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Consumers Prefer Fingerprint Scanners
Consumers feel more comfortable with fingerprint scanning than with other types of biometric technology, including face, eye, voice and other biometric measurements, according to a survey from the Center for Identity at The University of Texas at Austin. The report finds 58 percent of those surveyed say they feel very comfortable with fingerprint scanning biometrics. Only about a third reported feeling very comfortable with any other biometric type.
Dell Previews Modular Architecture and Brings AI and NVMe into PowerMax Storage
Dell Technologies says the days of general-purpose servers attempting to be used for everything are over. The company has unveiled its modular Kinetic architecture which will allow for the addition of field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), extra processors, graphics capabilities, I/O connectivity, and storage as required. The first product in this series will be the PowerEdge MX server later this year, and in the meantime Dell is releasing a 32-drive, 4 CPU and 4 GPU PowerEdge 940xa, as well as the smaller 2u R840 capable of holding 24 NVMe drives and two additional GPUs or FPGAs.
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Evaluating Patch Management Software: 6 Key Considerations
Patch management tools can be delivered and configured in various ways. They can run on premises or in the cloud. They can be appliance-based, stand-alone solutions or part of a larger software product suite. This article advises IT leaders on what to consider when choosing a patch management solution.
Microsoft Outlook Update: The 7 Features Business Professionals Need to Know
Microsoft says that new Outlook features including meeting RSVP tracking and Bcc warnings will help professionals get work done. New Microsoft features such as quick reply and Office 365 Groups for OneNote and meeting events in Outlook will arrive in the coming months.
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Hyosung America Launches New Micro ATM
Hyosung's 8100 QTN, a micro ATM, now comes with a smaller footprint and advanced cash recycling capabilities. Measuring 21-inches wide and 32-inches deep, the 8100 ATM provides full function, check and cash deposit in less than five square feet of space – the size of a traditional cash dispenser.
When ATM Cash Recycling Makes Sense
This article covers how cash recycling works; what attributes make an ATM a good candidate for cash recycling; the benefits of implementing cash recycling ATMs; and what kind of savings can an ATM operator expect to see in an average cash recycling deployment.
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Word-of-Mouth Recommendations Are Failing Mobile-Payments Services
Coveted word-of-mouth advertising is failing the mobile-payments services offered by technology giants, according to the 2018 Mobile Pay Tracker report from Auriemma Consulting Group. Mobile payment users often encounter acceptance issues — the reader isn’t clearly visible or the payment fails — that deter them from the positive word-of-mouth referral.
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Microsoft Announces Several New Intelligence Security Tools
Microsoft released Microsoft Secure Score and Attack Simulator. Secure Score makes it easier for organizations to determine which controls to enable to help protect users, data and devices by quickly assessing readiness and providing an overall security benchmark score. It will also let organizations compare their results to those with similar profiles using built-in machine learning. Attack Simulator, a part of Office 365 Threat Intelligence, lets security teams run simulated attacks — including mock ransomware and phishing campaigns — to event-test their employees’ responses and tune configurations accordingly.
Endpoints Still Vulnerable to Breaches Despite Antivirus Tech Advancements: Survey
According to a Minerva Labs survey, the malware evasion techniques that posed the biggest concern are avoidance of malware analysis and forensic tools (32%) followed by fileless or memory injection attacks (24%). Attacks that use malicious documents also raised concerns (24%). Two-thirds of respondents (67%) were concerned that existing controls won't prevent a significant malware attack on the endpoints. Furthermore, the survey found that over half of the respondents (53%) preferred adding a meaningful layer to their endpoint security stack instead of completely replacing their existing AV.
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4 Ways to Use Tech to Win Millennials’ Business
Millennials, defined roughly as those born between 1982 and 2004, are the largest generation in the history of the world — 83.1 million strong in the United States alone, according to the U.S. Census. Their market power is massive and growing. The author suggests that your Marketing team: 1. Make it Easy and Intuitive to Do Everything Digitally; 2. Optimize Everything About Your Website for Mobile; 3. Use Data to Make the Most of Your In-Person Interactions; and 4. Design Your Online and App Experiences to Be Helpful.
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Mastercard Pioneers Remote Biometric Card Enrollment
Mastercard has unveiled techonlogy that allows people to register their fingerprint onto their biometric card from the comfort of their home. Their fingerprint is scanned by the sensor on the card and an encrypted digital template is created and securely stored.
Instagram Quietly Launches Payments for Commerce
Instagram just stealthily added a native payments feature to its app for some users. It lets you register a debit or credit card as part of a profile, set up a security pin, then start buying things without ever leaving Instagram.
Splitit Launches Installment Payment Solution for Debit Cards
Splitit, a leading monthly payment solution, announced the launch of its debit card installment payment offering in the US and Europe. Using Splitit, consumers are now able to split their purchases of $400 or less into up to three interest-free monthly payments using their existing debit cards. Additionally, using Splitit, consumers can continue to split any cost into up to 12 interest-free payments on an existing credit card without the need for applications or registrations for new credit lines.
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The author contends that IPv6 can actually be simpler than IPv4 and, as a result, easier to configure and maintain. He goes on to discuss numerous IPv6 rollout recommendations.
Verizon Teams up with Cisco, Juniper to Create a Single Disaggregated Platform for Edge Routers
Verizon is using its software-defined networking technology, along with collaboration with Cisco and Juniper Networks, to put all of its existing edge routers for Ethernet and IP-based services onto a single platform. By simplifying the network edge, Verizon said it can make improvements in the deployment and provisioning of infrastructure on its networks as well as in customer-facing areas such as Ethernet, Internet and VPN-based services.
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4 Omnichannel Metrics to Add to Your Dashboard
This article covers four omnichannel metrics: 1) Transfer Rate; 2) Customer Emotion Experience; 3) Customer Experience Greatness; and 4) Net Retention Score.
Microsoft Survey: Gen Z Prefers to Communicate via Chat
A Microsoft survey of 14,000 business people found that Gen Z preferred to communicate via chat and text apps, versus older generations who preferred email and meetings.
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