MalwareBytes is bitten by Dark Hero, Hackers nab Mimecast certificate from Microsoft and Qualcomm is buying Nuvia. We’ll discuss these topics and much more on this week’s Rundown!
Hitachi Vantara is jumping into the Kubernetes pool with a new offering. Hitachi Kubernetes Service (HKS) is built to help simplify multi-cloud Kubernetes and provide extra functionality around their storage expertise. HKS offers a Container Storage Interface to help provide persistent storage for Kubernetes clients.
Flash is finally dead. January 12th marked the final end of the maligned plugin but one company didn’t get the memo. Extreme Networks was forced to inform their users that the WiNG Manager platform wasn’t ready to run without Flash just yet and they would need to change the date on their workstation in order to manage their networks. That’s because 1/12/2021 was a date triggered an automatic Death Notice popup from Adobe. Extreme is rushing to get a patch out to clients to enable WiNG manager to run without Flash.
WhatsApp Delays Privacy Changes
If you’re a user of WhatsApp you’ve probably had a busy few days. The popular messenger app, owned by Facebook, announced last month they were going to be changing their privacy policy to include more data being shared with Facebook. The new terms had to be accepted or the app would refuse to run. The implementation date was set for Feb. 8. After users showed their distaste for the changes by jumping to popular rivals such as Signal, Facebook has now indicated they are delaying the implementation of the new rules until May 2021 in order to give them time to understand the impact but also why their users were leaving in droves.
Cisco Renegotiates with Acacia
Last week, we reported here on the Rundown that the proposed merger between Acacia and Cisco was in danger of becoming a massive legal battle. As we suggested, the real culprit was money. Cisco agreed to sweeten the offer for Acacia by an extra $1.9 billion to bring the total to $4.5 billion. The deal still needs to be approved by the Acacia shareholders but an extra $2 billion in their pockets should help.
Hackers Nab Mimecast Certificate from Microsoft
Hackers are stepping up their game to get other people’s data. The latest target is Mimecast. The company reported last week that one of the certificates they used to authenticate to Microsoft Exchange 365 had been compromised. Microsoft informed the company of the issue and they’ve been mum ever since. The report on the incident say that the certificate enables customer to connect specific Mimecast apps to Exchange 365 tenants. Microsoft, at the behest of Mimecast, started blocking the certificate on Monday.
It’s time for some chip news this week, but the subject is Qualcomm. The company is looking to pick up Nuvia for around $1.4 billion to help agent their mobile, laptop, and automotive chip manufacturing. The move is seen as a way for Qualcomm to jump back into the game after spending the past couple of years embroiled in patent disputes with Apple and other companies. Nuvia is no stranger to patent issues either, as the founders of the company came from Apple and have been engaged in their own disputes with the tech giant for the last couple of years. The acquisition is also a move to reduce reliance on ARM chips, which is still a looming threat should the propped acquisition from rival NVIDIA take place.
MalwareBytes Bitten by Dark Halo
The fallout from the Russian incursion into SolarWinds is still raining down. Cybersecurity company MalwareBytes announced on Tuesday that they found traces of the same group that invaded SolarWinds in their systems as well. The group, now being called Dark Halo instead of the more catchy UN2452, used Azure AD and Office 365 applications as the vector to jump into the internal systems. MalwareBytes was quick to point out that while it was the same group doing the dirty work the breach did not involve SolarWinds directly as the company does not use them for monitoring. The breach was uncovered when Microsoft notified MalwareBytes on December 15th.
The Gestalt IT Rundown is a live weekly look at the IT news of the week. It broadcasts live on YouTube every Wednesday at 12:30pm ET. Be sure to subscribe to Gestalt IT on YouTube for the show each week.
