Lucidica Tech News #33

CrowdStrike, a well-known cybersecurity firm, experienced a significant outage on Friday due to a faulty update in its Falcon platform, disrupting important services worldwide, including airlines, television broadcasters, and banks. The problem caused 8.5 million Windows-based systems to crash and get stuck in a boot loop, while Mac and Linux systems were unaffected. CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, confirmed that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack. To address the issue, CrowdStrike has established a "Remediation and Guidance Hub" that includes technical information, recovery procedures, and links to third-party vendor resources. The company has also issued a warning about threat actors exploiting the situation through malware. While a fix has been deployed, restoring normal operations may take several days or weeks, requiring physical access to the affected devices. CrowdStrike advises organisations to only follow instructions from their official representatives and support channels.

In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats, a new film, takes viewers back to the acid house party scene of 1989 through the use of virtual reality (VR). The film's UK tour starts in Birmingham, and it lets viewers become characters in a time before cell phones, when party-goers used pirate radio to find hidden warehouse raves in the West Midlands. Users are able to fully engage with the virtual world when they are equipped with a virtual reality headset, a haptic suit, and handheld controllers. The project includes interviews with key figures from the era, such as pirate radio DJs, ravers, and police officers. A former pirate radio DJ named Lee Fisher remembers the excitement and nervousness of tracking down and attending such underground parties.

AI-powered real-time water quality monitors are being placed at wild swimming areas and beaches in southern England to help people assess their risk of illness from polluted water. After a successful test at Warleigh Weir near Bath, where an AI system correctly predicted high levels of bacteria 87% of the time, Wessex Water is now putting these sensors in places in Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, and along the coast in Bournemouth. UnifAI Technology developed these systems, which analyse data from sensors that monitor pH, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and ammonia levels to detect bacterial contamination. Every half hour, the public will receive real-time alerts via an app regarding water safety. Wessex Water wants to use this technology in more places by 2025, and River Action UK says that pollution laws need to be enforced more strictly.

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Why Microsoft 365 Security Isn’t Enough to Stop Cyber Attacks??

Do you think Microsoft 365 email security is enough? Think again! Our blog explains why Microsoft 365's native email security tools are not enough to prevent advanced cyber-attacks like phishing attacks, ransomware, and business email compromise.

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