WordPress Issue Leaves Customers Unable To Post

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 10, 2025 by itnerd

Now I host this blog via WordPresss.com because my logic is that they take care of all the security and updates so that I don’t have to. That is supposed to make my life easer. But since about 1PM EST today, I have been unable to post anything via their web interface. When I try to post something, I get this error:

That error is not exactly helpful. But this is a WordPress.com issue as this happens on multiple devices in multiple browsers.

So you’re likely wondering how I am getting this story online tonight. Well my workaround is to use the WordPress app on my iPhone. And then use iPhone Mirroring so that I can at least use a real keyboard and mouse. I thought it was a party trick by Apple when it first came out, but now it has proven to me a lifeline as it is allowing me to at least meet my “right now” commitments to get stories online. But this doesn’t change the fact that WordPress.com needs to address this and ASAP.

I posted on Twitter about this and got two responses from people who are affected by this issue. Thus I know that I am not alone. So I am going to call out WordPress.com directly. This has been going on since 1PM EST today. When are you going to foxy this? And since a lot of us pay for your services because we use WordPress to run businesses and the like, what are you going to make us whole on that front?

I don’t expect them to answer. I expect them to fix whatever is going on and pretend that id never happened. But I am free to be surprised.

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2026 Predictions From OpenText

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 10, 2025 by itnerd

Despite some investors prophesying the burst of the AI bubble, AI innovation and investment have continued to dominate the enterprise landscape this year, with North American organizations investing millions ($5.4 million annually on average) on generative AI tools, infrastructure, and talent. Moving into 2026, tech leaders are now preparing for a new era of IT management, fueled by data discipline, contextual intelligence, and sustainable AI innovation.

Expert Insights: Enterprise tech leaders Shannon Bell and Savinay Berry, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer, and Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer, respectively, at OpenText, predict a 2026 digital landscape defined by context-driven AI, resulting from the following industry trends: 

  • A shift from a proliferation of new AI tools to evaluating AI based on the tools it can replace 
  • An increase in AI misuse incidents and a subsequent increase in AI accountability 
  • The abandonment of the exploration of bigger models in favour of smarter, more  contextual AI
  • The breaking point for proving tangible AI ROI 

Shannon Bell, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer, OpenText

Prediction 1: In 2026, AI will be judged not by how many tools it adds, but by how many it replaces.

CIOs will face pressure to demonstrate that AI is actively rationalizing applications to deliver measurable 10% year-over-year reductions across their technology estate. The real proof point will be cost optimization through secure information management: consolidating data environments, governing access, and ensuring that every AI deployment enhances, not fragments, the enterprise information landscape. Early gains will come from customer-facing and operational tools—help desk, call centers, frontline support—where generative and agentic AI can replace low risk, high volume tasks done today by humans, while at the same time improving experience. As organizations see billion-dollar efficiencies emerge, CIOs will redirect those savings into innovation and resilience, not more software.

Prediction 2: The future of cloud is hybrid, and sovereignty will be defined by data, not infrastructure.

By 2026, there will be broad acceptance that hybrid cloud is not a transitional state but a permanent one. The real sovereignty challenge isn’t where the cloud sits; it’s where the data resides and how securely it flows between environments. Every enterprise holds “keys to the castle” data that must remain protected, even as it interacts with public and private AI models. According to recent OpenText and Ponemon Institute research, 73% of CIOs and CISOs say reducing information complexity is critical to AI readiness, reinforcing that secure, governed data mobility is what will enable safe, scalable AI. CIOs will focus on portable architectures, clear governance, and the seamless orchestration of information across private networks, hyperscalers, and edge environments.

Prediction 3: CIOs will move from experimenting with AI to orchestrating it, governing outcomes, agents, and data.

AI leadership will evolve from pilots to performance. CIOs will be accountable for tangible business outcomes, defining clear frameworks that connect AI investments to enterprise KPIs and ROI. That means managing a new hybrid workforce of humans and digital agents, complete with job descriptions, correlated KPIs and measurement standards, and governance guardrails. Yet none of this will succeed without secure information management, ensuring that the data fueling and training these agents is accurate, compliant, and trustworthy. Simply put, good data results in good AI outcomes. As AI accelerates, traditional network and security operations will be reimagined for an always-on, agent-driven enterprise, where value is derived as much from data discipline as from innovation itself.

Prediction 4: The AI-ready enterprise will redefine workforce development around continuous learning and change management.

Workforce strategy will start to center on transforming people from task-takers to task-givers—individuals who design, direct, and evaluate AI systems rather than execute every process manually. Enterprises will invest in AI marketplaces, sandboxes, and prompt-sharing communities to accelerate hands-on experimentation, while universities and employers alike will emphasize problem-solving, critical thinking, and adaptability over static technical skills. Success will depend on a strong change management culture that reduces fear, communicates “what’s in it for me,” and ensures every employee has a stake in shaping how AI transforms work. The goal is not to automate people out of relevance, but to equip them to leverage AI to deliver higher-value, human-centered innovation and outcomes.  

Savinay Berry, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer, OpenText

Prediction 1: Context will define the next stage of AI.

The next leap in AI will come from smarter context, not bigger models.

Success will depend on how well organizations understand their data, where it comes from, and what it means in different business settings. Context engineering will become essential to help enterprises get the most out of their data and connect AI results back to original sources. That’s what will separate AI pilots from scalable enterprise-grade systems. When information context stays intact, AI becomes accurate, compliant, and explainable. Without it, even the best models risk producing outputs that can’t be trusted.

Prediction 2: A Major brand fallout will force AI accountability.

In the next year, we’ll likely see a major brand face real damage from AI misuse. It won’t be a cyberattack in the traditional sense but something more subtle, like a plain text prompt injection that manipulates a model into acting against intent. These attacks can force hallucinations, expose proprietary or sensitive information, or break customer trust in seconds. Enterprises will need to verify AI behavior the same way they secure their networks, by checking every input and output. The companies that build AI systems with accountability and transparency at the core will be those that keep their reputations intact.

Prediction 3: 2026 will be the year to prove real ROAI.

The time for counting AI pilots and projects is over. In 2026, organizations will need to prove real return on AI investment (ROAI) through outcomes that improve performance, reliability, and customer experience. Measuring the percentage of AI-generated code or model activity doesn’t say much. What will matter is whether AI shortens release cycles, improves uptime, and helps teams recover faster from incidents. When AI delivers measurable improvements in speed, quality, and stability, that’s when it will become a trusted business advantage.

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GlassWorm Is Back From The Dead

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 10, 2025 by itnerd

The GlassWorm malware has resurfaced in the Open VSX registry just two weeks after its removal from the VS Code marketplace, according to Koi Security. Originally spread through infected extensions designed to steal developer credentials and cryptocurrency funds, GlassWorm is notable for concealing malicious code with Unicode variation selectors and using the Solana blockchain for command-and-control. Despite earlier containment claims, new infected extensions with 10,000 combined downloads were discovered on November 6. The malware’s operators, identified as Russian-speaking, use RedExt and multiple crypto exchanges to manage their C&C infrastructure. Koi Security reports that the campaign remains active, with compromised systems repurposed as criminal proxy nodes. Aikido Security also found related malicious repositories on GitHub, suggesting the same actor is now blending realistic, AI-assisted commits into open-source projects to mask malicious intent.

Dale Hoak, CISO RegScale provided this comment:

     “GlassWorm’s resurgence is a clear reminder that the software supply chain is now a primary battleground. Adversaries are using automation, obfuscation, and AI-generated commits to hide in plain sight—turning trust itself into an attack vector.

Security teams need to move beyond point-in-time audits toward continuous validation of code integrity, dependencies, and configurations. Platforms should help operationalize this mindset by automating evidence collection, monitoring control drift, and keeping compliance data in sync with real-time risk.

Continuous assurance isn’t a goal—it’s the new baseline for defending modern development ecosystems.”

Will Baxter, Field CISO, Team Cymru had this to say:

     “From a threat intelligence standpoint, GlassWorm demonstrates a convergence of advanced tradecraft — blockchain-based C2, Unicode obfuscation, and AI-assisted commits — designed to evade detection and frustrate attribution. The persistence across registries and code-hosting platforms shows this isn’t an isolated campaign but an adaptive actor operating across ecosystems. Mapping and proactively tracking overlapping infrastructure will be critical to constraining the group’s operational reach — and that effort will depend on sustained community collaboration and timely intelligence sharing.”

Gunter Ollmann, CTO, Cobalt:

     “GlassWorm underscores the growing challenge of securing the developer toolchain. Attackers are no longer just exploiting vulnerabilities—they’re weaponizing trust. Offensive testing strategies that emulate this kind of real-world supply chain compromise can help organizations understand their exposure before adversaries do. The ability to test, validate, and respond quickly is what separates resilient development environments from those that become conduits for compromise.”

The fact that GlassWorm is back from the dead shows how threat actors are evolving. Thus we need to do the same to stay ahead of them.

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The National Bank Is Again Being Used By Scammers To Pwn Unsuspecting Victims In A Very Clever Way

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 10, 2025 by itnerd

My honeypot is getting a lot of action over the last week. I say that because it has led me a threat actor who has used  Questrade and then Wealthsimple along with TD and finally the National Bank to try and phish credentials from you in order to presumably drain your bank account.

Today it seems that National Bank are again the target of threat actors who are tying to phish you. And what is interesting about this phishing campaign is that it directly mentions phishing campaigns. See for yourself:

That is an email that I received in my honeypot this morning. Now if it is the same threat actors that are behind the other phishing emails, this is pretty clever. They appear to banking on the fact that people might have gotten a few of their previous emails and recognized that they are phishing attempts. Thus they might be more receptive to this one offering to do “cybersecurity verification.” Whatever that is. I say that because there’s a lot of mumbo jumbo in here that has little to no basis in reality. Since it doesn’t name the recipient, and it comes from an non National Bank email address as evidenced by this:

Then you can be 100% sure that it is a phishing email. And in case you were wondering, this is the site that they send you to if you click the link:

This is one of those high quality replications of the website that I saw with the previous phishing scam. The only thing that gives it away is that the URL is clearly not the National Bank. Which makes me believe that the same threat actors are behind this new campaign. What that shows is that these threat actors are evolving. Which means that you need to evolve to avoid being their next victim.

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2026 Predictions From Cayosoft

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 10, 2025 by itnerd

It’s coming to the end of the year which means it’s prediction season. I’ll be gathering up all of the predictions for 2026 bringing them to you for your reading pleasure. Here are three predictions from Craig Birch, Technology Evangelist & Principal Security Engineer and Dmitry Sotnikov, Chief Product Officer at Cayosoft:

#1 AI tool sprawl will fuel a rise in shadow AI and a push to standardization. As organizations quickly adopt new AI tools, many are finding that identity chaos is becoming a big concern. This is fueled by employees in a rush to adopt AI tools to support business productivity but are doing so under their own personal accounts. These AI -powered tools are taking advantage of often over-provisioned access, and performing unintended tasks without much formal oversight and control. This is particularly concerning for IT management, where consequences can be dramatic and affect multiple employees and applications. With employees managing too many logins and the rise of inconsistent access rights, IT teams are losing visibility over who has access to what – resulting in security blind spots due to the complexity and fast evolution of AI systems. IT teams will be forced to find solutions to gain better visibility and control to address and mitigate these vulnerabilities effectively. create security blind spots, forcing IT to uncover more ways for visibility and control and ultimately close this gap.

In 2026, this AI tool sprawl will drive a major push toward identity standardization, with enterprises consolidating access control and governance around Active Directory and Entra ID as their single source of truth. The era of “plug-and-play” AI adoption will give way to a new focus on governance, compliance, and secure integration. Dmitry Sotnikov, Chief Product Officer, Caysoft

#2 Organizations will start closing the AD security age gap.  Active Directory is still the foundational infrastructure for most enterprises, with 90% of organizations still using it as their primary identity provider. With many of the admins who know AD recovery and management  nearing retirement, a real capability gap will emerge. We will see an increased focus on security teams prioritizing Active Directory (AD) recovery, and with that, I predict an increased adoption of solutions that prove and increase the speed of recovery, and reduce the likelihood of failure. In 2026 we will also see organizations turn to AI to help address the people training challenge runbook validation where it makes sense. However, it’s too early to rely solely on AI to close this critical gap, therefore, I also predict traditional recovery companies will purchase identity companies to increase their capabilities and gain a foothold in this market space.” Craig Birch, Technology Evangelist & Principal Security Engineer, Caysoft 

#3 Instant recovery will define resilient enterprises. The Vodafone outage showed how quickly disruption can cripple connectivity and trust. People and businesses across the UK  were reminded how fragile dependencies can be in a connected world. In 2026, downtime tolerance will vanish. Customers and employees will expect systems that recover instantly. In practice, this means embedding instant recovery mechanisms—auto-rollbacks, standby environments, and transparent failover paths—into identity and access infrastructure. Enterprises that bake this resilience into their identity infrastructure will win in uptime, trust, and operational continuity. Craig Birch, Technology Evangelist & Principal Security Engineer, Caysoft

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Congressional Budget Office Pwned By Hackers

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 7, 2025 by itnerd

This isn’t good. The Congressional Budget Office has apparently been pwned according to Reuters:

“The incident is being investigated and work for the Congress continues,” the CBO said in a statement, without commenting on whether a foreign actor was behind the incident.

“Like other government agencies and private sector entities, CBO occasionally faces threats to its network and continually monitors to address those threats,” it added.

Officials in the Senate Sergeant at Arms office notified multiple congressional offices on Tuesday of a “cyber incident,” according to a notification reviewed by Reuters. The officials warned email communication between the CBO and Senate offices may have been exposed to hackers, and that the compromised data could be “used to craft highly targeted phishing emails that appear to be legitimate CBO communications.” 

Offices receiving communications from purported CBO email addresses should verify the legitimacy of sources, particularly for any email, voice or text communications related to the incident, the officials warned. The communications could include office chat logs, according to the Washington Post.

CNN is also reporting on the story and pointed the finger at China.

The email from the Senate sergeant at arms did not name a culprit, but a US official briefed on the hack told CNN on Thursday that Chinese state-backed hackers are suspected of being behind the breach. The email said the hacking incident was “ongoing” and that staffers should avoid clicking on links sent from CBO accounts because the accounts may still be compromised.

Regardless of who is behind this, this is not good. Normally, I would say that there needs to be a robust investigation to get to all the details behind this hack and to make sure that steps are taken to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. But while steps have been apparently taken to mitigate this, I am seriously doubtful that we’ll ever find out all the facts as cybersecurity doesn’t seem to be a focus at the moment for the US Government. But I am free to be proven wrong on that front.

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Scott Stephenson’s take on: Meta’s AI hires/cuts, Google’s latest data center spend, and OpenAI’s new Atlas browser

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 7, 2025 by itnerd

This episode of The Scott Stephenson AI Show pulls Meta’s AI hires/cuts, Google’s latest data center spend, and OpenAI’s new Atlas browser into one discussion and explains the PR and business logic behind each move. Scott also highlights the OpenAI “we solved hard math problems” flap and why that kind of claim gets them in trouble. It’s useful context if you are writing AI strategy, big tech capex, or AI security/UI.

You can watch this episode here:

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Skylink Launches the World’s Smallest Side-Mount Garage Door Opener

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 7, 2025 by itnerd

Engineered for performance and designed for convenience, Skylink has introduced a compact side-mount garage door opener that will change the way homeowners think about space.

As the world’s smallest model of its kind, the new Side Mount Garage Door Opener (SMO) delivers quiet power and smart connectivity without sacrificing valuable ceiling room. With a sleek, space-saving design and smart home integration, it redefines convenience without compromising strength or safety.

Built for modern living, the SMO offers a powerful DC motor, soft start and stop technology and built-in LED lighting to illuminate the garage without additional fixtures. With Wi-Fi connectivity and compatibility with Amazon Alexa, homeowners can open, close and monitor their garage door from anywhere using the Orbit app.

Additional safety and convenience features include:

  • Ultra-quiet motor that minimizes vibration and noise, perfect for attached garages or homes with living space above.
  • Automatic safety reversal system that stops and reverses the door when an obstruction is detected.
  • Battery backup compatibility for reliable operation during power outages.
    Easy DIY installation with step-by-step guidance designed for the everyday homeowner.
  • Compact side-mount design that frees up valuable overhead storage and creates a cleaner aesthetic.
  • With a legacy of innovation in connected home technology, Skylink continues to blend engineering precision with user-focused design – ensuring its products not only work smarter but fit seamlessly into everyday life.

Currently priced at $449, it’s now available at major retailers including RONA, Best Buy, Home Depot, Home Hardware, Costco, Amazon and through Skylink’s website.

For more information, visit https://www.skylinkhome.com/.

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Guest Post: Cybersecurity Tips for the Holidays From Fortra

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 7, 2025 by itnerd

By John Wilson, Senior Fellow, Threat Research at Fortra

1. Holiday Job Scams  

The holiday season often brings a surge in temporary and remote job listings — and scammers are taking advantage of those looking for work. They pose as recruiters from well-known companies, send fake job offers to collect personal information, and demand upfront payments for “training” or “equipment.” They are even incorporating AI, making scams increasingly difficult to identify. 

Before accepting any offer, verify the opportunity directly through the company’s official website or HR department. Legitimate employers will never ask for money or sensitive data during the hiring process. A few red flags: No company is going to hire you without an interview no matter how qualified you may be for the position. Scam job offerings almost always mention a minimum age requirement. This is so they have an excuse to ask for a photo of your ID. Finally, look to see who sent the message and who it was sent to. A lot of scam texts and emails will come from a strange phone number or email address, and many scammers will send messages to numerous recipients at the same time. 

2. Gift Card Scams 

The use of gift cards during the holiday season ramps up, and so does the attackers’ exploitation of them. Attackers can send their victims emails claiming they’ve won a gift card or received a gift. These may even be customized with AI generated images and tend to impersonate popular retailer brands to increase the authenticity of the fake gift card. But to claim it, they’ll say you must give your personal information or pay a shipping fee first.  

If you receive a message like this, remember that legitimate companies will not ask you for payment to receive a gift card.  

3. Fake Shopping Websites and Ads 

Fake websites, such as phishing sites or phishing, remain a top threat for consumers conducting their holiday shopping online. Cybercriminals often create ‘eCommerce’ websites optimized for search engines and offer goods at below market prices to entice consumers into making a purchase. These sites may even be shared on social media platforms and circulate around as fake enticing ads to lure as many victims as possible.  

When you hand over your payment details by shopping on these sites, the hackers record them and use them to commit identity fraud and fraudulent purchases later. 

4. Always Use Secure Payment Methods 

Never use a debit card online and avoid other payment methods that don’t provide adequate fraud protection when conducting your holiday online shopping. Credit cards tend to be a safer option against fraud, and services such as Apple Pay or Google Pay are generally more secure than entering your card information directly. Some credit card issuers enable you to create virtual card numbers to use on a single website. This is helpful because the card number can’t be used by a scammer to clone your credit card or to purchase from some other website. 

This could protect you from fraud, impersonation, and reduce the likelihood of an attacker compromising your bank accounts.  

5. Travel Scams 

The holiday season is the season of travel, and scammers are always on the lookout for ways to take advantage of these vacation plans. Victims can receive phishing emails offering discounted travel deals and offers that impersonate legitimate online travel service providers. Booking travel plans through these fake malicious sites can compromise your sensitive personal information and even lead to financial losses.  

Always verify the legitimacy of websites by navigating to the service provider’s website directly instead of using suspicious links embedded in emails, use secure payment methods to protect your personal information, and remember – if a deal is too good to be true, it likely is.  

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Sage announces Finance Intelligence Agent to power high-performance finance teams

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 6, 2025 by itnerd

Sage today introduced the Sage Intacct Finance Intelligence Agent. The Finance Intelligence Agent is part of Sage’s growing network of AI agents transforming the role of the CFO, from supporting the business to leading it.

This launch sets a new benchmark for high-performance finance and marks a pivotal step toward autonomous operations and insights. By supporting CFOs with AI-powered agents, Sage helps organisations get continuous accounting, trust, and insights, delivering speed, accuracy, and clarity, while reducing manual efforts and reporting.

Historically, finance teams often needed to hunt for reports, review dashboards, and sometimes export and manipulate data in spreadsheets to get answers and make recommendations – a process that could take minutes to hours depending on the complexity of the task. The Finance Intelligence Agent represents the next evolution of AI in finance, acting as an intelligence layer that routes natural language questions to the right AI Agents and financial data sources, coordinates their responses, and composes a final, actionable answer – in seconds. By eliminating the need to run reports or analyse data externally, it simplifies decision-making and accelerates outcomes.

A growing network of Sage AI Agents

The addition of the Finance Intelligence Agent builds on the existing suite of Sage Intacct AI Agents designed to support finance teams across workflows:

  • Close Agent: Keeps close tasks on track, flags issues early and provides full visibility in one workspace.
  • AP Agent: Automates bill processes, PO matching, and duplicate checks, allowing teams to review and approve with confidence.
  • Assurance Agent: Catches errors at entry, stopping mistakes before they post and eliminating downstream rework.
  • Time Agent: Automates project time capture, freeing staff from manual entry and maximising billing and estimating accuracy.

These agents are built on Sage’s unified platform – where applications, workflows, and data come together – and powered by Sage AI, which delivers purpose-built, domain-specific AI services. Acting as behind-the-scenes specialists, they operate within permission boundaries, whether surfaced through Sage Copilot or embedded into product workflows.

Sage AI Agents strengthen Sage Intacct as one of the industry’s leading and most trusted platforms for CFOs. Built by finance teams, Sage Intacct’s AI Agents deliver automation that is practical, transparent, and tailored to how they work, helping organisations meet today’s pressures head-on.

Empowering finance teams

Sage Intacct AI Agents relieve pressure on teams that spend too much time on manual processes and chasing data. By automating tasks like drafting bills, matching transactions, guiding close activities, and flagging errors before they escalate, these Agents help finance teams operate with greater speed, accuracy, and confidence.

They connect insights and actions across finance operations, enabling CFOs and their teams to focus on strategy and growth. Together, the Agents streamline core workflows and advance continuous accounting, delivering trusted insights while reducing manual effort and reporting overhead.

Meeting the pressure on finance

According to McKinsey, technologies can fully automate 42% of finance activities and mostly automate a further 19%. Sage data shows how this potential is being realised in practice, with AI processing 45 million bills, flagging 190 million anomalies, and processing 3.2 billion transactions annually. Customers are saving an estimated 50 million hours annually.

Availability and next steps

Unlike general-purpose AI tools that require extensive customization, Sage Intacct’s finance-first AI Agents work out of the box, delivering fast results with minimal setup.

Whether accessed through Sage Copilot or embedded into workflows, with the autonomy of agents, finance teams get faster results.

The Finance Intelligence Agent is available in December to Early Adopters on Sage Intacct across the US and the UK.

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