Amazon has plans to establish a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to patch up areas with poor or no internet connectivity.

Amazon's planned push into satellite-delivered broadband is taking shape under Project Kuiper, details of which appear in three documents filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) last month. Kuiper Systems LLC filed the reports.  

The documents reveal Amazon plans to put 3,236 satellites at three different altitudes. There would be 784 satellites orbiting at an altitude of 367 miles; 1,296 satellites at 379 miles; and 1,156 satellites at 391miles.  
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the existence of Amazon's satellite broadband ambitions, noting that it was a "long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet.”

The company is also planning to partner with other companies to bring the project to reality.  

That could make companies in the space-broadband race, like SpaceX and OneWeb, potential rivals or partners. The FCC in November authorized SpaceX to deploy and operate 7,000 satellites in very low Earth orbit to deliver broadband. 

OneWeb, which has $2 billion in backing from the likes of Airbus, Coca Cola, Softbank, and Virgin, in February, launched six satellites with the same ambition. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture already has a contract to launch satellites for OneWeb and TeleSat. 

Meanwhile, Facebook, Boeing, and LeoSat have revealed plans to beam the internet from space. Alongside SpaceX's FCC authorization, the regulator also authorized spectrum in the US for both TeleSat's and LeoSat's space broadband systems.   

Should Amazon's plans come to fruition, its satellites would provide about 95% of the world's population with coverage between latitudes 56ºN to 56ºS. The two parallels circle the Earth at about the latitude of Sweden and below Australia.  

Amazon will still need to get approval from the FCC and other regulators around the world to move forward with Project Kuiper. 

Satellite internet today is typically costly. However, there is hope that satellites in low Earth orbit will be cheaper and offer lower latency.
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Amazon said it would "of course look at all options" when asked whether Bezos' Blue Origin would have the edge over others for launching the Kuiper constellation.

Two hikers missing for five days on California’s Mount Baldy have been found alive after rescuers tracked their footprints to their camp, according to authorities.

Eric Desplinter and Gabrielle Wallace had gone hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, on Saturday, April 6th and were expected to return that night. But when the two hadn't returned by 8 p.m., friends reported the two missing.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff said late Wednesday the two had been rescued after days of desperate searching over a 30 square mile area.

Authorities said rescuers found two sets of footprints in Cucamonga Canyon Wednesday at which point they alerted a search-and-rescue helicopter to fly over the area. The rescue team spotted Desplinter, 33, and Wallace, 31, at a campfire and lifted them to safety late Wednesday.

The pair lost the trail and when they tried to descend through a valley, it "was more treacherous than we thought," Desplinter said.

Desplinter was an experienced hiker, but authorities previously said the two had limited supplies of food and water.

The campers rationed what little food they had and drank water through a LifeStraw. This technology can filter dirty water. The ability to stay hydrated was one of the mitigating factors rescuers said helped to make the recovery a success.

LifeStraw products use a hollow fiber membrane. These membranes have microscopic pores that trap contaminants. Bacteria and parasites are bigger than the pores in the filter. Water can pass through, but contaminants larger than 0.2 microns remain trapped. Some LifeStraw products use a two-stage filtration process. In addition to the hollow fiber membrane, a carbon capsule absorbs chemicals like chlorine, pesticides, and even heavy metals like lead.
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"Eric and Gabrielle will be flown to the Mt. Baldy Fire Station where they will be reunited with their families and loved ones," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Volvo announced that it would use cameras installed inside its vehicles to monitor driver behavior and intervene if the driver appears to be drunk or distracted. It’s a risky move by an automaker, even one with a reputation for safety like Volvo, which could raise concerns among privacy advocates. 

Volvo’s in-car cameras will monitor eye movements to gauge driver distraction or intoxication. If a driver looks away for some time, such as at a smartphone, or fails to keep their hands on the steering wheel, a representative from Volvo’s on-call assistance centers will call them to check in. Drivers who aren’t watching the road, or even have their eyes closed, will be warned as well. If they don’t respond, the car will slow and also stop. The system will roll-out to all Volvo cars by early 2020. 

This follows Volvo’s recent announcement that it will be limiting the top speed on all of its vehicles to 180 km/h (112 mph) in a bid to reduce traffic fatalities. Volvo is framing these new policies as crucial components in its Vision 2020goal, in which no one is killed or seriously injured in a Volvo vehicle by 2020. Over the years, the company built its reputation on safety and quirky designs, and today’s announcement is meant to underline that.

“When it comes to safety, our aim is to avoid accidents altogether rather than limit the impact when an accident is imminent and unavoidable,” Henrik Green, senior vice president for research and development at Volvo Car Group, said in a statement. “In this case, cameras will monitor for behavior that may lead to serious injury or death.”

The use of in-car cameras to monitor drivers is not entirely unprecedented. Cadillac uses infrared cameras facing the driver to power its advanced driver assist system, Super Cruise. The camera tracks the driver’s eye movements, allowing for a “hands-free” driving experience. If the driver’s attention wanders, Super Cruise uses an escalating series of audible and vibrating alerts to ensure the driver keeps their eyes on the road.

As camera use increases in the name of safety, there’s a real chance they can be misused to invade privacy. At an event in Sweden, the company preemptively dismissed this criticism by likening it to early objection to seatbelt laws. 

A spokesperson for Volvo did not immediately respond to questions about the storage of video footage or whether law enforcement could have access to it. Automakers are already collecting lots of information from your car today, but mostly for vehicle analytics. 
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GM has said that the camera in its Cadillac cars isn’t recording anything; it’s just a buffered video feed to make sure Super Cruise works as it should.

Currently, 3.9 million Americans work remotely, which marks a 115% increase from 2005. Estimates indicate that more than one-third of employees will work remotely in the next ten years. The desire for greater flexibility and work/life balance is partially responsible for this trend, in addition to an ever-increasing number of businesses that are based entirely online. With cloud and mobile technologies making it easier than ever before to communicate and collaborate regardless of location, organizations are embracing remote work as a way to cut costs and satisfy employee demand.

Despite the productivity and cost-saving benefits of remote work, the concept introduces serious cybersecurity risks that have the potential to devastate entire businesses. For example, if an employee logs on to their email via a coffee shop’s public Wi-Fi, that individual runs the risk of sending their work emails, customer information and other business data directly to hackers rather than to the Wi-Fi connection point.
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable to remote work security risks, as they usually have fewer resources to prevent or recover from cyber-attacks proactively.

Here are five best practices that will help establish the proper level of control over cybersecurity threats.

Enforce Basic Cybersecurity Hygiene.An organization's cybersecurity is only as strong as its weakest link, and all it takes is one employee – even a well-intentioned one – to cause that chain to break. Enforce cybersecurity best practices such as using strong passwords, not sharing passwords across multiple accounts, implementing two-factor authentication (often free) and accessing sensitive files only from trusted devices and VPNs. Also, some simple and inexpensive employee cybersecurity awareness training can ensure employees are familiar with the most common and current attack schemes and educated on how to handle a situation if they think a cybersecurity incident has occurred.

Reign in 'Shadow IT.'Shadow IT refers to computer systems, applications or devices being used without explicit organizational knowledge or approval. For example, do any of your employees access their work email from their personal cell phone? Attempting to completely shut down Shadow IT isn't realistic, nor is it necessarily helpful to your business. However, it's essential to identify any apps or devices that could pose the highest risk. Clearly communicate which products or services are forbidden and explain why so your employees don't feel unjustly blocked and circumvent the rules. Also, consider putting processes into place that allow your IT team to quickly approve or disapprove new applications in which employees express interest.

Organize Back-End Technologies. Cloud-based apps can be a godsend for ensuring a seamless work environment for remote employees, and many also provide the invaluable service of backing up all of the data being generated outside an office's walls. Services such as G Suite or Microsoft Office 365, for instance, can allow employees to create, edit, organize, share and automatically back up documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more, no matter their location or device. Consider migrating some or even all of your file storage to a trusted cloud provider to optimize flexibility and more efficiently manage, secure and backup your business data.

Duplicate Storage.With its infinite scalability and relative affordability, cloud technology can be an ideal data storage resource. However, rather than relying entirely on the cloud or trusting your employees to only use secure cloud services with automatic backup capabilities, duplicate your most critical business data, so at least one copy is kept separate from cloud data centers and stored offline via encrypted backup tapes. This is an essential action to protect your business from the impact of a ransom attack, where a hacker blocks access to your systems or data until a ransom is paid.
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Get Cyber Insurance.Cyber insurance is an important, final step for protecting your business against the dangers of employees working remotely. Considering the significant financial demands many SMBs face as a result of a security incident, look for plans that cover immediate business costs (e.g., lost revenue due to the interruption of business, ransom, regulatory or legal fines). Also, be sure to implement coverage that includes such crisis response services such as coaching and guidance on how to respond to a breach.

The next big feature update for Windows 10 is right around the corner, which means it's decision time for businesses that are still planning their upgrade strategy. Here's why this update might be different from its predecessors.

Windows 10 is nearly four years old. In a bygone era, its replacement would have been delivered last year, and early adopters would be eagerly awaiting Windows 11 Service Pack 1.

But those old days are gone for good. In the Windows-as-a-Service era, those every-three-years "big bang" releases have vanished, replaced by a rolling succession of smaller but still significant feature updates that now arrive every six months.

Since the launch of Windows 10 in July 2015, Microsoft has released six feature updates, each of which is the equivalent of a full Windows upgrade. A seventh, version 1903, is due for release any day. But this one is different from the rest.

Windows 10 version 1903 is the first update since Microsoft changed its support lifecycle late last year. The version 1903 update will have an 18-month support cycle for all editions, whereas the version 1909 release, due in October, will get a longer, 30-month support cycle for Enterprise and Education editions. (All Windows 10 Pro installations will be supported for 18 months, and Windows 10 Home cannot defer updates.)

The upshot of this new release cadence is that enterprise customers who want to minimize the disruption of Windows 10 feature updates will target those end-of-year releases. And if Microsoft is smart, they'll treat the H1 version as a significant update, with the H2 release smoothing the rough edges in its immediate predecessor and introducing minimal new features.

That strategy should make the fall 2019 update more appealing to enterprise customers, especially given that it will be the last Windows 10 update before the end of Windows 7 supportin January 2020.

So, what's new in version 1903? Here’s a list of a few of the most interesting new features:

          •  Windows Sandbox uses built-in virtualization to create a "safe" desktop where you can try out an
             untrusted program or visit a suspicious website without risking the integrity of your PC. When you
             close the sandbox, every trace of those actions is wiped out, and the next session starts fresh.

          • The default Start menu layout has been made cleaner, Cortana and Windows Search are now
​            separated, and there's a shiny new Windows Light theme.

        •  Several old-style management controls have now been moved into new Settings pages. Most notable  
           is the addition of a drag-and-drop interface for installing new fonts, but you'll also find improvements
           in the Search Indexing interface and the modern printing dialog box, as well as options for setting a
           manual IP address and DNS server settings for a wired Ethernet adapter.

But that list focuses mostly on visible parts of the user experience and doesn't include some of the equally substantive under-the-hood improvements.

For example, Microsoft has moved Start to its own process, called StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, and also changed the process, so it no longer suspends. Separating this process from the rest of the shell should make it faster and more reliable. If this change works as expected, you'll notice much snappier performance.
Microsoft continues to polish the update process, adding more notifications and, reportedly, giving you the option to postpone updates for up to 35 days on a PC running Windows 10 Home edition. 

One longstanding annoyance is reportedly fixed in this update. In current Windows 10 builds, if you adjust the display brightness and then plug in (or unplug) the charger, the brightness changes back to the default setting; as of version 1903, Windows now remembers your custom brightness setting as preferred, regardless of whether you're running on battery or AC power.

In sum, version 1903 contains enough new stuff to earn its status as a major feature update. As always, you can manually update immediately, or you can wait till Microsoft releases the update to your PC, a process that might take a month or two. And, of course, you always have the option to watch and wait as Microsoft fixes the inevitable glitches and hiccups in those first few months. For more details, click here.

For those organizations that have already made the move to Windows 10, there's plenty of time to refine the strategy for dealing with these updates. For those who are yet to begin the upgrade from Windows 7, the alarms are starting to sound in earnest.

Networks today are subject to many threats including ransomware, cryptocurrency-miner threats, or state-sponsored hackers.

In line with other security industry pros, Microsoft has confirmed in its 24th annual security intelligence report that ransomware has taken a backseat to pesky cryptocurrency miners. 

But the company also warns that supply-chain attacks are on the rise. These are where an attacker uses a supplier or business partner to spread an infection. 

Past examples include the NotPetya not-ransomware outbreakthat caused over a billion dollars in losses for global firms and the Dofoil BitTorrent attacks. 
    
"Supply-chain attacks are insidious because they take advantage of the trust that users and IT departments place in the software they use," Microsoft warns in the report. 

"The compromised software is often signed and certified by the vendor, and may give no indication that anything is wrong, which makes it significantly more difficult to detect the infection. They can damage the relationship between supply chains and their customers, whether the latter are corporate or home users.

"By poisoning software and undermining delivery or update infrastructures, supply-chain attacks can affect the integrity and security of goods and services that organizations provide."

While attacks are changing and Windows 10 built-in security is improving, the company's advice to customers remains the same. However, there are conflicting data about the best approach to staying secure.  
Microsoft recommends only using software from trusted sources, though this 'security hygiene' measure could be undermined in a supply-chain attack. 

The company also recommends "rapidly applying the latest updates to your operating systems and applications, and immediately deploying critical security updates for OS, browsers, and email."

Deploying patches quickly is generally a good idea. However, Microsoft recently revealed that vulnerabilities in its software are most likely to be exploited as a zero-daybefore the company has even had a chance to release a patch. 

However, its other tips don't present obvious security conflicts.  

"Deploy a secure email gateway that has advanced threat protection capabilities for defending against modern phishing variants," Microsoft warns, adding that businesses should "Enable host anti-malware and network defenses to get near real-time blocking responses from the cloud (if available in your solution)." 

The other important measures organizations should take include implementing access controls, and teaching employees to be suspect of messages that ask them to divulge sensitive information. 

Microsoft also recommends keeping "destruction-resistant backups of your critical systems and data" and using cloud storage services for online backups. 
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"For data that is on premises, regularly back up important data using the 3-2-1 rule. Keep three backups of your data, on two different storage types, and at least one backup offsite," says Microsoft.

Every month, thousands of retail websites are targeted by cybercriminals, who insert a small piece of malicious code that allows them to snatch customers’ credit card information. The hacking technique is called formjacking, and it’s the virtual equivalent of putting a device on an ATM to skim debit card numbers.
Affecting an average of 4,800 websites per month, formjacking is one of the newest favorite ways for hackers to steal personal data, according to security company Symantec’s annual Internet Security Threat Report.

Small and medium-sized businesses are still the most prominent targets of formjacking, according to Symantec, but in recent months, high profile brands including British Airways and Ticketmaster have also fallen victim to attacks. Symantec said it blocked more than 3.7 million formjacking attacks on websites in 2018, with one-third of those happening during the holiday shopping season.

“Formjacking represents a serious threat for both businesses and consumers,” Greg Clark, CEO of Symantec, said in a statement. “Consumers have no way to know if they are visiting an infected online retailer without using a comprehensive security solution, leaving their valuable personal and financial information vulnerable to potentially devastating identity theft.”

As returns diminish on older hacking techniques, formjacking has become a lucrative choice for cyber crooks, though it’s impossible to quantify the amount stolen from every formjacking attack in 2018. Symantec estimates criminals were able to steal “tens of millions of dollars” by using credit card information or selling the numbers on the dark web for around $45 each.

Meanwhile, instances of ransomware declined 20% overall for the first time since 2013, according to Symantec. One primary reason for this is the decreased value of cryptocurrency, which hackers use to demand payments.

Of course, hackers are expert shape-shifters and are always looking for new, sophisticated ways to sneak up and steal private information. Security experts recommend staying on top of threats by using antivirus software and by checking to make sure any website where you enter your credit card information has a lock icon next to the domain, indicating it’s a secure server.
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Hackers have also been known to go old school, too, by sending targets phishing emails as a way to socially engineer them into sending personal information. But companies are increasingly on the lookout for these dangerous messages. Google even developed a phishing quizto help web users better identify potentially dangerous emails.

For years, IBM has offered corporate customers its Watson data-crunching technology – but only if they used it on IBM’s cloud computing service. Now, to expand Watson’s reach, IBM is also making it available on competing cloud services.

IBM said recently that it would allow businesses to use some of IBM’s Watson-related software with underlying data that is stored in rival cloud data centers like Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services. Customers will also be able to use Watson with data stored in their own data centers.

“It is enabling a level of openness that hasn’t been available to date,” said Rob Thomas, IBM general manager of data and AI.

The move marks a departure for IBM, which, until now, hasn’t seemed anything but open with its cloud computing service and Watson technologies. In 2016, for example, then-IBM CFO and current IBM senior vice president of global markets Martin Schroeter told analysts during an earnings call, “Watson runs on our cloud, and our technology will run on IBM’s cloud.”

But IBM is now shaking up its strategy to broaden Watson’s appeal. The change of heart comes as IBM’s public cloud languishes in third place, at best, in terms of market share behind AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Dan Kirsch, a research analyst at Hurwitz & Associates, called IBM’s new service “really significant” because businesses are increasingly seeking technology that’s not dependent on a single vendor.

Nick Patience, a founder and research vice president for 451 Research, said the move is “an acknowledgment by IBM that it’s a hybrid cloud world,” referring to firms wanting to use more than one cloud computing vendor as well as keeping some software running in their internal data centers.

 “We are confident in the IBM cloud that if clients try our products anywhere, they will eventually be drawn to IBM cloud and the uniqueness it provides,” said Thomas.

Although companies are concerned about being locked into a specific company’s cloud infrastructure when it comes to particular software and IT products, Patience said they are currently in the early stages of using AI and are still willing to upload their corporate data to cloud services like AWS and rely on them for machine learning software. Being locked into a particular vendor when it comes to machine learning projects isn’t yet much of a concern, but IBM is betting that will change.

He continued: “You could say IBM is trying to take back the initiative in machine learning here. The Watson brand has lost a little bit of luster over the years as others have come along. They are trying to take it back.”

SAP has launched a blockchain-based supply chain tracking system to allow drug wholesalers to authenticate pharmaceutical packaging returned by pharmacies and hospitals. That should help them weed out counterfeit drugs from their supply chain.

SAP says it hopes to eventually expand the use of distributed ledger technology to cover a broader range of pharmaceutical supply chain processes.

According to the company, its blockchain-based solution helps customers comply with the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), which establishes that as of November 2019, wholesalers must verify prescription drugs that are returned and intended for resale. This piece of legislation is tasked with protecting consumers from contaminated, stolen or fake medication.

Counterfeit drugs are a significant problem in the pharmaceutical industry. Research releasedby the World Health Organization in 2017 found that an estimated 1 in 10 medical products circulating in low-and-middle-income countries was either substandard or fake.

In the US, wholesalers encounter almost 60 million returns a year, accounting for an estimated $7 billion.
With the new software, customers can verify the product code, lot, expiration date and a unique serial number which is embedded in the barcode against manufacturers’ data stored in the blockchain.

It’s worth noting that the software was co-developed with other well-known pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Ingelheim AG & Co. KG, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Merck Sharp & Dohme.

The news comes after SAP announced two industry consortia within the SAP Blockchain Consortium program in the fall of last year, but this is not the first time blockchain technology has been leveraged in a bid to fight counterfeit goods in the healthcare industry. In fact, Merck was looking to patentblockchain-based technology to bring greater transparency to the supply chain in June 2018.
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An immutable ledger such as blockchain would prove useful in the healthcare industry, so, it’s likely we’ll see similar projects launching soon.

Amazon now has a say in the development of a commonly used smart home standard, giving the company more power as it continues to push smart speakers, cameras, doorbells, and all other kinds of gadgets into its customers’ homes.

As of today, Amazon has a seat on the board of the Zigbee Alliance, which oversees implementation of the Zigbee wireless protocol. Zigbee isn’t nearly as popular as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but you can think of it a lot like them – it’s a wireless protocol for letting gadgets communicate. But unlike Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Zigbee is particularly useful for low-power devices and can travel longer distances, making it ideal for simple smart gadgets like a light switch.

Amazon introduced a version of the Echo, called Echo Plus, with Zigbee support more than a year ago. That support allowed the speaker to directly connect to a new world of smart home gadgets, like light bulbs, power outlets, and tiny sensors that it otherwise couldn’t have reached. The home alarm system for Ring, which Amazon owns, also connects to Zigbee.

It’s a slow start, but Amazon’s ascension to Zigbee’s board suggests the company will want to make more use of the protocol in the future. Other companies on Zigbee’s board include: 1) Samsung-owned SmartThings, which makes a smart home hub; 2) Signify, the company behind the popular Philips Hue smart lights; and 3) Comcast, which uses Zigbee on its Xfinity Home security solution.

Getting onto Zigbee’s board isn’t exactly a feat for Amazon, but it is an obvious and deliberate decision. Getting on the board means becoming one of the Alliance’s highest-paying members – $75,000 per year – and it gives those companies an significant advantage: they’re able to “drive specification development, requirements, and test plans.” Or basically, define where Zigbee goes next.
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If Amazon is paying that money, it means the company wants a say in what future versions of Zigbee can do and how different Zigbee devices work together. It also shows Amazon taking an opinion on which smart home standard it’d like to see win out. Zigbee’s most direct competitor is an alternative called Z-Wave, which hardware makers have criticized for relying on proprietary chips from a single company. Amazon is likely among the many companies in the smart home industry that would rather avoid dealing with the pricey parts that could come along with that if Z-Wave were to grow in popularity.