Big changes are in the works in the SSD-based storage ecosystem. It includes three different vendors all making similar announcements regarding designs to help companies that rely on SSD-based storage systems to reduce duplication and control data creep. It's not hard to see why they're scrambling. Although the price of SSD-based storage systems are coming down, it's a slow process. Currently, a gigabyte's worth of SSD storage costs about forty cents, versus about five cents per gigabyte of … Read more
Archives for May 2018
Chili’s Is The Latest To Suffer A Credit Card Breach
Brinker International (the parent company of the Chili's restaurant chain) formally announced that on May 11, they discovered malware on an undisclosed number of their point of sales terminals. Details are sketchy at this point, because the investigation is still ongoing, but the company had the following to say about the incident: "If you used your payment card at a Chili's restaurant between March and April 2018, it does not mean you were affected by this incident. However, out of an … Read more
Vega Stealer Malware Goes After Your Saved Credentials
There's a new security threat to be worried about, and security professionals are warning that it could be very bad indeed. The new malware is known as the "Vega Stealer," and is currently being used in a relatively simplistic phishing campaign designed to harvest financial data that has been saved in both Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. Unfortunately, based on an analysis of the code, it could be a much more serious threat. Vega Stealer isn't 100 percent original work, but rather, is a … Read more
Your Kids’ Personal Info May Have Been Compromised
An identity threat company called 4iQ has recently published a report called "Identities in the Wild: The Tsunami of Breached Identities Continues." Unfortunately, the information in the report contains all bad news. Some of the details are simply confirmations of things we already knew, and some are shocking statistics that will leave you feeling dismayed. For instance: Cybercriminals and hackers are getting increasingly sophisticated - This isn't new, but it's even worse than that. … Read more
Fitbit and Google Partnership May Raise Privacy Concerns
Depending on which side of the privacy debate you're on, you're either going to love or hate this announcement: "Fitbit intends to use Google's new Cloud Healthcare API to help the company integrate further into the healthcare system, such as by connecting user data with electronic medical records." Rarely has a single sentence been so fraught with risk, while simultaneously promising such great opportunity. On the plus side, the potential for innovation is virtually unlimited, and this … Read more
Hulu To Soon Offer Episode Downloading and Offline Streaming
Hulu recently announced that it would join both Netflix and Amazon Prime in allowing its users to download content to watch offline, but in Hulu's case, it comes with a twist. If you subscribe to the $7.99 a month tier, in addition to downloading the content you want to watch, you'll also be downloading the advertising associated with that content. It's an important distinction because Hulu is structured quite differently from Netflix and Amazon Prime. Much of Hulu's programming is … Read more
Firefox To Start Showing Ads On Tab Page
Before Google released its Chrome browser, Firefox felt pretty good about their arrangement. They got a handsome reward in exchange for making Google.com their default search engine. It was a win-win. These days though, Firefox's position is a bit more precious. The Google deal is still the main source of the company's income, but they're also in direct competition with Chrome. If Google one day decides to pull the plug on the deal, the company could find itself in dire straits … Read more
Lego and Alexa Team Up For Storytelling Through Device
In terms of toys, what could possibly be better than LEGOS? How about LEGOS, combined with Alexa? That's the latest idea from Amazon, who has paired the unlikely duo in a newly announced service called "LEGO Duplo Stories." The new service ("skill," in the parlance of Alexa) will be available on any device that offers Alexa support including Echo Dot and Amazon Echo. It provides a selection of stories with audio prompts that guide children in the construction of something with their LEGO … Read more
Having Chrome Issues Since The Latest Windows 10 Update?
Microsoft has been having some "issues" of late. It's April Windows 10 rollout had to be delayed on account of some mysterious BSOD ("Blue Screen of Death") issues. This month's rollout is plagued by similar problems, trading the BSOD issues for problems with both "Hey Cortana" and Google's Chrome browser. The problem is that when you try to navigate the web using Chrome with the latest Windows 10 update, the entire system will inexplicably hang. The company is hoping to have a fix ready … Read more
Facebook Is Adding New Features, Including Dating
At this year's F8 Developer's conference, Facebook announced a raft of changes and updates it will be rolling out later this year. Some are fun, others practical, but they're all interesting. Here are the highlights: Get Ready for "FaceDate" This announcement is interesting. Not so much because the idea of using Facebook to meet someone is new, but because of what the announcement did to the stock prices of existing companies. The new feature will look and feel a bit like Tinder, with … Read more
