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WatchGuard Technologies Launches Industry’s First Enterprise-Level UTM Solution

watchguard_logoWatchGuard Technologies announced the WatchGuard Firebox T10 Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution, a network security appliance that allows enterprises to extend powerful network security to Small Office Home Office (SOHO) environments. With 70 percent of high-value employees working at home at least once a week, the new solution allows network administrators to ensure robust protection of employees who are often managing the companies’ most critical intellectual property. The Firebox T10 features WatchGuard’s cloud-based Rapid Deploy capability, which instantly self-configures and begins reporting back to the administrator’s central console by simply plugging in the appliance.

“It’s no secret that attackers go for the weakest link when trying to get into a corporate network and this is often a home office or small office user. Yet, many organizations continue to rely on little or no security,” said Mike Jude, Senior Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “The ability to leverage the power of a UTM solution, like the Firebox T10, in remote locations and manage them from a single, central console, gives IT a powerful tool for administering and enforcing policy. And, it gives them a clear understanding of what’s happening across their network – sum total.”

According to a recent global WatchGuard survey of IT professionals, more than 82 percent allow employees to access the corporate network from a small office or home office location. However, nearly 30 percent do not require a gateway security device. For those that do, only 23 percent require users to use security products similar to those used in the corporate headquarters, with features such as Intrusion Prevention, AntiVirus, Data Loss Prevention, Application Control, AntiSPAM, and more.

In the same study, WatchGuard also found that 56 percent feel basic VPN access provides the needed protection against today’s SOHO threat landscape. WatchGuard’s Director of Security Strategy, Corey Nachreiner, says that VPN access is not complete security. “VPN access has long been the standard for protecting communications for home-based employees,” said Nachreiner. “However, if your endpoint device is not protected at the same level as your enterprise network, the VPN tunnel simply provides an open window into your business. You need to protect both, and the Firebox T10 is designed to make that easy and cost effective.”

As the Firebox T10 rolls out to the market, WatchGuard anticipates the small, cost-effective solution will also appeal to customers seeking full UTM protection for mobile kiosks and carts, such as those used in retail and health care environments, that regularly handle credit cards and personal information-and must meet the same stringent PCI and HIPAA compliance standards as larger offices and businesses.

Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs Reports on Latest Mobile Malware

fortinet_logoFortinet announced the findings of its FortiGuard threat landscape research for the period of January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013. 2013 was a bumper crop for malware targeting mobile devices. Looking back at the entire year FortiGuard Labs observed Android was the dominant platform of choice for malware developers, representing 96.5% of all mobile malware infections detected by FortiGuard Labs. Symbian was a distant second at 3.45% and iOS, BlackBerry, PalmOS and Windows together don’t even warrant 1%.

“The rapid growth of malware targeting Android continues to be of concern to system administrators who have implemented a mobile device strategy on their networks,” said Axelle Apvrille, senior mobile antivirus researcher with Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs. “FortiGuard Labs detected over 1,800 new distinct families of viruses in the past year, and the majority of those are targeting Google’s Android platform. Looking at the growth of Android malware, we can see that there is much to be concerned about in 2014. The growth shows no signs of slowing; in fact, the growth seems to be accelerating. As more Android-based devices are purchased and taken online, the opportunities for attackers to infect increases as well.”

While attacks on platforms such as Symbian wane, attackers have made Android the number one mobile target. The NewyearL.B Android malware, which was bundled inside seemingly harmless downloads like a flashlight application, continued to target millions of devices and was the number one mobile malware family seen all year. Unwitting or unaware users looking to try out the latest games or apps find themselves unknowingly sharing a wealth of personal information with an attacker, leading to obtrusive advertisements and other negative effects, such as allowing NewyearL.B permission to add and remove system icons and modify and delete the contents of any external storage. And the distribution of Android malware continues to accelerate.

“Clearly cybercriminals are putting a substantial amount of effort into churning out hundreds of thousands of new variants daily in the hopes that some of them will be successfully implanted on a target device,” Apvrille concluded.

Earlier in 2013, FortiGuard Labs reported on the ZeroAccess botnet and how its controllers were systematically adding about 100,000 new infections weekly, leading researchers to believe that the person or persons behind it were not only paying a substantial amount of money weekly to generate new affiliate infections, but that they were able to make a significant amount of money doing so.

“Like other cybercriminals, ZeroAccess’s owners have taken pages from the playbooks of legitimate businesses and made successful attempts to diversify their income generation,” said Richard Henderson, security strategist with Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs. “We saw 32- and 64-bit versions of ZeroAccess being used to commit click fraud, search engine poisoning and to mine Bitcoin. With the dramatic rise in Bitcoin value over 2013, it’s likely that the owners of ZeroAccess have profited substantially on the backs of their victims.”

Apacer Launches the “FlowerCandy” AH172 Mobile Flash Drive For Tabs and Smartphones

Apacer27-2-14Apacer rolls out the “FlowerCandy” AH172 Mobile flash drive dedicated to Android smartphones and tablet PCs supporting USB OTG (On-The-Go). Taking the shape of a flower, the colorful AH172 “FlowerCandy” is like a love token for lovers! Whenever you want to share the video clips and photos in your mobile device, simply connect AH172 and in no time the files can be transferred successfully instead of a laptop to transport files.

It is so quick and easy that AH172 “FlowerCandy” is your best buying option to share files as well as fun. The AH172 “FlowerCandy” comes in huge capacities: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB, which add ultra-big storage to your smartphones/tablet PCs.
Due to the stress of modern life, a healing gadget with cute look, playful design will become a market hit. AH172 features both “useful” and “healing”. Users can enjoy the whopping storage space as well as the flexible hand feel, thanks to its eco-friendly silica gel casing. Once you have the AH172 in your hands, you’ll find it’s irresistible. This is how it effectively comforts you and releases your pressure from life!

Available in two matching colors, “Romantic Peach” and “Fresh Blue,” the flower-shaped candy is the best love token for lovers. The sweetness of love and the bitterness of jealousy can finally turn out to be the subtle happiness of romance. AH172 embodies such refined affection into a piece of colorful, flowery candy — like a heart-to-heart secret kept between lovers.

As 16 GB remains the standard storage capacity for most smartphones, such limited space prevents users from storing large quantity of app-related data, recorded videos and photos. If you want to enjoy digital content such as e-books, music and video clips, Apacer mobile flash drive is always the best option to expand the capacity. Whenever and wherever you are, AH172 “FlowerCandy”, which comes in three capacities (8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB), can easily add large storage space to your smartphone and tablet PC!

You can connect AH172 “FlowerCandy” mobile flash drive to any OTG-compatible Android smartphone/tablet PC in no time. This means that you can have fun sharing with your friends the digital content (such as video clips or photos) in your phone. You don’t have to bring your laptop. All you need is an Apacer mobile flash drive — whereby the files can be easily and quickly transferred to your friend’s smartphone/tablet PC at any time. Simply by connecting the USB adapter supplied with the product, AH172 “FlowerCandy” soon becomes a standard USB 2.0 flash drive. Compatible with all computers and USB devices, the gadget can add spice as well as speed to your digital life.

MWC – AMD and BlueStacks to Bring New Dual-OS Android Solution to Retail

amd_logoAMD announced the retail availability of a new BlueStacks dual-OS Android solution, optimized for AMD APUs, with expected consumer availability in the second half of 2014. The AMD and BlueStacks joint solution brings the complete Google Android OS experience to select Microsoft Windows-based AMD-based tablets, 2-in-1s, notebooks and desktops in select retail stores.

The availability in retail stores of the virtualized Android solution, unveiled at CES earlier this year, will allow consumers to easily access  both Windows and Android environments, side-by-side, on select AMD-based PCs.  The BlueStacks solution will first be made available with several key retail partners across EMEA later this year, including Elkjop Group.

“The ability to span two OS ecosystems gives end-users access to both Windows and Android apps, but the key is providing for the seamless integration of entertainment and productivity across those ecosystems,” said Steve Belt, corporate vice president, Product Management, at AMD. “Introducing our solution in retail puts AMD and BlueStacks in a unique position to offer in-store customers the option to include access to this great experience at the time of purchase of their new systems.”

PC buyers will have the choice of an AMD-BlueStacks upgrade when buying an AMD-based PC at select retailers. Easy integration of BlueStacks for retail customers effectively bridges the divide between mobile and PC, and the retail solution requires no additional driver or extension support.

“Android-Ready PCs are the future. With BlueStacks technology, consumers can turn their AMD Windows –based PC into an Android-ready device and enjoy mobile content, games and apps on their PC and sync with their mobile phone,” said Rosen Sharma, CEO, BlueStacks. “Retail availability brings our solution to the masses, and AMD shares our enthusiasm in giving consumers the ability to enjoy Android entertainment and useful apps together with Windows productivity and gaming, on a single PC.”

As with the AMD-BlueStacks solution announced at CES 2014, the retail solution won’t require the user to disengage from one OS before using another; the AMD and BlueStacks solution runs Android virtually within Windows. The customization, settings and personalization capabilities expected from an Android device are made available in a Windows environment. The retail solution also supports easy synchronization of the two environments through BlueStack’s FoneLink service that enables AMD Windows-based PCs to become an extension of Android mobile devices and vice versa.

WD Debuts Surveillance-Class Hard Drive Line

wd26-2-14WD (Western Digital) announced the availability of WD Purple, a purpose-built line of 3.5-inch, high-capacity hard drives for surveillance applications. Designed specifically for video surveillance units, WD Purple hard drives excel in new and existing home and small business security environments with up to eight hard drives and up to 32 high-definition (HD) video cameras. Shipping today, WD Purple hard drives are available in capacities from 1 TB up to 4 TB.

“By expanding our ‘Power of Choice’ product portfolio with WD Purple, we make it simple for our VARs, integrators and consumers to select the right drive engineered for their application and validated with our industry leading surveillance partners,” said Matt Rutledge, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s Storage Technology group.  “WD optimized the WD Purple line of hard drives for surveillance applications to improve high-definition video playback, and operate in 24×7 workloads of surveillance environments.”

“Different from ordinary desktop hard drives designed for eight hours of daily operation, WD Purple drives have the built-in reliability to operate in Hikvision home and small business system installations so critical video footage is available when it is needed most,” said Ying Yang, director of testing, Hikvision. “An additional benefit of WD Purple drives is they support up to eight drives and 32 HD cameras so there is the flexibility to expand for future system coverage.”

“The biggest trend impacting the video surveillance market in recent years has been the transition from analog cameras to network cameras,” said Jon Cropley, principal analyst for video surveillance at IHS Technology. “With enhanced resolution, wide dynamic range and day/night functionality in cameras increasing, demand for storage solutions capable of accommodating large volumes of video will also increase.”

Optimized to withstand the demands of always-on digital PVR, DVR and NVR recording environments, WD Purple hard drives offer low power consumption and many advanced performance features.

GIGABYTE Combines Affordability with the Best of 8 Series Motherboards

Gigabyte26-2-14GIGABYTE is offering a range of its 8 Series motherboards at prices that the average Indian PC user will find attractive. These select motherboards offer significant improvements in performance and power consumption with the latest 4th generation Intel Core processors and Intel B85, H87 and Z87 chipsets.

These motherboards, namely GA-B85M-D3H, GA-H87M-D3H and GA-Z87M-D3H, come with a wide range of new technologies, which include industry-leading digital power delivery, advanced network and device charging, gold plated hardware, new designed UEFI DualBIOS, GIGABYTE App Center and of course, attractive looks.

GIGABYTE DualBIOS is an exclusive technology from GIGABYTE that protects the BIOS, which is perhaps your PC’s most crucial component. In other words, GIGABYTE DualBIOS means that your motherboard has both a ‘Main BIOS’ and a ‘Backup BIOS’, protecting you from BIOS failure due to virus attack, hardware malfunction, improper OC settings or power failure during the update process.

Moreover, GA-B85M-D3H, GA-H87M-D3H as well as GA-Z87M-D3H feature the GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 4 Plus technology that debuted on GIGABYTE 8 Series motherboards. This technology comprises a range of features and component choices that provide record-breaking performance, cool and efficient operation, and extended motherboard lifespan. All GIGABYTE motherboards use All Solid Caps (Capacitors) and Low RDS (on) MOSFETs which are rated to work at higher temperatures to provide a longer lifespan.