Atos and Virtru Announce Partnership to Offer Data Security Solution for Digital Workplace

Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announced a strategic partnership with Virtru, a leading data protection platform provider that stands at the intersection of security and privacy. The partnership will provide global organizations with a joint encryption solution for Digital Workplace, protecting customer data across cloud-based platforms.

This solution combines Atos hardware encryption with Virtru’s encryption software and is aimed at organizations which are looking for easy-to-use data encryption solutions to protect data in both cloud and hybrid environments.

Virtru’s solution, the Trusted Data Format (TDF) is an open-source data protection standard [1]. Designed to protect customers’ most sensitive data, the TDF protects the privacy of email, files and data – both at rest and when shared with third parties. The TDF provides persistent protection and granular control for emails, files and other data types related to the workplace environment.

The Atos Trustway Proteccio Hardware Security Module (HSM) [2] safeguards and manages digital keys - with the highest level of certification, for ultimate security. User experience is completely unaffected by the extra layer of security and the HSM simplifies auditing processes. Depending on the customer’s strategy, Atos delivers those hardware security modules either on customer’s premises or “as a service” from Atos secured datacenters.

Leveraging its integration capabilities, Atos has created a unique offering to address the high-level security required for the digital workplace, based on both Atos and Virtru products. This offering can be provided on-premise or as-a-service, depending on customer requirements and constraints.

The Atos HSM brings on extra security layer by further protecting the keys used to encrypt the customers’ data and generated by Virtru.

“As a European leader in cybersecurity, and more specifically in data protection, we guarantee the confidentiality of sensitive data. Our Hardware Security Module with state-of-the art encryption, completed with Virtru’s software encryption solution, offers ultimate security for digital workplaces – thus facilitating day-to-day work and ensuring complete end-to-end data encryption for our clients, in both cloud and hybrid environments” says Alexis Caurette, VP Head of Cybersecurity Products at Atos.

“As more organizations across the globe transition to the cloud, end-to-end security of data becomes paramount. This partnership between Atos and Virtru provides customers with a data-centric approach to security that works and is easy to use. Plus, it opens the door for future joint innovation that will help customers manage their data wherever it’s shared, while at the same time, reducing risk,” said John Ackerly, CEO of Virtru.

[1] invented by Virtru’s Co-Founder, Will Ackerly

[2] A Hardware Security Module (HSM) is a physical computing device that safeguards and manages digital keys for encryption, to guarantee the identities and to provide cryptoprocessing.

Mahadevapura Lake Gets an Eco-Friendly Sewage Treatment Plant as Part of Multi-Stakeholder Initiative with BBMP

In a unique initiative, leading corporates in Bengaluru have come together to partner with United Way Bengaluru (UWBe), BBMP and Citizen’s Group to construct an eco-friendly Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of 1 million litres a day (1MLD) capacity at the Mahadevapura Lake in the city. Supported by Amazon, Mphasis, Dell Technologies, HTC Global and BORDA, the multi-stakeholder effort is aimed at rejuvenating the Mahadevapura Lake, which adjoins their offices at Bagmane World Technology Centre.  The STP will tap and treat 1MLD wastewater flowing in an adjoining drain and discharge it into the lake every day. The inaugural ceremony took place today at Mahadevapura Lake.

UWBe has demonstrated success with its Wake the Lake campaign, and this is bringing together skills and expertise from various fields. The STP is an eco-friendly natural solution. It is a chemical free process with minimum dependence on electricity for treating the wastewater. It is an anaerobic process called DEWATS, which aims to mimic natural processes by providing the right conditions for microbial action. The Bangalore-based Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination Society (CDD Society) have provided the technical expertise for design and implementation of the STP. The construction was led by Revlon Build tech.

Speaking on the initiative, Kishore Thota, Director Customer Experience and Marketing, Amazon India says, “We are happy to associate with UWBe and BBMP to align efforts around intergovernmental initiatives to contribute to and preserve the city’s ecological systems to positively impact the local communities. The rejuvenation of the Mahadevapura Lake will be able to restore the rich biodiversity and inspire citizens to create hubs for a vibrant socio-cultural life.”

“We have a responsibility to give back to the society we reside in and this project with UWBe and BBMP is one such effort. We hope this initiative will bring back the lake its lost glory. This is a classic example of collaboration to safeguard the nature for our future generations,’’ said Meenu Bhambhani, Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mphasis.

Echoing similar sentiments, Sarv Saravanan, Corporate Senior Vice President & General Manager, India Center of Excellence, Dell Technologies said, “We at Dell Technologies have always been committed to the good of the people and the planet. The STP initiative at Mahadevapura Lake is an extension of this commitment. We are glad to partner with UWBe, BBMP and other corporates.”

I am so excited to see this unfold. Bengaluru once a city of lakes is well on its way to reclaim its past.  United Way’s ethos --- “Mobilizing the Caring Power of Communities “is well demonstrated by this initiative by which the Mahadevapura Lake will now have 1 Million Litres of sewage Water treated and put back into the lake every day. A spirited team effort of BBMP, Community and the Corporate Partners with UWBe anchoring the whole initiative, said Prashanth Prakash, Board Chair, United Way Bengaluru.

“Multiple stakeholders coming together for a cleaner and greener environment is what encouraged us to support this project. We hope that the success of the project encourages more funds towards lake rejuvenation in Bangalore, “said Stanzin Tsephel, Director, BORDA-South Asia

“It makes us immensely proud and happy that we have the support of civil society and corporates and they are doing so much to make our city clean and green,” said R.L. Parameshwaraiah, Chief Engineer- Lakes, BBMP.

“UWBe’s development initiatives are designed to ensure that corporates derive maximum impact from their investments. With water taking centerstage in the push for cleaner and greener environments in recent times, this initiative is a step towards meeting the objectives of policy makers, corporates and civil society at large. Thanks to the coordinated team efforts of all, this was made possible, said Rajesh Krishnan, Executive Director, UWBe. 

“We hope that this project serves as an example for managing untreated wastewater that enters our lakes in large quantities.  It is very commendable that corporates have come together to fund this project. The CSR financing allowed us to implement the project in a Design-Build model that provided for a more dynamic implementation approach to accommodate unforeseen site conditions,” said PG Ganapathy, Director (Programs), CDD Society.

Sanzar Group Launches Avast Consumer Security Products in India

In view of the growing concern for Personal Device Security & Privacy in mind, Sanzar Group is launching global, digital security leader, Avast’s range of Protection, Productivity and Privacy products in India.

Avast, with its global footprint of over 435 million total active users (desktop and mobile), aims to make a bigger dent in the Indian market, where it already boasts of 17 million users. With the local expertise of Sanzar Group and Avast’s reputed product technology, the goal is to become India’s #1 consumer security software company by userbase.

At launch, five products will be available at special prices, catering to the price-conscious Indian consumer in two formats – Digital License Key & Physical Activation Cards. They will be available to purchase at:

-       www.avastindia.in
-       www.avgindia.in
-       www.amazon.in

Avast Premier: Avast Premier offers complete, top-of-the-line security and the best Avast has to offer. It improves user’s home network scanning, protects their webcam and PC from ransomware, offers automatic software updates, stops redirects to fake websites, safely shreds data and features Avast’s Secure Browser, the world’s most secure browser, so users can shop, browse or bank, safe from hackers and online ads. It’s the ultimate protection, from the most-trusted security provider in the world.

Price: Rs. 699/-

Avast Internet Security: Avast Internet Security helps protect users against identity theft, phishing emails, infected websites, and more. Avast Internet Security comes with Avast’s Secure Browser, the world’s most secure browser. It blocks annoying ads with Ad Blocker, allows users to watch their favourite videos offline with Video Downloader and lets users bank or shop safely, so no hacker can track them with Bank Mode.

Price: Rs. 599/-

Avast Cleanup Premium: PC’s don’t get younger. Fix slow PC’s with Avast Cleanup Premium’s patented technology – The ultimate PC tune up. It speeds up and cleans PC’s, updates apps/programs and fixes annoying problems that tend to slow down PC’s. Avast Cleanup Premium is the most comprehensive PC optimizer and tune up toolkit available.

Price: Rs. 499/-

Avast SecureLine VPN: Enjoy the Internet, the way it was intended, with Avast SecureLine VPN. It encrypts user’s Internet connection, at the click of a button for true online privacy and freedom. Users can enjoy and access all online content, by utilizing one of the 56 servers across 35 countries. With Avast SecureLine VPN, users can browse securely on up to 5 devices across multiple platforms (PC, Mac, Android & iOS).

Price: Rs. 799/-

Avast Mobile Security for Android – Ultimate: Secure up to 5 Android smartphones with the world’s most trusted mobile antivirus app. Protects user privacy by allowing private, secure and restriction-free internet browsing via Avast’s top-of-the-line VPN. It also helps remotely secure phone data and allows phone location tracking, in cases of theft. It enhances phone performance to keep it running smoothly and provides insights to users about their digital habits.

Price: Rs. 399.

Trend Micro Collaborates with DOCOMO to Launch Security for IoT Devices

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japan's leading mobile operator and one of the world's foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies, will launch a solution to protect IoT devices running on DOCOMO’s mobile network utilizing Trend Micro’s security solution.

Enabling this first-of-its-kind protection is the new DOCOMO Cloud Platform Network Security Service, a solution that layers in security solutions from Trend Micro. The result is an easy-to-use security shield specifically for DOCOMO’s customers who are building infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) environments.

Until now, deploying a security solution on the DOCOMO Cloud Platform required customers to set up third-party products manually. This new service simplifies the deployment of security onto the DOCOMO Cloud Platform.

Telecom companies and service providers have long been planning for the impact of 5G. Now is the time to ensure the extra security risks posed by these smart endpoints at a network level are protected. Trend Micro is helping DOCOMO protect their customers’ data in cost-effective, easy-to-deploy ways.

Under the technical covers of this solution is Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite (VNFS), tested rigorously last year in the DOCOMO 5G Open Cloud.

In addition to verification in the 5G environment, verification has also been promoted in the 4G environment currently used by many customers. As a result of verification, DOCOMO concluded that this solution is effective in the environments with increased opportunity for IoT security threats. Therefore, they decided to provide this solution for 4G environments as part of DOCOMO Cloud Platform.

“The promise and potential of 5G has the world waiting but let me issue a warning for the need for extra protection. Smarter endpoints mean a greater cyber risk to manage,” said Akihiko Omikawa, executive vice president for Trend Micro. “We’re delighted and proud that our technology meets the needs of this global mobile phone leader. Together our joint solution delivers cloud infrastructure capabilities integrated with IoT-ready security customized for modern data centers.”

Trend Micro’s telecom solution, VNFS, offers service providers a range of security functionality including intrusion prevention, URL filtering and application control to mitigate threats across their networks without impacting performance.

As a software-based solution, this security service can be deployed in minutes versus the days required with on-site hardware, and is dynamically allocated, configured and scaled according to customer requirements.

Underlying threat intelligence is provided by Trend Micro, which analyzes 1.5 billion new threat samples and blocks 250 million threats every 24 hours.

ASUS Announces Game-Changing VivoBook 14 & 15 in Indian Market

KEY POINTS

·         Slim and light laptops with four-sided frameless NanoEdge ultra-narrow-bezel displays for an immersive viewing experience
·         Powered by up to an 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, with up to NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics
·         Innovative design featuring the ErgoLift hinge for comfort typingand four gorgeous color options

Tech giant ASUS today announced two new additions to the VivoBook family: the 14-inch VivoBook 14 (X412) and the 15.6-inch VivoBook 15 (X512). The brand has furthermore launched X412 in partnership with Flipkart. To the same end, ASUS unveiled the Vivobook series together with Adarsh Menon, Vice President, Electronics, Private label and Furniture at Flipkart.

Commenting on the new launches, Arnold Su, Head of consumer notebooks and ROG business, ASUS India, said, “We are glad to introduce the new additions to VivoBook. Both X412 and X512 deliver on the brand’s promise of high performance and easy portability, crafted with perfection for today’s young and eclectic users that are always on the move and prefer finer pursuits in life. This launch also marks another run of successful collaboration with Flipkart and we are extremely proud to be associated with India’s leading online platform. We are affirmative that our users would appreciate the new offerings and look forward to an affirmative response.”

While Adarsh K Menon, Vice President Electronics, Private Labels and Furniture at Flipkart , said,"At Flipkart, we constantly endeavor to offer our customers best-in-class products, with the latest features at great prices. We are delighted to partner with ASUS and offer our customers their range of durable, lightweight and colorful notebooks. ASUS has been a key player driving the growth of the laptop category on Flipkart and we work in close association with them to develop these India-focused products. We are confident that Vivobook 14 & 15 will resonate well with our customers, who are looking at the best technology at affordable price points.”

Express yourself with beautiful hues

VivoBook 14 and 15 are available in four gorgeous colors. There are classics such as Transparent Silver and Slate Grey, as well as iridescent Peacock Blue, which changes color tone depending on how light strikes the laptop surface. There’s also the eye-catching Coral Crush with a bright matte finish and users can pick one to best express their personalities.

Immersive viewing experience &Tru2Life Video Technology

Offering an unmatched immersive experience, both VivoBook 14 and 15 feature frameless four-sided NanoEdge displays with at least an 87% and 88% screen-to-body ratio, respectively, for immersive viewing. The incredibly slim bezel allows a large display to fit into a smaller chassis, effectively reducing the laptop footprint for a more compact and portable machine. These laptops are powered by up to an 8th Generation Intel® Core i7 processor with up to NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics, promising unrivalled performance and easy multi-tasking.

The NanoEdge display gives VivoBook a smaller footprint that makes the laptop more portable without compromising the screen size. Furthermore, both the machines feature ASUS Tru2Life Video Technology, an advanced video-tuning system that renders the quality of high-end TVs, enhancing clarity, color, and contrast in video.

Powerful Intel Core CPU and dual-storage design

VivoBook 14 and 15 are powered up to an 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics. They have dual-storage designs that can be specified with up to a 512GB SSD and 1TB HDD.In addition, dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) connections provide speeds of up to 867Mbps — 6X-faster than 802.11n — for seamless video-streaming, and smooth web-surfing. Both the variants also features Bluetooth 4.2.

Innovative Keyboard & Touchpad

The new launches pack in ASUS ErgoLift hinge, the silky-smooth dual action that securely holds the display steady at any angle, while slightly elevating the keyboard by up to 2° for a natural and comfortable typing position. Featuring a one-piece construction with 1.4mm key travel (1.3mm for VivoBook 14) for comfortable keystrokes. The touchpad is with Windows gesture support – VivoBook has a large touchpad that’s smooth to touch. It supports Windows 10 touchpad gestures including multi-gesture input, making it easier to switch apps or screens, and supports handwriting recognition to input text or digital signatures. With VivoBook 14 and 15, users will also have a more secure fingerprint login via Windows Hello in a blink.

Designed with comfort in mind

Delivering the brand’s promise of high performing and portable machines, both VivoBook 14 and 15 have 19.5mm profiles, and weigh 1.5kg and 1.6kg respectively. For easy connectivity, the laptops feature a variety of ports including USB 3.1 Type-A, USB Type-C (USB-C), HDMI output, an audio combo jack for headphones and microphones, and a microSD card reader. Ensuring optimum performance with adequate cooling of the machine, the laptops use a blower style design where the fan takes in the air and circulates it around the motherboard cooling CPU and GPU with ease. This is done with the help of air channels built into the chassis.

AVAILABILITY & PRICING

ASUS VivoBook 14 will be available on Flipkart starting from 33,990 INR

ASUS VivoBook 15 will be available online and offline at a price range starting from 34,990 INR

The Oberoi, Gurgaon and Trident, Gurgaon Hotel Chains Introduce 100% Solar Power

Taking a step towards a greener future, The Oberoi, Gurgaon and Trident, Gurgaon have introduced solar power to fulfill the electricity needs of both hotels. A captive power plant in Balasar, Haryana will generate 7.5 MW of electricity to meet the energy demands of the two hotels.

The solar power plant has been equipped with Polycrystalline technology and is spread over 25 acres With 27,000 solar panels installed, the plant’s performance ratio is determined to be 76.50%. The Oberoi and the Trident in Gurgaon aim at reducing CO2 emissions by 12,344 tons per year.

Talking about the initiative, Mr. Abhishek Panshikar, General Manager, The Oberoi, Gurgaon, says. We are proud that our Gurgaon hotels are now operating on 100% solar power. This is our small way of giving back to Mother Nature and providing our guests a sustainable luxury experience.”

Adding to this, Mr. Amit Khare, General Manager, Trident, Gurgaon says “Surveys have shown that guests prefer to stay in environment friendly accommodations. This is equally an important priority for us.  With this in mind, our guests will be pleased to know that they are now staying in a hotel that is fully powered by solar energy.”

Adopting renewal energy like solar power will help resolve many environmental challenges like reducing global warming and CO2 emission and also helping drive greater socio economic benefits by creating local employment opportunities.

SAAS Based Edtech Startup - Ulektz Announces Tie-Up with Packt Publishing, UK

uLektz, a SaaS based Edtech startup announced that it has partnered with Packt Publishing, a UK based publishing company offering more than 7000 Titles on information technology and software. Under this agreement, uLektz will sell and distribute the ebooks of Packt Publishing in India through its digital content marketplace uLektz Books (www.ulektzbooks.com).

“We are pleased to partner with a global tech publisher Packt. This partnership gives us an opportunity to provide our users the access to high quality academic books at affordable costs. As an edtech start-up that offers a suite of applications, it is such alliances that promote and raise the bar for the Indian education ecosystem.” said Mr. Sadiq Sait Founder and CEO of uLektz Learning Solutions.

Packt Publishing, a global tech publisher is known for its quality educational books and videos on information technology and software. Many of the Packt’s books are usually sold in the international market between $40-$70. With our partnership, these ebooks will be offered at around 90% discounts as a promotional offer for the audience in India.

Speaking on the association, Mr.Vishwas Kshirsagar, Head of Country, Packt India said: ”Packt provides effective learning solutions and content services primarily to IT professionals keeping them updated with the latest development in the IT industry. uLektz’s wide-spread reach in the higher education of India allows us to extend our offerings to students and educators as well. Considering the potential and demand of the India market, we are very keen to reach out to the wide audience in India. We have had an amazing response from professional learners and readers in India. We are encouraged to see the robust operations of uLektz and tap the potential of delivering our digital content to India”.

uLektz offers a suite of software applications for higher education. uLektz Books is one of the products of uLektz suite that aggregates, sells and distributes digital content from various educational publishers, renowned institutions and expert faculty members.

uLektz has existing tie-ups with 20+ reputed educational publishers, who sell their ebooks to students and educators across India through uLektz Books platform. uLektz has also created and published 1500+ interactive ebooks as per the curriculum of specific universities using its in-house Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). These uLektz published ebooks along with various other digital content such as videos, solved question papers, lecture notes, etc., are currently offered for free of cost through uLektz Books.

About Packt: Packt is a global company based in Birmingham, U.K, has published over 7000 books and videos so far, providing IT professionals with the actionable knowledge on specific learning on an emerging technology or optimizing key skills in more established tools.