Articles by Jack M. Germain

The White House on Thursday released its long-expected National Cybersecurity Strategy. The new federal policy assigns much of the digital security responsibility to tech firms rather than more federal regulations The policy document urges more mandates on the firms that control most of the nation's digital infrastructure. It also preaches an expan...

Despite a fall off in ransomware attacks since last year, the U.S. Marshals Service on Monday disclosed that it suffered a "major" breach of its computer network on Feb. 17 that included a ransomware component Numerous recent cybersecurity reports suggest that ransomware is becoming less profitable for cybercriminals as more victims refuse to pay t...

ChatGPT-powered Flowy might be a game changer for innovative developers looking to improve website accessibility Israel-based Equally.ai, a provider of web accessibility solutions, announced the release of Flowy last month. Ran Ronen, the company's co-founder and CEO, believes that accessibility should be fundamental to every web product. He design...

Puppy Linux is a niche computing solution that shows the flexibility and usefulness of open-source tools and the staying power of the Linux operating system Normally in this column, I focus on new versions of Linux distros that offer new tricks and features. But the current version of Puppy Linux, FossaPup64 version 9.5 is not a new release. It rep...

Many companies face an arduous balancing act at the start of 2023 between an uncertain economic climate and the critical advantage they must maintain for competitive innovation. New technologies from Web3, blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence continue to evolve work ethics that make that task more challenging Cory Hymel, vice p...

Recent shifts in consumer behavior will significantly impact brand sales this year and beyond. Brand marketers need to refocus efforts on planet sustainability; otherwise, they risk losing their consumer bases to brands that do E-commerce specialist Astound Commerce, in partnership with digital commerce platform Shopify, just released the results ...

Digital crooks -- whom cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials politely call bad actors -- use elements of modern-day cyber communications to track your online activities. These elements are hiding in plain sight, but they are easy to reveal once you know where to find them You can toss around false clues to hide your activities or at l...

The public launch in October of customer support firm DevRev's DevCRM platform offers a new approach to managing software as a service (SaaS) customer management. It cuts down on the need for large support teams by automating the update process on a rolling, consistent, as-needed basis DevRev is an API-driven, developer-first CRM platform for produ...

Attention retailers! Are your stores ready to get phygital? A successful phygital retail strategy blends the useful elements of the in-person customer experience into the digital sphere interchangeably....

The metaverse may have a new place in the retailer consumer experience, but it is off to a dismal start in becoming much of a business communication outlet Consumer attraction to today's metaverse indicates a significant shift in how people use technology. If the metaverse begins to exist and function in totality, marketers clearly should not miss ...

The year 2023 offers lots of promise and a whole lot of insecurity on the digital pathways -- both for personal and business encounters Technology continues to bring innovative business solutions while it also poses seemingly unsolvable cybersecurity challenges....

Do you want to run a full Linux desktop installation on your Chromebook without giving up ChromeOS? This alteration will give you access to both complete operating systems running simultaneously so you can move between them with a keyboard shortcut You may already use the "Crostini" partition to run individual Linux apps alongside ChromeOS. That me...

Nitrux is a very new Linux distribution that has the potential to offer a more interesting desktop experience to users looking for a fresh approach to computing -- but it is not there yet Developers describe the distro as offering an experience that is "Boldly Different." That might be the case once they have all the non-working parts fixed. Until ...

Advancements in education technology, or EdTech, come from changes of approach in the wake of shortcomings. Innovative educational technology can adapt existing tools or create new ones to help people navigate learning obstacles King of the Curve (KOTC) is a disruptive EdTech startup with its sights set on helping to ease the looming doctor shortag...

Software developers should be thrilled with this year's potential. The introduction of modern tools, innovations, and frameworks will provide more opportunities for greater efficiency and much more fun as a programmer in 2023 Yoav Abrahami, chief architect and head of Velo at Wix Code discussed with TechNewsWorld why he sees such a rosy prospect fo...

New technology is improving situational awareness for police officers and other first responders by minimizing response times and streamlining data sharing among agencies Advancements in high-tech for first responders might be essential in keeping police, firefighters, and EMTs on the job. Almost half (44%) of first responders surveyed said they co...

After rising and falling since 2021, new Linux malware hit record highs at year-end in 2022, growing by 117% over previous levels While Linux malware reached never-before-seen numbers in 2022, the total number of new malware developments among other major computing platforms fell....

When I received the AnkerWork SR500 Speakerphone shown above, it seemed like a useful multipurpose office accessory to make business phone use and video conferences more productive. It turned out as little more than a one-trick device only helpful in corporate and SMB conference rooms The disconnect in this device's purpose escaped me at first. It ...

In the face of economic headwinds and a worsening problem with code vulnerabilities, 2022 was still a successful year for open source and The Linux Foundation (LF) Leadership and security in innovation chart the theme of the LF's year in review for open source. Contributors to LF's projects, and open source in general, comprise the largest distribu...

TikTok has become the go-to app for Gen Z and others who prioritize social commerce influencers. However, U.S. lawmakers and citizens with growing concerns about data security and surveillance are pushing for congressional action to ban TikTok's operation Meanwhile, TikTok's social media platform holds considerable influence on consumers thanks to...