Archive for December 6, 2022

Tecsys and SVT Robotics partner to simplify warehouse robotics deployment

Posted in Commentary with tags , on December 6, 2022 by itnerd

Tecsys Inc., an industry-leading supply chain management software company, and SVT Robotics Inc., a leader in enterprise software for the rapid deployment of industrial robotics, have partnered to develop and launch an out-of-the-box integrated connection between the Tecsys’ Elite™ supply chain platform and SVT’s SOFTBOT® Platform. The integration will provide Tecsys Elite™ customers faster deployment and lower complexity without the need for lengthy custom code development often involved in multi-system automation and robotics deployments.

SVT Robotics is an enterprise software company that is revolutionizing robot deployments in the warehousing and manufacturing industries. With certified connectors to many of the industry’s foremost automation providers, and partnerships with companies such as 6 River Systems, Fetch Robotics (Zebra Technologies), Locus Robotics, MiR, OMRON, OTTO Motors and many more, SVT’s SOFTBOT Platform enables companies to deploy the robots, automation, and IoT devices they need in just days or weeks.

Tecsys contends that bringing automation into a warehouse should begin with a needs assessment and design plan, which then informs hardware selection that will meet those needs. Whereas some software vendors operate as automation resellers for a limited set of systems, Tecsys’ partnership with SVT empowers supply chain organizations to assess, design and integrate across a wide spectrum of automation choices. The result is a warehouse operation powered by end-to-end WMS functionality and easily automated workflows using today’s most innovative technologies.

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Elon Musk Installs Beds For Twitter Employees….. WTF??

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 6, 2022 by itnerd

I guess that when Elon Musk said that he wanted employees at Twitter to be “hardcore”, I guess that being able to sleep at work qualifies as being “hardcore”. I am basing that on the fact that Elon is installing beds for Twitter employees:

On Monday, employees returning to work at the company’s San Francisco location were greeted by modest bedrooms featuring unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant conference-room telepresence monitors — a significant upgrade over the Therm-a-Rest+sleeping bag situation showcased by one Twitter employee in November. One room even has a plant.

A photo of one converted bedroom shared with Forbes showed bright orange carpeting, a wooden bedside table and what appears to be a queen bed, replete with a table lamp and two office armchairs just begging for convivial workplace collaboration.

One source said that no announcement or context was provided to employees, and presumed that the beds are for remaining “hardcore” staffers to be able to stay overnight at the office. “It’s not a good look,” they said. “It’s yet another unspoken sign of disrespect. There is no discussion. Just like, beds showed up.”

Doesn’t Elon have something better to do? Like stop advertisers from leaving or getting ad revenues up because they are in free fall at the moment? Clearly not. I really don’t get what his thought process is and how these beds will help Twitter make money. This is just stupid and sure to backfire on Elon.

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Bell Gigahub Issues Seem To Be Resolved

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 6, 2022 by itnerd

I’ve been tracking issues with Bell’s new Gigahub which is part of their 8 Gbps fibre rollout. Specifically there were issues with getting PPPoE pass through to work with your own router. PPPoE bypass by far the cleanest way to use your own hardware. That is assuming that your router can handle the overhead that PPPoE creates so that you get the speed that you’ve paid Bell for. It became clear that this was a Bell issue and they have been working on a updated firmware to address this. I’ve been following a thread on DSL Reports where it is becoming clear that the firmware that is working for those who have been testing it. That’s very good news.

If you are in this situation, my suggestion would be to go to the Bell Direct Forum at DSL Reports and ask a user named Bell_Dom who is a Bell employee to push the firmware to your Gigahub. Eventually I would assume that this will be pushed to all Gigahubs so everyone can benefit from this new firmware.

UPDATE: Bell appears to be rolling out firmware to Gigahub users. Details here.

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Eufy Releases An App Update That Won’t Make Their Issues Go Away

Posted in Commentary with tags , on December 6, 2022 by itnerd

Over the weekend I posted a story about Eufy and the fact that they have lied about the security that their had for years. And that my belief is that they should be banned from sale because this isn’t the first time that this has happened. Part of my belief that they should be banned comes from the fact that I don’t believe that Eufy is serious about gaining the trust of their users. This is being reinforced by the news that Eufy isn’t patching out a potential security issue in the Eufy Security app. Instead Eufy is just telling users that their thumbnails will be uploaded to the cloud when they choose specific notification settings in the app;

As of Monday, an update has been rolled out to the Eufy Security app to add a statement disclosing that thumbnail images will be uploaded to the company’s cloud servers. 

For you to get notifications with thumbnails in them from a security camera, a thumbnail has to be uploaded someplace. That’s true for any camera system. And part of the problem is that Eufy sells these cameras with the expectation that they are completely private. Which clearly they are not. Now that Eufy has clarified this, I am guessing that they hope that this issue will go away. But it won’t because this doesn’t do anything about the ability for a threat actor to stream video. Eufy hasn’t commented on this as far as I know. And there’s no sign that they will do anything about it.

Thus if Eufy was hoping to make this issue go away, I don’t think that this will do it.

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Guest Post: 42% of manufacturers in the UK endured a cyber incident in the last 12 months

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 6, 2022 by itnerd

According to data presented by Atlas VPN, 42% of manufacturers in the UK have been victims of cybercrime within the past year. 

Luckily, the vast majority (74%) stated that the cyber security measures in place prevented any commercial damage. 

However, the remaining 26% informed that they had suffered significant financial loss, with losses ranging from £50,000 to £250,000. 

The survey in question was conducted by Make UK, the voice for manufacturers in the UK, together in association with Blackberry Cybersecurity. A total of 112 manufacturers based in Britain participated in the study. The data was published on December 1st, 2022. 

The overall trend within the manufacturing security landscape in the UK remains relatively unchanged between 2022 and 2021. 

Throughout both periods, around one in ten companies were victims of cybercrime and incurred financial, reputational, or operational damages.

Production halts were the most prevalent outcome of a cyberattack (65%), with reputational damage coming in second (43%). In other words, financial losses incurred were a result of stopping production or loss in customer trust.

Besides that, around three out of ten manufacturing firms were attacked and infiltrated but were able to mitigate any business impact due to the cyber security processes in place.  

Vulnerabilities and cost concerns

Manufacturers in the United Kingdom confront a slew of cybersecurity threats, ranging from simple staff mistakes to sophisticated targeted attacks. 

Maintaining legacy IT (45%), a lack of cyber capabilities within the organization (38%), and granting access to third parties for monitoring and maintenance (33%) were listed as the top three cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

According to manufacturers, the expense of cyber security tools is the most important obstacle to enhancing their degree of cyber protection. Almost four out of every ten manufacturers said this.

Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive at Make UK, commented:
 

“While cost remains the main barrier to companies installing cyber protection, the need to increase the use of the latest technology makes mounting a defence against cyber threats essential. No business can afford to ignore this issue and while the increased awareness across the sector is encouraging, there is still much to be done.“

To read the full article, head over to: https://atlasvpn.com/blog/42-of-manufacturers-in-the-uk-endured-a-cyber-incident-in-the-last-12-months

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