IT News

Tips to protect your PC from Hackers

In the last decade, cryptography researchers have shown that even the most secure-seeming computer is shockingly susceptible to attack.
The time it takes a computer to store data in memory, fluctuations in its power consumption and even the noises it emits can betray information to a savvy assailant.
Attacks that use such indirect sources of information are called side-channel attacks, and the increasing popularity of cloud computing makes them an even greater threat.

Supercomputer on rent for an hour

The supercomputer game has traditionally been the playground of giants - government agencies and a handful of major corporations. But cloud computing is leveling even this elite realm of technology, a development underlined by an announcement at a conference on Thursday.
A 20-person company, Cycle Computing, a leader in supercomputer software, recently lashed together a massive supercomputing cluster, with 50,000 processors , on Amazon Web Services to do drug compound simulations. Its software was essentially the operating system, tapping resources from several Amazon data centers.

Demand for Oracle Exadata database machines in Indian Increased

NEW DELHI: Oracle claimed it is experiencing strong demand for its Exadata database machines in India. However, the company did not disclose the number of machines sold so far in India.
Exadata database machines are a part of Oracle's engineered systems family, which are designed to help organizations simplify their IT infrastructure.
In past couple of years, Oracle registered a triple digit growth in sales of Exadata. It has so far sold nearly 2000 machines in 67 countries, including India, making it the fastest growing product in Oracle's 32 years of existence.

Social networking makes girls mean

A leading public school headmistress has warned that social networking sites and celebrities are creating a generation of "mean girls".
In a fierce attack, Helen Wright said sites such as Facebook encouraged teenagers to believe "bitching is good".
"They're far more used to defriending friends online rather than befriending them in reality. If it's possible in just a moment to defriend someone or unfriend them on Facebook, then people say, "Why can't I do that in real life?" the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

Facebook proposes privacy-policy updates

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook, responding to a European regulator's request, proposed privacy-policy changes that would disclose more information on how it handles user data. 

Under a proposal, Facebook would publish more detail on how long data can be held, what happens when accounts are deactivated and what kinds of ads could be shown to users even when they're not on Facebook's pages, theMenlo Park, California-based company said today on its site. 

Mark Zukerberg pay $903 million in taxes

NEW YORK: The US tax authorities are in for a major windfall from Facebook chief Mark Zukerberg, as the upcoming IPO of the social networking giant could make him pay in taxes as much as $903 million (about Rs 5,000 crore).
Interestingly, his total estimated tax payout amounts to more than 85 per cent of the total proceeds of about $1.045 billion Zuckerbeg is expected to rake in from part sale of his own shares in Facebook -- leaving him with a net cash proceeds of just about $142 million (about Rs 700 crore).