2022 彙整 - Version 2

Actiphy Inc. Unveils the Latest Version of ActiveImage Protector’s System and Data Protection Solution, a Proven Countermeasure that Safeguards Backup Files from Ransomware

Tokyo, Japan, Sep 7, 2023 – Actiphy Inc., a prominent provider of backup, disaster recovery, and virtualization software, proudly announces the release of their updated version of “ActiveImage Protector 2022”. This latest release introduces innovative features that substantially reduce backup times while improving backup data security.

Background

Companies today are constantly threatened by the looming menace of ransomware attacks. This pervasive threat compels them to divert resources to bolster security measures and instills a sense of apprehension and uncertainty. In an actual attack, the consequences are much more severe and include data loss, financial damages, and disrupted business operations.

Implementing efficient disaster recovery and protective countermeasures is paramount, and with a strategic backup strategy (that includes StorageServer), another layer of security is added that protects the backup image files from being compromised by a ransomware attack.

This updated version with the StorageServer option is available in both Windows and Linux.

What’s New in ActiveImage Protector 2022 Update
– StorageServer Option

“Actiphy StorageServer” , a newly developed product in the ActiveImage Protector Solution Suite, has adopted an advanced protocol that not only secures data transfer but also safeguards that data in storage.
Additionally, Actiphy’s StorageServer has been engineered to take advantage of cache devices to increase performance during data transfer thereby substantially reducing backup time.
StorageServer in effect, achieves increased data security and provides faster data transfers than the traditional Windows-shared folders or NAS based storage.

– New Tracking Driver with no Reboot Required

Our newly developed tracking driver eliminates the need for a reboot after installation or upgrading, enabling users to install or upgrade ActiveImage Protector with no service interruptions.

– QuickRecovery

Use QuickRecovery, a pre-prepared recovery environment to undo recent changes that have caused system instability due to a software or OS update. Select a specific restore point from the backup that was created prior to the current state of the system for an immediate recovery.

– Recovery Media Maker

Create bootable recovery media with the backup source machine’s image embedded for an ideal disaster recovery (DR) solution should the backup destination become inaccessible. This feature accommodates various media, including DVD/Blu-ray, USB HDD, and USB Memory. One button click from the booted media will initiate recovery from the embedded image file.

– Support for VMware First Class Disk (FCD)

Direct backup and recovery of VMware’s FCD formatted disks.

ActiveImage Protector 2022 is a backup and recovery solution that protects physical and virtual Windows and Linux environments. ActiveImage Protector includes all the tools necessary for enterprise-level deployment and management of backup, recovery, virtualization, standby switch-over, and migration.

All other brands and product names mentioned in this news release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.For more information about ActiveImage Protector.

About Version 2
Version 2 is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Actiphy
Actiphy founded in 2007, focuses on developing and offering innovative backup and disaster recovery solutions for complete protection of all your systems and data. ActiveImage Protector backs up Windows, Linux machines on physical and virtual environments and restore systems and data fast for you to be up and running with minimal downtime and data loss. Today Actiphy hold 20% of the image backup market in Japan and are expanding our services in the Asia/Pacific and North American regions, as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Gas transport company switches from Citrix resulting in an 80% reduction of their infrastructure footprint

SPEED OF IMPLEMENTATION

EASE OF USE

COST SAVINGS

“Awingu just worked and that’s what we needed. A simple, straightforward application that accelerated our ability to achieve our goals.”

David De Roock

IT Director, Exmar NV

CHALLENGE: Provide employees and external contractors seamless access to business assets quickly and efficiently without continuously needing to maintain the environment.

TEST: Will Awingu be easier to maintain while offering a stable user experience?

SOLUTION: Awingu enabled the bulk of Exmar NV’s workloads to shift from twenty-five to five remote desktop machines by assigning more resources to them than their Citrix solution could handle.

RESULT: Moving away from Citrix was critical to realizing significant cost savings and improved user experience for both IT teams and end users.

Exmar NV is an energy supply chain provider with 2500 employees offering tailor-made energy solutions to the gas industry. The mission is to serve their customers with innovations in the fields of offshore extraction, transformation, production, storage, and transportation by sea of liquefied natural gases, petrochemical gases, and liquid hydrocarbons.

Prior to 2019, Exmar was utilizing the Citrix solution in tandem with VPN for their employees to access business files and applications. This was a sufficient solution for the most part, but it was complex and costly. Also, accessing large files was problematic. The load was heavy and extra traffic added an additional challenge, especially when traveling end users went to remote locations in Asia, Africa, or vessels out to sea.

THE CHALLENGE: Provide employees and external contractors seamless access to corporate files quickly and efficiently without the need to constantly maintain the environment.

Exmar was looking for:

Simple workspace management
Seamless implementation

Uninterrupted access to business files and applications

The arrival of COVID in 2019/2020 resulted in a shrinking IT team at Exmar. This made maintaining the elaborate Citrix environment increasingly difficult. After a 2.5 year struggle, David De Roock, IT Director with Exmar, went back to the drawing board for alternate solutions.

“Citrix was too complex with a lot of virtual servers, layering storage issues etc. I lost count how many times team members would mention in meetings that ‘Citrix isn’t working again’. This was disruptive to our day-to-day business and we couldn’t continue this way”, David De Roock (IT Director, Exmar NV) says.

THE TEST: Will Awingu be easier to maintain while offering a seamless user experience?

David was impressed that within 2 days of his conversation with Awingu, the pilot was off the ground.

The following week, David’s team conducted extensive testing with both external and internal users.

Positive user feedback included:

The testing process was easy and straight forward.
Accessing resources through a web browser—without the need to install anything—was an immense benefit.
Speed was impressive; the startup time of applications was drastically reduced since no plugins were required.
The support efforts needed from their desktop team were reduced since a modern HTML 5 browser is the only requirement.
A much better user experience – the server didn’t crash and browser updates didn’t interfere with plugins.
Users can use any device so laptop distribution was eliminated.

“The overall sentiment of those involved in the pilot was that Awingu was simple. The time previously used to maintain the Citrix environment shifted to focus on how we can improve our processes and environment to positively affect our customers’ bottom line”, David mentions.

This was enough for David to decide to make the move from Citrix to Awingu.

THE SOLUTION: Awingu enabled Exmar to shift the bulk of their load to five remote desktop machines, assigning them more resources than the Citrix solution could handle.

David was pleased to see that the number of virtual machines reduced drastically from twenty-five to five.

Plus, the need for Exmar-provided laptops was eliminated for external agencies. Not only was this advantageous for their budget but it also enhanced security as there is always elevated risk when you have laptops traveling to every corner of the globe.

The simplicity of Awingu is what made the biggest impact. The learning curve was minimal, and it only took two weeks to decide that a full roll out was the best choice for their business.

The personal attention of Awingu’s Support team was another deciding factor. A couple of minor issues popped up over the weekend and the Awingu Support team was available and willing to help. By Monday, issues were solved, and it was business as usual without any interruption for the end user.

David explained that “Awingu is very straightforward and easy to roll out. This was the driver to make the move from Citrix to Awingu.”

THE RESULT: Moving away from Citrix was critical for Exmar to realize significant cost savings and ease of use for both IT teams and end users.

Moving to Awingu was the solution Exmar needed to strengthen their budget and reassign resources where they were needed.

In summary, the main benefits they experienced were:

Reduction of infrastructure footprint: What once required twenty-five virtual machines now only requires five. A reduction of 80%.
Zero complexity: The learning curve was minimal thanks to the easy-to-use and secure unified workspace. Their pilot was rolled out in two days. Full deployment and testing with 100 users spanned an additional 2 weeks.
Cost savings: Licensing costs were reduced by 66% annually.

“The overall picture? The Awingu experience is a lot better, simpler, and easier to maintain. We haven’t looked back and an expansion of the solution is in the works”, David concludes.

About Version 2
Version 2 is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Awingu
Awingu produces a browser-based Unified Workspace solution. It allows users to work and collaborate from virtually anywhere using any device compatible with HTML5 browsers. As a turnkey solution, Awingu offers businesses the ease and convenience of platform-independent mobility and offers everything you need to stay productive: legacy and cloud applications, documents and data. Awingu requires zero configuration and zero client software installation, making IT administration extremely simple.

2022 awingu

Claude Morings Jr, Global Product Support Manager

It’s been an exciting month for us here at CloudM as we get set to officially launch our US subsidiary, CloudM Inc. With over 10 years of experience in the US market already, this natural evolution promises to deliver an even better customer experience for our amazing North American customers.

What better time to celebrate the staff that have supported our US market and made this next step possible. And, who better to speak to than US employee no.1 – Claude Morings Jr.

Hi Claude – Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hey! I’m the Global Product Support Manager here at CloudM. I joined 4 years ago (this month to be exact) as CloudM’s very first US employee.

Wow! And now we have 13 US based employees and growing, with a US subsidiary being established. You must’ve seen some changes in the past 4 years

Absolutely. Personally, I’ve been able to grow the Support Team out from a solely UK based operation to a truly global department, with dedicated, knowledgeable staff located around the globe (including APAC), delivering true 24 / 7 support.

None of this was in place, and to have that set on my shoulders as a deliverable when accepting the role was a lot of pressure. But, it has created the amazing support team we have now, which I’m extremely proud of.

In the US, helping the business get the right people in place and seeing the business grow to generate the revenue to get here, establishing CloudM Inc., has been so rewarding. In the last year alone, the number of US based employees has skyrocketed and it’s only set to continue. That can only be good for our customers.

So, what do you enjoy about working at CloudM?

Firstly, my team. My favorite parts of the week are when someone within the team achieves a goal, receives good feedback, or puts a process in place that benefits them and their colleagues. I was given the opportunity to build the team and put people in those positions to showcase their talents so it feels like validation.

I really like how we make remote working work, even across multiple time zones and regions. It’s great to feel like one team with colleagues across APAC, Europe and North America (from sea to shining sea).

Saying that, getting the opportunity to meet up in person is amazing. I’m from a small town in North Carolina, and while I have traveled across the world during my 12 years in the Army, my family is amazed when I tell them I’m visiting the head office based in the UK or that I get to go to Spain for a company kickoff meeting.

What is your favorite CloudM value?

My favorite value is to appreciate others. I can crack on, try new things, and get involved, but showing others that they’re appreciated (and feeling appreciated) makes the other values easier to achieve.

Any advice for someone looking to join the CloudM team?

It will be challenging, but we will have fun and you will feel supported. At CloudM, you will only fail if you choose to. The team here is pretty good at circling the wagons around someone who needs extra assistance, sharing their own experiences and knowledge.

It’s a great time to get involved. The CloudM team, globally and in the US, is growing and there are so many opportunities for personal and career growth. If you are hard working, eager to learn and challenge yourself, CloudM is a great place to work.

About Version 2
Version 2 is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About CloudM
CloudM is an award-winning SaaS company whose humble beginnings in Manchester have grown into a global business in just a few short years.

Our team of tech-driven innovators have designed a SaaS data management platform for you to get the most from your digital workspace. Whether it’s Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or other SaaS applications, CloudM drives your business through a simple, easy-to-use interface, helping you to work smarter, not harder.

By automating time-consuming tasks like IT admin, onboarding & offboarding, archiving and migrations, the CloudM platform takes care of the day-to-day, allowing you to focus on the big picture.

With over 35,000 customers including the likes of Spotify, Netflix and Uber, our all-in-one platform is putting office life on auto-pilot, saving you time, stress and money.

2022 CloudM

Utah Passes Law Requiring Parental Consent for Minors on Social Media: How DNS Filtering Can Help Protect Children Online

Utah has passed a new law that requires parental consent for minors to use social media. The law aims to protect children from potential harm and social media addiction, but critics argue it could be difficult to enforce and limit free speech. The law will take effect in March 2024 and could set a precedent for other states.

Under the new law, social media companies must obtain consent from parents or legal guardians of minors before collecting, storing, or using their personal information. The law also requires social media platforms to provide an option for parents to access and delete any information their children have shared on the platform.

Parental controls with DNS filtering are a type of internet filter that parents can use to limit their children’s access to certain websites and online content. This type of filter works by using a DNS (Domain Name System) server to redirect requests for specific websites or types of content to a block page or a filtered version of the website.

DNS filtering can be a useful tool for parents who want to protect their children from online threats such as inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and phishing attacks. It can also be helpful in managing screen time and limiting access to specific websites or online activities during certain times of the day.

Some parental control solutions that use DNS filtering also offer additional features such as content categorization, which can automatically block access to websites in certain categories such as gambling, drugs, or adult content. These solutions can also allow parents to create individual profiles for each child and set customized filtering rules based on their age and maturity level.

Overall, parental controls with DNS filtering can be an effective way for parents to protect their children from online dangers and promote safe and responsible internet use.

To ensure compliance with the new law and provide the first layer of protection for children online, start your free trial here.

About Version 2
Version 2 is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About SafeDNS
SafeDNS breathes to make the internet safer for people all over the world with solutions ranging from AI & ML-powered web filtering, cybersecurity to threat intelligence. Moreover, we strive to create the next generation of safer and more affordable web filtering products. Endlessly working to improve our users’ online protection, SafeDNS has also launched an innovative system powered by continuous machine learning and user behavior analytics to detect botnets and malicious websites.

2022 safedns

How does it feel to discover a Zero-day Vulnerability at 21?

Mykhailo Dovhanych, 21, our Pentester has become a local celebrity. He made the digital world a bit safer by discovering a Zero-day vulnerability and getting his first CVE. We asked him a couple of questions to learn more about this exciting story:

UnderDefense: What is the official name of your position in the company?
Mykhailo: I’m a Penetration Tester, but personally, I prefer to call it Red Team Operator (laughing).

UnderDefense: When did you decide that you want to work in the CyberSec industry? Why?
Mykhailo: I`ve been into cybersecurity since 2019 when a couple of my friends decided to go to military universities. I planned to join them, but then I realized that cyberspace is the “5th field” of war, the most interesting for me. I felt like I could definitely make a contribution there. So I made the decision to advance in Offensive Security.

UnderDefense: What software was this vulnerability found in?
Mykhailo: I found it in Pi-hole. Pi-hole is a free, open-source software for Linux that acts as a DNS sinkhole and ad blocker. It is designed to run on a Raspberry Pi, but can also be installed on other Linux-based systems. Pi-hole blocks ads by routing DNS queries for known ad-serving domains to a “black hole” effectively preventing ads from appearing on devices that use it as their DNS server.

UnderDefense: Who uses Pi-hole? How many people could be affected?
Mykhailo: These are individuals and organizations that want to block unwanted ads and trackers on their network, including homes, small businesses, and schools. Also, it is used by individuals who want more control over their privacy and security when browsing the internet. There is no exact data regarding Pi-hole installs and active users, but approximately hundreds of thousands could have been affected, possibly even more than half a million.

UnderDefense: What is the nature of the vulnerability you found?
Mykhailo: The vulnerability is that attackers could access information about domains from these blacklists created by the administrator. These blacklists contain confidential information that should not be disclosed. Since tracking domains are constantly changing, it’s not easy to record all of them and keep the blacklists updated. So updated lists of such domains are sold on the internet and you can buy them for a few dollars. In this particular case, the client who buys and implements such a list is in danger. Attackers can obtain these lists for free by exploiting the vulnerability. When we announced it to the developer, it had a “Zero Day” status, meaning that all versions were vulnerable.

UnderDefense: Was this vulnerability fixed?
Mykhailo: With the help of search engines Shodan, ZoomEye, and special Google Dorks, it was possible to select publicly available DNS servers and get all blocked domains from them. Currently, there is an updated version of the Pi-Hole Admin Panel without this vulnerability.

You can learn more about the above-mentioned CVE here:
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-23513

About Version 2
Version 2 is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About UnderDefense
UnderDefense, a globally top-ranked firm by Gartner and Clutch, provides cyber resiliency consulting and technology-enabled services to anticipate, manage and defend against cyber threats. We empower clients to predict, prevent, detect, and respond to threats.

2022 UnderDefense