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Associated Press
4 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
AV-Comparatives Publishes World's Largest Independent Enterprise Cybersecurity Solution Test
17 Top-Tier Enterprise EPP, EDR, and XDR Solutions Evaluated in the Most Comprehensive ISO 9001:2015-Certified Public Assessment to Date INNSBRUCK, Austria, July 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AV-Comparatives, the globally recognised authority in independent cybersecurity testing, has released its Enterprise Security Test 2025 (March to June). This is the most extensive public evaluation to date of enterprise endpoint protection platforms (EPP), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and extended detection and response (XDR) solutions. Seventeen high-performing enterprise-grade cybersecurity products were rigorously evaluated using real-world attack simulations and scientifically sound methodologies, offering a comprehensive view of modern endpoint defence capabilities. The report includes individual product descriptions that outline key strengths and capabilities to help IT decision-makers select the most suitable solution based on their organisation's size, infrastructure, and security priorities. What Sets This Test Apart? Unmatched Scope: This is the largest public comparative test of enterprise EPP, EDR, and XDR solutions globally. Only mature, high-performing products were included. These had already demonstrated consistent reliability and strong protection in previous assessments. Holistic Analysis: Each product was evaluated across four mission-critical dimensions: To support enterprise IT leaders, the report includes an extensive feature matrix (page 57) detailing the core and advanced capabilities of each tested solution. This includes management interfaces, deployment models, threat response tools, and third-party integration support, helping organisations make informed side-by-side comparisons. All evaluated products represent enterprise-ready solutions that meet modern protection standards. Each product received the AV-Comparatives Approved Enterprise Product Seal, recognising their proven security effectiveness, operational reliability, and readiness for large-scale deployment. Peter Stelzhammer, co-founder of AV-Comparatives, commented: 'CISOs and IT leaders face complex, fast-evolving threats. Independent validation is not a luxury – it is essential. This test series provides evidence-based insights into how EPP, EDR, and XDR solutions perform in the field. We apply strict, scientifically grounded methodologies to help enterprises choose wisely.' Access the full test report: AV-Comparatives' enterprise test series is ISO 9001:2015 certified for the scope of Independent Tests of Cybersecurity Solutions. It is globally trusted by CISOs, analysts, and IT leaders as the benchmark for unbiased, rigorous cybersecurity evaluation. Cybersecurity and antivirus test results are available at for leading vendors including: Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Check Point, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Elastic, Fortinet, F-Secure, ESET, G DATA, Gen Digital, Google, Intego, K7 Computing, Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, ManageEngine, McAfee, Microsoft, NetSecurity, Nord Security, Norton, Palo Alto Networks, Rapid7, SenseOn, Sophos, Total Defense, TotalAV, Trellix, Trend Micro, VIPRE, WithSecure, and many more. Media contact: Peter Stelzhammer, [email protected] +43512287788 Photo: Logo: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE AV-Comparatives
Forbes
4 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Why Newcastle United's Transfer Strategy Flawed And How To Fix It
INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA - JULY 17: Newcastle United Head Coach Eddie Howe holds a ball under his arm ... More during the Newcastle United Pre Season Training Session at FC Seefelder Plateau on July 17, 2025 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images) It wouldn't be pre-season at Newcastle United without a dose of anxiety and frustration. Supporters are used to difficulty in the summer months, but it doesn't get any easier to digest each year. With just weeks to go until the Premier League season kicks off, there is concern that the club is far from ready for what will be arguably its most testing campaign yet. Those fears were not allayed by the first friendly match at Celtic on Saturday. Newcastle was humbled 4-0 in Glasgow; a jolt in the arm for everybody. There is context in every game, and it should be noted that Celtic is three weeks ahead of Newcastle in its preparations; at this stage, that makes a world of difference. Newcastle played that game off the back of an intense week of training in the Austrian mountains. The players were clearly off the pace, and will need to be in better shape by the time they face Arsenal in Singapore on Sunday. But none of that really mattered once Howe had taken his first press conference; Alexander Isak's absence amid intense speculation linking him with a move to Liverpool was the headline, but Howe didn't miss an opportunity to echo the fraught feeling around transfers. Only one first team player has arrived this summer, in the form of winger Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest. Although he was one of Howe's primary targets, costing an initial £52m ($70m), solving a problem on the right wing which has caused issues for a number of years, the slow pace with which Newcastle has strengthened other key areas, and more pertinently the number of first choice options it has failed to land, is a worry. Many people have speculated as to why it has been so tough. Newcastle is in the Champions League and won its first domestic trophy for 70 years; after almost breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) last summer, there is much more freedom to spend big. Has the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) lost interest? What does the future hold? Some have even compared this summer to the inactive, ineffectual years under previous owner Mike Ashley, such has been the volume of silence at times. But the issue is completely the opposite; Ashley used Newcastle as a tool to promote his other businesses, and did not want to spend big money on new signings. PIF, for all the fair questions being put its way over its motivation to help Newcastle grow, has backed a number of big money bids this summer, including one which would have broken the club's transfer record. Ambition is the problem, of sorts. Newcastle has made itself competitive with a shrewd approach to recruitment, signing a combination of high ceiling, potentially world class, players from European clubs like Isak, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, players from English clubs who have developed with Howe's coaching, such as Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, and the best of teams relegated from the Premier League, including Harvey Barnes and Nick Pope. Similar options are on the table for Newcastle this summer. It is in need of a striker, goalkeeper and central defender as a minimum, has opted instead to move for lower risk targets; that comes at a literal cost. Dean Huijsen, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Joao Pedro and Hugo Ekitike have all been struck off the list because they've signed for the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool. James Trafford, a long time goalkeeper target, is said to be closing in on a return to former club Manchester City. "It has been a really frustrating summer," Howe told reporters on Saturday. "We've been very close to signing several players and for different reasons - there's not one theme why we haven't signed more - we've ended up missing out on a few who would have made a difference. "The one most important factor in any transfer is the player has to want to come to Newcastle. We're a very proud club and are proud of what we do, so any player has to feel that. 'If they don't, for whatever reason, I don't think it's a healthy transfer. Every player we have signed to this point, that's gone on to be hugely successful with us, has had that desire to come. So, for me, that's the number one thing." NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 05: Alexander Isak of Newcastle United celebrates scoring a ... More goal that is later ruled out by VAR with team-mate Sandro Tonali during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James' Park on February 05, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images) Missing out on targets is tough, but understandable when they go on to play for richer, more historical clubs than Newcastle. What Howe says magnifies the flaw in the plan; Newcastle wants to make immediate improvements to the first team, but can't or won't pay on a similar level to the competition. So, not only is being desperate to join Newcastle a necessary requirement, it has to be in spite of knowing they will likely earn less than they could elsewhere. Suddenly, a very small pool of players becomes a non-existent pool of players. The beauty of deals like Isak and Tonali was the players were every bit as good as the club requires now. The same rivals had looked at them and decided against moving for whatever reason, be it form or injury. In 2022, the last summer when seemingly everyone wanted a striker, Manchester City signed Erling Haaland early in the window. Liverpool led, and won, a Europe-wide charge to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica, which also involved Newcastle. By the time it came to signing Isak in late August, Newcastle had a clear run to sign him and gambled that he'd make good on his potential. He'd scored just six league goals the previous season and the £63m ($85m) fee paid was viewed as a huge risk. Three years on, Liverpool is desperate to sign Isak for a British record fee and willing to sell Nunez in a cut-price deal. The illusion of certainty in football only drives up prices, and Newcastle cannot pay them. It isn't a lack of ability or willingness to sign players that is holding the club back, but rather its own choices. Taking similar gambles on potential and backing Howe's ability to develop it is the only realistic way forward.
France 24
15-07-2025
- Business
- France 24
Fallen Austrian tycoon Benko charged with fraud
Benko, once one of Austria's richest men, founded the Signa real estate empire in 2000, but the debt-laden group crumbled in 2023 in the largest insolvency proceedings in the country's history. Signa has creditors in Europe but also the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. Signa shot to prominence with its vast portfolio including New York's Chrysler Building and several prestigious department store chains in Europe. Prosecutors have been investigating Benko on suspicion of fraud and other offences. Benko, 48, is charged with concealing assets amounting to some 660,000 euros ($770,000) at the expense of creditor claims, prosecutors said in a statement. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. He has been detained in Vienna since his arrest in January at his villa in Austria's western city of Innsbruck. More than a dozen suspects are being investigated over the insolvency, with damages currently estimated at around 300 million euros, according to prosecutors. In December, Austrian authorities questioned Benko in Innsbruck after Italy issued an arrest warrant against him for allegedly participating in a criminal organisation.
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Women on wheels with World Cup ambition: `I've been fortunate, all I've broken playing derby are a few fingers'
A community centre hall in Inchicore in Dublin 8 isn't the most likely place to find some of the country's talented athletes preparing for a World Cup, but then there's never been anything typical about roller derby. Although the full contact sport played on quad roller skates has shaken off its reputation for spectacle, quirky names and theatrical costumes to become recognised as a legitimate sport, its DIY ethos and 'by the skaters for the skaters' mantra endures. The Team Ireland Roller Derby squad are in training for the Roller Derby World Cup taking place in Austria in July. Video: Bryan O'Brien The Roller Derby World Cup 2025, beginning next Thursday, will see a record number of 48 teams and thousands of spectators from across the globe descend on the town of Innsbruck in Austria . It will be the second time Team Ireland captain Elaine Snowden, a 12-year veteran of the sport, has donned the green jersey, having competed in the 2018 World Cup when Ireland took a respectable 14th place, punching above its weight given its small size and scant funding. Alongside her will be 19 of the country's top roller derby players. Team Ireland: Pippa Van Welie (Pippa), Susan Verney (Verney), Anna Blix (Blix) and Ashley Lowcock (A Lowcock). Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Founded in the United States by Leo Seltzer during the Depression era, roller derby initially involved a roller-skating marathon on a banked track. The sport became hugely popular in the late 1930s, with Seltzer taking the travelling event to more than 50 American cities and five million fans. However, when the US entered the second World War , the sport declined in popularity and seesawed in and out of fashion in the decades that followed before fading into obscurity. Roller derby returned as a sort of punk rock DIY sport in Austin, Texas, around the turn of the century. READ MORE The game consists of two teams, each with five skaters who compete on a flat, oval track in a series of two-minute timed plays called 'jams'. One player from each team, known as the jammer and identifiable by the star on their helmet, attempts to lap the opposing team's skaters, known as the blockers. The role of the blocker is to stop the opposing jammer from passing, by using a series of shoulder, hip and body blocks and hits. The game is fast, physical and a lot of fun. Ciara Powell (Powell) (left) and Lisa Diamond (Diamond Weapon) of the Team Ireland Roller Derby squad in training at Inchicore Community Sports Centre in Dublin. Photo: Bryan O'Brien / The Irish Times Sonya Raposa (left) (Sionnach), Elaine Snowden (Dashing Trudy Snow) and Natasha Isabelle (Gnasher). Photo: Bryan O'Brien / The Irish Times Under the moniker Marilyn Monroadkill, I spent half of my 20s skating around London sports halls as a member of the London Rockin' Rollers, before a series of injuries – including a broken ankle and slipped disc – forced me into a reluctant early retirement. The sport had reached a global audience thanks to the 2009 movie Whip It, staring Drew Barrymore and Elliot Page . Although an exaggerated and comic depiction of the sport – in real life, punching opposing players would most certainly land you in the penalty box if not a jail cell – the film introduced a new generation to the joys of skating fast and hitting hard. As someone who had actively avoided any organised sports as though they were radioactive, discovering that I could get fit on roller skates while wearing fishnets and smoky eyeliner appealed to my inner 1990s riot grrrl. Most of my team-mates were of a similar background, a motley crew of punks and athletic misfits with shared experience of being the last one picked on school sports' day. As the game grew in popularity again in the 2010s, competitiveness ramped up and the focus turned to skill, technique and strength. These days, the emphasis is more on fitness than fishnets. In 2020 roller derby was one of eight sports considered by the Olympic Committee for inclusion in the games and, although it didn't make the final cut, the recognition cemented its position as a competitive sport played by top level athletes. Members of the Team Ireland roller derby squad in training at Inchicore Community Sports Centre, Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Team Ireland at training in Inchicore, Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Like Snowden, Ashley Lowcock has been playing roller derby since 2012, first in Vancouver, Canada, and since 2014 has been a player and head coach of Dublin Roller Derby, as well as a current member of the Team Ireland squad. Sport had always been a part of Lowcock's life; she played ice hockey and football at school. 'When I first saw roller derby in Kingston, I couldn't believe it was real,' she says. 'It looked like so much fun, and I couldn't wait to try it.' An average week for Snowden, who works as a marketing designer for a children's educational app, includes multiple two-hour training sessions with Dublin as well as solo gym workouts where she focuses on weightlifting, endurance and cardio. Weekends frequently involve travelling for games or intensive boot camp-style training sessions with Team Ireland. Snowden is one of the team's jammers – a position that requires speed, agility and a complete lack of fear. Is she nervous about injuries? 'I've been fortunate,' she says. 'The only thing I've broken playing derby are a few fingers.' Although an amateur sport, the commitment required is akin to that of a professional athlete. And that's before we get to the admin. In Ireland, roller derby is entirely skater run and skater managed, and everybody is assigned additional jobs to ensure the smooth running of operations. Lowcock's role as head coach with Dublin involves prepping training plans, strategies, and developing drills with the team. Other skaters look after insurance, booking flights and accommodation for away games, finding training halls and fundraising. For Team Ireland, raising funds is a constant battle; almost all costs involved in training and participating are paid by the skaters themselves. Although the team received some sponsorship from a US-based uniform company in 2018, the company folded during the pandemic and the team are currently without a sponsor. A GoFundMe page has been set up, but the costs of sending 20 players and four coaches to Austria quickly adds up, and the sum raised won't offset much of the final bill. The team receives no local or Government funding either, despite the fact that they are representing their country on the international stage. It might seem intimidating, but it's actually very inclusive and welcoming In countries like France, government funding for the sport is widespread. In the US, where skating is more established and profitable, some skaters receive sponsorship deals that allow them to give up jobs and focus on skating full time. The US won each of the last four world cups. The costs involved are also partly responsible for the decline in leagues around Ireland. Given roller derby's relative obscurity, insurance companies are reluctant to provide cover and most of the Irish leagues previously availed of insurance via a British company. However, following the Brexit referendum, insurance companies began to rethink coverage to leagues based outside Britain and ended their relationship. 'The alternative was to obtain coverage in Ireland, at approximately 10-times the cost of our previous policies, or to skate without insurance,' Snowden says. But without insurance, it's impossible to rent halls or to practice or stage games. Many leagues were forced to fold. Elaine Snowden (Dashing Trudy Snow) among members of the Team Ireland Roller Derby squad in training. Photo: Bryan O'Brien / The Irish Times Dublin remains the largest league in the country and will be represented on Team Ireland by 13 players. Three hail from Belfast Roller Derby and others, like Orla Fitzpatrick who will represent Ireland for the first time in Innsbruck, play for leagues in England and Scotland and travel back and forth to Ireland for training sessions. Originally from Belfast, Fitzpatrick, who works as a locum doctor, confesses that the move to Manchester just more than a year ago was not so much a career decision, but a roller derby one. Manchester's Rainy City Roller Derby, where Fitzpatrick skates as a blocker, are currently the number one ranked league in Europe. Members of Team Ireland at training in Inchicore, Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Hard work and athletic excellence aside, roller derby hasn't lost its fun factor, or abandoned its theatrical roots. While some skaters including Snowden, Lowcock and Fitzpatrick use their own name on the track, they're joined by skaters who prefer to use their chosen nicknames like 'Malice in Chains' and 'Cardinal Spin'. It's all about what makes a player comfortable, an ethos at the very heart of the sport. Ask any skater what they love about roller derby, and you'll hear mentions of community and belonging. The sport has long been synonymous with acceptance and was built on the spirit of inclusivity. Regardless of age, body type, gender or background, skaters are made to feel welcome and supported – there's a position for everyone, and most leagues will work with you while you figure out what that is. Melisa Halsband (left) (Argie Bargie) and Alice Mellon (Malice in Chains) of the Team Ireland Roller Derby squad. Photo: Bryan O'Brien / The Irish Times 'It might seem intimidating,' says Lowcock, 'but it's actually very inclusive and welcoming.' With just days to go until Team Ireland take to the track, they are in the final stages of preparation. How do they feel? 'Proud,' Fitzpatrick says. Pride, like inclusive, is a word that comes up repeatedly when talking to these powerhouse skaters. 'I'm still in disbelief that I'm going to the World Cup. I just want to play as well as I can and keep up. And show the world that there is a strong Irish presence.'
Times
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Lt Col Sir Andrew Ogilvy-Wedderburn obituary: officer and bobsleigh Olympian
Even for a Highland regiment officer, Sir Andrew Ogilvy-Wedderburn's marksmanship, athleticism and intrepidity stood out. In 1979, when there were still more than 50 infantry battalions in the British Army, he led the Black Watch's winning sniper team at the National Rifle Association's Imperial Meeting, held annually at the Bisley Ranges in Surrey, the most prestigious shooting competition in the world. In the winter months he was an energetic bobsleigh competitor, traversing the Alps in an old Bedford van and staying in modest inns to keep the costs down. As part of the army's four-man team, in 1976 he won the British Bobsleigh Championship and went on to represent Great Britain in the Winter Olympics at Innsbruck that year, and then again in 1980 at Lake Placid, New York. More than once he returned to barracks in plaster from neck to pelvis. As 'brakeman' — a misleading term, the brake being applied only after crossing the finish line — his job was to give the sledge the necessary momentum, pushing at the start for 50 yards or so before jumping in. Speed being everything at that stage, for which many a top track-sprinter was enticed from athletics, Ogilvy-Wedderburn's height, powerful thighs and enormous strength put him in the top league. Andrew John Alexander Ogilvy-Wedderburn, 7th baronet, of Balindean in the County of Perth — abbreviated with military inevitability to 'Og Wedd' — was born in Fareham, Hampshire, in 1952, the youngest of four and the only son. His father, Sir John, was a serving Royal Navy officer, and Og Wedd was brought up initially at naval bases in Malta and on the Firth of Clyde before moving to the ancient family home in Perthshire in 1960. He was subsequently educated at Gordonstoun in northeast Scotland, of which the future King Charles, a contemporary, said: 'I'm glad I went to Gordonstoun. It wasn't the toughness of the place — that's all much exaggerated by report — it was the general character of the education there … with the emphasis on self-reliance to develop a rounded human being.' From Gordonstoun, he went to Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, where men were trained for short-service commissions in five and a half months. In 1971 he was commissioned into the Black Watch, his local (Perthshire) regiment, odd perhaps for a man whose Jacobite forebears had been deprived of title and estate (and in one case life). The baronetcy was restored in 1809 for Sir David Wedderburn, the Tory politician; Og Wedd succeeded to the title on the death of his father in 1977. After joining the 1st Battalion (1BW) he did several emergency tours of duty in Northern Ireland, converted to a regular commission and became adjutant, ever a demanding appointment. After two years as the commanding officer's right-hand man he was posted to the Royal Marines commando training centre at Lympstone in Devon, where he completed the 13-week commando course and gained the celebrated green beret. Two years later he reverted to the equally celebrated red hackle of the Black Watch's tam o' shanter to serve with 8th Infantry Brigade headquarters in Londonderry. He returned to 1BW in 1986, by now in Berlin, as a company commander and the following year commanded the British contingent of the Tripartite Guard of Honour for President Reagan's visit, in which the leader of the free world famously stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and said: 'Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' Promotion to lieutenant colonel and command of 1BW in Hong Kong followed. An ebullient, natural leader, he led a notably happy battalion, his style both canny and relaxed. On one occasion, his 'jocks', interpreting their orders to the letter, managed to contrive an incident that might have been out of George MacDonald Fraser's The General Danced at Dawn. While on exercise in the New Territories, they had been told to be on guard against infiltration from across the border and to detain anyone without good reason to be in the area. A group of executives from Jardine Matheson, the great British Hong Kong multinational conglomerate, happened to be enjoying a day's team-building exercise. When stopped and questioned and — although demonstrably not ethnic Chinese — found wanting in good reason, they were blindfolded and handcuffed. At first thinking it was part of the team-building exercise, their sense of humour began to fail on being marched at bayonet point for three miles in some heat and then put in a detention cage. When Ogilvy-Wedderburn arrived to sort things out, tempers were frayed, but with a shrewd display of firmness and charm he disarmed them, almost convincing them that he was doing them a favour by releasing them. The battalion returned to England in 1994 and the following year served another six-month tour of duty in Northern Ireland, for which Ogilvy-Wedderburn received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service. Not overly ambitious, after two years instructing at the Combined Arms Training Centre on Salisbury Plain, he chose to become commander of recruiting in Scotland, and in turn Scottish divisional lieutenant colonel, responsible for personnel matters in the Scottish infantry regiments. On retiring in 2004 he became a director of the Army Benevolent Fund Scotland. Latterly, though his health declined, he spent his time at home in Perthshire enhancing the flora and fauna, ridding the estate of grey squirrels to save the reds. In 1984 he had married Gillian Adderley, daughter of a decorated Royal Army Service Corps officer. The marriage was dissolved in 2014, and he married, secondly, Fiona (Fi) Beaton, a naturopathic nutritionist, who survives him along with a daughter and two sons from his first marriage: Katherine, a ski-chalet manager; Peter, a wine merchant, who succeeds to the baronetcy; and Peter's twin, Geordie, an insurance broker. He was the last of the army's Olympic gentleman amateurs. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Andrew Ogilvy-Wedderburn Bt, Black Watch officer and Olympian, was born on August 4, 1952. He died of cancer on April 9, 2025, aged 72
