10 Mistakes to Avoid to Make Open Source More Secure

Open source is becoming more popular in the enterprise. But so are open-source vulnerabilities. Here is how you can prevent open source-related mishaps in 2016.

 

It's no secret that open source is becoming more popular in the enterprise. Organizations from service companies to manufacturers to banks are tapping open source to take advantage of factors such as lower development costs, faster time to market and simplified application deployment through containers. Mission-critical performance is no longer a major hurdle. But there's another issue with open source that is sticking in enterprises' craw—and will continue to stick throughout 2016 and beyond. That issue is security. More than 6,000 new open-source vulnerabilities have been reported since 2014. Given the fact that, according to various surveys, 98 percent of companies are using open-source software they don't even know about, it stands to reason that enterprises don't have a good handle on how to defend against this growing threat. Most organizations lack automated processes for selection and approval of new open source as it enters a code stream, as well as inventorying and tracking the use of open-source software within their code base and Linux containers. Identification of or monitoring for known open-source vulnerabilities (like Heartbleed and ShellShock) is another issue many organizations now face as their use of open source grows. Based on interviews with eWEEK, Black Duck, a provider of software that identifies open-source components and maps known open-source security vulnerabilities, offers some advice about issues enterprises should consider to prevent open source-related mishaps in 2016.

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The 10 most common mistakes startups make, and how to avoid them

The myth of the genius founder is rife in the technology sector. However, anyone that has seen David Fincher’s The Social Network can tell you that even the very biggest and brightest tech startups will make mistakes

Tech startups are generally run by smart, young people that have a great idea but no experience of running a company. Recruitment, management, finance and legal issues can all be problems for entrepreneurs that don’t learn from their mistakes quickly.

Here are just some of the mistakes that startups have made, from powerhouses like Uber, Tinder and Slack to fast-growing companies like Settled, Saberr and Laundrapp, and hopefully some advice on how to avoid them.

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10 Mistakes Smart People Never Make Twice

Everybody makes mistakes -- that's a given -- but not everyone learns from them. Some people make the same mistakes over and over again, fail to make any real progress, and can't figure out why.

"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
--Bruce Lee

When we make mistakes, it can be hard to admit to because doing so feels like an attack on our self-worth. This tendency poses a huge problem because new research proves something that commonsense has told us for a very long time -- fully acknowledging and embracing errors is the only way to avoid repeating them.

Yet, many of us still struggle with this.

Researchers from the Clinical Psychophysiology Lab at Michigan State University found that people fall into one of two camps when it comes to mistakes: those who have a fixed mind-set ("Forget this; I'll never be good at it") and those who have agrowth mind-set ("What a wake-up call! Let's see what I did wrong so I won't do it again").

"By paying attention to mistakes, we invest more time and effort to correct them," says study author Jason Moser. "The result is that you make the mistake work for you."

Those with a growth mind-set land on their feet because they acknowledge their mistakes and use them to get better. Those with a fixed mind-set are bound to repeat their mistakes because they try their best to ignore them.

Smart, successful people are by no means immune to making mistakes; they simply have the tools in place to learn from their errors. In other words, they recognize the roots of their mix-ups quickly and never make the same mistake twice.

"When you repeat a mistake, it is not a mistake anymore: it is a decision."
--Paulo Coelho

Some mistakes are so tempting that we all make them at one point or another. Here are 10 mistakes almost all of us make, but smart people make only once.

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7 security mistakes people make with their mobile device

Mobile devices, especially smartphones, have ushered businesses into a new era of productivity and working on-the-go. But with those advances and added convenience comes a wealth of security blunders just waiting to happen. Here are some of the worst mistakes users can make with their mobile devices and how to avoid them.

Failing to lock down your device
Not having the most up to date versions of your apps
Storing sensitive, work-related data on an unauthorized device
Opening questionable content
Not adhering to your company's social media policies
Not equipping employees' devices with some form of MDM or encryption
Using public or unsecure Wi-Fi

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13 Common ERP Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them

While a successful ERP implementation can help your organization streamline workflow and cut costs, a poorly planned and implemented ERP rollout can severely cost organizations, in terms of lost productivity and delays. Here are the 13 most commonly cited ERP mistakes and their fixes.

Costing anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, and requiring hundreds of man hours to implement, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are huge investments of money, resources and time. And while a successful ERP implementation can help your organization streamline workflow and cut costs, a poorly planned and implemented ERP rollout can severely cost organizations, in terms of lost productivity and delays.

To help ensure your ERP implementation is a success, or at least to minimize potential problems, CIO.com surveyed dozens of ERP experts (IT executives, consultants and ERP vendors), asking them to describe the most common ERP-related mistakes organizations make and how to avoid or solve them. The 13 most commonly cited ERP mistakes and their fixes appear in this post.

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10 Mistakes to Avoid if You Want a Promotion

Unfortunately, unless you open your own business, chances are high that you are going to have a boss for a rather large portion of your career. And chances are equally high that getting on the wrong side of said boss is not going to do your career any favors. While that certainly doesn't mean that you need to bring your boss a cup of coffee every morning, it does mean that you should probably avoid making any of the following mistakes. After all, you do want to be promoted, right?

Attempting to Hide Problems
Pretending You Know Things You Don't
Regularly Talking Behind His Back
Being Unable to Handle Criticism
Being Full of Excuses
Not Knowing How to Use an Iron
Not Keeping Your Word
Keeping Agendas Hidden
Generally Being Irritating
Showing Zero Initiative

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10 really dumb mistakes to avoid in the field

We all do it. Make mistakes. Some of them are just little DOH! moments that lead to embarrassment. Others, however, lead to disgruntled or (worse) lost clients. Many of those mistakes can be avoided if you know what to watch out for. This post highlights 10 mistakes that one wouldn't want to make when on a job. Avoiding these mistakes will help you retain your dignity — and your clients.

1: Don’t blindly upgrade
2: Don’t edit configuration files without backing up first
3: Don’t forget to turn the firewall back on
4: Don’t forget to document
5: Don’t do anything without client permission
6: Don’t experiment on a client machine
7: Don’t learn on the job
8: Don’t use Add/Remove Program to uninstall antivirus
9: Don’t go in without knowing the situation
10: Don’t leave the site without making sure everything works

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