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Top IT News of the Week (20/2022)

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Date published: 16th May 2022

Monday 16th of May 2022, London, UK – This week’s top IT news series delivers product updates from Microsoft, ransomware analysis, commercial 5G deployment updates, and news about the upcoming 6th generation of mobile broadband.

IT news #1: Microsoft launch new services to help businesses fight cybercrime.

Topic: Microsoft, software update

The three new cybersecurity services have been designed to spot and respond to incidents. Microsoft’s security department is growing faster than any of its main products. As a response, the company is now offering security services specifically aimed at identifying incidents way in advance. The technology corporation is among the leaders in cloud software and infrastructure; its technology has become the backbone for businesses. The investment in its security services comes after organisations dedicate a higher budget to their security spending to manage the increased threats of ransomware and network hacks. The newly launched products include the Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting, which will involve Microsoft engineers reporting issues found in clients’ devices, Office 365 productivity software installations, cloud applications and identity programs. Another addition will be Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, which will allow Microsoft employees to help businesses take action on emerging threats. The last offering is Microsoft Security Services for Enterprise, delivering a broader set of security-focused services.

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IT news #2: EE 5G expanded to cover half UK population.

Topic: EE, 5G

The mobile operator becomes the first provider to launch improved 5G services in 20 UK holiday destinations. This comes almost three years after EE launched its 5G network, initially aiming for the 50% coverage target to be reached no later than 2023. EE’s milestone is already five years ahead of the government’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy ambition, which outlines plans for the majority of the UK’s population to be provided with 5G services by 2027. The company has also pledged to deliver 5G services to the UK by 2028 as part of its ongoing network investment. The popular UK holiday destinations list includes Blackpool, Clacton-on-Sea, Exeter, Hastings, Plymouth and Salisbury, among many, with many of these locations expected to experience high summer footfall.

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IT news #3: WannaCry ransomware is still causing damage five years on.

Topic: Cybersecurity, ransomware

It’s five years since the WannaCry ransomware attack swept corporate networks all around the world. It was discovered that a retooled version of the notorious ransomware is still causing damage to corporate networks globally five years after its first appearance. Even today, it’s still a dominant player in the ransomware scene. Web attackers using WannaCry have learned from their mistakes and worked out a version that eliminates the ‘low hanging fruit’ switch that proved to cause its defeat five years ago. Cybersecurity companies monitoring the emerging threats worldwide revealed after WannaCry came onto the scene that it had been the most commonly detected strain, highlighted in Trend Micro’s annual reports. Cybersecurity services company SonicWall is still monitoring the strain, and although it’s not as significant as it was years ago, detections remain high. Despite the decrease in the number of attacks, no other ransomware comes even close to WannaCry even after five years.

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IT news #4: Samsung has laid out plans for launching 6G.

Topic: Samsung, 6G

The tech giant has published research findings into the future 6th generation of mobile broadband. The South Korean corporation, which has previously played a significant role in developing new mobile network technologies, has released early findings of its research project looking into the future 6th generation (6G) of mobile broadband technology and development plans of what technologies it may incorporate. At this stage, the world is still focusing on the early phases of deploying commercial 5G networks designed to harness radio spectrum bands from the low 450MHz all the way up to the millimetre wave (mmW) of 52GHz. It was confirmed that the development of 6G is still in the early research and development phase. Still, after two years of work, Samsung has finally shared spectrum foundations (published here) for what it believes 6G should become. The necessary technologies it will need with the first draft of 6G potentially arriving soon.

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