Features

Top IT News of the Week (10/2022)

#ITnews

IT news #1: Vodafone installs 4G on phone boxes across UK towns and cities.

Topic: Vodafone, unified communications

The retrofitted phone boxes bolster 4G mobile coverage on busy urban streets by using clever technology. Vodafone is using clever technology on phone boxes across the country to ensure customers and businesses can keep enjoying a great 4G mobile connection. Phone boxes in locations across Bournemouth, London, Reading and Winchester have been kitted out with miniature 4G technology units – adding extra mobile coverage and capacity in the area, without adding clutter to the high street. As the country comes out of lockdown and returns to work, the demand for data on the move is expected to grow again. As a result, nine phone boxes located in Bournemouth, London, Reading and Winchester have had technology fitted on their roofs which give a Vodafone 4G signal with a 200-metre coverage radius. This will mean more customers can use their mobile devices to stream HD videos, download maps and access websites within seconds. The activity is part of Vodafone’s latest network modernisation programme to improve both 4G and 5G for UK customers.

Relevant TWC Services:

IT news #2: UK’s first ‘smart’ prison to drive down crime.

Topic: Digital transformation, smart technology

Prison designed from top to bottom with smart technology to cut crime and protect public with education, training, and jobs at its heart. Britain’s first ‘smart’ prison has opened on the 4th of March – where an unprecedented array of workshops will drive more offenders than ever into jobs and away from crime in a boost to public protection. The new Category C prison in Northamptonshire is the first jail to have been designed with education, training and jobs for prisoners on release as its main purposes – factors proven to cut crime and reduce reoffending. With 24 workshops and a large number of classrooms, prisoners will take part in formal learning, courses, qualifications and on-the-job training in areas including coding, car maintenance, fork-lift-truck maintenance, plumbing and engineering.

Relevant TWC Services:

IT news #3: Cisco addresses critical bugs in collaboration products.

Topic: Cisco, software update

The company has fixed two critical errors that could allow hackers to write files and run arbitrary code on its video conferencing. Each of these fixed bugs affects the company’s Cisco Expressway series of collaboration servers and its TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS). The first vulnerability, ‘CVE-2022-20754’, enables a remote hacker to write files to the system. It lies in the products’ cluster database API, which is not validating user input adequately. This allows attackers to authenticate as administrative users and then submit malicious input via a directory traversal attack. They could then write their own files with root privileges, including overwriting existing operating system files. The second error, ‘CVE-2022-20755’, enables an attacker to execute arbitrary code by exploiting the products’ web management interface. They can then log in as an admin and craft malicious input to run their own code as root. With a 9.0 CVSS score, these vulnerabilities don’t depend on each other, the company has confirmed, with customers being advised to install bold patches to protect their systems.

Relevant TWC Services:

IT news #4: AWS’s users are becoming greener with carbon tracking tool.

Topic: Amazon Web Services, carbon tracking

Amazon Web Services has announced the new initiative as part of The Climate Pledge to achieve net carbon zero emissions by 2040. The carbon footprint tool, available for free, will help its cloud customers keep track of, measure, review and forecast the carbon emissions associated with their use of AWS services. Companies will also be able to observe changes in emissions levels as they relocate workloads to AWS, upgrade applications or retire obsolete resources. Emissions are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or MTCO2e. The carbon emission data in the customer carbon footprint tool adheres to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO standards. The data is available from January 2020 onwards with a quarterly interval between data updates as AWS collects and analyses new information.

Relevant TWC Services: