Category technology

Mumbai, 12th August 2024: Sony India announced the BRAVIA 8 Series, a revolutionary addition to its acclaimed line of home entertainment systems. This new series combines state-of-the-art OLED technology with the advanced AI Processor XR to deliver unmatched picture quality and lifelike audio experiences. Designed to cater to the modern viewer, the BRAVIA 8 Series offers perfect blacks, precise shadow details and dynamic contrast, all while enhancing sound with Acoustic Surface Audio+ and Dolby Vision Atmos and various Studio Calibrated modes developed in collaboration with the leading streaming services.

BRAVIA 8 series is equipped with Studio Calibrated mode that reproduce the image quality intended by film content creators in a home setting. In addition to the existing established Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode and SONY PICTURES CORE (formerly BRAVIA CORE) Calibrated Mode, Prime Video Calibrated Mode is a new mode designed to provide customers with even more ways to experience premium entertainment through the lens of the creator.

The new BRAVIA 8 series will be available in 164 cm (65) and 139 cm (55) screen size. The advanced AI Processor XR in BRAVIA 8 series revolutionizes viewing with its ability to understand human perception of sight and sound. By analyzing and processing data like a human would, it delivers more natural and lifelike images and sound. OLED technology in the BRAVIA 8 Series delivers unparalleled picture quality with perfect blacks, accurate shadow details, and superior contrast. BRAVIA 8 series includes XR 4K Upscaling technology, powered by our Cognitive Processor XR, this television takes 2K signals close to true 4K quality for incredibly real, detailed, and immersive viewing. Complementing this is the XR OLED Motion technology, which keeps fast-moving scenes smooth and blur-free.

The BRAVIA 8 series supports advanced audio and visual technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Dolby Vision provides vibrant visuals with exceptional contrast, while Dolby Atmos delivers multi-dimensional sound, making you feel like part of the action.

The BRAVIA 8 Series features SONY PICTURES CORE, a unique platform that provides access to a vast library of Sony Pictures movies. The platform also includes 4K HDR and IMAX enhanced movies, offering an elevated movie-watching experience with superior picture and sound quality. For 24 months, receive 10 FREE credits to stream movies in 4K Blu-ray quality with IMAX Enhanced visuals to elevate your home entertainment experience and bringing the magic of the big screen to your living room.

The BRAVIA 8 series is optimized for gaming and is perfect for PlayStation 5. It features Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which automatically adjusts HDR settings for the best picture quality. With 4K/120fps, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), our TVs give you smooth and clear movement for responsive gameplay. The BRAVIA 8 series offers a smart user experience powered by Google TV, providing access to 400,000 movies and TV episodes, plus 10,000 apps and games. Google TV organizes all your favorite content in one place, making it easy to find and watch what you love. Voice search functionality allows for hands-free control, and integration with Apple AirPlay2 and HomeKit ensures seamless connectivity with your Apple devices.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., August 8, 2024 — Amgen announced plans to open a new technology and innovation site in Hyderabad, India. The site, known as Amgen India, will accelerate digital capabilities across the global organization to further advance Amgen’s pipeline of medicines.

Amgen India will be located in HITEC City, a suburb of Hyderabad, occupying six floors of the RMZ Spire Tower 110. The city of Hyderabad, located in the state of Telangana, was selected for its world-class talent across medicine, life sciences and data sciences and the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence (AI). The site can accommodate up to 3,000 people and will be operational in Q4 2024.

“At a time when a quickly aging global population needs more innovation, the convergence of biotechnology and technology is enabling Amgen to work with greater speed, confidence, and efficiency — an incredibly exciting milestone for which we have been preparing for over a decade,” said David M. Reese, M.D., executive vice president and chief technology officer at Amgen. “Amgen has been a leader in biotechnology for over 40 years and establishing this new site in India, a country known for its world-class technology and life sciences talent, marks a significant step forward in our journey to deliver on our mission to serve patients.”

Amgen India will initially build and accelerate new technology solutions and digital capabilities at scale that will enhance efficiencies across the enterprise. The site will offer roles that strengthen key areas of Amgen’s business, including AI, data science, life science and other additional global capabilities over time.

To lead Amgen’s expanded presence in India, Som Chattopadhyay has been appointed national executive for India.

“Amgen’s new site in Hyderabad underscores the city’s position as a hub for innovation and technology,” said Chief Minister Sri Anumula Revanth Reddy. “We are proud to welcome a global trailblazer of the biotechnology industry. Amgen’s unwavering mission to serve patients will be incredibly inspiring for the world-class technology talent seeking to make a meaningful impact on people around the world.”

Amgen has nearly 27,000 employees and has a presence in approximately 100 countries and regions worldwide, including India.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 9, 2024 – HCLSoftware, the software business division of HCLTech, today announced its intent to acquire Zeenea, an innovator in data catalog and governance solutions based in Paris, France. HCLSoftware will enhance its Data & Analytics business (Actian) through this acquisition. HCLSoftware Actian Data Platform has seen strong growth in Hybrid Data Management and Integration over the last few years. Adding metadata management, data catalog and governance capabilities will enable customers to consume these capabilities of the data platform.

Zeenea provides an intelligent data discovery platform that supports metadata management applications from search and exploration to data catalog, lineage, governance, compliance and enterprise data marketplace. Zeenea is powered by adaptive knowledge graph that enables organizations to democratize data access and generate a 360-degree view of their assets and the relationships between them.

“Metadata management is becoming critical for our customers to accelerate their GenAI initiatives across business functions,” said Kalyan Kumar, Chief Product Officer, HCLSoftware. “Zeenea will further accelerate the growth in the data and analytics space for HCLSoftware. It will enable HCLSoftware to offer a unified data intelligence solution that will power enterprises to discover, govern, connect, manage and better leverage data in their data engineering and GenAI journeys.”

“Organizations demand an integrated and holistic approach to data management,” said Marc Potter, CEO Actian & Portfolio General Manager of HCLSoftware’s Data & Analytics business. “Zeenea’s data catalog and governance capabilities will extend our portfolio to offer a comprehensive, single-vendor solution to meet all the data needs of today’s data driven enterprises.”

“Incorporating Zeenea’s capabilities with HCLSoftware will deliver a differentiated solution for customers,” said Luc Legardeur, CEO and Co-founder, Zeenea. “Combining HCLSoftware data analytics, database and data management solutions with our knowledge graph, data catalog and enterprise data marketplace will offer customers a tailored approach to data management.”

Delhi, Aug 9, 2024: MovingTech, the company behind the Namma Yatri app, has launched its lifetime zero-commission cab rides under the brand “Yatri” in Delhi NCR. Yatri, part of the ONDC Network, is India’s first open and community-driven app for cabs and autos. After a successful pilot with autos, the app is now fully launching its services under the revamped “Yatri” brand.

Yatri and its family of apps, including Namma Yatri, operate on a community-first, zero-commission model. It empowers drivers with higher earnings while providing affordable and convenient transportation for the people of Delhi NCR. Drivers typically earn 15-20% more with the Yatri App, enabling them to better maintain and keep their vehicles clean. The Yatri app also prioritizes safety, offering best-in-class safety features.

Shri Sanjiv Singh, Jt Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce, inaugurated the services. He interacted with cab drivers and presented them with awards and financial support. He added, “I am excited to launch Yatri cabs in Delhi NCR. The app’s 100% open and community-first approach is commendable. Its expansion on the ONDC Network is crucial as we aim towards enabling an open, affordable and sustainable transportation ecosystem in India.”

Yatri is India’s first app that is 100% open source, open network, and open data. It offers fast booking through the dynamic ‘Book Any’ feature and smart dispatch processes. The app provides Auto, AC Mini, AC Sedan, and AC XL Cab services at low prices and lifetime zero commission. ONDC Network, already established in food, grocery, and e-commerce, aims to integrate all modes of transportation, solidifying its vision of a nationwide multi-modal network.

Shireesh Joshi, Chief Business Officer of ONDC, said, “ONDC’s open architecture and network-centric approach are paving the way for better affordability and accessibility of transportation options. It brings in a level playing field for drivers with higher earnings. We remain committed to catalyzing such community-driven initiatives that put people at the center while driving India towards a future of smart, efficient, and inclusive mobility solutions.”

Shan M S, Co-Founder of MovingTech, shared, “We’re excited to expand our cab services in the heart of the nation. Yatri is more than an app; it is a movement committed to transforming the lives of drivers and citizens. Yatri fosters close collaboration between Samaaj, Sarkar, and Bazaar to create a more connected and empowered city. In our commitment to support the EV mission, we won’t charge any subscription fees or commission for Electric Autos & Cabs in Delhi NCR till Mar 2026.”

With an impressive rating of 4.8, the Yatri family of apps is India’s top-rated mobility solution, serving over 4.1 lakh drivers and 72 lakh customers across the country. It has enabled drivers to earn over ₹700 crores without any commission. Yatri’s announcement to launch cabs marks a new chapter in building a community-first, sustainable mobility solution in Delhi NCR. It is committed to deepening its integration with Delhi’s transportation network and offering a seamless, efficient, and inclusive travel experience for all.

India– August 9, 2024 –SAWiT (South Asian Women in Tech) & GUVI announce a groundbreaking partnership to invite 16 lakhs+ women students enrolled in AICTE-affiliated institutions to participate in SAWiT.AI, the world’s largest, women-only Generative AI learning challenge, which is training 5 lakh women in Generative AI on 21 September. Student participation is free, and online and offers unrestricted access to students everywhere.

All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), under the aegis of the Department of Higher Education, is responsible for the planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms and standards in technical education across the country. SAWiT (South Asian Women in Technology), network aspires to be women’s empowerment catalyst through advancing skilling and support for 10 million/1 crore Indian women in the Generative AI, AI and automation ecosystem

The AICTE-SAWiT.AI partnership offers five immediate, tangible, and valuable benefits for women students and institutions. Firstly, it addresses the growing need for future-ready technical education by preparing students for an evolving job market through Gen AI upskilling in six Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi) and English, with all necessary learning infrastructure provided, making it easy to complete the course. Secondly, it enhances student skills and employability, fosters valuable industry connections, and positions institutions as global leaders in AI education.

Additionally, students can earn one academic credit for completing the 15-hour Gen AI course, which includes Python and Gen AI. For institutions, the integration of NSQF-aligned Gen AI courses with credit equivalence under the National Credit Framework enriches their curricula. AICTE recommends that participating institutions award one credit for course completion, thereby bolstering their academic and professional credentials. Furthermore, the partnership offers participation in the SAWiT hackathon in October 2024, providing students with the opportunity to further develop their Gen AI skills, gain recognition, and compete for valuable prizes.

Lastly, student and faculty participants are invited to join SAWiT, a women-only network that nurtures professional success and entrepreneurship. Built on Kalido’s AI-driven platform, SAWiT maximizes opportunities through peer-to-peer matching, entrepreneurship, job readiness learning pathways, and job placements at scale.

Prof. T G Sitharam, Chairman at AICTE, said, “AICTE is leading the GenAI revolution for Women across India with GUVI and it will greatly benefit from World’s Largest Women Only, Gen AI Learning Challenge SAWiT.AI. By integrating Generative AI and Python courses into our curriculum, we are enhancing their skillsets and employability in Gen AI, while also fostering valuable industry connections. This initiative is a significant step towards improving educational quality and creating equal opportunities for women in STEM.”

Anitha Natarajan, COO of GUVI, highlighted, ” Our partnership with AICTE represents a pivotal step towards advancing India’s AI capabilities. By equipping women with the latest AI technologies, we are aligning with the ‘India AI Mission’ and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ to ensure that women play a central role in shaping the future of AI. Our goal is to enable women to secure half of the emerging AI and automation jobs in India over the next five years, thus crafting a new narrative where Indian women lead the way in building a better, technology-driven world.”

This partnership represents a major step in democratizing access to AI education and advancing gender equality and technological innovation. Creating this vast pool of talent drives the fulfilment of India’s aspiration to be the AI capital of the world, capture the $1.3 trillion GDP opportunity and climb the economic complexity index rankings.

By Barnaby Page, VP of IR & Cyber Risk at SentinelOne

Cybersecurity failures are alarmingly common among small and medium businesses (SMBs), making them prime targets for cybercriminals. Operating with minimal cybersecurity measures, often due to limited budgets, lack of expertise, or the naive mindset of “My company is so small, who would think to attack us?” small and medium businesses (SMBs) are a prime target. However, these failures are precisely what cyber thieves hope for as they continue to bombard websites with attacks and inboxes with increasingly sophisticated phishing attempts. According to recent reports, ransomware attacks have surged 261% against websites this year in India alone, often leaving insurance companies to foot the bill for a policy they underwrote.

This forces the average person to ask: How can organisations that continuously calculate risk have been caught off-guard by a cybersecurity blind spot? The core reason is a widespread lack of adequate defences, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), insufficient employee training on phishing, immutable back-ups, and endpoint detection and response. Further, so many SMB clients moving to the Cloud presents a dizzying array of new configurations and best practices that are likely beyond a small company’s skill set.

Insurance Companies Calculate the Cyber Risk Profile

Insurance companies have recognized the growing risk posed by cyber threats and have responded by upping the minimum standard protection needed to qualify for a cyber policy. Insurers now demand robust cybersecurity measures, including authentication with multiple confirmation steps, such as sending a code to a trusted phone or email. They also require regular security scans, endpoint detection and response capabilities, and reliable, offline hard data backups.

The challenge is that insurance companies are not inherently equipped to assess and manage cybersecurity risks. Organisations that lack a trusted cybersecurity solution on their networks and endpoints are ill-protected and cannot generate the insights necessary for insurance companies to accept the policy risk. This outside-looking-in approach requires insurance teams to fill in the gaps and leaves too much room for uncertainty. It hinders the ability to respond quickly since the digital clean-up crew will first have to reconstruct what exactly the system was like before the breach. At the same time, the lack of adoption of a proper security stack leaves much room for insurance companies to change today’s security landscape.

An Insurance and Cybersecurity Partnership

In the 20th century, building owners were reluctant to install costly sprinkler systems to extinguish contained fires before spreading to other areas. Having lost far too much on paying out claims for people who lacked proper protection, they stopped underwriting policies for buildings that failed this critical safety measure. Sure, it helped keep people safe, but this fiscal move protected countless residents from harm.

Insurers typically rely on third-party cybersecurity firms to contain the damage, recover compromised data, and evaluate the impact when a breach occurs. This reactive approach is costly and inefficient, leading insurance companies to bleed money to cover the extensive damages from cyber incidents. We are now at a breaking point where underwriters need to switch from an outside-looking-in approach to a more transparent inside-looking-out vantage point, where companies send over relevant insights.

Making this a reality lies in fostering a partnership between insurance companies and cybersecurity firms. By aligning efforts, these entities can create a robust ecosystem aimed at preventing cyber attacks while protecting sensitive data. Such a partnership can invigorate the approach to cybersecurity and insurance, ensuring that both sectors work towards a common goal of risk mitigation and data security.  Healthcare companies are already employing the FitBit for telemetry and other monitoring systems that can keep healthcare costs in line.

One security standard that is widely accepted by insurance companies is the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls (CIS18). These controls provide a comprehensive framework for securing a company’s networks and systems. By referencing theCIS18 as best practice, insurance companies can ensure that SMBs implement industry-standard cybersecurity measures. This alignment offers several benefits:

1. Standardised Security Assessments: By assessing an organisation’s data, insurers can assess where they are and develop a timeline of how to strengthen the company’s security over the next 12 months, moving them in the right direction.
2. Transparent Data Sharing: Insurance companies can gain access to detailed reports on SMBs’ cybersecurity postures, enabling more accurate risk assessments and tailored policy offerings. This can be done via data sharing.
   As a result, the insurer can accurately assess the risk level and determine appropriate coverage options while the business gains valuable insights into areas needing improvement.
3. Enhanced Coverage and Discounts: Businesses that meet a heightened level of cybersecurity may be eligible for policy discounts and other benefits, such as higher limits, lower deductions, or no co-insurance requirements.
4. Resource Efficiency: With standardised security measures in place, the renewal process for cyber insurance policies can become more streamlined, reducing administrative burdens for both insurers and SMBs.

Instead of undergoing a lengthy renewal process based on forms and interviews companies can automatically share data from their systems, which reduces the amount of questions the insurers need to ask. This streamlined process reduces administrative burdens and allows insurers to quickly renew policies for businesses and improve their book of business.

A Secure Future with Controlled Ransomware Threats

The integration of cybersecurity and insurance efforts represents a rare business win-win-win scenario. Insurance companies benefit from reduced claims and financial stability, SMBs gain better protection and access to comprehensive insurance coverage, and end-users enjoy enhanced data security. By embracing this collaborative model, the industry can pave the way for a more secure and resilient digital future.

Rohde & Schwarz further strengthens its oscilloscope portfolio by introducing the industry’s first ASIC-based zone triggering. With this new approach, the MXO series can offer the world’s fastest zone trigger update rate of up to 600.000 waveforms per second and less than 1.45 us blind time between trigger events. It is up to 10 000 faster than competitive zone triggering offerings. Thanks to the new ASIC-based zone triggering, MXO oscilloscopes can precisely isolate events where traditional triggering does not provide the needed flexibility.

Caption: Zone triggering used to trigger on a specific RF chirp length in the time domain and when the chirp exceeds a certain power level in the frequency domain.

Rohde & Schwarz has developed the industry’s first ASIC-based zone triggering, implemented in the new MXO series oscilloscopes. This new functionality enhances the oscilloscopes’ ability to precisely isolate events that are difficult or impossible to detect with traditional oscilloscope triggers. Furthermore, the MXO zone trigger implementation is the industry’s fastest, surpassing others by several orders of magnitude.

Traditional oscilloscope trigger types – such as edge triggering – are often difficult to set up and/or inadequate to visualize certain trigger events. Zone triggering, on the other hand, allows users to specify trigger conditions by drawing one or more zone areas on the instrument’s display. The oscilloscope then inspects each acquisition for these conditions and shows the acquisitions on the display for events that meet the graphical conditions. If an event does not meet the graphical conditions, the waveform is discarded and not shown. Zone triggering can be very effective for triggering on non-monotonic edges, serial bus patterns, math waveforms, events across multiple channels, and events in the frequency domain. For these use cases traditional oscilloscope triggers simply do not work. The new zone triggering from Rohde & Schwarz is the world’s first ASIC-based solution that works on analog channel signals, math and spectrum.

Philip Diegmann, Vice President Oscilloscopes at Rohde & Schwarz, says: “The next-generation MXO-EP processing ASIC technology developed by Rohde & Schwarz is the foundation of the breakthrough signal visibility and user responsiveness of the MXO series. The chip design was laid out to have further hardware acceleration capabilities enabled down the road. This way we keep providing new functionalities to our oscilloscope customers never before seen in the industry. With MXO zone triggering, users obtain additional triggering capabilities without having to incur significant trigger blind times that historically have diminished the value of software-based zone triggering solutions.”

With the MXO zone triggering, users testing and debugging in the frequency domain using an oscilloscope can now draw specific zone areas. The oscilloscope will then trigger or activate when a certain tone exceeds a set power level within these zones. Or users can simply draw a zone for RF chirps or pulses. New to the industry is the MXO’s free run mode, where the oscilloscope captures as fast as possible without looking for an edge trigger event. Combining this with zone triggering can be very effective for power integrity measurements and EMI debug.

MXO zone triggering incorporates a new feature previously not found in the market: the ability to exclusively store waveforms in real time that match zone trigger criteria. This functionality enables users to exclusively focus on specific events relevant to their application.

Rohde & Schwarz offers the new ASIC-based zone triggering functionality as a standard feature for all MXO 4, MXO 5, and MXO 5C series oscilloscopes, beginning with version 2.2 firmware. The firmware is available as a free download on the web. Existing MXO users can update their instruments for free.

For more information visit www.rohde-schwarz.com/product/MXO5 and www.rohde-schwarz.com/product/MXO4.

BENGALURU, India – August 8, 2024:  In the rapidly evolving world of IT, maintaining seamless operations and staying ahead of potential issues is paramount. The integration of Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) within the Infraon Infinity Suite is transforming how businesses manage their IT infrastructure. This advanced integration leverages predictive analytics, automated incident management, and intelligent insights to enhance decision-making,

optimize resource allocation, and improve overall IT performance.

Satish Kumar V, CEO of EverestIMS Technologies, shares his vision: “Our goal is to revolutionize IT operations by leveraging the power of AI. The integration of AIOps within the Infraon Infinity Suite represents a significant leap forward in how businesses manage their IT infrastructure.”

Predictive Analytics: Identifying Issues Before They Impact Business

One of the standout features of the Infraon Infinity Suite with AIOps integration is its predictive analytics capability. This technology utilizes machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data, detect patterns, and predict potential IT issues before they impact business operations. By identifying anomalies and trends early, IT teams can proactively address these issues, preventing downtime and ensuring continuous service availability.

Predictive analytics enables organizations to transition from a reactive approach to a proactive strategy in managing their IT environments. This shift not only improves the reliability of IT services but also reduces the time and cost associated with resolving unexpected incidents. By anticipating problems and addressing them before they escalate, businesses can maintain smoother operations and deliver better service quality to their customers.

“Predictive analytics and automated incident management are game-changers for our clients. These capabilities allow them to stay ahead of potential issues and resolve incidents swiftly, ensuring uninterrupted business operations,” says Kumar.

Automated Incident Management: Accelerating Resolution Times

The integration of AIOps within the Infraon Infinity Suite also enhances incident management through automation. Automated incident management involves the use of AI to detect, diagnose, and resolve IT issues without human intervention. This capability significantly reduces the mean time to resolution (MTTR) and minimizes the impact of incidents on business operations.

With automated incident management, IT teams can focus on more strategic tasks while the system handles routine issues. This not only improves efficiency but also ensures that incidents are resolved quickly and effectively. Automated workflows streamline the entire incident management process, from detection to resolution, ensuring that IT services remain uninterrupted and business operations continue smoothly.

Intelligent Insights: Enabling Informed Decision-Making

AIOps integration within the Infraon Infinity Suite provides intelligent insights that are crucial for informed decision-making. These insights are derived from the continuous analysis of IT data, offering real-time visibility into the performance and health of IT systems. By understanding the current state and predicting future trends, IT leaders can make data-driven decisions that enhance the overall performance of their IT infrastructure.

Intelligent insights enable IT teams to optimize resource allocation, ensuring that the right resources are available where and when they are needed most. This optimization not only improves operational efficiency but also reduces costs associated with over-provisioning or underutilization of IT resources. By leveraging these insights, organizations can achieve a more balanced and efficient IT environment.

Optimizing Resource Allocation for Better Performance

Resource allocation is a critical aspect of IT management, and the Infraon Infinity Suite with AIOps integration excels in this area. The suite uses AI to analyze resource usage patterns and recommend optimal allocation strategies. This ensures that resources are used efficiently, reducing waste and improving overall performance.

By optimizing resource allocation, organizations can achieve better performance without increasing their IT budget. The system continuously monitors resource usage and makes adjustments as needed, ensuring that IT resources are always aligned with business needs. This dynamic approach to resource management helps businesses stay agile and responsive in a rapidly changing IT landscape.

Enhancing Overall IT Performance

The ultimate goal of integrating AIOps with the Infraon Infinity Suite is to enhance overall IT performance. By leveraging predictive analytics, automated incident management, and intelligent insights, the suite provides a comprehensive solution for managing IT operations effectively. This integration ensures that IT services are reliable, efficient, and aligned with business objectives.

Improved IT performance translates to better business outcomes, including higher customer satisfaction, increased operational efficiency, and reduced costs. By proactively managing IT issues and optimizing resources, organizations can focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth and innovation. The Infraon Infinity Suite with AIOps integration empowers IT teams to deliver exceptional service quality and achieve superior business results.

“Intelligent insights and optimized resource allocation are critical for maintaining an efficient and high-performing IT environment. With AIOps, we provide our clients with the tools they need to make informed decisions and achieve better business outcomes,” Kumar concludes.

In summary, the Infraon Infinity Suite with AIOps integration is a powerful solution that transforms IT operations. By leveraging advanced technologies like predictive analytics, automated incident management, and intelligent insights, the suite enhances decision-making, optimizes resource allocation, and improves overall IT performance. With this integration, EverestIMS Technologies continues to lead the way in delivering innovative IT service management solutions that drive business success.

 8th August 2024 – Firecompass, a Saas startup in Continuous Penetration Testing and Red Teaming, announced the launch of its Generative-AI powered Agent AI for Ethical Hacking & Autonomous Penetration Testing. FireCompass Agent AI is natively integrated with the FireCompass Platform and autonomously executes the entire penetration testing workflow.

Unlike current generative AI tools that typically only provide interfaces or generic suggestions, Agent AI executes the tasks autonomously, orchestrating to achieve specific objectives like finding organization-specific vulnerability information, generating tailored attack plans, and autonomously executing specific attack playbooks to demonstrate potential breaches. The platform dramatically increases testing coverage, accelerates the discovery of complex attack paths, and enhances the productivity of human pen-testers. This capability is available as an add-on to FireCompass’ existing platform for Automated Pen Testing, Red Teaming, and External Attack Surface Management.

India faces severe cybersecurity challenges, ranking among the most targeted countries globally. CERT-In reports a 25-fold increase in breaches over 5 years, with each breach costing an average of $2.18 million (RBI). A shortage of 800,000 cybersecurity professionals (World Economic Forum) amplifies the immediate need for AI-driven autonomous solutions.

“An average organization conducts ethical hacking or penetration testing on the top 20% of their assets annually. However, attackers are leveraging automation and AI to continuously target 100% of the assets,” said Bikash Barai, CEO and Co-Founder of FireCompass. “Conventional Penetration Testing cannot match the pace of attackers. FireCompass GenAI & Agentic AI can help us achieve 10 to 100 times more frequency and cost efficiency than traditional models.”

Traditional Ethical Hacking or Penetration Testing involves multiple tools and manual effort. FireCompass Autonomous Pen Testing Agent AI with the LLM-powered interface eliminates the need for repetitive manual tasks, significantly improving delivery speed and the depth and breadth of testing.

“Automating penetration testing of complex, multi-stage attacks is the next level of penetration testing. Agent AI is a promising way to solve this otherwise hard problem,” said Bruce Schneier, an internationally renowned security technologist called a “security guru” by the Economist.

• Gaps with Standard LLMs in Penetration Testing
• Standard LLMs have several limitations in the context of penetration testing:
• They cannot answer queries specific to an organization (e.g., “Give me the list of IPs of all risky assets”).
• They cannot create an organization-specific plan of attack for a given objective.
• They cannot execute end-to-end Penetration Testing or red-teaming on their own.
• Introducing Agent AI for Penetration Testing & Red Teaming

FireCompass combines Agent AI with Gen AI to create autonomous end-to-end penetration testing capabilities. While Gen AI typically makes suggestions, Agent AI executes the completion of a workflow to achieve specific objectives. This capability, available as an add-on to FireCompass’ existing platform, will:

• Interact in natural language to provide organization-specific information on vulnerabilities and risks.
• Generate attack plans tailored to an organization based on user-provided objectives, guardrails, and existing vulnerabilities.
• Execute attacks autonomously and demonstrate how an organization can be breached.
• FireCompass has already been awarded a patent by the USPTO for automated penetration testing and red teaming.
• FireCompass’ Agent AI vs. Traditional Methods
• FireCompass uses Agent AI and Gen AI to creatively generate and autonomously execute attack plans.
• Provides 10-100x more testing with the same budget, making human PenTesters four times more productive.
• Accelerates the discovery and mitigation of complex attack paths, reducing the risk window from months to hours.

FireCompass is considered a leader in Automated Pen Testing, Red Teaming, and Attack Surface Management by leading analysts like Gartner, Forrester, and IDC. Founded by serial entrepreneurs and supported by leading VCs, the team holds multiple patents in cybersecurity and has discovered zero-day vulnerabilities in platforms such as McAfee, Microsoft BitLocker, Sophos, and AVG. FireCompass is trusted by Fortune 500 companies globally which includes Top 5 Global Telco, Top 10 Manufacturing Firms, Top 10 Technology, and Banking Firms.

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli (NIFTEM-K), An Institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt of India in collaboration with Agilent Technologies is organizing a 3 days Training Program on “Hands-on-Training on Quantification of Ethylene Oxide & 2 CE in various Spices by GC-MS/MS” for technical officials from State Food Testing Lab (SFTL) and FSSAI notified food testing laboratories.

The training program was inaugurated by Dr. Harinder Singh Oberoi, Director, NIFTEM-K, in presence of Dr. Samir Vyas, Country General Manager, Agilent Technologies, Sh. Ajai Prakash Gupta, Director, QA, FSSAI, Dr. Ajay Singh Bisht, Scientist at Spice Board, , and Dr. Komal Chauhan, Dean Research & Outreach and Head CFRA on 06 August 2024. Senior officers from NIFTEM-K and Agilent Technologies were present during the inaugural function besides the particpants. The event is being organized jointly by NIFTEM-K and Agilent Technologies from August 6th to 8th, 2024 at NIFTEM-K to impart hands-on training to 23 participants.

The event started with a welcome speech by Dr. Komal Chauhan (CFRA Head & Dean Research, NIFTEM-Kundli),. Dr. Neetu Taneja (Associate Head, CFRA) explained about the structure of the training programme, profile of the resource personnel and also highlighted its main goals and reasons behind the crucial need for precise measurement methods to ensure food safety. Dr. Ajai Prakash Gupta highlighted the importance of accurate and precise testing of contaminants, especially from the regulatory compliance perspective. He urged participants to make the most of this opportunity to discover new technology and suggested to include different food types in their training to expand their knowledge.

Dr. Dinesh Singh Bisht talked about the ETO and 2-CE limits in different countries. He also mentioned about the procedure for analysis of 2-CE brought out by FSSAI .

Dr. Sameer Vyas, CGM, Agilent Technology, appreciated the initiatives taken by NIFTEM-K, complemented the NIFTEM-K team and the Agilent team for working coherently in designing and developing a well structured training programme having orientation for enhancing the skill set of the lab analysts. He also emphasised that coming together of Government, Private sector and Public sector will help in improving the awareness among consumers about food safety, especially about the contaminants.

Dr. Harinder Singh Oberoi stress on the need to create a robust and accurate testing of ETOs not only in spices, but other commodities as well. He also mentioned that organizations like NIFTEM-K and FSSAI can play a significant role in anticipating the detrimental effects of contaminants like Acrylamides, endocrine disruptors and veterinary drug residues. Dr. Oberoi emphasised that India should set limits for all such contaminants across different product categories based on structured surveillance and country specific data. He requested Dr.Vyas to support NIFTEM-K in establishing a Food Safety research centre which can be used for capacity building and improving the skill set of the staff associated with analysis and also generating a lot of scientific information on existing and emerging contaminants which can eventually be shared with FSSAI for establishing robust standards.