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Channel Post MEA
04-07-2025
- Business
- Channel Post MEA
Varonis and Microsoft Join Forces to Secure AI
Varonis Systems has announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to help secure the next generation of workplace AI. The companies will build upon existing product innovations that help organizations securely adopt Microsoft Copilot. The partnership will also deepen the integration between the Varonis Data Security Platform and Microsoft's security portfolio — including Microsoft Purview — to deliver automated protection for sensitive data across the Microsoft ecosystem and beyond. The agreement lays out an engineering-led plan to solve one of the foundational challenges of the AI era — preventing AI tools, agents, and LLMs from accessing unauthorized data. 'Varonis built a world-class SaaS architecture on Microsoft Azure that protects the world's data and accelerates secure AI adoption,' said Yaki Faitelson, CEO and Co-Founder of Varonis. 'We are excited to expand our partnership with Microsoft, combining their innovation in AI with Varonis' deep expertise in data security.' 'Varonis' SaaS platform integrates the most advanced capabilities in Microsoft Azure,' said Nick Parker, President of Industry and Partnerships at Microsoft. 'Through our collaboration with Varonis, we are empowering customers to embrace AI securely and confidently with enterprise-wide data security and governance powered by Microsoft Purview and Varonis.' As part of the collaboration, Varonis' integration with Microsoft Purview aims to deliver unified data classification, permissions enforcement, and policy management — not only for Microsoft 365 and Azure, but also across leading SaaS and multi-cloud platforms like Salesforce, Databricks, and ServiceNow. This integration will help customers proactively reduce risk and simplify compliance — especially as AI and agent-based applications expand across the enterprise.
Techday NZ
01-07-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Varonis, Microsoft deepen partnership to secure enterprise AI
Varonis has entered a strategic partnership with Microsoft aimed at enhancing data security, governance, and compliance for organisations adopting artificial intelligence technologies. The partnership will build upon existing product offerings that support secure implementation of Microsoft Copilot and deepen the integration between the Varonis Data Security Platform and Microsoft's suite of security tools. This will encompass Microsoft Purview and expand to deliver automated protection for sensitive data within the Microsoft ecosystem and additional environments. Both companies have committed to an engineering-driven plan focused on addressing the risks posed by unauthorised access to data from AI tools, agents and large language models (LLMs), which is increasingly a concern as the use of workplace AI grows. Yaki Faitelson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Varonis, commented on the development: "Varonis built a world-class SaaS architecture on Microsoft Azure that protects the world's data and accelerates secure AI adoption. We are excited to expand our partnership with Microsoft, combining their innovation in AI with Varonis' deep expertise in data security." Nick Parker, President of Industry and Partnerships at Microsoft, also reflected on the partnership: "Varonis' SaaS platform integrates the most advanced capabilities in Microsoft Azure. Through our collaboration with Varonis, we are empowering customers to embrace AI securely and confidently with enterprise-wide data security and governance powered by Microsoft Purview and Varonis." The integration of Varonis with Microsoft Purview is expected to offer unified data classification, permissions enforcement, and policy management capabilities. This will target not only Microsoft 365 and Azure, but is also projected to extend to major SaaS and multi-cloud platforms such as Salesforce, Databricks, and ServiceNow. Through this collaboration, organisations are expected to improve their ability to proactively reduce risk and streamline compliance efforts, particularly as the deployment of AI-driven and agent-based applications becomes more widespread in enterprise settings. The announcement highlights the increasing focus on securing data integrity and compliance controls in the context of advanced technologies. The emphasis on automating protection and simplifying rule management for sensitive data reflects industry priorities as organisations continue to deploy AI-centric solutions. The Varonis and Microsoft partnership signals ongoing cooperation between data security and cloud infrastructure providers as businesses adapt security and governance frameworks for evolving digital and regulatory environments. Varonis is encouraging organisations to take a data-centric approach to cybersecurity by securing what it calls their "most valuable and vulnerable asset" with its unified data security platform. The company's platform provides comprehensive protection, enabling businesses to reduce their blast radius and prevent data breaches by securing sensitive information directly at the source. With increasing threats targeting unstructured data across cloud and on-premises environments, Varonis continues to position its solution as a critical layer of defence in a modern security strategy. Follow us on: Share on:
The Sun
13-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
What caused the Air India plane disaster? Six main theories emerge – from mystery over landing gear to 40C weather
Tom Midlane Nick Parker Published: Invalid Date, WHILE the exact cause of the horrific Air India crash is not yet known, speculation continues to swirl online. One of Flight AI171's two 'black boxes' has reportedly been recovered, which should start to provide crucial evidence on the fatal five minutes between the plane's takeoff and impact. 12 12 12 The black box will provide technical information on details like time, airspeed, altitude and hearing. However, the cockpit voice recorder may also offer vital insights such as any conversation between the two pilots, any engine noises or bangs, stall warnings or sounds of other equipment. The crash killed at least 265 people, including those on board and locals on the ground. As crash investigators begin to pour over that data, The Sun looks at six main theories currently posited as potential causes for India's worst ever aviation disaster. Bird strikes 12 A bird strike could have taken out both of the jet's General Electric engines. While a bird taking down something the size of a commercial airliner might sound fanciful, there are numerous examples. Most famous was US Airways Flight 1549, which suffered double engine failure in 2009 after being hit by a flock of Canada geese shortly after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The plane, captained by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson river - earning the tagline the "Miracle on the Hudson" since there were zero casualities. Ahmedabad Airport is known to have a large avian population - a study in 2018 found the airport has 'a high potential of bird-aircraft collision hazards'. Captain C S Randhawa, who has flown a Boeing 777 for 15 years, and was the former Deputy Chief Flight Inspector, Operations, at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said a bird strike was "the most probable' cause of the crash. "Both Ahmedabad and Agra airports are full of birds. Incidents of aircraft being hit by birds keep happening on and off," he told The New Indian Express. Aviation safety consultant and instructor Captain Mohan Ranganathan told the same publication: "Bird hit appears to be the reason as of now. "Ahmedabad airport has a history of a huge bird population. I flagged this issue 17 years ago and have written extensively about it too." Brit survivor WALKS AWAY unscathed from Air India plane crash after jumping from flaming jet Captain Ranganathan claims that the birds are drawn to the slaughterhouses near the airport He added: 'The reason for such a huge presence is due to slaughterhouses in the vicinity of airports which should never have been allowed. "They are never relocated by the authorities because they are owned by politicians or their relatives.' In January 2021, an identical plane to the one involved in Thursday's crash aborted a take-off in Mexico after birds flew into one of its engines. Wing Flap Position 12 Aviation experts have suggested that the position of the aircraft's wing flaps could have played a role in the disaster. Video evidence suggests the flaps were fully retracted, which would have provided minimal lift. The aircraft's landing gear also remained deployed throughout which would have increased potentially fatal drag. One theory is that the landing gear was stuck and pilots retracted the flaps to reduce drag or that the flaps were faulty and caused the plane to stall. Aviation expert Terry Tozer, author of Confessions of an Airline Pilot, told the BBC: "It's very hard to say from the video for sure, it doesn't look as if the flaps are extended and that would be a perfectly obvious explanation for an aircraft not completing its take-off correctly." Marco Chan, a former pilot and a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, said: "That would point to potential human error if flaps aren't set correctly, but the resolution of the video is too low to confirm that." Pilot error 12 The state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 is highly automated, with human pilots making only key decisions - but human error cannot be ruled out. Co-pilot Clive Kundar had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience and made the mayday call but Captain Sumeet Sabharwa at the helm had 8,000 hours - making him one of Air India's most experienced pilots. Sabharwa was also a trained instructor, meaning he had a deep understanding of flying protocol. Estimates suggest the amount of runway utilised by the pilots was less than 2,000 metres - when a full plane on a hot day usually needs a run of 2,500 metres. Additionally, since the wing flaps are also set by the pilots before takeoff, with multiple checklists and procedures in place to ensure that they are positioned correctly, that could also be another source of human error. Heat Planes get less lift on a hot day due to lower air density, and therefore they need to go faster to get as much lift as on a cooler day. Flight AI171 took off in sweltering 40°C heat in the early afternoon sunshine. The plane may have struggled to gain lift if it took off after a short runway take-off. In his emergency mayday call, co-pilot Clive Kundar says "No thrust, losing power, unable to lift." Technical Error Catastrophic technical or engineering issues have not been ruled out. The jet's complex design mean it could take months for a design or engineering fault to be pinpointed. The Dreamliner has a spotless safety record - this is the first time the model has crashed since its introduction in 2011. However, airlines using the Boeing plane have reported numerous issues with the engines, including a mid-air dive on a LATAM Airlines flight last yeear. During hearings in Washington last year, a former Boeing engineer turned whistleblower urged the aerospace giant to ground all Dreamliners. However, the aircraft manufacturer rejected the claims and said it had full confidence in the 787. Overloading 12 The aircraft could also have been too heavy to take-off. Danger of overloading could be increased - again - by adverse wather conditions caused by extreme heat. But the weight of aircraft is usually carefully checked ahead of take-off and the theory is thought unlikely. 12 12
Scottish Sun
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Boozy Brits in Spanish holiday hotspots showed ‘bulldog spirit' & kept on drinking through massive blackout
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BOOZY Brits were getting the beers in yesterday as the bars of Benidorm reopened after Spain's blackout chaos. Ex-pat Charlie Robb was one of the first to clock in at his local, The Little White Bull pub in the heart of the Spanish holiday playground yesterday. 5 Ex-pat Charlie Robb with his dog Brandy drinking beer at the Little White Bull in Benidorm yesterday Credit: Nick Parker 5 Charlie rushed to the bar as soon as it re-opened following Spain's power outage Credit: Nick Parker 5 Charlie raises a glass to Spanish technicians Credit: Nick Parker Retired oil rig worker Charlie, 70, raised a glass to Spanish technicians who restored power and treated his pet Border Collie Brandy to a sip of his ice cold lager. Electric pumps at thousands of bars across the brash Costa Blanca resort stopped working, credit card machines shut and lager warmed during a 13-hour outage. But bulldog Brits told yesterday how they rallied round and tackled the emergency by paying with cash and switching to bottled beer served from coolboxes. And they were all smiles yesterday as tens of thousands of trippers flooded back to pubs and bars as normal service was resumed. Charlie, from Glasgow, said: 'The power went off at around 11.30am yesterday but I was among about 30 Brits who managed to carry on boozing until it got dark. 'I'm quite lucky because I normally drink bottled Spanish Mahou beer which the staff managed to keep quite cool then I switched to bottled Desperado beer with a shot of tequila. 'We showed true bulldog spirit and only have up when it got so dark indoors we couldn't see what we were drinking. 'But the power came back on at 12.30am and everything's back to normal in Benidorm today and I'm back on the beer.' Little White Bull landlady Mairead Roberts, 32, who moved to Spain from Rotherham said: 'We managed to stay open till about 8pm on Monday until it got too dark. 'We've run our family pub here for even years and thought Covid was weird but this was something else. People cheer with excitement as lights turn on in Madrid 'The cellphone network still didn't come back on till this morning but we're up and running now, and it's great to be back in business.' The blackouts across the Iberian peninsula could have also been caused by failures at solar farms, Spain's grid operator said last night. Spain's national REE said two incidents of power generation loss had been identified, likely from solar plants. The incidents - which caused instability which could have triggered the breakdown of its connection with France - came as a cyber attack was ruled out as the cause. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said that the blackout was not due to a lack of nuclear power, which far-right party Vox wants to stop his government phasing out. A drive towards solar and wind energy - similar to the push ordered by UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband - is believed to have made Spain's power grid less resilient. Mr Sanchez said about 15 gigawatts of electricity - more than half of the power being consumed at the time - 'suddenly disappeared' in five seconds. Power was still not fully restored yesterday amid continuing engineering work. At least five people are known to have lost their lives to various tragedies in the 24 hours since Spain, Portugal and southern France were plunged into blackout. A family of three - two parents and a child - perished in Taboadela, north-west Spain, after they inhaled carbon monoxide, presumed from a damaged generator. In Valencia, a 46-year-old woman died after her oxygen machine failed and she was deprived of the life-sustaining supply. In Madrid, a woman was killed in a fire that police believe could have been caused by a candle. The sad news comes as Spain's top court launches a bombshell probe into whether sabotage was behind the sudden power loss - and it is revealed that "unusual activity" hit the UK grid hours before Europe. Initial estimates have placed the cost of the collapse at an eye-watering 4.5 billion euros. 5 A worker assists a customer with a torch at a supermarket during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain
The Irish Sun
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Boozy Brits in Spanish holiday hotspots showed ‘bulldog spirit' & kept on drinking through massive blackout
BOOZY Brits were getting the beers in yesterday as the bars of Benidorm reopened after Spain's blackout chaos. Ex-pat Charlie Robb was one of the first to clock in at his local, The Little White Bull pub in the heart of the Spanish holiday playground yesterday. Advertisement 5 Ex-pat Charlie Robb with his dog Brandy drinking beer at the Little White Bull in Benidorm yesterday Credit: Nick Parker 5 Charlie rushed to the bar as soon as it re-opened following Spain's power outage Credit: Nick Parker 5 Charlie raises a glass to Spanish technicians Credit: Nick Parker Retired oil rig worker Charlie, 70, raised a glass to Spanish technicians who restored power and treated his pet Border Collie Brandy to a sip of his ice cold lager. Electric pumps at thousands of bars across the brash Costa Blanca resort stopped working, credit card machines shut and lager warmed during a But bulldog Brits told yesterday how they rallied round and tackled the emergency by paying with cash and switching to bottled beer served from coolboxes. And they were all smiles yesterday as tens of thousands of trippers flooded back to pubs and bars as normal service was resumed. Advertisement Read more on blackout Charlie, from Glasgow, said: 'The power went off at around 11.30am yesterday but I was among about 30 Brits who managed to carry on boozing until it got dark. 'I'm quite lucky because I normally drink bottled Spanish Mahou beer which the staff managed to keep quite cool then I switched to bottled Desperado beer with a shot of tequila. 'We showed true bulldog spirit and only have up when it got so dark indoors we couldn't see what we were drinking. 'But the power came back on at 12.30am and everything's back to normal in Benidorm today and I'm back on the beer.' Advertisement Most read in The Sun Exclusive Little White Bull landlady Mairead Roberts, 32, who moved to Spain from Rotherham said: 'We managed to stay open till about 8pm on Monday until it got too dark. 'We've run our family pub here for even years and thought Covid was weird but this was something else. People cheer with excitement as lights turn on in Madrid 'The cellphone network still didn't come back on till this morning but we're up and running now, and it's great to be back in business.' The blackouts across the Iberian peninsula could have also been caused by failures at solar farms, Spain's grid operator said last night. Advertisement Spain's national REE said two incidents of power generation loss had been identified, likely from solar plants . The incidents - which caused instability which could have triggered the breakdown of its connection with France - came as a cyber attack was ruled out as the cause. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez A drive towards solar and wind energy - similar to the push ordered by UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband - is believed to have made Spain's power grid less resilient. Advertisement Mr Sanchez said about 15 gigawatts of electricity - more than half of the power being consumed at the time - 'suddenly disappeared' in five seconds. Power was still not fully restored yesterday amid continuing engineering work. At least five people are known to have A family of three - two parents and a child - perished in Taboadela, north-west Spain, after they inhaled carbon monoxide, presumed from a damaged generator. Advertisement In Valencia, a 46-year-old woman died after her oxygen machine failed and she was deprived of the life-sustaining supply. I n Madrid , a woman was killed in a fire that police believe could have been caused by a candle. The sad news comes as Spain's top court launches Initial estimates have placed the cost of the collapse at an eye-watering 4.5 billion euros. Advertisement 5 A worker assists a customer with a torch at a supermarket during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain 5 Food stands in Barcelona during the blackout
