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High-performance computation is available by cloud computing – Phys.Org

February 27, 2017 | Author: admin

February 27, 2017 Hi-IaaS prototype. Credit: Osaka University

A group of researchers led by Visiting Professor Takashi Yoshikawa developed the world's first system for flexibly providing high-performance computation by cloud computing.

Conventional systems for providing high-performance computation by cloud computing was performed by a special server in a fixed configuration, which had a problem of high cost and poor utilization efficiency. The system developed by this group can provide a computing system capable of handling requests from a user (jobs) by controlling numerous ordinary servers, enhancing work efficiency. By using management software, this computer system can change not only system components such as the number of servers, network connection, and data storage, but also hardware such as Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and Solid State Drives (SSD).

In addition, this group developed a job-resource integrated management system that can change system components according to the nature of a job as well as functions and performance necessary for running a computation job. This has made it possible to provide a computation resource by building a computation system appropriate for user requests by job and efficiently execute the job by reducing wait time of the whole job on queue in cloud computing. This system allows anyone to start analysis of IoT (Internet of Things) data and Big Data and scientific computation in a cloud computing environment.

Currently, the use of high-level computation in the fields of science and engineering is on the rise and it is hoped that this group's achievements will expand the horizon of the usage of and promote sophistication of the system.

The operation of this system was demonstrated at Super Computing 16 which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA from November 13 through November 18, 2016.

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High-performance computation is available by cloud computing - Phys.Org

Which Cloud Storage is Best for My Business? – Cloudwards

February 27, 2017 | Author: admin

Cloud storage is a great way to protect your data safely and securely, regardless of the size of your business. After all, uncertainties abound in business: disasters strike, devices fail, networks get hacked, customer preferences change and so many other unfortunate events can impede your everyday operation.

Though its practically impossible to insulate yourself from every possible scenario, business owners can take certain steps to minimize the chances of losing all your valuable data, sometimes even for free.

In this article, were going to take a look at certain key criteria you should know about when selecting a cloud storage provider for your business needs. In this sense, cloud storage can be the best decision youve ever made for your business. Lets look at more reasons to choose this option.

Businesses stand to gain much from cloud storage. Here are some key benefits.

Advantages in costperhaps the biggest reason to move to the cloud. Cloud storage is affordable because the cost of infrastructure and services is distributed across many businesses.

In addition, you have no hardware investment or maintenance costs, so overall, you get to save a substantial amount of money.

All that you need to work is a computer and a stable Internet connection because everything else is stored in the cloud. No more servers and complex devices to worry about.

You probably may not even need a large IT team as employees will only have to manage a few devices and a small network. This way, youll save on the cost of physical space and will have only a handful things to monitor. Nothing beats this convenience of limited monitoring.

With all your data stored in the cloud, IT staff dont have to spend a ton of time keeping your servers running and your data safe. Instead, they can focus on the core aspects of your business, and maybe even spend time researching new products and services thatll give you an edge over your competitors.

How many times have we heard of hacking incidents in the last few years? A good way to protect your assets from hackers is to have an enterprise level security. But, this level of security is expensive, and unfortunately, out of reach for many businesses.

But, the good news is, cloud storage providers offer this level of security at a fraction of the cost of buying it yourself. Also, there is no single point of failure in the cloud as your data is backed up across multiple servers.

All this means, your data is sure to have the highest possible level of security when it is in the cloud.

In todays connected world, employees want to have the flexibility to work from anywhere. Whether they are waiting for a subway train or at home with a sick child, they still want to have access to tools thatll maintain their productivity.

Cloud storage offers this mobility for your employees, as they can work from anywhere and from any device thats connected to the Internet.

Even if an employee works from multiple devices, say a desktop at work, smartphone on the way back home and a tablet from home, all the files are synced to the same location. This means, the latest version of a document would be accessible from any device.

Cloud storage providers offer a pay-as-you-go model. This way, you can use as much or as little space, depending on your level of activity. Also, you can adjust the resources available through cloud storage providers, and customize them to meet your needs.

In all, cloud storage is sure to add value to your business, and help you save money as well. Lets now look at some specific features of cloud storage that can help you reap its benefits.

Remember, every business is unique, and may require a different set of cloud storage features, but still its good to know your choices.

Mobile and desktop apps are a convenient way to upload and download files from the cloud. Many storage providers like Microsofts OneDrive offer easy to use and intuitive apps for all devices. In addition, this service also offers 15GB of space for free. Businesses that use Microsoft Office 365 get 1TB of free space as well.

Cloud storage providers not just give you space to store your information, but also make it easy to share it with others. Almost every major cloud service provider offers file sharing services, though some services like Hive allow you to share only with other Hive users.

If you frequently share files with users outside your organization, go for services like IDrive, as its versatile and comes with a full set of features for sharing.

Cloud storage providers like Google Drive give you access to some of their handy tools like email, online documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more. So, youll get more value for your money, and maybe even better productivity and collaboration.

File versioning allows you to go back and look at the previous versions of your file. Some services like elephantdrive and Sync.com give you unlimited versioning, while others like Carbonite restrict you to up to 90 revisions.

Sometimes, you want to try out a service before moving your data, and thats totally fair. SugarSync is a reliable cloud storage provider that offers a 30-day trial period. Livedrive is another provider that gives a free trial for 14 days.

Small businesses dont typically need a ton of space, so they can opt for any of the manyfree cloud storage solutions. However, there is a limit on how much free space comes with such storage providers.

As your business grows, you can choose to increase your storage space, and maybe even pay for the extra space you need.

Many cloud storage providers are based in the U.S., so they are subject to provisions of the U.S Patriot Act. Essentially, this means, the NSA can access your data at any time.

Weve heard of NSA programs like PRISM that monitor the private data of all Americans, and this most likely will extend to your business data too.

If youre keen on privacy, we suggest going with zero-knowledge cloud providers. When you use this service, your data is encrypted and nobody other than you has the key to decrypt them. This way, cloud providers cant give any data to the NSA simply because they dont have access to it.

When it comes to zero-knowledge providers, we like MEGA, pCloud, Sync.com and Tresorit.

Encryption offers an extra level of protection to your data when youre uploading or downloading from a cloud. It also comes handy while sharing your files with others over the Internet.

Most well-known cloud providers offer AES 128-bit or 256-bit encryption for your data. However, not many offer encryption services when your data is stored in the cloud or in your local machine. If youre particular about encryption at rest too, OneDrive for business is a good choice.

To conclude, cloud storage is a great way to protect your business from data loss, natural disasters and other external uncertainties. Besides protection, you also get other advantages such as increased collaboration, lower overheads, maintenance-free data management and the flexibility to work from anywhere.

There are many cloud storage providers out there that offer a range of different features. You can choose a provider based on your current needs. For example, if you have a small budget, try a provider like pCloud that offers 20GB for free, and $3.99 for 500GB. Or, if you want to store large amounts of data, but dont mind paying for it, then Dropbox is a good choice. Zero-knowledge providers like Sync.com and MEGA are the perfect choice if data privacy is a top priority for you.

In all, the choice of a cloud storage provider depends on your business needs. Just make sure you research thoroughly and understand the benefits and downsides of a service before you sign up for it.

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Internet security cataclysm Cloudbleed hits Singapore. Here’s a list of over 2k local domains affected – Coconuts Hong Kong

February 27, 2017 | Author: admin

In case youve yet to hear, a tiny bug in Cloudflares code cause huge security problems by leaking an unspecified amount of data including confidential information such as passwords, personal information, and more all over the internet. This rare but worrying security disaster has since been labeled as Cloudbleed.

To put it simply, one small character hiding among the long chunk of codes that makes up the security factors of Cloudflares data ends up being the catalyst of compromising security data in various (major) websites.

According to a blog post on Cloudflares site, this major security leak was caused by as described by Gizmodo the companys decision to use a new HTML parser called cf-html. An HTML parser is an application that scans code to pull out relevant information like start tags and end tags. This makes it easier to modify that code.

And thus, complications turned up when the coding in cf-html clashed with Cloudflares old parser Ragel creating what is known as a buffer overrun vulnerability.

In layman terms, Cloudflares new software tried to store user data in their usual spot, but that place has ran out of space. Thus, it tried to store the remaining data elsewhere, which was picked up by sites like Google.

Simply put, with leaked critical security data such as passwords and personal information, expect hackers to grab the opportunity to utilize these information to compromise the security and trust of these domain sites. In the age of Internet where every information in this day and age is stored in Cloud servers, the seriousness of this situation cannot be understated. Heresa site where you can check if youve visited any sites recently that werehit by the bug.

With the amount of industries operating in Singapore, therell definitely be some companies that utilizes Cloudflares services, and are thus not immune to the Cloudbleed phenomenon. IP addresses, passwords from password managers, messages from dating sites, and much more data have been leaked, according to The Verge.For those interested, theres a whole long list (numbering in the thousands, mind you) of local domain sites affected by Cloudbleed, but herere just some of the notable ones:

http://birdpark.com.sg/

http://www.avgantivirus.com.sg/

https://buysinglit.sg/

https://www.foodpanda.sg/

https://www.tech.gov.sg/

This situation has since been contained and fixed, but we still urge everyone to up their security checks with 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) if it exists, or just outright change your password periodically. As you should, regardless of internet security cataclysms or not.

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Internet security cataclysm Cloudbleed hits Singapore. Here's a list of over 2k local domains affected - Coconuts Hong Kong

Most data is more secure in the cloud, says Blenheim Chalcot CTO Ridley – www.computing.co.uk

February 27, 2017 | Author: admin

The list of concerns over adopting public cloud services has changed very little over the last five years. In every survey that Computing has conducted over that period security has come top, followed by issues related to control.

"I totally understand that, although I don't agree with it," said Mark Ridley, group technology officer at venture builder Blenheim Chalcot Accelerate, speaking during a Computing web seminar last week.

"When I first started looking after servers 20 years ago I was loathe even to put them into a managed hosting system. Those were the days of Windows NT when servers would go down all the time and I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to physically reboot the server when I needed to.

"I've had to go through an evolution in understanding security in the cloud," he added.

Ridley maintains that, with a few caveats, public cloud encourages greater security, not only because of the expertise that cloud providers can bring to bear, but also because using their services forces organisations to think about data security in greater detail.

"You have an illusion of control and security and governance by having everything being in one space, but actually you're probably not scrutinising your own organisation in the way you would a third party. The cloud provider is not necessarily a friendly actor, so making sure your data is protected against them can often lead to much higher levels of security than if you manage your own infrastructure."

This doesn't mean that all organisations should start putting sensitive data in the cloud, however. For a start, many do not have the right skills and culture to properly manage cloud services.

"You need an organisational change to use the cloud and some companies aren't ready, so they'd be better off with hosting or a private cloud," Ridley said.

"The organisation needs to change the way it looks at security, and it could be that you simply have the wrong sort of people in your organisation. They could be comfortable with thinking that security stops with the firewall, but that changes completely with cloud."

Another caveat is the type of data you might wish to process and store. For example, US cloud providers are legally obliged to allow US government agencies to access their systems. State interceptions have been shown by the documents leaked by Edward Snowden to be motivated by industrial espionage as well as issues of national security. Intrusive laws are being introduced by other countries too, including the UK.

"When you start looking at the public cloud you have to look at how you protect data from government activity," Ridley said, explaining that this too requires fundamental changes in organisational thinking.

"If I'm dealing with very sensitive data then suddenly I'm thinking how do I encrypt every bit of that data in transit and at rest, how do I manage the keys and do I need hardware key management. Suddenly the way you have to think about security completely changes and the organisation needs to change too."

Overall, though, Ridley believes that for most cases security is improved by moving operations to the cloud, and that proving compliance certainly becomes a whole lot easier.

"If you're selling a b2b service and going through lots of compliance checks it will be easier to say I'm with Amazon or Microsoft or Google and here is my box-ticking exercise'. It will be easier for vendors and consumers to understand the compliance measures in place," he said.

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Challenges of Cloud Service Development – Business 2 Community – Business 2 Community

February 27, 2017 | Author: admin

Cloud Computing has evolved greatly over the years since it came into existence in the early 90s. Cloud computing has already started to revolutionize the way we store and access data. We currently see smartphone applications use cloud computing technologies to allow users to store and access date that they previously could not do on a smart device.

Cloud computing is slowly gaining acceptance within businesses. It is predicted that by 2018, 59% of cloud workload will be generated from Software-as-a- Service (SaaS). According to a recent survey, 43% of IT decision makers are planning to invest more into cloud computing.

Clouds popularity has grown immensely, as more and more recognize its benefits of improving data access, freeing up IT resources for more strategic tasks, cutting and increasing flexibility and efficiency. The usage of cloud services has become closely associated with common cloud offerings, such as Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

While cloud solutions have been the answer for many, some are still hesitant to utilize this new technology. While there are advantages and disadvantages associated with most business models, it is up to the business owner and the nature of the companys daily transactions that dictate whether the system is right for their industry. Here are the key challenges that should be addressed to clearly demonstrate that cloud computing is a viable alternative to traditional, on-premises applications and data-center operations. Read below to explore some of the challenges and concerns.

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Cloud architecture do not automatically grant security compliance for the end-user data or apps on them, so apps written for cloud have to be secure in their own terms. Some of the responsibility for this does fall to cloud vendors, but the lions share of it is still in the lap of the application designers. Cloud computing introduces another level of risks because essential services are often outsourced to a third party, making it harder to maintain data integrity and privacy.

We have probably passed the days when people thought cloud were just big server clusters, but that doesnt mean that we can ignore the fact about cloud moving forward. There are also too many misunderstandings about how public and private cloud work together, misunderstandings about how easy it is to move from one kind of infrastructure to another. A good way to combat this is to prevent customers with real-world examples of what is possible and why so that they can base their understanding on the actual working.

One of the major concerns associated with cloud computing is its dependency on the cloud service provider. For uninterrupted and fast cloud service you need to choose a vendor with proper infrastructure and technical expertise. Since you would be running your companys asset and data from a third party interface ensuring data security and privacy are of utmost importance. Hence, when engaging a cloud service provider, always inquire about their cloud-based security policies. However, cloud service companies usually employ strict data security policies to prevent hacking and invest heavily in improved infrastructure and software.

Many applications have complex integration needs to connect to applications on the cloud network, as well as to other on-premises applications. These include integrating existing cloud services with existing enterprise applications and data structures. There is need to connect the cloud application with the rest of the enterprise in a simple, quick and cost-effective way. Integrating new applications with existing ones is a significant part of the process and cloud services bring even more challenges from an integration perspective.

Cloud service providers still lack the round-the-clock service, this result in frequent outages. It is important to monitor the service being provided using internal or third-party tools. It is vital to have plans to supervise usage, performance and business dependency of these cloud services.

Businesses can save money on hardware but they have to spend more for the bandwidth. This could be a low cost for small applications but can be significantly high for the data-intensive applications. Delivering intensive and complex data over the network requires sufficient bandwidth. Because of this many enterprises are waiting for a reduced cost, before switching to the cloud services.

There are three types of cloud environments available private, public and hybrid. The secret of successful cloud implementation lies in choosing the most appropriate cloud set-up. Big companies feel safer with their vast data in private cloud environment, small enterprises often benefit economically by hosting their services in public cloud. Some companies also prefer the hybrid cloud because it is flexible, cost-effective and offers a mix of public and private cloud services.

One of the major issues with cloud computing is its dependency on the service provider. The companies providing cloud services charge businesses for utilizing cloud computing services based on usage. Customers typically subscribe to cloud services to avail their services. For uninterrupted and fast services one needs to choose a vendor with proper infrastructure and technical expertise. You need a vendor who can meet the necessary standards. The service-level agreement should be read carefully and understood in details in case of outage, lock-in-clauses etc. Cloud service is any service made available to businesses or corporates from a cloud computing providers server. In other words, cloud services are professional services that support organizations in selecting, deploying and management various cloud-based resources.

These challenges should not be considered as roadblocks in the pursuit of cloud computing. It is rather important to give serious considerations to these issues and the possible ways out before adopting the technology. Cloud computing are rapidly gaining enterprise adoption, yet many IT professionals still remain skeptical, for good reason. Issues like security and standards continue to challenge this emerging technology. Strong technical skills will be essential to address the security and integration issues in the long run. There are also issues faced while making transitions from the on-premise set-up to the cloud services like data migration issues and network configuration issues. But planning ahead can avoid most of these problems with cloud configurations. The extent of the advantages and disadvantages of cloud services vary from business to business, so it is important for any business to weigh these up when considering their move into cloud computing.

Cloud computing is the next stage in the Internets evolution, providing the means through which everything from computing power to computing infrastructure, applications to business processes can be delivered as a cloud service wherever you need. Cloud Computing promises substantial benefits for small, medium and large organizations. Some say cloud computing is still struggling in its infancy, with positive and negative comments made on its possible implementation for a large-sized enterprise. On the other hand, enterprises are under great pressure to take advantage of cloud services, but they need to fully understand the challenges cloud computing brings. Switching to cloud services offers tremendous benefits to the organization and its users. It is important that companies select a provider that will help support the transition and counterbalance the challenges. However like any major concept, it always starts off slowly, but once organizations realize the advantages of cloud services, it will pick up pace rapidly. Despite these challenges, companies are increasingly aware of the business values that cloud computing bring and are taking steps towards the transition to the Cloud.

Dina Destreza is a raving IT professional, Blogger and Speaker. She has spent the last 15 years studying the internet and how to use it to communicate effectively. She loves writing about emerging technology on mobile phone, gadgets and other technology related stuff. Currently she is working with Keyideas Viewfullprofile

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Split decision in first-ever quantum computer faceoff | Science | AAAS – Science Magazine

February 26, 2017 | Author: admin

Ion traps can make for a reliable quantum computer.

S. Debnath and E. Edwards/JQI

By Gabriel PopkinFeb. 21, 2017 , 3:00 AM

In a new study, two quantum computers fashioned from dramatically different technologies have competed head-to-head in an algorithm-crunching exercise. One computer was more reliable, and the other was faster. But whats most important, some scientists say, is that for the first time, two different quantum computers have been compared and tested on the same playing field.

For a long time, the devices were so immature that you couldnt really put two five-qubit gadgets next to each other and perform this kind of comparison, says Simon Benjamin, a physicist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study. Its a sign that this technology is maturing.

One of the computers is built around five ytterbium ions held in an electromagnetic trap and manipulated by lasers. It belongs to a lab led by Chris Monroe, a physicist at the University of Maryland in College Park, and co-founder of the startup company ionQ. The other computer belongs to IBM. At its heart are five small loops of superconducting metal that can be manipulated by microwave signals. It is also the worlds only quantum computer that can be programmed online by users, rather than exclusively by scientists in the laba fact that allowed Monroes team to design the experiment.

Neither device has much computing power, but they demonstrate the principle that many think will eventually make quantum computers a major technology. Unlike conventional computers bits, which can be in states of only 0 or 1, quantum computers rely on quantum bits, or qubits, that can be teased into combinations, or superpositions, of both 0 and 1. In Monroes computer, each qubit is an ion in which an electron can be placed at one energy level to signify 0, another to signify 1, or both levels at once. In each of IBMs superconducting circuits, electric current can circulate with one of two different strengths, or at both levels simultaneously. Its also possible to join the superposition states of many qubits. This gives a quantum computer a potential calculating power that grows exponentially with every added bit.

But the states of qubits are also fragile: Small perturbations from the outside world can easily collapse the superpositions to just a 0 or a 1. So computers must carefully maintain superposition states as a computation proceeds. In the test, the two computers both had two-qubit gate fidelities, or probabilities of successfully completing a single two-qubit logical operation, of about 97%considerably below what will ultimately be needed for any real world operation.

IBMs five-qubit chip made of superconducting loops was faster but less reliable than a quantum computer made of ions.

IBM research/flickr

To test their performance, Monroes team ran a set of standard algorithms on each device, and compared the output. The ion computer got the right answer more often in each case. For one particular exercise, the contrast was especially dramatic: The ion computer achieved a 77.1% success rate, whereas the superconducting computer succeeded only 35.1% of the time. The scientistspublished their resultslast week on arXiv.

The performance difference arises not from the qubits themselves, but from how they are wired together, Monroe says. Each of his ions can interact with every other ion, reducing the number of operations needed for many tasksand the chances that a superposition will collapse. In the IBM computer, by contrast, four of the superconducting loops were connected only to one central one, often necessitating additional operations to swap information among the loops. Because no operation is 100% reliable, the overall success rate declines as the number of operations grows. Connectivity matters, Monroe says.

Jerry Chow, a physicist who leads IBMs quantum computing team at the companys Yorktown Heights, New York, lab, acknowledges that connectivity is important. But ultimately, he expects that qubit superposition states will last longer and be more coherentwhich would mean that his computers lower connectivity wont necessarily drag down its overall reliability in the long run. If you have enough coherence, it doesnt matter how long the whole operation of your algorithm might take. He also notes that IBMs online computer now features more qubit connections than it did when Monroes team ran its test, which would likely bring it closer to equaling the ion computers performance. And both labs are already working on more reliable next-generation devices with more qubits.

Indeed, the study compares the embryonic form of the two front-running approaches to quantum computing, Benjamin says. A practical device made of either ions or superconducting loops will need thousands of qubits, and the web of interconnections between them will grow far more complex. He also notes that whereas the ion computer is more reliable at the moment, the superconducting computer is faster. IBMs device completes a two-qubit operation in 250 to 450 nanoseconds, up to 1000 times faster than the ion computer.

The study also provides food for thought for quantum software designers like Krysta Svore, a Microsoft researcher in Redmond, Washington. Understanding how quantum computers specific architectures affect performance will be critical for optimizing future algorithms, she says. Its a great step to start that conversation.

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Split decision in first-ever quantum computer faceoff | Science | AAAS - Science Magazine

Two Quantum Computers Face-Off for the First Time in History! – Interesting Engineering

February 26, 2017 | Author: admin

Supercomputers are about to jump to an entirely new level. Quantum computing is evolving fast, and now, two quantum computers faced off for the first time in history.

[Image Source:Ars Electronica via Flickr]

Earlier this year, researchers at Cornell University pitted two quantumcomputers against each other in an epic virtual battle. The challenge was to perform and solve an algorithm to compare and determine which quantum computer is the most effective. Both computers are state-of-the-art 5-qubit quantum computers which operate on two entirely different platforms.

Despite their differences, the researchers discovered a way to program the computers in such a way that is blind to the operating hardware. The results determined one computer was more reliable, and the other could carry out operations faster.

For a long time, the devices were so immature that you couldnt really put two five-qubit gadgets next to each other and perform this kind of comparison, says Simon Benjamin, a physicist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, who is not affiliated with the study. Its a sign that this technology is maturing.

The two competingcomputers are made from two entirelydifferent setups,making it especiallyintriguing for scientists to test which of the two are better. One computer which belongs to the University of Maryland. Its setup relies on a trapped-ion system.In it, fiveytterbium ions are held in place by a strong electromagnetic trap. The ions are actuated by lasers to carry out the programmed algorithms.

On the other hand is IBMs computer with an entirely different configuration.In contrast, IBMs computer relies on multiple superconducting loops which carry out algorithms using microwave signals. Their computer is also the first one in history to be publically accessible via cloud computing. Its ability to be programmed by online users was the reason the experimentcould be carried out.

Unlike classical computers, quantum computers rely on qubits instead of the more commonly used bit. Traditional computers use transistors which operate in binary- a system which relies on ones and zeros. Quantum bits (or qubits), can represent one, zero, or both one and zero simultaneously- a property better-knownas superposition. Things that exist insuperpositions have an equalprobability of being in multiple positions at a certain time.

The superposition of a quantum computer does not allow the qubits to be explained by the individual part (on or off), but rather, the system as a whole- what is it doing, where it is doing it, and what it needs to do. This is known as entanglement,where one piece of information directly relies on exactly what another bit is doing at that very instant- unlike classical computers where calculations are carried out in a singular train. More complex calculations can be carried out with this new phenomena to re-imagine what computers can do.

In the tests, the computers could carry out operations with varying success. The algorithms which were carried out were completely blind to the underlying hardware. In this experiment, the ion computer maintained a77.1 percent success rate. However, IBMs computer could only operate the same algorithms with 35.1 percentaccuracy. The test confirmed the ion computer is more effective more constantly with the given algorithm. However, IBMs computer can operate faster.

The results were recentlypublishedlast week on arXiv.

Superpositions are incredibly delicate. Simply observing them can ruin their properties entirety. The biggest challenge at the moment is developing a system which can reliably carry out algorithms with precision.

If you have enough coherence, it doesnt matter how long the whole operation of your algorithm might take.

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Everything You Need to Know About Cloudbleed, the Latest Internet Security Disaster – Gizmodo

February 26, 2017 | Author: admin

Image: Cloudflare / Gizmodo

Have you heard? A tiny bug in Cloudflares code has led an unknown quantity of dataincluding passwords, personal information, messages, cookies, and moreto leak all over the internet. If you havent heard of the so-called Cloudbleed vulnerability, keep reading. This is a scary big deal.

Lets start with the good news. Cloudflare, one of the worlds largest internet security companies, acted fast when security researcher Tavis Ormandy of Googles Project Zero identified the vulnerability.

The bad news is that the Cloudflare-backed websites had been leaking data for months before Ormandy noticed the bug. Cloudflare says the earliest data leak dates back to September 2016. Its so far unclear if blackhat hackers had already found the vulnerability and exploited it secretly before Cloudflare fixed its code. Cloudflares clients include huge companies like Uber, OKCupid, 1Password (Update: 1Password claims its user data is safe), and FitBit. That means a holy fuck ton of sensitive data has potentially been compromised.

As with any major security vulnerability, it will take some time before we can fully comprehend the level of destruction caused by Cloudbleed. For now, you should change your passwordsall of themand implement two-factor authentication everywhere you can. Youll figure out why this is a good idea when you read about how this nasty little security disaster unfolded.

You might not be familiar with Cloudflare itself, but the companys technology is running on a lot of your favorite websites. Cloudflare describes itself as a web performance and security company. Originally an app for tracking down the source of spam, the company now offers a whole menu of products to websites, including performance-based services like content delivery services; reliability-focused offerings like domain name server (DNS) services; and security services like protection against direct denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The fact that Cloudflare is a security company makes the dustup around this new vulnerability supremely ironic. After all, countless companies pay Cloudflare to help keep their user data safe. The Cloudbleed blunder did the opposite of that.

Ive informed Cloudflare what Im working on. Im finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings, Tavis Ormandy wrote in an advisory. Were talking full https requests, client IP addresses, full responses, cookies, passwords, keys, data, everything. Ormandy also said that the Cloudbleed vulnerability leaked data across 3,438 unique domains during a five-day period in February.

For you geeks out there, Cloudbleed is especially interesting because a single character in Cloudflares code lead to the vulnerability. It appears to be a simple coding error, though weve reached out to Cloudflare for information on what exactly happened. (Update: Cloudflare called us back and explained some things.) Based on whats been reported, it appears that Cloudbleed works a bit like Heartbleed in how it leaks information during certain processes. The scale of Cloudbleed also looks like it could impacts as many users as Heartbleed, as it affects a common security service used by many websites.

According to a Cloudflare blog post, the issue stems from the companys decision to use a new HTML parser called cf-html. An HTML parser is an application that scans code to pull out relevant information like start tags and end tags. This makes it easier to modify that code.

Cloudflare ran into trouble when formatting the source code of cf-html and its old parser Ragel to work with its own software. An error in the code created something called a buffer overrun vulnerability. (The error involved a == in the code where there should have been a >=.) This means that when the software was writing data to a buffer, a limited amount of space for temporary data, it would fill up the buffer and then keep writing code somewhere else. (If youre dying for a more technical explanation, Cloudflare laid it all out in a blog post.)

In plain English, Cloudflares software tried to save user data in the right place. That place got full. So Cloudflares software ended up storing that data elsewhere, like on a completely different website. Again, the data included everything from API keys to private messages. The data was also cached by Google and other sites, which means that Cloudflare now has to hunt it all down before hackers find it.

Its unclear who exactly has been pwned. Cloudlfare claims that only a very small number of requests led to leaked data, but since the vulnerability has been almost six months, who knows how much information is out in the wild. Furthermore, the fact that so much of that data was cached across different sites means that, while Cloudflares initial patch stopped the leaking, the company needs to do lots of hunting around the web to ensure that all of the leaked data gets scrubbed. And even worse, even sites that dont use Cloudflares servicebut have a lot of Cloudflare usersmight have compromised data on their servers.

Entrepreneur and security expert Ryan Lackey offered some good advice in a blog post. And Lackey knows what hes talking about, since his company CryptoSeal was acquired by Cloudflare in 2014.

Cloudflare is behind many of the largest consumer web services (Uber, Fitbit, OKCupid, ), so rather than trying to identify which services are on Cloudflare, its probably most prudent to use this as an opportunity to rotate ALL passwords on all of your sites, Lackey wrote. Users should also log out and log in to their mobile applications after this update. While youre at it, if its possible to use 2FA or 2SV with sites you consider important.

Changing your passwords sucks, but you should be doing it on a semi-regular basis anyways. As weve argued in the past, you might as well enable two-factor authentication on everything, too, since its your best first defense against hackers. That said, nothing is ever truly secure on the internet, and Cloudbleed might compromise some accounts using. two-factor authentication.

This is all to say: you cant control what happens under the hood of websites and companies like Cloudflare that power them. But you can watch your own assand pray to the hacker gods to keep you safe. Whatever works.

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Everything You Need to Know About Cloudbleed, the Latest Internet Security Disaster - Gizmodo

Google researchers have cracked a key internet security tool – Recode

February 26, 2017 | Author: admin

Google researchers have cracked a key internet security tool, and hope their finding will spur an end to widespread use of the encryption method.

The team announced Thursday that they had succeeded in breaking SHA-1, or Secure Hash Algorithm 1, encryption in a use case involving a pair of PDF documents.

What this means is that a method of internet security that has for years been known to be theoretically vulnerable has now been proven vulnerable. And what that means is theres now a fire under the butts of entities still using the algorithm to finally update their systems to use something else.

Per its vulnerability disclosure policy, Google plans to release the code they used to break the SHA-1 encryption 90 days from now, at which point attackers will basically have an instruction manual for breaking the algorithm. Anyone still using it will be significantly more vulnerable.

Moving forward, its more urgent than ever for security practitioners to migrate to safer cryptographic hashes, reads a company blog post about the finding.

SHA-1 may be used to encrypt things like electronic documents (including legal documents), payment transactions, emails and email attachments.

The algorithm is extremely widely used. We cant quantify it, but SHA-1 is extremely widely used, said Google researcher Elie Bursztein, based in Mountain View, explaining that SHA-1 has been used for many years so a lot of people have legacy systems that incorporate it.

The research was spearheaded by Marc Stevens, on staff at Netherlands computer science research institute Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica. Stevens said his SHA-1 research, funded by the Dutch government, began in 2009.

Google started working with Stevens in 2015, according to Bursztein. He said the company contributed resources pro bono, including infrastructure for computing, engineering time and expertise.

SHA-1s usage stems back to as early as 1995, when the internet was just becoming mainstream with consumers, according to Stevens. But the cyber security community didnt know it was weak, really weak, until 2005, so there was no clear incentive to use something even stronger.

Ars Technica, which reported on the finding earlier today, cited popular software development management system Git as a major entity that uses the algorithm.

Any software company that has been around long enough, including Google, will have used SHA-1, according to Bursztein. He said Googles system for critical security does not rely on the vulnerable algorithm.

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Google researchers have cracked a key internet security tool - Recode

Letter: Internet security is in jeopardy – INFORUM

February 26, 2017 | Author: admin

Our government's contract with ICANN expired, and on Oct. 1, ICANN assumed direct control over critical internet infrastructure. Typical of GOP liberal leadership, congressional leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., adjourned Congress without challenging Obama's plan to surrender control.

With confidence in the establishment media at an all-time low, alternative media's use of the internet is America's new popular channel of communication. Moreover, because many government services, telecommunications, emergency services (and military concerns) are critically tied to the internet, the passing of control to an international consortium raises concerns about national security, privacy, stability, and censorship. ICANN's Board of Directors includes members from 111 countries, many of which, aside from not being America's friends, are notorious for policing and censoring their citizens for expressing politically incorrect and religious ideas.

A number of Congressmen have expressed concern about an internet run as in China and Russia, and Attorneys General of four states unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit to block the turnover.

In September, 77 national security, cybersecurity, and industry leaders wrote to Obama's Defense Secretary and the Joint Chiefs Chairman calling on top military officials to oppose relinquishing American Internet guardianship to foreign corporations and countries.

Do we want this "Government Advisory Committee," including members from Bulgaria, Venezuela, Cuba, China and Russia, to oversee and control our internet?

This transfer is unconstitutional and unacceptable. Congress is responsible for the problem and must take action to correct it.

Call Sens. John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp and Rep. Kevin Cramer to oppose this move.

Stahl lives in Valley City, N.D.

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Letter: Internet security is in jeopardy - INFORUM

Cloud Hosting

High-performance computation is available by cloud computing – Phys.Org

Which Cloud Storage is Best for My Business? – Cloudwards

Internet security cataclysm Cloudbleed hits Singapore. Here’s a list of over 2k local domains affected – Coconuts Hong Kong

Most data is more secure in the cloud, says Blenheim Chalcot CTO Ridley – www.computing.co.uk

Challenges of Cloud Service Development – Business 2 Community – Business 2 Community

Split decision in first-ever quantum computer faceoff | Science | AAAS – Science Magazine

Two Quantum Computers Face-Off for the First Time in History! – Interesting Engineering

Everything You Need to Know About Cloudbleed, the Latest Internet Security Disaster – Gizmodo

Google researchers have cracked a key internet security tool – Recode

Letter: Internet security is in jeopardy – INFORUM

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