Technology

Due to you-know-what (if I have to type "corona" or "COVID" again, I'll scream), enterprises have been forced to send a massive number of employees into makeshift home offices within just a few days. That means that there was no time for the security niceties, such as properly processing RFPs for apps that were thoroughly vetted. Given the emergency, employees and IT teams worked with what they could, figuring that they would improve security on the fly as soon as circumstances permitted.

That brings us to MFA. Multifactor authentication is supposed to be just that, but it's typically deployed in the least secure manner — sending straight numeric texts to a mobile device, a tactic that is well-known to be susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks. So, are there better ways to deploy MFA, something that can be easily executed under today's far-less-than-ideal conditions? Let's dig in.

To read this article in full, please click here

Amid concerns about the coronavirus, Apple released its latest iPad Pro and MacBook Air without an official event in mid-March. But one piece of hardware was noticeably absent… the iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2. Early rumors suggested a March 31st announcement, but we haven&t heard anything from Apple yet. MacworldMichael Simon joins Juliet to discuss how the coronavirus has impacted the iPhone 9 launch, clues to its official release date and what features to expect in Applenewest budget phone.

To read this article in full, please click here

Way back when, in the days before Mark Zuckerbergtreachery was a trending Twitter topic, the tech industry was said to have boundless potential to improve the world. Plus, there was boundless money to be made! Then the trolls, criminals, predators, and demagogues marched into the public squares that tech built, and the tragedy of the digital commons unfolded on a global scale. And big tech wasn&t averse to monetizing that, either.

So tech was disastrously tarnished — until a few weeks ago, when, torn from our open-plan offices and trapped in our homes, we discovered the digital tools that connect us are lifelines. Those of us lucky enough to continue working as the economy implodes are compulsively embracing collaboration software, from project planners to videoconferencing apps. Suddenly, public appreciation for what engineers labor tirelessly to build has risen again.

To read this article in full, please click here

With most of (if not everyone in) your household now working from home, you&re perhaps asking more of your home network than ever before. Multiple devices may now be hosting a video conference, streaming and using chat tools all at the same time. On top of those demands, you may also be accessing sensitive company data from home. Your home Wi-Fi network needs to be both fast and secure. PCWorld/MacworldMichael Simon joins Juliet and gives tips on how to prioritize certain traffic on your home network, boost speeds and secure it all without leaving your house.

To read this article in full, please click here

This big international airport has a huge computerized central control system thatmaintained by an on-site field engineer — with help from the vendor half a world away.

&The software engineers relied heavily on the knowledge and expertise of the field engineer to install our software on the running system,& says a support pilot fish working for the vendor.

One day, the field engineer calls the vendor to say that the systemBitBus device — which relays data between a network of sensors and the central control server — has a bug in its software.

According to the engineer, the BitBus device runs fine for a day or two. But then it begins &jabbering& — spewing corrupted messages onto the network — and has to be reset.

To read this article in full, please click here

More and more tech companies are stepping up to the plate to assist frontline workers and healthcare organizations as the coronavirus continues to take its toll around the world. ComputerworldKen Mingis joins Juliet to discuss how tech companies are helping, from working with supply chains to donate PPE, to providing comprehensive statistics about the virus.

To read this article in full, please click here