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Showing posts from June, 2016

IT runs on the cloud, and the cloud runs on Linux.

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Summary: IT is moving to the cloud. And, what powers the cloud? Linux. When even Microsoft's Azure has embraced Linux, you know things have changed. Like it or lump it, the cloud is taking over IT. We've seen the rise of the cloud over in-house IT for years now. And, what powers the cloud? Linux.  A recent survey by the Uptime Institute of 1,000 IT executives found that 50 percent of senior enterprise IT executives expect the majority of IT workloads to reside off-premise in cloud or colocation sites in the future. Of those surveyed, 23 percent expect the shift to happen next year, and 70 percent expect that shift to occur within the next four years. This comes as no surprise. Much as many of us still love our physical servers and racks, it often doesn't make financial sense to run your own data center. It's really very simple. Just compare your capital expense (CAPEX) of running your own hardware versus the operational expenses (OPEX) of using a clou

The buyers aren't biting: Windows zero-day flaw price slashed

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Summary: It looks like a willing buyer for the zero-day vulnerability is yet to come forward. A zero-day vulnerability which allegedly compromises a range of Microsoft Windows systems has gone on sale as the seller continues to seek a buyer.After going on sale in May, the exploit's price has been slashed twice -- and is now on the market for the bargain price of $85,000. Earlier this month, reports emerged that an underground seller, BuggiCorp, was offering a rather rare zero-day vulnerability which apparently works against versions of Windows from Windows 2000 to the current Windows 10 operating system. The exploit, for sale on the Russian forum exploit.in , was originally offered with a price tag of $95,000, which later dropped to $90,000, to be paid in the virtual currency Bitcoin. In an update, Trustwave researchers note that the seller has once again lowered their price for the zero-day exploit to $85,000 in the quest to find a buyer."Thi

New versions of Firefox prepare for its biggest change ever

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Summary: Today's launch of Firefox 47 means the E10S version, Firefox 48, has reached the beta stage. With Electrolysis, Firefox will finally be able to use two or more processes at once.... the main problem being that it breaks a lot of extensions Mozilla released Firefox 47 , with improved handling for streaming, HTML5 video and the VP9 codec. But the more interesting news is that Firefox 48 has now reached the beta release stage. Firefox 48 incorporates the long-awaited Electrolysis (E10S), which enables the user interface to be run in a separate process from the tabbed content. Electrolysis will improve Firefox's performance and security, but it breaks a lot of extensions. However, Firefox will stage the release to minimize the problem. In a blog post, Asa Dotzler wrote : "When we launch Firefox 48, approximately 1 percent of eligible Firefox users will get updated to E10S immediately. The 1 percent of release users should get us up to a popul

Hacked TeamViewer users 'careless' in personal security

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Summary: The company has denied all responsibility for a recent spate of reports that user PCs have been compromised.  Faced with angry users complaining of hacked accounts, TeamViewer has placed the blame on the "careless" use of credentials rather than internal issues. Founded in 2005, TeamViewer provides software which can be used to remotely control PC systems and conducted meetings. The company caters for over 200 million users across the globe -- and some of which have recently taken to forums to complain of alleged hacking thanks to the firm's software. On Reddit, users have flooded the forum with complaints over the alleged hack, complaining that their accounts were compromised and attackers have been able to infiltrate their PCs for the purpose of stealing financial data, accessing other accounts and making purchases ranging from designer clothes to Amazon gift cards. One common thread in the story appears to be a file called "webb