TOP STORIES #86

We have the 4th instalment of "Did you Know", a 515-question Licensing FAQ from Microsoft and a concerning change in Ransomware tactics.

The Previous week's TOP STORIES #85 can be found here.

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Did you Know?

FirstNet is one of the oldest ISP's in South Africa!

What is described here is only a small part of the business that does backups, hosting, Telephony, call centres and more...... we will tell you more in future issues.

FirstNet is part of the First Technology group that has the highest ISPA membership status, Data Centres in all the major centres in South Africa and one of the lowest latency backbones (which gamers love - as that means it is FAST).

FirstNet has just completed the latest ISO 27001:2022 re-certification.

FirstNet has 10 full-time certified engineers supporting Mimecast and Sendmarc,

AND has a real 24/7/365 support infrastructure manned by humans and not bots!

FirstNet is one of Fortinet’s longest-standing partners and the only one in South Africa qualified to deliver Fortinet’s complete range of solutions of managed security, cloud-based services, and full integration.

FirstNet has one of the largest Forti-analyser deployments in the country.

9 certified Fortinet engineers are employed full-time (2 of which have architect-level certification) to help craft any solution that works best for you.

Contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our experts in FirstNet to understand what they can do for you - even if you are happy with your existing service provider, see what FirstNet can offer - you may be surprised!

Hardware

Apple M4 is delayed but will stay "The One"

As much as we are seeing amazing power/performance gains in the latest releases from Intel and AMD, Apple, with the release of the M4 early next year, looks like it will comfortably remain the leader in performance.

This is great news as it will keep Apple users happy and keep the pressure on AMD, Qualcomm, Intel, and Microsoft to keep pushing the performance envelope. You can read more about this here.

Microsoft

Modern Work Licensing FAQ updated

Just in case you may have thought Microsoft licensing is getting simpler, here is a 515 Question 58 Page FAQ that proves otherwise! You can download it here.

The portal for all M365 documents is here.

This is a reminder that it is VERY IMPORTANT to engage one of First Technologies licensing specialists when trying to make a decision on the most optimal way to license your business as it can get really complicated. This FAQ does not even cover all of it!

Windows Enterprise LTSC 2024 is available.

Microsoft has published a blog that talks about the special LTSC edition for situations that require long-term stability and is supported for 5 years.

Windows 11 IoT LTSC has a 10-year support term.

It is very important to have both a licensing plan and a deployment plan for LTSC, as LTSC is really not meant for general deployment. Please contact your First Technology licensing and Windows Operating system specialist to plan how your rollout of Windows 11 24H2 will be structured - as you HAVE to plan it - Windows 10 is coming to the end of support in October 2025!

Microsoft 365 Apps Licensing Brief October 2024

Microsoft has released an updated brief that includes the Flexible Virtualisation Benefit and confirms that you can deploy M365 on Amazon Workspaces (right at the end of the PDF). You can download the document here.

Security

Black Basta Ransomware poses as IT support in Teams

Now you don't just have be alert for bad guys coming at you through your email, you now have to be equally vigilant over your Teams. They craft a social engineering attack where the impersonate the IT HelpDesk on Teams to trick the user into installing AnyDesk or allow access to Quick Assist. You can read more about this attack here.

I think we tend to trust Teams more than email, and this is a remainder that you trust NOTHING!

Please contact your First Technology account manager to see what training courses are available for your users to help them be to be alert for the bad guys and NOT to get tricked.

Ransomware tactics are changing - Just Steal & Sell it

There appears to be a shift in tactics where ransomware gangs are finding it more cost-effective to simply sneak into a company's network and steal the data to sell to the highest bidder, and where the company that had the data stolen is blissfully unaware!

This is a very scary reminder that you cannot EVER take your eye off the ball of security. Always work on maintaining the best possible security posture by utilising ALL the tools at your disposal.

Please contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our security specialists to help you make sure you are using all the tools that you may already own to better secure your environment.

This is especially true for Microsoft where you may have invested in suites like M365E3/E5 but are not making use of every component already available to you.

Cloud & AI

When Claude gets a Mouse

Anthropic has released an example of what an AI working in a human context as an agent can be like.

This AI now "looks" at the screen (screenshots), types virtually and moves a mouse the way a human would do.

Ethan Mollick has published a very interesting perspective of this new AI agent and shows examples of how it has been put to work.

Of course, Microsoft has also just announced the launch of its autonomous agents in November, but these are focused on automating business processes, so this is more about AI with Microsoft Dynamics set of business products.

It is so important to make sure you are experimenting with how AI can help you and your employees to work smarter and more productively, but first, your environment needs to be secured and prepared for an AI to start accessing your data.

Please also contact your First Technology account manager to arrange for us to demonstrate the agents Microsoft is launching in November.

What's up at FTG

CoPilot Security Demo

BUI, FTG's security division, is able to present CoPilot for Security information-sharing sessions, workshops and demos. Please contact your First Tech Group account manager to make arrangements to attend, or you can request a session here.

What does a World Class SoC look like and how does it work?

You are invited to book a tour of one of our SoC (Security Operations Center) nodes (and there are still parts we can't show you). You can book for the tour here.

BUI blog - 3rd Video Available

FTG's Azure and security division, BUI, has launched a blog focused on Security—what's new, what changed, and what you need to do to maintain a good security posture. This one, however, is about a game that Dirk learnt about while attending Black Hat in Vegas.

All BUI videos have been moved to one YouTube channel, which you can find here.

The Security Blog Video #003 is now available to view here.

This video introduces you to KC7 - a Cyberdetective game!:

Movies

Private Schools Grp 2 ½Term break 25-28 October

Venom is now in theatres but not having a great weekend. I think it was a lot of fun to watch - and here is a pretty good review (warning - spoilers) - just go and enjoy it. It's not even 2 hours long!

It has TWO easter eggs - don't leave early. The second one is at the very VERY end.

Now Playing: Venom: Last Dance

Now Playing: Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue

Now Playing: Goodrich

1 November: Rebellious

1 November: Conclave

1 November: Subservience