INDUSTRY NEWS
PCI Report on Security Compliance Released
The PCI Compliance Deep Drive report is a set of detailed rules and regulations that companies managing private customer data have to comply with. These newly released set of detailed tenets have been developed by credit card industry, Info World. This pdf report is available for download to the firms and offer deep understanding of PCI security tenets. This report also outlines specific PCI DSS requirements and also offers useful tips on surviving PCI audit. Considered to be one of the most specific and descriptive report till date, PCI compliance report is said to be an asset for any IT professional who wishes to establish security satisfaction.
O-Data Protocol To Be Standardized
O-Data protocol(Open data Protocol), currently utilized by Microsoft to update it's web content, is to be standardized by Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, also known as OASIS. OASIS believes that this move will further broaden O-Data's horizon in the web arena and will prove to be a turning point for Microsoft as well. WS02, an open source middle-ware vendor is one of the groups that is supporting this initiative as the firm believes that this protocol will assist in extending firm's existing capabilities. Standardization of O-Data will also see a new bond established between Microsoft and the Open Source Community.
Flame: A National Security Threat, Discovered!
Researchers at Russian security firm 'Kaspersky' recently discovered a mass attacking Malware named as 'Flame'. This malware has been retrieving private data from countries like Israel and Iran since the year 2010. Flame is being considered as one of the most potential threats ever as it steals data on a large scale through complex set of operations like taking screen shots, recording audio conversations and even intercepting keyboard commands to the attacker. Kaspersky's chief Malware expert Mr. Kamluk believes 'Flame' to be supported by a Government itself rather than any individual hacker.
Weibo Introduces Code Of Conduct For Users
China's very own micro-blogging platform 'Weigo', which is similar to Twitter is introducing code of conduct for it's users to follow. This move was initiated after there were reports of users posting rumours on a large scale. This move will soon be followed by a credit system that rates users with respect to their adherence of code of conduct laid down by the blogging platform. As per the scoring system, users who break rules will loose points and if the score reaches zero then their accounts will be deleted automatically. This system will restrict users from posting rumours, untrue information, libelous comments or even threaten country's honor through this blogging platform.
New Cookie Law with effect this weekend!
UK businesses will start abiding by the new cookie law from this weekend onwards. This law governs that every website from now will have to seek consent from the user before saving personal data in form of cookies. As per The Information Commissioners Office, main reason for such law is to promote ethical use of cookies among websites. ICO stated that most of the websites today are using cookies to track browsing habits of a visitor to power advertising accordingly. As per the new law, from Sunday onwards whenever a visitor opens a website, a pop-up window will seek permission for cookies saving on his machine. The ICO is also launching a new tool for public to report against non-compliant websites.
Dell pins it's hope on New touch screen devices!
US firm Dell, which fared below average in terms of sales and market share this year, is now pinning it's hope on new touch screen devices. Founder and Chief Executive of Dell, Michael Dell blames it on the cheap products prevailing in the market as the sole reason behind the firm's revenue decline. With the launch of windows latest platform, analysts at Dell believe that people will prefer latest touchscreen devices over old PCs. Mr. Dell also believes that the launch of Windows 8 will prove to be of great help in increasing the sale of firm's touch screen products like tablets.
So.cl: Latest Social Networking Service from Microsoft!
The latest one to join the social networking bandwagon is 'So.cl' from Microsoft. The IT giant believes So.cl to be different and much interesting from the likes of FaceBook and Twitter. According to Microsoft, So.cl will allow users to comment on search results and also share them with 'like-minded' people. Started as an experiment, So.cl earlier was restricted to school students and university invitees in the US. Users can sign-in to create an account in So.cl using their FaceBook log-in details.
ICANN's gTLDs Back In Action
ICANN revived it's application system of gTLDs after its shutdown nearly a month ago. Software defect is considered to be the sole reason behind the application's sudden cessation on April 12th. Applicants who are registered with the website will now be able to log-in, review as well as submit their applications again on top level domains (TLD) application system till may 30, 23:59 GMT. Due to maintenance activities the website will remain unavailable for three business days. According to the company resources, more than 2000 applications were pending when the site was taken offline and firm is planning to offer $ 5000 to these applicants so as to avoid a possible withdrawal
Next Generation Memory Chips Or 'Memristors' Coming Soon
Memristors, the name given to next generation memory chips is actually the combination of memory and resistors technology. The device is said to offer faster computing capability as well as denser memory compared to present technology used. Researchers present at 'European Materials Research Society meeting' claimed that these memory chips can be manufactured in a cheaper way using present semi-conductor techniques. Earlier just a theoretical concept suggested by researchers, Memristor took around 37 years of hard work to be developed. Main reason behind it's name as Memristor is due to its capability of changing resistance depending on current passed and also due to its capability of memorizing the same current value even when switched off.
'China Mobile' And 'Apple' May Join Hands In Near Future!
One of the largest mobile phone network providers in the world, China Telecom may soon be joining hands with 'Apple'. China Mobile is the only service provider in they country that does not offer it's services for iphone users. The two rival telecom companies that is China Unicom and China Telecom are already offering the same services on iphone too but China Mobile is yet to offer the same. This much anticipated move will be of great news to iphone users becayse China Mobile occupies around 67 percent of the country's telecom share, which also declares it the market leader without any doubt.
