Archive for May 21, 2026

McRock Capital Recognizes Winners of their 2026 Industrial AI Awards 

Posted in Commentary with tags on May 21, 2026 by itnerd

McRock Capital announced the 2026 winners of the McRock Industrial AI Awards during its 12th Annual McRock Industrial Software Symposium in Montreal. Established to highlight the critical role of artificial intelligence in transforming the world’s largest industrial sectors, the McRock Industrial AI Awards shine a spotlight on the innovators developing cutting-edge technologies that are driving operational efficiency, sustainability, and intelligence across industries such as manufacturing, energy, transportation, and infrastructure. The awards recognize three categories: Industrial AI Corporate Leader of the Year, Industrial AI Company of the Year, and Industrial AI Entrepreneur of the Year. The 2026 winners were selected by a panel of independent judges that included Robert Rosen, Managing Director of Innovation Banking at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC); Mickaël Galvani, Investment Director of Fund Investments at Fonds de solidarité FTQ; and Brenda Hogan, Chief Investment Officer at Venture Ontario.

McRock Industrial AI Corporate Leader of the Year

This award is presented to a corporate leader playing a significant role in advancing AI innovations and accelerating the digital transformation of major industries. IFS has been named the McRock Industrial AI Corporate Leader of the Year 2026.

With a decades-long legacy in enterprise software for asset-intensive industries, IFS has continually evolved to meet the complex demands of modern industrial operators, embedding AI-native capabilities directly into mission-critical workflows across manufacturing, energy, aerospace, and field service. In 2025 and into 2026, IFS made significant strides in advancing autonomous enterprise operations, introducing agentic AI and intelligent automation features across its ERP, EAM, and FSM platforms that enable organizations to move from reactive operations to predictive, self-optimizing systems. Through its bold product vision, ecosystem partnerships, and commitment to delivering measurable outcomes, IFS continues to shape what it means to be an AI-native industrial enterprise.

McRock Industrial AI Company of the Year

This award is presented to a privately owned emerging company that has demonstrated tangible achievements in leveraging AI to deliver transformational solutions to the industrial world. Nurau is awarded the McRock Industrial AI Company of the Year 2026.

Nurau brings real-time AI intelligence to industrial frontline operations, transforming how shift teams capture, communicate, and act on operational knowledge. The platform combines multimodal data capture with AI-powered shift intelligence, enabling frontline teams in manufacturing and industrial environments to reduce information loss between shifts, accelerate decision-making, and drive continuous improvement directly from the floor. Trusted by leading operators across North America, Nurau is redefining how operational knowledge is captured and shared in the age of AI, turning every shift handover into a strategic asset.

McRock Industrial AI Entrepreneur of the Year

This award is presented to an entrepreneur whose company has developed innovative AI products while demonstrating leadership in advancing the adoption of industrial AI. Adam Keating, Co-Founder and CEO of CoLab, is awarded the McRock Industrial AI Entrepreneur of the Year 2026.

Under Adam’s leadership, CoLab has transformed how engineering teams collaborate on product design, bringing AI-native capabilities to the intersection of PLM, design review, and cross-functional collaboration. By enabling engineers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners to review, mark up, and resolve design decisions in real time, CoLab has significantly compressed product development cycles for some of the world’s most complex manufacturers. Adam’s vision for a more connected and intelligent engineering workflow has positioned CoLab as a trusted partner for leading aerospace, defence, and industrial organizations pursuing faster, smarter product development.

Trump’s AI oversight order exposes a gap: consumer social AI is flying under the radar

Posted in Commentary with tags , on May 21, 2026 by itnerd

As President Donald Trump moves to sign an executive order on AI oversight, the policy conversation is dominated by national security and enterprise risk — but consumer-facing AI platforms, where users are trusting AI with something as personal as their social lives and relationships, are barely part of the debate. The order raises a critical question: who sets the standard for emotional safety, transparency, and user consent in AI that mediates human connection?

Gidi Cohen, CEO & Co-founder, Bonfy.AI had this to say:

“The reported shift toward federal oversight of frontier AI models reflects something the security community has been watching develop for some time: the recognition that AI systems are no longer just productivity tools — they are infrastructure.

What’s notable about this moment isn’t the regulatory instinct. It’s what’s driving it. Reports of AI models autonomously discovering software exploits and scaling cyber operations aren’t abstract risks. They’re demonstrations of the same challenge we see playing out inside enterprises every day: AI systems that behave in ways their deployers didn’t anticipate, at speeds that outpace human review.

At Bonfy, we call this the “Shady AI” problem — not unauthorized AI, but sanctioned AI behaving in ways that violate policy or intent. The national security version of this problem is just the frontier model at civilizational scale.

The instinct to require pre-release government review of frontier models makes sense if you frame it the way Washington now appears to: as dual-use technology with offensive capability, not software. But a 90-day review window won’t solve the underlying challenge. The risk isn’t just in what a model can do before deployment — it’s in how it behaves when embedded in workflows, connected to tools and data, and operating semi-autonomously at machine speed.

That’s the architectural reality facing enterprise security teams today, and it’s why data security can no longer rely on perimeter controls and metadata. When AI agents are the actors, you need visibility into the data flowing through them — not just the permissions around them.

The government is arriving at a conclusion that security practitioners have been working through in parallel: that AI requires a different kind of oversight, one grounded in behavior and context, not just access configuration.”

For measures to be effective, they have to cover as many use cases as possible. This measure doesn’t do that, which means it may not have the intended effect at the end of the day.

ESET Research uncovers CallPhantom scam on Google Play

Posted in Commentary with tags on May 21, 2026 by itnerd

A new Android scam, CallPhantom, falsely claims to provide access to call logs, SMS records, and WhatsApp call history for any phone number in exchange for payment.

ESET identified and reported 28 separate CallPhantom apps on Google Play, cumulatively downloaded more than 7.3 million times.

Some CallPhantom apps sidestep Google Play’s official billing system, complicating victims’ refund efforts.

ESET researchers have uncovered fraudulent apps on Google Play that claim to provide the call history “for any number.” The offending apps, which ESET named CallPhantom based on their false claims, purport to provide access to call histories, SMS records, and even WhatsApp call logs for any phone number. To unlock this supposed feature, users are asked to pay — but all they get in return is randomly generated data. ESET’s investigation identified 28 such fraudulent apps, cumulatively downloaded more than 7.3 million times. As an App Defense Alliance partner, ESET reported their findings to Google, which removed all of the apps identified in this report from Google Play. 

The CallPhantom apps mainly targeted Android users in India and the broader Asia Pacific region. Many of the apps came with India’s +91 country code preselected, and support UPI, a payment system used primarily in India.

In general, CallPhantom apps have a simple user interface and do not request any intrusive or sensitive permissions — they don’t need to. Coincidentally, they do not contain any functionality capable of retrieving actual call, SMS, or WhatsApp data.

In the CallPhantom apps ESET analyzed, researchers saw three different payment methods used, two of which are in violation of Google Play’s payments policy. Some of the apps relied on subscriptions via Google Play’s official billing system. Others relied on payments via a third party; in some cases, payment card checkout forms were included directly in the CallPhantom apps.

The fees requested for the fake service differ widely across the apps. The apps also appear to offer different subscription packages, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly services, with the highest requested price sitting at US$80. For the lowest “subscription tier,” the average requested price was €5.

In general, subscriptions purchased through the official Google Play billing system can be canceled. For the 28 apps described in this blog post, existing subscriptions were canceled when the apps were removed from Google Play. In some cases, refunds for Google Play purchases are possible.

If the purchase was made outside of Google Play — for example, by entering payment card details inside the app or by paying via third-party services — then Google cannot cancel the subscription or issue a refund, and users have to contact their payment provider.

For a more details about CallPhantom, check out the latest ESET Research blog post, “Fake call logs, real payments: How CallPhantom tricks Android users,” on WeLiveSecurity.com.