This week on IT SPARC Cast - CVE of the Week, John Barger and Lou Schmidt dive into the massive ransomware attack that crippled global IT distributor Ingram Micro. The breach, allegedly carried out by the SafePay ransomware group, took down Ingram Micro’s critical ordering and licensing platforms, causing widespread disruption across the tech industry. With speculation that attackers may have gained access through the company’s GlobalProtect VPN as far back as November, this incident highlights how ransomware dwell time can quietly set organizations up for catastrophic failure.

John and Lou break down what we know so far, why proper backup strategies, network segmentation, and Zero Trust architectures are more critical than ever, and why every organization—regardless of size—needs a true disaster recovery plan for a worst-case scenario like this. Don’t assume your backups are clean. Don’t assume your internal network is safe. Learn the hard lessons from this major breach before your organization becomes the next target.

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast - CVE of The Week, John and Lou break down two critical Linux vulnerabilities—CVE-2025-6018 and CVE-2025-6019—that could allow local users to escalate privileges all the way to root. Discovered by the Qualys Threat Research Unit, these flaws affect major Linux distributions, including openSUSE and SUSE Enterprise Linux. Even though Ubuntu users may be safe if default PAM files haven’t been altered, the risks for production Linux environments are real—and patching is essential.

We dive into how attackers could chain these flaws together to gain unauthorized access, what systems are most at risk, and how you can protect your environment today. From patch details to command-line workarounds, we cover what IT teams need to know to stay ahead of potential exploitation. Don’t let your Linux systems stay vulnerable—listen in for the details!

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In this Episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou break down a historic first meeting between Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds, sparking speculation about collaboration. They also cover Nvidia’s bold move into cloud services, how Congress is banning apps like WhatsApp and Co-Pilot from staff devices, and whether the Computer Science bubble is finally bursting. This is your enterprise IT news, with the sarcasm and insights you’ve come to expect.

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🗞️ News Bytes

00:56 - Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds Meet for the First Time

•After decades of shaping tech from opposite ends, Gates and Torvalds finally sit down together

•Speculation swirls: truce, partnership, or just a polite handshake?

•John and Lou dissect the implications for open-source, Microsoft, and enterprise IT

•https://linuxiac.com/a-historic-photo-torvalds-and-gates-together/ 

06:22 - Nvidia Ruffles Tech Giants With Move Into Cloud Computing

•Nvidia unveils plans to offer its own cloud platform for AI workloads

•Tech giants like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are not thrilled

•Is Nvidia becoming the next major infrastructure player?

•https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/nvidia-dgx-cloud-computing-28c49748 

09:32 - Congress Bans WhatsApp, Co-Pilot, & more from Staff Devices

•U.S. Congress bans certain apps from government-issued devices

•WhatsApp, Microsoft Co-Pilot, and others face the axe

•Raises bigger questions about security, control, and vendor trust

•https://www.axios.com/2025/06/23/whatsapp-house-congress-staffers-messaging-app 

14:18 - Is The Computer-Science Bubble Bursting?

•Enrollment in computer science programs shows signs of slowing

•Layoffs and AI automation fuel fears of an industry correction

•John and Lou discuss what it means for the future of IT careers

•https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/06/computer-science-bubble-ai/683242/ 

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18:55 - Wrap Up

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast - Hot Take, John and Lou shine a spotlight on the crumbling façade of cloud reliability. Once upon a time, enterprise IT measured uptime in “nines”—with five nines (99.999%) meaning just over five minutes of downtime a year. Today’s cloud providers? They’re barely holding onto three or four nines, if that.

From Microsoft’s massive Microsoft 365 outage on June 16th, to recurring IBM Cloud disruptions, and a multi-hour Google Cloud failure that impacted over 50 services globally, this episode breaks down why modern cloud infrastructure—despite all its microservices and distributed architecture—still seems shockingly brittle.

If your business is betting everything on the cloud, this episode is your wake-up call. We talk SLAs, misaligned priorities, and whether “Cloud-First” is still a smart strategy for mission-critical apps in 2025.

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast - CVE of The Week, John and Lou break down CVE-2025-31324 — a critical remote code execution vulnerability in SAP NetWeaver’s Visual Composer. With a CVSS score of 9.8, this exploit is not just theory — it’s actively being weaponized by ransomware gangs, Chinese APTs, and groups like BianLian and RansomEXX. Despite SAP issuing emergency patches in April 2025, organizations continue to get hit, proving that unpatched systems remain a massive security liability.

We’ll explain how Visual Composer’s model-driven development tools became the attack vector, what full RCE means in an enterprise SAP environment, and why skipping patches can do more than just destabilize your system — it can destroy your business continuity. If you’re running SAP NetWeaver, this is your wake-up call to audit, patch, and double-check.

Stay ahead of threats. Patch often. Stay secure.

Subscribe for weekly threat insights from the world of Enterprise IT.

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast - News Bytes, John and Lou break down the week’s biggest tech stories—from Amazon’s quiet plan to replace portions of its workforce with generative AI, to BlueNoroff’s chilling new Zoom scam using deepfake technology. They also follow up on pricing details for Google’s Beam 3D video conferencing, discuss rising tension between OpenAI and Microsoft, and look at Uptime Industries’ quirky “AI-in-a-BOX” offering featuring an LLM called Lemony. This episode connects the dots between automation, deception, and disruption—and what it means for enterprise IT.

🗞️ News Bytes

00:58 - Amazon’s To Shrink workforce as AI takes over routine tasks

•Amazon plans to reduce its workforce as generative AI takes over routine tasks

•Part of a larger trend where AI automates internal operations at scale

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-workforce-reduce-rollout-generative-ai-agents-2025-06-17/

05:18 - Google Beam Pricing Revealed

•Follow-up from previous episode: Google Beam is priced as a premium service

•Raises the question: is it really the future of meetings, or just a Silicon Valley flex?

https://newatlas.com/consumer-tech/google-beam-3d-video-conferencing/ 

08:54 - BlueNoroff Deploys Deepfake Zoom Scam

•BlueNoroff APT group now uses deepfake video calls to defraud executives

•Masquerades as investors or vendors during Zoom calls to steal money

•Highlights the need for real-time identity verification and cybersecurity vigilance

https://thehackernews.com/2025/06/bluenoroff-deepfake-zoom-scam-hits.html?m=1 

12:43 - OpenAI and Microsoft Tensions Escalate

•Friction grows between OpenAI’s board and Microsoft’s leadership

•Disagreements over product roadmap, strategy, and ethical AI deployment

•Could this rift reshape the foundation of enterprise AI partnerships?

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-and-microsoft-tensions-are-reaching-a-boiling-point-4981c44f?st=oztNm3&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink 

17:07 - Uptime Industries unveiled AI-in-a-BOX called Lemony

•New plug-and-play LLM appliance promises instant AI infrastructure

•Targeted at SMBs who want AI without the cloud complexity

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4007510/uptimes-ai-in-a-box-offers-turnkey-enterprise-grade-ai-without-the-cloud.html 

Wrap Up - 22:22

Thank you for tuning in to IT SPARC Cast. Got feedback, questions, or hot tips? Let us know!

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week, John and Lou dig into Apple’s latest transparency report, which reveals how governments worldwide are requesting access to Apple user data at record-breaking levels. From iCloud backups to metadata, these requests expose just how much personal and corporate information could be vulnerable—even for organizations that think they’re secure. The guys break down the numbers, the countries involved, and what IT security professionals need to consider as cloud providers quietly cooperate with governments behind closed doors.

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📝 Show Notes

•Apple releases its latest transparency report, showing millions of government data requests.

•China, the U.S., and several EU countries remain top requesters for Apple customer data.

•While Apple promotes end-to-end encryption, not all data types are protected—iCloud backups, emails, and certain metadata remain accessible.

•The risk extends to enterprises using Cloud Storage as part of their IT strategies.

•John and Lou explain why privacy policies that promise to “protect your data” often still include backdoors for legal compliance.

•This serves as a reminder for IT teams to:

•Segment corporate data from personal cloud services

•Review legal jurisdictions when choosing SaaS/cloud providers

•Be proactive when advising executives who rely heavily on cloud services

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4003107/apple-details-which-governments-make-the-most-data-requests.html

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📄 Episode Description:

In Episode 39 of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou unpack how enterprise IT budgets are rapidly shifting toward AI projects, IBM’s ambitious plans for large-scale quantum computing, and why some venture-backed AI startups may be headed for a valuation reset. It’s a fast-paced look at the real business implications behind today’s biggest tech headlines.

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⏱️ Show Notes & Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:06 - IT Budgets Focus on AI

•New research shows AI spending now consumes 50% of IT project budgets.

•Budgets for AI are often pulling directly from existing cloud and SaaS allocations.

•John and Lou warn: companies are cutting everywhere else to fund AI experiments.

•The danger of underfunding non-AI IT: patching, security, and infrastructure still matter.

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ibm-aims-quantum-computer-2029-lays-out-road-map-larger-systems-2025-06-10/

04:12 - IBM’s Quantum Computer Plans

•IBM announces its roadmap for building a 200-qubit quantum computer by 2029 and a second generation system by 2033.

•John and Lou break down what that really means, and whether anyone can actually use it.

•Near-term applications may include materials science, pharmaceuticals, and optimization—if error correction improves.

•Potential long-term threat: quantum decryption of today’s security protocols.

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ibm-aims-quantum-computer-2029-lays-out-road-map-larger-systems-2025-06-10/

08:05 - AI Startup Valuations

•The guys highlight how early-stage AI startup valuations are out of control.

•Investors are throwing billions at companies with unproven business models.

•John & Lou caution: this feels a lot like a repeat of the dot-com bubble.

•Discussion on GPU access vs true defensible value in AI companies.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/10/enterprise-ai-startup-glean-lands-a-7-2b-valuation/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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11:20 - Wrap Up

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In this inaugural “Hot Take” episode of IT SPARC Cast, John Barger and Lou Schmidt deliver a candid, unscripted conversation about the seismic shift coming to enterprise IT. Prompted by recent moves—like OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer joining Cisco’s board and Sam Altman’s AGI talk with Snowflake’s CEO—the hosts explore what these changes really mean for network professionals, IT vendors, and infrastructure strategy.

They argue the network operating system is dead—or at least on life support. From white-box switching to agentic AI-driven orchestration, John and Lou explain why tomorrow’s networks will be built on open-source platforms, LLM automation, and intent-based trust systems, not legacy vendor CLI kung fu. Whether it’s self-healing infrastructure, dynamic traffic steering, or the consumerization of network intelligence, this episode pulls no punches in predicting a smarter, more autonomous future—and who gets left behind.

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🧠 Topics Covered:

•Why traditional network OSes like Cisco IOS and ArubaOS are becoming irrelevant

•How open-source access points and white-box switches are gaining momentum

•Why LLMs and agentic systems are the real future of infrastructure management

•The role of orchestration over configuration

•Why older network admins might resist—but can’t stop—the shift

•What Cisco’s alliance with OpenAI really signals

•Predictions for AI-powered, fully autonomous enterprise networks

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In this episode of IT SPARC Cast - CVE of the Week, John and Lou explore a major development in cybersecurity: the collaborative initiative between Microsoft, Google, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and others to standardize naming conventions for nation-state threat actors and cybercriminal groups. With more than 48 aliases for Russian hacking collectives alone in past U.S. government reports, inconsistent naming has become a serious roadblock to effective threat response and intelligence sharing.

John and Lou break down why this unified glossary isn’t just a semantic improvement—it’s a critical leap in cyber threat detection, fingerprint analysis, and enterprise risk communication. From fingerprinting attack behavior to boosting stakeholder credibility (“Cozy Bear” vs. “Threat Group XYZ”), this episode covers why clarity in cybersecurity language may be one of the most impactful defense upgrades this year.

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