Airports Secure Their IT Operations and Improve Business Continuity

by  Wylie Wong

IT leaders for these vital transportation hubs work to enhance their cyber resilience.

Cybersecurity is paramount at airports. Any successful cyberattack or IT outage can snarl air traffic, diminish the passenger experience, and put staff and passenger data at risk.

Knowing this, CIO Eduardo Valencia charted a course toward more robust IT operations when he joined the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which runs Minneapolis– Saint Paul International Airport (MSP). Now, eight years in, he continually works to bolster security and resiliency to prevent any tech-related turbulence.

“We facilitate air travel, so our risk tolerance is very low,” Valencia says. “We're dealing with people's lives. We have zero tolerance for error, which means the underlying technology and systems must be robust.”

 Read full story at StateTech…

Google Takes Advantage of Federal Cost-Cutting With Steep Workspace Discount

by  Ryan Whitwam

Google will knock 71% off government Workspace subscriptions for a limited time.

Google has long been on the lookout for ways to break Microsoft's stranglehold on US government office software, and the current drive to cut costs may be it. …

Google has previously offered discounts for federal agencies interested in migrating to Workspace, but it saw little success displacing Microsoft. The Windows maker has enjoyed decades as an entrenched tech giant, leading the 365 productivity tools to proliferate throughout the government. While Google has gotten some agencies on board, Microsoft has traditionally won the lion's share of contracts, including the $8 billion Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract that pushed Microsoft 365 to all corners of the Pentagon beginning in 2020.

 Read full story at arsTechnica…

Top Military Cyber Advisors Share What's Next in the Zero-Trust Journey

by  Daily Scoop Podcast

We've got an exclusive look at a panel on military cybersecurity from the recent Zero Trust Summit featuring Air Force's Wanda Jones Heath and Navy's Ann Marie Schumann.

FedScoop's Billy Mitchell was joined by Wanda Jones-Heath of the Air Force and Ann Marie Schummann of the Navy, principal cyber advisors for their respectives services, as well as Imran Umar, Booz Allen's vice president of zero trust, for a panel that explored the progress made in zero-trust adoption and what comes next as the Pentagon targets zero-trust readiness by the end of 2027, including embracing the framework for operational technology systems and weapons platforms.

 Read full story at FedScoop…

4 Time-Saving Microsoft Teams Tricks to Make You More Productive

by  Doug Aamoth

Make the most of your Teams time.

For some, Microsoft Teams is a necessary evil: the modern day equivalent of an ever-ringing desk phone.

But the fact is that in many organizations, it's become an essential tool for communication and collaboration. And as long as you're using it, you might as well transform your Microsoft Teams experience from simply functional to truly powerful.

Here are some quick tricks you should be using to get the most out of Microsoft Teams.

Slash your way around the interface

Slash commands save you time by providing quick access to frequently used features.

 Read full story at Fast Company…

Chrome, Edge, Firefox Warning—99% Of Browsers Now At Risk

by  Zak Doffman

You need to check your browser now. Hers's why.

Sometimes the most dangerous risks are those we think least about, lurking behind the scenes in the apps and platforms we use daily. While the malware attacking our phones generates headlines, that's rarely the case with the permission abuse that affects most users, almost all of the time. And while secretive tracking and malware attacks on our browsers prompt update warnings and settings changes, that's still not true with a threat that' just as pervasive and is now a major threat to users worldwide.

We're talking extensions, which have finally come into view in the last year as popular add-ons are hijacked to threaten those using them. And while Google is fighting back, it's clear that this attack surface remains wide open to exploit. That's certainly the new warning from the security research team at LayerX, which is in the business of securing enterprises from extension exposure.

… Most people reading this will give little if any thought to extensions. But given the stark numbers in the research, you probably should. “99% of enterprise users have a browser extension installed in their browsers, and more than half (52%) of employees have more than 10 extensions installed.” And while official Chrome, Edge and Firefox stores are the “most common source,” the threat “is much wider than most users realize.”

 Read full story at Forbes…

macOS 15 Sequoia Superguide: Everything You Need to Know

by  Karen Haslam

Find out about the latest version of macOS 15 Sequoia, compatibility, problems, what's new in macOS 15.4 and more.

In this article, Karen Haslam discusses things that are coming in the next macOS update. In summary, the article discusses:

macOS 15 Sequoia, released on September 16, 2024, introduces new features and updates for compatible Macs, with the latest major update, macOS 15.4, arriving on March 31, 2025. It allows users to control their iPhone from a Mac, a new video conferencing presenter preview, and Safari enhancements. Apple Intelligence, exclusive to M-series Macs, includes AI-driven writing tools, image creation, and photo editing, with features like Genmoji and ChatGPT integration added in updates like macOS 15.2.

New features include window tiling, a Passwords app, an updated Calculator, and gaming improvements via Game Porting Toolkit 2. Beta testing, open to developers and public testers, continues to refine features. Apple Intelligence will expand further in late 2025, aligning macOS, iOS, and iPadOS more closely.

 Read full story at MacWorld…

Case Study: FirstEnergy Modernizes Grid Operations with ArcGIS Utility Network

by  Pat Hohl

Electric grids are becoming increasingly complex thanks, in part, to population growth, adoption of electrification, and the connection of more renewable energy sources

To keep up with these changes, utility companies like FirstEnergy (an investor-owned electric system with 10 distribution companies that supply electricity to six million customers across five states) are modernizing their operations.

FirstEnergy embarked on a multiyear modernization project, relying on a geographic information system (GIS) to enhance its network management capabilities and empowering its grid to use future technologies. This project included implementing an advanced distribution management system (ADMS), distribution automation, and a mobile graphic work design tool, all integrating with ArcGIS Utility Network.

FirstEnergy controls 2,200 substations and 8,400 circuits throughout an area of 50,000 square miles, making the implementation the largest electric distribution Utility Network project in the US. In 2023, it was deployed to 650 employees.

 Read full story at Energy Central…

New NYU Tandon Project to Make NYC Underground Electricity Network Visible and Even More Reliable

by  NYU Press Release

Project receives U.S. Department of Energy funding to develop AI-assisted sensor data analytics for detecting hidden problems in urban underground electrical grids

An advanced data analytics system, assisted by state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI), is being developed at NYU Tandon School of Engineering to enhance electric reliability in large cities by detecting grid problems before they cause customers to lose service.

The “Reliability-Enabled Secondary Distribution Visibility” project could transform how utilities monitor the complex, vast meshed network of underground cables and transformers that deliver electricity to homes and businesses. NYU Tandon will conduct initial testing with Con Edison in New York City, home to North America's largest urban underground power grid.

“Detecting and localizing incipient defects in underground power distribution networks is very challenging, as they are not always detectable by humans nor fully identifiable by signals from a single sensor,” said Yuzhang Lin, assistant professor in the NYU Tandon Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the project's leader. "

 Read full story at NYU Tandon School of Engineering…

Why Microgrids Are the Key to Grid Resilience

by  Nicole Bulgarino

Amid evolving domestic and geopolitical landscapes, microgrids offer a reliable, cost-effective energy solution — advancing the nation toward energy independence and security for years to come.

Across the world, extreme weather events pose an increased risk to public safety by damaging vital infrastructure and evoking widespread power outages. In the U.S., these disasters racked up more than $182 billion in damages in 2024, as wildfires, hurricanes and winter storms wreaked havoc across the nation. Concurrently, rising power demands from industrial activity, computing growth and electrified transit are pushing the grid to capacity. With 95% of utility leaders warning that extreme weather and rising demand will jeopardize grid reliability over the next decade, energy and infrastructure leaders must act now to fortify a more secure, resilient energy future.

Microgrids are a flexible, cost-effective solution to these evolving energy challenges. They empower organizations, communities and municipalities to take greater control of their energy supply through renewable power generation and storage to leverage distributed energy resources at the customer site. Here, they take on flexible roles both in interacting with the utility grid and by providing energy to the host customer when the utility can't. Microgrids play a crucial role in facilitating energy conservation and decreasing overall emissions by optimizing the amount and timing of customer energy consumption. They not only support sustainability, but importantly, they can also be a key driver in securing our energy future.

 Read full story at Utility Dive…