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Showing posts from October, 2018

Oracle acquires DataFox, brings AI-based company data management to cloud apps

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DataFox uses artificial intelligence to help clients gain an up-to-date view of customer accounts and organizations. Oracle   has announced plans to acquire data management and AI solutions provider DataFox. Financial details were not disclosed. Founded in 2013, San Francisco, CA-based   DataFox   is the developer of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based engine which automatically locates and pulls the most current information available on public and private businesses. The engine currently manages the information of over 2.8 million companies, with 1.2 million being added on an annual basis. Customers, including Goldman Sachs, Bain & Company and Twilio, use the platform for account management, lead generation, and to keep customer-relationship management (CRM) solutions current. On Monday,   Oracle said   the acquisition will merge DataFox technologies with Oracle Cloud Applications, giving customers an "extensive set of trusted company-level ...

Zero-day in popular jQuery plugin actively exploited for at least three years!!

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A fix is out but the plugin is used in hundreds, if not thousands, of projects. Patching will take ages! For at least three years, hackers have abused a zero-day in one of the most popular jQuery plugins to plant web shells and take over vulnerable web servers. The vulnerability impacts the  jQuery File Upload  plugin authored by prodigious German developer Sebastian Tschan, most commonly known as Blueimp . The plugin is the second most starred jQuery project on GitHub, after the jQuery framework itself. It is immensely popular, has been forked over 7,800 times, and has been integrated into hundreds, if not thousands, of other projects, such as CMSs, CRMs, Intranet solutions, WordPress plugins, Drupal add-ons, Joomla components, and so on. A vulnerability in this plugin would be devastating, as it could open gaping security holes in a lot of platforms installed in a lot of sensitive places. This worse case scenario is exactly what happened. Earlier this yea...

Microsoft takes another step to fight patent trolls by joining the LOT Network

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Microsoft is joining the 300-member LOT Network in a move meant to advance the company's campaign against patent trolls. Last year, Microsoft created the  Azure IP Advantage program , which was designed to defend and indemnify developers against claims of intellectual property infringement. On October 4 this year, Microsoft took another step toward  combating patent trolls by joining the LOT Network . The LOT Network  is a nonprofit community working to fight trolls. The group has nearly 300 members, covering approximately 1.35 million patents, Microsoft officials said. Members include Amazon, Canon, Cisco, Lenovo, Red Hat Google, Lyft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Tesla, to name a few. Members are free to cross-license, assert, sell or do nothing with their patents. But if any member of the LOT Network sells a patent to a troll, all LOT members automatically get a free license to that patent. According to the LOT Network officials, the average cost to defen...

Ten scenarios where edge computing can bring new value to the world

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Edge computing use cases span manufacturing, security, healthcare, and more. By 2022, more than half of enterprise data will be produced and processed outside traditional data centers and clouds -- up from about 10 percent currently, according to a  Gartner report . "The number of our enterprises who are saying edge is part of their core strategy has doubled in a year," said  Thomas Bittman , vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "We think by next year about half of enterprises will have edge as a part of their strategy." The rise of edge computing has helped companies analyze information in near real-time, and create new value around Internet of Things (IoT) devices and data. However, there is no standard formula for implementing edge computing, Bittman said. "The biggest benefit is to be able to exploit data and insight faster," said  Brian Hopkins , vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. "Closing the gap betw...