Google now not allows Gmail users to show off HTTPS encryption. The move protects data going between Google’s servers and users. 10 Great Google Apps Tips (Click image for larger view) Moving to revive trust in cloud computing services, Google said Thursday that it has made encrypted HTTPS connections mandatory for Gmail. “Today’s change implies that nobody can snoop on your messages as they commute between you and Gmail’s servers — whether you’re using public WiFi or logging in out of your computer, phone or tablet,” Nicolas Lidzborski, Google security engineering lead, wrote in a blog post. The company turned HTTPS on by default in 2010. From then formerly, users were ready to disable it — for the sake of marginal speed gains or compatibility — but not. Google has long been on the forefront of online security, partially out of necessity, since it is usually targeted by hackers. It was among the first online companies to introduce two-step authentication. And it says Google Apps... Read More »

California bill directs mobile hardware makers to incorporate the way to disable stolen communications devices. Will privacy concerns be addressed? Lost Smartphone? 6 Free Tracking Apps (click image for larger view) California State Senator Mark Leno on Friday introduced a bill that, if passed, would require makers of mobile communications devices sold within the state after Jan. 1, 2015 to incorporate technology that could render such devices inoperable when lost or stolen. The mandated technology, commonly called a “kill switch,” might be implemented in software or hardware, but ought to be ready to survive a factory reset. To conform, companies may need to do additional engineering work on their mobile devices — factory resets typically erase all data by reformatting storage media and can not be established to address exceptions. The desired fine for the absence of a kill switch ranges from $500 to $2,500 per violation. The bill stipulates that the physical action essential to disable the kill switch may only be taken by... Read More »

DRaaS offerings are mature and constant. Now IT just must think differently about continuity. It’s 3:30 a.m. in a raging supercell thunderstorm. Did you know where your disaster recovery plan is? How about your backup data, redundant servers, and rancid-site facility? Are you able to spin up mission-critical business applications? And no, two out of 3 isn’t ok. Everyone pays lip service to the significance of resiliency, but CIOs have plenty of priorities, with more added on daily basis: work out whether software-defined networking is a fit, how much of the IT budget the CMO now controls, and the way the heck DevOps would ever work here. Spending hundreds of staff hours and 7 figures to mitigate a 1%, or perhaps 10%, risk scenario — after which keeping that plan current in today’s level of technology churn — doesn’t look like an awesome return on investment if you are struggling to fulfill new service requests. Consequently, just 41% of respondents to our InformationWeek 2014 State... Read More »

Salesforce.com has learned a number of lessons from the social network, and it shows in its enterprise applications. Facebook is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, and the milestone put Saleforce.com within the mood to touch upon the social network’s impact on enterprise software. It was five years ago that Saleforce.com CEO Marc Benioff told top managers that he wanted them all to get on Facebook because, he said, “here’s the direction we have to elect the software we bring to our customers,” recounts Peter Coffee, some of the executives who attended the meeting. That directive soon ended in a public “Facebook Imperative” blog by Benioff and was followed later in 2010 by the introduction of Salesforce Chatter, the collaborative social feed and micro-blogging tool since exposed pervasively through the vendor’s applications and platform. You could say, “and anything else is history,” but that wouldn’t really capture the level to which Salesforce.com has embraced the Facebook way, in step with Coffee, VP of strategic research... Read More »

Google desires to solve some misperceptions about Glass. We have got our own views at the truth. Tech’s Rich And Famous: Who’s Most Charitable? (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Google Glass provides a brand new perspective at the world, but people have trouble seeing it for what this is: a piece in progress. To chase away against misperceptions about its computer-augmented eyewear, Google on Thursday published a listing of the end 10 Google Glass Myths. “In its relatively short existence, Glass has seen some myths develop around it,” Google explained on its Google+ page for Glass. “While we’re flattered by the awareness, we thought it will probably make sense to tackle them, simply to clear the air.” Yet Google has not addressed perhaps an important question about Glass: Does it have a future? Technology blogger Robert Scoble, an early fan of Google Glass, published a Google+ post on Wednesday expressing doubts about Google’s commitment to the project. Scoble, who thrives on taking provocative... Read More »