TOP STORIES #77
As always, an interesting week. TOP STORIES #76 is here, and if colleagues want to join, they can click here.
There is a lot going on with FTG's events, with some in person, so please check out that section to see if anything is of interest.
Hardware
Glasses-free 3D Gaming monitor from Samsung Announced
Samsung has announced the new Odyssey 3D gaming monitor with a serious trick - you do not need glasses. Read more about this monitor here, and when you can expect to order one (price not announced yet either) - for hardcore gamers, I suspect!
Intel Arrow Lake expected to ship October
Intel's next-generation desktop CPU's to compete with AMD are expected in October, which you can read more about here.
Intel desperately needs these CPU's out in the market to compete with the AMD Ryzen 9000 series CPU's as AMD is still successfully steadily eating into Intel's dominance across all markets.
Even for corporates, considering AMD as a better-performing and cheaper value proposition is becoming a serious consideration.
Intel having instability problems with their 13th and 14th Gen CPU's has not helped either.
Microsoft
RIP Control Panel?
Are we going to see the Control Panel retired finally? Even now, there are still settings you can only get at via the old interface. It does however look like Microsoft is putting in a big effort to finally get rid of it. You can read more about Microsoft's efforts here.
Text to Speech Avatar server announced
Spoiler - not in SA (yet)!
Microsoft has announced the Azure AI Text-to-speech service that features a human speaking with a natural-sounding voice. Billing will be per second, and the other services used to build it are billed separately as well. You can read more about this here.
Even though it is not officially available for South Africa, if you would still like to see a demo and explore how this could be used in your organisation, please contact your First Tech account manager to arrange a demo.
Skype Business Server SE for Q3 2025 Release
This is a reminder that the Next version of Skype business Server will be a Subscription Edition along exactly the same lines as the next releases of Exchange and Sharepoint where if you stop paying your rights fall back to the last On-Premise edition, namely 2019. You can find the official announcement with upgrade path recommendations here.
If you have Skype for Business in your environment, I do recommend that you speak to your First Tech account manager to connect you with our experts to help look at your migration options for the future.
Office LTSC 2024 update
I first published the news about the new Office in TOP STORIES #55 where nothing much has changed (including the price increase). Visio & Project 2024 will be released around the same time. Microsoft has published an update here reflecting this information and more, including confirming that the Publisher is dead.
Dynamics Licensing guide update for August
The August Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide, which you can download here, has been updated with a few changes.
Firstly, the prerequisites for Copilot for Sales and Service have been revised on pages 34/35.
Secondly, the entitlements for Contact Center and Customer Service have been adjusted throughout, where shifting from a per-tenant basis to a per-user basis may have licensing implications going forward.
Additional minor updates include changes to the Finance Capabilities table on page 21 and the replacement of the term "seeded capacity" with "included capacity".
Please contact your First Tech Account manager to put you in touch with our Dynamics specialists to help review if these changes could impact your licensing costs going forward.
Security
August Patch Tuesday should not be ignored!
Have you checked if IPv6 protocol is enabled? Do you know if you need it?
You might not like the answers to those two questions, and if you don't please continue reading!
Although there is much drama with Patch Tuesday breaking Dual boot systems, there are also many security vulnerabilities that really need to be patched urgently, in particular one that is not being exploited in the wild; it will certainly be soon. The YouTube Channel Daves Garage has posted a really good explanation of this very serious vulnerability with a very important lesson......if you do not need to use IPv6 (you probably don't) switch it off!
Please contact your First Tech account manager to put you in touch with our security experts, such as in our security division BUI, to help you evaluate your security posture along with working with you to reduce your "attack surface" - like switching services off that you don't need but make you more vulnerable to attack.
Cloud & AI
Why enterprise CIOs need to plan for Microsoft gen AI
CIO Magazine has published an excellent article about how important it is to plan for the adoption of AI - in particular, CoPilot in the corporate environment, while there are many AI alternatives available, CoPilot is the most frequently considered because of the integration into the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem. HOWEVER the biggest thing now delaying faster adoption of AI is data governance and security.
This is the No.1 issue that has to be addressed, and it is complex - corporate environments are mature - maybe 20-30 years old and will have documents that are just as sensitive to the company today as they were decades ago, but there was never a need to classify them. Letting an AI loose on this vast pool of unclassified data can have unintended consequences!
You also need to guard against AI's being prone to employee manipulation which you can read more about here - the Anatomy of an AI Jailbreak.
It is SO IMPORTANT that you contact your First Tech Account manager to connect you with our Purview and security experts to start help crafting how you go about preparing your environment for the deployment of AI as well as putting in the processes to test for and avoid AI Jailbreaks.
What's up at FTG
CoPilot Security Demo
BUI, FTG's security division, is now 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.
Exclusive Dynamics 365 & CoPilot Demo
CRMTeam, a division of First Technology Group is excited to invite you to an exclusive Microsoft event focused on the transformative power of Dynamics 365 and Copilot.
This is a unique opportunity to see how these leading solutions can streamline your business processes and drive success.
Where: Johannesburg - Microsoft Corporate Hill Office Park, 3012 Winnie Mandela Dr.
When: 19 September 2024
RSVP By: 6 September 2024
BUI Cyber Research finds another Zero Day vulnerability in Teams
The Cyber Security and Azure Expert division for FTG has found another vulnerability, which they have published the details of here.
Please contact your First Technology account manager, who will connect you with our experts to help you determine whether you need help to check whether you are vulnerable and, if so, what you can do to protect yourself.
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 - 2nd 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.
All BUI videos have been moved to one YouTube channel which you can find here.
The Security Blog Video #002 is now available to view here.
It deals with the following subjects (the Tinyurl links are for more information):
➡️ [0:25] Entra ID certificate-based authentication enhancements - https://tinyurl.com/2d5wx2a6
➡️ [1:24] Entra Security Service Edge now GA - https://tinyurl.com/2alrc6j5
➡️ [2:38] MDI New detections - https://tinyurl.com/2y595kry
➡️ [3:14] XDR Incident/Alert queue UI enhancements - https://tinyurl.com/29smrte3
➡️ [4:23] MDO Bulk Senders Insight - https://tinyurl.com/22x7nde9
➡️ [5:00] MDO Quarantine release integration with hunting - https://tinyurl.com/27hcdkm9
➡️ [5:28] Sentinel - Run playbooks on demand in the unified portal - https://tinyurl.com/25of2r6l
Data Security in the Age of AI
Join BUI for an enlightening session on Data Security, along with an exhilarating Cyber Security Escape Room.
An interactive experience that will keep everyone on their toes and fully immersed.
Ignite your enthusiasm with a custom-designed escape room, where critical cyber security concepts come to life through exhilarating challenges.
Where: Johannesburg - Garden Venue Hotel
When: 10 September 2024
Register here.
Where: Cape Town - 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa
When: 19 September 2024
Register here.
Movies
Not much on the movie front, but you can give Hounds of War a try for a bit of action.
Now Playing: Inspector Sun
Now Playing: Blink Twice
Now Playing: The Crow
Now Playing: Spirited Away
30 August: Hounds of War
30 August: Into the Mortal World
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