Exclaimer’s new tool turns email signature screenshots into editable templates

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

Exclaimer today launched Signature Converter, an AI-assisted feature that rebuilds a screenshot of an email signature as an editable template. It is available now to organizations in the United States using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

Email signatures usually fall to IT, while according to Exclaimer’s State of Business Email report, 35% of global IT teams rank email signature management among their most time-consuming email tasks, and 80% still rely on manual methods or user self-service. Moving an existing signature into a managed platform adds to that load, at least initially, because someone has to recreate it element by element, matching layout and spacing. Library templates help, but they don’t always match the design a company already uses.

With Signature Converter, an admin uploads a PNG or JPG file of up to 5 MB, either a screenshot of your current signature, a design you have received, or even a mockup you create in another design tool. Templates can then be tweaked and refined further within the Signature Designer. Recognized personal fields, such as name, job title and contact details, are automatically built as dynamic fields, pulling from each employee’s directory profile. Anything else, such as a company website or legal disclaimer, carries over as editable text.

A review mode then previews the converted template and flags what to check, including images, hyperlinks, fonts and colors. Once saved, the template works like any other Exclaimer signature. Signature Rules decide who receives it, and deployment runs as it does today.

Admin control and data handling

The Signature Converter functionality is turned off by default, and must be enabled by your Exclaimer Admin within Feature Settings. Signature Converter can be turned on or off for your organization within feature settings at any time. Within the Signature Designer, use is limited to the Administrator, Editor and Designer roles.

Exclaimer does not retain uploaded screenshots after conversion. Its AI subprocessor processes uploads under a zero data retention agreement. Uploaded images, brand assets and generated templates are not used to train Exclaimer’s AI models or any third-party model. Customers whose contracts include a no-AI clause can have AI features disabled for their account entirely by contacting their Exclaimer representative.

Availability

Organizations new to Exclaimer can try Signature Converter through a 14-day free trial. More information is available on the Signature Converter product page.

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Inside fake holiday rental scams with Fortra

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

In a new Fortra blog, Elyse Neumann breaks down real-world examples uncovered by Fortra’s Intelligence and Research Experts (FIRE), including:

  • Fake listings with property photos, ratings and reviews
  • “Unconfirmed reservation” prompts used to capture personal information and credentials
  • Credit card forms paired with live support chat to make payment requests appear legitimate

The blog includes screenshots and examples you can use in your reporting, along with practical red flags travelers can check before booking.

Blog: https://www.fortra.com/blog/fake-holiday-rental-sites-can-steal-more-your-travel-plans

The takeaway: a polished rental listing isn’t proof the site is real.

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Redis Expands Redis Iris to Give AI Agents the Memory, Context, and Messaging They Need to get to Production

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

Redis today announced the next chapter of Redis Iris, its real-time context engine for AI agents. Redis Iris now offers six customizable capabilities designed to be used together or independently, that give agents the memory, context, and messaging they need to work reliably in the real world: Redis Intent Router, Redis Agent Playbooks, Redis Agent Memory, Redis Context Gateway, Redis Lens, and Redis Agent Mesh.

AI models and infrastructure are now good enough for the enterprise, yet few teams are seeing repeatable, production-level success with agents. Agents often lack the right context, at the right time, remembered the right way. Those that do deliver value often do so inefficiently, with over-stuffed prompts, redundant LLM calls, and brittle custom integrations that cost more in tokens and time than the value they return.

Six capabilities, one runtime

Iris delivers production-ready context, memory, and messaging from day one, while letting teams customize each capability to their agents. The release includes:

  • Intent Router (GA) matches the meaning of a request rather than its wording and sends it to the right destination, whether a remembered FAQ, an agent skill, a human, or an LLM. It also supports agent and model routing, guardrails, and “fuzzy” if-statements, so decisions are not limited to true or false.
  • Agent Playbooks (GA) lets teams define which answers are stable and should be reused, and which require current data and a fresh run of a known procedure. Playbooks become more thorough and accurate the more they run, reducing resolution times and token spend.
  • Agent Memory (GA) builds memories from user actions as well as documents and other semi-structured data through MemoryETL, organizes them in hierarchies for finer-grained control, and provides inspection, audit, and provenance. It can also forget what it should not keep, such as personally identifiable information.
  • Context Gateway (GA) gives agents a single, governed point of entry to connected context sources. Teams can bring their own MCP servers, cache which tools solve a given problem to reduce token use, and build reusable results for consistency across sessions.
  • Lens (beta) makes agent behavior traceable. Every outcome can be traced back to the skill, route, or FAQ that served it, the memory it learned from, and the source session, providing auditable evidence alongside visibility into task success, tokens per task, and latency.
  • Agent Mesh (beta) lets agents communicate over ephemeral streams and automatically buffers and reconnects when a connection drops. Durable SSE Streams keep responses flowing through interruptions, and A2A Comms give agents a reliable channel for delegation and handoffs.

Together, the capabilities help ensure agents remember the right things, answer the right way, and are transparent in every action, while delivering more outcomes per token. Because Iris runs on the Redis technology teams already know, organizations can reduce the custom integration work that typically connects retrieval, memory, routing, and messaging.

Built for the messy real world

Production agents must handle unpredictable human inputs, multiple channels, and handoffs between agents; any of which can become a point of failure. Iris is built around four principles: context should be navigable rather than siloed, memory should be adaptive and selective, context should be efficient to keep costs in check, and context should compound as agents learn from past interactions.

Since Redis Iris first launched in May 2026, customers have been putting it to work in production.

Availability and resources

Redis Iris is available today. Intent Router, Agent Playbooks, Agent Memory, and Context Gateway are generally available; Lens and Agent Mesh are in beta. To learn more, visit redis.io/iris.

Redis will host a live first look at the release with the engineering team behind it on Nov. 12 (Americas) and Nov. 17 (EMEA). Registration is available at redis.io/resources/videos/redis-iris-full-spectrum.

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CData Software Was Recognized as a Challenger in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Data Integration Tools

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

CData Software today announced that it has been positioned as a Challenger in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Data Integration Tools. CData is the only vendor positioned in the Challenger quadrant in this year’s report.

CData’s platform provides a unified data layer that enables people, applications and AI agents to access and work with enterprise data across cloud and on-premises systems. As organizations move AI initiatives from experimentation into production, the platform brings together the connectivity, context and governance required to make enterprise data accessible and useful to a growing range of data consumers.

One data layer for people, applications and AI agents

Enterprise AI requires more than a connection to a data source. AI systems need access to relevant information, an understanding of what that information means, and the ability to operate within established policies and permissions. The CData Platform brings these capabilities together through a common foundation that addresses three requirements for enterprise data access:

  • Connectivity: Access to data across hundreds of cloud and on-premises systems, supporting integration, replication and live data access.
  • Context: Enterprise data, documented business definitions and organizational knowledge that help AI systems interpret requests and produce relevant results.
  • Control: Governance and permissions that help ensure people, applications and AI agents access data in accordance with organizational policies.

Extending data integration to AI

CData Connect AI Gateway extends the company’s data integration foundation to this emerging category of users. The gateway provides a control point for AI models, tools, data and actions, applying governed access while connecting agents to enterprise systems. It also supports model routing and access to the context agents need to work with business data.

By building AI access on the same connectivity foundation used for integration and replication, CData enables organizations to extend existing data connections and governance to AI applications and agents.

The company continues to invest its platform across all three areas. Recent work includes change data capture for SAP HANA, DB2 for i, and SAP Gateway, along with built-in Git integration. The Context Engine builds a governed graph of system context, business definitions and company knowledge, so AI agents interpret enterprise data the way teams mean it. The AI gateway routes each LLM request to the right model and each MCP call to the right tools and data.

CData is also expanding the ways developers and organizations can connect AI systems to enterprise data through published connectors and integrations for leading AI platforms. In addition, CData Labs provides benchmark data for enterprise AI, so teams can see how AI performs on real enterprise data.

Read the full 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Data Integration Tools report: https://www.cdata.com/lp/gartner-magic-quadrant-2026/

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, Thornton Craig, Robert Thanaraj, Sharat Menon, Jenna Goodrich, Nina Showell, November 2, 2026.

GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Magic Quadrant is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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LLMjacking  – 7 steps to stop attackers from stealing, reselling corp. AI model access

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

As Google researchers noted this week, attackers can operate inside legitimate cloud accounts, and the first visible indication of compromise may be an extraordinary AI invoice.

Google’s threat intelligence team says some victims saw more than $100,000 in fraudulent charges in a single day, and one paid for nearly $1 million in eight hours.

Known as LLMjacking, the attacks allow criminals to use or resell an organization’s AI access while the victim absorbs the cost.

Yasir Zahid, Founding Member, Secure.com, Cybersecurity Leader:

“Traditional monitoring may not catch the initial compromise. Attackers often use stolen cloud credentials, exposed API keys, service account tokens or compromised repositories, and may begin with tiny test requests that evade volume-based alerts before escalating usage or reselling access.

Here’s steps security teams should take immediately:

  • Monitor identity activity: Alert on newly created service accounts, unexpected privilege changes and unusual use of cloud credentials or API keys.
  • Enable AI service logging: Ensure model-invocation and cloud audit logs are enabled and actively monitored.
  • Establish spending safeguards: Set usage thresholds, hard spending limits and alerts for unexpected AI service activation.
  • Restrict access: Apply least-privilege permissions and scope API keys by model, environment and intended use.
  • Hunt for exposed credentials: Regularly scan public and private code repositories for leaked keys and tokens.
  • Investigate small anomalies: Watch for unusual low-volume API requests, unfamiliar sources and unexpected model access.

“AI infrastructure must receive the same identity, access, monitoring and incident-response scrutiny as other critical cloud resources. By the time a billing anomaly points to a security incident, the damage may already be substantial.”

These are good tips and I would implement them if you use LLM’s in your environment.

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October Ransomware Roundup: Organizations saw over 1K attacks for the second month this year

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

his morning, Comparitech researchers published a study looking at ransomware attacks in October 2026, finding that the number of attacks surpassed the 1K mark for the second time this year, with an average of 33 attacks per day. The research takes a look at ransomware attacks by sector, which ransomware gangs were most prolific, which countries were most targeted, and more.

Commenting on the findings is Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech:

“Despite a slight reprieve in ransomware attacks in September, levels surpassed 1,000 for the second time this year in October. The sheer scale of attacks is hugely concerning, particularly as key sectors like education and healthcare are seeing record-breaking levels.

As AI continues to aid hackers’ speed and ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities, now’s the time to take heed and make sure those essential basics are being covered. Last month’s attack on GMO Internet, Inc. should serve as a stark warning to every organization. The tech company is currently dealing with the fallout of a massive attack that has impacted multiple companies and as many as 26,739 servers. It not only highlights the risk of inadequate cybersecurity practices but also hackers’ growing ambition to target individual companies/customers affected by an attack on a central organization.

GMO has just admitted that it hadn’t adequately dealt with a vulnerability that was flagged two years ago and that hackers were able to access customers’ virtual private servers (VPSs) and GMO’s “drive-sharing” feature to download files stored on customers’ computers. These customers are now being blackmailed with hackers threatening to send browsing histories and confidential data to individual victims’ family members and customer contacts.

At a time when it’s a case of when not if you’re going to have to deal with some kind of cybersecurity incident, be it within your own systems or those of a third-party service, it’s vital basics are being covered. That data backup, patched vulnerability, employee training, or system update could be the difference between thwarting an attack before it’s even started or finding yourself up the proverbial creek without a paddle.”

The full research can be read here: https://www.comparitech.com/news/ransomware-roundup-october-2026/

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DeepSeek Hit by 55th Outage as V4 APIs Go Down

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

DeepSeek suffered another service disruption on the afternoon of Nov. 3, with its web interface and API endpoints affected simultaneously across three core services: the chat service, the DeepSeek V4 Pro API and the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API. It was the platform’s first service outage in November.

More info here: https://finance.biggo.com/news/7b174c53-3275-42f6-9ce0-d05e7c10c629

Commenting on this story is Mayur Upadhyaya, CEO of APIContext:

“AI has spent the last few years proving capability. Production adoption is going to force it to prove availability. That is the bigger question behind outages at providers like DeepSeek. A model can be highly capable, but once it becomes part of a production workflow, enterprises need to know how reliably that service is actually available. 99.9% availability still allows more than 40 minutes of downtime in a month. That may be acceptable for an experimental chatbot. It looks very different when the model is part of a customer transaction, a business process or an autonomous agent.

The challenge is also broader than any single model provider. AI applications increasingly depend on a chain of APIs, identity systems, data services and downstream infrastructure. Each dependency creates another potential failure point. As AI moves deeper into production, the conversation is going to shift from what a model can do to whether the end-to-end service can be relied on, how it behaves when dependencies degrade, and whether organisations can continuously prove that the transaction still works.”

Normally I think AI should be locked up and restricted. But it seems that DeepSeek is self destructing which tells you all you need to know about DeepSeek.

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EnGenius Expands North American Distribution Network Through Strategic Partnership with NTS Direct

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

EnGenius Technologies today announced NTS Direct as a value-added distribution partner. The partnership represents a critical step in EnGenius’ channel-first growth strategy, combining its networking and communications portfolio with NTS Direct’s consultative sales approach, technical expertise, and partner services.

The announcement follows the recent appointment of Rachel Saunders as Vice President of Sales, North America, reinforcing EnGenius’ commitment to strengthening distributor relationships, expanding partner support, and making it easier for the channel to do business with EnGenius.

Distribution Built Around Partner Success

NTS Direct serves value-added resellers, managed service providers, integrators, and service providers with a portfolio spanning networking, communications, and physical security. Its distribution capabilities include product guidance, provisioning, fulfillment, and reseller support.

The partnership provides an additional resource for partners purchasing EnGenius solutions, including Wi-Fi 7 access points, managed switches, VPN routers, outdoor wireless connectivity, AI surveillance, and long-range cordless business communications. “EnGenius is a solid product with a great reputation. Networking has been one of our biggest growth drivers, so this partnership is a perfect fit. Rachel Saunders joining EnGenius to lead the North American channel made this partnership an easy decision. Having worked with Rachel in her previous role, we know firsthand what our teams can achieve together. We’re excited to build on that relationship and work with the entire EnGenius team to create new opportunities for our partners and customers,” said Ammar Rezek, President of NTS Direct.

By pairing this portfolio with NTS Direct’s services, EnGenius aims to help partners simplify purchasing and solution selection while pursuing opportunities across hospitality, multifamily housing, retail, education, and other commercial markets.

The addition of NTS Direct reflects EnGenius’ continued investment in a channel ecosystem focused on practical support, partner profitability, and long-term growth.

To learn more about EnGenius solutions available through NTS Direct or to register for a reseller account, visit https://shop.ntsdirect.com/category/125/EnGenius-Distributor.html.

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Nikon Announces Firmware Version 2.00 for the Nikon ZR, Enhancing Creative Capabilities and Workflows for Professional Filmmakers and Content Creators

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

Nikon Canada Inc. is pleased to announce the release of firmware version 2.00 for the Nikon ZR (released in October 2025), a full-frame sensor camera in the Z CINEMA series. The firmware is scheduled to be available before the end of the year.

Firmware version 2.00 is the first major update for the Nikon ZR since its launch, further expanding creative capabilities and enhancing production workflows. The update adds support for Log3G10 gamma when recording in the compact H.265 video file format, enabling shooting that incorporates RED colour science. Also new is the ability to select the level of High ISO NR, supporting image rendering tailored to the creator’s intent and the visual tone of each production. In addition, more functions can now be assigned to the command dials and function buttons, enabling single-action access to key settings for a significant improvement in operability. Further, the addition of a focus peaking display when recording in R3D NE format, together with support for applying a 3D LUT to HDMI output, enables efficient monitoring during shooting. With these updates, the ZR becomes more versatile and easier to use in a wide variety of situations.

Nikon will continue to enhance its products through firmware updates that address user needs, while also contributing to the development of imaging culture in the field of cinema.

Primary Features

  • Support for RED colour science with compact H.265 recording
    Log3G10 gamma (Figure 1) has been added to the tone mode options for recording in the H.265 format, enabling shooting in the REDWideGamutRGB (figure 2) colour gamut. As a result, even footage recorded in the compact H.265 format can be produced with the high colour-grading latitude made possible by RED colour science, with its smooth tonal gradation and exceptionally wide colour gamut. In addition, the level of High ISO NR can be selected from four settings when shooting with Log3G10 or N-Log in H.265 recording, enabling image rendering tailored to the creator’s intent, from shooting that prioritizes inherent textures to shooting that calls for smooth rendering with minimal noise.
  • Improved operability for smooth shooting
    ISO sensitivity, exposure settings, white balance (WB), and white balance colour temperature (WBK) can now be assigned to the command dials, allowing users to customize camera operation for greater ease of use. Further, assigning [3D LUT/View Assist] to an Fn button allows user to switch between these settings with a single operation. This enables the operator to adjust settings without taking their eyes off the monitor, allowing them to stay focused on capturing their intended shots.
  • Other Features
    • Focus peaking display is now supported even when a 3D LUT is applied during recording in R3D NE format, enabling more precise focus confirmation.
    • Support for applying a 3D LUT to HDMI video output makes it possible to check a rendering close to the finished image, even on an external monitor.
    • New processing suppresses frame-by-frame fluctuations in black level, reducing flicker that tends to occur in low-light conditions and in dark areas of the frame.

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Google’s Botnet Takedown Reveals a Bigger Threat to Business APIs

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 4, 2026 by itnerd

Google’s takedown of the XCPE botnet, which reportedly infected more than 1.3 million Android devices, highlights a growing concern beyond compromised consumer devices: how cybercriminals are turning those devices into infrastructure for attacks on businesses.

Google has a blog post here: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/shutting-the-door-on-the-xcpe-botnet

Mark Mazur, Field CTO, Approov:

“This takedown really highlights the dangerous incentives of monetization behind malware and backdoor exploits. By turning 1.3 million devices into residential proxies, threat actors fuel the exact infrastructure used to attack high-value API endpoints. Because these attacks originate from legitimate consumer IP addresses, standard geo-blocking, ASN blocking and IP reputation filters are practically useless against them.

They are creating infrastructure, largely based on IoT devices, that can power sophisticated credential stuffing and API abuse campaigns.”

Takedowns are nice. But there needs to be sustained action to make sure that these stick. Otherwise they are meaningless.

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