Good times, bad times

Who has been having a blast and who has having a nightmare over the last fortnight

Good Times

Clare Barclay

Microsoft is on the lookout for a new partner boss after bumping Clare Barclay up to the role of UK COO.

Barclay has spent 18 years at Microsoft, most recently as general manager for small and mid-market solutions partners (SMS&P), and will start her new role in February.

Barclay's departure from her channel role follows a restructure of Microsoft's partner business that saw SMS&P merge with the Enterprise Product Group.

Microsoft's corporate accounts manager Chris Perkins will lead the SMS&P arm on an interim basis.

Gadgets

CES kicked off 2017 by unveiling the latest must-have devices in Las Vegas.

Cutting-edge tech set to make the world a better place includes a smart hairbrush which listens to you as you brush your hair and provides feedback on issues including "manageability, frizziness, dryness, split ends and breakage"; the WiFi pillow which becomes an "active participant in your sleep rather than just a dumb rectangle"; and an over-sensitive car which "builds a relationship which is meaningful and emotional" with its driver.

Perfect company for those long hours spent on the M25, then.

Dell EMC

Dell EMC ramped up anticipation for the launch of its partner programme next month by inviting partners to its "highly exclusive" top-level tier.

Despite sounding like the codename for an SAS black-ops mission, ‘Titanium Black' is actually an exclusive club for Dell EMC's top partners, with current invitees including the likes of CDW and World Wide Technology.

The top tier will sit above three other tiers - lowest-level Gold, Platinum, and Titanium. As they say, Titanium black is the new black.

Bad Times

123-reg

Cyber attackers show no signs of letting up in 2017, with UK web hoster 123-reg reporting a DDoS attack just six days into the new year.

The attack left some customers without access to their websites and emails, but the Hayes-based firm said it contained the issue and resolved all problems within an hour.

This incident is not the first time 123-reg has made headlines for service outages, but it is probably less embarrassing than when a coding issue in its software led to a number of customers losing their websites last year.

G-Cloud figures

Doom and gloom among government suppliers quickly became doom and gloom in the government's admin department after incorrect G-Cloud figures were published, sparking fears that Brexit was affecting the framework.

The government initially published figures showing that G-Cloud spending in October last year was just ￡38m - a 22 per cent decline on the previous year.

When contacted by CRN however, the Cabinet Office said that in fact an administrative error had meant the figures published were lower than they should have been. Panic over.

Scam-targeted schools

Schools in the UK are the latest target for cyber criminals, according to the UK's cybercrime fraud centre Action Fraud.

Action Fraud said that schools are being contacted by fraudsters posing as officials from the "department of education" (the correct name of which is the Department for Education), claiming they need to send documents directly to head teachers of schools.

Disguised as a range of documents including exam guidance and mental health assessment forms, the emails actually contain ransomware stored in zip files which once downloaded will encrypt files.

Action Fraud also warned that fraudsters are posing as officials from the Department for Work and Pensions, as well as telecoms providers.