This just in, via Facebook Messenger, from an account called “Clemond Fernand.” It’s a scam. Don’t reply to messages like this – block the account instead. Bonjour, Je réponds a tous ceux qui sont dans la mélasse comme moi niveau dossier de surendettement, voilà vous allez voir des propositions allé chantes sur des prêts entre […]
It’s like this scammer isn’t even trying. Dr. George is disappointed in me for setting up and missing an appointment. Fortunately he went to bat and convinced someone to pay some fees to save my $5.5 million ATM card. If I reply soon and repay the fees, the cash is mine! (I wonder why scammers […]
We had a good show this morning! Enjoy these photographs, taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mk IV with a 500mm prime lens. The first image was cropped, and the last one had its exposure boosted in post-processing by 4 stops. Otherwise, these are untouched.
Nobody wants bad guys to be able to hack connected cars. Equally importantly, they shouldn’t be able to hack any part of the multi-step communications path that lead from the connected car to the Internet to cloud services – and back again. Fortunately, companies are working across the automotive and security industries to make sure […]
We all have heard the usual bold predictions for technology in 2018: Lots of cloud computing, self-driving cars, digital cryptocurrencies, 200-inch flat-screen televisions, and versions of Amazon’s Alexa smart speaker everywhere on the planet. Those types of predictions, however, are low-hanging fruit. They’re not bold. One might as well predict that there will be some […]
Tom Burns, VP and General Manager of Dell EMC Networking, doesn’t want 2018 to be like 2017. Frankly, none of us in tech want to hit the “repeat” button either. And we won’t, not with increased adoption of blockchain, machine learning/deep learning, security-as-a-service, software-defined everything, and critical enterprise traffic over the public Internet. Of course, […]
From January 1, 2005 through December 27, 2017, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reported 8,190 breaches, with 1,057,771,011 records exposed. That’s more than a billion records. Billion with a B. That’s not a problem. That’s an epidemic. That horrendous number compiles data breaches in the United States confirmed by media sources or government agencies. […]
Hello, Terry, whatever your email address is. I don’t think you really have a job offer for me. For one thing, if you really connected via LinkedIn, you’d have messaged me through the service. For another, email addresses often match names. For another… well, that’s enough. Don’t reply to messages like this. Just delete them. […]
The pattern of cloud adoption moves something like the ketchup bottle effect: You tip the bottle and nothing comes out, so you shake the bottle and suddenly you have ketchup all over your plate. That’s a great visual from Frank Munz, software architect and cloud evangelist at Munz & More, in Germany. Munz and a […]
“The functional style of programming is very charming,” insists Venkat Subramaniam. “The code begins to read like the problem statement. We can relate to what the code is doing and we can quickly understand it.” Not only that, Subramaniam explains in his keynote address for Oracle Code Online, but as implemented in Java 8 and beyond, functional-style […]
At least, I think it’s Swedish! Just stumbled across this. I hope they bought the foreign rights to one of my articles…
With lots of inexpensive, abundant computation resources available, nearly anything becomes possible. For example, you can process a lot of network data to identify patterns, identify intelligence, and product insight that can be used to automate networks. The road to Intent-Based Networking Systems (IBNS) and Application-Specific Networks (ASN) is a journey. That’s the belief of […]
So many women in Russia are vying for my attention… and all of them, from Alina to Veronika, are using the exact same language. Needless to say, this is a scam. The scammers try too hard. One message might have gotten someone’s attention – but receiving so many nearly-identical versions should set off alarm bells. […]
When the little wireless speaker in your kitchen acts on your request to add chocolate milk to your shopping list, there’s artificial intelligence (AI) working in the cloud, to understand your speech, determine what you want to do, and carry out the instruction. When you send a text message to your HR department explaining that […]
“Proudly not pay-to-play, we invite all of this years’ recipients to share their success through a complementary digital certificate and copyright to the title.” So claims the award letter. We received this email to our corporate info@ address last week. Can you smell the scam? Interestingly, the signature block is a graphic, probably to elude […]
Millions of developers are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) in their projects, says Evans Data Corp. Evans’ latest Global Development and Demographics Study, released in January 2018, says that 29% of developers worldwide, or 6,452,000 in all, are currently using some form of AI or ML. What’s more, says the study, an additional […]
Wireless Ethernet connections aren’t necessarily secure. The authentication methods used to permit access between a device and a wireless router aren’t very strong. The encryption methods used to handle that authentication, and then the data traffic after authorization, aren’t very strong. The rules that enforce the use of authorization and encryption aren’t always enabled, especially […]
A fascinating website, “How Did Arizona Get its Shape?,” shows that continental expansion in North America led to armed conflicts with Native American groups. Collectively known as the American Indian Wars, the conflicts began in the 1600s, and continued in various forms for the next several centuries. Multiple conflicts occurred during the U.S.-Mexican War, as […]
A friend insists that “the Internet is down” whenever he can’t get a strong wireless connection on his smartphone. With that type of logic, enjoy this photo found on the afore-mentioned Internet: “Wi-Fi” is apparently now synonymous with “Internet” or “network.” It’s clear that we have come a long way from the origins of the Wi-Fi […]
“Thou shalt not refer winkingly to my taking off my robe after worship as disrobing.” A powerful essay by Pastor Melissa Florer-Bixler, “10 commandments for male clergy,” highlights the challenges that female clergy endure in a patriarchal tradition — and one in which they are still seen as interlopers to church/synagogue power. And in this era […]
It’s all about the tradeoffs! You can have the chicken or the fish, but not both. You can have the big engine in your new car, but that means a stick shift—you can’t have the V8 and an automatic. Same for that cake you want to have and eat. Your business applications can be easy to use […]
I’m #1! Well, actually #4 and #7. During 2017, I wrote several article for Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s online magazine, Enterprise.nxt Insights, and two of them were quite successful – named as #4 and #7 in the site’s list of Top 10 Articles for 2017. Article #7 was, “4 lessons for modern software developers from 1970s […]
Amazon says that that a cloud-connected speaker/microphone was at the top of the charts: “This holiday season was better than ever for the family of Echo products. The Echo Dot was the #1 selling Amazon Device this holiday season, and the best-selling product from any manufacturer in any category across all of Amazon, with millions […]
Software can affect the performance of hardware. Under the right (or wrong) circumstances, malware can cause the hardware to become physically damaged – as the cyberattack on Iran’s centrifuges provided in 2010, and which an errant coin-mining malware is demonstrating right now. Will intentional or unintentional damage to IoT devices be next? Back in late […]
Man-in-the-Middle (MITM or MitM) attacks are about to become famous. Famous, in the way that ransomware, Petya, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), and credit-card skimmers have become well-known. MITM attacks go back thousands of years. A merchant writes a parchment offering to buy spices, and hands it to a courier to deliver to his supplier […]
Agility – the ability to deliver projects quickly. That applies to new projects, as well as updates to existing projects. The agile software movement began when many smart people became frustrated with the classic model of development, where first the organization went through a complex process to develop requirements (which took months or years), and […]
Criminals steal money from banks. Nothing new there: As Willie Sutton famously said, “I rob banks because that’s where the money is.” Criminals steal money from other places too. While many cybercriminals target banks, the reality is that there are better places to steal money, or at least, steal information that can be used to […]
Law enforcement officials play a vital role tracking down and neutralizing cyber criminals. Theirs is a complex, often thankless, mission. Here are some insights shared by two current, and one former, high-level officials from U.S. law enforcement, who spoke at the NetEvents Global Press & Analyst Summit, in San Jose, Calif., in late September. Based in […]
Isn’t this rich? I get these occasionally and they always elicit a chuckle, especially when they refer to “mafias.” Don’t reply to these emails. Delete them instead. From: “Mrs. CYNDY BANKSl” email hidden; JavaScript is required Date: December 4, 2017 at 5:57:15 AM MST Subject: YOU ARE ADVISED TO STOP CONTACTING THEM!!! Reply-To: email hidden; […]
I’ve seen a flurry of these messages recently; by a flurry, I mean 34 in the past two days. The emails come with a variety of texts on the same theme, with randomized “from” email addresses, sender names, salutations, credit-card brand references, and dollar amounts. The common element: An email attachment. It’s a corrupted Microsoft Word […]