A Russian gang has collected a cache of 1.2 billion unique credentials - pairs of emails and passwords - according to information security firm Hold Security. [ + ]

Telstra has a significant share of the fast-growing Asia-Pacific unified communications as a service market, but faces competition from regional and global rivals, Frost & Sullivan said. [ + ]

Organisations need to weigh up all the pros and cons of password managers to decide if they meet their needs, or whether SSO is a better option. [ + ]

Australia and New Zealand's share of the worldwide Digital Universe was 2.2% in 2014, but 55% of data in the ANZ market is not being protected. [ + ]

Australian businesses need to be more aware of common malware campaigns known as 'Silver Spaniel' campaigns, which are targeting their organisations, says Palo Alto Networks. [ + ]

Apple and Samsung have agreed to end all patent lawsuits between each other outside of the US, including in Australia. But is it a sign of an end to the long and bitter legal war? [ + ]

US government body NIST has kicked off a year-long challenge aimed at helping global communities develop smart city technologies and processes. [ + ]

Recovering accidentally deleted messages and collecting data for investigations or e-discovery are the most common uses for email data-recovery software, a survey suggests. [ + ]

Analysts have been predicting the death of the desktop PC for many years, but what do IT managers on the frontline think? Will tablets take over, or is there still a place for the beige box? [ + ]

Microsoft has sued Samsung Electronics, claiming the South Korean electronics manufacturer has been dodging its obligations under a patent agreement between the two companies. [ + ]

Telco industry body Communications Alliance has urged the government to take a cautious, balanced approach to any moves to amend copyright law to crack down on online piracy. [ + ]

For the first half of 2014, more than 375 million customer records were stolen or lost as a result of 559 breaches worldwide, says SafeNet. [ + ]

Pacnet has been picked to join the Australian Government Data Centre Facilities Supplies Panel, allowing it to provide data centre services to public sector organisations. [ + ]

The federal government's Online Copyright Infringement discussion paper puts forward solutions that are likely to pass costs on to all internet users without dramatically reducing rates of piracy, says Consumer advocacy group CHOICE. [ + ]

Technologies such as email once drove a dramatic improvement in business efficiency, but are too slow for the modern era. IT professionals agree that service automation could provide the next leap forward. [ + ]