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Microsoft has announced the launch of what they are calling “Windows app,” a new service designed to stream the full Windows desktop operating system from the cloud to various devices, including Chromebooks. This new offering from Microsoft signifies a major shift in how the company thinks users will be using Windows in the future and is clearly a response to the “Chromebook threat.”Let’s first dive into what this new service entails exactly. The Windows App is essentially a new remote desktop hub that enables users to stream Windows Cloud PC and remote desktop services on a range of devices. This...

Massive data breaches have become so common that we’ve gotten numb to reports detailing another hack or 0-day exploit. That doesn’t reduce the risk of such events happening, as the cat-and-mouse game between security experts and hackers continues. As some vulnerabilities get fixed, others pop up requiring attention from product and service providers. The newest one has a name that will not mean anything to most people. They call the hack Log4Shell in security briefings, which doesn’t sound very scary. But the new 0-day attack is so significant that some people see it as the worst internet hack in history.......

A pair of Iranian hackers have been charged with breaking into a Missouri tech firm’s cloud-computing account and running up a $760,000 bill while mining cryptocurrency. Prosecutors say the two men, who live and operate in Iran, managed to access the company’s Microsoft Azure cloud-computing account and install several new servers and programs to mine a cryptocurrency called Monero — a process known as cryptojacking... ..The company was unaware of the intrusion until it received a bill from Microsoft for $760,00 for the use of the additional server capacity, prosecutors said....

Insurance company Geico suffered a data breach earlier this year that exposed customers’ driver’s license numbers for more than a month, according to a data breach notice filed with the attorney general of California. First reported by TechCrunch, Geico says in the notice that it has fixed the security issue that led to the breach. “We recently determined that between January 21, 2021 and March 1, 2021, fraudsters used information about you – which they acquired elsewhere – to obtain unauthorized access to your driver’s license number through the online sales system on our website,” the notice reads. “We have...

The Pentagon is slamming the brakes on its mega-competition to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract after President Donald Trump suggested the Defense Department might have rigged the contest in favor of Amazon, a frequent target of his criticism. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who assumed his post July 23, is now reviewing accusations of unfairness in the fiercely fought competition, the Pentagon announced Thursday, marking the president's latest incursion into the arcane world of Defense Department contracting. Oracle has reportedly waged an aggressive lobbying campaign to push back on the competition, now pitting Amazon against Microsoft, including talking with...

Fifteen years ago in California, a tall technology geek named Steve Mushero started writing a book that predicted the American dream might soon “be found only in China.” Before long, Mr. Mushero moved himself to Shanghai and launched a firm that Amazon.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. certified as a partner to serve the world’s biggest internet market. These days, the tech pioneer has hit a wall. He’s heading back to Silicon Valley where he sees deeper demand for his know-how in cloud computing. “The future’s not here,” said the 52-year-old.

In a stunner, Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes, spoiling Always Dreaming’s bid at a Triple Crown. The 142nd Preakness was billed as a head-to-head battle between Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire, who was looking for revenge after a rough ride two weeks ago at Churchill Downs. And for three-quarters of the race, that’s exactly what it was, with Always Dreaming running in the lead, with Classic Empire on his hip the entire way. But as they rounded the final turn and headed down the stretch, Always Dreaming began to fade, ceding the lead to Classic Empire,...

Microsoft Azure, the software giant cloud business, is growing fast with no sign of slowing down. The company's cloud computing business has almost doubled its size in the past year. Launched in 2010, Azure is a cloud computing service providing enterprise customer scale and efficiency for secure server infrastructure and cloud applications. And the cloud business is driving result for Microsoft. The cloud business provides SaaS, IaaS and PaaS and also supports for many different development frameworks, including third-party platform and systems.Azure Is Growing Fast, Double In SizeAccording to TheStreet, Azure is growing fast and its cloud business saw...

Defense and intelligence officials are discussing when and how to allow commercial cloud providers to handle Level 6 classified data, said Rob Vietmeyer, an associate director for cloud computing in the office of the Department of Defense CIO. It could be over a year before such an arrangement materializes, Vietmeyer told reporters Dec. 11, but the development shows a willingness to trust the private sector with military secrets. Defense officials are banking on cloud computing to save the department billions of dollars as part of an ambitious plan to consolidate its vast amount of data centers. Allowing contractors to handle...

Gone are the days when Linux was considered just “a cancer” by Microsoft’s big honchos, as the new CEO of the Redmond-based company says the open-source platform is quickly gaining ground on its Azure platform. Speaking at a cloud event in San Francisco, Nadella has suggested that “Microsoft loves Linux,” pointing out that the company is working to offer support for more Linux distributions through its Azure cloud service. Nearly 20 percent of Azure is Linux-friendly, he revealed, adding that starting this week, CoreOS is also supported. CentOS, Oracle Linux, Suse, and Ubuntu were already working on Azure. What’s...

Apple Inc's iCloud storage and backup service in China was attacked by hackers trying to steal user credentials, a Chinese web monitoring group said, adding that it believes the country's government is behind the campaign. Using a method called a "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack, unknown hackers interposed their own website between users and Apple's iCloud server, intercepting data and potentially gaining access to passwords, iMessages, photos and contacts, Greatfire.org wrote in its blog post. Greatfire.org, a group that conducts research on Chinese Internet censorship, alleged government involvement in the attack, saying it resembled previous attacks on Google Inc, Yahoo Inc and...

<p>But for the average consumer, there is a part of Amazon’s AMZN -2.60% business that they may know little, if anything about, yet has the potential to become one of the company’s biggest sources of revenue and profit margins: Amazon Web Services.</p>

The US cloud industry faces up to €25.8 billion in lost revenues following revelations about US-led snooping on EU citizens. “The surveillance revelations will cost the US cloud computing industry USD 22 to 35 billion in lost revenues over the next three year,” said EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding on Sunday (19 January) at the Digital Life Design Conference in Munich. …

The European Commission will redouble efforts to promote EU-based cloud services this fall—including the urgent drafting of a new charter—amid mounting evidence that the US PRISM spying scandal may damage the global market share of US-based tech companies involved in the cloud computing sector. In June and July 2013, the Cloud Security Alliance, an industry group, surveyed members and other cloud computing stakeholders about their reactions to the US PRISM spying scandal. One in ten of non-US residents responding indicated that they had canceled a project with a US-based cloud computing provider in the wake of PRISM, and 56% said...

H-P (HPQ -0.9%) unveils its first Moonshot system, the fruits of a much-hyped effort to develop the kind of densely-packed, low-power systems many Web/cloud service providers have embraced. The first Moonshot server uses Intel's (INTC) S1200 (Centerton) Atom CPU. 45 of them fit into a small enclosure containing shared power/networking/storage components, and H-P claims 1,800 servers can fit into a rack. AMD and ARM-based (ARMH) servers will arrive later. The likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon probably won't adopt Moonshot, but some enterprises and service providers hoping to emulate those firms might.

EXCLUSIVE: The European Commission is finalizing a strategy on cloud computing aimed at promoting the use of off-site data storage in a bid to cut information technology costs and create new jobs, according to a draft paper seen by EurActiv. In a comprehensive communication, Brussels is planning to address several aspects of the cloud computing regulatory framework to encourage its use by companies and public administrations. “In particular, cloud computing is raising specific issues related to data protection and data retention, applicable law and liability and consumer protection,” reads an internal note seen by EurActiv. “The aspects of interoperability, standardization...

The cloud could suffer the same kind of collapses that plague the financial system, according to an analysis of the unrecognised risks of cloud computing. The cloud is essentially a metaphor for a network of computers in which computational tasks and resources can be shared. The big idea here is that users simply rent the computing power, the storage or an application for as long as they need it without having to invest in the infrastructure behind it. That makes computing cheaper, easier and more efficient. There are well known problems of course. The most obvious relates to guaranteeing the security of data...

The U.S. Justice Department today offered what amounts to a frontal attack on proposals to amend federal law to better protect Americans' privacy. James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, warned that rewriting a 1986 privacy law to grant cloud computing users more privacy protections and to require court approval before tracking Americans' cell phones would hinder police investigations. This appears the first time that the Justice Department has publicly responded to a set of digital privacy proposals unveiled last year by a coalition of businesses and advocacy groups including AT&T, Google, Microsoft, eBay, the American Civil Liberties Union, and...

Jeffrey Saut simply looks up to remind himself which tech stocks will be hot in 2011. Saut, chief investment strategist for brokerage Raymond James, says he is betting on companies that are leaders in cloud computing -- using Internet technology to move computers and information away from desktops and into remote data centers.

I've always considered my wife a little paranoid about her privacy.  Although she has never done anything illegal or immoral, she sometimes acts as though the world is out to get her.  To avoid leaving an electronic trail, she pays for everything in cash as much as possible and has, until recently, refrained from conducting any online financial transactions.  I, on the other hand, have been somewhat cavalier about protecting my privacy, believing there is safety in numbers.  After all, out of some three hundred million folks in this country, what are the odds that I would be a...