Posted in Commentary with tags HP on December 16, 2024 by itnerd
As cloud workspaces and AI-driven digital transformation continue to accelerate, the need for secure, simple endpoints to drive mission-critical work has never been greater – especially for those working in government, finance, healthcare, retail, and media sectors.
Today, HP introduced the HP Elite t660 Thin Client designed to meet these needs and deliver unmatched security, manageability, and power. As the world’s most secure desktop thin client PC, the Elite t660 is equipped with HP’s exclusive HP Wolf Security platform to protect from threats while also simplifying cloud client management – all while delivering 58% more powerful performance gen-over-gen.
Standout experiences & features include:
Upleveled endpoint security and resiliency: As the first desktop thin client with HP Wolf Security, the Elite t660 integrates security from the ground up to protect against attacks and threats with features like HP Sure Start, HP Sure Admin and HP Secure Erase – unlike other solutions that add third-party security on top of a weak foundation. Built on the HP Wolf Security platform, the new HP Wolf Cloud Endpoint Manager enables simplified cloud client management for administrators across devices and operating systems.
Future-proof productivity: From mission-critical applications to heavy multitasking, traders and federal workers never miss a beat with 13th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors with five cores [i], up to 32GB of memory, and support for up to four 4K displays for enhanced workspace productivity. The Elite t660 is also HP’s first desktop thin client with 5K display support for maximized clarity when tackling media workflows.
Responsibly crafted: As part of the world’s most sustainable PC portfolio, the Elite t660 contains at least 50% post-consumer recycled plastics and the fanless 45W system design uses 30% less power consumption than a desktop. The device is EPEAT® Gold Registered and ENERGY STAR® Certified.
The Elite t660 is expected to be available on hp.com in March 2025. Pricing will be announced closer to availability.
Posted in Commentary with tags Hacked on December 16, 2024 by itnerd
Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler uncovered an exposed database linked to Care1, a Canadian company offering AI software solutions to support optometrists in delivering enhanced patient care.
The breach exposed over 4.8 million records, including sensitive patient information such as exam results, personal identifying information (PII), doctor’s notes, home addresses, and Personal Health Numbers (PHNs). These records present serious privacy risks, potentially enabling identity theft or unauthorized access to healthcare services.
Posted in Commentary with tags Samsung on December 15, 2024 by itnerd
Finding the perfect holiday gift can be challenging, and gifting a gift card can feel impersonal.
If only there was a fun, free and sentimental gift you could give your loved ones…
Until December 22nd, Samsung Canada invites Canadians to discover the magic of the perfect holiday gift for their loved one at its cozy and creative Galaxy Gift Station at Toronto’s STACKT Market.
At this limited time pop-up, visitors will have the chance to:
Get cozy with a warm apple cider and create amazing art with the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, S Pen and Galaxy AI.
Select a giftable merch item (anything from a tote bag to a T-shirt, to an ornament, to a poster), onto which your unique work will be printed.
Bring to life your personalized holiday gift and take it home for your loved one to enjoy!
Plus, visitors will be able to get their hands on the Galaxy Z Flip6, create a custom holiday card, and enter a contest to win art made by Pony!
Now I did have a chance to head to STACKT to try and get into this event. But unfortunately the lines were an hour plus to get in. Thus you’ll have to settle with these pictures:
Posted in Commentary with tags Foxit on December 15, 2024 by itnerd
As we look toward 2025, marketing and technology are converging in transformative ways. Evan Reiss, VP, Head of Marketing at Foxit, has shared his bold predictions for the future of marketing. They are as follows:
“In 2025, I predict that over 70% of new marketing projects will include collaboration with IT. Marketing is now heavily focused on data, driven by event-level granularity and behavioral data points, and all successful marketing projects in 2025 will include a data component. I also expect to see the first AI agent applied to a company’s brand control and creative, managing social media posts and eventually the entire communication and voice strategy from end to end. These AI brand agents will use structured brand and creative data to maintain a consistent tone of voice and standard for the brand across all channels, including social media.
Additionally, I predict that 35% of brands will leverage Guardian AIs to manage their creative identity and ensure brand standards are upheld. These Guardian AIs will work alongside other AI systems to produce content that aligns with brand guidelines, and new marketing roles will emerge to manage these Guardian AIs across a brand’s portfolio.
Personalization will also shift towards AI-driven models that go beyond basic rule-based segmentation. AI will identify key customer touchpoints, informed by a customer’s journey leading up to that point, and manage personalized experiences tailored to each customer. As a result, advertising is about to get a lot easier and require fewer constraints for media buying teams.
Finally, I expect authenticity and transparency to become top priorities for 85% of brands in 2025. Brands are going to try harder than ever to be authentic because negative customer experiences and bad press will get picked up and exposed by AI models faster than previous years. AI will expose inauthentic businesses with poor ethical practices and put corporations at risk. Transparent, reliable brands will win in 2025.”
Posted in Commentary with tags Ford on December 14, 2024 by itnerd
Electric vehicles are growing in popularity. And Ford is in the game with the Mustang Mach-E. I got the Select trim level for a weekend with eAWD and the 91 kWH extended range battery to drive for a weekend and here’s a look at it:
It definitely has the looks of a Mustang. But it comes in the form of a four door hatchback which makes it way more useful. And that red colour is really cool looking if I may say so. There’s one thing that I am not a fan of from an external perspective:
To open the door you have to press the circle. The door will pop out and then you grab the handle to open it. Now I get why Ford did this as they are trying to get every last kilometre of range via having the Mach-E be as aero as possible. Plus, I can see a scenario where in winter the door is less likely to get stuck because of ice and snow. But my wife and pretty much anyone over the age of 40 who tried to get into the Mach-E had some degree of trouble opening the door because this style of door handle is not what people are used to. Now Ford isn’t the only company that makes an EV that does something like this with their door handles. Having said that, a traditional door handle that is perhaps more aero would be welcome.
My only other exterior gripe is the rear lift gate. When you open it, you get a decent amount of space as illustrated here:
You can also fold the rear seats in a 60/40 manner to get additional space. And all of that is good. But the bad part about the rear lift gate is that it’s manual on this trim level. And while I had no issues with it, my wife at 5′ 6″ couldn’t close it as the hatch opened slightly beyond her reach. If that’s a concern for you, you should go up to the Premium trim level which comes with a power lift gate. Speaking of storage:
The Mach-E has a frunk (front trunk) that is pretty deep and useful for storage.
Let’s move inside. The Mach-E is really roomy. With the drivers seat set up for me, I was able to sit behind myself in the back seat with no issue. There was decent leg room and great headroom. The only thing that I will put out there is the model that I had for the weekend didn’t have a sunroof. Thus I have to wonder if a sunroof will affect the headroom. Other things that I noted in the back seats:
You get a pair of USB-C ports to keep your phones and tablets charged.
You also get two cupholders that fold down for use if you don’t have three humans in the back seat. Which by the way should be three kids. I’m not entirely sure three full sized adults would be comfortable back here for a long drive.
Now let’s move to the front. And I am going to get my number one gripe out of the way up front:
This 15.5″ screen is extremely sharp and easy to read. There’s a dial to control the volume that is impossible to miss as well. Apple CarPlay (which is wireless by the way) looks amazing on this screen as well. But my issue with it is that the majority of the Mach-E’s controls are routed through the screen. While I appreciate the fact that HVAC controls are on the screen most of the time, I would have liked to see them as physical buttons as they are way easier to use. That’s because you’ll develop muscle memory when it comes to where they are, which means that you can turn on your seat heater easily while doing 100 KM/h on the highway. That’s harder to do with a screen. Again, Ford isn’t the only company who’s done something like this. But perhaps not routing everything through the screen would result in a better user experience.
The gripes end here. Let’s look at the parts of the interior that I did like:
The screen that acts as the instrument cluster is very sharp and readable. And what I like about is that when you are using Apple Maps, directions are replicated here. Thus you can keep your eyes on the road at all times.
I am in love with this steering wheel as it has all the controls that one needs to do anything from change the volume to adjust the cruise control easily.
Besides a USB-A port and an USB-C port, there’s a wireless charger on the left half of this pad.
The cupholders hold both my wife’s water bottle and my Starbucks Venti insulated travel mug. I point that out because not every car that I test holds that travel mug.
There’s centre console is deep and has a 12V outlet. You can open and close it via a sliding cover.
I will also note is that everything is well put together and feels like it is built really well. And I will point out that there is a lack of shiny hard plastic which will help to keep the car clean and upscale looking.
Now the hero feature of the Mustang Mach-E is BlueCruise which is Ford’s driver assistance system. What I will do is point you towards this review that I did of it a couple of days ago. But let me say that I really liked it and would consider getting it if I were buying this car.
Now onto the actual driving experience. Once I got used to the fact that this car is capable of doing 0 – 100 KM/h in 4.3 seconds, which means that pressing the accelerator too hard will make the Mach-E leap off the line, along with the brakes being grabby because of the regenerative function, I loved it. There’s zero issue passing anything or getting up to speed. The handling is refined and bumps in the road are eaten up by the suspension for the most part. There’s very little body roll even when the Mach-E is pushed. And in terms of noise, vibration and harshness, the only thing that I heard were the tires with a bit of the motors on acceleration. Ford has really done a great job making the Mach-E feel very upscale.
In terms of range, I can only estimate that due to the fact that I recharged the Mach-E when the battery hit 50% to 60%. But I saw numbers of total range between 350 KM and 400 KM of range which I attribute to the fact that I drove this in the cold. The car is rated to do 515 KM of range which is good for a road trip if you plan out where you charge and you have access to a DC fast charger, along with having a level 2 charger at home. The Mach-E can charge at a speed of 115 kWh which means that you could get a full charge in about an hour if you can find a DC fast charger that charges at that speed.
Here’s where the charge port is and its location made it easy for me to plug into a charger whenever I needed a charger. It’s a CCS port on this Mustang Mach-E. But future Mach-E models will move to having a NACS port which is the Tesla standard and have direct access to Tesla’s SuperCharger network. Existing owners with CCS ports will either get a NACS adapter or they can purchase one.
So would I get a Mustang Mach-E? Well, this is the only electric vehicle that I have reviewed, but I am walking away from this experience with positive vibes. So I would consider a Mach-E for sure. But I wouldn’t get this trim level. Instead I would get the Premium trim level as that has all the features that I think would be of value to most drivers who are in the market for an electric vehicle. This trim level starts $52,690. But the exact copy that I am driving which comes with the eAWD and the 91 kWH extended range battery is $65,790. And that’s before the $5000 rebate that the Canadian Federal Government is offering at the moment. If you’re in the market for an electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E has to be on your list. Ford has come up with a very compelling vehicle in this market that is worthy of your time and attention.
Here’s some 2025 Technology Predictions from Tim Golden, CEO of Compliance Scorecard, on trends in the governance, risk and compliance industry as it relates to MSPs.
Intensified Regulatory Enforcement and Fines Regulatory bodies are expected to increase enforcement of cybersecurity laws, such as CMMC and FTC 3.14, with a focus on stricter audits and leveraging mechanisms like whistleblowing. This will intensify scrutiny on compliance practices across the board. MSPs will face heightened risk of fines and legal actions if they fail to meet these regulatory demands, making proactive compliance a business-critical priority.
Increased Legal Accountability and Liability In 2025,evolving legal frameworks will place greater responsibility on MSPs for their clients’ cybersecurity, holding them liable for security breaches and compliance lapses. This heightened accountability is set to redefine service contracts and risk management strategies. MSPs without a thorough understanding of legal obligations may find themselves vulnerable to lawsuits and significant financial losses, emphasizing the need for legal expertise in their operations.
Resource Constraints Hindering Compliance Efforts The ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals will exacerbate staffing challenges for MSPs, leaving teams stretched thin and under-resourced. This could hamper their ability to meet compliance demands effectively. Resource limitations may result in compliance gaps and heightened vulnerability to security breaches, making workforce development a pressing need for MSPs in 2025.
Over-Reliance on Tools Without Adequate Processes and Personnel MSPs will increasingly depend on tools to address compliance and cybersecurity challenges, often at the expense of establishing strong processes and trained personnel. This approach could prove counterproductive. Tools without robust processes and skilled management may lead to misconfigurations, overlooked risks, and a false sense of security, underscoring the importance of a balanced strategy involving people, processes, and technology.
Posted in Commentary with tags Fortra on December 13, 2024 by itnerd
SpartanWarriorz
Threat Background & History
Fortra is tracking activity from a scam kit authoring group known as SpartanWarriorz. These authors have been selling kits targeting over 300 global brands as far back as September 2022. They have targeted industries including financial institutions in North America and Europe, retail, delivery services, and social media platforms. Using the messaging service Telegram, they have been observed giving away a plethora of free phishing kits to increase their reputation within the phishing community.
Operations experienced some service disruption recently when the SpartanWarriorz Telegram channel was shut down on November 21st. The group created a new channel on the same day and has attempted to inform their past subscribers.
Profile picture for SpartanWarriorz on Telegram.
Service Breakdown
SpartanWarriorz primarily has used the platform Telegram to advertise their phishing kits. Their Telegram channel currently has over 5,300 subscribers, managed by two moderators. Across their platform they have offered services including:
Phishing Kits and Pages
Access to Compromised Websites
Published Phishing Lures
Email Spamming Services
Example phishing kit advertised by SpartanWarriorz on Telegram.
Customary advertising file within a SpartanWarriorz phish kit.
SpartanWarriorz has advertised over 300 kits on Telegram that are available for sale or have been given away. In addition to the kits offered, SpartanWarriorz advertises mailer tools that allow threat actors to send out phishing campaigns using pre-authored lure emails available from the seller. The group also offers access to web server shells through their Telegram platform. These shells have been installed on compromised servers and can be used to carry out phishing attacks.
A Telegram post advertising a plethora of SpartanWarriorz phish kits.
SpartanWarriorz kits allow users to input a Telegram API token and chat ID to exfiltrate stolen credentials, including OTP codes. Additionally, kits include extensive antibot lists that block specific IP addresses and ranges, user agents, and known web crawlers from accessing the phishing pages within the kit. This code sends all blocked visitors to Google.com or a fake 404 error page. Other configuration settings frequently seen include options to require victims to sign in twice or complete a CAPTCHA.
Red Canary, a leader in managed detection and response (MDR), announced strong Q3 FY25 results, achieving positive operating margins for the first time in company history. These results were buoyed by strength in the enterprise customer segment, with the most recent quarter exceeding 50% growth year-over-year. As identity and cloud threats continue to rise, organizations in nearly every industry are turning to Red Canary for its world class detection and response capabilities across endpoint, identity, and cloud attack surfaces.
With advanced detection engineering, threat intelligence, threat hunting, and world-class support baked into the platform, Red Canary helps customers improve their security posture from day one, providing immediate time to value. Over the last year, growth has been driven by large organizations realizing the value of Red Canary’s expertise in detecting and responding to emerging threats across all domains with high quality, accuracy, and at an incredible scale.
Product innovations in Q3 FY25:
Continued to accelerate threat investigations and response times with GenAI agent flows, realizing over 60% faster mean time to investigate and enabling customers to address threats more swiftly and effectively with Red Canary flow investigations.
Cost-efficient storage that strengthens security posture with the release of Security Data Lake, delivering long-term log retention, search, and MDR enhancement capabilities.
Expanded endpoint integrations with Trend Micro Vision One integration, providing customers an EDR solution with extensive telemetry, a comprehensive detection analytics library, automated remediation actions, and advanced threat hunting.
Delivered powerful AI-driven security operations with Managed XSIAM, making Red Canary analytics and expert help available inside of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSIAM with a new managed service—now in early access.
Key company milestones in Q3 FY25:
Achieved record-breaking third quarter, the best Q3 in the company’s history for new business bookings.
Appointed Todd Chronert as Chief Revenue Officer, a proven cybersecurity leader with nearly 20 years of experience, to drive global sales, business development, and partnerships while accelerating growth and strengthening Red Canary’s leadership in MDR.
Published a major midyear update to the 2024 Threat Detection Report, offering a comprehensive summary and analysis on the top trending threats and techniques in the first half of 2024 to help provide timely insights for organizations to stay ahead of emerging threats.
Released latest monthly threat intelligence research, highlighting browser-related threats, including ChromeLoader and SocGholish continue to have an impact and rank among top 10 threats.
Earned customer recognition with five badges in G2’s Fall 2024 report, including Fastest Implementation in MDR.
In the current version of macOS, Apple allows for mirroring a Mac’s display to an Apple TV, but there is no option for sharing just a portion of a display.
The menu allowing for an entire screen or just a window or app to be displayed also appears when connecting a Mac to a TV over HDMI.
That last sentence is the one that fits what I am seeing and confirms that this is a “feature” and not a bug as this is a TV that my Mac mini is connected to and it is connected over HDMI. But having that purple icon always on my screen seems to me to be completely needless. Thus to stop my OCD from acting up, I’ve hidden the icon by doing this:
Go to System Settings
Go to Control Center
Set Screen Mirroring to Don’t Show In Menu Bar
It should look like this when you’re done:
I honestly wish Apple found some more elegant method of doing this. I say that because I am sure that the AppleCare helpline is being hit with calls regarding this, which is something that could have been avoided by a better UI design. But what do I know? After all Apple knows best right?
Posted in Commentary with tags AHEAD on December 12, 2024 by itnerd
AHEAD, a leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions, has announced the formation of a dedicated unit to serve the mid-market segment, defined generally as organizations with under 2,500 employees and less than $1 billion in annual revenues. This new AHEAD unit will include a dedicated sales team and solutions engineering support model tailored to the specific needs of mid-market organizations.
With over 2,000 clients already in this segment, AHEAD sees potential for 30% annual growth from both expansion of existing client relationships and acquiring new accounts. Further, the segment is a key priority of AHEAD’s largest partner, Dell Technologies, whose solutions will be a major point of emphasis in serving the segment.
Sales veteran Mike Kuehn will oversee the mid-market team as Senior Vice President, reporting to Tim Frank, AHEAD’s Chief Revenue Officer. Based in New Jersey, Mike brings 30 years of experience in B2B technology, and a track record of building high-growth software and services companies. In addition to his responsibilities for the mid-market, Kuehn will also lead AHEAD Sales University (ASU), the company’s sales professional development program designed to create the next generation of seasoned account executives.
HP Launches World’s Most Secure Desktop Thin Client PC
Posted in Commentary with tags HP on December 16, 2024 by itnerdAs cloud workspaces and AI-driven digital transformation continue to accelerate, the need for secure, simple endpoints to drive mission-critical work has never been greater – especially for those working in government, finance, healthcare, retail, and media sectors.
Today, HP introduced the HP Elite t660 Thin Client designed to meet these needs and deliver unmatched security, manageability, and power. As the world’s most secure desktop thin client PC, the Elite t660 is equipped with HP’s exclusive HP Wolf Security platform to protect from threats while also simplifying cloud client management – all while delivering 58% more powerful performance gen-over-gen.
Standout experiences & features include:
The Elite t660 is expected to be available on hp.com in March 2025. Pricing will be announced closer to availability.
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