CURRENT CITE-ings from the popular and trade computing literature: whats trending in computer security and hardware developments
Article Type: CURRENT CITE-ings from the popular and trade computing literature: what’s trending in computer security and hardware developments From: Library Hi Tech News, Volume 30, Issue 1
As computers become more sophisticated and powerful, so do security threats. Double authentications may not be sufficient, similarly anti-virus software. Computers continue to be open to opportunistic malware, phishing, and compromising user security. Much is also going on in terms of new mobile devices, supporting multiple computing platforms and applications that require new demands for those involved in system support. Although these articles are from the computing literature, they are just as relevant for library settings.
Computer security
Browser attacks are popular with e-mail and text messages containing links to malicious web sites. “Drive-by” downloads with malicious content will be targeted to specific audiences. There will be more mobile device attacks with malicious apps. There will be data breaches of sensitive data, although traditional malware attacks are on the decline. There will be more phishing attacks on mobile devices, as the malware looks more and more credible. Online social profiles will be searched so an answer to a question about password recovery can be answered. Small companies like third party vendors, customers,suppliers, and service providers lack IT skills to assure privacy (Mediati,2012).
On individual computer, it is critical to get a good anti-virus or internet security program. Some good ones are Bitdefender Internet Security, Norton Internet Security, or G Data Internet Security. It is also a good idea to think about getting a sandbox program. A sandbox program runs your browser in a virtual environment to protect from damage from downloaded suspicious viruses or programs. Sandboxie, a freeware utility, does a good job. In case of lost software, encrypt your drive. In social networking, beware of cybercriminals setting up false profiles in order to spread scam and malicious links. Also, use apps to detect malicious activity. Two good programs are Bitdefender SafeGo and MyPageKeeper (Geier, 2012).
The recent Sandy, demo Hurricane illustrates that a disaster recovery (DR) plan for universities and other organizations is necessary, particularly in weather related events. This article outlines steps necessary in the plan. First, decide who should be on the DR team. Include the CIO, director of infrastructure and security, network administrators, system administrators, physical plant reps,computer technicians, telecom specialists, and procurement officers. Second,identify a plan and specific contacts for restoring mission-critical equipment and services. Third, pick a date on the calendar for when the DR plan will be updated. Fourth, determine where IT staff will congregate if the institutions data center is destroyed. Finally, decide on the messages and format the university will send out to the campus (Neria, 2012).
In an article, the author describes how his computer devices were hacked into,and how he researched how easy it is to get someone’s password. There are even web sites where you can purchase personal information. He says we have to move on from the password. He says that everyday computers are so powerful; they can crack a long password in just a few million cycles. If you must use a password, he recommends four things. First, enable two-factor authentication. Give bogus answers to security questions. Scrub your online presence. Finally,use a unique and secure e-mail address for password recoveries. The author feels a multifactor system is the solution, although it may sacrifice privacy (Honan,2012).
On the security front, the author describes current affairs in the security solutions for mobile devices. The categories that the software falls into are mobile device management (MDN), mobile application management (MAM), and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) suites. The author says for now, maintaining security on mobile devices will take more than one suite. This will occur until the next wave of ARM chips that support virtualization and multiple personalities arrive. This article provides a detained explanation of MDM and MAM software (Culver, 2012).
The author describes how his personal computer devices were hacked into, and he researched how easy it is to get someone’s password. There are even web sites where you can purchase personal information. He says we have to move on from the password. He says that everyday computers are so powerful; they can crack a long password in just a few million cycles. If you must use a password,he recommends four things. First, enable two-factor authentication. Give bogus answers to security questions. Scrub your online presence. Finally, use a unique and secure e-mail address for password recoveries. The author feels a multifactor system is the solution, although it may sacrifice privacy (Honan,2012).
Another article describes current affairs in the security solutions for mobile devices. The categories that software falls into are mobile device management(MDN), MAM, and BYOD suites. The author says for now, maintaining security on mobile devices will take more than one suite. This will occur until the next wave of ARM chips that support virtualization and multiple personalities arrive. This article provides a detained explanation of MDM and MAM software (Culver,2012).
Computer hardware and software
Knowing how you will use your laptop will help you to decide what kind of performance, expandability, battery life, and connectivity you will need. For CPU’s, you will need to identify an appropriate clock speed, shared cache,core count, and thread support. At least 4 GB of memory is recommended these days. For the screen, look at the type of panel. The types are LCD based on in-plane switching, or twisted nematic. 1080p is recommended for pixels. If you are displaying video, a longer battery life is important. For connectivity, in addition to Wi-Fi, get a wired Ethernet port and Bluetooth. Also get USB ports and a port for a flash memory card. For storage, get a small solid state drive along with a larger hard disk drive (Case, 2012).
Natural user interface is an emerging technology. It uses various input devices like voice recognition, touch, gestures, and eye movement. They will be integrated into education in the next five years. An example is Leap from Leap Motion. It tracks individual finger movements (Roland, 2012).
The use of video streaming is becoming more prevalent in business. Businesses want a turnkey platform. Vendors should offer end-to-end solutions, allowing for flexibility. If this cannot be done, then vendors should offer modules to tackle specific tasks (Vonder Haar, 2012).
One article describes the Internet of Things. This is when everyday devices talk to one another, and us, online. This phenomenon is based on the use of sensors. New cloud services, like This That Then and Cosm, let devices interact. The Internet of Things is in the early stages, and will increase as it becomes easier to use (Thompson, 2012).
One author argues against blended offerings of hardware that is not standards-based. They create proprietary lock-in. He feels these systems are more propriety than not, and over time the hardware maintenance goes up. He says that not all apps that an organization uses will work with every vendor’s hardware. IT will then have to run disparate systems (Feldman, 2012).
IEEE is working on Enhancements for Very High Throughput, otherwise known as the 802.11 ac standard. With 802.11 ac, it will be using 5 GHZ channels which are less cluttered and can double or quadruple channel widths. This will provide a Wi-Fi speed limit closer to 7 GBPS. This will help with high-definition video and BYOD programs to access the WLAN. The author describes some steps to take to migrate form 802.11 n to 802.11 ac (Phifer, 2012).
Related to mobile device software, there are important factors to consider in evaluating mobile device management (MDM) software. There are two points to consider. Access how efficiently the MDM agent can be deployed on a new device. The MDM software should have whitelist and blacklist filtering. Can the MDM support company-made apps, and an app store? The MDM should provide app security screening. Another level of security should be browser security. Look at the different encryption levels. Does the MDM support data wiping the entire device?To save time, look at the MDM software self-service and auto-provisioning capabilities. Note what architecture the vendor uses. Is it a sandbox,virtualization, or an integrated approach? The MDM should support company policies. There should be inventory management of all mobile devices. Can the MDM search, find, and modify an individual device? Finally, check that the MDM has a report function (Davis, 2012).
With advances in computer technology, companies are now finding it more cost effective to hire insource rather than outsource. Technology has made it easy and cheap to coordinate and monitor the goings-on of employees inside the company. Also, technology has enabled CEO’s to get closer to the business(Fisman, 2013).
Miscellany
Indiana University has been quite successful with their eText project. It is about students saving money on their textbooks, faculty being provided with new digital tools for teaching and learning, and publishers and authors getting paid for each use of their content. The campus library can become involved by negotiating contracts with license agreements from publishers. Faculty can create digital course packs of library content. This initiative is based on the widespread use of e-readers (Osborne, 2012).
On the social networking front, a funny article describes the telegram as the tweet of yesterday. Because telegrams were expensive to dent overseas, they had to be short. The article gives examples of telegrams over 150 years old (Keats,2012).
Lois TrapassoLibrary Consultant
