Though the year is not yet completely over, all my colleagues and I at First Technology Group would like to wish you and your loved ones a safe, restful break over the festive season... and an exciting start to 2026, kicking off with CES 2026!!!

New for This week

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• AWS re:Invent Las Vegas show summary
• CES 2026 Show guide has been updated. Pre-show edition can be downloaded.
• 2026 is going to get expensive! DRAM prices triple. Read on what to do!
• Microsoft EoL section published to see what's EoL'ng up to December 2026
• 3 New vendors Navori, DevExpress and Source-Elements added to FirstMarketplace
• Did You Know guide for the best stories since September
• Microsoft Dataverse Capacity increased
• W365 Cloud apps are generally available.
• 4.3 Billion LinkedIn records leaked - MAJOR PHISHING Incoming.
• Dummy's guide to being safer online. Maybe share with your loved ones?
• React2Shell Exploit spreads - This is getting really serious
• A picture CAN deceive you! Soon, pictures will not be admissible evidence!
• Cloud First to Cloud Smart - Time to get smarter!
• MicroRGB TV's Debut at CES - The new display frontier.

DRAM prices have already tripled, Dell & Lenovo announced price increases
Read this paper on what to do as 32Gig is the new minimum!

Navori, DevExpress and Source-Elements have been added for this week.
There is now a LinkedIn Page for you to follow as well.

Get all the releases for the next 4 weeks in South Africa.
AVATAR: Fire and Ash for 19 December

In January: 
28 years Later: The Bone Temple

Summary of what to know up to December 2026.
Detailed document available for download

Microsoft News This Week

Microsoft Increases Dataverse capacity & Simplifies Storage Entitlements

Microsoft has updated storage entitlements for Business Applications effective December 2025. The first change increases the default Dataverse database capacity, adding 10 GB for Power Platform workloads and 20 GB for Dynamics 365. 
The second change simplifies ERP storage by combining Dataverse and Operations capacity into a single shared pool, removing the previous separate caps and allowing storage to be flexibly allocated where it is needed most.

Please contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our licensing, Dynamics and Power Platform experts to help assess the licensing implications and how best you can take advantage of these changes Microsoft has announced.

Windows 365 Cloud Apps generally available

Microsoft has confirmed Windows 365 Cloud Apps is now generally available. This capability lets IT publish specific applications from a Windows 365 Cloud PC so users can run only what they need without assigning a dedicated Cloud PC to every user. From a licensing angle, Cloud Apps runs on Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs in Shared Mode, so Windows 365 Frontline licences are required to use Cloud Apps.

This is a very handy way to provision applications for shift workers or users with a "BYOD".

Below are two buttons - one being the official Microsoft announcement and the other a handy guide on how to deploy it.

Please contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our licensing and Intune specialists to assist with seeing how this new way of deploying apps can be useful for your business.

Security

4.3 BILLION LinkedIn records leaked!

This is an absolutely GIGANTIC leak, placing EVERYBODY in the world with a LinkedIn profile at risk of highly sophisticated attacks that, with the help of AI, could be carried out at scale and be highly personalised at the same time. With news of this breach spreading, there is a need to ensure users are trained to be alert for clever phishing attacks where the attacker knows an unusual amount of personal information about you. You must be extremely suspicious of ANYBODY contacting you, trying to win your trust based on how much they know! It is getting to the point where we will be needing secret code words to verify the legitimacy of the person contacting you!

Please contact your First Technology Group account manager to connect you with our training partners to update your staff on how to look out new ways you could be tricked into installing apps or clicking links that can compromise your security and/or privacy.

HubSpot Phishing Bypasses Trusted Defences

This is yet another example of how the bad guys can deliver email that bypasses trusted defences without "hack" anything, allowing recipients to receive messages they can genuinely "trust".
Yet again, it is the human (and usually the weakest link) that has to be able to spot something suspicious about the mail and raise the alarm.

Please contact your First Technology Group account manager to connect you with our training partners to update your staff on how to look out new ways you could be tricked into installing apps or clicking links that can compromise your security and/or privacy.

Dummy's Guide to online safety - REALLY READ IT!

In the light of this truly massive breach, I have left this article for you to PLEASE read and to share with your family, it is more important than ever before to be alert! Endgadget has published a nice guide on what to look out for when it comes to online safety. I really recommend you review it, and it may be a very good idea to share with your family. Even though some of these points may appear to be really simple, sometimes it is a good idea to share even the obvious with everybody in your circle as a reminder to be careful.

Contact your First Technology Group account manager to connect you with our specialist partners, who are experts in helping you train your users to stay abreast of the latest attack methodologies. This guide does NOT replace professional training!

React2Shell exploit Spreads

Microsoft is reporting HUNDREDS of machines are being attacked (and it can take JUST ONE in your company - and you are cooked) and used to deploy ransomware. Worse, they are reporting only HALF of the vulnerable machines out there are patched. This exploit was first reported in TOP STORIES #144. 
PLEASE TAKE THIS VULNERABILITY VERY SERIOUSLY INDEED!!!!

Please contact your First Technology Group account manager to connect you with our security and application development experts to assist in urgently mitigating this flaw.

Cloud & AI

A picture CAN deceive you!

The idea of being able to alter a photo professionally is out of the question for most people. This is no longer the case. With a simple sentence in English, you can now edit a photo any way you like with OPenAI's new model released to compete with Google, and it quite impressive - see the picture it created for me for the "did you know"section above!

Please contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our AI experts to see how these new upgraded Agents and models in 5.2 can make a difference in your business.

Shifting from Cloud First to Cloud Smart

Organisations are moving away from blanket “cloud-first” mandates and toward “cloud-smart” decisions that pick the best platform per workload, based on value, cost, performance, and risk.
Cloud spend waste is real..... one cited study estimates 21% of enterprise cloud infrastructure spend is wasted, about $44.5bn in 2025

Another CIO.com analysis references a VMware report where around one in three IT leaders say cloud waste exceeds 50% 

Better on-prem tech, longer refresh cycles, and “surprise” costs like migration and data egress are pushing firms toward hybrid-by-design rather than cloud-by-default.


“AI without cloud-smart thinking becomes an invoice generator”
Please contact your First Technology to connect you with our specialists who can help turn AI into a controlled programme with clear workload placement, governance, and cost discipline, not just experimentation 

MicroRGB TV's arrive at CES 2026