Category: News

A pilot program aimed at training women and non-binary persons for careers in cybersecurity will soon start recruiting its third group of students.

The program, offered to students in computer science and related courses in seven Canadian post-secondary institutions, should start looking for candidates next month for the fall academic year, said Vivian Lee, team lead for work integrated learning e-learning delivery at the Information and Community Technology Council (ICTC).

“It’s designed in collaboration with universities and colleges to re-balance the gender issue within the cybersecurity sector,” she said. “It provides a stronger pipeline of employees for the digital sector, specifically within the SOC (security operations centre) analyst cloud security sector.”

The eight-month academic program, called ‘Cybersecurity Training and Work Integrated Learning,’ includes a 16-week work placement or experiential learning opportunity with the goal of making students job-ready on graduation.

The program is funded by Microsoft Canada and the federal government, with input from a group of Canadian post-secondary institutions, and implemented by ICTC.

“There is a large need for new staff in this sector,” Lee said, “so we collaborated with our community sectors and put together this plan that allows us to be part of that solution.”

The program offers hard and soft skills training, including mentorship from technology subject matter experts and advice on networking and how to apply for jobs.

Students are given access to three Microsoft certifications in cloud security infrastructure.

As part of the program, ICTC also supports the development of Women in Cybersecurity clubs on each school’s campus so students can meet others interested in the field.

The program was first offered to 56 students at the University of Calgary and Toronto Metropolitan University in 2022. Of those, 36 graduated.

Last fall, the number of institutions expanded to include the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Winnipeg’s Red River College, the University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community College and Halifax’s Dalhousie University. Over 150 students were accepted. That cohort is about to graduate.

The third class, about to be recruited, will also have about 150 students.

“A lot of the students that were recruited were in their final year, so they’re looking for their next step in their professional career,” said Lee. “This is a bridge between their undergrad and hopefully a [full-time] job.”

Do women and non-binary persons in IT want cybersecurity jobs? “We have no trouble with student interest,” Lee replied. Some have “mind-boggling talent and brains,” are doing double majors in computer science and physics “and say they want to drive satellites for a living.”

But, she admits, “the reality is it (cybersecurity) still very much a boy’s club” — and women know it.

Students at BCIT talk about the “dwindling number of women” in the IT degree program because they feel isolated and shut out of a lot of opportunities by their male colleagues.

“So this [program] is a way for us to focus on the positives and make sure that students are given opportunities. Given the opportunity, these women excel.”

She admitted that most employers looking for cybersecurity pros want someone with experience.

“It’s a double-edged sword: People want you to have experience, but they’re not willing to give it to you. And then they complain the job market doesn’t have enough qualified candidates.

“Our responsibility is to train up these students as much as possible within the time frame and resources that we have. But we also have very formal relations with community partners that are employers in the sector to show them [employers] what is possible.

“We will always see people that have unreasonable expectations of what they want their recruits to be able to do, but that’s not solution-oriented. We’re trying to show them that taking six to eight months to train somebody to your specific standards can have a significantly long-term return on your investment and would allow you to be part of the solution.

“It’s important that especially small employers consider this investment.”

The ICTC is a not-for-profit group that advocates the use of technology to drive Canada’s economic growth.

It says last year just over 4,000 post-secondary students received job placements with Canadian employers through its Work Integrated Learning courses.

The council produces reports on labour market forecasts, smart cities, sustainable digital economy, foreign investment, inclusive smart economies, gender equity, educational technology, and others.

It is funded by the federal government, several provinces, and companies including Microsoft, Sophos, Walmart and KPMG.

The post Pilot cybersecurity training program for women to recruit third cohort first appeared on IT World Canada.

The government of Canada has announced significant investments to improve connectivity in British Columbia and Alberta over the past two days.

That includes combined federal and provincial funding of C$112 million to bring high speed internet access to more than 22,500 households in Alta. and another $37 million for 7,500 households in B.C..

The households, of which over 4000 are Indigenous, are located in remote and rural communities.

1,356 of the Indigenous households in Alta. are located in Siksika Nation, also a recipient of the funding.

“Access to reliable internet is not just a convenience; it’s a modern-day necessity that connects us all to essential services, education and each other,” said Ouray Crowfoot, chief of Sisika Nation. “On Siksika Nation, together with our government partners, we are not just bridging the digital divide; we are building pathways to a healthier, more connected future for all.”

The other recipients of the Alta. investment include Advanced Interactive Canada, Arrow Technology Group, Siksika Nation and Yellowhead County. A total of 14 projects will be undertaken in the province

The B.C. investment will also go to 14 projects undertaken by Nisga’a Lisims Government, Telus, Ktunaxa Nation (FlexiNET), CityWest Cable & Telephone Corp., and Kaslo infoNET Society.

Both B.C. and Alta. boast historic broadband partnerships with Ottawa to commit up to $830 million and $780 million respectively to bring high-speed internet access to rural, remote and Indigenous communities in their provinces.

Reportedly, more projects will be selected under the Alta.-Ottawa broadband partnership over the coming months.

Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings said that today’s investments advance the government’s goal toward ensuring that 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030.

Details of the projects announced today can be viewed here: Alta. and B.C.

The post Government of Canada announces major broadband investments in the west first appeared on IT World Canada.

OnePlus is probably not the best-known phone brand in Canada, since the major carriers haven’t picked it up, but it’s one that’s well worth a look. For the first time, its R series, previously only available in India and China, is available here and in the U.S.

OnePlus R Series devices, the company said, are “performance-focused flagships designed to give users the best mobile gaming experience possible. … Now, with more graphically intense mobile games launching worldwide, OnePlus has listened to the feedback of its users and will be bringing the OnePlus R Series to North America and Europe for the first time.”

Along with its higher-end sibling, the OnePlus 12, the OnePlus 12R was launched in January, and hit the stores last month. We had the opportunity to test both devices and here’s our take.

Although both phones are dubbed “flagship,” the 12’s specs top those of the 12R in a number of areas – including price. You’ll pay C$669.99 (list) for the base 12R (8 GB/128 GB), while the base model of the 12 (12 GB/256 GB) will set you back C$1069.99. Both are available from Amazon and Best Buy, or direct from OnePlus.

One area in which both phones shine, regardless of price, is in charging. If you set the included red cable next to a standard phone cable, you’ll see that it’s heftier, and the wired power supply is a proprietary rapid charger using OPPO’s SuperVOOC (Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging) technology. That means mind-bogglingly fast charging – about half an hour to get from zero to full charge.

The 12 also achieves results like that charging wirelessly, as long as you use the optional (C$69.99) OnePlus AIRVOOC wireless charger. The 12R, however, does not support wireless charging. But it does have  a slightly bigger battery, and quite respectable battery life – a couple of days, at least, depending on usage. The 12 also sips power rather than slurping it, so you’ll get at least a couple of days of moderate use.

Another delightful feature for those of us who need respite from alerts is the slider on the left side of each device. It silences notifications so you’re not woken up at 3 a.m. by a partying pal, or disturbed during a meeting.

The phones themselves are, like most of today’s smartphones, smooth and sleek and a bit slippery. Investing in a case is a good idea. And, alas, they both lack headphone jacks, though OnePlus sells a C$12.99 adapter that plugs into the USB port.

The 12 is slightly heavier than the 12R (it’s bigger, so that makes sense). Yes, the specs suggest that the 12R is a slightly lesser phone, but you probably won’t notice much difference in performance from the older hardware components.

However, the biggest difference between the two devices is the camera. OnePlus partnered with high-end camera maker Hasselblad on the more advanced systems in the 12, while the 12R’s camera is more basic. It’s not terrible, just not as good as the 12’s. But they both pass the Black Cat Test, generating clear images of our long-suffering feline overlord. However, pointing both cameras at a full moon revealed, well, the 12R just sees a shiny disk and the 12 sees the moon, complete with its various craters and markings.

Admittedly, not many cameras are moon-friendly, and both devices handle more mundane things like flowers and icicles pretty well. You do get better zoom (3x optical) on the 12, and optical image stabilization on both telephoto and standard cameras, where the 12R only has OIS on its main camera. But I tried both in various lighting conditions and neither fell completely on its face.

That said, if the reason you’re switching phones is the camera, have a peek at these photos and see if the difference is worth the extra $300 or so for the 12. You may be surprised at which you prefer.

OnePlus’s take on Android, the Oxygen OS, has its quirks – for example, you check for system updates via the Security and Privacy menu in Settings, and the Close All button one would think would close all open apps closes all but one (and if there’s only one thing minimized, it just pulls it into focus – this is likely a bug) – so you may need to do some exploring to find things.

But it is running Android 14 under the covers, so is up-to-date (except for the AI features you’ll find in the Pixel 8 and Galaxy S24; they’re coming later). And OnePlus guarantees five years of security updates and four major Android updates for the 12, and four years of security updates and three major Android updates for the 12R. The hardware warranty is one year.

As you will see on the spec sheet below, both the OnePlus 12 and 12R are solid phones that offer good value – they’re well worth checking out.

OnePlus 12
OnePlus 12R

Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Display
6.82-inch ProXDR LTPO, 3168 × 1440 (510ppi), 120Hz adaptive refresh
6.78-inch ProXDR LTPO, 2780 × 1264 (450ppi), 120Hz adaptive refresh

RAM
12GB or 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
8GB or 16GB LPDDR5X

Storage
256GB or 512GB UFS 4.0
128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1

Battery
5,400mAh
5,500mAh

Ports
USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C)
USB 2.0 (Type-C)

Front camera
32MP f/2.4 Sony IMX615
16MP

Rear camera
50MP f/1.6 Sony LYT-808 main w/OIS, 48MP f/2.2 Sony IMX581 ultrawide (114°), 64MP f/2.6 OmniVision OV64B 3x telephoto w/OIS
50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX890 main w/OIS, 8MP ultrawide Sony IMX355 (112°), 2MP macro

Connectivity
5G (no UWB), 4G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC
5G (no UWB), 4G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC

Dimensions
164.3 × 75.8 × 9.2mm
163.3 × 75.3 × 8.8mm

Weight
220g
207g

IP rating
IP65
IP64

Charging
80W wired SUPERVOOC, 50W wireless AIRVOOC
80W wired SUPERVOOC

Operating system
Android 14 (OxygenOS)
Android 14 (OxygenOS)

The post Review: OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 12R – A solid pair of devices first appeared on IT World Canada.

VMware and Apple rush out security updates, a new ScreenConnect malware is found, and more.

Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Wednesday, March 6th, 2024. I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com and TechNewsday.com in the U.S.

VMware has pushed out security updates to close four vulnerabilities in major products. They must be installed in ESXi, VMware Workstation, Fusion and Cloud Foundation. An exploit that combines the vulnerabilities would be rated as critical. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine could use one of the vulnerabilities to execute code as the virtual machine’s VMX process running on the host. On ESXi, the exploitation would be contained within the VMX sandbox. But on Workstation and Fusion, it could lead to code execution on those machines.

It’s not uncommon for threat actors to rush out an exploit once an application vulnerability has been revealed. The goal is to compromise a system before it’s been patched. The latest example is malware discovered by researchers at Kroll aimed at compromising unpatched versions of a remote desktop software used by IT departments called ScreenConnect. Kroll dubs this new malware ToddlerShark, because it resembles malware called BabyShark that’s been used for a while by a North Korean hacking group. I first reported on the need to patch ScreenConnect two weeks ago. Kroll says the list of threat actors trying to compromise unpatched versions of ScreenConnect for initial access is growing.

Most cyber attacks come from outside threat actors. However, IT leaders still have to pay attention to the risks of accidental data loss and thefts from employees and contractors. According to a new report from Code42 Software, the number of insider incidents has increased 28 per cent since 2021. The company’s annual Data Exposure Report includes a survey of over 700 IT security pros in the U.S. Eighty-five per cent expect data loss from insider events to increase in the next 12 months. One factoid I pulled from the report: Companies conducting daily cybersecurity reminders said they experience fewer insider-driven data events a month than those who train staff quarterly.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a commercial spyware co-operative called Intellexa Consortium for selling spyware used against American government officials, reporters and policy experts. Two people have also been sanctioned in connection with their work for the consortium. It operates as a marketing label for several companies that sell commercial spyware under the brand-name Predator to authoritarian governments. Last year President Biden issued an executive order forbidding U.S. agencies from directly or indirectly being involved with commercial spyware. Last month Canada, the United States, France and the U.K. were among a number of countries that promised to create international principles limiting the use of commercial spyware.

Apple has rushed out software updates for iPhones and iPads to cover security vulnerabilities. Usually they will be installed automatically, but it doesn’t hurt to check if your device has been patched. Newer devices should be running version 17.4 of the operating system. If your iPhone or iPad says it’s running the latest version of the OS but it’s not at least 16.7.6 then you have a unit that no longer takes security updates.

Finally, X has added the ability for users to make audio and video calls from the Messages part of the mobile app. Unfortunately, according to TechCrunch, your IP address can be seen. Other apps that offer calling capability, like FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp also expose IP addresses. To hide your IP address in the X app go to the Message settings and turn on Enhanced Call Privacy. Those who connect to X through a browser don’t have this problem because they can’t make audio and video calls.

Follow Cyber Security Today on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker.

The post Cyber Security Today, March 6, 2024 – VMware and Apple rush out security updates, a new ScreenConnect malware is found, and more first appeared on IT World Canada.

Imagine a world without Facebook. For just half an hour. A group of AI leaders get together but don’t seem to invite Elon Musk. Amazon takes data centres nuclear. A new competitor for ChatGPT and Google. And public trust in AI is declining. 

All this and more on the “just breath, Facebook will be back” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and TechNewsDay in the US.

We heard the collective scream as hundreds of thousands of users of Meta’s social media sites – Facebook, Instagram and Threads were locked out of their accounts early this morning.  The details are still coming in as we record this show for tomorrow morning, but here’s what we know. 

Between about 10 am Eastern time and noon, a large number of users were locked out of their accounts and unable to login to Facebook, Instagram and Threads. 

Initial reports posted on Cyberint.com claimed that three threat actor groups – Skynet, Godzilla, and Anonymous Sudan – claimed that they had shut down Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

The numbers affected were in the hundreds of thousands. The site Downdetector logged over 560,000 US Facebook users unable to get on the site and about 160,000 in Canada. The proportions were the same on Instagram and Threads. 

But not everyone was affected. While I was viewing comments from users in Toronto and Ottawa on Downdetector, I was able to login into Facebook from my house which is a two hour drive to Toronto. 

Looking at other sites including Twitter and others, there was a similar spike at 11 am although nothing like the number of users affected on Meta’s sites. These were larger than normal but only in the hundreds. 

I’m sure that there will be more on this. Check out ITWorldCanada.com for an update this morning and watch out for more from Howard Solomon, host of CyberSecurityToday.

I’m sure this will be part of the discussion today and maybe even in days to come.

Sources: Downdetector, Cyberint.com, ITWorldCanada.com

As Meta’s users were being locked out, Elon Musk took the time to make a clear statement about how attacks on any sites are unacceptable.  Sorry, just kidding. 

Elon took to X to mock the outage, with a meme and in a separate post, he also added, “if you’re reading this post, it’s because our servers are working.”  

Always a classy guy. 

Almost as if in response to Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, a new coalition of AI companies that has published an open letter sponsored by  SV Angel, a thirty year old investment firm headed by founder Ron Conway. Their opening to the letter says, “we invest in and support founders in AI who are committed to building the next generation of AI technology to move humanity forward. 

The letter says, “We, the undersigned, already are experiencing the benefits from AI, and are committed to building AI that will contribute to a better future for humanity – please join us!”

The letter appears to be open to everyone to sign, but the initial signatures are a virtual “who’s who” in AI – OpenAI, Google, Mistral, Meta, Salesforce, Hugging Face and the list goes on and on, with one noted exception. Elon Musk didn’t appear to be one of the initial signatures. Is that because he doesn’t believe in it? 

Or is it that the other kids don’t want to play with him anymore?

Check it out and sign it at openletter.svangel.com

Sources include: svangel.com

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has moved to nuclear-powered data centers to reduce its carbon footprint. A $650 million acquisition deal with Talen Energy grants AWS ownership of a data center complex, situated adjacent to Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant in northeast Pennsylvania. 

Initially opened in early 2023 with a 48-megawatt capacity, there are plans to expand Cumulus to 475 megawatts, with potential for further growth with Amazon’s investment.

Talen Energy will receive $350 million upon the deal’s closure, with an additional $300 million to follow based on the completion of development milestones throughout 2024. Talen will continue to supply AWS with direct access to electricity generated by the nuclear power plant, with AWS expecting to have up to 960 megawatts at its disposal in the coming years. If I did my calculation right, that’s enough to power almost a million homes, just to put it into perspective.

This is just one of Amazon’s ongoing efforts to power its data centers with carbon-free and renewable energy sources. Last month, Amazon entered a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in Oregon, and it has explored alternative energy solutions, including natural gas fuel cells, which can be converted to run on hydrogen.

The move into nuclear energy is not unique to Amazon; the data center industry is increasingly considering small nuclear reactors (SMRs) for their modularity and potential cost benefits, despite none being operational yet. 

With the advent of AI and the growing need for power for data centres, finding working solutions quickly is critical.

Sources include:

Anthropic, founded by Dario Amodei, former vice president of research at OpenAI, has been a solid number three in the big generative AI players. It originally distinguished itself as a rival to ChatGPT close to equal in ability, but having an advantage of a huge context window, allowed it to take in larger questions than OpenAI. 

Claude.ai, their generative AI model has competed in a way almost reminiscent of the old Mac computer compared to the bigger Windows machines. It’s been a favourite of writers and those who love it, love it. There’s a dedicated fan base on places like YouTube who sing its praises.

But the most recent release has set YouTube ablaze. Claude 3  

now claims that it outperforms OpenAI and other generative AI rivals. 

The announcement, made via a blog post, introduces three foundational models named Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku, each designed with enhanced analysis, forecasting, code generation, and content creation capabilities.

Claude 3 Opus has trotted out a series of scores on tests that claim to show superior results such as the HumanEval coding test, scoring 84.9 per cent, compared to Google’s Gemini Ultra at 74.4 per cent and OpenAI’s GPT-4 at 67 per cent. 

There are a series of other measures and they are all impressive. Fair warning, these tests, like human IQ tests have been controversial, but still, for a third-place performer to make a leap like this has made waves. 

With Google trying to launch and Claude.ai making a big splash, we can only wonder if OpenAI will push the development of its next big move. We know GPT 5 is in testing and rumours abound about its potential, and a new development called Q*

Sources include: CIO Dive, YouTube

Public trust in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the companies developing it is declining globally, according to new data from Edelman and shared with Axios. 

This trend is evident both in the United States and internationally, with trust levels dropping from 61 per cent to 53 per cent globally over the past five years. In the U.S., trust has seen a significant decrease of 15 percentage points, from 50 per cent to 35 per cent in the same period.

Edelman’s global technology chair, Justin Westcott, emphasizes the importance of trust in the AI era and calls for companies to address the broader implications of AI technology, including its social impact and the protection of personal privacy. 

The study also highlights a political divide in trust levels within the U.S., with Democrats showing slightly higher trust in AI companies (38 per cent) compared to independents (25 per cent) and Republicans (24 per cent). Furthermore, the technology sector, which was once the most trusted industry in 90 per cent of the countries Edelman studies, now holds the top spot in only half of those countries.

Interestingly, the acceptance of AI varies significantly between developed and developing countries. In developed nations such as France, Canada, Ireland, the UK, the U.S., Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden, there is a strong resistance to the growing use of AI. In contrast, developing markets like Saudi Arabia, India, China, Kenya, Nigeria, and Thailand show a much higher acceptance rate.

Edelman’s research also points to public dissatisfaction with government efforts to regulate AI, with many feeling that current regulations do not meet their expectations. This sentiment underscores the urgent need for regulators to address public concerns about AI more effectively.

Sources include: Axios

That’s our show for today.

Love your comments. 

Send us a note at jlove@itwc.ca or drop us a comment under the show notes at itworldcanada.com/podcasts – look for Hashtag Trending. 

Thanks for listening and have a Wonderful Wednesday.

The post Hashtag Trending Mar.6- Facebook goes down; Amazon nuclear-powered data centres; Public trust in AI sinking first appeared on IT World Canada.

Kaseya, a provider of unified IT management and security software for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to midsize business (SMBs), today released its 2024 MSP Benchmark Report, which surveyed close to 1,000 MSPs from the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) regions and includes responses from both IT professionals and executives.

Not surprisingly, cybersecurity remained a top priority and an area of growth for MSPs, with 73 per cent of those polled saying it is a top revenue driver for their business.

A release issued Tuesday stated, “the threat of cyberattacks continues to weigh on both MSPs and their clients. The report found that a staggering 78 per cent of respondents consider cybersecurity as a top IT challenge, compared to 67 per cent the year prior, and highlighted the importance of businesses continuing to invest in the right technology to protect against ever-evolving cybersecurity threats.”

Authors of the report noted that with the current economic landscape “remaining uncertain and challenging, SMBs are feeling the pressure to recession-proof and strengthen their IT infrastructure to stay competitive and safeguard themselves against the relentless onslaught of cyberattacks.

“In response, managed service providers (MSPs) are bolstering their solutions stack with advanced tools that offer seamless integration and automation capabilities to meet the heightened demand for IT services. MSPs that can successfully mix innovation, expertise and customer-centricity will stand out from the pack.”

Findings revealed that there is positive news for those SMBs that have, the report said, “prioritized investments in the right technology and IT partners. There are fewer of them being hit by cyberattacks – a majority of MSPs (64 per cent) said that less than 10 per cent of their SMBs customers experienced a cyberattack this year.”

Mike Puglia, general manager of security products at Kaseya, said, “cybersecurity remains a critical concern for MSPs, driven by two factors: the escalating threat landscape, and the persistent challenge proving high quality security services across all of their clients.

“This year, we have witnessed a heightened sense of urgency compared to previous years. Even those MSPs who demonstrate proficiency in cybersecurity wrestle with the strategic dilemma of resource allocation. Our research underscores the imperative for MSPs to bolster their efforts to meet the rapidly growing market demands.”

The report found that investing in IT management offerings with built-in automation integration capabilities is a top priority, as 85 per cent of participants shared that automation is a must-have: “While automation increases efficiency, integration helps create a unified system: 67 per cent of IT executives believe integration between core MSP applications is very important for their work.”

In addition, it said, “over three quarters of participants (75 per cent) agreed that integration between applications is a time-saving measure, and almost an equal amount (70 per cent) believe that integration drives efficiency. With both integration and automation, businesses are saving time and money, streamlining IT operations and ultimately contributing to better business outcomes.”

Of note is that a number of IT professionals indicated that they are eager to use artificial intelligence (AI) to address pain points in their jobs and achieve more balance. The report noted, “A third of respondents (33 per cent) predicted they will use AI to streamline otherwise tedious IT tasks. While MSPs and their clients are leaning into the adoption of AI and machine learning, implementing these technologies will be challenging, according to 37 per cent of MSPs.”

The release notes, “from AI and machine learning to automation and integration – technology is rapidly changing, and MSPs are adapting as quickly as they can to stay at the forefront. Attracting skilled IT professionals who understand these new technologies is not only harder, but more expensive too. Respondents say hiring is the third most critical challenge for MSPs in 2024.”

Forty per cent of the respondents indicated that their work-life situation is a “well-balanced seesaw, while 60 per cent were either neutral or dissatisfied with it.”

In addition, findings revealed that 56 per cent of executives said they have worked consecutive 50+ hour weeks, 38 per cent of technicians said they have pulled an all-nighter, and 70 per cent of executives and 57 per cent of technicians said they have worked over a holiday or weekend.

The post Cybersecurity top revenue driver for bulk of MSPs, Kaseya report finds first appeared on IT World Canada.

Canada’s national anti-money laundering agency has been hit by a cyber attack.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said Tuesday that over the last 24 hours it has been managing a cyber incident. “The incident does not involve the centre’s intelligence or classified systems,” it said in a statement.

“As a precautionary measure, FINTRAC has taken its corporate systems offline in order to ensure their integrity and to protect the information that the centre maintains.

“FINTRAC is working closely with its federal partners, including the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, to protect and restore its systems.”

There were no details on the type or depth of attack the agency is facing.

FINTRAC helps detect, prevent, and deter money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities, while ensuring the protection of personal information under its control.

It works with law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies around the world, so even unclassified documents and email could be of interest to threat actors. For example, in its most recent annual report, FINTRAC noted that in 2022 it helped police in Alberta with Project Cobra, which resulted in the seizure of 928 kg of methamphetamine and 6 kg of cocaine. As a result, 80 charges were laid against 15 people, including laundering the proceeds of crime, participation in a criminal organization, and drug trafficking. That year it also helped the RCMP investigate charges related to over $1 million in fraudulent funds obtained through the Canada Small Business Financing Program. In January 2023, FINTRAC helped launch Project Anton, a first-of-its-kind international public-private partnership aimed at increasing awareness of illegal wildlife trade and improving the detection of the laundering of proceeds from this crime.

Within Canada, FINTRAC provides financial intelligence to police and national security agencies to help them combat money laundering, terrorist activity financing, and threats to the security of Canada.

Outside the country, it works with similar bodies. For example, FINTRAC is a member of the Russia-Related Sanctions and Illicit Finance Financial Intelligence Units Working Group.

The agency reports to the Minister of Finance. Among its responsibilities is enforcing the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. A wide-range of businesses have to report to FINTRAC, including federally regulated financial institutions,  credit unions, life insurance companies and brokers, casinos, accountants, mortgage administrators, and real estate brokers, about certain transactions and activities. These include reporting suspicious and large cash or large virtual currency transactions within 24 hours.

It has the power to issue administrative monetary penalties to reporting entities that are found to be non-compliant with the act and associated regulations.

The post Canada’s anti-money laundering agency hit by a cyber attack first appeared on IT World Canada.

Coffee Briefings are timely deliveries of the latest ITWC headlines, interviews, and podcasts. Today’s Coffee Briefing is delivered by IT World Canada’s editorial team! 

Missed the last Coffee Briefing? We’ve got you covered.

Government of Canada invests over $2 million to connect 150 Northwest Territories households

The federal government has announced an investment of over C$1.9 million to connect 152 Indigenous households in Whatì, a community in the Northwest Territories (NWT).

The investment will go to Northwestel, which will be undertaking the project. Owned by Bell, Northwestel is an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and long-distance carrier in the territories of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and part of Northern British Columbia.

Another C$480,000 went to SSI Micro, a Yellowknife-based telco that provides cellular access to a repositionable communications shelter, located in hunting and fishing grounds near Fort Providence.

“Connectivity is an essential tool to access education and health care and to grow a business,” said Gudie Hutchings, minister of rural economic development. “It also improves safety and provides peace of mind. Your government is on track to exceed its historic commitment to connect 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed Internet by 2026.”

The investments are provided through the Universal Broadband Fund, which seeks to ensure that Canadians in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities have access to reliable internet and mobile connectivity.

GoDaddy launches AI tool to help Canadian small business owners increase productivity

Web hosting company GoDaddy announced that it has launched GoDaddy Airo, an AI-powered solution designed to help small business owners save time and attract new customers, in Canada and the U.S..

The tool will, for instance, recommend catchy domain name options, generate logo designs, create a fully built website, a professional email account, product descriptions, email marketing campaigns, a social media calendar and more.

This announcement comes as GoDaddy released a survey of 500 Canadian small business owners revealing that only one in five of them used generative AI for business-related tasks, despite expectations that AI will reduce costs and hours worked.

The average Canadian small business owner, in fact, estimates that generative AI tools could save them $2,600 and around 260 hours per year, while one in four believes the technology can reduce their workload by 500 hours or more annually.

However, half of the surveyed respondents admit they don’t know how to start using generative AI.

“That’s about to change,” asserted Young Lee, head of GoDaddy Canada.

eCampus Ontario launches AI-enabled tool to address skills gaps

eCampus Ontario, a Toronto-based non profit organization that aims to strengthen Ontario’s post secondary education system through online learning, has launched SkillsFinder.ai, a custom GPT, powered by OpenAI to to help learners better understand their skills gaps and find a micro-credential to fill these gaps.

The tool seeks to complement the Ontario Micro-credential Portal, a platform of record launched in 2021 to help learners across Ontario to find short courses to learn the in-demand skills employers need.

Additionally, SkillsFinder.ai adds a smart conversational interface that allows visitor interaction and increases their engagement with the platform.

“The new generative AI tool also helps our member Indigenous institutes, colleges and universities realize efficiencies and save money in reaching learners while helping to increase incremental revenue through new program registrations,” said Robert Luke, chief executive officer of eCampusOntario.

Over the next month, eCampusOntario will be testing the new proof of principle interface as part of experimenting with AI tools to empower learners.

SkillsFinder.ai requires a ChatGPT account to use.

Mistral AI open source model now available on IBM’s watsonx

IBM has announced the availability of Mixtral-8x7B large language model (LLM), developed by Mistral AI, on its watsonx AI and data platform.

“Clients are asking for choice and flexibility to deploy models that best suit their unique use cases and business requirements,” said Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D, senior vice president, product management and growth, IBM Software. “By offering Mixtral-8x7B and other models on watsonx, we’re not only giving them optionality in how they deploy AI — we’re empowering a robust ecosystem of AI builders and business leaders with tools and technologies to drive innovation across diverse industries and domains.”

The Mixtral-8x7B model is widely known for its ability to rapidly process and analyze vast amounts of data to provide context-relevant insights. But IBM says it offers an optimized version of the model, which in internal testing was able to increase throughput (the amount of data that can be processed in a given period of time) by 50 per cent, promising reduced latency. 

This week, IBM also announced the availability of ELYZA-japanese-Llama-2-7b, a Japanese LLM model open-sourced by ELYZA Corporation, on watsonx. More third party models are to come on watsonx in the next months, said IBM.

GSMA and European Space Agency partner to advance new satellite and terrestrial networks technologies

Last week at MWC Barcelona 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) and GSMA Foundry announced a series of initiatives to help the mobile and satellite industries collaborate on developing new, innovative satellite and terrestrial networks technologies.

“ESA is proud to partner with the GSMA on a variety of impactful initiatives in our commitment to advance connectivity solutions, through the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks,” said  Antonio Franchi, ESA’s head of the 5G/6G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Programme Office. “One of ESA’s aims is to connect everyone, everywhere and at any time, and this powerful collaboration with GSMA is a significant step in advancing the mobile and satellite communications industries.”

The initiatives include:

up to €15 million (around C$22 million) in ESA funding opportunities, to help stimulate innovation and project development.
Expansion of lab network access for Foundry participants who want to collaborate at ESA’s 5G/6G Hub in Harwell, UK and 5G/6G Telecom Lab in Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Launch of a new GSMA advance training course to grow knowledge about, and support collaboration between, terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
Launch of the Non-Terrestrial Network (TN-NTN) Community to develop new projects and plot a roadmap for future initiatives and activities.
Ecosystem unification. The GSMA Foundry and ESA will work with and invite the wider industry to unify efforts towards seamless TN and NTN interworking.

More to explore

Is the BlackCat/AlphV ransomware gang self-destructing?

The ongoing saga of the BlackCat/AlphV ransomware gang continues, with a news report that the crew has shut down its servers after a controversial hack of an American healthcare services provider.

Fab wars: Intel, Tata Group, CG Power all launch foundry plans

With competition heating up in the foundry business – India this week approved three new semiconductor plants involving Tata Group and CG Power,, and is looking to achieve dominance in the industry – existing foundries have to up their game.

Canadian police need a search warrant to get your IP address: Supreme Court

How private is your internet address? Very, says the Supreme Court of Canada.

AI usage the highest among Quebec employees: KPMG

In a new report, KPMG has broken down the provincial adoption rate of generative AI across Canada, and found that Quebec led with 26 per cent, ahead of Alberta (23 per cent), British Columbia (22 per cent) and Ontario (20.5 per cent), which nearly tied with Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Atlantic Canada saw the lowest adoption rate.

MWC 2024: A wild Journey to the Future in Hall 6

The future and all that is possible was on full display this week at MWC Barcelona 2024 in Hall Six of Gran Via, the site of an innovation zone that featured hands-on and immersive demos of things ranging from devices that enhance the growing of fruit to what has been described as the “world’s first flying car.”

Love, Collins discuss what it takes to succeed in the channel

A webinar held last week took a deep dive into what it takes to build a successful channel program in Canada.

Channel Bytes March 1, 2024 – Today is the deadline for Top 100 Solution Provider nominations; WLAN market contracting: Dell’Oro; ASCII Group launches AI committee; and more

Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending

Hashtag Trending Mar. 5- Apple Music fined for market dominance; LockBit back from the dead; OpenAI kills ChatGPT plugins

Listen to the latest episode of Cybersecurity Today

Cyber Security Today, March 4, 2024 – A hacker is trying to trick the U.S. telecom regulator, WhatsApp gets to see Pegasus code and more

The post Coffee Briefing Mar. 5 – High speed internet access for 150 NWT households; Canadian small business owners slow in generative AI uptake; Mistral AI open source model now available on IBM’s watsonx; and more first appeared on IT World Canada.

Ransomware is behind the cyber attack on the city of Hamilton, Ont., the municipality’s city manager says.

Marnie Cluckie told reporters Monday afternoon that the attack, which was detected the evening of Sunday, Feb. 25, was the result of ransomware.

She wouldn’t say what strain of the malware the city has been hit with, how long it will take to restore full services, or whether the city has received a demand for money. Some information has to remain confidential, she explained.

Asked if the city is considering a ransom payment, Cluckie replied, “I can assure you we’re going to do what’s best for the city.”

“It’s impossible to know when we will be able to get fully up and running again. I can tell you that we will only restore systems when we are confident we can do so safely and securely,” she said. “As of this moment, we do not believe personal data has been accessed.”

The municipality has cyber insurance, she said, but wouldn’t give details.

The city has already said critical services such as transit, water and wastewater treatment, and emergency services are operational. However some phone systems are offline.

Authorities are still giving out parking tickets. In some cases, systems in facilities such as buses and swimming pools aren’t working, and in those instances residents don’t have to pay.

Automatic payment of property taxes has been disrupted. Cluckie couldn’t say how payments will be handled once the payment capability has been restored.

Nor could she estimate when full services will be restored. A reporter noted it’s taken the city of Toronto’s public library system four months to almost fully return to business.

Every cyber attack is different, Cluckie replied. “We are doing what we can to get things up and running as soon as possible.. can’t give a timeline… want to be careful and diligent so we restore systems safely and securely.”

Hamilton is a city of about 780,00 at the western edge of Lake Ontario.

According to CHCH-TV, city council has been meeting behind closed doors to discuss the attack. Regular council meetings have been temporarily suspended. Mayor Andrea Horwath told reporters that’s partly because municipal staff’s priority is dealing with the cyber attack, so meetings can’t be staffed as needed. It also happens that there’s little on council’s agenda this week and next because of spring break, she added.

“Council and I recognize very clearly how disruptive things have been, and what a challenging time it has been for the people of our city,” Horwath said. City staff have been “working around the clock” to restore services, she added.

“As soon as our staff discovered the breach, the team right away began to respond. They acted immediately. Their most important priorities, as you can imagine, have been to protect the community and protect the service delivery staff, as well as to minimize any impact people might experience.” That included hiring an outside firm with expertise in incident response, and notifying insurers and Hamilton police.

“Once we have gone to a place where we have fully restored our systems,” the mayor added, “our city manager Cluckie and her team have committed to conduct a full review to understand how this breach was able to happen. Based on their findings, they have committed to me and the council that they will ensure the city puts in place appropriate systems and protocols to try to avoid something like this happening again.”

The post Hamilton confirms ransomware is behind cyber attack first appeared on IT World Canada.

Meta and its associated sites were reportedly taken down this morning. Cyberint (Cyberint.com) reported that three threat actor groups – Skynet, Godzilla, and Anonymous Sudan – claimed that they had shut down Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

Although reports surfaced as early as 10 am Eastern Time, Ookla’s Downdector site showed a massive spike in outages reported at approximately 11 a.m. ET.

Source: downdetector.com

The outages were sporadic, with Canadian users in Ottawa and Toronto reporting outages, but other were unaffected.

Source: downdetector.com

While the focus of the attack was clearly the Meta sites, a quick review showed that a vast number of sites reported a spike in service interruption at the same time, although to a far lesser degree than the Meta sites, which were the main sites affected. For example, Facebook Canada showed a reported 125,000 outages and Facebook U.S. a reported 560,000 outages.  But even sites like YouTube showed a spike in outages, although at much lower level.

This is a breaking story. We will update this as further information becomes available.

The post Meta and other sites down across North America this morning first appeared on IT World Canada.