LastPass Responds To The UK Smacking Them Down Because They Were Pwned

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 19, 2025 by itnerd

You might recall that the UK government served up a £1.2 million fine to LastPass because they got pwned. That fine hasn’t gone over well with LastPass. And I say that because I actually got a statement sent to my inbox about that:

“We have been cooperating with the UK ICO since we first reported this incident to them back in 2022. While we are disappointed with the outcome, we are pleased to see that the ICO’s decision has recognized many of the efforts we have already taken to further strengthen our platform and enhance our data security measures. Our focus remains on delivering the best possible service to the 100,000 businesses and millions of individual consumers who continue to rely on LastPass.”

Clearly they feel that this fine is unfair. But I am not sure what they were expecting. Given how bad this incident was, someone was going to punish them. It happened to be the UK in this case. In short, they had to have seen this coming. If I could offer them some advice, they should forget about the fine and focus on “delivering the best possible service to the 100,000 businesses and millions of individual consumers who continue to rely on LastPass” as that will go a long way towards fixing the reputational damage that this incident created..

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Recast Unveils Notable Right Click Tools Updates to Strengthen Endpoint Management

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 19, 2025 by itnerd

Recast today announced the latest Right Click Tools advancements. Features include new tools for administering Intune and Entra environments as organizations continue to blend the capabilities of ConfigMgr and Intune. Right Click Tools enables IT teams to manage endpoints more efficiently, reduce operational costs, and ensure consistent security and performance.

The Right Click Tools product line extends endpoint management with add-ons for Patching, Insights, and Privileged Access. The Intune-first companion unifies today’s ConfigMgr reality with tomorrow’s cloud management future, empowering organizations to accelerate and ensure success on their cloud journey.

Expanded Intune and Entra ID Capabilities in Right Click Tools


In recent months, Right Click Tools has introduced powerful new options for managing devices in Intune and Entra ID environments. Users can now:

  • Run Intune-specific tools simultaneously on multiple devices. This includes deleting devices from Intune/Azure, adding devices to Entra groups, and syncing Intune application and compliance policies. 
  • Remove devices from Intune and/or Entra with a single tool, and trigger policy updates with ease.
  • Leverage new Windows Autopilot management features such as adding/editing group tags and removing devices from Autopilot for streamlined device onboarding and lifecycle management.

Optimizations for Right Click Tools Patching


Recast’s development team completed numerous product enhancements within Right Click Tools Patching throughout 2025. The product now enables users to:

  • Set up automatic email notification templates that alert systems administrators of application deployment successes or failures.
  • Upload and deploy custom applications alongside Recast’s library of nearly 4,500 software titles.  
  • Use pre- and post-deployment PowerShell scripting for advanced configuration.
  • Schedule deployments to align with Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday.
  • Update third-party applications using an existing ConfigMgr Software Update catalog.
  • Create Intune deployment processes for the applications in ConfigMgr ARP inventory.

New Device Visibility in Right Click Tools Insights

The Warranty Information Dashboard now provides real-time visibility into warranty status over time and by manufacturer for devices handled in Microsoft Intune. This enhancement helps IT teams proactively manage hardware lifecycles and ensure device reliability across the enterprise.

The new Insights node in Recast Management Server offers device inventory data from more than a dozen existing Insights inventory classes.

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Foxit Releases PDF Editor v2025.3 with Advanced Compliance, Security Upgrades and AI-Powered Productivity Tools for Windows and Mac Users

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 19, 2025 by itnerd

Foxit has announced the release of Foxit PDF Editor v2025.3.  

This latest version strengthens Foxit’s commitment to delivering secure, compliant and intelligent document workflows. 

Enhanced Compliance With Collaboration

Foxit PDF Editor v2025.3 introduces important updates that enhance secure collaboration and responsible data protection. These improvements offer greater transparency and control during shared document workflows and help organizations uphold governance standards. 

  • Consent Collection: Users receive a clear region-specific consent prompt before accessing shared documents. The prompt informs participants that others may see their information and requires them to explicitly opt in. 
  • Invitation Transparency: Collaboration invitations now state that participant names and email addresses may be visible to others and include a direct link to Foxit’s Privacy Policy. 
  • Audit and Data Handling: Consent activity, including user identity, timestamp, IP address and consent text, is securely logged for audit purposes. If users decline consent, the system automatically anonymizes them in shared environments. 

These updates reinforce Foxit’s commitment to delivering secure, compliant document collaboration solutions for enterprise and government customers. 

Strengthened Security in Windows

Foxit PDF Editor v2025.3 introduces important security improvements for Windows users who rely on Microsoft Sensitivity Labels to safeguard confidential content. The update incorporates automatic authentication with the Microsoft Azure Information Protection (AIP) plugin by using the user’s current single sign-on session, removing the need for repeated login prompts and ensuring protected documents open smoothly with the correct access rights. Organizations can control this behavior centrally through registry settings or the Foxit Customization Wizard, thereby enhancing consistency and reducing the risk of access issues. These updates make high-security workflows more efficient, save users time when handling labeled documents, and reinforce compliance with internal policies.  

Additionally, Windows users now have a new option that automatically removes hidden information when saving or closing a document, helping teams protect sensitive metadata and maintain internal privacy standards. These improvements enhance secure document workflows and improve the overall user experience for organizations that handle sensitivity-labeled and compliance-protected content. 

Additional Feature Enhancements Across Windows and Mac 

Foxit PDF Editor v2025.3 enhances its AI features with new tools that help users work smarter and faster. The update introduces AI image generation to create visuals directly from text prompts, moves the Summarize Document feature to the main AI Assistant ribbon for easier access, adds translation support for 9 additional languages, and allows users to export AI-generated answers directly to Word or PDF for instant sharing and editing. Also, Foxit PDF Editor now features an enhanced Smart Command mode that lets users perform PDF tasks using natural language. Turn it on in “More Tools” and simply type what you want to do, whether it’s adding a watermark, applying Bates numbering, or removing pages from a document. In addition to AI improvements, the update also offers broader productivity and usability enhancements to improve collaboration and streamline daily document tasks. Additionally, it adds support for Dropbox Team Folders across Windows and Mac, making it easier for teams to access and share centrally managed content. 

Windows users also experience an improved commenting system that simplifies review tasks. A new favorites toolbox lets teams save and reuse custom markup styles for faster, more consistent annotations. Enhanced compatibility enables users to edit annotation properties for comments created in Bluebeam, supporting review workflows. Finally, the option to export comments to CSV makes it easier to gather feedback and support project or audit workflows. 

Availability

Foxit PDF Editor v2025.3 is available today for Windows and macOS. For more information or to upgrade, click here. 

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Guest Post: Is Your Smart Home A Cyber Playground? North Korean Hackers Could Be Targeting It 

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 19, 2025 by itnerd

The growing number of connected devices and increasing vulnerabilities, including the latest one that has been exploited by North Korean and Chinese hackers, raises concerns among cybersecurity experts. They warn that such attacks will increase, and have severe consequences: from stolen data to private videos leaked on the internet.

​At the beginning of December, a cybersecurity vulnerability dubbed React2Shell that can affect millions of connected home devices worldwide was publicly disclosed. Just days later, security researchers already observed hacker groups from North Korea and China exploiting the vulnerability for malicious purposes. This example illustrates how quickly hackers can exploit weaknesses, often long before vendors fix them.

​A forecast from IoT Analytics predicted that this year, a number of connected home devices is expected to reach 21.1 billion, with double-digit growth projected for the upcoming years. 

Not only traditional cameras and printers, but also new-gen thermostats and wearables are being increasingly incorporated in our daily lives, and potential vulnerabilities increase too.

​Experts at Planet VPN, a free virtual private network provider, say that worldwide, there are many more attacks, most of which are unnoticed by users. According to Konstantin Levinzon, co-founder of the company, hackers are increasingly shifting their focus to smart homes due to their lack of protection.

​“When people think about cybersecurity, they often take care of their smartphones and forget about the rest. However, other devices connected to homes often have weaker security than our smartphones or laptops, making them a more lucrative target for cybercriminals. Your TV, camera, or printer can open the door for cybercriminals to your network, and once they break in, it is hard to stop them,” Levinzon says.

​A recent report by Bitdefender and Netgear, which analyzed 58 million smart home devices across the US, Australia, and Europe, found 4.6 billion vulnerabilities and noticed 13.6 billion attacks in the first 10 months of this year.

​According to Levinzon, there are several ways bad actors can hijack your home. One huge security hole is outdated firmware: smart home devices often receive too few security updates, leaving them exposed to all kinds of vulnerabilities.

​In addition, many devices, including routers and cameras, come with default passwords that are easy for hackers to guess. Despite the growing number of cyber incidents, users still rely on default or weak passwords, making hacking into users’ homes an easy task even for unskilled cybercriminals, Levinzon says.

​On top of that, there are a number of potential issues with home network security.

​“Users trust device manufacturers too much and don’t consider the security of smart home devices before buying them. For example, cheap security cameras often promise to secure your home, when in reality, they may act like a Trojan horse. Poor encryption and insecure communication protocols can expose users’ private lives online instead of keeping them safe.,” Levinzon explains.

​The rise of AI assistants also poses security concerns. Earlier this year, researchers at Tel Aviv University published a paper where they described how “Google’s” AI assistant Gemini can be used to do things like open windows in a person’s apartment, after receiving only a calendar invite.

​According to Levinzon, while the latter example was only theoretical, as AI continues to have much more influence in our lives, we will see more similar examples happening in real life.

​Once cybercriminals compromise a person’s network, AI assistant, or device, they can then use it for various purposes: steal the user’s personal data, eavesdrop, hijack smart home equipment to launch cyberattacks, and even control your home.

​To avoid becoming a victim, Levinzon advises using unique passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication. Updating firmware regularly and ensuring that these devices have secure communication protocols, such as WPA3, is also a must.

​“It is also important to protect devices when you are using them,” he says. “Turn on a VPN whenever you are browsing using your smartphone, laptop, or smart TV: it will enhance your security and privacy by hiding your IP address and making your data invisible to anyone, even to your internet service provider. Remember, that for cybercriminals, even one unprotected device may be enough to take control of your entire home.”

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Quorum Cyber Climbs 20 Places to #30 in MSSP Alert Top 250

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

Quorum Cyber has ranked in 30th place this year in the 2025 MSSP Alert Top 250 – MSSP Alert’s annual list and research tracking the world’s top managed security services providers (MSSPs).

The company has jumped 20 places from its ranking of 50th in 2024, and since 2022 has risen by almost 120 positions. The rating is a measure of the company’s range of managed cybersecurity services and the types of cyber incident it has handled in the past 12 months, along with its revenue and headcount figures.

MSSP Alert is one of the leading online resources that reviews and assesses MSSPs and how they contribute to cybersecurity across the wider global economy. In an ever-evolving market, the MSSP Top 250 sets a benchmark for service excellence and innovation and keeps organizations and decision makers informed about the breadth and quality of services available in the market.

MSSP Alert compares cybersecurity service providers on several criteria including:

  • Annual recurring revenues
  • Profitability
  • Business growth rate
  • Cybersecurity professional headcount
  • Managed security services offered
  • MSSP Alert’s editorial coverage of MSSPs worldwide
  • Third-party industry honors from analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC

In 2025 Quorum Cyber continued to build momentum for a new phase of growth for 2026 and beyond. The company launched its new Threat Division, made several exciting Executive Appointments, and won a string of Prestigious Awards. All this on top of integrating its two major acquisitions: Difenda and Kivu Consulting.

New Threat Business Unit

In January 2025, the business launched its new Threat business unit and appointed Paul Caiazzo as Chief Threat Officer. As a cybersecurity engineer, entrepreneur, and strategist with over 27 years’ experience, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role, having previously developed cybersecurity businesses from the ground up. The Threat division of Quorum Cyber covers threat intelligence, threat hunting, incident response and ransom negotiations. The team is trusted by regulated sectors, has Preferred Vendor Status with over 40 insurance companies, and has established law firm partnerships with top boutique and full-service law firms.

Strengthened Leadership Team with New Senior Appointments

Quorum Cyber also strengthened its leadership team in 2025 with several senior appointments:

  • Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Mike LaPeters joined the business with 30 years’ experience in building and leading sales and marketing organizations and channels for security, storage and infrastructure software products.
  • Stacey Sweeney brings nearly 30 years of cybersecurity marketing leadership experience to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role. In her career to date, she has built high-performing teams to shape and revitalize brands.
  • With more than two decades of senior leadership experience in the enterprise technology sector, Melissa Webb’s role as Vice President – Microsoft Partnership will drive and grow Quorum Cyber’s strategic partnership globally.
  • And, as a seasoned risk and cybersecurity executive with over 25 years’ experience, John Bruce joined as the company’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to further strengthen defenses across the business.

Awards and Recognition

In April 2025, Quorum Cyber won the Microsoft Security MSSP of the Year 2025 award at the Microsoft Excellence Awards. It also reached the finals of two more categories: Data Security & Compliance Trailblazer, and Security Changemaker. And for the second consecutive year, it was named as a Finalist in the 2025 Microsoft Security Partner of the Year awards, in November.

This month the company was named as a Microsoft Security Excellence Awards Finalist for Data Security & Compliance Trailblazer and Security Service Partner of the Year. Quorum Cyber has been named as a finalist in at least two categories at the Microsoft Security Excellence Awards since 2023, showing remarkable consistency in providing the highest standards of service delivery and satisfaction to customers worldwide.

Quorum Cyber was awarded Managed Security Service Provider of the Year at the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards 2025 in October and won Cybersecurity Company of the Year at the Scottish Cyber Awards 2025 in February.

With the Microsoft partnership being one of the pillars of the company’s success, Quorum Cyber also achieved the Identity and Access Management Specialization from Microsoft this year. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security, the company now holds all four available Microsoft Security specializations: 1) Threat Protection, 2) Cloud Security, 3) Information Protection and Governance, and 4) Identity and Access Management. Building on this, in October Quorum Cyber was named as a proud participant of both the Microsoft Security Store Partner Ecosystem and the Microsoft Sentinel Partner Ecosystem.

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Get A Deal On The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE For Last Minute Gift Giving

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

With the holidays just around the corner, here’s  a last-minute Samsung gift idea that’s currently available:  

Galaxy S25 FE  
From $919.99 (128GB) — Save $170 with code GETS25FE –   

Featuring a large 6.7-inch display, the Galaxy S25 FE delivers a premium viewing experience for streaming, scrolling, and everyday multitasking. Designed for photography lovers and social sharers, it brings flagship-grade AI tools like Photo Assist and Live Translate to a more accessible device, wrapped in a premium design that fits any lifestyle. A strong-value smartphone gift for anyone looking to upgrade before the holidays without paying flagship pricing.  

For a full list of Samsung holiday deals, visit Samsung.com/ca 

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Ericsson 4.5 GHz Massive MIMO AIR 3255 radios operational in DOCOMO’s 5G network

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

Ericsson AIR 3255 Massive MIMO antenna-integrated radios are operating live in Japanese communications service provider (CSP) NTT DOCOMO, INC’s.(“DOCOMO”) 5G network. Covering the 4.5 GHz band, the new radios will help to meet current and future 5G network traffic needs in areas with high traffic congestion and demand.

Live AIR 3255 network operations began in December 2025 to help DOCOMO deliver the high‑quality network experience its customers expect.

Powered by the latest Ericsson Silicon, the AIR 3255 Massive MIMO radio delivers 25 percent lower energy use, and 20 percent reduction in embodied CO2 footprint, compared to the previous generation.  

At just 13kg, the unit is 20 percent lighter than the previous generation, further easing deployment in high-traffic locations. Customer network connectivity experiences will also be enhanced by advanced unit features such as multi-user MIMO – which delivers throughput regardless of network congestion.

The Ericsson AIR 3255 will also enable spectrum to be used more efficiently as data traffic grows. Working with DOCOMO’s current 3.7 GHz-band Massive MIMO 5G radios, it will also make the network more flexible and reliable.

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New Chinese group LongNosedGoblin deploys cyberespionage tools in Southeast Asia and Japan: ESET 

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

ESET Research has discovered a new China-aligned APT group, LongNosedGoblin, that abuses Group Policy – a mechanism for managing settings and permissions on Windows machines, typically used with Active Directory – to deploy malware and move laterally across the compromised network. It is used to deploy cyberespionage tools across networks of governmental institutions in Southeast Asia and Japan. In 2024, ESET researchers noticed previously undocumented malware in the network of a Southeast Asian governmental entity. However, the group has been active since at least since September 2023. As of this September, ESET began observing renewed activity by the group in the region. It deploys malware across the compromised network, and cloud services (e.g., Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive) for Command & Control (C&C).

LongNosedGoblin has several tools in its arsenal. NosyHistorian is a C#/.NET application that the group uses to collect browser history from Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox, which is then used to determine where to deploy further malware. NosyDoor collects metadata about the victim’s machine, including the machine name, username, the OS version, and the name of the current process, and sends it all to the C&C. It then retrieves and parses task files with commands from the C&C. The commands allow it to exfiltrate files, delete files, and execute shell commands, among other things.

NosyStealer is used to steal browser data from Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. NosyDownloader executes a chain of obfuscated commands, and downloads and runs a payload in memory. Among other tools used by LongNosedGoblin, ESET identified a C#/.NET keylogger NosyLogger, which seems to be a modified version of the open-source keylogger DuckSharp. Among other tools used by the group is a reverse SOCKS5 proxy, and an argument runner (a tool that runs an application passed as an argument) that was used to run a video recorder, likely FFmpeg, to capture audio and video.

For a more detailed analysis of LongNosedGoblin’s arsenal, check out the latest ESET Research blogpost “LongNosedGoblin tries to sniff out governmental affairs in Southeast Asia and Japan” on WeLiveSecurity.com.

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 Google is shutting down its Dark Web Monitoring tool in February 2026

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

 Google is shutting down its Dark Web Monitoring tool in February 2026 (less than 2 years after its launch). Google is sending out emails to anyone who signed up for a dark web monitoring profile, explaining that the service is shutting down. The company will stop monitoring for new results on January 15, 2026, and data will no longer be available from February 16, 2026.

Marcelo Casto Escalada, Senior Product Manager at Outpost24, has weighed in with this commentary: 

“Google’s decision to sunset its Dark Web Monitoring tool isn’t surprising. It reinforces a long-standing reality in threat intelligence: dark web monitoring is a specialized discipline, not a feature you can simply bolt onto an account management platform. Alerting users that their email may appear in illicit forums is very different from delivering actionable intelligence with context, prioritization, and clear remediation. Real threat intelligence is built on deep collection, expert analysis, and operational relevance — capabilities that mature providers have developed over many years. Organizations looking to genuinely reduce risk need proven expertise, not lightweight add-ons.”

While all of that is accurate, at least what Google was doing was something that you could use along with other tools. Now there’s one less tool in the toolkit that defenders can rely on. That’s a shame.

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Centreon Endorses the UN Open Source Principles    

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 18, 2025 by itnerd

Centreon, a leader in observability for digital performance, today announced its endorsement of the United Nations Open Source Principles, joining a growing community of organizations committed to responsible, collaborative, and scalable open-source development.

This endorsement reflects a natural continuation of Centreon’s 20-year open-source journey and aligns with the company’s own Open Source Manifesto. 

The UN Open Source Principles provide guidelines to promote collaboration and the adoption of open-source technologies within the UN and globally. Open Source United, a community of practice established by the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network (DTN), works to advance open source technologies across UN agencies, funds and programmes. It encourages collaboration and scalable solutions to support the delivery of UN mandates. The UN Open Source Principles consist of eight guidelines that offer a framework for the use, development, and sharing of Open Source software across the Organization.

For Centreon, the endorsement of the UN Open Source Principles confirms that the company’s long-standing practices are aligned with globally recognized principles, strengthening its role within the open-source ecosystem and supporting continued innovation across industries.

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