Half of Canadian employees now use AI – who’s guiding them? 

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

Today, CDW Canada released Unlocking AI’s Potential: How to Build Trust and Capability in the Canadian Workplace, a report revealing that AI adoption in Canadian workplaces has reached a tipping point. Half of employees now report using AI tools for work, up from 33% in 2024, yet most organizations still lack the formal policies and training needed to ensure safe and effective use.

AI is reshaping Canadian workplaces, with significant implications for productivity, employee confidence, and competitiveness. But without stronger training and governance, organizations and workers could face risks such as data security gaps and inconsistent access to AI’s benefits.

Key findings from the report include:

  • Support drives confidence: Employees with access to AI training or policies feel more confident using AI (75% vs. 41%)
  • Limited support systems: Just 39% of employees with work-approved AI say their organization has AI-use policies, and only 20% report access to formal training
  • Persistent concerns: Employees remain worried about job loss (44%), overdependence on AI (60%), and data security (36%)

You can read the report here: https://www.cdw.ca/content/cdwca/en/reports/modern-workspace-report.html?utm_campaign=21657744-FY25%E2%80%A6

Leave a comment »

A Fashion Week Essential Meets Cutting-Edge Tech: Galaxy Z Flip7

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

As global Fashion Weeks roll out, one standout accessory is catching the eyes of both tech insiders and style leaders alike — the new Galaxy Z Flip7.

Blending sophisticated design with powerful innovation, the Galaxy Z Flip7 isn’t just a smartphone — it’s a fashion statement. With its sleek clamshell silhouette, customizable Flex Window, and bold colourways, the Z Flip7 fits effortlessly into the front row — or your front pocket. Whether capturing street style moments or coordinating your look with Gemini AI, this device is designed to keep up with your lifestyle, and elevate it.

Key tech-meets-style highlights:

  • Style-Driven Design: A polished, durable finish in trend-forward shades — compact enough to fit into micro bags and jacket pockets.
  • AI Styling Assistant: With Gemini built into the cover screen, users can get outfit ideas, styling prompts, or fashion inspo in real-time.
  • Expressive Flex Window: The 4.1″ customizable cover screen functions as a mood board, smartwatch, selfie cam, or even a mini runway monitor.
  • Camera for the Front Row: Capture every angle with a 50MP wide lens, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP selfie cam — perfect for runway looks, GRWMs, or street style snapshots.
  • Hands-Free Utility: Flex Mode lets the phone hold its own — ideal for content creation on the go, mirror selfies, or vlogging behind the scenes.
Device NameKey SpecsPricingColour Options
Galaxy Z Flip7188g, 4.1″ Flex Window, FlexCam, Galaxy AI, Samsung Exynos 250256GB – $1,462.99
512GB – $1,642.99		Blue Shadow, Jet Black, Coral Red

Leave a comment »

New Study from Sage and IDC Reveals How High-Performing Channel Partners Win with AI and Specialization

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

A new study from IDC, commissioned by Sage, that examines how high-performing channel partners are leveraging AI to deliver powerful customer outcomes and shape the future of the channel.  

The study found that a new wave of high-performing partners is redefining the channel by scaling faster, adopting AI sooner, and delivering measurable customer outcomes. 

IDC surveyed 2,000 software resellers globally, including Canadian partners for the study. Key Canadian findings include:  

  • 70% of Canadian channel partners say they have an AI practice. 
  • Canadian partners face unique challenges
    • Almost half (49%) citing budget constraints are a top barrier to technology investment. 
    • 44% say lack of skilled resources is the top internal barrier to achieving high performance. 
  • 76% of Canadian partners are embracing a more strategic role in the channel, positioning themselves as trusted advisors rather than transactional sellers. 

You can read the study here: https://www.sage.com/en-ca/news/press-releases/2025/09/idc-study-reveals-how-high-performing-partners-win-with-ai-and-specialisation/

Leave a comment »

CData Launches Connect AI to Transform How AI Accesses Business Data in Real-Time

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

At its second annual Foundations conference, CData Software announced Connect AI, the first managed Model Context Protocol (MCP) platform that integrates AI assistants, agent orchestration platforms, AI workflow automation, and embedded AI applications with more than 300 enterprise data sources. With governed, in-place access to enterprise data, Connect AI preserves data semantics and relationships, giving AI complete understanding of the context. The solution also inherits user permissions and authentication directly from the source and can be deployed in the cloud or embedded within software products in minutes with point-and-click configuration.

Connect AI takes the same enterprise-grade connectivity technology already embedded by top technology companies including Palantir, SAP, Salesforce Data Cloud, and Google Cloud into their offerings, and reimagines it specifically for AI workloads with real-time semantic integration capabilities.

The solution builds on the momentum of the company’s MCP Servers, which have already seen thousands of users connect hundreds of data sources to AI assistants. The adoption validates AI’s need for governed enterprise data integration that understands context and relationships.

Breaking the Enterprise AI Deployment Barriers

Connect AI solves two core challenges MIT identified in its recent research. MIT reported that despite $30-40 billion in enterprise AI investment, 95% of AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business impact, primarily due to data access and governance challenges.

First, through data-in-place access, Connect AI preserves the rich contextual relationships that AI agents need for intelligent decision-making, delivering both immediate data access and meaningful data understanding.

Second, Connect AI inherits existing security and authentication protocols set in the source system ensuring AI access remains aligned with organizational controls. Data access is logged under the identity of the authenticated user or agent for comprehensive governance. Additional AI controls can be layered and managed within Connect AI.

Immediate Impact on Enterprises’ and Software Providers’ Use of AI

Enterprises use Connect AI with AI apps to get contextually-aware answers from business data in seconds; work that previously required days or weeks of report building. Its ability to handle complex queries across diverse systems with semantic understanding enables sales teams to use Claude for pipeline insights, marketing teams to prompt ChatGPT for campaign analysis, and finance teams to rely on Copilot for real-time budget updates and financial reports. IT and AI Engineering teams can also power agents built through AI workflow automation and agent orchestration platforms with direct, scalable access to semantically-rich enterprise data.

ISVs embed Connect AI directly within their products to provide their end-users with self-service integration between their data sources and the ISV’s agentic capabilities. The white-label offering gives tech companies an edge in the race for AI users because their agents can operate on the full semantic context of their end-users’ business, and not just on data brought directly into their products.

Industry Validation and Market Opportunity

This proven connectivity technology validates CData’s critical role in enterprise data connectivity and the company’s expansion into AI-native integration.

Availability

Connect AI is immediately available. More details are available here: www.cdata.com/ai

Leave a comment »

Guest Post: Summer 2025 wrap up: From airport Wi-Fi to shared Netflix logins — the digital habits of the season

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

How carefree summer habits put personal data at risk — and what to do before autumn begins

As the summer sun sets, cybersecurity experts look back at how people stayed connected during their holidays — and where security slipped through the cracks.

This year, travel and technology were more intertwined than ever. Many vacationers relied on airport Wi-Fi to quickly check work emails, logged into airline apps with the same old password, or shared streaming accounts during rainy evenings abroad. While these habits made summer easier, they also exposed common security pitfalls.

“One recurring pattern was the rise of “workations.” Employees working from Mediterranean beaches or Alpine chalets often connected to company accounts via unsecured networks, creating easy opportunities for cybercriminals. Meanwhile, families on group trips frequently admitted to reusing the same password across multiple booking apps to keep it simple,” says Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of product at NordPass.

When convenience meets risk

The risks are far from theoretical. Fake Wi-Fi hotspots set up in airports, hotels, or even beach cafés can look identical to the real thing. Once connected, cybercriminals can monitor traffic and capture login details. If your credit card information is stored in one of those accounts for “quick checkouts,” your summer getaway could quickly turn into a nightmare — with bank alerts cutting your vacation short.

Summer is all about carefree living, but the digital traces we leave behind don’t disappear with the season. A single weak password or unsafe connection can undo months of careful planning — whether it’s for a holiday or a work trip.

Connectivity choices played a big role in these digital risks. Many travelers admitted that they connected to whichever Wi-Fi popped up first — often without checking if it was genuine. That convenience, while tempting, can be what opens the door to attackers.

“We’ve seen how travelers lean on quick connections to stay in touch with home, work, or entertainment,” said Vykintas Maknickas, CEO of Saily. “But not all networks are created equal. Choosing a secure, reliable connection can make the difference between a smooth trip and one filled with unexpected cyber troubles.”

5 tips to carry into autumn

  • Audit your passwords: Replace any that are weak, reused, or shared over the summer.
  • Think twice about Wi-Fi: Public hotspots are a hacker’s favorite playground — use mobile data or a VPN.
  • Keep accounts personal: Sharing logins may seem harmless, but it weakens your digital defenses.
  • Secure work accounts: If you worked on the road, reset critical passwords now.
  • Use tools that do the heavy lifting: A password manager helps generate and store strong, unique passwords effortlessly.

As summer ends, there is a reminder for everyone: your digital security and connectivity should travel with you — whether you’re heading back to the office, campus, or planning the next holiday.

ABOUT NORDPASS

NordPass is a password manager for both business and consumer clients. It’s powered by the latest technology for the utmost security. Developed with affordability, simplicity, and ease of use in mind, NordPass allows users to access passwords securely on desktop, mobile, and browsers. All passwords are encrypted on the device, so only the user can access them. NordPass was created by the experts behind NordVPN — the advanced security and privacy app. For more information: nordpass.com.

Leave a comment »

BlueCat appoints Kevin Shone as Chief Financial Officer

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

BlueCat today announced the appointment of Kevin Shone as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Shone, who joined the company in August, will lead BlueCat’s financial strategy and oversee the company’s accounting, financial planning and analysis, legal, treasury, and IT functions.

With over two decades of financial leadership, Shone has held CFO positions at both public and private high-growth technology companies. Most recently, he served as CFO of Definitive Healthcare, where he guided the company through its successful IPO. His prior CFO experience includes Data Intensity, NextG Networks, and Unica. He spent a decade in senior leadership roles at Cognos Corporation, which IBM acquired for $4.9 billion in 2008. Shone began his career in corporate and tax law at Deloitte Touche and Riemer & Braunstein.

Over the past three years, BlueCat has made three strategic acquisitions while more than doubling its revenue and customer base. The Men & Mice, Indeni, and LiveAction additions have strengthened BlueCat’s portfolio and enabled the company to offer a comprehensive suite of Intelligent NetOps solutions to its customers.

Leave a comment »

Flashpoint Posts A Backgrounder On Scattered Spider

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 24, 2025 by itnerd

Today I have a backgrounder on the threat actor known as Scattered Spider that’s been provided to me by Flashpoint. Backgrounders like this one take a lot of time and effort to research so shoutout to Flashpoint for providing me with this.

You can read the backgrounder here: https://flashpoint.io/blog/scattered-spider-threat-profile/?CRO1=control_%233007%2Cvariant_%231027

It goes into detail about the threat actor and their recent arrest which I will get to in a future post. But in the meantime, I would encourage to read this as it is well worth your attention.

Leave a comment »

Blog Post: How Flashpoint Is Reinventing Cyber Threat Investigations with AI

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

This afternoon, Flashpoint announced in a blog post the Flashpoint Investigation Management’s new AI-powered capabilities that allow customers to upload your own findings, choose what to summarize, use smart prompts, and chat with AI for follow-up analysis, all within a single investigation workspace. Flashpoint also provides a video walkthrough here.

AI is only as good as the data it’s built on. There’s no shortage of “AI assistants” in cybersecurity right now. But most rely on generic models, scraped content, or siloed data and fall short when applied to the nuanced world of threat intelligence.

The news highlights how Flashpoint Is reinventing cyber threat investigations with AI and goes into depth on the following topics:

  • Why Investigation Workflows Matter in Cyber Threat Intelligence
  • What Is an AI-Powered Threat Investigation Workspace?
  • How Analyst Teams Use Investigation’s Workspace
  • How Flashpoint’s AI is Different

You can read their blog post here.

Leave a comment »

Azure Entra flaw could enable user impersonation

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

Microsoft patched an Azure Entra elevation of privilege flaw (CVE-2025-55241) that appeared minor and required no customer action. But security researcher Dirk-jan Mollema revealed a deeper issue: undocumented “Actor tokens” combined with an Azure AD Graph API flaw could have enabled attackers to impersonate any user, including Global Admins, across any Entra ID tenant, with no logs or traces. While Microsoft moved quickly after responsible disclosure, the episode highlights the fragility of cloud identity security, the hidden risks in undocumented systems, and the need for proactive monitoring beyond vendor assurances. Details below:

One Token to rule them all – obtaining Global Admin in every Entra ID tenant via Actor tokens: https://dirkjanm.io/obtaining-global-admin-in-every-entra-id-tenant-with-actor-tokens/

Anders Askasan, Director of Product, Radiant Logic had this to say:

     “This incident shows how undocumented identity features can quietly bypass Zero Trust. Actor tokens created a shadow backdoor with no policies, no logs, no visibility, undermining the very foundation of trust in the cloud. The takeaway is clear: vendor patching after the fact simply isn’t enough. To reduce systemic risk, enterprises need independent observability across their entire identity fabric, continuously correlating accounts, entitlements, and policies. Organizations need a trusted, vendor-agnostic view of their identity data and controls, so they can validate in real time and act before an adversarial incursion escalates into a breach that’s almost impossible to unwind.”

Christopher Elisan, Head of Offensive Security Research, Cobalt adds this:

      “This case underscores why blind trust in vendor assurances can be dangerous. While responsible disclosure and rapid patching worked here, the sheer scale of what could have gone wrong reminds us that security isn’t static. Organizations should invest in adversarial testing to uncover blind spots before attackers do. Blind spots often live in undocumented functionalities, which can only be found by continuous, independent testing and validation. Continuous, independent validation is the only way to cut through a false sense of safety.”

This shows the importance of having a strong, diversified defence strategy which reduces your exposure to something like this. That’s on top of patching all the things ASAP.

Leave a comment »

ESET Research: Russian FSB-linked Gamaredon and Turla team up to target high-profile Ukrainian entities

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

ESET Research has uncovered the first known cases of collaboration between Gamaredon and Turla. Both threat groups are associated with the main Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, and in tandem attacked high-profile targets in Ukraine. On the affected machines, Gamaredon deployed a wide range of tools, and on one of those machines, Turla was able to issue commands via Gamaredon implants.

Notably, in February 2025, ESET Research detected the execution of Turla’s Kazuar backdoor by Gamaredon’s PteroGraphin and PteroOdd on a machine in Ukraine. PteroGraphin was used to restart the Kazuar v3 backdoor, possibly after it crashed or was not launched automatically. Thus, PteroGraphin was probably used as a recovery method by Turla. This is the first time that anyone has been able to link these two groups together via technical indicators. In April and June 2025, ESET detected that Kazuar v2 was deployed using Gamaredon tools PteroOdd and PteroPaste.

Kazuar v3 is the latest branch of the Kazuar family, itself an advanced C# espionage implant that ESET believes is used exclusively by Turla; it was first seen in 2016. Other malware deployed by Gamaredon was PteroLNK, PteroStew, and PteroEffigy.

As already mentioned, both are part of the Russian FSB. According to Security Service of Ukraine, Gamaredon is thought to be operated by officers of Center 18 of the FSB (aka the Center for Information Security) in Crimea, which is part of the FSB’s counterintelligence service. As for Turla, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre attributes the group to the Center 16 of the FSB, which is Russia’s main signals intelligence agency.

From an organizational perspective, it is worth noting that the two entities commonly associated with Turla and Gamaredon have a long history of reported collaboration, which can be traced back to the Cold War era. 2022’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has probably reinforced this convergence, with ESET data clearly showing Gamaredon and Turla activities focusing on the Ukrainian defense sector in recent months.

Gamaredon has been active since at least 2013. It is responsible for many attacks, mostly against Ukrainian governmental institutions. Turla, also known as Snake, is an infamous cyberespionage group that has been active since at least 2004, possibly extending back into the late 1990s. It mainly focuses on high-profile targets, such as governments and diplomatic entities, in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. It is known for having breached major organizations such as the US Department of Defense in 2008 and the Swiss defense company RUAG in 2014.

For a more detailed analysis and technical breakdown of Turla and Gamaredon’s interactions, check out the latest ESET Research blogpost “Gamaredon X Turla collab” on WeLiveSecurity.com

Leave a comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »