Based on data provided by Slowmist Hacked, Atlas VPN found that hacks on Ethereum and Solana’s ecosystems resulted in more than $1 billion in losses alone during Q1.

The Ethereum ecosystem lost nearly $636 million to attackers in 18 hack events throughout Q1 2022—the largest of which cost the platform 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC worth $610 million. 

The Solana ecosystem, a rival to Ethereum, suffered five hack attacks in 2022 Q1 at cost of $397 million. Wormhole, a communication bridge between Solana and other decentralized finance (DeFi) networks, was the second most significant hack of the quarter, resulting in a loss of $334 million. 

The $1 billion cybercrime haul also includes 14 hacks of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem at a loss of nearly $100 million and  IRA Financial Trust, which handles self-directed retirement accounts, loss of $36 million to a crypto hack.

Cybercriminals top target were NFTs, which suffered $49 million in losses after 20 hacks, while exchanges lost $42 million over the course of three hacks. 

Also read: DeFi: Should Wall Street Be Worried?

The Growing Threat to Blockchain Ecosystems

In Q1 2018, cryptocurrency projects experienced a total of five blockchain-related hacks, according to Atlas VPN. The following year that number increased to 62m but dipped by 13 in Q1 2020. Q1 2021, hackers efforts jumped to 33, an increase of 154 percent—reaching an all time high of 78 hack events in Q1 2022. 

The rise of DeFi has opened a new, lucrative door for cybercriminals as more than 300 cryptocurrency companies have entered the market. Blockchain is generally thought of as secure, but this groundswell has introduced smaller exchanges that might not have the cybersecurity staff necessary to secure their new ecosystems. Often, the open availability of these platforms’ code gives hackers ample opportunity to plot attacks, as was the case in the Wormhole hack—the second largest such hack behind the Poly Network hack, which cost that cryptocurrency platform more than $600 million (the hacker later returned all of the funds). 

“Blockchain project security should be one of the primary concerns for a person looking to invest in cryptocurrency,” said Atlas VPN’s cybersecurity writer Vilius Kardelis. “Most blockchain-related hack events happen because cybercriminals exploit flaws in the project code. A successful hack could cause significant losses to the creators and investors of the crypto platform.”

Read next: Enabling Data Security with Homomorphic Encryption

The post Blockchain Hackers Cost Crypto Ecosystems More Than $1B in Q1 2022 appeared first on IT Business Edge.

In recent years, automated ML (AutoML) has become a tool to simplify steps in the ML process, allowing enterprises that want to introduce AIOps into their operations to do so cheaply. However, aligning data processing with business operations can be daunting. AutoML  is increasingly being used to bring the AI-driven automation learning curve down for organizations across all sectors  that are invested in working with people both skilled and unskilled in machine learning methodologies—allowing for greater ease in quickly building effective and viable AI models. 

What is AutoML?

AutoML is the automation of common ML modeling processes to allow data scientists and non-experts (also referred to as citizen data scientists) to successfully make ML models. It does this by automatically preparing and cleaning raw data and creates models using the relevant information pulled from that data—becoming a powerful data visualization and model deployment  tool.

AutoML is comprised of the following steps:

• Data preparation: Unstructured data is prepared, cleansed and converted into structured data that can be used as a model-training dataset. 
• Feature engineering: By analyzing the model-training dataset, autoML creates features that are compatible with ML algorithms. 
• Feature extraction: AutoML combines different features to create new features to enable more accurate results and reduce the amount of data being processed. 
• Feature selection: AutoML chooses the most useful features to generate a model. 
• Algorithm selection: The best-performing  model is chosen from among competing models based on a set of metrics.
• Hyperparameter optimization/tuning: Optimal hyperparameters are chosen as the basis for a learning algorithm. 

Also read: Adversarial Machine Learning: Combating Data Poisoning

AutoML Model Types

AutoML model types are based on the four data types—tabular (structured data), text, image, and video—that will be analyzed. 

• Tabular data: Used to train ML models to make predictions on new data.
• Text data: ML models can be made to analyze the structure and meaning of text using classification, information extraction, and inferred sentiment. 
• Image data: ML models to  analyze the contents of an image using classifications and object detection. 
• Video data: ML models used to classify videos based on a set of parameters, find selected actions, and track specific objects and people. 

Benefits of AutoML

As a code-free, automated process, AutoML allows organizations to quickly apply ML to various aspects of their business. It gives citizen data scientists the tools to build, iterate, and deploy models to gain valuable insights that underpin effective decision making, while it frees data scientists from the labor-intensive MLOps cycle. The result is more time and greater focus on model customization and analytics.    

Recent research on the adoption of autoML shows what a game changer it is becoming, with the market anticipated to grow from $346.2 million in 2020 to $14,830.8 million by 2030—a CAGR of 45.6% from 2020 to 2030. Enterprises across almost all business sectors are bound to benefit from the implementation of autoML as digital transform initiatives drive the need for more data scientists and experts as well as a reduction in the costs and time spent in creating ML models. 

Key benefits of autoML for enterprises include: 

• Rapid deployment of ML models: With citizen data scientists empowered to build ML models alongside more experienced data scientists, organizations can more quickly deploy effective and better performing solutions. 
• Increased productivity: For data scientists more time can be spent on supervising more complex ML model builds and implementations, including in edge computing and data storage environments. 
• Better business analytics: AutoML quickly delivers analytics that can be used in a number of ways, including building better customer experiences, detecting fraud, and managing inventory. 

Also read: Top 8 AI and ML Trends to Watch

The Future of AutoML

As the integration of ML and AI continue to evolve enterprises into automated powerhouses, AutoML plays a key role in democratizing the processes needed to sustain that push. With data scientists currently in high demand to help fuel that digital transformation, having AutoML as a tool to train a pool of citizen data scientists in delivering effective solutions to solve a host of old and new problems opens the gates to further both technological and cultural innovations.  

Read next: Best Machine Learning Software

The post What is AutoML? appeared first on IT Business Edge.

The addition of the Threat Protection feature is part of a broader effort by NordVPN to shift into the cybersecurity space, notes Vykintas Maknickas, product strategist at NordVPN. 

“With the introduction of Threat Protection, we will be able to offer more services and more comprehensive protection that doesn’t depend merely on your VPN connection,” Maknickas said in a statement. 

Also read: Best Vulnerability Management Tools 2021

Threat Protection Features

NordVPN has highlighted three kinds of threats that Threat Protection mitigates: 

• Web trackers and malicious ads. The feature allows you to monitor and manage the blocked trackers in real time. 
• Harmful websites. When used while browsing the web, the feature displays a warning prompt prior to the page loading—allowing you to exit instead of continuing on to a harmful site.
• Infected files. When downloading files from the internet, the feature will scan for malware and, if no threats are detected, the file will be marked as safe without any interruptions. If  malware is found, the file will be deleted before it can do any harm. A log of the scanned files is always available for you to view. 

To utilize Threat Protection, users need to download the latest OpenVPN version of the NordVPN app from the official website. Once enabled, the feature will protect users without them needing to connect to a VPN server. 

Threat Protection is currently available for all macOS users and is being gradually rolled out for Windows.

“Threat Protection takes what was once the task of antivirus software and merges it with NordVPN,” says Vykintas Maknickas, product strategist at NordVPN. “Regardless of how long you have been using the internet, you can end up falling victim to some kind of precarious website or download. This is exactly why Threat Protection was introduced — to add a layer of security to make your online browsing safer, cleaner, and more private.”

Taking a Seat at the Cybersecurity Table

NordVPN is part of Nord Security, which is aggressively moving toward being an all-around cybersecurity solutions provider. Earlier this month, the company merged with cybersecurity firm Surfshark to gain a great foothold in the digital security and privacy protection industries. The deal aims to streamline the collective resources of both companies while preserving their autonomy and providing a springboard for greater innovation. 

“Consolidations in the global consumer cybersecurity market indicate the industry’s maturity,” said Vytautas Kaziukonis, founder of Surfshark. “They also bring new competitive challenges. Nord Security and Surfshark joining forces will set the ground to scale in different digital security dimensions, which is necessary to meet the growing requirements of our customers.”

Read next: Top Five Vulnerabilities Attackers Use Against Browsers

The post NordVPN Enters Antivirus Market with Launch of Threat Protection appeared first on IT Business Edge.

The Automate Bot Store features more than 150 free, downloadable bots for common tasks involving Microsoft applications, SAP, Zendesk, Salesforce, Adobe Creative Suite, and many more. Once users download a bot, they can implement it into their Automate environment and configure it to their needs — without writing any code.

HelpSystems’ Ravi Dirckze, who serves as the company’s technical product manager, told IT Business Edge that Automate’s no-code automation works through form-based, drag-and-drop functionality that enables users to quickly build bots leveraging more than 600 pre-built automation actions. 

“Bots can be deployed as attended or unattended offering users strong deployment options in how they meet their automation needs,” Dirckze adds. 

Other key features of the Automate Bot Store include: 

• Bots that can be combined with HelpSystems services experts to build more robust, complex solution bots for customers. 
• Bots that provide usable automation code that customers can modify and transform to their unique situation.

Also read: How Will RPA Affect the Workplace?

The Automate Recorder

The platform also features the Automate Recorder, which allows users and developers to build, update, and create real-world automation for both desktop and browser-based applications to build automation even faster — achieved with a step recorder that allows users to test, debug, and update their recordings as well as interject decision-making logic to create recordings that mimic the more complex work done by humans.

Drickze notes that the Automate Bot Store was created as a way to enhance HelpSystems’ RPA community and bring more value to its customers. 

“Automate is already easy to use but we often hear from customers how important the need to scale automation is at their organization.” Drickze says. “The Bot Store allows them to download simple but critical tasks they can leverage as a new automated task, or they can leverage these bots as enhancements to processes they already have in place. For instance, many customers have built GUI based automations to applications but now want to harden their processes using an API connector bot.” 

In addition to a user-to-user group called Automation Insiders, HelpSystems also provides RPA training and certification.

Read next: Top RPA Tools 2021: Robotic Process Automation Software

The post HelpSystems Launches the Automate Bot Store appeared first on IT Business Edge.

The report credits this automation acceleration to companies overwhelmed with the move from monolithic apps to microservices where service components within a single app must be secured and managed. Consequently, new monitoring tools are emerging to help developers collaborate under DevOps models and gain automated visibility into the impact of modern coding on underlying systems.

““Not only will these monitoring tools shorten lengthy feedback cycles, but they will also enhance the quality of apps moving through the pipeline, as well as help companies remain competitive and agile,” notes Charlotte Dunlap, Principal Analyst at GlobalData. 

GlobalData cites integrated analytics with monitoring solutions as one advancement underscoring observability alongside broad industry acceptance of interoperability OSS technology, such as OpenTelemetry, and innovative disruptors of the traditional monitoring space. 

Also read: AI and Observability Platforms to Alter DevOps Economics

The rise of observability, Dunlap notes, can be credited to a number of factors, including a change from  data-based to event-based architectures and increased focus on infrastructure as code — giving rise to an IT model that allows developers to have a  greater role in application lifecycle management. 

“The move towards emerging observability is helping it become a relevant part of the cloud’s value chain and important technology to watch,” Dunlap says. 

GlobalData anticipates that the observability market will evolve in the next 12 months to include more comprehensive solutions that provide application-level observability data alongside systems-level data delivered through pre-set parameters. Integrated observability will support event streaming to detect anomalies and instantaneously highlight areas of concern through machine learning by measuring baseline thresholds and learning over time via modeling when things are not consistent.

 “The future of observability,” notes Dunlap, “ is around ML-powered predictive and prescriptive analytics to enable proactive responses that prevent incidents.”

Read next: The Growing Relevance of Hyperautomation in ITOps

The post Report: Observability’s Growth to Evolve into Automation Solutions in 2022 appeared first on IT Business Edge.

“As the world moved to remote work a year and a half ago, it became clear that cybersecurity would need to follow workers home,” said Mario Queiroz, executive vice president, Palo Alto Networks in a statement. “We quickly and quietly assembled a team of some of the best consumer tech engineers and put them together with the exceptional teams who built Palo Alto Networks top security products. The result is Okyo Garde. It shows up as beautiful hardware and an easy app. But under the hood, it’s pure world-class security with constantly updated threat intelligence — the same technology that secures some of the world’s largest companies, banks, hospitals and the rest of our 85,000 worldwide customers.” 

Emphasizing WFH Security

Acknowledging the cybersecurity challenges faced by a dispersed workforce that often works from home, Palo Alto Networks seeks to address the threat landscape that exists on these home networks, where cybercriminals can access vulnerable entry points into the corporate network. Okyo Garde integrates with Prisma Access, the company’s cloud-delivered security platform, allowing corporations to extend their corporate networks and bring unified  security policy management and SASE (secure access service edge) to work-from-home employees. 

WFH employees can also use Okyo Garde to enable an additional separate, private Wi-Fi network for the rest of their home and family’s needs. This network will also have advanced security capabilities designed for consumers and will be solely under the control of the employee or other family members.

Also read: Best Enterprise Mobility Management Solutions & Software 2021

Addressing the Needs of Small Businesses

For small businesses, Okyo Garde offers malware and ransomware prevention, phishing protection, infected device detection, along and suspicious activity monitoring and control — all while delivering ultra-fast Wi-Fi.

The Okyo Garde mobile app makes it easy for businesses to have comprehensive control and visibility over their digital security and Wi-Fi network activity, and it helps make setup simple. The solution can be ordered  with the Okyo Concierge service, which provides 24/7 support or on-site troubleshooting.

“The changing nature of work from home is transforming the home network into a new, unmanaged enterprise edge,” said Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst, ZK Research. “Securing and managing the home as a branch extension of the enterprise network, at scale requires a new security, networking, and management paradigm. An approach that delivers enterprise-grade cybersecurity with consumer simplicity and is built upon the principles of Zero Trust.”

Pricing and Availability

Okyo Garde subscriptions for small businesses start at $349/year and include a mesh-enabled Wi-Fi 6 system. Pre-orders have begun with shipments expected to begin this fall.  Expanded distribution is expected from Palo Alto Networks NextWave partners later this year. Okyo Garde Enterprise Edition, with Prisma Access integration, is expected to be available from Palo Alto Networks and Palo Alto Networks NextWave partners in the U.S. in early 2022.

More information about Okyo Garde for small business is available at okyo.com and for enterprises at paloaltonetworks.com/okyo. 

Read next: Top EDR Tools & Software 2021

The post Palo Alto Networks Unveils Okyo Garde Cybersecurity Solution appeared first on IT Business Edge.

As we emerge from the life- and business-altering COVID-19 pandemic, how and where we work has also undergone rapid transformation. With new approaches developing to bridge the many hybrid work models to choose from, we spoke with Crestron’s Vice President of UC Enterprise Andrew Gross about how the company approached product development in the face of accelerated digital transformation, what the “equity of experience” means for the future of work, and how Crestron’s partnerships with Zoom and Microsoft are shaping how CIOs and IT administrators are integrating and managing unified communications systems. 

Llanor Alleyne: Crestron has been a big player in the home and enterprise tech space over the years. How has the pandemic reshaped your approach to product development, especially as it pertains to digital transformation, UC and UCC?

Andrew Gross: The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a workplace evolution, with the majority of companies moving their teams to remote seemingly overnight. Before the onset of the pandemic, most businesses averaged 7 to 15 percent of rooms with videoconferencing capabilities. By the end of March 2020, videoconferencing became the most critical communications tool for keeping businesses connected.

Now, 18 months later, we’ve learned a lot more about how to support the future of work and we continue to make changes and roll out new product updates and solutions. One example of a solution we developed using these learnings is the Crestron Flex Phones for Microsoft Teams, which we released a few months ago to address the surge in videoconferencing and increased reliance on Teams to support enterprise collaboration. By handling all audio, video, and content viewing, the Crestron Flex Phones free other devices, like a laptop or PC, to be used as a dedicated, purpose-built productivity tool for collaboration. This helps foster a collaboration experience that is more fruitful and less frustrating by minimizing inefficient task-switching, streamlining ad hoc communication, and allowing users to segment their schedule and workload more effectively.

The shift to work-from-home and now hybrid work models have pushed the needle on enterprise digital transformation across most industries. How has Crestron addressed this shift from a partnership standpoint, especially in your collaborations with Zoom and Microsoft Teams?

We believe workplace automation technology that not only comes loaded with seamless connectivity to software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, but also provides data analytics around room space and usage for decision-makers, are key to long standing success. Collaboration software has moved from a helpful feature to an essential enterprise tool to keep teams connected and productive. 

Our partnership with Microsoft and Zoom has blossomed into more than just a transactional “their software running on our hardware” relationship into one that is much more integrated, beginning at the design and development stage. Together, we work closely to ensure the next iteration of Crestron’s products better support the technology developments for the future of work that Microsoft and Zoom are creating. We work synchronously to create solutions for customers that deliver the best workplace experience, every time. From speech recognition technology that is optimized by the hardware it’s loaded on to camera support that enables the latest in Teams and Zoom software features to better democratize the meeting space, we are creating technology that best serve the way enterprise customers are working today.

With hybrid and remote work becoming a long-term workplace format, it is not enough for enterprises to only offer collaboration software for personal devices. It must be available natively through an array of enterprise hardware, easily accessible with one click of a button or by plugging in a personal device, in any meeting or workspace in an office. Our partnerships are essential to enabling these capabilities.

Also read: 5 Unified Communications Trends Defining a Post-COVID-19 World

In both of these partnerships, there has been a great focus on the “equity of experience.” Can you talk us through what that means and what that looks like in a hybrid work environment?

The equity of experience refers to the notion that any meeting participant, regardless of where they are physically opting to work, should feel fully integrated into the meeting’s collaboration and conversation.

Pre-pandemic, remote meeting participants were often unintentionally regarded as fringe attendees, with the focus being on the in-person group. After the shift to remote work, and recently, a hybrid model, the opposite is now true — in-person meeting attendees are now second-class in a virtual meeting. This is because video and audio are not dedicated to a single person as they are for virtual attendees, and the in-person group are all vying to be seen and heard. To create equitable meetings, employees need to be able to join any meeting, connect, and participate as efficiently as they would in person or virtually, every time.

any meeting participant, regardless of where they are physically opting to work, should feel fully integrated into the meeting’s collaboration and conversation.

Crestron, working with Microsoft and Zoom, are changing this. Using Crestron’s pioneering knowledge and innovation in audio and video solutions, we are bringing to market hardware that, when paired with the Teams and Zoom software features, democratizes the meetings experience, regardless of where you are, by creating individual streams of video per person and enhancing the audio functionality to be clearer and more personal.

There is also the experience of IT teams to consider in the future of hybrid work. On the surface, adding more devices to an enterprise network can be a burdensome task for IT departments, but IT teams can benefit from choosing a single vendor for a company’s UC technology as long as it is easy to deploy and manage in the cloud. Pre-pandemic, a mid-size office may have only had a small team managing IT needs for personal computers and laptops, along with a handful of meeting spaces that had less sophisticated AV or communication technology. This same IT team is now tasked with managing not only the IT systems, but communications technology that is likely being deployed across all the meeting spaces and offices.

We recognized that need at Crestron, even before the pandemic, as the digital transformation movement accelerated and developed XiO Cloud, a service that offers management, monitoring, and configuration of up to thousands of devices in the enterprise in the same time it takes to configure one.

What does Crestron bring to the table when trying to achieve “equity of experience” when integrating hybrid workspaces?

The reality is that the workplace of the future will need to be more than just a space for employees to come, do their work, and leave. It will have to be re-configured to become a space where collaboration and connection come first and employees can be transient, while also having the resources they need to effectively work and communicate together in-person.

A big component of supporting this change is creating meeting and huddle spaces that support equitable experiences — these changes must begin before a meeting space is even reserved. For example, in a Crestron workspace, remote scheduling capabilities allow participants to reserve and schedule rooms in advance to ensure availability and that the appropriate technology is present — this saves time and effort, boosting efficiency. Once in a room, cost-effective and easy to deploy occupancy sensors “turn on” rooms as participants enter, and initiate touch-free room and device automation. The meeting room is made up of the latest UC technology — a display (or two) that offer native support for Teams or Zoom, and a wireless presentation system that supports the latest video conferencing and collaboration technology, voice control, and allows for quick access for participants to present and share via their own devices efficiently. Each meeting participant, regardless of where they are located, can see and hear the conversation clearly, and share content within seconds — driving more productive and equitable hybrid meetings.

IT admins and CIOs should invest in technology that can be easily updated, managed, and configured as workplace dynamics continue to shift.

Behind the scenes, the meeting space is driven by data and high-performance networks. A cloud-based platform enables AV/IT departments and help desks to remotely deploy, manage, and monitor room and device usage. Sensors that collect occupancy data, send data and provide analytics to a cloud platform, help to ensure rooms are not overcrowded. This data also enables managers to understand the utilization of spaces to calculate real estate needs as changes continue post-pandemic.

UC and UCC have experienced a boom spurred on by the pandemic. As we reach the end of this global health crisis, how do you see IT administrators and CIOs further utilizing these tools to continue reshaping the nature of work and work environments? Where does Crestron position itself in continuing to shape that future?

Employees choosing hybrid work models will have little tolerance for an office environment that hinders their ability to easily connect and collaborate consistently. Therefore, the entire technology backbone of the hybrid office must work synergistically. Offices must be reconfigured and redesigned as not just a space with desks, computers, and meeting rooms, but a truly collaborative and dynamic place to meet and work together, from wherever employees are.

Having the ability to create flexible workspaces with scalable technologies in today’s office building is extremely valuable. IT admins and CIOs should invest in technology that can be easily updated, managed, and configured as workplace dynamics continue to shift.

At Crestron, we recognize that the way we work is still evolving. Our goal is to continue to listen to customer needs and industry changes, and develop solutions that make getting to work easier, more efficient, and impactful, to support more productive and equitable work environments.  

Read next: Best UCaaS Providers 2021

The post Crestron and the Equity of Experience in New Workplace Models appeared first on IT Business Edge.

The expansive order includes 72 initiatives spanning more than 12 federal agencies and tackles a number of economic obstacles, including non-compete and limiting agreements that hamper economic mobility, staggering drug prices, airline pricing and refund policies, and Big Tech mergers.

“Rather than competing for consumers they are consuming their competitors; rather than competing for workers they are finding ways to gain the upper hand on labor,” President Biden said during a press conference announcing the executive order. “Let me be clear: Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. It’s exploitation,” he said.

Clawing Back Big Tech

Taking aim at Apple, Facebook, Google and other tech giants, the executive order addresses four areas that the Biden administration sees as undermining competition and reducing innovation in the American economy. The order encourages the Federal Trade Commision to address:

• Decades of unchecked mergers and acquisitions that have stymied competition with more aggressive scrutiny, including greater attention paid to the acquisition of “nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by “free” products, and the effect on user privacy.”
• The unprecedented gathering of personal information and data by establishing rules on surveillance and the accumulation of data.
• Big Tech unfair competition with small businesses by establishing rules barring unfair methods of competition on internet marketplaces.
• The inability of consumers to independently repair products by issuing rules against anti-competitive restrictions on using independent repair shops or doing DIY repairs of your own devices and equipment. 

“We have to get back to an economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out,” President Biden said. “The executive order I’m soon going to be signing commits the federal government to full and aggressive enforcement of our antitrust laws. No more tolerance for abusive actions by monopolies, no more bad mergers that lead to mass layoffs, higher prices, fewer options for workers and consumers alike.”

The FTC’s Bite

President Biden’s focus on curbing the powers of Big Tech through the force of the FTC is not surprising. The agency — tasked with investigating antitrust violations and deceptive trade practices across corporate America, including Silicon Valley — is now being led by Linda Khan, who was appointed by Biden last month. Khan, a staunch Big Tech critic, has joined an agency that is currently investigating Amazon and recently filed a lawsuit against Facebook. 

In her opening statement during her nomination hearing in April, Khan noted, “I have built on this work as a legal scholar, where my focus has been to examine the history of America’s antimonopoly laws. This history reveals our long tradition of safeguarding core liberties through promoting competitive markets, and the wide arsenal of tools we have used to protect our economy and our democracy from unchecked monopoly power. Studying this tradition lets us mine our past for lessons we can apply when navigating challenges today.” 

With FTC Chair Khan in the lead, Biden’s soft use of the word “encourage” when lobbing competitive solutions against the driving force of Big Tech to the agency, now has more bite. 

The post Biden’s Sweeping Economic Executive Order Sets Eyes on Big Tech appeared first on IT Business Edge.

“The tech sector and the broader base of technology workers employed across the economy experienced several bumps during this turbulent period, but generally held up well,” noted the Cyberstates report. “In some cases, demand for technology services and infrastructure to support new remote work models, ecommerce, or revamped supply chains exploded, stretching the capacity of solution providers and MSPs.”

As the pandemic has reshaped approaches to work, so has IT hiring practices — with many companies now offering remote and hybrid work positions as a reflection of shifting work-life values and requirements of potential new employees. 

Here is a list of technology companies with IT or IT-related job openings right now. 

Cisco

Located in San Jose, CA, tech giant Cisco was recently named the #1 World’s Best Place to Work by Fortune magazine for the second time in a  row. In addition to an abundance of engineering positions, the company also has several global career opportunities in all areas of IT and technology development, including cloud, collaboration, and security. 

Cisco’s benefits packages are also impressive and include: tuition reimbursement, an employee stock purchase program, job swaps, flexible work practices, and employee discount programs. 

Current tech job openings at Cisco include: 

• Software Engineer, Data Center
• IT Project Manager
• UX Design Lead, Offsite
• Senior Network Engineer
• Identity and Access Management Technical Analyst IT

See Cisco’s list of job openings on the company’s careers page. 

IBM

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Presents, IBM’s CEO, CEO Arvind Krishna anticipated that 350,000 of IBM’s employees will choose a hybrid approach to returning to work — with many of them opting to come into the office two or three times a week and work remotely for the other days. Krishna also noted that expects the remaining 10% – 20% of IBM employees to opt in to full-time remote work or never return to the office altogether. 

IBM is among many multinational companies opting to let their employees choose what works from them, a signal that “normal” is not the same as  pre-March 2020 workforce practices. The company has also placed great emphasis on its global Diversity, Ethnicity, and Inclusion (DEI) with its Be Equal platform. 

Current job opportunities at IBM include: 

• Cloud Senior Developer – DevOps Lead
• Cloud Services Transformation Advisor
• Principal Privacy and Data Protection
• Offering Manager – Virtualization
• Data Engineer

See  more IBM job listings on the company’s career page. 

Accenture

Operations consulting giant Accenture is based in Dublin, Ireland, with more than 537,000 employees worldwide. Focused on providing its deep roster of clients with strategic services stretching across several industries – including software, platforms and high tech — the firm has ranked as one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and ranks number three on Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters) Diversity & Inclusion Index. 

Accenture’s tech jobs are focused on intelligent software engineering services and delivering client projects focused on robotics, intelligent automation, AI and more. Here are tech opportunities currently available:

• Technology Architecture Delivery Manager
• Technology Delivery Lead Senior Manager
• Technology Strategy Manager
• Digital Change Management Senior Manager, Midwest
• Analytics Strategy Manager – Communications, Media and Technology

See more job opportunities on Accenture’s careers page. 

TechnologyAdvice 

Nashville-based B2B technology marketing firm, TechnologyAdvice’s (TA) expressed goal is to create opportunities for technology buyers and vendors. The parent company of IT Business Edge, TA advises, educates and connects buyers and sellers of business technology across hundreds of verticals to help vendors grow their customer base. 

Recently ranked on Inc.’s Best Workplaces 2021, TA has also been named as one of Tennessee’s Top Workplaces in 2019 and 2020. In addition to offering several workplace options — in office, hybrid, or fully remote — TA’s company culture is shaped around core values focusing on appreciating and honoring colleagues while being fully transparent about day-to-day company operations. 

Here are tech job opportunities currently open at TA: 

• Senior DevOps Engineer
• Business Intelligence Manager
• Senior Software Engineer (Python)
• Data Analyst
• Senior IT Administrator

TA also accepts general applications. See more job listings on TA’s career page. 

Salesforce

Salesforce is the world’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform provider, with an emphasis on collaborative work between marketing, IT, sales, commerce, and service teams from anywhere. With a focus on diversity, career growth, and community wellness, Salesforce has been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Best Companies to Work For and Glassdoors’ Employee Choice Best Place to Work. 

Here tech job openings at Salesforce:

• Data Scientist, Ethical AI Practice
• Machine Learning Engineering
• Marketing Cloud Solution Architect, Remote
• Senior MySQL Database Engineer
• Director of Product Management, Technology Service Delivery

See more Salesforce technology job opportunities on the company’s career page. 

Read next: Work-From-Anywhere Shift Will Increase IT Costs

The post Top Tech Job Opportunities You Should Know About appeared first on IT Business Edge.

Often pushed to the edge of the network to maintain optimal network performance and to enhance network security, IoT devices are great data resources that can impact business decisions. Enterprises have adopted IoT to do everything from enhancing productivity to establishing systemwide automation. As we enter Industrial Revolution 4.0 — the great merging of artificial intelligence, IoT, and smart technology to monitor and manage automated processes without human interaction — managing the billions of IoT devices currently operating on cloud networks becomes an essential part of implementing a good IoT strategy. 

IoT Device Management Overview

• What is IoT Device Management?
• Benefits of IoT Device Management
• Best IoT Device Management Platforms & Software
  • AWS IoT Device Management
  • Cloud IoT Core
  • Azure IoT Hub
  • Oracle IoT Cloud Service
  • Datadog
  • IBM Watson IoT Platform
  • Particle

What is IoT Device Management?

IoT device management is a process that consists of provisioning, authenticating, configuring, controlling, monitoring and maintaining connected devices at scale. These steps allow for administrative monitoring and management of IoT ecosystems, providing notifications to administrators who can remotely troubleshoot problems and perform systemwide tasks, such as firmware updates. 

Here is how  IoT device management software works: 

• Provisioning or device registration adds a device to the system.
• Authentication establishes the device’s identity and ensures that it is secure and trusted in the system. 
• Configuration and control of IoT devices establishes firmware attributes and security settings. This allows for remote control of devices during and after deployment, including the ability to update a device’s functionality and firmware. 
• Monitoring and diagnostics provide insights into device health and send out notifications of anomalies and other network failures, allowing administrators to quickly and remotely address the problem. 
• Maintenance updates connected devices as well as adjust configurations to maintain device health and network security. 

Also read: Containers: Strengthening IoT Infrastructures

Benefits of IoT Device Management Software

IoT device management platforms offer comprehensive control and oversight of IoT devices — an approach that eliminates the headaches of manually and individually monitoring connected devices. In addition to enabling secure device on- and off-boarding, an essential step that permits devices to join a network and securely transmit data, IoT device management platforms offer:

1. Efficient and scalable IoT deployments that streamline network monitoring and troubleshooting. For complex IoT device fleets, these platforms serve as a central hub that provide deep-level views into network traffic, device status, and data aggregation that can help diagnose network and device issues. 
2. Remote management of IoT device fleets. As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, IoT device management platforms allow users to automatically deploy security updates, customize alerts that indicate network and device anomalies that portend a security breach, and offer real-time, continuous monitoring of devices to help stay on top of security issues. 
3. Integration with other enterprise applications and data servers using APIs and protocols such as MQTT. This allows enterprises to scale and manage their IoT ecosystems from a single panel as well adjust their IoT infrastructure to accommodate evolving business needs. 

Also read: Bolstering IoT Security with Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

Best IoT Device Management Platforms & Software

AWS IoT Device Management

Amazon Web Service’s IoT platform takes users through the full process of IoT device management, from registration through remote management at scale. The platform is part of an ecosystem of services that makes up its IoT device management capabilities and includes:

• Fleet Hub, which helps users build standalone web applications to monitor the health of their device fleets and to aid in investigating and fixing operational and security issues. 
• IoT Core to remotely manage devices connected to the cloud and other devices.
• IoT Device Defender to audit, monitor, and send alerts about fleet anomalies and then use AWS IoT Device Management to push security fixes.

Pricing: AWS IoT platform is a “pay-for-what-you-use” model, with separate billing for bulk registration, remote actions, and the number of updates and queries used for fleet indexing. 

Features:

• Offers bulk registration of devices by using the IoT management console or API. 
• Allows grouping of device fleets by function, security requirements, or any other user-defined category to manage access policies, view operational metrics, or perform actions on devices across the entire group.
• Offers fleet indexing and search functionality to query a group of devices and aggregate statistics on device records based on any combination of device attributes.
• Remotely push software and firmware updates to address security vulnerabilities and improve functionality using AWS FreeRTOS or AWS IoT Greengrass Core.
• Supports the creation of a device tunnel, which  provides secure connectivity to individual devices and allows for the diagnosing and fixing of issues.

Cons:

• Initial set up can be complicated
• Understanding AWS IoT-specific terminology takes time
• Expensive compared to competitors

Cloud IoT Core

Part of Google’s Cloud IoT platform, Cloud IoT Core is a fully managed IoT service that collects, processes, analyzes and visualizes IoT data in real time. Using Google’s Cloud Pub/Sub messaging service, Cloud IoT Core aggregates dispersed device data into a single global system that integrates with Google Cloud’s data analytics services. The platform runs on Google Cloud’s serverless infrastructure and automatically scales in response to real-time changes.

Pricing: The platform is priced by data volume used in a calendar month. Up to 250 MB are free, with 5TB and above priced at $0.00045 per MB.

Features:

• Supports MQTT and HTTP protocols to allow connection of an existing device network.
• Securely allows individual devices to be configured and managed via a console or programmatically.
• Provides end-to-end security using asymmetric key authentication over TLS 1.2. 
• Allows control of user access to devices data through the application of IAM roles to device registries. 
• Offers offline operation and support for resource-constrained devices using a gateway that can perform tasks on a device’s behalf, including authenticating credentials and connecting to the internet.
• USes Stackdriver Logging with audit logs to provide insights into connection and error logs.

Cons:

• Can be expensive for small- to mid-sized businesses
• Some users have acknowledged a steep learning curve for those lacking deep IT and IoT knowledge.

Azure IoT Hub

Part of Microsoft’s Azure ecosystem of products and services, IoT Hub is a centralized bidirectional message platform that securely communicates between IoT applications and their attached devices. Offered as a scable, full-featured device management solution, IoT Hub supports a variety of message patterns, including device-to-cloud telemetry and request-reply methods for cloud-based control.  

Pricing: In addition to a free edition, Azure IoT Hub has two tiers — Basic and Standard — that are broken down by usage. Basic’s first tier offers 400,000 messages for $10, while Standard’s highest tier is  priced at $2,500 for 300,000,000 messages. Pricing quotes are also available. 

Features: 

• Takes users through the four steps of Io device management best practices including authentication and provisioning.
• Offers flexible automatic, rule-based message routing to control where hub sends device telemetry, no-code required.
• Integrates with other Azure services — Azure Event Grid, Azure Logic Apps, Azure Machine Learning, etc. —  for the creation of end-to-end solutions.
• Stores, synchronizes, and queries device metadata and state information for all devices.
• Automatically responds to device-reported state change with message routing integration.
• Offers several ways to connect devices, including via Azure IoT desk SDK libraries, Azure IoT Plug and Play conventions, and custom protocols such Azure IoT Edge and Azure IoT protocol gateway. 

Cons:

• Can quickly become expensive for small and medium enterprises.

Oracle IoT Cloud Service

Oracle IoT Cloud Service manages and analyzes data generated by IoT-connected devices in real time. Allowing integration and automatic data synchronization with Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service, the platform provides secure, bidirectional communication between IoT devices and the cloud. 

Pricing: Oracle’s IoT Cloud Service is part of the company’s overall Cloud Service offering. Contact Oracle for more details about enterprise pricing.

Features:

• Provides provisioning, authentication, and authorization for connected devices to ensure proof of origin of data.
• Uses cross-protocol functionality that allows end users to directly address cloud-connected devices, regardless of network protocol and firewall restrictions.
• Allows access to the platform’s data and functions from enterprise applications by using REST APIs. 
• Allows the use of REST APIs to securely integrate connected devices with enterprise applications.
• Users of Oracle’s suite of IoT services enjoy cross-platform integration. 

Cons:

• Integration with other tools and vendors can be complex
• Overly complicated management console 
• Expensive

Datadog

Datadog offers comprehensive IoT monitoring of device fleets, including software performance, device hardware metrics, application logs, and more via one user console. Using tags, the platform allows end users to aggregate, slice and dice, and correlate performance data across the entire Iot-connected ecosystem. Its host map also provides a high-level of the system grouped by any tag for visual comparison of by a range of metrics, including region, operating system and region. The platform promises easy setup in minutes without extensive configurations, which can then be scaled to monitor tens of thousands of devices. 

Pricing: Datadog offers a free trial with enterprise prices provided on request. 

Features: 

• Customizable alerts allow IoT managers to set triggers that reveal sustained or widespread device failures.
• The platform’s uses tags that can be user-specified to provide multiple ways and metrics to visualize, analyze and aggregate IoT data from every device.
• Uses APIs and a deep variety of telemetry libraries, allowing IoT manager and developers to collect and analyze custom business metrics throughout their IT and IoT infrastructure by adding a few lines of code.
• Can be installed on several hardware platforms, including Linux, Windows, Android, and ARM devices.
• The company’s proprietary Logging without Limits enables end users with large IoT ecosystems to cost effectively manage and monitor their logs. 
• Provides data visualization of IoT devices running on managed cloud services, including Amazon IoT, Google Cloud IoT, Azure IoT Hub. 

Cons:

• Users have expressed frustration with the complicated pricing scheme 
• Documentation can sometimes be outdated
• Confusing user interface
• Initial setup can be difficult.

IBM Watson IoT Platform

A fully managed, cloud-host service, IBM Watson IoT Platform provides device registration, connectivity, control, visualization and data storage. The platform leverages machine learning and cognitive APIs to deliver predictive real-time and edge analysis of user, machine, and environmental data. Dashboards and alerts gather insights and manage risks across the IoT ecosystem through high-level monitoring of devices, apps, and connections. 

Pricing: IBM Watson IoT Platform offers four plans: Sensor, Consumer, Enterprise, and Industrial. Pricing is based on data usage and number of devices, but IBM provides a non-production solution that allows for exploration of how the platform could fit into your IoT plans with some limitations. 

Features:

• Uses MQTT messaging protocol to  to securely send IoT-connected device data to the cloud.
• The platform’s proprietary Cloudant NoSQL DB Solution provides direct access to the last 30 days’ worth of device data — which is also achievable using IBM’s Event Streams for IBM Cloud.
• Offers built-in monitoring dashboard to monitor IoT devices.
• Analyzes data using Internal and external tools, including the Analytics Service add-on that provides business end users with raw metric data using built-in configurable analytics functions.
• Includes IBM Cloud Object Storage, which offers scalable storage options and data lifecycle management.
• Monitors data usage and consumption using the platform’s dashboard, which can be customized in partnership with IBM’s IOT Solutions DevOps team.

Cons:

• Learning curve can be steep for novices
• The pricing model can be complicated and prohibitive.

Particle

An edge-to-cloud platform, Particle offers device life management, wireless remote management, and device health monitoring. One interface provides insights into every aspect of IoT devices, including event logs, asset tracking, access control, and more. A fully managed service, Particle manages devices at every stage of development, including provisioning, prototype and development, and device management and billing. 

Pricing: Particle offers a free plan with 100k data operations per month with support for up to 100 devices. Paid tiers include the Growth plan that allows for the purchase of blocks of service and the Enterprise plan, which is priced on request. 

Features: 

• A comprehensive platform-as-a-service solution that provides hardware, software, and connectivity that allows users to develop IoT prototypes, scale models, and manage devices.
• Allows for rapid deployment of over-the-air (OTA) software updates, including to the entire IoT ecosystem or to targeted subsets of the fleet.
• Provides device monitoring and remote diagnostic functionality  through its Health and Device Vitals Dashboards. 

Cons:

• Customers have noted that documentation can be insufficient and is not issued at the same rate of development.
• Infrastructure and user interface are not intuitive, making for a difficult start.

Read next: AIOps Trends & Benefits

The post Best IoT Device Management Platforms & Software 2022 appeared first on IT Business Edge.