Archive for September 15, 2026

Inside Infostealer Attacks By Specops

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2026 by itnerd

An infostealer needs only a short window on an endpoint. It searches browsers and local folders for saved passwords, session cookies and cloud keys, packages what it finds and sends it out. Removing the malware afterwards doesn’t reach any of that. Mandiant found at least 79.7 percent of the accounts used in the 2024 Snowflake attacks had credentials exposed beforehand, the earliest traced to November 2020.

The research publishes alongside an update adding more than 46 million newly compromised passwords. You can view it here: Inside Infostealer Attacks

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Volvo Cars launches long-range plug-in hybrid variants of best-selling XC60 and XC90 SUVs

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2026 by itnerd

Volvo Cars today launches its first ever long-range plug-in hybrids for the European and American markets, introducing new variants of the best-selling XC60 and XC90 SUVs. The new XC60, which also has a comprehensive design update, delivers class-leading electric range of up to 126 kilometres on a single charge, with the XC90 providing up to 117 km.

These long-range hybrids are a key part of Volvo Cars’ bridge to a fully electric future. They offer drivers paradigm-shifting electric range that makes school runs, daily commutes and weekend trips effortless and free of tailpipe emissions, with the quiet refinement of electric driving.

The electric range of the mid-size XC60 and large XC90 is now more than two and a half times as high as on the existing plug-in hybrid variants. This is thanks to a new, larger-capacity, floor-integrated battery and a more powerful electric motor, while the petrol engine can take over when needed. Both cars also remain available as mild hybrids.

Significant design and safety upgrades for new XC60

A new front and rear exterior design give the new XC60 a more contemporary and dynamic look. An upgraded grille and redesigned front bumper, hood, front wings and new wheels provide a new elegant interpretation of Volvo Cars’ Scandinavian design language.

The new design of the Thor’s Hammer Matrix LED headlights is one of the most eye-catching updates, with the iconic light signature refined to its purest expression, emphasising its technical sophistication. The design of the tailgate, rear LED lamps and rear bumper have been updated with a stronger emphasis on the horizontal lines to give the car a more powerful, confident stance.  

Inside, a new dashboard and door panel design, wood decor and Cardamom ventilated Nappa leather create a calm, Scandinavian-inspired cabin, with top-of-the-line interior illumination adding a sophisticated ambience.

The XC60 now includes the company’s latest active safety technology. If a potential collision is detected, the car can respond in real time – warning the driver or stepping in to help avoid or reduce the impact. From steering around danger with automatic emergency steering, braking instantly with automatic emergency braking, to alerting occupants of an approaching cyclist before a door is opened, it is designed to help choose the safest possible action in the moment.

To help make driving easier, the XC60 also comes with a wide range of advanced driver support features that work quietly in the background, enabled by an upgraded sensing set including radars, cameras and other sensors. Features such as lane change assist and a 360 camera with 3D view help drivers feel more aware behind the wheel.

The new XC60 also puts key information and controls within easy reach, providing easy access to key information and helping drivers to stay focused on the road. An 11.2-inch screen gives access to Volvo Car UX, the company’s latest infotainment system.

With Google Gemini, the next-generation AI assistant from Google, drivers can interact with the car naturally. From planning journeys and finding great stops to managing messages on the move, Gemini understands everyday language.  

The XC90, now even better than before

The Volvo XC90 has earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed premium family SUVs, setting a benchmark for safety, comfort and Scandinavian design. Building on recent technology and design updates, this seven-seater continues to be one of the safest cars on the road.

The XC90 is designed to be a space where every journey feels more relaxing, restorative and comfortable. It embraces Scandinavian luxury, blending premium materials, natural light and a smooth wood decor that draws nature closer.

The optional Bowers & Wilkins premium sound system transforms the cabin into a space for immersive listening and unparalleled sound. Like the XC60, the XC90 also now features Google Gemini.

Securing continued popularity

These long-range plug-in hybrids underpin Volvo Cars’ sales and profitability ambitions. They represent efficient investments in the company’s existing line-up, securing continued popularity for the coming years and extending the important bridge towards full electrification.

Like all new Volvo cars, the new XC60 and XC90 will benefit from regular over-the-air updates, meaning a car that is great from day one gets better as time goes on. Order books for the new XC60 and XC90, including the Black Edition, are open from today in selected markets, with production starting later this autumn.

The small print

  • Range figures are preliminary and based on EPA testing standards obtained under specific testing conditions. Actual range can vary depending on charge level, car specification, outdoor temperature, battery temperature, weather, topography, driving style and car speed.
  • Availability of the features and services mentioned above may vary by market. Features may differ depending on subscription, and results may vary. Some features and services mentioned are optional and require customer opt-in.
  • Google and Gemini are trademarks of Google LLC. Some connected apps require setup. Compatibility and availability vary. 18+

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Today Is National IT Professionals Day

Posted in Commentary on September 15, 2026 by itnerd

With National IT Professionals Day being today, September 15, I wanted to share some perspectives on this day from a couple of IT professionals.

Jason Tierney, SVP of Managed Services at C3

For defense contractors and other regulated organizations, IT support has a bigger job than closing tickets. We can’t just go do something and move on. The team needs a consistent process, clear approvals, and an understanding of the user’s work to explain why the compliance controls are there.

Those tickets are far more important than many realize. Each ticket is an artifact. It shows what changed, who approved it, and whether it was handled the right way. That matters when an assessment team asks how a system is being managed. When those pieces are in place, IT doesn’t scramble to prove it’s compliant when an assessment arrives. IT enables an assessment-ready position at all times.

A lot of the assessment issues I’ve seen are not caused by an unusual technology problem, but by assumptions and poor communication. People and processes get out of sync. The internal IT team, the MSP, and the compliance team may all be doing their part, but they need to understand that their roles are collaborative. Task ownership becomes unclear, a small process change made at the MSP can go undocumented in the compliance documentation, or a new SaaS application can be deployed internally without being reported to the MSP or compliance team. I’ve seen all of these turn into problems during both preparation and assessment.

This is where partnering with a quality managed services provider matters. It is not just about answering the phone or keeping systems running. It is about understanding the customer’s needs and ensuring those needs are being met. For us at C3, our customers are with us to become and stay compliant. As a result, our processes are built around achieving and maintaining that goal.

Mark Christie, Field CTO, StorMagic

“IT professionals play a part in nearly every workday. They make it possible for employees to log on, access critical systems, collaborate with colleagues, and get their work done without having to think about the technology behind it. When something does go wrong, they are often the first people called to identify the problem, find a solution and get everyone moving again.

National IT Professionals Day is an opportunity to recognize how much we depend on IT professionals, but their role extends far beyond keeping things running. Good IT is about more than technical expertise. IT professionals also help determine which technologies are worth investing in, whether they will actually solve the problem at hand and how they will fit into the way people work every day. That combination of technical knowledge and practical judgment enables and empowers employees, giving employees the tools and support they need to focus on their jobs.”

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New data shows Canadian SMEs pull back on hiring as wages climb

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2026 by itnerd

With Small Business Month approaching in October, new first-party payroll data from, Employment Hero, the all-in-one employment platform for Canadian businesses, offers a timely look at how SMEs are faring heading into the final quarter of 2026.

The latest data points to a growing workforce balancing act: SMEs are pulling back on headcount, while continuing to pay more for talent.

Key findings include:

  • SME headcount declined 1.7% year-over-year in August, marking the second consecutive month of negative annual growth.
  • At the same time, wages rose 5.5% year-over-year, the highest annual increase recorded in the report’s 13-month reporting window, up from 4.1% in July.
  • The picture varies across the country: headcount declined 2.6% in Ontario and 3.1% in B.C., while remaining positive in Alberta (+0.5%), Quebec (+1.4%) and Nova Scotia (+2.4%).
  • Consumer-facing businesses are bucking the national trend, with headcount across retail, hospitality and tourism up 1.7% year-over-year.

The data suggests Canadian SMEs are becoming more cautious about adding people while continuing to invest in the talent they need, putting retention, productivity and smarter workforce planning firmly on the agenda as businesses head into Small Business Month and Q4.

Full findings are available here: Canadian SMEs Enter Small Business Month with Softer Employment and Rising Wages, New Employment Hero Data Shows.

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VDURA Launches Sentinel: Storage Support That Opens the Service Request Before the Customer Sees a Fault

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2026 by itnerd

VDURA today announced VDURA Sentinel™, a proactive support capability included with the VDURA® Data Platform V12. Sentinel runs natively on the platform, watching continuously for faults and other notable events. Customers can share that health data with VDURA’s support team through the Sentinel cloud service, where it is analyzed against patterns drawn from thousands of VDURA systems in the field. When Sentinel spots an issue, it automatically opens a service request with VDURA support, complete with a proposed fix, often before anyone on site knows there’s a problem.

For operators running GPU clusters, the cost of a storage fault is measured in the hours between the fault and the fix: idle accelerators, stalled training jobs, and for a neocloud, tenant SLAs at risk. Conventional storage support adds delay at every step. Someone notices a symptom, files a ticket, gathers logs, describes the problem, and waits for a technician to work out what happened. Sentinel removes that cycle.

Sentinel continuously reads health, capacity, and alert telemetry from each system and compares it against failure patterns VDURA has resolved across thousands of systems in the field. When a pattern matches, the VDURA support team receives a plain-language summary, a trend view, and a recommended action, with the service request already open and, where needed, a parts dispatch initiated on the customer’s behalf. The first person to look at the ticket is looking at a diagnosis, not a blank page.

Sentinel is built on the same API-first foundation as the rest of the V12 platform. The collector gathers its telemetry through the platform’s published APIs, and everything Sentinel sees is equally available to the customer’s own dashboards and observability tooling. There is no privileged vendor-only view: operators get fleet-level observability into their storage as a first-class part of the platform, and VDURA support sees only the subset the customer chooses to share.

Built for security-conscious infrastructure teams

AI factories and GPU cloud providers operate under strict data-handling and tenant-isolation requirements, and many will not accept a vendor agent with write access or an opaque telemetry stream. Sentinel was designed around those constraints:

Read-only, outbound-only. The collector runs inside the customer’s environment with read-only credentials and makes only outbound HTTPS connections. There is no inbound access and no ability to change configuration or touch data.

File data never leaves the building. Sentinel does not transmit file contents, credentials, user or workload information, or logs. Only four categories of operational metadata can be shared: fleet health and capacity metrics, node inventory, alerts, and deep-dive diagnostics.

Per-category control, no support call required. Each of the four categories can be switched off independently, or all sharing can be disabled entirely, by the customer at any time. The local dashboard and the underlying storage are unaffected either way.

Inspect before it ships. A built-in payload inspector shows the exact contents of every outbound push before it is sent.

Auditable code. VDURA publishes the collector as dependency-free, readable Python so customer security teams can review exactly what it does.

Availability

Sentinel is included with the VDURA Data Platform V12 release, including the local fleet health dashboard and API access to the underlying telemetry. Proactive service requests and parts dispatch are delivered through VDURACare Premier, VDURA’s 10-year support offering that covers hardware, software, and 24×7 expert response under a single contract. 

Learn more: vdura.com/vdura-sentinel-support

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