Technology – International World Of Business

TMC Unveils Enterprise Communications Summit 2026 Conference Agenda: AI, Cloud & Collaboration Take the Lead in the Future of Business Connectivity

Press Room Team — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:43:16 +0000

[Shelton, CT] —October 13, 2025— TMC announced the full conference program for the new Enterprise Communications Summit 2026, set for February 10–12, 2026 at the newly renovated Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Designed for CIOs, CTOs, communications leaders, and IT decision-makers, this event dives deep into how AI, cloud-native systems, and intelligent collaboration are reshaping modern enterprises.

As part of the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW, Enterprise Communications Summit brings together the brightest minds and solution providers in communications, UCaaS, CCaaS, AI, and cloud infrastructure to help organizations transform connectivity into competitive advantage.

Agenda highlights include:

“Rise of the AI-Enhanced Employee: A Practical Guide to AI-Powered Productivity”
“UC Quality of Experience in the Real World”
“Zero Trust in Practice: A Human-Centered Guide to Securing Enterprise Communications”
“AI and the Future of Meetings: Smarter, Shorter, and More Productive
“Empowering the Frontline Worker: Connecting the Unconnected Workforce”
Hands-On Demos & Networking — See live product demos, solution showcases, and interactive meet-ups in the dedicated “Solutions Theatre” on the #TECHSUPERSHOW Expo Hall

This is the conference for communications and IT leaders wanting clear direction in a rapidly evolving landscape:

Sessions covering business strategy and technology implementation.
Access to 300+ exhibitors showcasing UC, collaboration, AI, and cloud solutions
Unparalleled opportunities to meet and partner with multiple vendors, solutions and service providers, system integrators, and The Channel.
Affordable registration, hotels, and travel packages
All in a tropical, reinvigorated venue perfect for inspiration and disruption

Why this matters now
Businesses face accelerating demand to modernize how they communicate — remote/hybrid work, team collaboration, AI customer engagement, security challenges, and legacy architecture constraints. Those who modernize intelligently will drive engagement, productivity, and revenue. Enterprise Communications Summit 2026 delivers the insights and connections to make that future real.

Don’t let your organization fall behind
If communications strategy is critical to your success, this is the event you can’t skip. Send your leadership, IT, and business teams — Enterprise Communications Summit 2026 is where insight meets execution.

A Convention Center Reimagined
The fully renovated Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center features modern meeting spaces, cutting-edge AV, open-concept design, and seamless flow between sessions, expo halls, and networking areas — built for connection and collaboration.

“We’re excited to unveil the complete agenda for Enterprise Communications Summit 2026,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC. “The newest addition to the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW offers not only visionary thought leadership, but hands-on guidance and real-world strategies. Attendees will leave empowered to modernize communications, drive collaboration, and deliver measurable business outcomes through intelligent connectivity.”

Other Collocated events within the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW include Generative AI Expo, Enterprise Cybersecurity Expo, Future of CX Expo, AIoT World Expo, AI Agent Event, and MSP Expo.
For full agenda, speaker details, or to register, visit [www.enterprisecommunicationssummit.com]www.enterprisecommunicationssummit.com or contact mailto:events@tmcnet.com.

About TMC
TMC provides global buyers with valuable insights to make informed tech decisions through our editorial platforms, live events, webinars, and online advertising. Leading vendors trust TMC, thought leadership, and our events for branding, thought leadership, and lead generation. Our live events, like the MSP Expo #TECHSUPERSHOW, deliver unmatched visibility, while our custom lead generation programs and webinars ensure a steady flow of sales opportunities. Display ads on trusted sites generate millions of impressions, boosting brand reputations. TMC offers a complete 360-degree marketing solution, from event management to content creation, driving SEO, branding, and marketing success. Learn more at www.tmcnet.com and follow @tmcnet on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.

Let’s develop Artificial Intelligence to drive a fairer and more sustainable social transition

Press Room Team — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 23:14:32 +0000

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The UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia (COP16) offers a unique moment to leverage the power of technology and transform today’s climate constraints into tomorrow’s climate opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yesterday’s solutions can’t fix tomorrow’s problems. Now more than ever, this adage rings true. As Latin America and the Caribbean approach the tipping point of survivable global warming, we urgently need fresh tools and human creativity to turn the tide.

Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI)—the technology that enables machines to simulate human learning, computing, and predictions.

The region is already harnessing the power of AI. As my colleagues wrote, the Pantera Platform uses advanced algorithms to detect fires via satellites and cameras.

In healthcare, predictive AI diagnoses illnesses in remote communities, utilizing smartphone cameras to detect tropical diseases early.

The IDB’s 2024 macroeconomic report is now an interactive document that provides real-time insights, allowing users to explore scenarios and receive answers tailored to their queries.

The possibilities are vast.

AI can reduce costs, optimize product design, and create social value—all essential for making it easier for capital to flow to climate investments, including biodiversity monitoring and conservation – thus taking us all one step closer to Peace with Nature, the theme of COP16.

Key Areas

With only 17% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals on target for 2030, combining AI with visionary leadership could catalyze the $470 billion to $1.3 trillion in annual investment dollars that IDB estimates are needed to achieve climate goals.

IDB Invest identifies three priority areas where responsible AI can play a pivotal role.

Caribbean Resilience

AI’s capacity to scale information and generate analytics could be a game-changer for coastal economies and local ecosystems, especially in the Caribbean. AI could create models that predict weather patterns, crop yields, soil erosion, and supply chain disruptions. When paired with Earth Observation data, AI can analyze infrastructure and building locations while recording species and habitat locations, enhancing disaster mitigation and response. We can integrate this data into investment decisions by collaborating with local partners, ensuring smarter coastal project locations, nature-based solutions, and adaptation strategies.

The Amazon

AI can play a pivotal role in protecting the Amazon Region. For example, to remove deforestation in its supply chain, Unilever is teaming up with Google satellites, including geospatial analytics and AI, to help sustainable palm oil sourcing and manage forest commodity risks. Separately, reforestation in the Amazon forest is currently considered the largest human-led initiative for atmospheric carbon sequestration and could account for 15% of global removal. Technologies like satellites and AI could improve accountability on emissions, ensuring we support reforestation efforts that work and discontinue fraudulent or ineffective programs. Initiatives like IDB Invest’s Amazônia360 leverage AI to enhance sustainable practices and monitor reforestation projects effectively, promoting transparency and impact. Similar technology is also being applied to biodiversity, with one such model, able to calculate the costs and benefits of conservation.

Clean Energy

AI can revolutionize clean energy project lifecycles —from energy forecasting and site selection to procurement, installation, and maintenance. Enhanced data insights can inform decision-making, especially for weather-dependent renewable sources like wind. AI-powered forecasting can potentially optimize grid management, storage, and distribution—a win for investors, operators, and customers alike. Further, AI could also add value when evaluating market trends, regulatory changes, and the health of capital equipment, such as costly batteries and solar panels. In the context of clean energy, we would be remiss to ignore the tremendous energy usage of AI data processing. IEA’s latest estimates indicate that 2022 AI data centers consumed up to 1.3% of global energy. Scaling energy efficiency mechanisms and clean energy generation can potentially feed back into powering the very systems that designed them.

Responsible AI

Governments, donors, private companies, and peer multilateral institutions must unite under a shared ethos of implementing impactful, responsible AI that is inclusive and accessible.

Currently, only 2% of companies have operationalized mechanisms for responsible AI usage. Unless this number increases, the technology risks doing more harm than good – utilizing opaque processes, excluding specific populations, widening inequalities, and producing damaging results.

We’ve learned from the past, like the uneven rollout of broadband internet, which left many in the region behind.

One lesson is that more than connectivity is needed; we must ensure that workers in the region are equipped with the digital literacy and skills to utilize and innovate with AI.

At the same time, delaying our action with too many bureaucratic frameworks and processes, risks postponing development and leaving the region behind.

Faith in People

IDB Invest trends are optimistic. Responsible AI can and should be our next frontier.

Our originate-to-share model aims to mobilize more funding from third-party investors, ramping up investments in the Caribbean, the Amazon Region, and the regional energy transition for scalable impact.

IDB Invest’s recent partnerships show that when we mobilize people and capital, the sum is greater than the individual parts. We have financing networks, blue bonds, and clean energy deals now in motion.

wX Insights 2024 Reveals Funding Gap for Women Tech Entrepreneurs in Latin America

Press Room Team — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 03:14:10 +0000

IDB Lab’s study provides a comprehensive overview of female entrepreneurship in STEM to help close the gender gap.

Women-led companies in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are raising more capital, but not enough of it, even though venture capital funds see the advantages and market opportunities of investing in these women-led companies.

This was revealed by wX Insights, a study published by IDB Lab, the Inter-American Development Bank’s innovation lab, together with Endeavor Mexico, Value for Women and We-Fi (the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative). The report offers a comprehensive view on the state of entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean for women in STEM.

The study took data from nearly 1,700 women-led STEM companies and 600-plus equity funds that have invested in firms with a woman at the helm in Latin America. It has also conducted interviews with 375 women entrepreneurs and managers and with 35 venture capital investors, offering a comprehensive view of female technology entrepreneurship in the region.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents continued to cite lack of financing as the main obstacle to business growth and indicated that their main challenges include contacting investors, navigating the complexities of negotiation, and dealing with biases in investment decision making.

“The growth of women STEMpreneurs is critical to the future of innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean,” IDB Lab’s Investment Unit Chief Magdalena Coronel said. “By closing the funding gap and supporting these entrepreneurs, we are not only driving technological progress, but also fostering a more inclusive and equitable economy.”

The study shows that only half of STEMpreneurs have a STEM background, that one third have been involved in more than one entrepreneurial venture, and that the sectors they focus on are mainly education technology, SaaS (software as a service) and health technologies. It also highlights that women who have been more successful in raising capital tend to participate in business support and team-entrepreneurship programs.

On the investor side, wX Insights 2024 shows that 60% of investors have observed an increase in women founders in STEM in recent years and 92% reported using specific outreach and headhunting strategies to reach more female entrepreneurs.

In addition to providing detailed data on investors and women in STEM ventures, the study seeks to offer key insights into the challenges facing women STEMpreneurs and the opportunities to invest in them. It also offers practical recommendations to reduce the funding and gender gap. To access the full report, click here.

About IDB Lab

IDB Lab is the innovation and venture capital arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group. We discover new ways to drive social inclusion, environmental action and productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean. IDB Lab leverages financing, knowledge, and connections to support early-stage entrepreneurship, foster new technologies, activate innovative markets and catalyze existing sectors. www.idblab.org.

Artificial Intelligence: The Challenge Of Combining Innovation with Ethics, Responsibility and Inclusiveness

Press Room Team — Fri, 24 May 2024 01:00:41 +0000

No one doubts the transformative power of innovation. Innovation, when fostered in a responsible and inclusive manner, is key to addressing social challenges and generating positive change for all.

International agencies like IDB Lab are obliged to take a proactive stance in the pursuit of innovation, especially in relation to artificial intelligence (AI) and the establishment of standards and regulations for its use. In doing so, we ensure that innovation is not only innovative, but also ethical and inclusive.

At IDB Lab we promote creativity with responsibility; we recognize the importance of fostering ecosystems where innovation is not only driven but also guided by ethical considerations. Through initiatives such as fAIr LAC we develop frameworks, tools and best practices that are aligned with international standards, thus promoting transparency, equity, and accountability in the implementation of AI. Initiatives such as fAIr LAC, fAIr LAC 3S and fAIr Venture favor the construction of solid ecosystems that enable the responsible development of AI-based solutions and the consolidation of a growing portfolio with initiatives that incorporate tools to prevent and mitigate risks derived from AI.

In addition, the open innovation call for gender and artificial intelligence that we launched from IDB Lab to find and support solutions in our region that use AI to help reduce bias and discrimination based on sex or gender clearly shows our commitment to inclusion and to that much-needed proactivity. The success of the call offered us an overview of the enormous potential of our region in designing projects to reduce inequality gaps, such as:

Quipu: A marketplace for people working in the informal economy that uses AI-driven alternative credit risk scoring. This solution is actively working to reduce gender bias in credit allocation.
Jobecam: A video platform that helps companies optimize their processes and reduce unconscious bias in talent selection through AI-powered anonymous videos and resumes. This solution, a pioneer in the development of anonymous video selection technology in the world, aims to reduce gender bias in recruitment.
Quantil: A consulting firm that is working on automating its algorithmic auditing tool, especially to ensure fairness and transparency of different types of models, including generative ones.

Innovation is not without its challenges, and the rapid advancement of AI-based technology requires us to deploy our full attention to prevent unintended consequences. Through active collaboration, knowledge sharing and a commitment to prioritizing equity and transparency, we can navigate the complexities of AI innovation responsibly and move towards a future where AI innovation contributes to improving lives.

Promoting creativity is at the core of IDB Lab, but always guided by the principle that innovation should not only break barriers, but also improve communities and generate positive change for all in Latin America and the Caribbean. Let this International Day of Creativity and Innovation serve to reaffirm our commitment to fostering inclusive and responsible innovation that ethically drives the development of our region.

ARTICLE: 5G is coming to enterprises and everyone will be a winner

Press Room Team — Thu, 02 May 2024 20:59:56 +0000

By: Upendra Pingle,

Senior Vice President of Smart Cellular Networks

A year ago, industry observers saw the evolution of 5G moving beyond the macrocellular environment toward more specialized deployments of distributed antenna systems (DAS) in large public venues. Stadiums, pavilions and even transport hubs were (and are) ideal for 5G to handle extremely high demand and provide secure connections at points of sale and ticket validation kiosks, for example.

Today in the United States, major cellular network operators are rapidly advancing their 5G deployments in sports stadiums and other large public venues, proudly touting their capabilities to a multimedia-hungry crowd. Similar deployments are also occurring in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Now, the question is, what’s next for 5G in 2024? My expectation is that 5G will continue to trickle down to become an even bigger player for enterprise connectivity needs. As was the case in large public venues, the availability of 5G will be a catalyst for the evolution of the business models of mobile network operators (MNOs).

Convergence in figures: income and costs
For business networks to do more, they have to be more; That is, they must be more agile in what they can do and how they do it. Convergence is the buzzword of the moment, but it is not a single, simple concept. It can be applied to various deployments based on business cases, but whether it is a converged 5G/Wi-Fi network, a converged O-RAN and DAS/small cells, or a converged public and private network, in each case, to ORMs are about simplifying the architecture and monetizing their services.

First, let’s look at the income opportunities. 5G networks in B2B companies represent a key opportunity for mobile network operators to monetize their converged network offerings. A recent survey conducted by GSMA (discussed in this webinar, free registration required) revealed that 83% of MNO CEOs see their enterprise and government customers as their biggest revenue opportunity for 5G deployments.

The same survey showed that almost two-thirds of MNOs consider private wireless networks an important part of their business strategy. Without discounting considerable consumer interest in 5G-powered services for things like real-time gaming, the B2B business is clearly the strongest 5G opportunity for mobile network operators in 2024, driving 5G indoors across networks. Local public and private 5G.

The reasons for this interest in the business space are many, but here are some of particular interest:

Scalable enterprise services mean that both MNOs and third-party operators can sell a local 5G network for telephony today and expand the value of the network later. Once the investment in deployment is made, businesses can evolve to adopt these services on a more affordable OpEx basis.
Premium pricing options based on 5G service levels – starting with basic 5G coverage and expanding capacity for more bandwidth-intensive multimedia or VR/AR as needed – allow MNOs to allocate greater 5G bandwidth to companies that are willing to pay for it. They can even give companies internal control of sensitive private network applications.
IoT and other value-added services represent new revenue opportunities for converged networks that integrate IT and OT networks, managed centrally by the MNO through a network-as-a-service (NaaS) relationship. These relationships are long-lasting: once started, they tend to persist and grow, and long-term revenue can grow with them.

Second, let’s consider the potential for cost savings. MNOs are increasingly able to offload the costs of 5G network deployment, in whole or in part, to the companies they serve, expanding the revenue stream beyond that generated by transporting traffic. The latest advances have made this business model even more attractive due to the multiple efficiencies it allows, namely:

Converged networks are becoming simpler , integrating multiple wireless networks into unified (or even virtualized) services. It means less overhead infrastructure, less manpower and expertise to deploy that infrastructure, greater opportunities for remote optimization, monitoring and management, and, in fully digital front-end networks, it can mean eliminating more than 90% of power and space to maintain the head of the network.
The flexibility of O-RAN means that both mobile network operators and neutral hosts can deliver scalable, secure and resilient 5G enterprise networks at substantially lower cost. O-RAN’s CU/DU network agnostic interoperability can be integrated with an all-digital DAS compatible with O-RAN and/or small cell networks using the combinations of vendor components that best suit the specific business environment. Additionally, because O-RAN technology involves such a diverse supply chain, it is resistant to bottlenecks and price shocks.
O-RAN also streamlines multi-MNO deployments . The standardized and pre-integrated connectivity of ORMs allows companies to incorporate more ORMs.

faster. And since everything is 100% digital, MNOs gain the flexibility of being able to leverage licensed spectrum, private spectrum, or even sliced spectrum as a monetization opportunity.

It is also worth noting that many of these cost reduction factors provide an important secondary benefit to the sustainability profile of the enterprise network, since they require less material, power and cooling than older analog networks. This green dimension can add more depth to an already strong product offering, as many companies maintain public commitments to follow sustainable practices. The actual benefit in each case is determined by a large number of factors unique to the implementation, but there is almost always an argument in favor of sustainability.

What companies want – and expect – from 5G converged networks

The capacity, low latency and high security inherent in 5G are key advantages across a number of operational categories, such as voice and video, IoT device connectivity and much more. Enterprises can take advantage of the next level of converged local networks to introduce 5G into their facilities, but businesses expect simplicity of operation and a minimal infrastructure footprint.

Although applications are as diverse as the companies that use them, a common expectation that both MNOs and third-party operators will increasingly encounter is the need for simplicity and management that is as close to hands-off as possible. Companies that invest the capital necessary to deploy these networks do not want to double the expenses by hiring IT staff to manage them.

For mobile network operators, this is where their own branded offerings, NaaS and analytics can help put converged 5G networks back on the table for those companies that would otherwise not be willing to afford the full cost of ownership that comes with a network that changes the business.

2024 will be the year of enterprise 5G

The 5G wave continues to advance. This year it will arrive at your nearest office, business or factory. Mobile network operators will benefit from enterprise interest in converged 5G networks. Like the ongoing rollout of 5G in large public venues, the downstream market represented by the diverse enterprise category is emerging as a key opportunity, even in a struggling economy.

Businesses need stronger, more flexible connectivity between employees, customers, devices and applications. DAS and O-RAN-enabled small cells offer all of this, along with a highly diversified product portfolio resilient to market disruptions. Mobile network operators stand to gain a lot because deployment costs are borne by businesses to a greater extent than public venues, ongoing sales opportunities are many and varied, and remote NaaS business models create reliable, long-term revenue streams. as they bring more value to key enterprise customers.

AI-Powered Automation Startup for Social Media, Munch, Raises $7.2M in Seed Funding

Press Room Team — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 19:24:35 +0000

The funding will be used for R&D, customer growth and team expansion to further accelerate the company’s global presence after reaching $2M annual recurring revenue within 8 months

Munch, a leading AI-powered automation platform for social media, today announced their $7.2 million seed funding round. The round was led by A* Capital, supported by Liquid2 and Pre-Seed investors Cardumen Capital and Remagine Ventures. The investment will be focused toward company growth, increasing its reach into new global markets and expanding its offering to enterprises. Additionally, the funds will be allocated to further develop Munch’s solution helping content professionals seamlessly create and elevate short-form videos from existing long-form content increasing ROI.

The heightened social media demand has left content professionals with a labor-intensive, costly, and creatively draining process of manually producing content, making it difficult to find a place and engage in popular conversations. Munch reduces this burden by leveraging AI to streamline this resource intensive process with a platform that extracts engaging bite-sized clips from long-form videos that are primed for social media sharing in a matter of minutes. Recent reports found that 90% of marketers using short-form content intend to increase or maintain their investment as using short-form content has the highest ROI of any media format.

Munch’s AI driven platform turns long-form marketing content into engaging and impactful clips for social media usage. It includes automatic editing, instant and precise subtitle generation, pre-scripted social media posts formulated through advanced AI technology and caters to a multilingual audience supporting over 20 different languages. Content is clipped and adjusted to always have the action at the center of the frame no matter what social media platform it will be shared on. This approach ensures a global reach for businesses looking to amplify the impact of social media strategy.

“Businesses and brands who successfully employ social media content strategies are seeing higher returns on their investments and improving their bottom lines,” said Oren Kandel, CEO and Co-founder of Munch. “With Munch, any business, small or large, with quality content can now reach more potential customers – a revolutionary approach when it comes to social media usage for marketing teams around the world. We are grateful for our investors’ trust and are eager to use the recent funds to expand our team and market presence, further entrenching Munch’s position as a leading AI platform for social media.”

The company’s clip generation engine analyzes video content against the latest social media trends and marketing insights to maximize its viewership. With Munch, single purpose videos, such as podcasts, webinars, and livestreams, can be transformed into a series of engaging clips with the potential to go viral. Not only does this novel approach to content production and distribution increase business ROI, but it minimizes the time-consuming process spent on tedious editing tasks and allows brands to focus on creative ideation and strategic planning while remaining relevant on social media with consistent, effortless, data-driven content.

“A* Capital is committed to helping entrepreneurs build impactful companies and Munch is a prime example of what we look for,” said Gautam Gupta, General Partner at A* Capital. “The rise of social media has turned the marketing landscape on its head and has created a need for cost-effective, time-saving solutions. Munch’s cutting-edge platform brings an innovative approach to content creation, and we see the potential for the company to help businesses globally go viral with the click of a button. We look forward to seeing Munch build on its achievements to date and can’t wait to see what’s next.”

Munch has reached over $2M ARR within 8 months and has over three thousand paying subscribers worldwide. The company has signed contracts with several major, well-renowned media giants as a primary short-form vendor.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Delivers Enterprise Generative AI Service

Press Room Team — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 00:04:54 +0000

Oracle today announced the limited availability of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI service. The new generative AI service will support large language models (LLMs) to help organizations automate end-to-end business processes, improve decision-making, and enhance customer experiences, while keeping their data secure and private.

Built on OCI in collaboration with Cohere, the leading AI platform for enterprise, the OCI Generative AI service is a managed service that enables users to integrate LLMs in their own applications through an available API. Once generally available, this service and Cohere models will work seamlessly with AI Vector Search, a feature of Oracle Database 23c that provides retrieval augmented generation (RAG), a generative AI technique that combines pretrained LLMs and proprietary business data to deliver responses with higher accuracy. This service will also form the basis for generative AI capabilities embedded across Oracle’s suite of SaaS applications, including Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite, Oracle NetSuite, and industry applications such as Oracle Cerner.

“Oracle’s unique industry knowledge has enabled us to create state-of-the-art generative AI services for organizations to automate their processes, make better decisions, and improve the experiences they deliver to customers,” said Clay Magouyrk, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “Through our partnership with Cohere, customers will be able to embed generative AI easily and securely into their technology stack with full confidence that our solutions align with their most stringent data security and privacy requirements. Our approach further enables organizations to refine these models using their own data—so the models will understand their internal operations like no one else.”

With its low-cost, secure, high-speed AI infrastructure, OCI will enable customers to use Cohere’s models as a managed service specifically targeted for enterprise use cases. Customers using the OCI Generative AI service run their workloads in a dedicated infrastructure on Oracle’s unique AI Supercluster architecture. This enables customers to control their specific cost and throughput requirements, whether they are fine-tuning models with their own data or deploying their custom models.

The new OCI generative AI service includes the following models:

Command: This model takes a user’s prompt and generates text. Available in two different sizes, Command is highly customizable for business use cases, including text generation, text summarization, RAG, and chat.
Summarize: This model does abstractive summarization of the text and enables the user to configure the results with a variety of parameters to support unique use cases. For example, summarizing complex documents for legal teams, technical support documentation for customer service representatives, and long email chains for busy employees.
Embed: This text representation model translates text into numerical vectors that models can understand. It provides industry-leading English and multilingual models (100+ languages) for a range of use cases, including semantic search, text classification, search engine for RAG and legacy search improvement.

“Oracle and Cohere center our enterprise AI offering on the principles of data security, model customization, latency, and helping companies quickly, meaningfully, cost-efficiently, and responsibly deploy AI technology,” said Martin Kon, president & COO, Cohere. “We are working closely together with Oracle to enable enterprises to supercharge their businesses with AI, with a data security and privacy-first approach.”

“Oracle has been a valuable partner for Altair and with Altair’s focus on computational science and artificial intelligence, Altair has begun integrating large language models into our solutions because of their transformative promise,” said Sam Mahalingam, chief technology officer, Altair. “We believe generative AI will transform the way we work. For example, customers will be able to describe the desired outcome in natural language format and an LLM will automatically produce solutions. In data analytics, customers will no longer need to code for machine learning but simply ask for the predictions. In engineering, customers can describe product properties and the models will do the design. The applications are limitless.”

In addition to the OCI Generative AI service news, Oracle AI has continued to add enhancements to existing services with multiple limited availability programs, including:

Oracle Digital Assistant: Adds generative AI features to allow customers to integrate LLMs and other generative capabilities into their digital assistants. In addition, developers can use generative AI to build digital assistants more quickly and efficiently.
OCI Language Healthcare NLP: Adds healthcare insights with natural language processing. This new feature of the OCI Language service helps better process language in the medical domain. New models will help recognize medical terms, relationships and entities in records such as clinical trials notes, patient progress notes, and electronic health records.
OCI Language Document Translation Experience: Adds new document translation feature to support a wide range of formats—Word, PPT, HTML, JSON, and Excel—ensuring content remains intact and translated across diverse file types.
OCI Vision: Adds Facial Detection, gaining the ability to recognize faces and facial features in images, and expanding the number of OCI Vision use cases.
OCI Speech: Adds diarization, allowing the service to embed speaker information into transcribed sections of audio. Diarization makes OCI Speech a valuable tool for organizing, analyzing, and extracting meaningful information from spoken interactions.
OCI Data Science: Adds Feature Store, a central repository used to manage features developed by data science teams. Feature Store provides a cohesive framework where features are meticulously documented, shared, stored, and served in a streamlined manner.

“The OCI Generative AI service is the first generative AI cloud service to deliver enterprise-level security, flexibility, and user tuning that the market has been demanding. It provides tight security and governance of users’ proprietary data, and models that limit its use and visibility to only that customer,” said Marc Staimer, senior analyst, Wikibon. “Just as importantly, customers can control their dedicated OCI Supercluster AI infrastructure to meet their specific cost and throughput requirements as they fine-tune their models or deploy their custom models. The OCI Generative AI service is a winning combination of enterprise capabilities and cost-performance.”

Attacks against virtualization systems and Linux servers

Press Room Team — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 18:54:52 +0000

We already know that ransomware is very nasty. But how do you build your defenses against it? Rather, what should you protect first and foremost? Often, Windows workstations, Active Directory servers and other Microsoft products are prime candidates, a strategy that is usually justified. But we should keep in mind that cybercriminals’ tactics are constantly evolving and that malicious tools are already being developed for Linux servers and virtualization systems. In fact, in 2022, the total number of attacks on Linux systems increased by approximately 75%.

The motivation behind these attacks is very clear: the popularity of open source and virtualization is on the rise, which means that more and more servers are running Linux or VMWare ESXi. These can store a wealth of critical information that, if encrypted, can instantly cripple a company’s operations. And, as the security of Windows systems has traditionally been the focus of attention, the rest of the servers are proving to be easy prey.

Attacks in 2022 and 2023
In February 2023, many VMware ESXi server owners were affected by the ESXiArgs ransomware outbreak. Exploiting vulnerability CVE-2021-21974, attackers disabled virtual machines and encrypted .vmxf, .vmx, .vmdk, .vmsd and .nvram files.
The notorious Clop group, known for a large-scale attack against the vulnerable Fortra GoAnywhere file transfer services via CVE-2023-0669, was detected in December 2022 using, albeit with limitations, a Linux version of its ransomware. This differs significantly from its Windows counterpart (it lacks some optimizations and defensive tricks), but adapts to Linux permissions and user types and specifically targets Oracle database folders.
A new version of BlackBasta ransomware is designed specifically for attacks on ESXi hypervisors. The encryption strategy uses the ChaCha20 algorithm in multi-threaded mode involving multiple processors. Since ESXi farms are typically multiprocessor, this algorithm minimizes the time required to encrypt the entire environment.
Shortly before its disintegration, the Conti cybercriminal group also armed itself with ransomware that targeted ESXi. Unfortunately, since much of Conti’s code ended up leaked, its developments are now in the hands of cybercriminals.
The BlackCat ransomware, written in Rust, can also disable and delete ESXi virtual machines. In other respects, the malicious code differs slightly from the Windows version.
The Luna ransomware, which we detected in 2022, was originally cross-platform, capable of running on Windows, Linux and ESXi systems. And, of course, the LockBit group could hardly ignore this trend and also started offering ESXi versions of its malware to affiliates.
As for the older (but unfortunately effective) attacks, there were also the RansomEXX and QNAPCrypt campaigns, which largely affected Linux servers.
Attack tactics against the server
To penetrate Linux servers, vulnerabilities generally have to be exploited. Attackers can weaponize these vulnerabilities within the operating system, web servers and other core applications, as well as corporate applications, databases and virtualization systems. As Log4Shell demonstrated last year, vulnerabilities in open source components require special attention. After an initial breach, many strains of ransomware use additional tricks or vulnerabilities to elevate privileges and encrypt the system.

Priority security measures for Linux servers
To minimize the possibilities of attacks affecting Linux servers, we recommend:

Fix vulnerabilities immediately.
Minimize the number of open Internet connections and ports.
Implement specialized server security tools to protect both the operating system itself and the virtual machines and containers hosted on the server. For more information on how to protect yourself in Linux, visit our specialized publication.

AI-based cybercrime is here. How to keep bad actors at bay

Press Room Team — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 15:41:53 +0000

Artificial intelligence and deepfakes are fast replacing bank robbers’ shotguns and ski masks. As new AI technology emerges, sophisticated cybercrime syndicates are using it to launch attacks against financial institutions.

Cyberattacks are skyrocketing — damages are expected to cost $8 trillion this year, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. If measured as a country, that would make cybercrime the third-largest economy in the world.

That’s why the U.S. Secret Service is working with Mastercard and other organizations to share intelligence and crack down on scams such as phishing and malware that menace global financial and payment systems.

“Cyber is the ultimate team sport — we’re interested in working with whoever is willing to work with us,” says Matt O’Neill, the Secret Service’s deputy special agent in charge of cyber. O’Neill joined Ron Green, Mastercard’s chief security officer and chairman of the Secret Service’s Cyber Investigation Advisory Board, to discuss how companies are working with law enforcement to help combat cybercrime.

Here’s what they think about the fast-growing malware economy, why small businesses are vulnerable and why human emotions are the weakest link.

Cyber syndicates are continually testing new tactics. Which of them keeps you up at night?

Green: I’m most concerned about social engineering, such as hacks that involve sending an email that evokes an emotional response. When we think about hackers, we think of sophisticated attackers looking to slip through electronic defenses. But once someone clicks and enters their credentials, that could potentially give hackers access to a system.

O’Neill: I agree — the human element is the most likely factor for compromise. We’re increasingly seeing voice recognition used as a means of authentication, and that’s a potential risk area. In 2014, I worked a case where somebody impersonating a large organization’s CEO called accounting to ask them to transfer millions of dollars to China. With today’s technology, you can use samples to sound exactly like the individual. And if fraudsters use spoofed phone numbers, you probably wouldn’t know you weren’t talking to your boss.

But these attacks aren’t limited in purpose to direct theft or blackmail via ransomware. A growing trend is cybercriminals breaching company firewalls seeking nonpublic market information, such as upcoming financial disclosures or confidential details about a pending acquisition, to conduct insider trading, cheating the stock market through a digital form of insider trading.

How is the malware economy evolving as cybercrime syndicates become more sophisticated?

Green: We’re dealing with very organized crime. Now threat actors are creating malware that can reach out to generative AI systems to create new versions of itself. It’s mutating using AI, like a germ does, so antibiotics can’t prevent its offspring spreading.

What tactics does the Secret Service use to combat cybercriminals?

O’Neill: We focus on financially motivated, transnational organized criminal groups, and most of our targets are in countries without extradition agreements. We try to dismantle these groups and seize their ill-gotten gains. Since 2022 we’ve seized nearly $2 billion in criminal proceeds. We work with as many foreign law enforcement partners as we can and share real-time information.

Talk us through a time when the Secret Service worked with Mastercard to thwart a cyberattack.

O’Neill: In 2019, nation-state-affiliated actors targeted financial institutions to conduct global cash-out operations. They planned to access a bank’s payments server for ATM withdrawals and use teams of accomplices to take out money at a specific time. By using traditional law enforcement methods to gain information and then pass that to Mastercard and other card brands, we were able to thwart many attacks in real time. Besides saving millions of dollars, we made arrests that really put a halt to ATM attacks.

Green: Sharing information allowed us to limit the attack. That’s why we really need partnerships with them as it identifies trends and keeps us informed. If businesses are a herd of sheep, the U.S. Secret Service is the watchdog who can spot the predators coming.

As the costs of cybercrime are predicted to skyrocket, are banks and financial institutions doing enough to protect themselves?

Green: Bigger organizations are taking it seriously, but the attacks are cascading down to vulnerable small and midsize businesses, which typically do not collaborate actively with the Secret Service or have resources like Mastercard’s intelligence team that can leverage and analyze a wealth of information. That’s why we’re always looking at opportunities to help them protect themselves.

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Press Room Team — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 15:56:46 +0000

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