London, UK – 1st February 2024 – Acronis, a leading provider of cyber protection, today announced it has become a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), an ecosystem of independent software vendors (ISV) and managed security service providers (MSSP). MISA members have integrated their solutions with Microsoft security technology to build a better defence against a world of increasing cybersecurity threats.

 

Acronis advocates for natively integrated applications and services commonly used by service providers to boost productivity and efficiency. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud is an advanced single, integrated solution that reduces complexity and provides unmatched integrated protection from ever-evolving cyber threats. It also encompasses the Acronis Ecosystem of more than 200 integrations with third-party vendors.

 

“Over 20,000 MSPs use Acronis to protect and manage their customers’ endpoints, applications, and data,” said Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis. “Most of them are Microsoft CSP Direct or Indirect Resellers who seek synergies between Microsoft, Acronis, and other vendors to meet customer security and data resiliency requirements. With today’s announcement of Acronis’ Cyber Cloud Protect integrated with Microsoft Intune, MSPs can now manage customer endpoints with Microsoft Intune and deploy Acronis managed security and backup services quickly and easily to their customers, all from a single agent and interface.”

 

The integration between Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud and Microsoft Intune allows partners to deploy Acronis agents and apply protection plans based on Microsoft Entra ID groups through Microsoft Intune, which adheres to Microsoft best practices. Acronis partners can now seamlessly explore integration options directly through the MISA partner catalog, aiming to provide MSPs with a more accessible experience for efficiently enabling an integrated ecosystem.

 

Acronis’ collaboration with MISA demonstrates the quality of its integration with Microsoft Intune, showcasing a long-term commitment to the Microsoft relationship. MISA enables close collaboration between members with the shared goal of improving customer security. Each new member brings valuable expertise, making the association more effective as it expands. Joining this ecosystem reinforces Acronis’ dedication to cybersecurity.

 

“The Microsoft Intelligent Security Association has grown into a vibrant ecosystem comprised of the most reliable and trusted security software vendors across the globe,” said Maria Thomson, Director, Microsoft Intelligent Security Association. “Our members, like Acronis, share Microsoft’s commitment to collaboration within the cybersecurity community to improve our customers’ ability to predict, detect, and respond to security threats faster.”

 

Partners who are interested in learning more, visit the MISA Partner Catalog: Microsoft Intelligent Security Association.

 

About Acronis

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions powered by AI. With advanced anti-malware powered by cutting-edge machine intelligence and blockchain-based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment – from cloud to hybrid to on-premises – at a low and predictable cost.

 

Acronis is a Swiss company, founded in Singapore. Celebrating two decades of innovation, Acronis has 1,800+ employees in 45 locations. Acronis Cyber Protect solution is available in 26 languages in over 150 countries and is used by 20,000+ service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.

 

17 major open-standard organizations active in digital identity have launched a new initiative – the Sustainable and Interoperable Digital Identity (SIDI) Hub – to define what is needed to achieve cross-border interoperability for digital identity.

Dozens of digital identity schemes have now been launched or are underway around the world at both national and regional levels, and across the public and private sectors. Yet to date, there is no known scheme considered truly interoperable across borders.   

The SIDI Hub

In recognition of the usability gaps inherent in the current fragmented approach, the SIDI Hub was conceived as a community to accelerate the path to cross-border interoperability.

A spokesperson for the SIDI Hub said: “Interoperability is crucial for a fair and inclusive digital society. In the same way payments can be made across borders, we need mechanisms in place to assure people that they’ll be able to prove their identity online and offline, whenever needed.”

Achieving cross-border interoperability

To promote a common understanding of what cross-border interoperability means and define a shared approach and roadmap for success, the SIDI Hub held its first summit at TRUSTECH 2023.

120+ digital identity experts from governments representing 22 countries, multilaterals, standard organizations, and non-profits attended, including representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UN agencies and the World Bank.

Over three quarters of participants agreed that the establishment of minimum requirements for interoperability was the highest priority on the road to achieving cross-border interoperability. This was closely followed by the definition of global metrics to measure “success” (77%), a shared commitment to championing cross-border use cases (71%), the mapping of trust frameworks across jurisdictions (69%), and the ability to identify which organizations are contributing specific capabilities to digital identity infrastructure (65%).

SIDI Hub’s spokesperson added: “The summit demonstrated the willingness of all sectors and stakeholders to act now and create an interoperable digital future for everyone. It also highlighted how nuanced perception of digital identity can be. Priorities, challenges, opportunities and requirements can differ greatly between Global North and Global South countries. This means to effectively make progress on global interoperability, we need to proactively and intentionally recognize the local context and concerns in each country, including social, cultural, regulatory and legal norms.”

The SIDI Hub roadmap for 2024

Over 90% of participants agreed that the work started at the SIDI Hub summit must continue in 2024.

In response, the SIDI Hub has defined its workstreams and roadmap: 

Identifying champion use cases for cross-border interoperability that serve as baseline for all workstreams
Defining minimum interoperability requirements for priority use cases
Mapping trust frameworks across jurisdictions
Defining metrics of success  

The group is organizing a series of virtual and in-person meetings this year to progress the roadmap, and invites all organizations involved in the development, adoption and implementation of digital identity solutions to add their voice to this important work.

Join the community on LinkedIn, visit the website and sign up for the SIDI Hub newsletter to learn more and stay up to date on the latest news and events. 

About the SIDI Hub

The SIDI Hub was created and is led by: Accountable Digital Identity Association (ADIA), Better Identity Coalition, Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC), Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance, GlobalPlatform, Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA), IDPro, Kantara, OASIS, Open Identity Exchange (OIX), OpenID Foundation, Secure Identity Alliance (SIA)/ OSIA, Trust Over IP (ToIP) Foundation, Women In Identity, and World Privacy Forum.

It brings together:

Governments and multilateral organizations to help translate domestic policy and standards requirements.
Non-profits with a robust track record of close–government collaboration and ability to move at the pace required as requirements mature.
Communities with diverse requirements and technical approaches to build a shared unopinionated view of the identity stack.

 

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Newsbridge’s Cloud Media Hub and Mobile App Reduces Content Production Times and Enables Easy Distribution to Players and Social Media Channels

PARIS — Feb. 1, 2024 — Leading AI and cloud media company Newsbridge announced today that professional German football club 1. FC Köln has deployed the company’s Cloud Media Hub and Mobile App powered by MXT-1 AI indexing technology to improve its content workflows. Newsbridge’s state-of-the-art solutions enable the three-time Bundesliga champions to ingest and auto-index the club’s vast library of digital assets, efficiently create content, and quickly distribute media to partners, players, and fans via social platforms. Local system integrator Qvest ensured a smooth deployment and integration with 1. FC Köln’s existing media ecosystem.

“Newsbridge fulfills our rigorous requirements for in-house video production, centralizing our archived content and enabling fast media search and distribution of player and match highlights at scale,” said Michael Rudolph, head of media and communication, at 1. FC Köln. “The fact that we can ingest and distribute our content to external parties, and on multiple platforms, is an absolute game changer. Being in the cloud, Newsbridge’s Media Hub provides our team with high flexibility — whether they’re at the stadium working from the sideline or creating content remotely.”

1. FC Köln has adopted Newsbridge’s Cloud Media Hub with the capacity for 6,000 hours of video content and three million photos. Powered by MXT-1 multimodal and generative AI, the Cloud Media Hub enables FC Köln to rapidly detect content with high editorial value. All of 1. FC Köln’s media assets are fully searchable thanks to advanced facial recognition, object and logo detection, speech-to-text transcription, and optical character recognition technology. Through Newsbridge’s Mobile App, players and partner agencies can directly access and share match and training photos across social media channels.

An automatic asset placeholder workflow was implemented via API to automatically log match information such as home team, away team, season, location and stadium, when content is pushed to the asset placeholders. Additionally, the Newsbridge Cloud Media Hub is being integrated with Buffer, JW Player, and Stats Perform advanced analytics, synchronizing sports data and enriching 1. FC Köln’s live and archived media assets. The result of these integrations is faster, more efficient media workflows.

“Newsbridge’s Cloud Media Hub with its state-of-the-art indexing, semantic search engine and sports data integrations enable football clubs to find pivotal moments in their large media collections in less than two seconds,” said Philippe Petitpont, co-founder and CEO at Newsbridge. “As one of the early adopters of our MXT-1 AI indexing technology, FC Köln is on the bleeding edge of providing premium experiences to sponsors and fans.”

1. FC Köln is Newsbridge’s second German Bundesliga customer. Newsbridge’s other sports clients include Bayer Leverkusen, the Icelandic Football Association (KSÍ), French Federation of Football (FFF), the French Basketball Federation (FFBB), and the French Rugby League (LNR).

More information about Newsbridge’s solutions can be found at www.newsbridge.io.

# # #

About Newsbridge (www.newsbridge.io)
Newsbridge is the leading AI company solving the video searchability problem. Powered by MXT-1 multimodal and generative AI indexing technology, Newsbridge provides unprecedented access to audiovisual content by generating natural language descriptions of scenes including the automatic detection of faces, objects, logos, landmarks, written texts, audio transcripts, and semantic context.

Whether it be for managing and accessing live recordings, clipping highlights, future friendly archiving, content retrieval or content showcasing and monetization — Newsbridge’s solutions enable smart and efficient media asset management.

Today our platform is used worldwide by sports rights holders, TV channels, press agencies, production houses, journalists, editors, and archivists, to boost their production workflow and media ROI.

All trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

Link to Word Doc: www.202comms.com/Newsbridge/240201-Newsbridge-FC_Köln.docx

Photo Link 1: www.202comms.com/Newsbridge/FC_Cologne_Newsbridge_Media_Hub.png
Photo Caption: German Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln has deployed Newsbridge’s Cloud Media Hub and Mobile App, powered by the company’s MXT-1 AI indexing technology, to improve its content workflows.

Photo Link 2: www.202comms.com/Newsbridge/Newsbridge-MXT1-Logo.png
Photo Caption: Newsbridge MXT-1 logo

Viewpoint Article

by Sharon McDermott, founder and managing director at Trenches Law

When it comes to bringing lightning-fast full fibre broadband to their citizens, both the UK and the US face common hurdles, yet differ significantly in their legislative approaches and the challenges encountered during planning and installation.

One of the most substantial obstacles in the UK is the perennial issue of wayleave agreements — a thorn in the side of any full fibre initiative. Landlords retain the authority to either accept or reject operators’ requests to install the required infrastructure within their buildings, meaning that work can often be blocked. This predicament mirrors the situation across the Atlantic, where tenants may find themselves in buildings with outdated, slow broadband, necessitating convincing the freeholder to embrace installation in order to gain a faster connection.

However, under the UK’s electronic communications code (the Code) — part of the Communications Act 2003 — operators can apply to the court to gain access to a property where previously they’ve not been able to come to an agreement with the freeholder. Interestingly, the US lacks an equivalent legislative framework like this. This void in legislation implies that, during the rollout process, new laws may be required to expedite the deployment of full fibre networks.

Currently, telecommunications in the US are mainly regulated by the Communications Act of 1934 as Amended (Communications Act). It governs the telecommunications and media sectors, with the non-executive Federal Communications Commission (FCC) serving as the primary regulatory authority. Historically, telecommunications facility siting has been predominantly regulated by state and local land use laws. The Act, while preserving local authority, imposes certain limitations and encourages network sharing among operators under regulated terms.

In contrast to the UK’s regulatory body, Ofcom, the US entrusts the FCC with primary oversight of the telecommunications industry, operating as an independent agency, led by up to five commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Importantly, no more than three commissioners can belong to the same political party, with one of the majority party’s commissioners appointed as the Chair.

One crucial aspect to watch will be how the FCC handles uncooperative landlords and freeholders, when compared to the UK’s approach. It will be interesting to see if it will adopt a more forceful stance and expedite the passage of legislation to ensure cooperation.

Additionally, how operators contend with legal expenses incurred while dealing with solicitors representing freeholders and landlords for consents and wayleaves, as well as demands for compensation for subpar work, remains a question. Could we witness similar considerations as seen in the UK?

In both the UK and the US, the overarching goal is to bridge the digital divide caused by varying access to broadband that has perpetuated economic disparities in underserved communities for decades. An estimated 30 million people in the US currently find themselves within this gap.

Given the vast expanse of the US, a multifaceted approach will be necessary for full fibre deployment. Traditional methods such as underground ducting and cable installation will be insufficient on their own. Wireless technologies will play a pivotal role in extending connectivity to both rural and urban areas. This diversified strategy is essential to ensure the commercial viability of providing full fibre access to every premise.

Ultimately, the core objective in both nations is to provide tenants with access to future-proof, high-speed full fibre broadband. This is especially vital in an era where the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand its reach. The question arises: why should the decision lie with freeholders and landlords when operators stand ready to deliver the essential infrastructure?

Therefore, while both the UK and the US grapple with similar challenges in their pursuit of full fibre broadband, their legislative frameworks and regulatory authorities differ significantly. As both countries strive to bring the benefits of high-speed internet to all, operators and unconnected communities wait with anticipation to see how they navigate the complexities of modern telecommunications infrastructure deployment.

Want to learn more about broadband regulation in the UK and the US? Join Trenches Law later this year for Connected America live in Dallas, Texas, and for Connected Britain live in London, UK.

Also in the news:
EU telcos join forces against Gigabit Infrastructure Act
Jio releases ‘Jio Brain’ AI platform
Ofcom issues further crackdown on spoof phonecalls

A new project has claimed that “residents and businesses” across the London UK boroughs of Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames and Merton will benefit from the rollout of a new full fibre broadband and Ethernet network, which is being supported by Boldyn Networks, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London (TfL). The project, which […]

Network operator and UK ISP Connexin has today announced that they’ve secured a contract under the Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout programme, which will see them extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to 34,320 hard to reach premises in parts of Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire (Lot 10). The provider, which has until now focused more […]

CityFibre has today secured another five of the UK government’s Project Gigabit broadband rollout contracts, totalling over £394m. The deals will spread their full fibre (FTTP) ISP network to over 202,000 hard to reach premises across parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Sussex, Kent, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes. Project Gigabit aims to extend […]

Community broadband ISP B4RN, which typically works with volunteers inside rural villages to deploy their new 10Gbps full fibre (FTTP) network across parts of England, has today celebrated the effective completion of their resilient 400Gbps ring network across the North of England by uploading a new video of their work. Firstly, the usual recap. B4RN […]

The CEO of Vodafone Group, Margherita Della Valle, has revealed that their proposed mega-merger with Three UK (CK Hutchison) is being reviewed by the Government under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which reports suggest is linked to CKH’s perceived ties to China and any potential risks of access to sensitive national infrastructure. The […]

News

Yemeni telecoms operators say they fear Houthis may destroy submarine cable infrastructure as part of the ongoing conflict

Vague threats from Houthi rebels have Yemeni telecoms operators fearing that local submarine cable infrastructure could be in jeopardy.

Late last year, a Houthi-linked Telegram channel published a map showing submarine network infrastructure in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf alongside a message that appeared to imply these cables could become targets for future aggression.

“There are maps of international cables connecting all regions of the world through the sea. It seems that Yemen is in a strategic location, as internet lines that connect entire continents — not only countries—pass near it,” read the post.

The Red Sea is a vitally important thoroughfare for international data traffic, allowing data to travel from Asia and Africa into the Mediterranean Sea and on to Europe via the Suez Canal. The Red Sea’s floor plays host to 16 submarine cables that reportedly carry around 17% of the world’s internet traffic, including crucial military communications for the surrounding region.

Perhaps the most important of these cables is the Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) cable, which spans over 25,000km and connects Southeast Asia to Europe. Damage to the AAE-1 or accompanying cables could have major ramifications not only for the local economies that rely on them for connectivity but also for the international data community.

In recent months, this fact has become more pertinent with Yemeni Houthi rebels conducting a drone-led attack campaign against commercial shipping in the region in retaliation for the ongoing war in Gaza. This has led to major bombing campaigns in Yemen by Western powers, with the conflict expanding to include around a dozen countries.

But could this conflict realistically come to also encompass submarine cable infrastructure? The realities of such an attack seem unlikely. While the general location of submarine infrastructure is published by the community in order for maritime traffic to avoid damaging the cable, locating the cable accurately enough to attack it from the surface would be very difficult without precision equipment. Similarly, getting close enough to attack these cables without submersibles – particularly in an area constantly patrolled by various naval vessels – would be a risky business.

On the other hand, the part of the seabed where the cables pass near the Yemeni coast is notably shallow, reaching depths of only about 100m. While this would be of little help to the Houthis when it comes to locating the cables themselves, it does make the prospect of damaging these cables more feasible using conventional means; for example, using submersible explosives similar to the sea mines that the Houthi’s have deployed in the Red Sea for numerous years.

If a cable were to be damaged, the repair process would likely be arduous. There is only a very limited number of cable ships available internationally to perform the repairs, many of which would have to travel for days or even weeks to reach the location of the break. Couple this with the added complexity and security requirements of working on a cable in troubled waters like the Red Sea and cables could take months to repair.

For now, the Houthis’ veiled threats to submarine cable infrastructure seem to be little more than hot air, but they do highlight a growing appreciation for the critical role that submarine cable infrastructure plays in global economy – and the far-reaching impact disrupting these systems could have for the international community.

How are global conflicts impacting international data traffic? Join the submarine networks community in discussion at this year’s Submarine Networks EMEA conference

Also in the news:
EU telcos join forces against Gigabit Infrastructure Act
Jio releases ‘Jio Brain’ AI platform
Ofcom issues further crackdown on spoof phonecalls