The consequences of allowing a cryptocurrency takeover, or trying to head one off FT Alphaville (registration) In this guest post, economics professor and former Bank of England economist Tony Yates talks about the potential for cryptocurrencies to compete with government-backed money, and what central banks can do about it. The total value of all ... |
The blockchain and crypto industry is currently replete with innovations looking to advance the technology and bring about the best results. But could there be a missing link, which when identified can lead to better investments and proper mitigation of risks?
A section of the industry insiders believe that Derivatives could be that missing link, and introducing derivatives to the blockchain could possibly enable investors to better mitigate risks involved in trading cryptocurrencies and allow them to hedge their bets. The success of derivatives has already been proven in the world of securities trading, which can be replicated in the crypto world as well.
The benefits of derivatives will be wide ranging as they will include non-stop trading, instantaneous transactions for fraction of the current fee, nearly no need for third parties except for traditional assets, no downtime, no DDOS type attacks, anonymity and the possibility to execute trades without logging in.
The process of bringing the power of derivatives to the blockchain community is being spearheaded by DCORP. DCORPP has created a platform that will allow derivatives trading in the form of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain where the exchange exists. Users will be provided with a friendly interface and since the exchange is decentralized and operates autonomously there is no need for intermediaries like market makers, bankers or third parties.
The exchange will generate value for the investors, the proceeds of which can be used by DCORP to carry out its venture capitalist activities. DCORP being autonomous and democratic, will, in turn, lead to the democratization of venture capitalism.
Derivatives trading has the potential to unleash revolutionary change in the way cryptocurrencies are traded today, as more investors are bound to be attracted by the opportunity to use hedging mechanisms, which will only enhance the value of blockchain.
The ability to enter derivatives contracts anonymously will also provide additional value to investors and they will also be able to trade existing derivatives contracts by sending Ether to them.
Investors stand to benefit by harnessing the power of derivatives. Traditional derivatives like futures and options will be available, and the investors will also benefit from Futures with Ascending Stakes. The whitepaper elaborates upon the type of derivatives that will be made available on the exchange.
There is also a plan to use the blockchain and smart contract technology to enable talented entrepreneurs and ventures to gain access to funding. DCORP will make it possible for anyone to join the organization either as a shareholder or as a talented contributor. Investors can also participate in the ongoing DCORP crowdsale.
The DCORP exchange promises complete transparency in its operations as the Board of Directors will comprise of 7 elected individuals. Frank Bonnet, the founder of DCORP who will also be a member of the Board of Directors, explains that the voting behavior of the members will be recorded on the blockchain, public and immutable. The members can also be replaced by submitting a proposal and getting the token holders to vote in favor of it.
DCORP intends to carry out a streamlined democratization of venture capitalism, which is not only an interesting idea but also novel, as it enables even non-technical persons to benefit from it.
The introduction of derivatives to crypto can only generate further investor interest as it brings in an element of risk management to venture capitalism.
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Derivatives - The Missing Link in The Cryptocurrency World ... - newsBTC
Earlier this year, Microsoft released Azure Managed Disks, a new feature that simplifies storage management for...
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cloud admins -- and offers other benefits around availability, image capture and more.
The challenge with unmanaged disks is that they get complicated quickly. Each cloud storage account has limits in terms of overall capacity and how many IOPS are supported. This model means that admins likely need to create multiple storage accounts when they deploy multiple VMs. On top of that, administrators have to ensure that they don't exceed capacity limits and that each storage account can provide the IOPS required by all the disks within the account.
Azure Managed Disks simplify this process. They provide an abstraction layer that prevents the need for admins to create and manage storage accounts -- and their limits -- for virtual hard disks (VHD).
In addition to not having to worry about exceeding storage account limits, here are three more benefits of Azure Managed Disks:
To prevent single points of hardware failure, admins place VMs into availability sets. For example, they can put a load-balanced fleet of web servers into an availability set with multiple fault domains to ensure each VM runs on independent hardware. However, unmanaged disks don't provide that same guarantee. It's possible that all the disks for each VM in an availability set could end up in storage accounts placed on the same storage unit. Therefore, there's a potential single point of failure for storage when you use unmanaged disks, even when you place the VMs in an availability set.
Azure Managed Disks help eliminate that potential single point of failure for VM storage; they ensure that VMs in an availability set will use virtual disks placed on separate storage units.
VM images are great to speed up deployments. Once an image is built, admins can deploy servers repeatedly, using the same configuration and settings.
To capture unmanaged disk images, admins must use a command-line interface (CLI). With Azure Managed Disks, admins use a simple user interface in the Azure portal to capture an image. A managed image also includes managed data disks connected to a VM, so admins can capture both the managed OS disks and data disks as part of the process. Once admins capture a managed image, they can deploy new VMs based on that image without having to create new storage accounts or copy VHD files.
In addition to images, administrators can take independent snapshots of Azure Managed Disks. This allows them to make a point-in-time copy of an individual disk and to perform point-in-time recovery for data. With independent snapshots, admins can delete the parent disk, but the snapshot can persist for however long it's needed.
Admins can also use these snapshots to rebuild VMs from scratch. For example, if they require a point-in-time recovery for a VM, admins can create a new VM using the new managed disk based on a point-in-time snapshot. Admins can even place independent snapshots in a globally redundant storage account for disaster recovery.
Managed Disks offer performance tiers for Standard (hard disk drive) and Premium (solid-state drive) storage. To get started, select the Azure Managed Disks option when you create a VM in the portal, as shown in Figure 1.
In addition to provisioning VMs with Azure Managed Disks in the portal, admins can use PowerShell, the Azure CLI and Azure Resource Manager templates for automated deployments.
If you already use unmanaged disks and your VMs are in a region that supports Azure Managed Disks, you can migrate to the new feature. The process entails the use of a PowerShell command to perform the conversion after the VM is deallocated. Microsoft provides a collection of scripts on how to perform the migration. Keep in mind that the Azure Managed Disks feature is still new and is currently not available in the Azure Government regions.
Review what storage types Azure offers
Navigate the challenges of Azure Premium Storage billing
Break down the various Azure instance types
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Use Azure Managed Disks to simplify cloud storage management - TechTarget
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MapR-XD is designed to eliminate data silos and support new data processing workloads from the edge, data centre and to the cloud.
MapR is moving to more embrace cloud technology with the release of a cloud-scale data store to manage files and containers.
The MapR-XD fits into the companys Converged Data Platform and is said to support any type of data type from the edge to the data centre and multiple cloud environments with automatic policy-driven tiering from hot, warm, or cold data.
The company said that the new product gives customers the ability to create vast, global data fabrics which are ready for analytical and operational applications, essentially making it easier to use data.
As applications become more intelligent and take advantage of more diverse data in real time, for both analytical and operational uses, there arises the need for new approaches to data processing, said Matt Aslett, research director, data platforms and analytics, 451 Research. MapR-XD is designed to eliminate data silos and support new use cases as they emerge that require data processing from the edge, data centre and to the cloud.
Included in the MapR-XD is files and container support with the product said to eliminate data silos and simplify management across files and containers. It is also said to be able to scale to support trillions of files and exabytes of data.
MapR-XD also aims to make the most of the power of network interconnects and is said to take advantage of the underlying heterogeneous hardware. On this front it offers automated capabilities such as logical partitioning, parallel processing for disparate workloads, and bottleneck avoidance with I/O shaping and opimisations.
The product also includes an optimised container client that support both legacy and new containerised event-based microservices applications, containers, database and event streams, and works with multiple schedulers such as Kubernetes, Mesos, and Docker Swarm.
On the cloud front the product supports edge, on-premises, and cloud environments and allows for multi-temperature capabilities across flash, disk, and cloud tiers.
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MapR embraces cloud storage for file management & containers - Computer Business Review
US-based data storage and management company NetApp has announced the launch of its first startup accelerator in Bangalore.
The programme, called NetApp Excellerator, is open to startups with solutions in Internet of Things, cloud, Big Data and analytics, machine learning, virtualisation, data security, data management and storage, a company statement said.
Under Excellerator, NetApp will provide an equity-free grant of $15,000 to theselected startups upon completion of the four-month-long programme. The startups will continue to own their intellectual property, and NetApp would not seek a stake in it.
The programme will provide startups with collaboration and productivity tools, a co-working space at the companys global centre of excellence in Bangalore, and networking opportunities with potential investors, partners, and customers. They will have access to NetApps platforms and technologies, tools, human resources, marketing, legal and tech support.
NetApp Excellerator will offer technology and business mentorship to the selected startups as well as access to markets and investors to realise the full potential of their ideas and products in the global marketplace, the statement added.
NetApp India director Ajeya Motaganahalli will be driving this programme. Through the NetApp Excellerator programmewewill assist these startups with guidance on building business relevance, exposure to our technology, partners and customers, as well as venture capitalists, and explore opportunities where we can take them to market, Motaganahalli said.
Of late, tech and financial giants like Google, Bosch, Barclays and Axis Bank, among others, have shown their eagerness to both mentor and fund early-stage startups.
This week, 13 startups graduated from the first batch of Bosch Indias accelerator programme Discover, Nurture and Accelerate, or DNA.
Technology startup accelerator Zone Startups Indiawhich is backed by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures, the investment arm of Toronto-based Ryerson Universitylast year partnered British banking and financial services firm Barclays Plc to launch the latters Rise accelerator programme in India. It was also appointed by Axis Bank to manage the lenders accelerator programme Thought Factory in Bangalore. Most recently, in March this year, Zone Startups launched the second cohort of its empoWer programme, which is aimed at women entrepreneurs in technology businesses.
Technology giant Google has shortlisted six Indian startups for the fourth batch of its accelerator programme, which is to be conducted at the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco. The startups will receive, among other things, equity-free support and credits for Google products. Another technology major, Oracle, has kicked off the maiden edition of its startup accelerator programme.
According to a recent Nasscom and Zinnov report, India now has the third-highest number of startup incubators and accelerators in the world after China and the US. With 140 incubators and accelerators, India has inched past Israel, whose count stands at 130. However, the gap with the top two is still yawningChina and the US have over 2,400 and 1,500 incubators and accelerators, respectively.
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Accommodation booking website Booking.com has launched a new accelerator initiative, the Booking Booster Programme, for startups in the tourism segment. The three-week programme, which will...
Global Super Angels Forum (GSF), a startup accelerator-cum-early-stage fund, has made new investments in five startups as part of its fifth accelerator programme. This year...
NYSE-listed technology solutions provider Pitney Bowes Inc has invited startups in India to apply for the summer 2017 batch of the Pitney Bowes Accelerator Program,...
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Cloud storage firm NetApp launches its first startup accelerator in India - VCCircle
Safely using the internet is becoming increasingly important and challenging. We now rely on the web for sensitive communication, the transfer of health information, trade secrets, and so much more.
Not surprisingly, the most popular service providers are not necessarily the most reliable in terms of security and privacy. Big corporations usually have a vested interest in collecting and scrutinizing user data to enhance their ads and services. That does not sit well with all users.
So for those of you who are not very fond of big tech companies peeping into your data, weve compiled a list of applications and services that provide better privacy in each category.
As it has become the de facto official method of communication in many domains, email is one of the most sensitive services everyone uses. When youre using a service such as Gmail, your data is safe in transitbut not in storage.
This means that the service provider has access the content of your emails, which can become an issue if its servers are hacked, or if the service decides to give away your data to government agencies.
A more secure alternative to mainstream email providers is Protonmail, an email service that uses end-to-end encryption to secure your messages. This is a form of encryption that makes sure only the sender and the receiver of the email can read it. So while Protonmails servers store your emails, it doesnt have the keys to decrypt them.
What are the tradeoffs? The features that come with a Protonmail free account are considerably limited, and you dont get all the AI-powered features that the likes of Gmail give you. But that might be a small price to pay if you value privacy.
Screengrab via ProtonMail
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There are dozens of messaging apps, but not all of them are equally secure. Weve previously discussed the principles of secure messaging here on the Daily Dot.
Signal, the open-source messaging app favored by Ed Snowden, features default end-to-end encryption, deletable messages, and minimal storage of metadata. Signals protocol has become the golden standard for encryption and has been adopted by other apps.
WhatsApp is one of the applications that implements Signals protocol, which makes it equally secure. Though for the sake of user convenience, WhatsApp has forgone enabling some of the security mechanism by default. And since WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, a commercial company, it might have a tendency to make its own uses of whatever data it has on you.
Photo via Whisper Systems
When you access the internet through your browser, your internet service provider (ISP) will be able to see which sites you visit, as will any other party who might be monitoring your traffic. In case the websites are not encrypted, ISPs will also have access to the pages you visit and the data you send to them.
The Tor browser is an open-source application that leverages the Tor network, a open network of volunteer nodes that help protect against traffic analysis and surveillance. When you use Tor, all of your browser traffic is encrypted and deflected across several Tor nodes before eventually reaching its destination. An eavesdropper will know that youre using Tor but wont be able to see your traffic.
There are some tradeoffs to using Tor, however. Internet speed slows down as your traffic has to make several hops, and some websites will block access to Tor nodes.
Screengrab via Tresorit
As with email, storing your files in the cloud will make them accessible to the service provider and anyone else who gains access to their servers or your account.
A secure alternative to Google Drive and DropBox is Tresorit, a storage service that uses end-to-end encryption to secure users files. Like most storage services, Tresorit enables you to store your files in the cloud, sync them with local folders, and share them with friends and coworkers.
Tresorit doesnt come for free, however. It costs a minimum of $10 monthly for 1 TB of end-to-end encrypted storage, which is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Ben Dickson is a software engineer and the founder of TechTalks. Follow his tweets at @bendee983 and his updates on Facebook.
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Best security apps for email - The Daily Dot
Data storage in the cloud has become a mainstay for companies in all industries of all sizes. Yet as more and more valuable data moves to the cloud, how can businesses stay one step ahead of the security risks?
The 2017 State of the Cloud Report, published by the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based cloud-computing provider RightScale Inc., shows 95 percent of businesses make use of the cloud in some form.
There are reasons why the cloud is an appealing place to store data. For one, a third-party provider has a broader perspective of cyberthreats that can help protect your business, said Dan Shugrue, director of product marketing at Akamai Technologies Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based cloud-service provider.
Lets say you have an e-commerce site and prefer to touch your data yourself. You can be excellent at your job and notice when the latest threat comes in and take measures to block it, Shugrue said. But you cant see who is threatening other companies in your industry, and you cant put protections in place before they strike.
Then there is the cost incentive. Consumer-grade cloud storage, such as Google Drive or a basic Dropbox account, comes free of charge.
I see a lot of small companiesusing cloud storage because it keeps your overhead down real low, said Mark McLarnon, chief technology officer of CyberPoint International, a cybersecurity firm based in Baltimore. Youre pushed, youre almost enticed to use things like (Microsoft) OneDrive. Even with the free versions, you get a lot of storage. But whats overlooked is the risk of unauthorized access.
Aaron Newman, co-founder and CEO of CloudCheckr Inc., a software firm based in Rochester, does not see the exodus of businesses moving to the cloud as a passing fad.
Its an undeniable movement that people are going to move to the cloud, he said. In 10-20 years from now, 90 percent of the data, 90 percent of all computing resources is going to be in the cloud. Anyone thats putting up a new service or application today, its all done in the cloud.
What are you storing?
The consumer-grade technology tends to be free, but users are paying for it with a lack of privacy, said Donald Spicer, associate vice chancellor and chief information officer of the University System of Maryland.
If you have a consumer-grade Google account, there is no limitation about what Google is able to look at within your private account. None of that is true when an enterprise pays for a service. Its all protected, and its quite a different service, he said.
For that reason, upgrading to a paid cloud provider is worth the investment for many businesses because you are more likely to keep your data safe from competitors or other intruders, Spicer said.
While there is still on-premise data storage on its campuses, the University System of Maryland does rely heavily on the cloud. For example, it has moved to software-as-a-service solutions for its human resources and financial functions, Spicer said.
Data stored in the cloud is secured by a variety of measures. For example, data has to be encrypted both in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access. The university system also has a cybersecurity council with representation from all its institutions.
CloudCheckrs Newman believes businesses need to think of the cloud as secure. The problem is many businesses do not.
Youre much better off putting your data in the cloud, he said. If youre putting your data on a (cloud) system like Salesforce.com or some other system, those vendors are very diligent about fixing security holes. Youre never going to have perfect security you still have threatstheyre just way more diligent about it.
I think moving to the cloud actually makes your stuff more secure, he added.
Ultimately, especially for institutions with personal or confidential data to protect, it is important to stay on top of which setting is safest. That is the approach followed by Jefferson Health in Philadelphia.
Being in health care, we have to really look at the sensitivity and criticality of some of the data, said Robert Dalrymple, director of information systems and technology security and enterprise information security officer for Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University. Some data and information, we may not want to have in the cloud, although we can have private and dedicated cloud situations. Its probably going to be a hybrid final state here.
Where is the data?
For managers contemplating the cloud for the first time or wanting to upgrade from a free account, what are some important questions to ask prospective providers?
First of all, know where the data will be.
We have an obligation, if we have protected information, to know where it is stored, CyberPoints McLarnon said. The internet connects us in ways we dont always grasp. We could be storing a file with a cloud-storage provider and it might be replicated in Oregon, Ireland or Eastern Europe.
He also recommended making sure your provider requires multifactor authentication to access your data. That means anyone looking for access has to provide multiple pieces of evidence to confirm their identity, such as typing in a password and identifying a security image.
Another important question concerns micro-perimeters around the data, said Brian Vecci, technical evangelist at software company Varonis Systems in New York City. Micro-perimeters are the equivalent of placing a wall directly around the data itself. (They) restrict access on a need-to-know basis and monitor and alert on all usage for unusual behavior. The idea is that a cybercriminal can and will scale the walls of a castle, so lets put the crown jewels in a locked safe within a locked room that is monitored 24/7.
Then there is air gapping. This is the practice of making sure that there is a physical barrier between unsecured public WiFi networks and the place where your data is being stored.
Some cities are not adapting to the cloud as fast as others. Rochester in particular is lagging behind in implementing the cloud, Newman said.
Rochester for 100 years was one of the innovation capitals of the world in everything from digital, optical, medical, research and even beer (industries), he said. Definitely in the cloud world were lagging behind. If you go to one of the big cities theyre much more proactive about moving to the cloud.
With top technical universities such as Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester, the city should stay relevant in terms of cloud computing, Newman said.
Theres definitely people doing it; were just not as advanced as some of the other areas. But we should be, he said. We have just incredible universities here so we really dont have an excuse not to be.
Today, cloud usage is already near-universal in the business world, and that trend shows no sign of reversing. More data will move to and pass through the cloud as costs go down and functionality goes up, Vecci said. The companies that will be ahead of everyone else will be the ones that leverage unified data-security platforms for connecting cloud and on-premise systems into a single framework.
(c) 2017 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-363-7269 or email madams@bridgetowermedia.com.
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Cloud on your horizon? What managers should ask about data storage - Rochester Business Journal
Forbes | Workday Phenomenon Goes Global As Cloud Computing Goes Mainstream Forbes (Note: After an award-winning career in the media business covering the tech industry, Bob Evans was VP of Strategic Communications at SAP in 2011, and Chief Communications Officer at Oracle from 2012 to 2016. He now runs his own firm, Evans Strategic ... |
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Workday Phenomenon Goes Global As Cloud Computing Goes Mainstream - Forbes
A local high tech company is expanding in Rochester, and they have big plans for future growth.
The company is called CloudCheckr, and they provide cloud computing services for various businesses.
Its CEO and co-founder Aaron Newman says they currently employ more than 100 people, about 75 in Rochester, and that number should double in a year.
In five years, Newman says the expectation is they can grow to about a thousand employees at their locations around the world, with many of those jobs located in Rochester where they have their headquarters. They are expanding at Village Gate.
Newman says one reason CloudCheckr wants to keep its headquarters in Rochester is because of the access they have to good talent.
Specifically around kind of the high tech space that RIT is just so great at, providing talented individuals and thats people that are coming fresh out of school."
Newman says the relatively low cost of living and easier commute compared to large cities is another reason his company is able to attract good talent.
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CloudCheckr, cloud computing company expects rapid growth in Rochester - WXXI News
Turbonomic, a Boston-based cloud and virtualisation software provider, has announced new support for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure public cloud environments with general availability of its 5.9 iteration.
The company says the move will enable customers to confidently accelerate their journey to hybrid cloud, with support offerings include visibility of all workloads regardless of where they reside, and lowering of public cloud bills by 30% on average.
Other features include being able to migrate to AWS and Azure public clouds through migration planning, workload placement and workload scaling, controlling public cloud workloads, and enforcing compliance across hybrid environments.
Turbonomic cited a Gartner forecast which argues that by 2020 a quarter of large enterprises will run dynamic optimisation solutions to manage the public cloud, compared to less than 1% in 2016.
Gartner defines dynamic optimisation as a technology capability that uses telemetry, algorithms, service and resource analytics, and policies to drive automated actions that reduce waste, cost and risk exposure, while simultaneously improving service levels. Naturally, Turbonomic back in its previous life as VMTurbo was named as a representative vendor in the analysis, in April last year.
Transitioning to hybrid cloud presents a new challenge: deciding which workload should run where and when, and confidently managing the transition. Its a cloud-scale challenge that can only be solved with self-managing software, said Shmuel Kliger, Turbonomic founder and president in a statement.
With todays announcement, Turbonomic is uniquely positioned to help customers monitor and automate their workloads anywhere on premises and/or in public cloud in real-time, to unleash the full potential of the public clouds elasticity and scale.
In August, Turbonomic alongside Verizon issued research which argued business continuity was the most important business driver of multi-cloud adoption, yet citing cost as the primary differentiator. The company told CloudTech at the time that focusing primarily on cost was not a recipe for assuring customers are delighted with your service.
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Turbonomic touts support for AWS and Azure public cloud with new release - Cloud Tech