Archive for October 19, 2022

If You’re In The Market For The New iPad Pro, You Should Skip It

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

Apple released the new iPad Pro on Tuesday. The headline feature of this iPad Pro is that it comes with the M2 chip. But before you rush out to get one, I would say that you shouldn’t get one. Here’s a list of reasons why you should give this iPad Pro a hard pass:

  • The M2 chip doesn’t give you a whole lot more: With the exception of better Pro Res encoding and decoding, the M2 chip is by Apple’s own marketing only gives you a 15% bump in speed. That’s odd because the new MacBook Air gets an 18% bump in speed. Neither of these pieces of hardware have a fan so you would think that they would be similar in performance. But clearly there’s either some sort of difference that made Apple bring down the performance of the M2 in this new iPad Pro. And keep in mind, that 15% is likely peak performance. Which means the real speed increase will be less.
  • The M1 chip in the iPad Pro was already overkill: Given that the iPad Pro with the M1 chip was already destroying every other tablet out there, you have to ask yourself if you really need something that is even faster. I would argue that unless you need something specific like the better Pro Res encode and decode engines, likely not. Plus I am dubious if you would actually see the difference between the M1 and M2 variants of the iPad Pro.
  • The camera hardware is already 2 years old: Apple didn’t bother to change any of the camera hardware in the iPad Pro which is the same hardware that was in the iPhone 12 Pro phones. Which means that it doesn’t support Dolby Vision which the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pros do. And pro users which this iPad Pro targets will want to use the best camera available. Which means that this isn’t it.
  • Speaking of the camera hardware, there’s no landscape camera: The budget iPad got a landscape camera this year. But oddly enough the iPad Pro which is aimed at pro users allegedly didn’t get that landscape camera. That means that users on Teams and Zoom calls will still look like they are not looking at the camera. How does that make sense on a “Pro” tablet?
  • The Apple Pencil hover feature isn’t new: Apple is marketing that the iPad Pro’s hover feature is new and cool. The thing is it is not new. Samsung did this on its tablets ages ago. So this is Apple’s marketing at work using the “reality distortion field” to try and sell iPad Pros.

All of that really doesn’t make the new iPad a good value. But there’s one more thing. Does the iPad Pro Come With WiFi 6E? I ask because when you look at the the spec sheet, it says this:

This is something that I have to admit that I find puzzling because the way Apple defines WiFi 6E, it seems that they are using both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands to improve bandwidth and increase range based on your distance from the router. Likely because those bands have better ranger than 6GHz. But my understanding of WiFi 6E is that there is no WiFi 6E without the 6GHz band. This article on WiFi 6E from Cisco seems to support my understanding of how WiFi 6E works. And I cannot find this dual band use case. Though if there is one, I would love it if someone can point me towards it. In any case if you accept that there is no 6E without the 6GHz band, what is Apple doing here? I admit that I am pretty perplexed by this because I cannot see them making this sort of mistake by saying that the iPad Pro has something that isn’t technically possible. I guess we’ll have to wait until someone gets their hands on one and lights it up on a WiFi 6E router and tells the world what happens next.

So, instead of buying this iPad Pro, what should you get? Well that depends on who you are:

  • If you have an iPad Pro before the M1 version came out, go to Amazon and buy the iPad Pro with an M1 in it.
  • If you don’t have an iPad Pro, the above advice apples to you as well.
  • If you have an iPad Pro with an M1 processor in it. Don’t upgrade.

To me, this iPad Pro is all about Apple doing as little as possible to try and get a bump in sales for iPad Pro models. If that is the case, pro users should really skip this model as there’s not enough here to justify a purchase. Instead you should wait for Apple to come up with an iPad Pro that has enough that is new and different to justify you giving them your hard earned money.

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Singapore Announce Ransomware Task Force

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

Singapore has today announced the formation of an inter-agency ransomware task force which will pool representatives from different sectors to better tackle ransomware attacks aimed at businesses. The task force, set up earlier this year, will develop and make recommendations on possible policies, operational plans and capabilities to improve Singapore’s counter-ransomware efforts.

Dr. Darren Williams, CEO and Founder of BlackFog had this to say:

     “Interconnectivity and alignment between government entities is paramount for any country, regardless of size, to establish a unified approach towards ransomware prevention. As noted by the Coordinating Minister for National Security, the attacks against Costa Rica served as a prime example of how quickly your entire nation can be undertaken from the swift actions of a skilled attacker. Moving forward, these targeted countries must not only focus on preventing ransomware as a whole, but on preventing sensitive data from being exfiltrated. We have seen time and time again how even when a ransomware attack is dealt with, once data has been stolen, the damage can perpetuate indefinitely.”

I think that this is a great move as one can respond better to these sorts of attacks if everybody is on the same page. I’ll be watching Singapore to see how well this works out.

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Guest Post: 49% of IT professionals believe AI poses an existential threat to humanity

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is closer to us than ever before. However, could AI pose a threat to humanity?

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, 49% of IT professionals believe innovation in AI presents an existential threat to humanity. Despite that, many other experts see AI as a companion who helps with various tasks rather than a future enemy.

Nearly three out of four (74%) IT professionals think AI will automate tasks and enable more time to focus on strategic initiatives. About two-thirds (67%) of IT professionals believe that AI will be a mission-critical element of their business strategy in the years to come. 

In addition, three out of five (62%) experts expect to work alongside intelligent robots or machines in the next 5 years. On the other hand, some professionals think that AI can also cause harm, as 55% feel that AI will create major data privacy issues.

About half of IT experts believe that AI will put IT jobs at risk and that innovation in AI presents an existential threat to humanity.

Cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN Vilius Kardelis shares his thoughts on AI technology:

“The AI we have today can benefit businesses by making various tasks easier. However, that does not guarantee it is always positive. AI is a tool with potentially harmful consequences if used in the wrong hands. Despite this, it appears unlikely that it will pose an existential threat to humanity in the near future.”

Use cases for AI

Many businesses already utilize AI for many different tasks.

In the next 2 years, 45% of IT professionals plan to use AI for data analytics. Furthermore, s Also, AI will be used to detect and deter security intrusions and fraud in 40% of surveyed specialists companies in the upcoming years.

One out of three (34%) IT experts plan to use AI for machine learning. Another third (31%) of professionals believe their company will use AI for transferring and cross-referencing data. In addition, 29% of experts see AI helping with web and social media analytics and natural language processing in the next 2 years.

To read the full article, head over to: https://atlasvpn.com/blog/49-of-it-professionals-believe-ai-poses-an-existential-threat-to-humanity

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Nobody Should By The New iPad… And I Do Mean Nobody

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

Yesterday, Apple released its latest version of the iPad. To be specific, I mean Apple’s entry level iPad which up until yesterday was a dated product. But because it was so cheap, it didn’t matter. Well, Apple updated it, sort of. But they seriously jacked up the price. And they did some stuff to it that really makes you scratch your head.

The net result is this: Nobody should buy this iPad.

That sounds harsh. But let me explain why:

This is nothing but a repackaged fourth generation iPad Air that has been crippled by Apple: Ignoring the fact that this looks exactly like the previous generation iPad Air, if you look at the specs of the fourth generation iPad Air, and the specs of this iPad, they’re very similar. But Apple clearly went through some effort to cripple it in the following ways:

  • Unlike the fourth generation iPad Air, the new iPad has a non-laminated screen that does not support P3 wide colour gamut. Plus there’s no anti-reflective coating.
  • Unlike the fourth generation iPad Air, the new iPad only supports the first generation Apple Pencil. And to add insult to injury, it needs an adapter to pair and charge the Apple Pencil because it has USB-C rather than Lightning. Not that you can get one of those adapters, or an Apple Pencil with the adapter in the box until November.
  • The price is much higher. This new iPad jumps from $449 Canadian to $599.

If I have to make a guess about why this was done, it would go something like this.

  • Apple likely tried to recycle the fourth generation iPad Air to make their new budget iPad because that design has been paid down and it should have kept costs low. Apple has done that with products like the iPhone SE which is based on the iPhone 8 with internals from more recent iPhones for example. And it’s worked for them in the past. But whether it was due to the current economic situation, or some other factors that were beyond Apple’s control, they clearly couldn’t hit the $449 price target. So they cut a bunch of corners to keep the price down. Even if it meant that this iPad was way less appealing.
  • As for the Apple Pencil situation, my guess is that this was done to keep the education market happy as they likely have a ton of generation one Apple Pencils lying around that they won’t or can’t throw in the bin. And they would also not be happy if they were forced to use the generation two Apple Pencil. Even if making that move would have been the right decision by Apple.

Now to be fair, they did update the following in the new iPad:

  • It comes with the A14 Bionic processor, which was in the previous generation iPad Air which should provide a bit of a speed boost.
  • They upgraded the camera hardware in a serious way going to 12 MP for front and rear. Which should provide better photos for those people who insist on taking photos with their iPad.
  • It now does up to 4K video and the front camera is now in landscape orientation and it supports centre stage. So that you don’t look weird on your next Teams or Zoom meeting.
  • It finally comes with USB-C.

But the main reason why I cannot recommend this iPad is the price. At $599 It starts to encroach into the territory of the current iPad Air at $799 Canadian. And that iPad is much faster with an M1 processor and support for the second generation Apple Pencil which makes it a much better buy because you get more iPad for your money. Conversely, the previous generation iPad which costs $449 Canadian is still available. Likely because Apple knew that the price of this new iPad would be an issue. Regardless, it is still a great buy. And it’s an even better buy if you grab it from Amazon who often carries it for less than Apple does. It’s a great value and one that you should consider if you need a new iPad and don’t need the horsepower of the iPad Air. Which to be frank, most of us don’t. Either way, this new iPad is a big miss by Apple. And you shouldn’t pay for their mistake by buying it.

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Serviceaide Introduces The Luma Virtual Agent Mobile App

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

Serviceaide, Inc., a global provider of modern IT and enterprise service management solutions, today announced the Luma Virtual Agent Mobile App, a mobile version of its awarding-winning Luma Virtual Agent for streamlining and automating service and support. Luma Virtual Agent Mobile App empowers service organizations to better serve customers and employees on-the-go with such powerful features as location-based services, conversational intelligence, and speech to text translation.

With integration across Windows, IOS and Android devices, end-users and support personnel can now use their mobile devices to converse with Luma via voice, hybrid voice and text. Luma is an intelligent virtual agent that leverages conversational AI, knowledge management and other advanced technologies to converse with end-users to understand and report on service issues, provide answers, automate services, and confirm resolution.

The Luma Virtual Agent Mobile App utilizes a phone’s native location-based services to understand where a user or field support representative is located and present specific information to end-users and support personnel. For example, if someone is reporting a street light outage, they can identify the specific light without having to know the address.  Or, if someone is reporting a problem with an office copier or printer, they can identify the machine without pulling out the device and searching for a serial number based on location or by scanning a QR or bar code via their mobile app.  

 The Luma Virtual Agent

Luma Virtual Agent is the industry’s first knowledge-centered virtual agent for streamlining enterprise service and support. Luma leverages knowledge functionality to harness the power of information and make it consumable. The Serviceaide platform leverages AI to understand what end users need and take action automatically.  Luma streamlines and delivers support in a consumer-like, intuitive fashion through a combination of natural language understanding (NLU), conversational AI, semantic search with a knowledge graph and machine learning. 

About Serviceaide  

Serviceaide is a leader in modern service and support. Serviceaide’s vision is to transform service management, across ITSM, ESM, and Customer Service. Serving customers around the world, Serviceaide applies breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to deliver better experiences, provide enhanced self-service and empower service owners. Serviceaide transforms service through digital labor conversations, automation, and knowledge. For more information, visit  www.serviceaide.com. 

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New Social Security Administration Phishing Scam Targets U.S. Citizens with SSN Suspension Threats: Inky

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

INKY detected an influx of phishing emails from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). While the email display address reads “Social_Security_Administration,” further inspection reveals the sender’s true origin to be a random Gmail address. 

INKY has published a report analyzing the Gmail senders’ origin, phone number in PDF attachment payload, brand impersonation, and voice phishing (vishing) techniques, and the subject lines, which include case and docket numbers to make the phishing threat seem more official. 

This attack is the second government agency phishing campaign out of three that INKY will publish over the next two weeks. Last week, INKY published the first of this series, which you can find here: Small Business COVID-19 Grants Designed for Disaster. 

You can see the latest report that INKY has published here.

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SAT is Dead: New Behavioral Risk Platform Launch Challenges Security Awareness & Training Status Quo

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 19, 2022 by itnerd

CybSafe, the behavioural risk platform, today announced the launch of its new platform. The platform has been built on the universal truth that access to technology is no longer optional. Every individual has to use technology today, whether at work or at home. The result: the way people are behaving with technology is leading to even more opportunity for cyber criminals to steal data and infiltrate networks. This needs to change. The security market needs a focus on security behaviour, rather than ineffective traditional Security Awareness & Training (SA&T) provided by legacy players. 

CybSafe helps organisations across financial services, insurance, legal, and technology with human risk quantification. It helps lower human risk with behavioural science and data from SebDB, the world’s most comprehensive security behaviour database. It maps security behaviours to risk related outcomes.

CybSafe’s new platform measures over 70 specific security behaviours, from implementing strong passwords to deploying Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This data is not available anywhere else. It helps influence specific security behaviours, providing support to people at the time they need it.

Take the example of security and awareness training informing someone they should update their home router password. The information is usually provided when that person is deep in work, or worse, in the office. By the time that person has returned home, the advice is lost. CybSafe sends well-timed messages on the right channel, in the right way. In this case, it would be an instant message when the person is at home.

It also delivers advanced risk metrics and visual reporting to organisations. All designed to replace ineffective security awareness training and reduce human risk. The risk metrics also help organisations meet their compliance requirements and adhere to strict cyber insurance policy requirements.

The new product features include

  • Behaviour Goals: Most people don’t need more training. They need dynamic help and assistance. Goals helps people focus on the important security actions and even reminds them at a time that suits them best
  • Behaviour reporting insights: A set of reports that score the security behaviours within an organisation and show how they relate to risk. Administrators can see how the organisation, individual people or groups of people are performing.
  • Behaviour event API: A flexible security behaviour event API that ingests security behaviour data from across systems. No two organisations are the same. Most use a combination of tools, both bespoke and off-the-shelf, to solve problems for the business.
  • Behaviour-focused learning: Assign learning modules to people based on the security behaviours the organisation is targeting. Most security awareness training covers a variety of topics but has no clear link back to specific security behaviours.
  • On demand help: Security guidance and advice people can access whenever they have a security question. Organisations can tailor the guidance to specific users and groups, and also add their own organisation-specific guidance. Having an on-demand set of advice and guidance that they can access when they need it helps people perform the right behaviours and get on with their day job and their lives securely.
  • Nudge capability: A low-friction way to deliver ‘Nudges’: notifications and prompts, designed to influence security behaviours. It can be used to deliver ‘Alerts’: an easy way to share general security information with your people quickly.
  • Mobile app: All of CybSafe’s features are available via a mobile app. This allows people to access cybersecurity guidance, advice, training and education at various points in their day, not just when they are in front of their computer completing mandated security awareness training. It can also be used by their family at home to help protect everyone.

CybSafe has been measuring the success of its new platform.  

  • A CybSafe banking customer found their users are 60% more likely to adopt two-factor authentication.
  • After a CybSafe behaviour intervention, 9 out of 10 users no longer exhibit high-risk phishing behaviour.
  • 43% of users improve their security confidence after spending less than 45 minutes on the CybSafe platform.
  • With the help of CybSafe, an industry regulator has individuals accepting auto-updates 96 out of a 100 times.
  • 4 million behaviour measurements made with nudges achieving over 60% success rate.
  • On average, users are 58% more confident about cybersecurity after completing CybSafe.

Find out more at https://www.cybsafe.com/ and  https://www.cybsafe.com/behave-series/

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