Parallel Works today announced its ACTIVATE High Security Platform (HSP) has achieved a historic milestone as the first-ever hybrid multi-cloud computing solution to receive the Authority to Operate (ATO) by the Department of Defense (DoD). Granted by the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP), the IL-5 ATO authorization enables more agile, cloud-enabled defense computing capabilities to modernize defense infrastructure through scalable, secure and high-performance cloud solutions.
The designation opens the door for partners, integrators, DoD civilians and military end users to utilize Parallel Works ATO through two options:
- ACTIVATE HSP can be used as a shared service on NIPRnet through HPCMP.
- Organizations can leverage the ACTIVATE HSP software stack and inherit the required compliance and security boundaries to operate within the government ecosystem.
The ATO authorization provides immediate access to a secure, IL5-authorized HPC platform, thereby shortening the time to market for DoD agencies, defense contractors, national labs, system integrators and AI/ML teams.
The DoD’s demand for automated computing solutions is skyrocketing as technology advances to support AI-driven wargaming, digital and model-based systems. Parallel Works ACTIVATE HSP advances the transition with turnkey HPC integration across DoD and commercial clouds, providing advanced orchestration for real-time simulation and AI analytics.
The Parallel Works hybrid, multi-cloud computing HSP is one of only three software programs approved to handle export-controlled workload environments, including International Traffic in Arms (ITAR), DoD IL5 and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
Availability
The Parallel Works ACTIVATE hybrid, multi-cloud HSP is available immediately. Interested technology partners can connect at info@parallelworks.com. For more information on Parallel Works ACTIVATE HSP and the opportunities the ATO provides click here.
Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen Have Been Pwned And The Details Of Millions Has Been Swiped
Posted in Commentary with tags Hacked on September 15, 2025 by itnerdCyber criminals have stolen the private details of potentially millions of Balenciaga, Gucci and Alexander McQueen customers in an attack. The stolen data includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses and the total amount spent in the luxury stores around the world.
Brian Higgins, Security Specialist at Comparitech had this to say:
“This is a rather alarming step in a growing trend of attacks on high value retail brands. Aside from all of the usual advice surrounding digital security measures, the most obvious threat to customers here lies in the value of the stolen data. Regardless of whether or not financial information has been compromised, the potential aggregation of names, addresses and overall spend could provide a significant target list for further cyber or indeed real-life criminality. One would hope that those most affected have the resources to target-harden their virtual and physical security but the threat should not be ignored. In the majority of data theft cases changing passwords, monitoring online activity and boosting cybersecurity is sufficient to ride out the threat. I would suggest that in this case more offline measures are appropriate too.”
Chris Hauk, Consumer Privacy Champion at Pixel Privacy follows with this:
“Unfortunately, cyber-attacks on retailers are on the increase. While Kering refuses to say how many customers were affected by the data breach, the bad actors behind the attack, Shiny Hunters, claims to have harvested data linked to 7.4 million email addresses, meaning the numbers of customers affected by the breach is easily in the millions. Since this information includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses and the total amount spent in Balenciaga, Gucci and Alexander McQueen stores around the world, the data could be used for phishing attacks, and could be sold for a nice piece of change to other bad actors.”
“Customers affected by the hack need to stay alert for suspicious texts, emails, and other communications, claiming to be from a Kerif-owned store, the customer’s bank, and other organizations. Customers should immediately change the password on related accounts and should enable two-factor authentication if available. Actually, they should do this for all of their online accounts.”
Roger Grimes, data-driven defense evangelist at KnowBe4 commented:
“The biggest risk to individual customers is that a very targeted spear phishing attack can be used that more realistically tricks a potential victim into thinking they are dealing with someone legitimate. A very common scheme is for a scammer to pretend to be one of the legitimate brands, and get the potential victim to provide updated credit card information under the guise that their existing or old credit card information must be quickly updated or else they will be at great likelihood to lose money. By the scammer having access to the user’s past history, they can include real details that happened in the past to make potential victims think they are dealing with the legitimate vendor and be more likely to fall for scams.”
Leave a comment »