A Follow Up To London Hospitals Being Pwned In A Ransomware Attack

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Following up on this story about London hospitals getting pwned by a ransomware attack, I have more details on this. On the surface, this appears to be yet another third party attack.

The attack targeted Synnovis, a third-party provider responsible for pathology services such as blood tests, swabs, and bowel tests for the affected hospitals. As a result, crucial services like blood transfusions and test results have been disrupted.

In response to the attack, both Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital have declared a “critical incident.” The Independent reports that general practitioners have been instructed to cancel all non-emergency pathology appointments, and hospital staff have been directed to request emergency blood samples only for patients requiring transfusions. 

A spokesperson for NHS England’s London region stated, “This is having a significant impact on the delivery of services at Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and primary care services in southeast London, and we apologize for the inconvenience this is causing to patients and their families.” Despite the disruption, emergency care remains available, and patients are advised to continue accessing services as usual, including dialing 999 in emergencies.

According the The Record, the NHS suffered 138 ransomware attacks in just 2022 and 2023.

Experts with Cyware and Horizon3.ai offer perspective:

Emily Phelps, Director, Cyware had this to say:

   “These ransomware attacks targeting healthcare and critical infrastructure reinforce the urgent need for a collective defense security approach. This incident, which has  disrupted critical healthcare services, highlights the vulnerabilities inherent in siloed systems that slow down response times. 

   “A unified defense strategy and modernized security operations not only mitigate risks but also ensure a quicker and more efficient response, safeguarding essential services and protecting patient care.

Stephen Gates, Principal Security SME, Horizon3.ai follows with this:

   “What all organizations must come to terms with is that their exploitable attack surface is no longer just their own – it now encompasses their suppliers’ attack surfaces as well. A successful attack against a smaller supplier, who is part of a larger supply chain, can in fact cause disruption to their upstream buyer community. Therefore, it is critical for organizations to not only continuously assess their own security postures, but the security postures of their suppliers as well.

   “The challenge here is how do you continuously assess yourself – and your suppliers? Traditionally, organizations relied on two assessment approaches: Checkbox assessment exercises or manual penetration tests. The first does not always guarantee better security and the latter is nearly impossible to perform in a continuous fashion.

   “However, there are autonomous assessment solutions and approaches readily available that can continuously (and preemptively) discover exploitable vulnerabilities and other weaknesses so organizations can resolve them before attackers discover them. It’s time for both public and private sector organizations to adopt these solutions and approaches before this sort of event becomes the norm

Third party attacks are the new problem of the moment. Which means that you need to ensure that you take into account the security practices of your suppliers and partners if you want to stay secure. Otherwise you get situations like this.

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Does The Updated Adobe Photoshop Terms Of Use Gives Them The Right To Access All Your Work?

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

From the “this seems a bit suspect” comes this discovery by Sam Santala about the terms of use for Adobe Photoshop:

Of course this set off a bit of a tizzy on the Internet. And it sounds pretty bad on the surface. But there’s another view to this.

The way this is written, it sounds like it only refers to content that you upload to Adobe. Meaning that stuff that is local is stuff that they don’t have access to. That’s fine. Sort of. There’s also references to looking for things like CSAM and adult material. Now I am a computer nerd and not a lawyer, but that sounds like a cover your a$$ sort of thing to me. There’s also verbiage about using machine learning to improve their products. That’s something that I can see people having issues with as there are people out there who don’t want AI models trained using their stuff.

Adobe could really do itself a favour by clarifying this. Because until they do, people are going to have the impression that Adobe products are basically spyware when in reality they’re likely not. Thus I’ve pinged Adobe over this and if I actually get a response, I’ll post it here.

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Equinix Makes Data Center Heat Available to Warm Nearby Neighbourhoods and Buildings

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Equinix – the world’s digital infrastructure company – is calling for municipal planning agencies, energy utilities and heat network operators in Canada and around the world to join the Equinix Heat Export program to unlock the value of the residual heat generated in its International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers.

As the world continues to digitize and there is an increasing demand for massive amounts of processing power to train AI data, current spec CPUs and GPUs are running constantly and are producing residual heat. Equinix is constantly innovating in order to operate in more sustainable manners and the newest innovation is by recovering residual heat from IBX data centres and exporting it to nearby buildings and communities.

TR5, one of Equinix’s IBX data centres in Toronto, is sharing heat throughout multiple residential buildings as well as a hotel, university, and local shopping centre in downtown Markham. TR5 is also servicing multiple buildings with domestic hot water all year long, through a partnership with Markham District Energy.

Equinix also plans to export heat in its newest IBX in Paris, PA10, and transfer it to the Plaine Saulnier urban development zone and the Olympic Aquatic Centre, which will host several events during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Equinix is dedicated to expanding its Heat Export program in suitable locations, where data centers can serve as valuable heat sources for local communities.

Noah Nkonge, Design Delivery Principal, Equinix, details what data centre heat export is and how it works in the newest Equinix blog, which can be read here.

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RansomHub May Have Possibly Evolved From The Knight Ransomware Project

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

With the new RansomHub ransom gang becoming very active in the last couple of months, security researchers have come to believe that the ransomware-as-a-service evolved from the Knight ransomware project. Analysts have found multiple similarities between the two – the list is included in a Bleeping Computer article.

Darren Williams, CEO and Founder, BlackFog:

“The spawning of new ransomware gangs from older ones is not unusual, and we have seen this regularly over the last several years as they continue to share and leverage multiple variants at the same time. The simple fact is the risks associated with cybercrime are so low that its significantly less dangerous than any other form of crime, especially when you consider that most originate in China and Russia where law enforcement is not cooperative. The focus of organizations needs to be on both defensive and preventative strategies to protect all digital assets from the inside. Focusing on data exfiltration to prevent a data breach and loss of data is a good first step that many organizations fail to recognize in their security posture.”

The risk that ransomware gangs face need to be increased. Otherwise there is zero deterrent in terms of them launching attacks on companies. Hopefully countries around the world get the message so that these gangs disappear out of fear of the consequences of their actions.

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Apple Should Be Less Concerned With AI And More Concerned About The Quality Of Their Software

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Now I will admit that this isn’t a new complaint from yours truly. In fact, if you want to see the last times I complained about Apple’s software quality, I’ll leave some links here, here and here. The fact is that over the last few years, Apple’s software quality has taken a nosedive. While that’s bad, it’s likely to get worse.

Enter AI.

Apple is perceived by many to be behind the curve when it comes to AI. So as a result, Apple appears to be going all in on AI if you believe the rumour mill. Resulting in the fact that we’ll likely see AI mentioned a whole lot next week when Apple does the World Wide Developer’s conference keynote. However I am here to say that this is the wrong move. If I were Apple, I’d be fixing the issues that exist in their operating systems and software to make them stable and reliable rather than trying to shove new AI features, or new features of any sort which will likely make things even less stable than they already are. Take this for example. Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal has this to say about Apple’s Screen Time feature:

In no universe should it take a reporter from a major newspaper to make a company fix a problem that has existed for years. But at least she got a response. Apple from personal experience has often taken bug reports from users and developers and you’ll never hear from them again. I think they do that because Apple’s focus is on the “new hotness” rather than ensuring that their products have stability and features work as advertised. And this is likely to continue with whatever software Apple announces next week. In other words, you should not expect watchOS, macOS, iOS or anything else that Apple announces next week to be more stable when they finally ship to consumers in the fall. Instead, you should be expecting the opposite. Though I suspect that you’ll hear Apple say that you got all these cool AI features for you to use. To me, that’s not a good trade and I would happily trade AI or any other new cool feature for stability.

I am pretty sure that there are many, many others who would echo that sentiment.

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I’m Doing A Lunch And Learn On How Not To Get Scammed On June 14th In Downtown Toronto

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

This is some shameless self promotion. But it’s shameless self promotion on an important topic. I am doing another lunch and learn on how not to get scammed. This is an important topic these days as scams seem to be everywhere. Thus I’ve put together a roughly one hour lunch and learn on this topic so that it arms you with information to protect yourself. 

The location that I will be doing this lunch and learn from is a downtown Toronto restaurant called Harbord House. I highly recommend this restaurant as it has good food and a good beer selection, and I thank them for being willing to host this lunch and learn. The lunch and learn will be on June 14th at 1PM in the upstairs portion of the restaurant. If you can attend, please let me know.

And if you think that someone could benefit from this lunch and learn, feel free to forward this to them. 

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Cisco and Splunk Launch Integrated Full-Stack Observability Experience for the Enterprise

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Today at Cisco Live, the company unveiled the first of its innovative observability integrations with Splunk, a Cisco Company, as the organizations combine their industry-leading technologies to accelerate full-stack observability (FSO) for the entire enterprise. 

Building on the recent landmark acquisition, Cisco and Splunk are now launching an integrated full-stack observability experience for the enterprise, enabling unparalleled visibility and real-time insights to standardize observability in one solution. The new integrations and innovations are designed to help customers unlock unified visibility across any environment and any stack while harnessing powerful real-time analytics for faster, more accurate detection, investigation and response. 

Key Announcements include: 

  • Splunk Log Observer Connect for Cisco AppDynamics: Combines the power of Splunk Platform with Cisco AppDynamics Application Performance Monitoring (APM) to drive faster, in-context troubleshooting across on-premises and hybrid environments. 
  • Cisco AppDynamics integration with Splunk Enterprise / Splunk Cloud and Splunk ITSI: Reduce alert noise, improve troubleshooting and gain exec-level visibility via integration across Cisco AppDynamics, Splunk Enterprise / Splunk Cloud and Splunk ITSI. 
  • Cisco AppDynamics on Microsoft Azure: Expansion of cloud-hosted observability offerings now brings Cisco AppDynamics APM services to SaaS-hosted Microsoft Azure, fostering the support of multi-cloud strategies across new regions. 
  • Cisco AI Assistant for Cisco AppDynamics: Integrated into the AppDynamics Help Center, the new AI assistant empowers users with meaningful guidance and insights to make informed, intelligent decisions faster and more accurately than ever before. 
  • Advanced AI in Splunk IT Service Intelligence (ITSI): Leverages advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to help teams quickly and easily configure and implement dynamic, adaptive thresholds, manage and optimize configurations, and proactively surface insights into the health of ITSI knowledge objects, such as KPIs, services and entities. 

You can read through the full overview of Cisco Live announcements here.

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Samsung Unveils New Odyssey OLED, Smart Monitor and ViewFinity Monitors 

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Samsung announced today the global launch of its 2024 Odyssey OLED gaming monitor, Smart Monitor and ViewFinity monitor lineups.

These new and updated models bring features that people want — as well as some they don’t expect — to deliver new experiences, no matter how they use their monitors. The Odyssey lineup brings a next-level OLED experience and new AI capabilities to the Odyssey OLED G8; the Smart Monitor lineup heightens joy with more enhanced entertainment features, plus the Smart Monitor M8 is powered by AI; and the ViewFinity lineup boosts connectivity to create a complete workstation.

Odyssey OLED Series: Visual Excellence With New Burn-In Prevention Features

The 2024 Odyssey OLED models expand Samsung’s offerings of next-generation OLED performance with the new Odyssey OLED G8 (G80SD model) and Odyssey OLED G6 (G60SD model).

The Odyssey OLED G8 is the first flat 32” Samsung OLED gaming monitor with 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms gray-to-gray (GtG) response time for ultra smooth and responsive gameplay. The Odyssey OLED G6 is a 27” QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution monitor, supporting a 16:9 aspect ratio. Its 360Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms GtG response time make it easy for gamers to keep up with fast-moving gameplay.

The new Odyssey OLED G8 is Samsung’s first OLED gaming monitor powered by AI. The NQ8 AI Gen3 processor, which is the same processor Samsung uses in its 2024 8K TV, upscales content to nearly 4K when using Samsung Gaming Hub and the monitor’s native Smart TV apps for higher resolution in gaming and entertainment.

Both new OLED models feature Samsung OLED Safeguard+, a new proprietary burn-in protection technology. This technology is the first in the world to prevent burn-in by applying a pulsating heat pipe to the monitor. Additionally, the Dynamic Cooling System evaporates and condenses a coolant to diffuse heat five times more effectively than the older graphite sheet method, which prevents burn-in by reducing temperature at the core. The monitor also detects static images like logos and taskbars, automatically reducing their brightness to provide another means of burn-in prevention.

The Odyssey OLED G8 and OLED G6 both deliver incredible OLED picture quality with a brightness of 250 nits (Typ.), while FreeSync Premium Pro keeps the GPU and display panel synced up to eliminate choppiness, screen lag and screen tearing.

Samsung’s new OLED Glare Free technology also preserves colour accuracy and reduces reflections while maintaining image sharpness to offer an immersive viewing experience, even in daylight. The OLED-optimized, low-reflection coating overcomes the trade-off between gloss and reflection thanks to a new, specialized hard-coating layer and surface coating pattern.

Both monitors feature a super slim metal design that gives them a distinct identity, while Core Lighting+ enhances entertainment and gaming experiences with ambient lighting that synchronizes with the screen. The ergonomic stand also makes long sessions more comfortable with adjustable height, plus tilt and swivel support.

The new Odyssey OLED monitors are the next entry to expand Samsung’s OLED monitor market leadership. Their release comes after Samsung achieved the top position in global sales in the OLED monitor market within only one year of launching its first OLED model. This achievement underscores Samsung’s rapid ascent in the competitive landscape of OLED monitors while reinforcing its commitment to diversifying its gaming monitor lineup with models that leverage the company’s proprietary OLED technology.

Smart Monitor M8: AI Processing for Crystal Clear Video and Audio

The updated Smart Monitor lineup brings together a complete multi-device experience into one hub for smart entertainment and great productivity. The upgraded 2024 models include the M8 (M80D model), M7 (M70D model), and the M5 (M50D model).

The upgraded 32” 4K UHD Smart Monitor M8 introduces new features powered by AI with the NQM AI processor, taking entertainment experiences to the next level. AI upscaling brings lower resolution content up to nearly 4K, and Active Voice Amplifier Pro uses AI to analyze background noise in the user’s environment to optimize dialogue in the user’s content. 360 Audio Mode is available on the M8, which pairs with Galaxy Buds to create an immersive sound environment. The built-in SlimFit Camera also makes it easy to conduct video calls through mobile applications with Samsung Dex.

New to the entire line of Smart Monitors is a Workout Tracker, which pairs with a Galaxy Watch to enable real-time health data on the screen, even while streaming content. This makes it easier to track workout goals and can make working out more enjoyable.

These new features enhance the already impressive Smart Monitor functionality. Smart TV apps and Samsung TV Plus provide instant access to a wide range of streaming services and live content, without needing to boot up a PC or connect to other devices.

The M7 is available in 32” and 43” with 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution, a brightness of 300 nits (Typ.) and a gray to gray (GtG) response time of 4ms. The M5 is available in 27” and 32”, with FHD resolution (1920 x 1080), a brightness of 250 nits (Typ.) and a GtG response time of 4ms.

ViewFinity Series: Maximizing Creativity and Ease of Use

Optimized for creatives and professionals, and built with responsible practices, the latest ViewFinity lineup includes the ViewFinity S8 (S80UD and S80D models), ViewFinity S7 (S70D model) and the ViewFinity S6 (S60UD and S60D models).

The updated 2024 ViewFinity monitors are made with a minimum of 10% recycled plastic and do not apply chemical sprays to the plastic components. The packaging also uses glue instead of staples for easier disassembly.

The Easy Setup Stand is put together with one quick click, requiring no tools or screws, making it fast and easy to set up and enjoy the ViewFinity’s vibrant display. Every 2024 ViewFinity monitor supports HDR10 and the display of 1 billion colours, offering accurate colour representation, while also integrating TÜV-Rheinland-certified Intelligent Eye Care features to alleviate eye strain during prolonged work periods.

The ViewFinity S8 offers 27” and 32” screen options, each with 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution, a refresh rate of 60Hz and a brightness of 350 nits (Typ.). They also feature a USB hub for easy connectivity and a height-adjustable stand. The S80UD model includes a new KVM switch for easy connection and switching between two different input devices, as well as a USB-C port that allows users to charge devices with up to 90W of power.

The ViewFinity S7 is available in 27” and 32” options, each with UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, a brightness of 350 nits (Typ.) and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The ViewFinity S6 is available in 24”, 27” and 32” options, each with QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution, a refresh rate of 100Hz and a brightness of 350 nits (Typ.), including a USB hub and height-adjustable stand. The S60UD model also includes a built-in KVM switch and a USB-C port (up to 90W charging).

For more information on Samsung’s 2024 monitor lineups, please visit www.samsung.com. 

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Why I Have Stopped Using The Bartender App On My Mac (And You Should Too)

Posted in Commentary on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

When I first got my 16″ MacBook Pro, one of the apps that I used to make my experience better was Bartender. I wrote about it here and I really liked the app as it minimizes what’s on my menu bar and is smart enough to surface icons when an action is required. However, I’ve stopped using this app for the following reasons:

  • Apparently the app sold roughly two months ago with nobody being told about it.
  • Then a Reddit thread appeared with screen shots from MacUpdater warning about the owners of Bartender being replaced.
  • Bartender’s new owners replied to the Reddit thread. But their answers seem suspect to many. Yours truly included. But the core message from the new owners is that there was a certificate change in the latest version and nothing more. By certificate change, I assume it’s the developer certificate.

This led to a Reddit user investigating the current version of Bartender versus the previous version put out by the previous owner of the app. What this user found isn’t reassuring:

That’s not good to say the least. That alone is a reason to uninstall this app ASAP. But actually, there’s one other reason that you should uninstall the app. More digging by Reddit users has found that the company who bought this app is a company named Applause, and in their FAQ, they say this:

So the way I read this, it appears on the surface that this company buys apps and never updates them. Instead they simply monetize the app as it is. That’s a major red flag to me. Thus I uninstalled the app this morning and I’ll spend some time researching alternatives as I would like to better manage my menu bar.

This whole situation highlights the fact that you need to be careful when you install apps on your computer. And you need to be on your toes in case a situation like this pops up. I say that because not being on your toes can end badly for you. On top of that, I now know that Applause exists, and I now know what their game is. And as a result you can be sure that I’ll be avoiding their apps going forward as they seem to be at best sketchy.

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Australian Food Services Provider Records Exposed in Data Breach 

Posted in Commentary with tags on June 5, 2024 by itnerd

Documents belonging to Patties Foods Limited, an Australian leading provider of food services, have been exposed as reported by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler.

What happened:

  • 496,296 records, and a separate cloud storage database inside the logging records containing 25,800 invoices;
  • System errors, warnings, indexing operations, search queries, cluster health status, and other diagnostic data;
  • Documents also identified vendors, contacts, emails, and banking information such as account numbers, invoice amount, employee names, and even evidence of ransomware.

Why it matters: The database also contained tickets identifying support requests, technical issues, and communications between Patties Food Limited and Proveio.ai representatives that could potentially be misused for fraud or by malicious actors to exploit identified system vulnerabilities.

If you want to know more about Jeremiah’s findings and insights you can read the full report here: 

https://www.websiteplanet.com/news/pattiesfoods-breach-report

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