Archive for July, 2025

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EnGenius Multi-Gigabit Switch Delivering 2.5G Performance with 90W PoE++ Announced

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

EnGenius Technologies Inc. has announced the launch of the ECS2530FP, a powerful L2+ Multi-Gigabit switch designed to meet the demands of modern enterprises. The ECS2530FP delivers advanced performance and flexibility, offering multiple management options—locally, via EnGenius Private Cloud, or through the EnGenius Cloud platform—empowering IT teams with complete control across any deployment scenario.

The ECS2530FP delivers unmatched flexibility and power with 24 multi-gigabit 2.5GbE PoE+ & PoE++ ports and 6 dual-speed 10G SFP+ uplinks, offering the bandwidth, speed, and fiber connectivity enterprises need to support high-throughput applications such as Wi-Fi 7 access points, AI surveillance systems, and advanced VoIP deployments.

This new switch is engineered with 16×PoE+ (802.3at) and 8×PoE++ (802.3bt) ports, capable of supplying up to 90W per port, ideal for powering the latest high-demand devices. A generous 740W total PoE budget ensures the ECS2530FP can support dense device environments with ease.

Manage the ECS2530FP from anywhere using the intuitive EnGenius Cloud platform. Features include device provisioning, bulk firmware updates, real-time monitoring, alert notifications, and AI-driven insights, giving IT admins full visibility and control from a single pane of glass.

Key Features & Benefits:

  • Multi-Gig Performance for Enhanced Efficiency

Empowers enterprise networks, ECS2530FP supports multi-gig connectivity, delivering high-speed data transfers, lag-free 4K and 8K video streaming, and optimized performance for daily SMB tasks. Whether supporting remote work, video conferencing, or bandwidth-intensive applications, these switches ensure network efficiency and responsiveness.

  • High-Speed Uplinks for Scalable Networks

The ECS2530FP features 6×10G SFP+ uplink ports that deliver high-capacity fiber connectivity for seamless data aggregation and uplinks to core switches. With dual-speed support for both 1G and 10G SFP modules, these ports provide the flexibility needed for scalable network designs and ensure future-ready performance as bandwidth demands grow

  • Unleashing Maximum Power with PoE++ Support

With 16×PoE+ (802.3at) and 8×PoE++ (802.3bt) ports, the ECS2530FP delivers up to 15.4W, 30W and 90W per port respectively, providing robust power for a wide range of high-demand devices. From Wi-Fi 7 access points and PTZ cameras to video conferencing systems, LED displays, and VoIP phones, this switch eliminates the need for separate power sources—simplifying deployment and supporting even the most power-intensive network environments.

  • Robust Power Budget for Scalable Network Deployments

A high total 740W PoE budget allocation supports dense, multi-device environments with power to spare. Ideal for large-scale deployments in enterprise campuses, hotels, retail stores, schools, and smart buildings.

  • Seamless Performance for Data-Intensive Networks

Ensures ultra-fast packet forwarding with minimal latency, delivering a reliable and seamless experience across all connected devices—even under high-traffic loads and during peak usage times.

Availability

The ECS2530FP will be available from EnGenius authorized resellers and distribution partners by the end of July. For additional product specifications and purchasing information, visit: ECS2530FP Product Page

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StarTree Opens the Iceberg Lakehouse to the Outside World

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

StarTree today announced support for Apache Iceberg in StarTree Cloud, enabling it to serve as both the analytic and serving layer on top of Iceberg, delivering interactive insights to internal and external applications directly from the data lakehouse. With this launch, StarTree redefines what’s possible with Iceberg, transforming it from a passive storage format into a real-time backend capable of powering customer-facing applications and AI agents with high concurrency serving thousands of simultaneous users with consistent speed and reliability.

While Apache Iceberg and Parquet have become popular open table formats for managing data in the lakehouse, they are not query engines and most existing query engines built around them struggle to meet the performance SLAs required for external-facing, high-concurrency analytical applications. As a result, companies have historically avoided serving data directly from their lakehouse, instead relying on reverse ETL pipelines or transforming the data into proprietary formats for separate serving systems—adding latency, complexity, and cost. StarTree removes these constraints by offering real-time query acceleration directly on native Iceberg tables. By combining open table formats like Parquet and Iceberg with Pinot’s powerful indexing and high-performance serving capabilities, StarTree enables applications to deliver live, interactive insights directly from the lakehouse without data duplication, format conversion, or operational trade-offs.

A Real-Time Serving Layer for Iceberg

StarTree Cloud integrates directly with Iceberg using open standards (Parquet and Iceberg table formats) and enhances performance with powerful indexing, intelligent materialized views (StarTree Index), and localized caching. Unlike traditional tools like Presto, Trino, or ClickHouse that rely on lazy loading and scanning, StarTree is built for low-latency, high-concurrency access, making it ideal for powering interactive dashboards, real-time data products, and operational workloads with strict SLAs.

Key capabilities include:

●        Native support for Apache Iceberg and Parquet in StarTree Cloud

●        Real-time indexing and aggregations, including support for numerical, text, JSON, and geo indexes

●        Intelligent materialized views via the StarTree Index

●        Local caching and pruning for low-latency, high-concurrency queries

●        No data movement required—serve directly from Iceberg

●        Intelligent prefetching from Iceberg, minimizing irrelevant data scans

With StarTree Cloud, companies can now unlock the full potential of their lakehouse investments and deliver modern, intelligent user experiences without architectural sprawl.

Availability
Support for Apache Iceberg in StarTree Cloud is available today in private preview. For more information, visit www.startree.ai.

Supporting Resources

●      StarTree Adds Native Iceberg Support: Serve High-Concurrency Queries Directly from Your Lakehouse

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Experity Launches Care Agent: The First Clinical Intelligence Solution for Urgent Care

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

Experity, today announced the launch of Experity Care Agent, the industry’s first clinical intelligence solution designed to put urgent care consumers in control of their healthcare. Utilizing data, analytics, and AI to redefine how patients interact with clinics, Care Agent facilitates the entire care journey while maintaining each clinic’s unique voice and brand identity.

According to Forrester, healthcare organizations are focused on a top initiative in 2025: Implementing technologies that improve patient experiences, support care virtually, and enable clinic decision-making for personalized medicine. Experity Care Agent is the only solution on the market that solves for each of these operational needs as a standalone product.

Experity Care Agent goes far beyond generic healthcare chatbots. With a dual-channel communication approach, it functions using mobile messaging (SMS/RCS) for smart registration, and secure web chat for all substantive interactions including triage assessments, discharge notes, payment collections, and care reminders. This proprietary architecture invented by Experity is HIPAA compliant.

As an emerging leader in urgent care clinical intelligence, these are the top reasons why urgent cares benefit from using Experity Care Agent:

  • Intelligent skills architecture: Modular capabilities span pre-visit preparation, real-time
    assistance, and post-visit follow-up that can be customized to each clinics’ specific
    needs
  • White-labeled brand experience: Patients interact with their clinic’s brand and voice, not a third-party platform
  • Clinical integration: Deep integration with EMR and practice management systems ensures continuity of care information
  • Compliance-first design: HIPAA-compliant dual-channel approach uses mobile messaging for notifications and secure web chat for PHI-related interactions

Experity Care Agent has launched with core skills including digital discharge document delivery and lab results communication, with additional dynamic capabilities planned throughout 2025 and 2026. The platform’s marketplace model allows clinics to select and activate skills that align with their specific operational needs and growth strategies.

In addition to its Care Agent, Experity announced its AI-driven Partner Ecosystem earlier this
year and is on pace to release AI Insurance Matching and AI Scribe before year end. With the
goal of expanding urgent care staff impact, Experity believes AI is the force multiplier behind
every administrator, provider, and employee who can now focus on the real human connections
that heal people.

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US Department of Education Credential Phishing Campaign Threat Advisory Issued By BforeAI

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

BforeAI has published a new threat advisory in which the U.S. Department of Education is being targeted through a credential phishing campaign via government impersonation. 

A phishing campaign is currently targeting the U.S. Department of Education’s G5 grant portal, which is used for managing grants and federal education funding. 

Multiple lookalike domains have been observed spoofing the G5 login page in an attempt to harvest login credentials from legitimate users.

These domains attempt to clone or imitate the official G5.gov interface and may be targeting education professionals, grant administrators, or vendors tied to the U.S. Department of Education. 

This activity is particularly alarming given the recent Trump Administration announcement of 1,400 layoffs at the Department of Education, which may create confusion and an opportunity for social engineering.

The advisory can be found here.

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Fortra Releases New AI Models, Threat Hunting, and Intelligence Features for Cloud Email Protection

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

Fortra today announced the release of new AI-driven features, enhanced threat hunting capabilities, and deeper intelligence integrations within its Cloud Email Protection (CEP) service—part of the company’s Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) solution. These new features improve the detection of sophisticated social engineering attacks that frequently evade traditional defenses. In May alone, these updates disrupted more than 87,000 additional email threats.

Fortra CEP combines artificial intelligence, global threat intelligence, and automated remediation to protect against advanced email threats. The latest release introduces several key AI enhancements:

  • AI Body Content Analysis: Uses a large language model (LLM) optimized for high-throughput message analysis to classify the intent of email body content.
  • AI Campaign Detection: Identifies low-content threats—such as invoice or payment scams—by recognizing shared characteristics across messages sent to multiple recipients.
  • AI Suspicious URL Detection: Analyzes the structural features of URLs in email messages, including embedded redirect links that lead to malicious sites.
  • AI Overall Risk Scoring: Analyzes outputs from all AI models in aggregate to detect targeted attacks that may not be convicted by any single detection method.

This release also strengthens integration between CEP and Fortra Suspicious Email Analysis (SEA), which evaluates user-reported email threats. Previously, CEP integrated indicators sourced by SEA to automatically purge and block email threats. Now, CEP can perform this automated mitigation using email subject and sender combinations, which addresses response-based threats that lack high-fidelity indicators.

In addition, this update introduces several enhancements to the CEP interface, improving search, investigation, and policy workflow tools. These upgrades empower security teams to conduct faster, more effective threat hunting and response.

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FBI And CISA Issue Warning About Interlock Ransomware Gang

Posted in Commentary with tags , on July 23, 2025 by itnerd

The CISA and the FBI warned of escalating Interlock ransomware attacks targeting various businesses and critical infrastructure organizations through a double extortion model whereby actors encrypt systems after exfiltrating data, which increases pressure on victims to pay the ransom to both get their data decrypted and prevent it from being leaked.

You can find the warning here: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa25-203a

Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, commented:

“While a fairly new ransomware group, Interlock is working to make a name for themselves. Their use of compromised websites for drive-by malware downloads is not very common in the world of ransomware, but their use of social engineering certainly is. Convincing people to install updates or fixes, really just disguised malware, in ClickFix attacks and is not a new concept as fake updates or antivirus notifications have been around for years.

To counter the threat, organizations need to ensure their employees are aware of the campaigns and are taught to spot them, and that they are aware of the real and legitimate process the organization’s I.T. department uses to install patches or updates so they are not tricked into executing malware. A comprehensive Human Risk Management program is vital when dealing with human-centric attacks such as this, as is a good endpoint protection platform. Patching machines, browsers, and other software can help limit the ability for malware to launch and for bad actors to move around the network or elevate permissions as well.”

Interlock may be new, but they are causing quite the sensation. Likely because they have a track record of success if you want to call it that. You don’t want to be part of their success which means that you need to do everything you can to make sure that you’re not Interlock’s next victim.

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Targus Charts Bold Path to Net Zero in 2025 Sustainability Report

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 22, 2025 by itnerd

Targus today announced the release of its new 2025 Global Sustainability Report. The comprehensive report provides an in-depth look at how Targus is continuing to advance sustainability with increased transparency and mutual accountability and shares its forward-looking roadmap through 2030.

Throughout this report, Targus communicates what it is doing to support common sustainability goals and its vision for the future by aligning its journey with five of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where the company believes it can make the most meaningful positive impact. It begins with an overview of the company’s year-over-year progress and carbon footprint results – reinforcing our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. The second section focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the company has prioritized and the actions it is taking to support them. The final section presents a roadmap including a look at its long-term goals and commitments through 2030.

Key 2025 Achievements:

  • EcoSmart® Milestones: Targus has now recycled over 37 million plastic bottles into its EcoSmart® product line, to date, equivalent to 2,257,191 lbs. CO₂ emissions compared to virgin plastic. In the past year, Targus has launched several new EcoSmart products, including its Geolite laptop cases, Terra EcoSmart Backpacks, Avila women’s collection, HeritageLuxe executive backpack, and EcoSmart™ mouse and keyboard bundles.
  • Sustainable Packaging: Over 95 percent of Targus packaging is now fully recyclable, with an average of 50 percent made from recycled or compostable materials. The company has also eliminated problematic single-use plastics from all of its packaging.
  • Increased Global Reporting and Certifications with Stronger Results:
    • EcoVadis Bronze Rating: Targus has earned a Bronze Sustainability Rating from EcoVadis in 2025. This signifies that Targus ranks among the top 35 percent of sustainable companies, globally, and is advancing its sustainability progress faster than the industry.
    • Walmart Project Gigaton™: The company has achieved Giga-Guru status for the second consecutive year, recognizing leadership in supply chain emissions reduction.
    • Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions Reporting: Targus has established a clear CO2 footprint reduction strategy that aligns with the UN SDGs through Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 reporting across its global network.

Looking Ahead

Targus is on a mission to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 by driving real and meaningful change to help safeguard our planet for future generations. Read the report at Targus.com.

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LexisNexis Launches Protégé in Canada

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 22, 2025 by itnerd

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional today announces a range of enhancements to Lexis+ AI™ and the Canadian launch of LexisNexis Protégé™. This follows the successful launches of Protégé in the USA, Australia, and the UK. The personalized AI assistant intelligently supports legal practitioners in drafting, researching and advising their clients faster and more accurately, helping them focus on higher-value work.

Built with the highest levels of security, compliance and privacy, Protégé is now available in the Lexis+ AI legal workflow solution and will soon be available in the Microsoft Word drafting solution, Lexis® Create+.

Developed responsibly with human oversight, the agentic AI capabilities in Protégé allow it to complete multi-step tasks, review its own output and suggest improvements, leaving lawyers free to focus on strategic work.

Leveraging proprietary agentic and generative AI technology from LexisNexis, Protégé can:

  • Draft full, tailored transactional documents. It can check its own work before turning to human legal professionals for a final review. Documents can be further edited directly in Lexis+ AI or in Microsoft Word.
  • Produce fully drafted litigation materials with precision and consistency. It can create context-aware litigation drafts, such as motions, legal memos, arguments, and client correspondence.
  • Suggest legal workflow actions based on the type of documents uploaded (e.g. draft a memo, summarize).
  • Provide prompt assistance, proactively suggesting refinements to queries to help the user accomplish their goals efficiently.
  • Store tens of thousands of legal documents to secure Vaults. On each Vault, users can perform numerous AI tasks to summarize, draft, research and more.
  • Generate a graphical timeline of events from uploaded documents.

Protégé can be tailored to each user by integrating with Document Management Systems (DMS). This allows users to query, extract clauses and draft from their firm or organization’s knowledge base, making it easier to access and apply relevant precedents. Supported DMS integrations include iManage, SharePoint and others.

Through a customer-driven innovation program, LexisNexis have developed Protégé by working closely with several Canadian customers across the industry.

The LexisNexis global technology platform seamlessly integrates each wave of AI innovation, including extractive AI, which finds relevant results within data and provides deep insights; generative AI, which creates new content from data based on user-entered prompts or instruction;

To learn more about LexisNexis Protégé capabilities, visit www.lexisnexis.ca/protege. To learn more about Lexis+ AI, visit www.lexisnexis.ca/ai.

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AWS Signs Strategic Collaboration Agreement With Saviynt to Advance AI-Driven Identity Security

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 22, 2025 by itnerd

Saviynt announced today that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help organizations create a scalable and secure foundation for digital transformation through AI-driven identity security. The strategic collaboration will focus on delivering Saviynt’s next-generation Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) capabilities through deeper integration with AWS generative AI services, Amazon Q Business.

As an identity security vendor that is natively embedded as a Data Accessor within Amazon Q index, Saviynt will enable enterprises to harness the power of real-time identity data and insights directly within AWS. The collaboration includes dedicated AWS investments in co-selling, marketing, and product innovation – positioning Saviynt to deliver AI-driven identity governance at scale through the Amazon Q ecosystem.

By integrating with Amazon Q index as a native Data Accessor, Saviynt will extend its powerful analytics and governance capabilities into the Amazon Q experience. Enterprise customers will gain:

  • Faster Compliance and Audit Reviews: Instantly surface access assignment events, approval tickets, and policy documentation – streamlining audits and accelerating compliance reviews.
  • Simplified Investigations: Eliminate manual searches across disparate systems like ServiceNow, Jira, GDrive, or SharePoint. Analysts get a unified view of identity events and related tickets in real time.
  • More Accurate Access Decisions: Easily validate user access against internal policies, compliance rules, and documented approvals – ensuring decisions are both fast and aligned with governance standards.
  • Greater Operational Efficiency: Reduce response times and improve team productivity with immediate access to historical identity data and governance context.

These capabilities are especially valuable for regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing – where compliance, audit readiness, and least-privilege access are business-critical.

To learn more, please visit the website.

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A Weak Password Tanks 158 Year Old Company

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 22, 2025 by itnerd

Getting pwned has its costs. Which is why one should do everything possible not to get pwned.

Too bad KNP which is a transport company in the UK didn’t follow that advice. Because one weak password allowed hackers to not only pwn them, but put this 158 year old company out of business:

KNP director Paul Abbott says he hasn’t told the employee that their compromised password most likely led to the destruction of the company.

“Would you want to know if it was you?” he asks.

And:

In 2023, KNP was running 500 lorries – most under the brand name Knights of Old.

The company said its IT complied with industry standards and it had taken out insurance against cyber-attack.

But a gang of hackers, known as Akira, got into the system leaving staff unable to access any of the data needed to run the business. The only way to get the data back, said the hackers, was to pay.

“If you’re reading this it means the internal infrastructure of your company is fully or partially dead…Let’s keep all the tears and resentment to ourselves and try to build a constructive dialogue,” read the ransom note.

The hackers didn’t name a price, but a specialist ransomware negotiation firm estimated the sum could be as much as £5m. KNP didn’t have that kind of money. In the end all the data was lost, and the company went under.

Darren James, a Senior Product Manager at Specops Software had this to say:

“While high-profile cases make headlines, over 19,000 ransomware attacks hit UK businesses last year, many going unnoticed except by those directly impacted. A common cause? Weak, reused, or already breached passwords.”

“Stronger password policies, continuous breached password scanning, secure self-service resets, and proper service desk verification are simple, cost-effective measures that can dramatically reduce risk. In today’s cyber threat landscape, your first line of defense is still one of the most critical.”

Consider this example a warning to get your house in order. Because it doesn’t take much for a bad actor to kill your company.

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