Talend versnelt groei in Benelux dankzij uitgebreide VAR-programma

Het VAR programma bracht al 20% extra omzetgroei voor het bedrijf in Europa 

Talend, toonaangevende leverancier van big data integratie software, maakt bekend dat het zijn Value Added Reseller (VAR) programma heeft vernieuwd en verder uitgebreid in Europa.

Het VAR-programma werd een jaar geleden gelanceerd in Frankrijk, Duitsland en het Verenigd Koninkrijk en bevat nu al meer dan 30 gecontracteerde reseller partners. Nu is dit programma ook verder uitgebreid in Nederland, Italië en Spanje. Na de eerste 9 maanden zag Talend het partner aandeel van hun totale nieuwe abonnementenomzet groeien tot 20 percent. ”Ons VAR-programma vindt veel aansluiting sinds we het hebben opgestart, waardoor we nu goed bij kunnen blijven met de groeiende vraag naar onze producten”, zegt François Mero, Senior Vice President Sales in EMEA van Talend. ”Het is belangrijk dat ons VAR-programma onze lokale partners de ruimte geeft om de band met bestaande klanten te verstevigen en nieuwe klanten te verwerven.

Lokaal vertegenwoordigde VAR’s helpen Talend langdurige relaties op te bouwen met klanten. Bovendien biedt het modulaire productportfolio van Talend voor organisaties de mogelijkheid in de toekomst door te groeien met additionele functionaliteit.

In Benelux werkt Value Added Reseller cimt al sinds 2013 samen met Talend, met name voor data- en applicatie-integratie, en maakt het bedrijf ook sinds de lancering deel uit van het Talend VAR-programma. Met succes, want samen ondersteunen ze al een aantal klanten zoals CCV en Rabobank. Vooral nu Talend hun aanwezigheid in

Benelux heeft versterkt, beogen ze samen tegemoet te komen aan de groeiende vraag van organisaties in de regio.  

                                  

World Backup Day is a good opportunity to check whether your data is really safe.

Yes, it’s obvious that data should be kept safe. And yes, it’s clear that part of all protective measures deployed, the ability to restore the data from a back-up should be kept on top. But no, it’s still not common practice that data is properly backed up. Well, World Backup Day is here to remind you that you should test whether your backup solution really works. Or, for risk takers: re-assess the risks of not having any backup solution in place.

There are a lot of dangers to your data, from hardware failures to user mistakes. But one additional threat has emerged in recent years which puts your data at serious risk: ransomware. This particular kind of malicious software is used for extortion. When activated, ransomware prevents access to a device or the data on it until the victim pays a fee.

Ransomware is nothing new, but while its early screen-locking attacks were more annoying than truly dangerous, recent aggressive encryption ransomware that spreads in huge waves around the world causes serious damage not only to individuals, but also to businesses and government organizations. Hospitals with critical systems down, law firms with their entire clientele’s data unavailable or police departments without access to their data… With majority of victims paying silently, without letting on that they were got caught off-guard.

While the first encryption ransomware implementations were often flawed and security researchers able to come up with workarounds to recover files without paying the ransom, modern ransomware deploys advanced encryption methods which are in fact unbreakable. This means that paying the ransom is the only – so far confirmed - way to get the encrypted data back. Even the FBI admits that they often advise that the victims pay the ransom.

But paying the ransom should not be considered an option. Prevention and improving resilience help much more – not only against ransomware attacks but also against other threats, be they viruses or own employees.

Having a good backup strategy before the damage to data occurs – for example, before the ransomware encrypts the data – turns the nightmare into a mere nuisance.

For organizations, a good backup strategy means having a quality backup solution – for example ShadowProtect by StorageCraft – implemented, processes formalized and the ability to recover periodically tested. Individuals don’t need any approved strategy, of course. They need to choose some quality cloud storage service or a hardware solution. In both cases, it’s crucial to take into account the real scenario of possible use. For example, that the ransomware also goes after backup files and, if it reaches them (be it in the cloud, removable media or local network), it encrypts them as well as the original files. So, it’s important to keep the backup files offline or take other measures to keep them safe.

Victims of cybercriminals who’ve paid ransoms often argue that the ransom was quite small, the encryption keys really arrived and recovery easy. That might be true, but there are no guarantees.

Compare that with a recovery from a backup: it’s nearly for free, 100% safe and easier to do. Even fairly large businesses can limit their downtime to just minutes before they’ve restored their operations.

World Backup Day should make all of us think about what might happen to our data and systems, and take appropriate steps to prevent any unnecessary damage. 

Malware Linux/Remaiten is terug, krachtiger dan voorheen

Linux/Remaiten  combineert de eigenschappen van de twee vorige versies van de bot en voegt er een nieuw verspreidingswijze  aan toe waarmee geïntegreerde apparatuur wordt besmet

Vorsers bij ESET hebben een nieuwe en verbeterde versie ontdekt van Kaiten, een door IRC (Internet Relay Chat) gecontroleerde malware dat doorgaans gebruikt wordt om DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) aanvallen te verspreiden. De herwerkte malware werd ‘KTN-Remastered’ of ‘KTN-RM’ gedoopt en drie versies van Linux/Remaiten werden al door de vorsers van ESET geïdentificeerd. De hoofdeigenschap van deze malware is een verbeterd spreidingsmechanisme gebaseerd op code-elementen.

Van oorsprong gebaseerd op de telnet Linux/Gafgyt scan, verbetert KTN-RM de verspreidingswijze door een downloader met executable binairies voor geïntegreerde platformen zoals routers en andere geconnecteerde apparaten. De doelgroep bestaat vooral uit apparatuur met zwakke inloggegevens.

“Bovendien bestaat de taak van de downloader erin via de Linus/Remaiten bot aan de bevel en controle server zijn huidige architectuur op te vragen. Eens uitgevoerd, creëert die een andere bot die dan door de criminelen wordt gebruikt. We hebben gemerkt dat deze techniek voorheen al gebruikt werd door Linux/Moose om infecties te verspreiden”, verduidelijkt Michal Malik, malware researcher bij ESET.

Vreemd genoeg bevat dit type malware eveneens een bericht voor zij die de bedreiging zouden willen neutraliseren.

“In het welkomstbericht blijkt dat versie 2.0 malwaremustdie.org  heeft gekozen, die al uitvoerig  details publiceerde over Gafgyt, Tsunami en andere leden uit deze malwarefamilie,” aldus Malik.

Meer details over Linux/Remaiten zijn beschikbaar in een artikel van Michal Malik op de officiële security blog van ESET www.WeLiveSecurity.com

Facebook fights back against creepy impersonating profiles

By Graham Cluley

It’s one of the creepiest things you can experience on Facebook.

You stumble across the profile of “another” user who appears to have stolen the details of your life – lock, stock and barrel.

They use one of your photographs as a profile picture, have stolen your name, your place of work and where you live. Maybe they have even managed to connect with some of your friends.

Their reasons for impersonating you may be complex – it could be that they are interested in stalking and harassing you, attempting to crowbar personal information out of your online friends, or wish to besmirch your character by posting messages under your name that are untruthful and potentially damaging to your career, friendships and family life.

Whatever the reason, it is the kind of attention that nobody wants.

And yet, judging by the emails I have received in the past from victimised Facebook users, it is not that uncommon.

Take, for instance, the case of Kantavadee Nisanpayu, a 33-year-old Thai civil servant. As Nisanpayu described to the local media last year, she had the ghastly experience of a stranger creating a fake profile in her name, and posting messages with her phone number, claiming she was a prostitute looking for new clients.

Thankfully, Facebook appears to be waking up to the problem.

In an interview with Mashable, Facebook’s Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis describes how the social network is beginning to alert on cloned accounts being used to impersonate innocent Facebook users:

“We heard feedback prior to the roundtables and also at the roundtables that this was a point of concern for women. And it’s a real point of concern for some women in certain regions of the world where it [impersonation] may have certain cultural or social ramifications.”

Mashable explains that a new tool alerts Facebook’s safety team to accounts that are using the same names and photographs, raising an alarm that details may have been stolen:

When Facebook detects that another user may be impersonating you, it will send an alert notifying you about the profile. You’ll then be prompted to identify if the profile in question is impersonating you by using your personal information, or if it belongs to someone else who is not impersonating you.

Questionable accounts will then be manually reviewed by Facebook staff. One assumes that Facebook would determine which account was likely to be real and which was the impersonator by examining the profile’s creation date, amongst other information.

The safety feature, which is said to have been in development since last November, is now live on Facebook for 75% of the world.

In my opinion, anything which makes it easier for victims to report abuse on Facebook has to be a good thing – and I hope the social network puts sufficient resource into closing down offending accounts quickly so damage can be kept to a minimum.