Archive for April 7, 2025

WK Kellogg Data Breach Linked to Clop

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

WK Kellogg Co, a US-based food manufacturing company, has reported that company data was stolen during the 2024 data theft attacks against Cleo, a managed file transfer utility targeted by the Clop ransomware gang in late 2024.

Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, commented:

“Zero day flaws, such as those that have been exploited by the Clop ransomware group, are extremely difficult to defend against. Because these stolen files are HR-related employee files, the information within them is liable to be very sensitive and could easily lead to identity theft for those affected.

“Victims of the data breach should ensure that they have locked their credit to avoid illicit accounts being opened in their names, and should be on the lookout for potential signs of identity theft.”

Another day. Another supply chain attack. That’s not good. Seeing as you’re only as secure as the companies you work with, it’s time to ask those companies some really hard questions to ensure that your company is as safe as possible.

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Interlock claims responsibility for shutdown of Andretti Games

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

Ransomware gang Interlock today claimed responsibility for a March 2025 cyber-attack against Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, a chain of family entertainment businesses with locations across the southern USA. Andretti temporarily closed all its locations on March 16 due to technical issues.

In a blog post reporting this news, Paul Bischoff, Consumer Privacy Advocate at Comparitech, wrote: 

“Interlock is a new ransomware gang that first started adding targets to its leak site in October 2024. The group extorts targets both to unlock infected computer systems and to not sell or release stolen data.”

“Interlock has claimed 12 confirmed ransomware attacks since it began, plus 13 unconfirmed claims that haven’t been acknowledged by targeted organizations. Those include recent attacks on National Defense Corporation, the Cherokee County School District, and the Siegel Group. Ransomware attacks can both lock down computer systems and steal data, forcing targeted organizations to either pay a ransom or face extended downtime, data loss, and pu

Just because this gang is new, doesn’t mean that they aren’t a problem. Clearly they are one of these gangs that are going to be a problem in the future. They are going to be worth watching in the future.

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E-ZPass toll payment texts return in massive phishing wave 

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

 An ongoing phishing campaign impersonating E-ZPass and other toll agencies has surged recently, with recipients receiving multiple iMessage and SMS texts to steal personal and credit card information. This scam is not new, with the FBI warning about it in April 2024, and Highway 407 warning about it it March. 

Commenting on this is James McQuiggan, Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4:

“Mobile phishing campaigns are becoming more common, as cybercriminals are impersonating companies like E-ZPass in a very believable way by telling people that they have unpaid tolls. Cybercriminals prey on a person’s heightened emotions to encourage behaviors that can be harmful if acted upon. Whenever a text message seems urgent and arrives unexpectedly, it is important to always remember to verify the validity of the message before taking any requested action. Instead of clicking on the link provided in the text message, instead go to the known valid website of the sender first and double check that the information provided is accurate. Always stop and think before acting, especially if the message seems urgent.”

My advice is if you get one of these texts, don’t click on anything. Then stop, take a pause, and think about it. Keep in mind that it is highly unlikely that you will receive a text like this without you being identified by name. Furthermore, it is also highly unlikely that any organization will reach out to you in this manner. If you do that, it is highly unlikely that you will be victimized.

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Challengermode Becomes Official Tournament Platform for Brawlhalla in New Partnership with Blue Mammoth Games

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

Challengermode, the leading global esports and competitive gaming platform, today announced a strategic partnership with Blue Mammoth Games, developer of the popular fighting game, Brawlhalla. Under this new collaboration, Challengermode becomes the official esports and community platform for Brawlhalla, supporting its thriving competitive scene and diverse player community.

The first Brawlhalla community events powered by Challengermode will take place in mid-April 2025, leading to support for official championship competitions starting in May. Leveraging Challengermode’s automation and scalability, Brawlhalla events will benefit from robust features that streamline tournament management and participation to accommodate both community growth and large-scale, international competitions.

To meet the demands of high-level competitive play inherent to fighting games, Challengermode is significantly expanding its platform features, enhancing organizer tools, tournament capabilities, and overall user experience for both players and organizers.

All Brawlhalla tournament organizers, creators, and players can experience the enhanced capabilities of Challengermode here: challengermode.com/s/Brawlhalla

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Kids’ iOS tracker Apps could be exposing their location to stalkers 

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

Cybernews has uncovered a terrifying security flaw in a popular iOS tracker app used by over 320,000 people to monitor their kids’ locations. 

The app’s misconfigured Firebase database has exposed real-time GPS data, phone numbers, and other sensitive details, putting users at risk of stalking and worse.

As more parents rely on tracking apps to keep their children safe, this flaw is a major security threat with wide-reaching implications. 

Please find the full Cybernews report here.

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BUCK Supercharges Creativity with Hammerspace Performance

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

Hammerspace, the high-performance data company, today announced that Los Angeles-based creative studio BUCK has selected the Hammerspace high-performance Data Platform to accelerate time-to-deploy new infrastructure and span geographic office locations without disrupting its creative team’s productivity. At the NAB show in booth #SL14416, Hammerspace will be demonstrating how it helps BUCK and other creative and design firms, game development companies, and television and film studios to provide high-performance content for post-production, visual effects, active archive and AI-readiness.

With a global team of more than 800 artists across offices in Los Angeles, New York, Amsterdam, London and Sydney, BUCK serves global brands such as Airbnb, Microsoft, Amazon, GitHub, Rivian, FedEx and Apple. Its services include 2D and 3D modeling for multimedia, creating immersive in-person experiences, branding, character design and more.

BUCK was challenged with managing large volumes of content that needed to be ingested, processed and modified through collaborative workflows with demanding performance requirements. Further, disparate NAS storage silos across geographically dispersed offices made it difficult for artists to share data, slowing down projects.

BUCK’s Chief Technology Officer John Kleber learned of Hammerspace through GPL Technologies, which designs IT solutions and data infrastructures to meet the unique needs of post-production facilities.

Hammerspace is now deployed at four of BUCK’s offices, creating a single global namespace that spans offices in Los Angeles, New York, Amsterdam, and Sydney. Artists and data users across all locations are able to collaborate on the same files in a live file system, eliminating the problem of wrangling file copies between sites. BUCK utilizes Hammerspace software for all “heavy lift” workloads, including editing, rendering, and more, acting as high-performance shared storage that spans sites and different storage tiers. This also has the benefit of enabling BUCK to leverage artists in different regions to collaborate on the same project, which was previously not possible.

Hammerspace’s software provides high-performance data access using NFS, SMB, and S3 protocols. All protocols access the same underlying file system with a uniform security policy across all protocols. And because Hammerspace does not require a proprietary file system client, user and application integration is simple and does not require workflow changes.

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AI tutoring startup SigIQ.ai emerges from stealth with $9.5M to democratize elite education

Posted in Commentary with tags on April 7, 2025 by itnerd

When SigIQ.ai’s AI tutor took India’s notoriously difficult UPSC civil service exam last June, it didn’t just pass – it achieved the highest score in the exam’s history, beating 1.3 million human candidates in under 7 minutes. Today, the Berkeley-based startup emerges from 18 months of stealth with $9.5 million funding to transform education through personalized AI tutoring that delivers elite-level instruction at the cost of computation, not hundreds of dollars per hour.

The seed round was co-led by House Fund and GSV Ventures, with participation from Duolingo, General Catalyst India (Venture Highway), Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), Calibrate Ventures and angel investors, such as Andy Konwinski (Co-founder, Perplexity), Christian Storm (Co-founder & CTO, Turnitin), Prof. Trevor Darrell (Berkeley AI Research, UC Berkeley), Prof. Jitendra Malik (Berkeley AI Research, UC Berkeley), Prof. Srini Devadas (MIT), Prof. Sharad Malik (Princeton) and others. This investment will accelerate hiring top talent, enhancing AI models, and scaling platforms to educational systems worldwide.

SigIQ.ai’s technology directly addresses “Bloom’s Two-Sigma Problem” – the research finding that students receiving one-on-one tutoring perform two standard deviations better than those in traditional classrooms. This educational disparity has persisted for decades, with personalized tutoring remaining a luxury reserved for the privileged few. The company’s revolutionary approach shifts the cost of personalization from human labor to AI computation, making world-class instruction accessible at unprecedented scale.

The company was founded in July 2023 by Dr. Karttikeya Mangalam and Professor Kurt Keutzer, a distinguished Professor in the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Lab who has published six books, over 250 refereed papers, and helped launch twelve startups. SigIQ.ai’s origin reflects its mission. Growing up in Muzaffarpur, Bihar – a region where educational opportunities are limited – Mangalam experienced firsthand the stark divide between small-town India and elite Western academic institutions. After completing his education at IIT Kanpur and then at UC Berkeley, he founded SigIQ.ai to democratize access to world-class education globally.

In just 18 months, SigIQ.ai has launched two products with remarkable traction. PadhAI, focused on UPSC exam preparation in India, has attracted over 200,000 learners in just six months. On June 16, 2024, moments after the actual 2-hour UPSC Prelims exam had finished, PadhAI’s AI tutor solved the entire paper in a live demonstration in under 7 minutes at The Leela in Delhi. It achieved a score of 175/200 – not just the highest score in 2024, but the highest score ever achieved in UPSC prelims history, far exceeding the typical qualifying score of 100/200. This historic achievement was covered by over 70 news outlets across India, including The Hindu and The Times of India.

The company’s newer offering, EverTutor.ai, designed for GRE preparation in the US market, has already gained more than 10,000 users since launching three months ago.

What differentiates SigIQ.ai from other educational AI tools is its approach to personalization. Unlike basic conversational AI that offers scripted or limited interactivity, SigIQ’s systems are highly interactive, responsive to follow-up questions, and capable of personalized instruction and feedback – not just chat. As a result, this technology replicates the behavior of a real tutor. Students using the platform report a 30-40% increase in effective study hours while improving performance by 18% in the first month, with over 75% feeling more confident tackling difficult topics within just three weeks.

Looking ahead, SigIQ.ai plans to expand its reach with EverTutor, supporting more GRE takers in the upcoming spring and fall. The company will be present at ASU+GSV to demonstrate the newest developments in both platforms. Beyond standardized tests, SigIQ.ai envisions a future where their technology transforms education broadly, creating a new era where high-quality learning isn’t limited by geography, language, or economic status. Ultimately, the team is set on proving that elite education doesn’t have to be scarce – it can and must be universal.

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