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Zoom says it will begin allowing users of its videoconferencing software to enable end-to-end encryption of calls starting with a beta next month, the company announced on Wednesday. The feature wont be restricted to paid enterprise users, either. Its coming to both free and paid users, Zoom says, and it will be a toggle switch any call admin can turn on or disable, in the event they want to allow traditional phone lines or older conference room phones to join.

Zoom does not proactively monitor meeting content, and we do not share information with law enforcement except in circumstances like child sex abuse, a company spokesperson said at the time, following comments from Zoom CEO Eric Yuan during a call with investors after the companys quarterly earnings release. We plan to provide end-to-end encryption to users for whom we can verify identity, thereby limiting harm to these vulnerable groups. Free users sign up with an email address, which does not provide enough information to verify identity.

Zoom has also been facing harsh criticism since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic for failing to beef up its security despite huge surges in user growth as Zoom and similar services became virtual hangout tools during lockdowns. In late March, Zoom admitted that while it uses a standard web browser data encryption, it does not use end-to-end encryption. The company has spent the time since improving its security and working on a new encryption solution.

Yet it appears the company has figured out a workaround. To make this possible, Free/Basic users seeking access to E2EE will participate in a one-time process that will prompt the user for additional pieces of information, such as verifying a phone number via a text message, Zoom explains in its blog post. Many leading companies perform similar steps on account creation to reduce the mass creation of abusive accounts. We are confident that by implementing risk-based authentication, in combination with our current mix of tools including our Report a User function we can continue to prevent and fight abuse.

Its not clear when the feature will launch for all users, but the beta is arriving in July and Zoom intends to have some level of permissions so account administrators can disable or enable it at the account or group level.

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Zoom says free users will get end-to-end encryption after all - The Verge

DUBLIN, Calif., June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fewel Farms LLC is the latest customer to pick up the food safety mantle and join iTrades iTracefresh program. As the leading global provider of supply chain software for the food and beverage industry, iTrade is pioneering efforts to build the worlds safest and most comprehensive global food supply chain. To underline its commitment to guaranteeing the safety of our food, it has removed all barriers to adoption, offering the iTracefresh traceability suite to any suppliers, or indeed any buyers, entire supplier portfolio for the first year free of charge.

Traceability is becoming ever more important to our buyers, consumers, and our business. Partnering with iTrade gives our customers confidence that they know exactly what theyre getting and from where, and it allows us to respond to evolving traceability requirements quickly and without heavy investment on our side. Capturing and transmitting traceability data about dozens of commodities from anywhere sets us apart, comments Sharon Heer, Manager at Fewel Farms LLC.

In addition to protecting a suppliers brands during recalls and enabling critical downstream supply chain visibility, iTrades traceability solutions help grow its customers businesses. Data from a yearlong pilot with a major industry buyer showed that suppliers adopting iTrade traceability increased their trading volumes by an average of 55 percent in just 12 months. Additionally, a sample of just four new growers added a combined $10 million in revenue over the same period.

The world would be a better place if everyone knew where their food came from, says Rhonda Bassett-Spiers, CEO of iTradeNetwork. Whether youre a small, family farm or a large, enterprise operation, we want to make food safety and traceability accessible to everyone. We are happy to have Fewel Farms join us in creating the worlds safest food supply chain and grow their business in the process.

Fewel Farms LLC is a family-owned and family-operated supplier of fresh produce and fall ornamentals. They are located in the great Northwest, where abundant sun, plentiful irrigation, warm days, and cool nights produce the finest Apples, Watermelon, Vegetables, and Fall Ornamentals in the United States. They are a third generation family farm that strives to produce the best product possible. In their 30 years in business they have continued to proudly serve small and large retailers and wholesalers alike. They strive to continue to be leaders in innovation, research and technology, and Fewel Farms LLC continually adds excellent staff in every area of expertise. They are Primus-approved and continue to strive to meet the needs and requirements of both our buyers and customers.

Suppliers interested in adopting iTrades iTracefresh traceability suite and enjoying the first year, free of charge, should visit https://www.itradenetwork.com/itracefresh/item/. The promotional package includes two of iTrades products: its Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) case labeling solution, and its Palletized Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) solution, Transit.Qualifying suppliers may also receive the free field kit hardware package that includes a printer, two mobile devices, and 10,000 labels to help them get started on iTracefresh.

Contact:Bryn McFadden925-660-1100inquiries@itradenetwork.com

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Fewel Farms LLC Votes Yes on iTrade Free Traceability Campaign to be Part of the World's Safest Food Supply Chain - GlobeNewswire

ASIA PACIFIC, SINGAPORE, 17 JUNE 2020 Microsoft today unveiled Asia Pacific findings from the latest edition of its Security Endpoint Threat Report 2019[1], which placed Singapore among the countries with the highest drive-by download attack volume in the last year.

Findings were derived from an analysis of diverse Microsoft data sources, including eight trillion threat signals received and analyzed by the company every day, covering a 12-month period from January to December 2019.

As security defenses evolve and attackers rely on new techniques, Microsofts unique access to billions of threat signals every day enables us to gather data and insights to inform our response to cyberattacks, said Mary Jo Schrade, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, Microsoft Asia.

The Microsoft Security Endpoint Threat report aims to create a better understanding of the evolving threat landscape and help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture by mitigating the effects of increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Singapore registered one of the lowest malware and ransomware encounters

According to the report, Asia Pacific continues to experience a higher-than-average encounter rate for malware and ransomware attacks 1.6 and 1.7 times higher than the rest of the world, respectively.

Singapore registered the fourth lowest malware (1.42 percent) and ransomware (0.01 percent) encounter rate in Asia Pacific after Japan, New Zealand and Australia. In the past year, the Republic saw a 49 percent and 67 percent decrease in its malware and ransomware encounter rate, respectively.

Typically, high malware encounters are a result of excessive usage of unlicensed and/or pirated software, and proliferation of sites that illegitimately offer free software or content, such as video streaming. Consumer education is important users should regularly patch and update programs and devices, and be able to identify illegitimate software, explained Richard Koh, Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft Singapore.

Singapores cryptocurrency mining encounter rate was 5 times lower than the regional and global average

Singapores cryptocurrency mining encounter rate stood at 0.01 percent in 2019. This was an 80 percent decrease from 2018, and 5 times lower than the regional and global average of 0.05 percent, according to the report. The Asia Pacific region, in particular, saw a 64 percent decrease in its average encounter rate mainly attributed to tightened regulations in developed countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan to counter malicious cryptocurrency crime.

During such attacks, victims computers are infected with cryptocurrency mining malware, allowing criminals to leverage the computing power of their computers to mine for cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency scams, coupled with relaxed regulatory implementations were key challenges in countries with high encounters, as this resulted in over the counter and fraudulent trading practices continuing to take place undetected.

Improving user awareness is key in maintaining a low encounter rates and preventing consumers from falling for cryptocurrency scams. In Singapore particularly, strong government enforcement of cyber policies also helps ensure the efficacy of regulation on cryptocurrency trading and the integrity of cryptocurrency exchanges, explained Koh.

Comparison of cryptocurrency mining encounter rate across developed and developing markets in the region. According to the 2019 report, cryptocurrency scams continued to undermine cybersecurity levels in developing countries.

Singapore recorded the highest drive-by download attack volume in Asia Pacific

The drive-by download attack volume[2] in Asia Pacific has converged with the rest of the world at 0.08, following a 27 percent decline from 2018.

However, despite the general decline in drive-by download attacks across the region, the study found that Singapore experienced the highest attack volume of 0.31 in 2019 an increase of 138.5 percent from 2018 (0.13). This was also 3.9 times higher than the 2019 global and regional average.

A similar trend was observed in Hong Kong and India, with both countries also recording an attack volume that was 3 times higher than the regional and global average.

These attacks involve downloading malicious code onto an unsuspecting users computer when the person visits a website or fills in a form. The malicious code that is downloaded can then be used by an attacker to steal passwords or financial information.

Cybercriminals capitalize on drive-by download technique to target the organizations and end-users with the objective to steal valuable financial information or intellectual property. This is a likely reason for regional business hubs recording the highest volume of these threats, explained Koh. Wed like to emphasize that the high encounter rate does not necessarily translate into a high infection rate as the level of cyber hygiene and usage of genuine software prevents the systems from getting compromised.

Comparison of drive-by download attacks across developed and developing markets in the region.

Cybersecurity in the age of COVID-19

With the turn of the new year, COVID-19 haschanged the landscape and remains the top-of-mindconcern for individuals,organizations,and governments around the world.

Sincethe outbreak, MicrosoftIntelligence Protection teamsdata has shown thatevery country in the world has seen at least one COVID-19 themed attack,and the volume of successful attacks in outbreak-hit countriesseems to beincreasing, as fear and the desire for information grows.

Ofthemillions of targeted phishing messagesseengloballyeach day, roughly 60,000 include COVID-19 related malicious attachments or malicious URLs.Attackers are impersonating established entities like the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Health to get into inboxes.

Schradefurtherexplained,According to our data, we found thatCOVID-19 themed threatsaremostly rethreads of existing attacks that have been slightly altered to tie to thepandemic. This meansthatattackershave beenpivoting their existing infrastructure, like ransomware, phishing, and other malware delivery tools, to include COVID-19 keywords, to capitalize on peoples fear.Onceusersclick on these malicious links, attackerscan infiltratenetworks,steal informationand monetize theirattacks.

Businesses andindividualshave a crucial role to play in navigatingcyberspace securelyand are encouraged to take the following steps:

Guidance for businesses:

Guidance for individuals:

For more information on the report findings, please visit: https://www.microsoft.com/securityinsights

[1] The research covered a total of 15 markets, which include China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia.

[2] The Security Endpoint Threat Report records the average volume of drive-by download pages detected for every 1,000 pages indexed by Bing.

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Singapore experienced the highest drive-by download attack volume in Asia Pacific: Microsoft Security Endpoint Threat Report 2019 - Singapore News...

Posted on Jun 18, 2020

As schools across England and Wales welcome more children back into the classroom this month and those in Scotland and Northern Ireland plan to follow suit in August, they will need robust technology to manage staff absence, says Adrian Lewis, Director at Activ Absence.

Adrian Lewis says, Many schools stayed open during the Covid-19 crisis for children of key workers, and schools across the UK are doing their best to get back to some normality. However, it is not a cohesive picture, which will present challenges for schools trying to keep on top of which staff are in school and which are off.

Also, the virus has not gone away. A surveillance programme[i] to test pupils and teachers across England for coronavirus has also been announced which could lead to a rise of teacher absenteeism if they have to isolate in quarantine for 14-days.

More than ever, schools will need to keep track of staff absence as well as keeping on top of staff rotations to ensure they have adequate staffing levels. Many schools are likely to need more teachers because of smaller classroom sizes due to social distancing measures, so having absence management software reduces the need for paper based systems and can free up time for staff who normally focus on administration and management.

An absence management system will track all absences, including those who are self-isolating, giving the management team complete visibility of their workforce so they can organise rotas effectively and recruit extra supply staff when needed to ensure adequate staffing levels

Schools have many challenges right now as they prepare to return and keeping everyone safe. Having the right software to keep track of staff is one less thing to worry about. Now would be a good time to invest this technology in preparation for a full return later this year.

Chadwell Primary School in Essex invested in Activ Absences absence management technology last year. School Business Manager, Annie OKane has seen huge benefits, including a reduced workload.

Prior to using the software, the school found it challenging to keep timely and accurate absence records. Absence was recorded in Excel spreadsheets, which made it difficult for the school to do any in depth analysis, particularly as they have a lot of staff, which meant many different reasons for absences.

Annie OKane says, Although the initial outlay was an additional cost within our budget, we are now seeing a saving in terms of the time I have to spend chasing staff up to complete the documentation and management of un-notified absences.

From an administration perspective, the workload is now shared out between our Senior Leadership team. Managing staff absence was a huge task and used to take me four to five hours a week but now it takes less than an hour.

We have also seen a reduction in the small and repetitive absences because staff are able to clearly see the impact of their absence. This visibility makes staff more conscious that they will be managed under the Sickness Policy because management can see the trends, triggers and levels of absence for every employee with just a few clicks, she added.

For more information visit: http://www.activabsence.co.uk

[i] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-study-spread-in-schools-a4463401.html

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How absence management software can give schools one less admin issue to deal with as they return post Covid-19 - HR News

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Every business in the world can benefit from saving money. At the end of the day though, it can be difficult to find ways to cut costs when you look at your budget. Some business owners try and save money by creating their own help desk, but it usually ends up being inefficient and poor in general. If you want to get around this then you need to try and adopt a professional, free help desk software as this could help you to save money while not compromising your business. If you want to find out how a free help desk software could help you then take a look below.

Keeping your Customers

Think about it, what is your sales cycle like right now? Does it take your sales team weeks, or even months to close deals? Finding new customers is expensive and it is also a time-consuming process as well. A lot of this does depend on your marketing tactics and your advertising budget. When you improve your customer support system, your customers will be happier, and this means that they are far more likely to carry on using your products and your services. They are also more likely to tell other people about your company in the future and this can be very beneficial.

More Money in the Bank

If you have a self-service option or even free help desk software that contains all of the information your customers need, then this will benefit your company overall. You wont have as many support tickets and you may even find that your customers can use keywords to find out the information they need. A help desk software that contains some kind of self-service capability will certainly make your customers happy because they wont have to wait until the next agent is available and it also means that your team have more time to deal with any other issues that might arise within the company.

Gain Insight with your Customer Data

Customer service software, or help desk software can save your company a lot of money because it gives you the chance to identify a new service or product opportunities. It also gives you the chance to make better business decisions based on what your customers want. For example, if you have launched a brand-new product and your customers are now flooding your help desk because they are having issues, then this signifies that improvements need to be made so the sooner you can look into this, the better.

Improve your Customer Service

The beauty of using this type of software is that it can really improve your operational efficiency and your overall level of customer service. All of your customer service data and even your history is in the system and this means that they wont have to repeat themselves every single time they choose to get in touch with your company. It also means that the help desk agents can then pull up an account so that they can refer to the data they need.

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Will a Free Help Desk Software Really help Your Business Save Money? - TechBullion