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Why Marketers Need to Pay Attention to Cryptocurrency — Now – Entrepreneur

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

Although the technology is relatively new, cryptocurrency is already making waves in multiple industries. In fact, there are some who argue that it will change the face of finance and marketing forever.

Related: From $100 Million to Broke to Betting It All on Cryptocurrencies

Despite its relative infancy, cryptocurrency has already impacted the marketing world pretty significantly, even as experts work to understand the risks and benefits involved. Here are some reasons you should be paying attention to cryptocurrency, as well as some explanations of this groundbreaking technology, to get you started on mastering it.

Before you dive into why cryptocurrency is important for marketing, you need to understand what it is in the first place.

Cryptocurrency is a form of blockchain technology, the technology that bitcoin and other distributed ledger systems are based on. Basically a gigantic ledger of transactions, blockchain is an open and shared database that operates in a decentralized network format. It allows users to transfer and add information to it anonymously, without security compromises.

In other words, cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, is an anonymous financial system that employs blockchain technology to operate. Instead of using a credit card to pay for an item online, users can use Bitcoin or another form of cryptocurrency. And it's getting pretty popular -- in November 2016, the market capitalization of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies reached $13.8 billion.

Related: 5 Essential Podcasts for Entrepreneurs Serious About Cryptocurrency

It's important to remember that many uses of cryptocurrency in advertising are still a few years away, as there isn't much happening in this area yet. However, there's no harm in being ahead of the trend.

The use of cryptocurrency might make it more difficult for marketers to collect the kind of data on consumers that often informs advertising strategies. In this regard, 86 percent of internet users have tried to remove or decrease their digital footprint online; and cryptocurrency will make this more possible than ever, because it will deplete the amount of consumer data available

Currently, it's pretty easy to collect huge amounts of information on potential customers to attract leads. This is largely because the platform you use, like Facebook or Google, owns the data and sells it to you. Marketers can use this information to figure out audience segments, test which ads work better than others, predict customer behavior and more.

With cryptocurrency, however, many leads and buyer information will become anonymous, secure and encrypted -- making it difficult for marketers to figure out who bought what, and how customers are responding to marketing tactics. Individuals will be in more control over their personal information, which could make it nearly impossible for marketers to gather it and design marketing strategies accordingly.

For these reasons, marketers need to start figuring out new ways to collect information to inform their strategies, if they want to keep up with consumer wants and needs.

One way marketers could navigate the potential lack of consumer data is by paying users directly for their personal information, to be allowed to market to them online, instead of paying the platforms they use.

Since the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency means that no single entity can own or control networks, users will be in control. Cryptocurrency itself further complicates this picture, as businesses eventually will be unable to tell who bought what product or service. Companies may need to pay users directly for their information and for the opportunity to market to them, instead of platforms like Facebook or Instagram.

For instance, new social media platforms like 21.co and Steem (which has over 30,000 current user accounts and is growing) allows marketers to engage with users for the opportunity to get the purchasing and other personal information about them that would otherwise be unavailable due to cryptocurrency. Businesses have to do the legwork to reach out to users, and the users can then decide if they want to engage.

The tricky part here is that the average customer is going to want more compensation for his or her purchasing and other information than a platform might charge for that same information now. The plus side, however, is that if the customer allows you to access his or her information, that person is more likely to be interested in your brand.

We know that discussions on cryptocurrency involve a lot of hypotheticals, largely because we don't yet completely understand what it's going to do to marketing.

Related: 6 Cryptocurrencies You Should Know About (and None of Them Are Bitcoin)

However, although cryptocurrency may not affect your own business marketing model, it's a strong representation for where digital trends are heading in the next few years. Even if the changes aren't as dramatic as now believed, it's a good idea to prepare and explore the potential of cryptocurrency so that you aren't taken by surprise.

What are some other ways you think cryptocurrency might affect marketing in coming years?

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Opinion: That Floyd Mayweather-backed cryptocurrency is another sign of a bursting bubble – MarketWatch

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

If even Floyd Mayweather cant turn a cryptocurrency launch into a knockout, is the party coming to an end?

The initial currency offering from Hubii, an online publishing venture, has fallen far short of its ambitions, despite a high-profile promotion last month by the boxing legend on Twitter.

Hubii had hoped to bring in up to $50 million in its two-week fundraising campaign, but by the close had raised barely $7 million.

Not only is that a fraction of the targeted maximum, its barely above the minimum level that the founders had admitted they needed just to get by.

We will be setting a minimum target of $5m, they wrote in their white paper a type of prospectus just before the fundraising. That minimum would still allow the team to develop some minimum viable products, but it is likely that extra funding would be needed, by more conventional venture capital routes.

An ICO is the cryptocurrency-bubble equivalent of the IPOs seen during the dot-com bubble. Its how a new cryptocurrency venture raises real money. Hubii actually didnt raise dollars directly, but only through another cryptocurrency, Ether. The management can then exchange the Ether for real money, which they can then use to pay the bills. The investors, meanwhile, get Hubiits that they can use in the Hubii online network.

Mayweather promoted the Hubii ICO to his 7.7 million Twitter followers shortly before the launch. His endorsement gained extra buzz because it came just before his big boxing bout in Las Vegas with Conor McGregor in August.

You can call me Floyd Crypto Mayweather from now on, he tweeted, adding, #HubiiNetwork #ICO starts tomorrow! Smart contracts for sports?

Hubii CEO Jacobo Toll-Messia declined repeatedly to tell me how much the ventures backers had paid Mayweather for the endorsement, though the tweet made it clear it was an advertisement.

Mayweather is just one of many celebrities cashing in on the crypto bubble. Another surprise is Paris Hilton.

Toll-Messia, contacted online, said he wasnt unhappy with the ICO result despite the low amount raised. We are happy and content with our ICO, he said near the end via message. Hubii had raised most of its money from small-scale investors, he added. We see many individual buyers of tokens which manifests the broad distribution we are aiming for.

Hubii says it wants to use its new cryptocurrency to help people who produce online media including journalists like me, authors, musicians, and the rest get paid for their work.

Its a laudable aim. But the white paper, Im sorry to say, did not fill me with a lot of confidence. Among the ideas: Paying online commenters in Hubiits, naturally to fact check and verify articles.

Yes, good luck with that. Just check the comments section on any news site to see how well thats going to work.

And although supporters of cryptocurrencies often push them as a way of lowering costs compared with traditional banking, Hubii is talking about engaging in hedging contracts to protect the purchasing power in real money of these Hubiit online tokens.

It makes you wonder what, exactly, is the problem with ordinary money.

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Putin-Backed Political Group Advances ‘Green’ Cryptocurrency Concept – CoinDesk

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

Members of a Russian political organization formed by President Vladimir Putin have announced plans to advocate for an eco-friendly cryptocurrency.

The All-Russia People's Front, known as ONF and formed in 2011, recently organized a conference focused on the environment. It was there, according to the organization's press service, that the plan for a cryptocurrency to be used to fund environmental causes was advanced.

Dmitry Mironov, one of the leaders of the ONF, said:

"We want the units of the cryptocurrency to be received by investors and enterprises that promote the development of environmental technologies. In our proposals, we will reflect our vision of the development of the green cryptocurrency in the country and we hope that the initiatives of the Popular Front will be included in the final version of the bill being drafted by the government."

The proposal was put forward in the context of moves by the Russian government to prepare new regulations around the trade and exchange of cryptocurrencies. Last week, a senior member of the State Duma the national legislature suggested that work on the legislation could be completed by autumn, capping a multi-year process.

Whether the proposal actually advances in the government remains to be seen, however.

Russian officials, including those from the country's central bank, have issued warnings on cryptocurrency investment in recent days. At the same time, one of Putin's advisors is trying to raise as much as $100 million through an initial coin offering (ICO) to support a new crypto mining venture.

Putin image via Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

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Cryptocurrencies have already recovered from last weekend’s crash … – TechCrunch

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

When cryptocurrency markets crashed 20% a few days ago, I wrote the next day or so will tell us if this was a temporary bump in the road or the start of the next major correction.

Well here we are, a day or so later. And the temporary crash seems to have just been a bump in the road. The entire market cap of cryptocurrencies is up 16% from a low of $135B yesterday to $162B today.

Bitcoin is back above $4,600, which is about 13% higher than yesterday. Ethereum is trading around $333, which is 16% higher than the low it hit earlier this week.

Checking the chart below shows that results are pretty similar across the board. Most currencies are up double digits over the last 24 hours, bringing them close to where they were before the weekends crash.

There is one exception NEO, the Chinese-based ICO/cryptocurrency never recovered and is down 39% over the last week but this makes sense, because the crash was likely caused by Chinas ICO ban, which particularly affects NEO.

Of course extreme volatility is common in the cryptocurrency world even double-digit swings in major currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. But a market-wide crash that affects every single digital currency, like we saw over the weekend, is almost always a sign of some outside influence and not day-to-day volatility. In this case the influence was Chinas ICO crackdown.

Todays recovery shows that the cryptocurrency market (and accompanying valuations) is more resilient that some have thought.

While cryptocurrency investors are reluctant to admit it publicly, many think the rapid appreciation in value over the last few months is the sign of a bubble about to pop.Some of those same investors are hoping that rising valuations will actually come down a bit, to give the industry time to catch its collective breath.

Essentially this recovery reveals a cryptocurrency market resilient enough to withstand the shocks of government regulation, meaning that the steady climb of value continues.

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First He Beat Up His Girlfriend, Now He’s Selling Cryptocurrency With Paris Hilton – Daily Beast

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

If her social media posts were any indication, Paris Hilton was busy attending the Burning Man festival this weekend. But between tweets from the festival grounds, the heiress found time to hype a new investment.

Looking forward to participating in the new @LydianCoinLtd Token! Hilton (or a social media manager) tweeted Sunday, above a glamour shot of her wearing a golf ball-sized cocktail ring. #ThisIsNotAnAd #CryptoCurrency #BitCoin #ETH #BlockChain

The shiny cocktail ring hid an ugly fact: LydianCoin, the new cryptocurrency Hilton is boosting, is a product of Silicon Valley CEO and admitted domestic abuser Gurbaksh Chahal. Chahal is running the company on borrowed time before an appeal in his second domestic assault case.

In 2013, Chahal pleaded guilty to assault, after a video showed the Silicon Valley exec beating his girlfriend 117 times in 30 minutes and smothering her with a pillow. When the video was disqualified as evidence, Chahal got his 47 felony charges reduced to two misdemeanors, for which he would pay a $500 fine and serve probation. Chahal violated his probation less than a year in, when a different girlfriend called 911 to report Chahal assaulting her. A San Francisco judge sentenced Chahal to one year in prison for the probation violation.

But Chahal has avoided serving time for over a year, pending an appeal in the case. In the meantime, hes serving as CEO of advertising firm Gravity4, making bank with Hiltons help and a plan to rake in $100 million on his new cryptocurrency.

Domestic violence experts said Chahals light treatment in the legal system has enabled him to continue working in the Valley.

We think its pretty much because hes a powerful person who is somebody who can still command attention, Jacquie Marroquin, director of programs at California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. He hasnt been held accountable in the criminal legal system. Often people will hold that as the bar on whether or not to continue working with someone who commits harm.

Investors wouldnt guess Chahals dark history from LydianCoins promotional materials, which have featured Hilton. On September 1, Chahal uploaded a YouTube video titled LydianCoin Launch, which features clips from his life as a rising star in Silicon Valley, before his domestic abuse cases caught up with him. In one picture, he poses with President Barack Obama. In another, he laughs with Oprah Winfrey, while golden numbers flash across the bottom of the screen, charting his net worth as it soared into the hundreds of millions.

The videothree minutes of a male narrator whisper-speaking generic motivational phrases over pictures of Chahal and stock footage of jetpackers flying above the United Arab Emiratesis equally evasive about what LydianCoin actually is. (Voiceover phrases like live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it might apply to Chahal, who reportedly paid off a former San Francisco mayor to make his domestic assault case go away, but their relevance to LydianCoin is unclear.)

The launch videos only description of the product comes in its caption: The First A.I. Big Data Marketing Cloud for BlockChain powered by Gravity4.

If that tagline reads like something out of a Silicon Valley slogan randomizer, LydianCoin has released a 49-page whitepaper with moreif not particularly compellingdetails.

Gravity4, Inc., an established innovator in the digital marketing industry, will issue the Lydian token (LDN), a utility-token that allows cryptocurrency-enabled purchasing of targeted, A.I.-driven digital marketing and advertising services already offered by the Gravity4 Corporate Family.

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In human-speak, that means LydianCoin is a cryptocurrency for buying advertising programs from Gravity4, the ad-tech company where Chahal is CEO. Its the stupidest cash-in on minor fame since Hilton trademarked the phrase Thats Hot, sued a greeting card company that used the phrase, and walked away with a settlement deal.

But that hasnt kept Hilton away from the product. Since her first tweet about LydianCoin on September 3, Hilton has hyped the cryptocurrency relentlessly on Twitter. Super excited for my team @LydianCoinLtd after their event in NYC, she tweeted Tuesday, above a link to the whitepaper. Rock it in Singapore & London! #Bitcoin #ETH

A wave of uncritical LydianCoin press coverage that focused on Hilton might have a negative effect on domestic violence survivors, Marroquin said.

The dangerous part here is when survivors are seeing this occur, Marroquin said. It really forces somebody to think twice or three times before they seek help, because the response might not look like what they want.

LydianCoin isnt Hiltons first cryptocurrency investmentshe was an early investor in the currency ethereumand Chahal isnt the first man shes supported despite assault allegations.

In November, Hilton announced that she voted for President Donald Trump, a man who had previously made lewd comments about her, and admitted to having watched her sex tape.

I've known Paris Hilton from the time she's 12, Trump said in a 2003 interview with Howard Stern. Her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her, she walked into a room and I said, Who the hell is that?When Stern asked if Trump wanted to bang the pre-teen Hilton, he replied. She's a very Well, at 12, I wasn't interested. I've never been into that. They've sort of always stuck around that 25 category.

Shortly after Trumps election, Hilton also defended Trump against the numerous women who accused him of sexual assault.

I think that they are just trying to get attention and get fame, Hilton told a Marie Claire reporter of Trumps accusers. They want to get money or to get paid to not say anything or get a settlement when nothing really happened. So I dont believe any of that. And Im sure that they were trying to be with him, too.

In August, Hilton apologized for the comments, and said that she didnt vote at all in the 2016 election.

But as of Tuesday, she was still tweeting in support of Chahals company. #ThisIsNotAnAd, she noted in her first tweet on LydianCoin. It was an endorsement, in more ways than she knew.

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Microsoft just upped its multi-million bet on quantum computing – ZDNet

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

The Nordic outpost of Microsoft's US-based quantum research lab, Station Q, will be headed by professor Charles Marcus, one of four scientists Microsoft hired last year.

Microsoft has tipped several million dollars into a new quantum computing R&D lab at Copenhagen University, Denmark.

Microsoft has signed a multi-year deal with the university to collaborate on the development of a general-purpose quantum computer. Microsoft's staff will be working with the university's Niels Bohr Institute.

The institute is headed up by professor Charles Marcus, one of four scientists Microsoft hired last year to accelerate its bet that it can create a scalable quantum computer.

Marcus runs the institute's Center for Quantum Devices (QDev) and the partnership establishes the university as a Nordic outpost of Microsoft's US-based quantum research lab, Station Q. QDev will be home to Station Q Copenhagen, alongside Station Q labs at the University of Sydney, Purdue University, and Delft University.

Instead of conventional transistor's on or off state, represented by 1 and 0, a quantum computer's bits, called qubits, are based on quantum particles and can be both on and off at the same time. That characteristic offers the potential for far more powerful computers.

Microsoft is betting that topological quantum computing holds the key to creating a stable qubit. Topology, or the mathematical study of shapes and space, is gaining more attention among quantum computing researchers.

As noted in Nature, Microsoft's approach aims to encode qubits in a quasiparticle called 'non-abelian anyons' that emerge from interactions inside matter. It hopes to use their topological properties, which make qubits more stable, to create its general-purpose quantum computer.

According to Copenhagen University, Microsoft now has over a dozen employees located there and expects the team to grow as they work toward developing a topological quantum computer.

On top of the multi-million dollar investment, Microsoft has also agreed to "significant" quantum research funding at the university.

"The critical pillars for successful and productive quantum research already exist at the University of Copenhagen - an aligned vision between Microsoft and the university, an exceptional team of top quantum researchers, a broad and deep pool of post doctorate and student talent, and a solid baseline of facilities and equipment dedicated to quantum research," said David Pritchard, chief of staff for the Artificial Intelligence and Research division at Microsoft.

Report: Google takes steps to commercialize quantum computing

Google is reportedly giving researchers access to its quantum computers with the ultimate aim of using quantum computing for cloud services.

Microsoft's next big bet? Clue: it's just hired four top quantum computing scientists

Microsoft says it's doubling down on quantum computing after nabbing four top scientists who will work with a Microsoft hardware veteran to turn research into reality.

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Microsoft’s Aussie quantum computing lab set to scale up next-gen … – ARNnet

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

University of Sydney and Microsoft collaborators in front of Station Q's dilution fridge (University of Sydney)

Microsofts Station Q quantum computing lab at the University of Sydney is set to embark on a new chapter in its research, moving to scale up its next generation of quantum-engineered devices.

The devices in question will form the heart of what the Microsoft-backed lab claims is the first practical topological quantum computers.

By now, the idea behind quantum computing is fairly well established. Unlike classical computing, which uses digital bits as binary switches to carry out calculations, quantum computing makes use of the unusual properties of subatomic quantum bits or qubits to perform calculations.

A topological quantum computer employs qubits using subatomic particles called Majorana fermions, a particle that is also its own antiparticle, will have their information encoded through their topology, or geometry.

The first generation of quantum bits suffers from interference from electromagnetic noise. This means they lack robustness and are proving very difficult to scale up to a fault-tolerant, universal quantum computer.

It has long been theorised that Majorana fermions could help scientists to build more robust quantum computers. Indeed, Station Q researchers suggest that by braiding the Majoranas, quantum information is encoded in a way that is highly resistant to interference.

As it turns out, a new study by Dr Maja Cassidy, who is based at the University of Sydneys Station Q lab, has confirmed one of the prerequisites for building these devices.

Now, researchers at Sydneys Station Q lab are set to build the next generation of devices that will use Majorana fermions as the basis for quantum computers.

In preparation, Station Q will move scientific equipment into the universitys Nanoscience Hub clean rooms over the next few months as it increases capacity to develop quantum machines.

Cassidy said that building such quantum devices is a bit like going on a detective hunt.

When Majorana fermions were first shown to exist in 2012, there were many who said there could be other explanations for the findings, she said.

The challenge to show that the latest findings were caused by Majoranas was put to a research team led by Professor Leo Kouwenhoven, who now leads Microsofts Station Q lab in the Netherlands.

The new research paper, published on 7 September, meets an essential part of that challenge.

In essence, the research aims to prove that electrons on a one-dimensional semiconducting nanowire will have a quantum spin opposite to its momentum in a finite magnetic field.

This information is consistent with previous reports observing Majorana fermions in these nanowires, Cassidy said.

Cassidy conducted the research while at the Technical University Delft in the Netherlands, where she held a post-doctorate position.

She has since returned to Australia and is based at the University of Sydney Station Q partnership with Microsoft.

For University of Sydney Professor and Station Q Sydney director, David Reilly, the Majorana fermion work being undertaken by Cassidy and Australian lab is practical science at the cutting-edge.

We have hired Dr Cassidy because her ability to fabricate next-generation quantum devices is second to none, Reilly said.

The new research comes just over a month after Microsoft revealed it had gone all in on its quantum computing research partnership with the University of Sydney, striking a multi-year global agreement with the institution.

The deal sees Microsoft commit to a new, long-term phase of its investment at the university, with the funding expected to result in state-of-the-art equipment, see the recruitment of new staff, help build out the nations scientific and engineering talent, and focus research project funding into the university.

In April, Microsoft revealed it would double the size of the lab, in a move expected to see at least 20 additional researchers come on board.

Quantum computing has largely been relegated to the realm of research by the likes of Station Q and other such university-affiliated labs.

However, in August, the University of NSW (UNSW) made a move to commercialise its quantum computing technology with the launch of what is being touted as Australias first quantum computing company.

The $83 million venture, from which the new company, Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd, emerged, has received backing from UNSW itself, which has contributed $25 million, as well as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra, which are contributing $14 million and $10 million, respectively.

The creation of the company is intended to help drive the development and commercialisation of a 10-qubit quantum integrated circuit prototype in silicon by 2022, as the forerunner to a silicon-based quantum computer.

The company will work alongside the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T), operating from new laboratories within the Centres UNSW headquarters.

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An Entirely New Type of Quantum Computing Has Just Been Invented – Futurism

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

A New Type of Qubit

Australian researchers have designed a new type of qubit the building block of quantum computers that they say will finally make it possible to manufacture a true, large-scale quantum computer.

Broadly speaking, there are currently a number of ways to make a quantum computer. Some take up less space, but tend to be incredibly complex. Others are simpler, but if you want it to scale up youre going to need to knock down a few walls.

Some tried and true ways to capture a qubit are to use standard atom-taming technology such as ion traps and optical tweezers that can hold onto particles long enough for their quantum states to be analysed.

Others use circuits made of superconducting materials to detect quantum superpositions within the insanely slippery electrical currents.

The advantage of these kinds of systems is their basis in existing techniques and equipment, making them relatively affordable and easy to put together.

The cost is space the technology might do for a relatively small number of qubits, but when youre looking at hundreds or thousands of them linked into a computer, the scale quickly becomes unfeasible.

Thanks to coding information in both the nucleus and electron of an atom, the new silicon qubit, which is being called a flip-flop qubit, can be controlled by electric signals, instead of magnetic ones. That means it can maintain quantum entanglement across a larger distance than ever before, making it cheaper and easier to build into a scalable computer.

If theyre too close, or too far apart, the entanglement between quantum bits which is what makes quantum computers so special doesnt occur, says the researcher who came up with the new qubit, Guilherme Tosi, from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

The flip-flop qubit will sit in the sweet spot between those two extremes, offering true quantum entanglement across a distance of hundreds of nanometres.

In other words, this might be just what weve been waiting for to make silicon-based quantum computers scalable.

To be clear, so far we only have a blueprint of the device it hasnt been built as yet. But according to team leader, Andrea Morello, the development is as important for the field as the seminal 1998 paper in Nature by Bruce Kane, which kicked off the silicon quantum computing movement.

Like Kanes paper, this is a theory, a proposal the qubit has yet to be built, says Morello. We have some preliminary experimental data that suggests its entirely feasible, so were working to fully demonstrate this. But I think this is as visionary as Kanes original paper.

The flip-flop qubit works by coding information on both the electron AND nucleus of a phosphorus atom implanted inside a silicon chip,and connected with a pattern of electrodes. The whole thing is then chilled to near absolute zero and bathed in a magnetic field.

The qubits value is then determined by combinations of a binary property called spin if the spin is up for an electron while down for the nucleus, the qubit represents an overall value of 1. Reversed, and its a 0.

That leaves the superposition of the spin-states to be used in quantum operations.

In flip-flop, researchers are able to control the qubit using an electric field instead of magnetic signals which gives two advantages. It is easier to integrate with normal electronic circuits and, most importantly, it also means qubits can communicate over larger distances.

To operate this qubit, you need to pull the electron a little bit away from the nucleus, using the electrodes at the top. By doing so, you also create an electric dipole, says Tosi.

This is the crucial point, adds Morello. These electric dipoles interact with each other over fairly large distances, a good fraction of a micron, or 1,000 nanometres.

This means we can now place the single-atom qubits much further apart than previously thought possible. So there is plenty of space to intersperse the key classical components such as interconnects, control electrodes and readout devices, while retaining the precise atom-like nature of the quantum bit.

Its easier to fabricate than atomic-scale devices, but still allows us to place a million qubits on a square millimetre.

What this new flip-flop qubit means is a balance that could make future quantum computers small and potentially affordable.

Its a brilliant design, and like many such conceptual leaps, its amazing no-one had thought of it before, says Morello.

The research has been published in Nature Communications.

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Lenovo Faces No Significant Penalty for Security-Destroying Superfish Debacle – ExtremeTech

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

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The shovelware PC OEMs ship on their hardware is definitionally terrible; the handful of exceptions to this only serve to prove the rule. In early 2015, however, news broke that Lenovo hadnt simply shipped poor bundled software, but had fundamentally destroyed internet security on its products in the process. The entire sorry affair exposed a dearth of appropriate safeguards at the PC manufacturer, including the lack of meaningful software or oversight over the bundling process.

An estimated 750,000 PCs were sold with Superfish installed in the US. Lenovos initial fix merely removed the offending software, as opposed to closing the gaping security hole it had opened.

To refresh your memory: Superfish was the name of a developer behind an app called VisualDiscovery. VisualDiscovery injected advertising into websites you visited, including websites using HTTPS. Superfishbroke internet security by issuing its own self-signed certificate of authenticity, thereby guaranteeing HTTPS wouldnt work properly on any site and youd never even know this was the case.

Making matters worse, Superfish only ever used one certificate key on every system. This is the classic architecture of a man-in-the-middle attack, except its one Lenovo perpetrated against its own users. The crazy part: Lenovo actually knew about this behavior, told Superfish to remove it, and then never checked to see if the company had done so.

Superfishs valuable service in action.

In the aftermath of Superfish, 32 states and the FTC launched a joint case against Lenovo, and that case has now concluded with a settlement. It includes no meaningful penalty for Lenovo, which is not required to admit wrongdoing, and is fined just $3.5 million (split among 32 states). The only requirements Lenovo faces are the need to receive affirmative consent from users before installing any data-gathering or ad-serving application on their PCssomething that shouldnt even be on the table,given that Lenovo pledged to stop shipping PCs contaminated with bloatware back in 2015and to run third-party security audits every other year on its bundled software for the next 20 years. Given that these audits should be running anyway, theres no actual penalty here, unless being required to perform minimal security due diligence counts as a penalty.

Lenovo, meanwhile, couldnt resist letting the world know it disagrees with even this tiny non-penalty. In a statement, the company said: While Lenovo disagrees with allegations contained in these complaints, we are pleased to bring this matter to a close. This is perfectly in keeping with Lenovos demeanor throughout Superfish. The company first argued it didnt compromised security, then claimed the entire issue was overblown because no one was known to have taken advantage of itremember, no one could tell if it had been exploited, since it broke HTTPS security in the first placewith the memorable dodge that all of this was somehow acceptable because ThinkPad users (aka, users Lenovo cares about) werent affected. Lenovo was evidently just warming up the ThinkPad excuse, because it trotted it out again a few months later when caught in another security snafu.

This type of non-penalty penalty illustrates part of why American citizens take digital security so lightly, and why breaches, attacks, and ransomware outbreaks keep getting worse. You can call this an offshoot of regulatory capture if you like, or see it as part of a positive reinforcement cycle between large corporations, which broadly seek to mine as much data as possible for earning money, and first-world governments, which hoover up huge amounts of data in the name of national security.

There is no excuse for Lenovos decision to ship broken software to 750,000 US customers. But theres also no excuse for allowing cataclysmic security breaches like this to go unpunished except, of course, that few care about security.

Lenovo never cleaned house. It never performed more than the most perfunctory attempts at public apology, and it cant help telegraphing its own resentment that it had to pay a pittance for the collective aggravation and genuine security threat it imposed on its own customers. In the aftermath of Superfish I wrote that I refuse to recommend laptops from Lenovo to anyone, for any reason. Thats still the case.

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Best Cloud Storage Solutions For Your Small Business – CBS Chicago – CBS Chicago

September 7, 2017 | Author: admin

With the internet of things, cloud storage has become more than just a way to conserve business resources by storing files and data online. It has become an essential business tool. It allows users to share and collaborate on projects from any location using a variety of devices. Cloud storage is also a vital component of any security system. Storing critical backups on the company server has inherent dangers, such as ransomware attacks or system failures. Keeping backups in the cloud is the best way to ensure a quick recovery. Here is a rundown of the most popular options that provide all the cloud storage features small business owners need to safely share and store digital assets.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a favorite among users. It is known for its reliability and compatibility with other services. Users can integrate with Microsoft Office Online to edit stored Word, PowerPoint and Excel files. To collaborate on a document, simply create a shared folder and set permissions. Dropbox offers 2 GB of free storage. An upgrade to Dropbox Plus is $99 a year and expands storage space to 1 TB.

Google Drive

Google Drive really shines when it comes to collaborating. The intuitive dashboard allows users to quickly set permissions for each file stored in the cloud. Gmail, Google Docs, Google photos and Google Calendar all work together seamlessly with Google Drive. With a few clicks, users can save Gmail attachments to Google Drive for storage. The first 15 GB of storage is free. Upgrades start at $19.99 a year for 100 GB of storage.

Microsoft OneDrive

OneDrive is built into the Windows operating system making it easy to sync Windows devices. Documents, photos and videos are automatically organized and tagged. Microsoft offers 5 GB of free storage. Premium plans, starting at $6.99 a month, expand storage capacity and come with the newest versions of MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.

IDrive

IDrive is another great way to store your backups of files and databases. It has multiple backup and data restoration options, and file size is unlimited, which is an important consideration when doing complete website backups. There is up to 5 GB of storage available for free. An upgrade to 2 TB is $69.50 per year.

Box

Box is loaded with privacy and sharing options making it ideal for collaborative projects. Users can upload almost any type of file, add comments to shared documents, assign tasks and receive notifications when a file has been changed. Business plans start at $5 per month. This includes access for three to 10 users and 100 GB of storage.

This article was written by Gillian Burdett for CBS Small Business Pulse

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Best Cloud Storage Solutions For Your Small Business - CBS Chicago - CBS Chicago

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