Archive for December 8, 2023

Cradlepoint Serves Up Predictions For 2024

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 8, 2023 by itnerd

Here’s a few predictions from Cradlepoint for 2024 on AI, IoT, Zero Trust, 5G wireless strategy and private 5G networks.

1.  AI will become one with the network, impacting all business operations

If 2023 was the year of flashy AI investments, 2024 will be the year of AI impact—which may not be as visible to the naked eye. AI will move from a “tool you go to” (such as ChatGPT) to being integrated into the applications we are using everyday and empowering network connectivity. As such, we’ll begin to see the benefits of AI being integrated into all applications related to the network, bolstering network predictability, troubleshooting, security and more. Businesses will need to ensure AI transparency and security practices are adequate in order to make the most of AI. 

2. IoT will finally bring the “smart” society to life — from cities, to malls, to businesses

From powering smart infrastructure to traffic management to smart parking, IoT devices throughout cities are actively creating seamless experiences and empowering the cities of the future In 2024, we’ll see an increase in industries that leverage IoT devices to bolster connectivity opportunities to increase efficiency, bolster productivity, and meet the need for consumer and customer experiences. As such, we’ll begin to see the inklings of a “smart society” as IoT-enabled establishments from shopping malls to public transportation to modern businesses take flight.

3. A 5G wireless strategy will become a key boardroom decision as connectivity moves from foundational to essential 

Fixed wireless access, private networks, satellite, WAN—today’s enterprise connectivity options are as expansive as ever. In 2024, enterprises across verticals will have more opportunity to choose which solutions may work best on their end, but will ultimately need to pick the option that will cater to their specific business needs and operations. As such, the wireless conversation will move into the C-Suite and become a strategic decision for the modern business. As part of this decision, organizations will need to weigh their decisions and engage in debates such as satellite versus 5G, to determine what will work best for them. 

4. The move to nearshoring will be a catalyst to private 5G and the edge

In the next year, we’ll see an increased need to drive cost savings while manufacturing in home countries and neighbouring regions. In order to do this, we’ll see more enterprises and the manufacturing space invest in edge computing technologies to increase efficiencies and drive down the costs of product inspections, management and overall plant operations. The manufacturing space will specifically look to technologies like private 5G networks and IoT in 2024 to create networks and tools to give us more control over products. 

5. Zero Trust evolves with a growing risk landscape in 2024

Over the last few years, companies have taken steps to get ahead of ransomware threats by enhancing their internal security measures while training their employees on security best practices. While these implementations have seen success, the unpredictable, disruptive, and costly nature of cyber-attacks has left companies tired of playing cat and mouse with ransomware actors. Looking ahead, businesses will look to proven, yet not widely adopted technologies such as zero-trust web browser solutions, like remote browser isolation, to air-gap their employees’ web and email sessions. By running web browser sessions in an isolated cloud container, information will be rendered in a safe stream to an employee’s device. 

Authors:

Eric Purcell, Senior Vice President of Global Partner Sales, Cradlepoint  (1 and 2)

Donna Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer, Cradlepoint  (3 and 4)
Vancouver-based Camille Campbell, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Cloud Management & Orchestration Platform, Cradlepoint (5)

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2023 Uber Eats Cravings Report Reveals Fun & Unusual Canadian Delivery Trends – With A Holiday Twist!

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 8, 2023 by itnerd

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—Uber Eats’ fifth annual Cravings Report is here!

To get Canadians into the holiday spirit, they’ve baked some festive surprises into this year’s report. They’ve highlighted the cities that order the most eggnog and the top last-minute Christmas Eve orders. In keeping with tradition, they’ve also shared a snapshot of the most popular, most unique—and in some cases—most unusual delivery requests received over the last year. 

Check out all the sweet and savoury Eats trends from 2023:

  • 🎅Santa’s midnight Eats: Traveling the world in one night is hard work, and Canadians take the task of keeping Santa fueled seriously. The most popular last-minute food orders were milk, cookies and brownies on Christmas Eve. 
  • ☃️All about that ‘nog: This holiday drink tends to be a divisive treat, but Vancouverites can’t get enough. It’s the top ranking city for eggnog orders, followed by Calgary and Edmonton.
  • 🙏Feelin’ tips-y: While all Canadians enjoy a reputation of being polite, some cities take it a step further. Prince George scored the top spot with the most generous tippers this year, followed by Ottawa and Halifax.
  • 🍸Keeping the libations flowing: When Canadians run out of their favourite liquid spirits at their events, they turn to Uber Eats to keep their bar cart stocked. This year, vodka, beer and whisky topped the list of most popular alcohol orders.
  • 🍽️Go big at home: Nothing wrong with balling out and treating yourself (and those around you) to a boujee meal every once and a while. In November 2023, a Toronto resident took the top spot for the most expensive order totaling $1,729 from Gusto 101. They ordered 20 pizzas, 30 pastas and 71 appetizers. 
  • 😳Giving the ick: Don’t blame the people, blame the taste buds. Some cities have been proven to be pickier than others when it comes to placing orders. The city who was the most particular about their orders was Moncton, NB.
  • 🌎A world of flavours: In a country full of different cultures, Canadians have access to an array of cuisines right at their fingertips. This year’s most ordered were American, Japanese, Indian, Chinese and Italian.

Here’s some more details:

*Data results are weighted to control for population differences. 

Santa’s midnight snack: The most popular orders on Christmas eve

The man of the hour needs fuel to make it through his biggest night of the year.

  1. Chocolate milk
  2. White chocolate chip cookies
  3. Chocolate fudge brownies
  4. 2% milk 
  5. Chocolate bars

All about that ‘nog: The cities that order the most eggnog

The most eggs-cellent time of year for eggnog lovers across the country. 

  1. Vancouver
  2. Calgary 
  3. Edmonton
  4. Lethbridge 
  5. Victoria

Keeping the libations flowing: The most popular alcoholic beverage orders

Keeping the bar cart stocked without leaving the house.

  1. Vodka
  2. Beer 
  3. Whisky 
  4. Pinot Grigio 
  5. Margarita cooler

Feelin’ tips-y: The cities that tip the most

Top tippers from coast-to-coast 

  1. Prince George
  2. Ottawa
  3. Halifax
  4. Hamilton
  5. Toronto
  6. Edmonton
  7. Kamloops
  8. Windsor
  9. Calgary
  10. London, Ont

Eating their greens: The cities where adults order the most cannabis edibles

Gummies, anyone?

  1. Toronto
  2. Vancouver
  3. Victoria
  4. Kitchener-Waterloo
  5. Kingston
  6. Ottawa
  7. Peterborough
  8. Hamilton
  9. Niagara Region
  10. London, Ont

Snack game on point: The most popular convenience store items

A snack a day keeps the hunger pains away

  1. Hot dogs
  2. Taquito 
  3. Slurpee 
  4. Chocolate milk 
  5. Chips
  6. Ice cream 
  7. Popcorn 
  8. Pepperoni pizza
  9. Candy 
  10. Brownies

The key ingredient: The most popular grocery item orders

Behind every good chef is a full pantry

  1. Bananas
  2. Cucumbers
  3. Strawberries
  4. Tomatoes 
  5. Eggs
  6. Cilantro
  7. Raspberries
  8. Avocados
  9. Green onion 
  10. Bottled spring water

A world of flavours: The most popular cuisines in Canada

Take a trip around the world with your tastebuds.     

  1. American        
  2. Japanese        
  3. Indian
  4. Chinese  
  5. Italian

Celery-brate wellness: The cities that order the most healthy food

These cities are glowing from the inside out

(based on restaurants labelled “healthy” in the app)

  1. Montreal
  2. Ottawa
  3. Kingston
  4. Toronto
  5. Vancouver

It’s what is on the side that counts: The top requested sides

No meal is complete without a complimentary side dish

  1. French fries
  2. Garlic Naan
  3. Poutine
  4. Miso soup
  5. Hash browns

Giving the ick: The pickiest cities 

Are they picky or do they just know what they want?

  1. Moncton
  2. Kelowna
  3. Red Deer
  4. Greater Sudbury
  5. Halifax
  6. Regina
  7. St. John’s, NL
  8. Nanaimo
  9. Winnipeg
  10. Victoria

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90%+ Of Energy Companies Have Experienced 3rd And 4th-Party Breaches 

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 8, 2023 by itnerd

According to SecurityScorecard’s new Energy Sector Third-Party Cyber Risk Report, almost 90% of the world’s 48 biggest energy companies have suffered a supply chain data breach in the past 12 months, and of the 2000-plus third-party vendors surveyed, only 4% experienced breaches themselves.
 
The report highlights the risks of so-called “fourth-party” breaches where breaches occur at suppliers of suppliers. 100% of US and UK companies experienced a fourth-party breach in the past year, and 92% globally.

Notably, the UK energy firms were given the highest average security rating, with 80% holding a B or above. Overall, a third of global firms had a C rating or below.

“Preventing the surge of supply chain attacks requires systematically applying real time data triggering automated workflow to manage risk in the digital ecosystem,” argued chairman of the SecurityScorecard Cybersecurity Advisory Board, Jim Routh.

Stephen Gates, Principal Security SME, Horizon3.ai had this to say:

   “In the context of avoiding, reducing, transferring, and/or accepting risk, it’s clear that the global energy sector must do more to manage their expansive cyber risk landscape. Seeing that a third-party or even fourth-party breach could impact the entire sector, the transfer of risk to upstream or downstream partners will no longer be acceptable.

   “We predict that the global energy sector (and other sectors too) will no longer accept some other party’s risk, and as a result, the sector will launch some sort of Global Supply Chain Cyber Risk Management Program. This program will likely include mandatory and continuous self-assessments to ensure one entity is not transferring their cyber risk to other adjacent entities.

   “These self-assessments will not be the once-per-year penetration test or some sort of periodic vulnerability scan. Instead, these self-assessment requirements will demand that entities use both manual and autonomous assessment techniques and technologies that mimic attacker TTPs. In other words, organizations will be forced to attack themselves regularly just like any other attacker would to prove they can fend off an attack and not transfer their risk elsewhere.

   “These red team, adversarial-like assessment exercises will be used by organizations to discover their truly exploitable weakness and help them rapidly remediate them so they can prove their own risks are not being transferred to their various partners. Organizations will need to provide assessment reports on-demand to their adjacent partners, track improvement over time, and attest to the fact that they are not vulnerable to the latest known exploitable vulnerabilities the energy sector may be subject to.

Craig Harber, Security Evangelist, Open Systems follows with this:

   “Third-party suppliers are critical to the operation of most modern businesses. Their systems are interconnected to form a trust relationship to prevent supply chain attacks, data breaches, and reputation damage. Unfortunately, the resulting ecosystem of connected companies has become a favored attack path for attackers to gain access to larger companies that tend to have larger budgets and more resources to invest in cybersecurity. So, it is not surprising that when extended to include fourth-party suppliers with even smaller cyber budgets, that 100% of the companies surveyed reported they had experienced a breach in the past year. The confirmation of the almost universal experience of third- and fourth-party supply breaches highlights the importance of implementing third- and fourth-party risk management to help mitigate undue risks and costs associated with this very real cyber risk.”

The fact that so many companies in this sector are victim to 3rd and 4th party breaches is a #Fail of epic proportions. Companies in this sector need and must do better to make sure that they don’t get pwned because they don’t hold their suppliers to account.

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