 2015, marking a drop over the past 12 months. A press releaseannouncing the study defined resilience as "an organization's ability to maintain its core purpose and integrity in the face of cyberattacks."

One of the biggest hindrances to effective security listed by respondents was the lack of a proper cyber security incident response plan (CSIRP). However, it should be noted that Resilient provides incident reporting services.

"While companies are seeing the value of deploying an incident response plan, there is still a lag in having the appropriate people, processes, and technologies in place," Larry Ponemon said in the press release. "We are encouraged that this is becoming a more important part of an overall IT security strategy."

The next highest barrier to proper resilience, as listed by 66% of respondents, was "insufficient planning and preparedness." The report also noted that 46% listed "complexity of IT processes" as something that kept their organization from achieving resilience. That number is up from 36% last year.

The study also looked at what type of security incidents the respondents were experiencing. Some 53% reported that they had dealt with at least one data breach in the past two years. Over that same period, 74% said their organization had experienced threats as a result of "human error," the release said.

Malware (74%) and phishing (64%) topped the list of frequently-experienced attacks. And, while most respondents were not confident in their organization's ability to recover from an attack, 68% believed their organization could at least remain resilient.

In all, 2016 has seen some of the worst cyberattacks in recent history. With the DYN DDoS attack taking out many major web properties and other high-profile attacks, it's no wonder companies are losing confidence in their security.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

A new study from IBM and the Ponemon Institute claims 66% of organizations would likely be unable to recover from a cyberattack.

Insufficient planning and complexity of IT and business were listed as top reasons for companies being unable to properly respond to an attack.

More than half of respondents have dealt with a data breach in the last two years.

IBM, NVIDIA partner for 'fastest deep learning enterprise solution' in the world

IBM and NVIDIA

By Conner Forrest | November 14, 2016, 7:25 AM PST

IBM and NVIDIA recently teamed up to announce IBM PowerAI, a software toolkit that accelerates machine training for AI solutions and will boost IBM Watson's capabilities.

IBM PowerAI, a new deep learning software toolkit announced Monday, could help train computers for machine learning and AI tasks faster than ever before. The solution, a joint project from IBM and NVIDIA, runs on an IBM server built specifically for AI and uses NVIDIA NVLink as well.

According to a press email announcing the availability of the solution, IBM PowerAI is the "world's fastest deep learning enterprise solution," and it will "help train computers to think and learn in more human-like ways at a faster pace."

This new toolkit was designed to work with IBM's Power Systems LC lineup of Linux servers, specifically the IBM Power S822LC for High Performance Computing (HPC). That server has NVIDIA's latest GPU technology on board, which helps further its potential for use in deep learning and AI applications.


While this new product is geared toward "emerging computing methods of artificial intelligence" like deep learning, it also has implications for IBM's better-known cognitive computing project, Watson. IBM PowerAI will bolster Watson's enterprise AI skills by providing the platform with additional training.


"PowerAI democratizes deep learning and other advanced analytic technologies by giving enterprise data scientists and research scientists alike an easy to deploy platform to rapidly advance their journey on AI," Ken King, general manager for OpenPOWER, said in the email. "Coupled with our high performance computing servers built for AI, IBM provides what we believe is the best platform for enterprises building AI-based software, whether it's chatbots for customer engagement, or real-time analysis of social media data."

Of course, none of this matters if there aren't real-life applications for the technology. In the press email, IBM noted that technologies such as the deep learning this toolkit provides have been used for fraud protection in banks, facial recognition applications, and even in self-driving cars.

In the past, IBM Watson has been used in verticals like healthcare, legal, finance, retail, cybersecurity, and even fantasy football. So, it's possible that we will see IBM PowerAI in these fields as well.


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Existing IBM customers who have IBM's Power S822LC for HPC server can access IBM PowerAI immediately at no additional charge, the email said.
The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers


IBM and NVIDIA recently partnered on IBM PowerAI, a new software toolkit, to accelerate deep learning initiatives in business.
PowerAI is meant to run on the IBM Power S822LC for High Performance Computing and exists as a separate product, but will work with Watson.
IBM sees these deep learning technologies as important to verticals like healthcare, finance, retail, and self-driving cars.

IBM launches framework to embed Watson in robots, devices and smart things

By tech2 News Staff /  11 Nov 2016 , 13:26

IBM has launched a framework that allows Watson to have a physical shell and use it in various ways. Developers can integrate the AI from IBM into all kinds of things, including spaces, assembly lines, robots, connected cars, wearables, walls, digital avatars, and objects. The framework has support for a wide variety of sensors. Through these bodies, Watson can see, hear and even smell. There is support for infrared and sonar, and Watson can detect vibrations or track changes in temperatures.

These sensors form the “input” through a physical body for the artificial intelligence, which can be configured to churn the information in various ways. The output can be through gestures, actuators, voice, scent emitters, light sequences, navigation or through other purpose built capabilities. This allows Watson to be embodied. The implementation uses a Unity 3D application, and extends the capabilities of the application to the real world.

The whole initiative is called “Project Intu”. A wide range of operating systems are supported including Raspberry Pi, Windows, Mac and Linux. The framework allows for integration of cognitive capabilities such as conversations, translations, image captioning, searches, or speech to text capabilities into meat-space things. For those who want to take a deep dive, Project Intu is available on GitHub, and developers will need to use the Intu Gateway.

Consortium of tech companies including IBM and Google to take on Intel with new processor interface

Image Credit: REUTERS

  16 Oct 2016 , 13:05

Technology giants IBM Corp, Google and seven others have joined hands to launch an open specification that can boost datacenter server performance by up to ten times, to take on Intel Corp. The new standard, called Open Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (OpenCAPI), is an open forum to provide a high bandwidth, low latency open interface design specification.

The open interface will help corporate and cloud data centers to speed up big data, machine learning, analytics and other emerging workloads. The consortium plans to make the OpenCAPI specification available to the public before the end of the year and expects servers and related products based on the new standard in the second half of 2017, it said in a statement.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, is known to protect its server technologies and has chosen to sit out of the new consortium. In the past also, it had stayed away from prominent open standards technology groups such as CCIX and Gen-Z. “As artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics become the price of doing business in today’s digital era, huge volumes of data are now the norm,” Doug Balog, general manager for IBM Power, told Reuters.

“It’s clear that today’s datacenters can no longer rely on one company alone to drive innovation,” Balog said.

Reuters

Tags: Google, IBM, Intel, Interface, OpenCAPI

Dropbox boosts productivity tools for iOS

Dropbox has launched a new iOS app with the goal to provide users with the same type of functionality and speed they would typically get on desktop machines.

By Tas Bindi | October 11, 2016, 9:33 PM PST



Dropbox has added new productivity features to its iOS application, as it attempts to make working on mobile devices as productive and efficient as working on desktop computers.

Among its new features is the ability to sign PDFs and share Dropbox files in iMessage while conversing with teammates on the go.

The company has also introduced a new lock screen widget that allows users to start workflows — such as create, scan, view, and upload images and documents — without having to unlock their mobile devices.

Users can also get real-time file updates — a notification is sent to users as soon as someone saves a new version of a file they're viewing. A "refresh" button appears that users can tap to see what changes have been made to the file.

"The goal was to [contain] these workflows that involve multiple steps within the Dropbox app experience," said Matt Pan, Group Product Manager for Dropbox's File Collaboration Product Group, in an interview with TechRepublic.

"We are constantly building on top of the latest functionality iOS and different operating systems provide to create integrated experiences for our users."

Other new features include the iPad Picture-in-Picture, which allows users to watch a video on Dropbox while using another app on their iPad — for example, an annotation app. In the coming weeks, Dropbox will also launch split-screen capabilities to allow users to work across multiple apps without having to toggle back and forth.

"The last two features are all about multitasking. We have a meaningful contingent of iPad users who are using Dropbox extensively for work productivity; and increasingly, they want the same multitasking [capabilities] that they get on desktop machines, on their iPad," Pan told TechRepublic.


Pan said there is

How IBM Watson expanded its repertoire to become a virtual job trainer

Learn how Signature HealthCARE partnered with Cognotion to create a tablet-based Certified Nursing Assistant training program using IBM Watson to improve healthcare outcomes.

By Alison DeNisco | October 10, 2016, 12:35 PM PST

As technology continues to disrupt the healthcare industry, IBM Watson is helping provide better training for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) thanks to a new partnership between long term health and rehabilitation companySignature HealthCARE and digital training provider Cognotion.

CNAs represent the largest employment job segment in the nation, with anestimated 5 million of these caregivers needed in the US by 2020. While these healthcare workers are the primary point of care for patients at skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, they are often overworked and underpaid, with poor training programs leading to jobs that make $12 an hour on average. That's according Dr. Mary McNevin, chief learning officer of Signature HealthCARE, during a Monday session at the 2016 Louisville Innovation Summit.

Technology can offer a better way: Signature HealthCARE, with 143 locations across 11 states, partnered with Cognotion to leverage IBM Watson and online learning capabilities to create a more effective and engaging CNA training program.

The new training—called ReadyCNA—involves a 60-hour, tablet-based course that acts as a virtual internship based on patient cases, similar to medical school training, McNevin said.

A benefit of tablet-based learning is the user's ability to self-pace, said Jonathan Dariyanani, president and co-founder of Cognotion. However, this model makes it difficult to ask questions.

Enter IBM Watson, which the team embedded into the course. A student can chose to "Ask Nurse Watson" a question at any time, about any subject, phrasing it however they prefer. Watson will read through every textbook and study ever written about CNAs, and return a quick and understandable answer for the student.

"Watson is so terrific at mastering a corpus of material and being able to

Apple edges out Google as the world's most valuable brand for the fourth consecutive year

By Rob Thubron on October 5, 2016, 12:45 PM




Its smartphone sales may be slipping, the iPhone 7 has been criticized for looking overly similar to last year’s model (and having no 3.5mm headphone jack), and analysts predict it will sell fewer smartwatches this year than in 2015. But despite all this, Apple has been named the most valuable brand in the world for the fourth year in a row.

Brand consultancy firm Interbrand placed Apple at number one with a brand valuation of $178.1 billion, a five percent increase from last year. Rival Google sits behind the Cupertino company with a brand valuation of $133.2 billion, eleven percent higher than in 2015.

Technology companies take up ten of the top twenty places on the list. Microsoft sits behind Coca-Cola in fourth place with a $72.7 billion brand value, up eight percent over the last 12 months. Further down the top ten is IBM; it may have dropped nineteen percent from last year, but the industry giant's $52.5 billion brand value places it at number six.

A fourteen percent increase in 2016 puts Samsung beneath IBM at number seven with a brand value of $51.8 billion, while Amazon, which saw its stock pass the $800 milestone for the first time last month, is at number eight. The online retailer's brand value increased a massive 33 percent this year to $50.3 billion.

The other tech firms in the top 20 are Intel at fourteen ($36 billion, +4 percent), Facebook at fifteen ($32.5 billion, +48 percent), Cisco at sixteen ($30.9 billion, +4 percent), and Oracle at seventeen ($26.5 billion, -3 percent).



Two companies have joined the list this year: Tesla at number 100 ($4 billion) and Dior at 89 ($4.9 billion).

Facebook and Amazon experienced the biggest growth in brand value across 2016 – 48 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Writing about Apple’s success, Interbrand noted: “Apple shows how ecosystems drive value. Analysts have often pointed out that ‘Apple has superior products.’ While true, this opinion undersells the brilliance of Apple’s functionally- integrated model. Its software, hardware, and touchpoints are connected not just by beautiful design aesthetics, but by a level of interoperability that justifies the Apple premium and discourages defections to another platform. And the more data you share, the more personal it becomes— adding new devices is painless and the thought of switching increasingly unpromising. Apple is the Alpha of Cohesiveness in full effect.”

Storage management software: The smart person's guide

By Evan Koblentz | October 3, 2016, 1:43 PM PST

Storage management software is complicated. Read this guide in which we attempt to explain it simply.

Storage management software is more important than ever, thanks to the increasing big-ness of big data, the rise of cloud computing, and the coming wave of Internet of Things information. This guide is an entry-level summary of software management software.

SEE: Check out all of TechRepublic's smart person's guides

To help explain which way is up, we sought advice from Evaluator Group analyst Randy Kerns, who's been in the storage field since its days of punched cards and data hieroglyphics. We also received input from Mark Peters of Enterprise Strategy Group.

Executive summary

What is it? The more data you have, the more tender loving care it requires—that comes in the form of storage management software. The software keeps your data safe, ensures the right bits are stored in the right place, coordinates with your applications, and continuously reports on the data's health.

Why does it matter? Other than people, your company's data is its most valuable asset.

Who does this affect? Traditionally, the answer is just storage management professionals; Kerns explained how that is changing. Cloud-centric businesses may have

IBM pours $200 million investment into its Watson IoT business

By Teena Maddox  | October 3, 2016, 3:01 PM PST

The IBM investment will be used in part to develop hands-on industry labs at Watson's IoT headquarters in Munich, Germany.

IBM is investing $200 million into its Watson IoT business, which is headquartered in Munich, Germany. The Watson IoT headquarters will be home to new hands-on industry labs where clients and partners will work with IBM's researchers, engineers, and developers to drive innovation in the automotive, electronics, manufacturing, healthcare, and insurance industries.

This is one of IBM's largest ever investments in Europe, and is in response to customers wanting to use a combination of IoT and Artificial Intelligence technologies. IBM currently has 6,000 global clients, up from 4,000 eight months ago, according to an IBM press release. These clients are using Watson IoT technologies to gather information from billions of sensors embedded in machines, cars, drones, ball bearings, and hospitals.

"IBM is making tremendous strides to ensure that businesses around the

Indian enterprises and Hybrid cloud solutions are a good mix, says top execs

  03 Oct 2016 , 12:08

As enterprises the world over aim for a secured and faster Cloud experience, Hybrid Cloud solutions are turning out to be the preferred choice for them including in India for enhanced efficiency and productivity and improved cyber security, top executives have said.

A Hybrid Cloud is an integrated Cloud service utilising both private and public Clouds to perform distinct functions within the same organisation.

Enterprises the world over are moving to Hybrid Cloud faster than anyone expected to support digital transformation, drive business model innovation and fuel growth and

Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft announce partnership on AI and machine learning

#ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Image Credit: Reuters

  29 Sep 2016 , 16:11

In a major boost to artificial intelligence (AI) research, five top-notch tech companies — Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft — have joined hands to announce a historic partnership on AI and machine learning.

It means that these companies will discuss advancements and conduct research in AI and how to develop best products and services powered by machine learning, Tech Crunch reported on Thursday.

Initial financial help will come from these companies and as other stakeholders join the group, the finances are expected to increase.

“We want to involve people impacted by AI as well,” Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder and head of applied AI at DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet (parent company of Google), was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the organisational structure has been designed to allow non-corporate groups to have equal leadership side-by-side with large tech companies.

“The power of AI is in the enterprise sector. For society at-large to get the benefits of AI, we first have to trust it,” Francesca Rossi, AI ethics researcher at IBM Research, told Tech Crunch.

AI-powered bots will become the next interface, shaping our interactions with the applications and devices we rely on and Microsoft’s latest solutions are set to change the way HP interacts with its customers and partners, Microsoft’s Indian-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said recently.

At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in August, Nadella had said that AI-powered chatbots will “fundamentally revolutionise how computing is experienced by everybody.”

IANS

We want to democratise artificial intelligence, says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Artificial Intelligence is the current buzzword and every major tech giant including Google, Facebook, IBM and others are investing heavily in it. At its annual IT conference Ignite, in Atlanta, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also spoke at length about AI and how Microsoft is focussing on this field and how it plans to leverage it in the future.

Nadella said that Microsoft is working towards democratising AI. Taking a slight dig at Google and IBM, Nadella said, “We are not pursuing AI to beat humans at games.” This was clearly in reference to the news reports of how Google’s AI has been effective in defeating humans in Chinese board game Go as well as IBM’s Watson defeating humans at Jeopardy.

“We are pursuing AI, so that we can empower every person and every institution that people build with tools of AI. So that they can go on to solve the most pressing problems of our society and our economy. That’s the pursuit,” said Nadella.

According to Nadella, Microsoft is working towards analysing mountains of data which is produced by consumers or businesses and then making sense of it by presenting it in a legible way to people. Microsoft is approaching AI via what it calls as ‘four core pillars. Namely agents, applications, services and infrastructure. And needless to say each of these pillars is associated with a related Microsoft service.

Cortana, the digital assistant of Microsoft will be an agent, which will be a new organising layer which will sit across all applications you will use in your life. Microsoft Office and Dynamics software can function as applications. According to Nadella, Microsoft Dynamics is capable of sifting through third party apps such as LinkedIn to point out where changes are made on this app.

Cortana being open to third party developers to help them use it to build their own apps is an example of services said Nadella.

Nadella also mentioned that Microsoft is using custom computer chips to help crunch information quicker and better manage traffic in data centres.

Deep learning is a major component of all the products and services making use of AI. This lets organisations feed large amounts of data in to neural networks, which mimic the human brain in a way to understand links between information and data sets. Google and Facebook have been using deep learning for things such as improving search results, image recognition, speech translation and so on.

FBI probes hacks targeting phones of Democratic Party officials: Report

The FBI is investigating suspected attempts to hack mobile phones used by Democratic Party officials as recently as the past month, four people with direct knowledge of the attack and the investigation told Reuters.

The revelation underscores the widening scope of the U.S. criminal inquiry into cyber attacks on Democratic Party organizations, including the presidential campaign of its candidate, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

U.S. officials have said they believe those attacks were