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Its not every day that U.S. nuclear facilities, the Department for Education, and governments across Europe and the Middle East are breached in a single hack. But then again, the vulnerability identified in Microsofts document collaboration tool, SharePoint, this weekend isnt your ordinary issue. It has found a chink in the armor of one of the most widely used suites of software across the world. Microsoft holds a two-thirds market share in the business productivity space. Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability in a blog post over the weekend, clarifying that the issue only affected on-premises SharePoint servers. These are locally hosted instances of the collaboration tool, rather than the more broadly used SharePoint Online system in Microsoft 365. The company rolled out updates to plug the hole in security, which it said customers should apply [. . .] immediately to ensure they are protected. Dozens of large organizations are known to have already been affected, including U.S. and international governments, and were hacked through the vulnerability. The breach has left some wondering why the reaction has been so muted, given the high-profile targets. Darren Guccione, CEO and cofounder of Keeper Security, notes that although Microsoft 365s cloud-based services are unaffected, many critical sectorsincluding government, legal, and financial institutionsstill depend on older or hybrid SharePoint setups. These systems, he says, often lack the visibility, access control and agility needed to respond quickly with security updates. Some cybersecurity experts say the response so far hasnt reflected the seriousness of the threat. Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity professor at the University of Surrey, points out that the issue impacts on-premise installations rather than Microsoft-hosted ones. As a result, he explains, Microsofts role is limited to releasing a fix, leaving the rest up to organizations themselves. The company, he says, has essentially told users: Over to you if you operate and maintain your own servers instance of SharePoint. (Microsoft did not immediately respond to Fast Company‘s request to comment.) Those servers are often held offline because they are used to store sensitive data, including in the delivery of government services, which isn’t trusted to be stored in cloud environments. The awkward part of the story is that there are still several hundred thousand share points on premises, Woodward says. It could be a double-whammy if its not handled properly. Woodward says hes been struck by the lack of urgency in the broader IT communitys responseincluding from Microsoft itself. Given the severity of the vulnerability, he expected the company to be far more vocal in alerting its technical user base. Microsoft, he says, should have been shouting about it. Meanwhile, both the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and U.K. National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) have issued warnings about the risks of the vulnerability. Other experts are more sympathetic to Microsofts situation. I have some sympathy for all parties here, says Craig Clark, director of Clark & Company Information Services, a cybersecurity advisor. Threats are evolving at such a rate that its almost impossible to keep up. Clark does admit that Microsoft needs to be more dynamic in how it issues its advisories and remember that many security teams are small and perhaps more needs to be done to keep people better informed, he says. But the relationship goes both ways. For their part, security teams need the resources to ensure that patching is seen as more than just a nice to have, he says. One of Clarks key concerns is how quickly attackers are now able to weaponize newly discovered vulnerabilitiessomething he attributes to rapid advancements in technology, particularly AI. He warns that threat actors are increasingly leveraging these tools to accelerate attacks, which will likely make incidents like this more frequent. Microsoft has already confirmed that Chinese state-sponsored hackers have exploited the flaw. Fixing the problem long-term will be more complex, experts say. Clark advises layering security measures, isolating critical systems, and automating patching wherever possible. Ultimately, he says, organizations need to move away from the patch when we can. Still, what works in theory often falls short in practicewhich is why such vulnerabilities continue to surface.
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E-Commerce
Global shares rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gaining 3.5% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on President Donald Trump’s tariffs.France’s CAC 40 added 1.4% in early trading to 7,854.75, while Germany’s DAX gained 0.9% to 24,260.62. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 9,075.46. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%.The tariff agreement as announced calls for a 15% U.S. import duty on goods from Japan, apart from certain products such as steel and aluminum that are subject to much higher tariffs. That’s down from the 25% Trump had said would kick in on Aug. 1 if a deal was not reached.“This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs There has never been anything like it,” Trump posted on Truth Social, noting that Japan was also investing “at my direction” $550 billion into the U.S. He said Japan would “open” its economy to American autos and rice.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged as much as 3.7%, closing at 41,171.32.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.6% to 25,538.07, while the Shanghai Composite index was little changed, gaining less than 0.1% to 3,582.30.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.7% to 8,737.20 and the Kospi in South Korea edged 0.4% higher to 3,183.77.“President Trump has signed two trade deals this week with the Philippines and Japan which is likely to keep market sentiment propped up despite deals with the likes of the EU and South Korea remaining elusive, for now at least,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Kohle Capital Markets, said in a report.There was a chorus of no comments from the Japanese automakers, despite the latest announcement, including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Corp.Japanese companies tend to be cautious about their public reactions, and some business officials have privately remarked in off-record comments that they hesitate to say anything because Trump keeps changing his mind.The Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association also said it had no comment, noting there was no official statement yet. Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba welcomed the agreement as beneficial to both sides.Toyota stock jumped 14% in Tokyo trading, while Honda was up more than 11% and Nissan added 8%. In other sectors, Nippon Steel, which is acquiring U.S. Steel, rose 2.7% while video game maker and significant exporter Nintendo Co. added 0.7%. Sony Group surged 4.3%.But Takeshi Niinami, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, which groups about 1,600 top executives, issued a note of caution about the nation having to be resilient and pushing free trade, while welcoming the tariff deal.“I hope this U.S.-Japan tariff deal can work as a starting point to further strengthen U.S.-Japan relations,” he said.He noted the U.S. policy of putting America first was unlikely to change, and that meant Japan, too, must make policy adjustments, such as making an aggressive push in artificial intelligence.Trump has also said that he reached a trade agreement with the Philippines following a meeting Tuesday at the White House, that will see the U.S. slightly drop its tariff rate for the Philippines without paying import taxes for what it sells there.On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to Monday’s all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.4%.Also early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 23 cents to $65.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard fell 21 cents to $68.38 a barrel.The U.S. dollar fell to 146.38 Japanese yen from 146.64 yen. The euro cost $1.1736, down from $1.1754. Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
A Trenta Starbucks is no longer cutting it. The latest coffee trend has people ordering their iced lattes by the bucket. Earlier this year, independent coffee shops started going viral on TikTok for serving 34-ounce iced lattes in plastic buckets. POV: You live in the same era as coffee buckets, one coffee shop posted on TikTok. Ok well see you soon I guess, one person commented. Id be on the toilet for days, another wrote. @wickedsoutherncoffee Not a want. A need. #CoffeeTok #fyp #salemct #coffeeshop #connecticut original sound – Country Night While its unclear where the trend originated, coffee shops in Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have since begun offering their own versions of the quadruple-shot beverage. The New York Times spoke to Dulce Vida, a Mexican-inspired coffee shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a La Cubeta, priced at $14 with add-ons, now accounts for more than 30% of orders since it debuted last month. @michelletaylor887 Giant coffee BUCKET! #coffeeshop @Common Grounds #CapCut original sound – ShellRNTaylor TJ’s Burritos, a Connecticut-based casual coffeehouse and Mexican restaurant, started serving coffee by the bucket in late May; it sold out during the first weekend. Now TJs Burritos sells at least 1,000 buckets per week (sometimes 200 buckets per day!), owner Tricia Martin told CT Insider. Alaina Roberto, owner of Monroe’s Last Drop Coffee Shop, dropped her version of the viral coffee bucket in late June. “It seems like it’s a thing right now,” Roberto told CT Insider. “It’s a bucket summer. Of course, like everything else, coffee trends come and go. Earlier this year, cloud coffee (a twist on an Americano made with coconut water) had its viral moment. Then who could forget the dalgona coffee trend that had TikTok in a choke hold back in 2020. While the novelty of drinking your morning cup of coffee from a plastic bucket is likely driving the trend, Snaxshots Andrea Hernández suggests it may be reflective of a broader shift in attitudes toward caffeine. Were kind of experiencing that sort of backlash from what we were trying to do, like, less caffeine, more mindfulness, more meditation, less palpitations, she told The Times. Rather than paying attention to wellness gurus who claim coffee first thing in the morning disrupts cortisol levels, or giving in to Big Matcha, the pendulum has swung back to mainlining caffeine by the bucketload. Also, considering a regular-size oat cap is pushing $10 with tip, $12 for 34 ounces of latte is arguably a great deal.
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E-Commerce
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