Comms Dealer

Cyber security company F-Secure has acquired privately held Inverse Path, a provider of security services to the avionics, automotive and industrial control sectors.

The move gives F-Secure a stronger presence in sectors with challenging IT infrastructures.

"Inverse Path is the perfect fit for our fast growing consultancy business," said Jens Thonke, Executive VP, Cyber Security Services, F-Secure.

Inverse Path's customers include mid-market and Fortune 500 companies, and its focus on embedded system security is plain to see in its USB armoury project, a USB stick that functions as a portable platform for personal security applications.

Jyrki Tulokas, F-Secure Executive VP of Corporate Strategy and Development, believes that the acquisition also bolsters F-Secure's capabilities as a high-end cyber security consultancy and provider of managed services, and also adds Inverse Path's reputation for sector specific innovation.

"Inverse Path was one of the first companies to publish research on vehicle security, and it now uses this expertise to help automobile and vehicle telematics manufacturers secure their products," said Tulokas.

Andrea Barisani, founder of Inverse Path, joins F-Secure to lead Hardware Security.

"As combined companies, we can develop new capabilities to better serve our existing and future customers," said Barisani.

IBM's channel partners will now be able to sell VMware subscription-based solutions running on the IBM Cloud. Another agreement between IBM Storage and Hortonworks enables the use of IBM Storage with Hadoop.

This is part of a push that will sees its partners driving into the analytics business, building on its Watson offers last year.

In what it says is the first-of-its kind reseller agreement with VMware, IBM channel partners are now authorised to resell VMware bundles including Cloud Foundation solutions on the cloud.

IBM claims to be the first cloud service provider to provide a fully automated service for VMware Cloud Foundation with more than 7,200 IBM service professionals already trained to help organisations extend their VMware environments to IBM Cloud.

In addition, it says, organisations around the world are learning the economic benefits that can be gained by implementing Big Data Analytics in their organisations.

The Hortonworks partnership allows IBM clients to run Hadoop analytics directly on IBM Storage and not require isolated analytics storage silos, it says.

Later today (Wednesday 15 Feb) IBM will announce the channel winners at its its Partner World Leaders Conference in Las Vegas. It plans to unveil the Watson Build for Business Partners during Thursday's workshops.

CMS Distribution has acquired TNS Connect from PCH. TNS Connect is headquartered in Ireland but also operates in the UK, mainland Europe, Australia and China, and works mainly with emerging technologies and accessories.

CMS will continue to run the business under TNS Connect's brand for the foreseeable future and TNS's leadership and management team will remain.

Following the acquisition, CMS Distribution will now employ over 300 people across the group with a foothold in Europe covering the UK, Ireland, France, Benelux and Scandinavia.

Abzorb has been awarded ISO 27001 Information Security Management (ISMS) and ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) certifications by auditors Alcumus ISOQAR.

Over the last year Abzorb has worked closely with ISO specialist, Synergos Consulting, to implement both systems.

Ben Sugden, Head of IT, Abzorb, said: "Achieving these ISO certifications is a testimony to our determination to ensure we continually improve those services, while maintaining a secure and reliable operational infrastructure."

Mark Riddell, Head of Indirect Channel at Abzorb, added: "Attaining ISO certifications is a huge recognition of the efforts of the entire Abzorb team."

Call analytics company Iovox is set to expand in the US and enable organisations to gain deeper insights into call data having completed a $10m round of equity and debt financing led by Octopus Ventures, SF Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.

Iovox was co-founded in the UK by Ryan and Belinda Gallagher and provides call analytics solutions for big names including BT, Zoopla, AutoTrader UK and Pizza Express.

The company recently expanded into the US with an office in Mill Valley, California, which will become a springboard for growth in the country.

With its war chest secured, Iovox intends to help users seamlessly sync, store, organise and search their call data, both desktop and mobile, across all devices.

"Historically, the call tracking industry has been focused on helping prove RoI for inbound marketing calls," said Ryan Gallagher, CEO.

"Inbound marketing calls are just a portion of a company's total call volume. With this new funding we've set out to make all calls, regardless of source, actionable, informative, and able to be analysed for individuals and businesses of any size."

Jo Oliver, Investment Director, Octopus Ventures, added: "We believe the data generated from calls is just as valuable as email and other data that passes in and out of a business every day. This funding enables Iovox to make all this information available and useful."

Voip Unlimited has marked its 11th year in business with a brand revamp and the promise of new products and full automation for channel partners.

The company was founded on Valentine's Day 2006 and according to MD Mark Pillow the firm's 'passion for VoIP' remains hot.

He said: "From the outset we have focused solely on our technical capabilities, network, infrastructure and innovating new products for our channel and customers.

"Following 11 years of building this reputation we realised it was time for our image to catch up with a new look and improved online functionalities that came hand in hand with the rebranding process, including our portal and website. This year is going to be transitional as we expand."

Cyber security company F-Secure has released a new report that explores the trends and threats defining the current state of cyber security across the globe, and paints a stark picture of the threats posed by insecure networks and devices, the IoT, cyber crime and more.

F-Secure's State of Cyber Security 2017 report pays particular attention to security issues facing companies as the threat landscape transitions away from conventional malware to more dynamic threats.

"Today's threats can outsmart old one-dimensional security approaches, regardless of how strong everyone thinks they are," said F-Secure security advisor Sean Sullivan. "Phishing, lists of pre-compromised accounts and networks sold online, and other resources make breaching a government organisation or Fortune 500 company within reach of a lot of different attackers.

"We're in a post-malware world because the threat landscape has industrialised and cyber criminals aren't only relying on the most common types of malware to make money."

The report provides data and insights on the key issues cyber security researchers and experts see dominating the threat landscape. Some key findings from the report include:

• A majority of active reconnaissance traffic in 2016 came from IP addresses in just 10 countries, with Russia, the Netherlands, the United States, China, and Germany being hotspots for these activities
• Outdated versions of Android continue to expose mobile devices to risks, with Indonesia having the largest proportion of outdated Android devices in use, while Norway has the smallest
• Most cyber attacks are performed with basic, scriptable techniques against poorly maintained infrastructure
• 197 new ransomware families were discovered in 2016 compared with just 44 in 2015
• Exploit kit usage declined during 2016

The report also contains features on notable events and trends from 2016, including information on Mirai-based botnets, upstream attacks, cyber crime and general IT trends that are shaping the threat landscape.

According to F-Secure security expert Andy Patel, the report was written to send a message to defenders about the importance of risk management. "Commodity malware, like ransomware, is still prevalent," he stated. "And endpoint protection is great at protecting users from those threats. But defenders need to think about threat assessment, penetration testing, breach detection, incident response and crisis management if they want cyber security plans they can count on when attackers wise up to their defences."

Masergy has signed up as an Intelisys Global EMEA supplier partner and aims to replicate the success of its proven business model in the US across the EMEA region.

William Madison, Vice President for the Strategic Partner Programme at Masergy Communications, said: "Partnering with Intelisys Global for EMEA is a smart move for Masergy as we have had strong, long-term success with this business model in the US. We look forward to building on this with Intelisys Global across the EMEA region."

Stephen Hackett, MD for Intelisys Global, added: "Intelisys Global Sales Partners are increasingly having conversations around SD-WAN, Managed Security and ways to maximise the productivity of cloud, so there's a pressing requirement for agile solutions that can evolve to meet future customer requirements." added

"So having a powerful yet easy to understand and deploy approach, such as Masergy's Software Defined Platform, in their solutions portfolio will bring real benefits in terms of more customised solutions and faster time to deployment."

Unify has added a new conference room solution to its Circuit platform, Circuit Meeting Room, which gives mobile and distributed workforces a combination of video conferencing and social collaboration.

Luiz Domingos, Head of Product House, said: "We're combining collaboration software with video and audio conferencing to bring together mobile workers and capture the knowledge and results of meetings in rea-time."

Unify has also introduced a new desktop option and increased features and functionality for mobile users.

"Circuit Meeting Room is designed to help businesses turn any conference or 'huddle' room into an audio and video collaboration space that works for them," added Domingos.

The Circuit desktop app offers the same functionality found in the web version, but supports those users who have a preference or an IT requirement for a solution that is not browser-based.

Unify is set to release more Circuit updates focused on improving mobile functionality, including support for Apple CallKit and SiriKit on iOS 10 devices, giving Circuit calls the same priority as cellular calls and enabling users to operate many Circuit functions hands-free while on-the-go.

Circuit will also offer 3D touch support on iOS 10 devices, simplifying navigation in the Circuit app. Additionally, push notifications will alert mobile users to new activity within the Circuit application, even if the app is not currently open.

The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), an industry body focused on promoting the role of wholesale ICT distribution, has embarked on a campaign to raise the profile of distributors and their evolving role at the vanguard of technological advancement using case studies, white papers and social media.

The initiative reflects the emergence of a 'new distribution model' and will be supported by research and analysis conducted by Comms Dealer sister comany IT Europa which has identified significant shifts in the products and services being offered by Europe's leading distributors.

"As end-user market demand for cloud-based solutions and managed services grows, distributors are adapting their business models and developing new services to support channel partners," stated IT Europa MD Alan Norman (pictured).

"The emergence of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the increasing demand for mobility and the integration of technologies to support digital transformation are further fuelling such changes.

"There has been a sea change in the way two-tier channels work in recent years, and we have seen in our research of European VARs, integrators, MSPs and other channels that they are adopting a more value-conscious, services-led approach, using their technology skills and market understanding to create and drive new propositions in the channel."

According to Norman 'distribution has stepped up a gear' to meet these challenges, and the IT industry and its components should respond to this and take advantage of what is now on offer.

"The scale and speed of this move is clearly visible in the additional offerings being made by the distributors, but not all channels and vendors are fully aware of the "New Distribution" models that are emerging," he added.

In response to increased demand for newer technologies such as cloud, IoT, mobile, and Big Data, distributors are investing heavily in new programmes and processes to efficiently bring those technologies to market, pointed out GTDC CEO Tim Curran.

He believes that some HQ senior executives may not understand how the channel and distributors can play a role in cloud for example, although those downstream, the channel leaders, typically do understand the deeper value and potential of these relationships.

"They work directly with distributors and see first-hand how partners strongly prefer their services. We want to help the upper senior management realise and support related advances," said Curran. "Europe's distributors are resilient, diversified and innovating, and the IT industry's partners of choice."

GTDC members drive more than $130bn in annual worldwide sales of products, services and solutions through business channels.