Mozilla has released its latest Firefox browser update, Firefox Quantum, and it ships with a new version of Firefox Monitor that will tell you whether a site you’re visiting has suffered from a security breach.

Firefox Monitor 2.0 will also tell you whether your details have been leaked online and desktop notifications will alert you if a website has been compromised over the last 12 months. You’ll also be able to see extra details, such as how many accounts were affected by the breach and what happened.

But don’t worry if you’re concerned you’re going to be spammed with messages every time you browse the internet – you’ll only see the notification once. So if you’ve already been told about the potential security issues, you can safely navigate back without being told again.

You will also be able to disable the notifications with a few clicks, straight from the notification, to prevent it from becoming a nuisance.

“We’re bringing this functionality to Firefox users in recognition of the growing interest in these types of privacy- and security-centric features,” the company said in a blog post.

Those downloading and installing Firefox Quantum will start seeing notifications over the next few weeks as Mozilla gradually switches it on.

Firefox Monitor works by pooling together notices of data breaches and the data that’s been reported stolen in such breaches. You can easily check whether your personal details have been stolen in a data breach, by checking them at monitor.firefox.com and then signing up to future alerts.

“Being part of a data breach is not fun, and we have tips and remedies in our project, Data Leeks,” Mozilla added. “Through recipes and personal stories of those who’ve been affected by a data breach, we’re raising awareness about online privacy.”

The majority of businesses think the hybrid cloud is the best option when it comes from transforming their operations, even though only a fifth are using a combined public and private cloud set-up.

According to Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud Index, 91% of businesses think a hybrid cloud approach is the ideal model to adopt, with 88% believing that application mobility across cloud platforms has the potential to “solve a lot of problems”.

However, despite overwhelming agreement, the report found that only 19% of those surveyed said that had already deployed such a model.

Findings also showed that organisations are becoming increasingly jaded when it came to opting for public cloud deployments, with 35% of respondents admitting overreliance on public cloud resulted in frequent overspending of annual budgets.

Nutanix’s survey of 2,300 IT decision makers worldwide, released on Thursday, identified that interoperability between cloud types and the ability to move applications between cloud environments was more important than cost or security.

“As enterprises demand stronger application mobility and interoperability, they are increasingly choosing hybrid cloud infrastructure,” said Ben Gibson, chief marketing officer for Nutanix. “While the advent of public cloud has increased IT efficiency in certain areas, hybrid cloud capabilities are the next step in providing the freedom to dynamically provision and manage applications based on business needs.”

The report also highlighted that finding IT talent specialising in hybrid IT is a challenge and more than half of respondents said they are struggling to retain those with hybrid IT skills in their organisation.

This is likely to become a growing concern for businesses in the next 12-24 months and a problem that needs to be addressed if firms are to make the most of hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Google has become the first cloud provider to offer customers access to Nvidia’s T4 GPU, helping them test out a cheaper alternative to its high-performance computing (HPC)-focused V100.

Although Google is the first cloud provider to offer the GPU, it’s already seen widespread adoption across physical servers, such as those offered by Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Lenovo and Supermicro. In total, it’s available in 57 separate server designs, Nvidia said, making it the most used server GPU it’s ever developed.

“We have never before seen such rapid adoption of a datacenter processor,” said Ian Buck, vice president and general manager of Accelerated Computing at NVIDIA. “Just 60 days after the T4’s launch, it’s now available in the cloud and is supported by a worldwide network of server makers. The T4 gives today’s public and private clouds the performance and efficiency needed for compute-intensive workloads at scale.”

The reason the T4 GPU is so popular is that it’s so powerful. AI, machine learning and even just data processing tasks are carried out at such a scale in the modern datacentre, a powerful GPU is required to handle them. Nvidia’s newest GPU features Turing Tensor Cores and new RT Cores that significantly reduce latency and speed up the processes when used alongside accelerated containerized software stacks.

“Real-time visualization and online inference workloads need low latency for their end users. We are delighted to partner with NVIDIA to offer T4 GPU support for Google Cloud customers,” said Damion Heredia, senior director of Product Management at Google Cloud.

“NVIDIA T4 GPUs for Google Cloud offer a highly scalable, cost-effective, low-latency platform for our ML and visualization customers. Google Cloud’s network capabilities together with the T4 offering enable customers to innovate in new ways, speeding up applications while reducing costs.”

Cloudflare has unveiled its 1.1.1 privacy service to mobile devices so anyone can use its free DNS protection service from any device.

The app, which has been developed for both iOS and Android makes it much easier for users to control their privacy on their mobile devices.

Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 privacy service funnels web traffic through the company’s DNS, making it much harder for website owners and connected services to uncover who’s accessing their services.

Another benefit of Cloudflare service is that is can speed up web connections if you’re in an area with slow internet services. One user in particular said a web page that normally takes 5-7 seconds to load in Vietnam only takes 3 seconds using the 1.1.1.1 app.

Although it was previously possible to do this by tweaking your browser’s settings manually, it’s not always the easiest task to do and can result in you being unable to access any website at all. Most mobile browsers don’t even allow you to change the DNS settings.

And although the generic 1.1.1.1 service has always been accessible through a browser on an iPad, iPhone or Android device, the mobile-specific app means you just need to tap the screen once to activate it across your device.

“We launched 1.1.1.1 to offer consumers everywhere a better choice for fast and private Internet browsing,” Matthew Prince, Cloudflare chief executive said. “The 1.1.1.1 app makes it even easier for users to unlock fast and encrypted DNS on their phones.”

Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 Faster & Safer Internet app is now available to download from Google Play and the App Store for free.

Google has launched its European Transfer Appliance beta testing programme aimed at helping businesses move their apps on legacy infrastructure to the search giant’s cloud platform.

The high-capacity server is suitable for moving workloads and data of sizes in excess of 20TB. This process would normally take a week or more, but Google claims its Transfer Appliance can complete the task much faster, although it hasn’t revealed just how quickly.

In Europe, Google is offering its Transfer Appliance in a 100TB configuration, although the total usable capacity is 200TB. It’ll launch a 480TB version shortly for businesses with an even larger amount of data to migrate. That larger appliance will offer a total usable capacity of a petabyte.

The cloud giant explained its Transfer Appliance has been used by a range of businesses, including for those needing to move large datasets, such as satellite imagery and audio files. It’s also a great option for migrating Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) clusters to its Google Cloud Platform.

“We see lots of users run their powerful Apache Spark and Apache Hadoop clusters on GCP with Cloud Dataproc, a managed Spark and Hadoop service that allows you to create clusters quickly, then hand off cluster management to the service,” Ben Chong, product manager at Google Cloud Platform said.

Used with NFS volumes, HDFS data can be easily pushed to Google Transfer Appliance using Apache DistCp. Once the data is copied, the appliance can be sent to Google to upload the data to GCP.

Businesses wanting to use Transfer Appliance to migrate their data can request one from their GCP Console.

Dropbox has unveiled a partnership with Google that will see the search giant’s Cloud Identity Platform become integrated into its Dropbox Business product, allowing users to sign into the storage and collaboration solution using their existing Google login details.

This means Dropbox Business accounts can benefit from an extra layer of protection via multi-factor authentication, provided through the Google Authenticator app and Titan Security Keys.

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The collaboration with Google is just one of the new partnerships Dropbox has formed with security firms to boost the protection of its customers and their data. It explained it’s looking for new ways it can facilitate the changing needs of customers, such as mobile working and storing sensitive files and folders in the cloud.

Dropbox also revealed it has tied up with other partners with extra integrations for Dropbox Business uses including BetterCloud, Coronet, Proofpoint and SailPoint.

BetterCloud enables administrators to develop automated processes within an organisation, such as on and off boarding new staff and document management, while Coronet offers the opportunity to manage content sharing and keep on top of document security. Proofpoint tie-up with Dropbox adds data loss prevention to the collaboration platform and SailPoint gives admins data access rights for employee file and folders.

“Businesses today are using multiple tools to protect their content, and we’re making it easier for them to securely deploy Dropbox alongside their existing security standards,” said Quentin Clark, SVP of engineering, product and design at Dropbox.

“As employees work remotely and teams change, businesses will have the peace of mind of knowing their content will always be secure with Dropbox.”

These new integrations will start rolling out to Google Business customers by the end of the year.

Amazon and Cisco have teamed up to make it easier for developers to build apps across cloud and traditional on-premise architecture, switching them from one to the other when required.

Cisco Hybrid Solution for Kubernetes on Amazon allows developers to create their apps either on AWS’s cloud service or on their traditional servers in containers.

Kip Compton, senior vice president of Cisco’s Cloud Platform and Solutions group explained that developers are often expected to work in fragmented environments, with their applications hosted either on the cloud or in traditional on-premise environments. But when switching to a hybrid model, it’s often a complicated process to get up and running, with technologies, teams, and vendors needing to work closely together to make sure apps can move from cloud to on-premise seamlessly. 

That’s where containers and specifically, Google-developed Kubernetes comes in.

«Containers and Kubernetes have emerged as key technologies to give developers more agility, portability, and speed — both in how applications are developed and in how they are deployed,» Compton explained in a blog post. «But, enterprises have been struggling to realize the full potential of these technologies because of the complexity of managing containerized applications in a hybrid environment.»

Cisco Hybrid Solution for Kubernetes on Amazon combines the Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes, with Cisco’s Container Platform and Cisco’s on-premise infrastructure to create a hybrid solution for businesses wanting to use a hybrid approach without the extra work.

When setting up apps, developers can choose to deploy them on either AWS or on their on-premise architecture running Cisco’s Container Platform. And if they want to switch the applications from one to the other, they can do so. This means businesses can take advantage of the cloud’s flexibility with the privacy and regulatory approval of traditional, on-premise architecture at the same time.

Cisco Hybrid Solution for Kubernetes on Amazon will set back organisations from $65,000 and will include specialised hardware as well as Cisco’s software/ The product will be available from the end of November.

IBM and Seagate have teamed up to build a blockchain security service that can identify counterfeit hard drives to prevent manufacturers, integrators and business partners being duped by fake equipment.

The technology is based upon IBM’s Blockchain Platform, combined with Seagate’s Secure Electronic ID (eID) when they’re built, verifying the authenticity of components. The jointly-developed initiative will use a unique identifier built into the hard drives that can be used to make sure it’s genuine throughout its lifecycle.

“Blockchain technology can be extremely effective in confirming provenance and authenticity of assets,” said Bruce Anderson, global managing director, electronics industry, IBM. 

“The ability to work with Seagate to combine blockchain with advanced cryptographic product identification technology is what sets this work apart, and signals blockchain’s potential to reimagine the electronics product life cycle management processes. Counterfeit electronic components are a global issue that requires an ecosystem-wide effort to address.”

The verification will also employ Seagate’s Certified Erase that integrates Seagate’s cryptographic erasure technology to create a digital certificate that is digitally signed by the device using the company’s public key infrastructure (PKI). This is stored on the blockchain so it cannot be changed, without affecting data privacy.

Together, these technologies will ensure any Seagate hard drives have been verified as genuine and this data will remain secure on the blockchain. When the time comes for the hard drive to be taken out of service, the data can be securely erased, adhering to data privacy laws.

“IBM has a proven history of technology innovation as evidenced by its market leadership in blockchain technology for product provenance in various industries,” said Mark Re, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Seagate. “By combining Seagate’s innovations in product security with IBM’s blockchain expertise, we want to prove that we can help reduce the incidence of product counterfeiting in the future.”

Microsoft has unveiled its Kaizala collaboration tool is now generally available to customers, allowing teams to use the WhatsApp-style programme to chat with their peers and boost productivity across the organisation.

Although the Android and iOS Kaizala app is free for consumers, the business application will set businesses back $1.50 per user each month, but offers a whole lot more than just free P2P chat. For example, businesses can easily manage communication groups, with advanced reporting for businesses to understand better how their employees collaborate.

«Today’s workplace extends well beyond organisational boundaries, and there is an increasing need to connect your entire business value chain, including your first-line workers, vendors, partners, suppliers, and customers,» Praveen Maloo, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft said. «A disconnected value chain hinders productivity, slows down decision making, prevents the ability for insights to surface from the field, and creates potential for customer dissatisfaction.»

He explained that although messaging apps have gone some way to break these barriers down, they’re often consumer apps designed for business use. For example, they may not be compliant, struggle with security demands or put company data at risk.

Kaizala addresses these issues, Maloo said especially in mobile-first, developing economies.

It integrates with Office 365, including Power BI and Microsoft Flow and allows teams to run polls, plan jobs and projects and share work flows with collaborators.

Kaizala is hosted on Microsoft Azure, ensuring it’s compliant with company data policies as well as ISO 27001, SOC2, HIPAA and GDPR.

“Kaizala Pro is already available as part of Office 365 commercial plans, or as a standalone purchase, in 28 markets around the world,” Maloo added. “We will be adding Kaizala Pro to Office 365 commercial plans worldwide over time.”

Fujitsu has revealed its involvement in a near-zero emissions data centre developed by the German electricity provider WestfalenWIND IT.

The computing firm has provided the server and storage technology, housed in a wind turbine, for the project, which is being used by Fujitsu SELECT Partner Green IT – Das Systemhaus (Green IT) to provide cloud services to customers.

As part of WestfalenWIND IT’s WindCORES initiative, the innovative three-tier data centre is part of Germany's mission to migrate to a sustainable energy supply, without compromising on services for businesses demanding highly scalable and efficient cloud systems.

Naturally, the data centre relies on energy produced by the wind to power its servers and equipment, significantly offsetting the carbon footprint of businesses wanting digital transformation.

“Businesses increasingly expect their suppliers to be innovative both in terms of the services they offer and how they deliver them,” Dave Hazard, vice president and head of channel and sales operations at Fujitsu EMEIA said.

“By working with Fujitsu to co-create a solution based around virtualised services run from the eco-friendly WindCORES data centre, Green IT can stay true to its environmentally-friendly values while providing choice and cost-effective solutions to its customers. The company is at the forefront of service providers creating a new ‘green cloud’.”

WestfalenWIND IT chose Fujitsu’s PRIMERGY servers and ETERNUS storage to minimise power consumption. Used alongside effective power management AC-DC converters and green cooling technology, the data centre offers a near-zero carbon footprint.

“There is plenty of space inside many wind turbine towers for IT and Infrastructure equipment – enabling the low-emissions distributed data centres of the future,” Dr. Gunnar Schomaker, co-founder of the WestfalenWIND IT Group, said.

“With WindCORES, providers like Green IT, are able to offer a new differentiated portfolio of cloud services to their customers, who also benefit from low power costs and sustainability, plus a reduction in their overall carbon footprint.”