Summer security: 4 warm-weather worries
Think summer means emptier offices and less to worry about in the security department? Not anymore.
According to the security experts we spoke with, more mobile devices, and folks using their own smartphones to access corporate networks, means summer vacations pose a new kind of risk these days. And while the financially-motivated criminals may be on vacation, the politically-motivated "hacktivists" actually view summer as a prime time to strike.
Read on for the four security threats you should be on guard for during these warm months. Read more...
Microsoft sets Office 15 public beta for summer 2012
Microsoft today announced it has kicked off a "technical preview" of the next version of its money-making Office suite and promised a public beta will ship this summer.
The move is a repeat of the route Microsoft took with Office 2010, which was distributed to a select group of testers as a technical preview in July 2009.
Microsoft said little about "Office 15," the code name for the product, and nothing about its Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint applications in a blog post Monday that announced the preview.
"I'm not able to share too much about Office 15, but I can tell you Office 15 is the most ambitious undertaking yet for the Office Division," wrote P.J. Hough, the executive who leads the Office division. "With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio." Read more...
Vacation interruptus: Don’t let an office tech crisis ruin your getaway
Planning on taking a vacation this summer? If you're a tech manager, you may find yourself with unwanted baggage -- guilt, anxiety over how things are going in your absence or even concern about the status of your job.
That's because these days the need for time off takes a back seat to job survival and "the need to be needed," says Judy Arteche-Carr, managing director with Arteche Global Group, a management consulting company.
That situation can be particularly acute in high tech. "Businesses' perception of IT is high-availability, and that extends to managers," she explains.
IT staffers aren't the only ones feeling the vacation pinch, according to a poll conducted by CareerBuilder at the end of May. Of the 5,600 full-time U.S. workers polled, 24% reported they have had to work while their families went on vacation without them, and 16% said they gave up vacation days in the previous year because they didn't have time to use them. Read more...