Cloud security is important, but what does it really mean ...

John?Boitnott is a longtime digital media consultant and advisor to StartupGrind.

Cloud computing is one of the most valuable innovations for business, providing cheap, virtual services that once required expensive, local hardware. ?We place almost everything in the cloud, but what do we really know about its security? ?How do we protect ourselves and our privacy from being compromised?

Fears over cloud security were not assuaged last year when Dropbox, a popular online cloud storage platform, was hacked yet again. ?This attack resulted in unauthorized access to employee accounts containing personal information of users, and spam being sent to users? personal folders. There have been other slightly more embarrassing security controversies for the term dropbox, but we won?t go there.

Despite the risks, most businesses are already using multiple cloud services to handle a myriad of business operations. ?The cloud is only going to become more important to us, and we must find ways to protect our data while getting the high quality performance we need. A large part of performance means adequate security. A cloud storage provider should tell you if your passwords are not strong enough, for example. Consumers and businesses alike should take the time to ask real questions and assess whether their cloud storage provider is taking security seriously.

According to Steve MacLellan, senior vice president of enterprise architecture for financial services of Fidelity Technology Group, when it comes to security there is no way to understand the cloud storage market until you investigate.

When it comes to cloud security, be aware that:

1. The only way to stay abreast is to ask clear and direct questions about security policies if you cannot locate the information online. Take ownership.
2. When possible, look for information about the actual location of the cloud server. Taking this step will help you to be sure that physical security measures are appropriate.
3. Username and password security are among the chief vulnerabilities, but more and more companies are trusting encryption measures.
4. You can enhance cloud security by using the correct industry standard encryption and authentication protocols, such as IPsec, before transferring data to the cloud.

The best cloud storage services place the customer in control of their files, not the service provider. This means the customer controls when their files are encrypted and decrypted. This works best because it bypasses the human element ? it means there are no policies, protocols, or authorizations that can be circumvented. Services, such as Wuala, ?encrypt data on the client-side and their employees have extremely limited access to clients? files. Another example of a company promoting secure cloud storage is Bitcasa. The company encrypts your files for you before they are uploaded to the cloud, and keeps three copies of all data in storage for durability. To further protect your files, Bitcasa stores your data as encrypted blocks, not files, so only the user?s authentication can reconstruct the random blocks back into files.

Very few people take a moment to consider the security of where they put their data. According to the recently released Security of Cloud Computing Users Study, only half of those surveyed said that they examine the cloud security features of the services they use. Wow! It gets worse, over 50% of those surveyed are completely confident in the security of their cloud services.

These results mean that to put forward the best cloud security posture, a business needs to institute protocols for the use of cloud storage services to keep all employees on the same system. ?When in the market for a service, businesses must take responsibility and be sure to inquire into all the details of the security features provided. ?Find out if a service has received any awards or certificates such as the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge.

When it comes to security, transparency is key. A cloud storage company should show that it takes security seriously. Companies should clearly explain the protection measures they take to secure the information they are entrusted with.

Ideally, client data should be encrypted before it is uploaded to the cloud, so that only the user can decrypt the data. Services such as Bitcasa, Open Drive, and Egnyte provide plenty of information about ?their secure cloud storage, and guarantee encrypted data transfer and redundant storage. It?s your data, compute carefully!

Cloud security photo via Shutterstock

John?Boitnott is a longtime digital media consultant and advisor to StartupGrind. Previously, he?s worked at ViralHeat, Hasai, and spent over 15 years as a journalist at NBC and the Village Voice, among others. He wrote for VentureBeat on a regular basis back in 2010 and ?11. John started using social media to help bring visitors to web sites back in 2007 and has been doing it ever since.

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/11/cloud-security-is-important-but-what-does-it-really-mean/

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Rail chief blames engineer in deadly Quebec crash

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) ? The head of a U.S. railway company whose oil-laden train crashed into a Quebec town, exploding and killing at least 15 people, blamed the accident on an employee who he said had failed to properly set the brakes.

Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of Rail World Inc., made his comments Wednesday during his first visit to Lac-Megantic, where some 60 people remain missing following Saturday's fiery crash. He arrived with a police escort and was heckled by angry residents,

He said a train engineer has been suspended without pay.

"I think he did something wrong ...We think he applied some hand brakes but the question is did he apply enough of them," Burkhardt said. "He said he applied 11 hand brakes, we think that's not true. Initially we believed him, but now we don't."

The unmanned, Rail World-owned Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train broke loose early Saturday and hurtled downhill through the darkness nearly seven miles (11 kilometers) before jumping the tracks at 63 mph (101 kph) in Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border, investigators said. All but one of the 73 cars were carrying oil. At least five exploded.

Rail dispatchers had no chance to warn anyone during the runaway train's 18-minute journey because they didn't know it was happening, Transportation Safety Board officials said.

At a press conference, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois faulted the company's response to the disaster.

"We have realized there are serious gaps from the railway company from not having been there and not communicating with the public," Marois said.

Burkhardt said that he had stayed in Chicago to deal with the crisis in his office, where he was better able to communicate with insurers and officials in different places during what he described as 20-hour work days.

Quebec police inspector Michel Forget said they were pursuing a wide-ranging criminal investigation but had ruled out terrorism as a cause. Forget said an array of possibilities are under investigation, including criminal negligence. Other officials have raised the possibility that the train was tampered with before the crash.

"This is an enormous task ahead of us," Forget said. "We're not at the stage of arrests."

The heart of downtown is being treated as a crime scene and remained cordoned off.

At the center of the destruction is the Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was filled at the time of the explosion, which also forced about a third of the town's 6,000 residents from their homes. By Tuesday, about 800 were still barred from returning to their houses.

Efforts continued to stop waves of crude oil spilled in the disaster from reaching the St. Lawrence River, the backbone of the province's water supply.

Investigators were looking closely at a fire on the train less than an hour before it got loose while parked in the nearby town of Nantes.

The train's engine was shut down ? standard operating procedure dictated by the train's owners, Nantes Fire Chief Patrick Lambert said. Burkhardt had suggested earlier that shutting off the locomotive to put out the fire might have disabled the brakes.

The accident has thrown a spotlight on MMA's safety record. Over the past decade, the company has consistently recorded a much higher accident rate than the national average in the U.S., according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Last year, the railroad had 36.1 accidents per million miles traveled by its trains. The national average for 2012 was 14.6.

Before Saturday's accident, the company had 34 derailments since 2003, including one death, according to the federal agency. The severity of those incidents is difficult to determine from the agency's 10-year data overviews on railroad safety.

Burkhardt said the figures were misleading.

"This is the only significant mainline derailment this company has had in the last 10 years. We've had, like most railroads, a number of smallish incidents, usually involving accidents in yard trackage and industry trackage," he told the CBC earlier this week.

___

Associated Press writers Sean Farrell in Lac-Megantic, Charmaine Noronha in Toronto and Jason Keyser in Chicago contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rail-chief-blames-engineer-deadly-quebec-crash-211015099.html

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Philippine bishops are not troublemakers, says new president

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will vigorously maintain its stand on various social issues, including its opposition to a controversial law introduced last year that allows birth control, its new president said today

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed, however, that the bishops are not "social troublemakers, rally organizers, or a lobby group," but are "conscience troublemakers" and "Christ's followers."

The country's bishops, who are in Manila for their annual plenary assembly, held a Mass today to show their support for petitioners against the Reproductive Health Law who were scheduled to argue their case before the Supreme Court later in the day.?

Villegas said his election on Sunday was "unexpected," adding that "I don?t think any bishop would wish to be elected as president" of the conference.

"We in the Church, when we are given a position it does not make us taller, it just gives us longer hands so we could embrace more people," he said in an interview today.

Being president of the collegial body does not make one powerful, he said, adding it is different from being head of a school or of government.

"The president of CBCP is at the service of the bishops, so whatever the bishops say it is the duty of the president to listen and go to in that direction," he said.

The 52-year old prelate will formally assume his post on December 1.

The CBCP president and vice-president are elected for two-year terms and are traditionally re-elected for a second and final term.

Incumbent Archbishop Jose Palma, however, chose not to be re-elected so he could spend more time preparing for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016 in his archdiocese of Cebu.?

Related reports

RH war far from over, bishops say

Philippine bishops' conference elects new president

Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/philippine-bishops-are-not-troublemakers-says-new-president/68698

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Researchers say new development could give artificial skin a wider range of senses

We've seen a number of efforts to build a better artificial skin, or "e-skin," over the years, and a team of researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology now say they've made a breakthrough that could lead to some of the most sensitive e-skin yet. The key development is a new type of flexible sensor that would not only allow the artificial skin to detect touch, but humidity and temperature as well. Those sensors are comprised of gold-based nanoparticles that are just five to eight nanometers in diameter and laid on top of a substrate -- in their research, the scientists used PET, the type of plastic you'd normally find in soda bottles. That substrate conducts electricity differently depending on the way it is bent, which means researchers can adjust its sensitivity just by increasing its thickness. As you might expect, this is all still in the early stages, but the researchers see plenty of possibilities for the future, from bringing a sense of touch to artificial limbs to using the same technology to monitor stress on bridges.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: PhysOrg

Source: American Technion Society

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How To Buy And Rent Commercial Properties - Maynas Eric

It is true that commercial investment tends to be more profitable than residential property investment. Finding the right opportunity is not easy. Therefore, the following tips will make it easier for you to get good deals in commercial real estate.

Take note that commercial transactions take more time, they are complex and they take more involvement than home purchases are. If you want things made easier, you might want to change what you?re getting yourself into. The fact is that commercial real estate brings in a higher return, therefore the process must be more intense.

In the beginning, a great deal of time might be required to spend on your investment. First you will need to find a property that you think is worth purchasing, and you may have to remodel or repair it. Even though this work takes time, don?t lose heart! You may need to spend some time researching before buying your commercial real estate purchase, but it will pay off in the end.

TIP! Prior to investing massive sums of money in a property, take a hard look at community income averages, as well as employment rates, and how much hiring and firing nearby businesses are doing. Think about what locations are near where you are thinking of buying.

When you are picking between commercial properties, think big! Financing may be no more difficult for the large apartment building than the small one. Just think about it as the more you buy the lower you are paying per unit, so you save more in the end.

Always have an inspector look over your commercial property before you put it out on the market. Listen carefully to the inspector?s report so that you can immediately repair any problems.

When selling commercial property, advertise locally and outside of your region. Most individuals make the error of thinking that only the people in their area are the ones interested in purchasing their property. Many private investors are interested in cheap or affordable properties in other areas of the country or world.

TIP! Whether you want to rent or lease, you will have to deal with pest control. You should make inquiries regarding pest control procedures, particularly if you plan to lease somewhere that is known for insect or rodent infestations.

Assess what you need before you look for commercial properties. You should list the most important things that you are looking for, such as space, restrooms, conference rooms, etc.

The new space you purchase might need some upgrades and repairs prior to occupation. It could be as simple as a coat of paint or replacing some carpet. Oftentimes, moving walls and other fixtures is required to redistribute the floorplan. Negotiate in advance who pays for these improvements or try to get the landlord to pay for at least a portion of the costs.

There isn?t just one type of broker for commercial real estate. Full service brokers work with both landlords and tenants and there are agents representing tenants only. A broker who works only with tenants should have more experience and should represent a better choice for you.

TIP! If you are planning to rent your commercial properties once you purchase them, opt for solidly constructed buildings that are simple in their design. These buildings give off an appearance of being well-maintained and are more inviting to potential tenants.

If you are just getting started investing, focus on just one category of investments. Find one property type to focus on and devote your undivided attention to it. Generally speaking, you?ll maximize your profit if you first become an expert in a single property type rather than a dabbler in many.

Consider all of the tax benefits when planning on commercial property investment. Not only are there interest deductions, but also depreciation benefits to be aware of. However, investors sometimes get ?phantom income?, this is a type of income which is taxed but it isn?t received as cash. Before you begin investing, you should be knowledgeable about this particular category of income.

TIP! Make sure the property you are interested in has access to utilities. Every business? needs are different, but at a minimum, most businesses will need power, sewer and water services.

Prior to purchasing anything, get together with your tax adviser. A good tax adviser can let you know what percentage of the income will be taxable, and exactly how much the building will cost you. An adviser could even help you find an area with lower taxes.

Interview your prospective real estate broker to determine what they view as failures and successes, to see if their standards match yours. Find out their criteria for deciding whether a result is good or not. Strive to understand the various strategies that they employ. If your own views differ greatly from a potential broker, you two may be incompatible for a business relationship.

Determine the negotiation methods of real estate brokers you are considering. You can ask them how much experience and training they actually have. Look for a broker who always adopt an ethical approach, has values and know where to get good deals. Ask to see the broker?s portfolio. He should be able to provide you examples of successful negotiations. Also ask the broker to give you an example of an unsuccessful negotiation and explain what he learned from the experience.

TIP! You also want to take into consideration the neighborhood that your real estate is in when you purchase commercially. Buying property in an affluent neighborhood is likely to mean that any business which opens there will be successful thanks to having a clientele with a large disposable income.

By now, you should feel comfortable with the fundamentals of business real estate. Make sure you are flexible so that you can always be informed and know what to do in any type of situation. If you do this, you?ll develop an eye for deals that others might pass over, which will make you lots of money over time.

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/how-to-buy-and-rent-commercial-properties-5

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Windows 8.1: Coming soon to a PC near you.

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