Welcome to a July 4th weekend destined to be quieter than usual this year. About 80% of fireworks celebrations have been canceled to eliminate big crowds from spreading COVID-19. Hey, let’s be careful out there. But burning some burgers on the grill for family? Always welcome, even if hard to chew.
Gap closing news. It will be quite a while before the workplace returns to normal, assuming it ever does. To help prepare for the post-pandemic world, though, Microsoft announced a global initiative to help 25 million people worldwide gain more digital skills. All this by the end of the year.
Microsoft’s new “”Accelerate”” program, which is part of the initiative, addresses economic recovery through training underserved communities and retraining many Americans impacted by COVID-19. Accelerate: Atlanta is the first of many city-focused digital skills and employment partnerships scheduled.
The technology industry has had a gender gap since the beginning, Grace Hopper notwithstanding. Trend Micro and Girls in Tech announced a new initiative in their long-running efforts to close the diversity and talent gap in tech. The two groups will address the worldwide skills shortage in cybersecurity.
Security news. Kaspersky updated its products for midsize and enterprise businesses. A new approach integrates Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business with Cloud Management Console, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum (EDR Optimum), and Kaspersky Sandbox. Aimed at organizations with limited security expertise and resources so it includes lots of automation.
Welcome to the new McAfee MVISION Insights, a proactive security tool that helps stop threats before the attack. Delivers actionable and preemptive threat intelligence from AI analyzing real-time threats streamed from over one billion sensors.
WhiteHat Security announced a discounted Web + Mobile Application Security bundle to help orgs “”secure the digital future.”” Will give customers a high-level view of risk posture and vulnerability verification for web applications. More security in less time.
Proofpoint released a new, cloud-based ObserveIT Insider Threat Management platform. Includes a people-centric user risk analysis that reduces risk, gives better ROI, and is scalable for modern cybersecurity teams.
Advanced human-oriented attacks, often called Ransomware 2.0, have a new enemy: Attivo Networks and its revved Endpoint Detection Net, which improves file protection by concealing and denying access to production mapped shares. Malware hits the decoy environment, dramatically reducing risk.
UCaaS news. If you can’t avoid meetings when working remote, at least you should get better connections. Hello to the Poly Studio X30 and Poly Studio X50 video bars (pictured), which now run on Microsoft Teams natively. Teams video connections so good your boss will catch you texting your coworkers about how stupid the meeting is.
Ready to be bored in voice-only meetings? RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams now has Direct Routing integration. Never leave the Teams interface yet get more robust cloud PBX capabilities.
Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral is now available Canada. New features include additional migration tools, enhanced devices support, and revved up telephony management.
The new VOSS Phone Server extends the lifetime of existing assets while reducing operating costs. Acts as a registration and telephony server, connecting phones and other devices into existing telephony networks. Brings in a range of devices from systems such as Cisco HCS and CUCM, Avaya Aura, and Microsoft Teams.
Other product news. The doctor will see you now, Lenovo Virtual Care (pictured). The full patient-to-provider virtual tool remotely monitors, guides, and educates patients with various chronic health conditions. Offered in partnership with Vianova Health.
Zyxel’s Nebula Cloud Networking Solution got an upgrade via a free firmware release for Zyxel Nebula managed access points, switches, and security gateways. Add goodies that enhance Wi-Fi security and enable vertical partners to add delivery of new value-add services.
Now available, Amazon CodeGuru is a developer tool powered by machine learning that provides recommendations for improving code quality and tagging the most expensive lines of code. IDs bugs and recommends ways to squash them (including moths, thanks to Rear Admiral Grace Hopper).
Look, another box from Amazon on your porch. Newly-lunched AWS App2Container is a new command-line tool that helps containerize applications running on-premises, in Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), or other clouds. No code changes needed.
Online talent provider Upwork and Citrix Systems teamed up to offer secure remote infrastructure for companies supporting remote, on-demand talent. Helps companies securely offer tools and resources to remote independent professionals.
Restaurants need help dealing with the changing local and state guidelines, some of which include the need to print disposable menus. Epson Business Print Solutions, such as the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C8690 A3 color multifunction printer, make it easier to print whatever you need whenever you need it.
Ultralight laptops are great, but losing weight and size also means losing ports. Belkin’s new Thunderbolt 3 Dock Core completes its Thunderbolt 3 Dock Family. Also offers 40 Gbps transfer rates, 60W upstream charging, and supports dual 4K 60 Hz monitors. Or one 8K monitor if you prefer.
Howdy to LogicMonitor Exchange version 2.0. Now has over 2,000 pre-built LogicModules that instantly integrate with devices, technologies, and services. An updated interface also helps.
Non-product vendor news. Ivanti welcomes Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer Nayaki Nayyar (pictured). No doubt they had a socially responsible welcoming party.
Data management big dog Commvault and Microsoft bumped elbows to ink a multi-year agreement that intertwines Commvault’s Metallic Software-as-a-Service date protection tools with Microsoft Azure.
360 SOC’s security operations center has a new customer: TBI, one of the leading technology brokerage firms. Includes 360 SOC’s SOAR, SIEM, UEBA, NDR, EDR, and vulnerability management as an all-in-one product.
This week’s stats ticker:
In a time when some users still don’t acknowledge the need for security, Trend Micro’s Head in the Clouds study found that 72% of remote workers claimed to be more conscious of cybersecurity policies in their organizations since the lockdown began. Before you break out the champagne, many admitted to breaking the rules anyway due to limited understanding or resources. 85% of the 13,200 remote workers in 27 countries surveyed said they take IT instructions seriously, and 81% agreed that cybersecurity is at least partly their responsibility. 64% admitted they know using non-work applications on a company device is a security risk. However, 56% admit doing it, and 66% have uploaded corporate data to an outside application. 80% use a work laptop for personal browsing, and only 36% fully restrict the sites they visit. How many admit to accessing porn on their work laptop? 8%, so you know it’s really triple that.
The Avast Global PC Risk Report 2020 found that home users have a higher risk of encountering a cyberthreat this year compared to 2019. Last year: 20.1%. This year: 25.6%. Home users have a 6.7% change of being targeted by an “”advanced”” threat, up 20% from last year. In the U.S., threat chances increased 49% within the year, up from 13.8% to 20.5%. Advanced threat chances were 3.7% last year but are now up to 5%. Bottom line: “”The risk ratio has increased worldwide for all threats.””
Potato invasion. People need tires, and the Canadian Tire Store in Lindsay, in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario, sells and installs tires, just like their name implies. But not on June 29, 2020.
That morning, every item scanned, whether a tire, a valve stem, or a Tire Pressure Module showed up in the computer as “”Mr Potato Head”” (sic). The system rejected all corrections.
Eventually it was determined a point of sale downloading error caused the problem, even though item numbers and prices were registering correctly internally. Everything in the system became Mr Potato Head onscreen.
Anyone else ready to dig out some kid’s toys?
