Small and mid-sized businesses are excellent candidates for cloud computing service. The reason for this is partly due to the fact that they are smaller and more agile than their larger counterparts. Despite the lack of knowledge of cloud computing, small business owners are betting their future not only in the cloud, but also on big data analytics and everything related to business.

But does SMBs now have access to greater computing power than ever before? Recently, IT research firm Gartner released top five cloud computing trends that will impact the way IT do business. The report outlined five trends to watch in the next three years -formal decision-making frameworks facilitating cloud investments, hybrid cloud computing adoption, cloud consumption, cloud centric design and future data centers and operating models. The role of these five cloud computing trends will re-define the traditional IT functions of midsized business.

via SMEs to Harness More on Big Data Analytics and Cloud Computing? | CloudTimes.

In a bulletin issued this month, the DHS warned that while new technology brings efficiency, lower cost and better patient care, it also carries security risks that the multi-trillion-dollar healthcare industry may not be prepared to tackle.

“The communications security of medical devices to protect against theft of medical information and malicious intrusion is now becoming a major concern,” the report, entitled “Attack Surface: Healthcare and Public Health Sector,” said.

Doctors, nurses and ambulance workers are using wireless medical devices for diagnosis and treatment and to monitor changes in patients’ health. The devices can be handheld, wheeled in on a stand or implanted, such as in the case of heart-sustaining pacemakers and defibrillators.

via Wireless tech makes healthcare security a ‘major concern’ – Computerworld.

Cloud data security is a shared responsibility, but it’s a shared responsibility that is governed, ultimately, by the contract.

SearchCompliance.com Editorial Director Scot Petersen recently sat down with Jeffrey Ritter, an attorney and recognized expert on technology law, to discuss how bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs, cloud use and vendor relationships are influencing data protection strategy.

via The evolution of data protection strategy in the cloud and BYOD era.

The ultimatum was made in a surprise news conference by Joaquín Almunia, Europe’s antitrust chief.

The commission, after a two-year inquiry, found that Google might have abused its dominance in Internet search and advertising, giving its own products an advantage over those of others while maintaining that it offers a neutral, best-for-the-customer result. Mr. Almunia said Google would need to propose a plan for changing those practices within weeks.

via Europe Warns Google in Antitrust Inquiry – NYTimes.com.

In an appearance this week on Capitol Hill, Mueller downplayed privacy concerns, saying the FBI’s wiretap proposals — social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail are the primary targets — would still require a court to be involved.

via FBI ‘looking at’ law making Web sites wiretap-ready, director says | Security & Privacy – CNET News.

“Phone Password Breaker becomes an alternative way to get access to iOS devices’ content,” said Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Moscow-based ElcomSoft, in a statement. “With a valid Apple ID and a password, investigators can not only retrieve backups to seized devices, but access that information in real time while the phone is still in the hands of a suspect.”

Information from iPhone backups is in high demand by forensic customers, according to ElcomSoft. No wonder, since an estimated 125 million Apple users store some type of data in iCloud, which offers 5GB of storage for free, and which is easily enabled via a checkbox in the iOS device settings. By accessing data stored in an iCloud backup, investigators could keep tabs on a suspect without the suspect having any idea that their cloud-based data was being accessed.

via Forensic Tool Grabs iPhone, iPad Data Remotely – Security – Storage security – Informationweek.

Google on Wednesday announced Knowledge Graph, a significant change to how search results are delivered that the company believes will make their search engine think more like a human.

“The web pages we [currently] return for the search ‘kings,’ they’re all good,” Jack Menzel, director of product management at Google, told CNN in an interview. “You, as a human, associate those words with their real-world meaning but, for a computer, they’re just a random string of characters.”

With Knowledge Graph, which will begin rolling out to some users immediately, results will be arranged according to categories with which the search term has been associated. So, in the above example, boxes will appear with separate results for the hockey team, basketball team and TV show.

via Google revamps search, tries to think more like a person – CNN.com.

via WikiLeaks recovers from massive DDoS attack – SlashGear.

Tyson, the biggest U.S. food processor (TSN), avoided prosecution by paying $5.2 million and admitting it made improper payments to government-employed inspectors. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, began an internal probe in 2005, shut it down and didn’t disclose the matter to regulators and prosecutors until late last year, after learning the New York Times was investigating, the paper said.

The U.S. offers leniency to companies like Tyson that self- report. Yet many choose to remain quiet, calculating that they will cooperate with the government if it uncovers their bribery. Companies root out their wrongdoing and improve their compliance programs, assuming that any credit the government gives them for self-reporting is not worth the fines and penalties and negative publicity that follow disclosure.

via Wal-Mart Not Alone in Late Disclosure of Bribe Probe – Businessweek.

One of the bodies of the emails Plaintiff supplied to Defendant in paper format is an instruction from the Defendant’s practice administrator to Plaintiff “not to discuss your employment with employees here at GFP or EHS also not to contact EEOC or any outside party”. Defendants’ alleged that the email was falsified and provided analysis from an independent forensic analyst that confirmed their suspicion. Based on the expert’s affidavit, it appears that Plaintiff changed the body of the message when she forwarded it to her personal email account to make it seem as if the practice administrator sent the damaging email. While it is difficult to change the body of a sent email without a lot of computer knowledge, it is very easy to edit the body of an email that is being forwarded. In the Connery case, the forensic expert located the original email that was used as the basis of the forwarded message and determined that it did not mention EEOC at all.

A second email presented by plaintiff in paper format and sent from one of the male Defendants to the Plaintiff states “I was told that you and Bao have your “approach” with one another after hours. I am just kidding around.” The email chain continues with plaintiff responding, “On a personal note please – please STOP!!!!!! helping/creating/talking these gossip rumors about Dr. (name ommitted) and I are having an affair, staying late after work or anything that feed the gossip fire at our office.” Once again the email was a forwarded email and Defendants expert determined that the original email used as a basis for the forwarded email contained no such language.

via Manufacturing Your Own Evidence: Lessons Learned – Electronic Discovery Blog.