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Vaillant Group Der Energiesektor gerät zunehmend in den Fokus von Cyberkriminellen. Aus Sicht von Experten und des Bundesamtes für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) muss der Schutz in diesem Bereich massiv erhöht werden. Wie beurteilen Sie die aktuelle Lage in Deutschland? Reiß: Die geopolitischen Spannungen, die wir aktuell sehen, führen zu einer erhöhten Bedrohungslage. Das betrifft natürlich auch die Heizungsbranche, in der Vaillant tätig ist und die das Grundbedürfnis aller Menschen nach Wärme und Warmwasser zu Hause erfüllt. Solche Bereiche müssen auf jeden Fall verstärkt geschützt werden. Das Problem ist, dass die Angriffe immer gezielter und komplexer werden. Heutzutage haben wir es nicht mehr mit den weniger erfahrenen Script Kiddies aus dem heimischen Keller, sondern mittlerweile mit gut organisierten und professionellen Cyberkriminellen zu tun. Ziel ist es, dem Unternehmen beziehungsweise der Wirtschaft des jeweiligen Landes zu schaden. Hinzu kommt, dass die Eintrittsschwelle für Angriffe auf Unternehmen und die Lieferkette durch die Nutzung von künstlicher Intelligenz im Unternehmen viel geringer als je zuvor ist. Dadurch wird es beispielsweise einfacher, gezielte Phishing-E-Mails zu verfassen oder Malware zu entwickeln, was zuvor mit deutlich höherem Aufwand verbunden war. Wie reagieren Sie auf die veränderte Situation? Wie schützen Sie Ihr Unternehmen aktuell vor Cyberattacken? Reiß: Wir verfolgen einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz in der Informationssicherheit. Das bedeutet, wir schauen uns wirklich alle Themen von oben bis unten an und setzen auf ein mehrschichtiges Sicherheitskonzept. Dabei werden sowohl präventive als auch reaktive Sicherheitsmaßnahmen einbezogen, um im Ernstfall schnell und effektiv reagieren zu können. Dabei ist uns bewusst: Kein Unternehmen kann absolute Sicherheit garantieren. Deshalb sollte jeder mit der Annahme planen, dass ein erfolgreicher Angriff jederzeit möglich ist. Wir legen nicht nur Wert auf die Absicherung unserer internen IT-Landschaft, sondern auf unsere weltweite Produktion und Produkte für unsere Kunden. Dabei stehen der Schutz unserer Endkunden und die Einhaltung hoher Sicherheitsstandards für uns im Mittelpunkt – insbesondere angesichts der wachsenden Bedrohung durch Ransomware-Angriffe. Unser Fokus liegt darauf, proaktiv Risiken zu minimieren und das Vertrauen in unsere Lösungen langfristig zu sichern. Und die Mitarbeiter? Cybersicherheit beginnt beim Menschen. Durch die globale Vernetzung bei Vaillant legen wir in Sachen Security ganz klar den Fokus darauf. Durch unseren holistischen 4-Säulen-Ansatz setzen wir auf eine umfassende Sensibilisierung unserer gesamten Belegschaft, von Gamification-Ansätzen bis hin zu praxisnahen Compliance-Schulungen. Dabei greifen wir auch Themen aus dem privaten Umfeld auf, wie etwa Phishing-Beispiele einiger Telekommunikationsunternehmen oder Paketzustelldienste, um die Relevanz zu erhöhen und nachhaltige Lernprozesse zu fördern. Welche Herausforderungen machen CISOs aktuell am meisten zu schaffen? Reiß: Zunächst einmal: Die Rolle des CISO hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren grundlegend gewandelt. Früher lag der Fokus primär auf technischen Aspekten und operativer Sicherheit. Heute sind strategische Ausrichtung und Leadership-Kompetenzen zentrale Schlüsselqualifikationen. Ein moderner CISO muss nicht nur technologische Risiken managen, sondern auch als Sparringspartner des Managements agieren, Business-Risiken bewerten und die Informationssicherheit als integralen Bestandteil der Unternehmensstrategie verankern.. Aus meiner Sicht liegen aktuell die größten Herausforderungen darin, die neuen gesetzlichen Vorgaben wie NIS2, DORA und Cyber Resilience Act umzusetzen. Ich bezeichne das Ganze als Regulatorik-Dschungel, der erst einmal verstanden werden muss. Wir bewegen uns in einem komplexen Regulierungsumfeld, das pragmatisch interpretiert und mit den richtigen Ressourcen umgesetzt werden muss. Am Ende geht es nicht nur darum, die Compliance zu gewährleisten, sondern das Sicherheitslevel im gesamten Unternehmen zu erhöhen, um eine erhöhte Resilienz zu schaffen. Haben wir zu viele Sicherheitsregeln? Reiß: In der Heizungsbranche sind die regulatorischen Anforderungen überschaubar, auch wenn NIS2 und weitere relevant sind. Grundsätzlich begrüße ich einheitliche Standards, da sie die Sicherheit in Deutschland und Europa erhöhen. Die Herausforderung liegt in der nationalen Umsetzung: Jedes Land interpretiert die Vorgaben unterschiedlich, was für international tätige Unternehmen eine erhebliche Komplexität bedeutet. Einheitliche und pragmatische Sicherheitsregeln für Europa zur Umsetzung zu entwicklen ist dem Gesetzgeber von NIS2 nicht gelungen. NIS2 wurde zwar auf EU-Ebene verabschiedet, muss aber in die lokale Gesetzgebung der jeweiligen Länder überführt werden. Das bedeutet, dass jedes Land seine eigene Interpretation mit einbringt. Organisationen, die europaweit tätig sind, müssen dabei jegliche Gesetzgebung auch in der jeweiligen Region berücksichtigen. An dieser Stelle ein standardisiertes Verfahren zu gewährleisten bedeutet zusätzliche Komplexität und hohen Abstimmungsaufwand. Warum kämpfen so viele Unternehmen aktuell noch bei der Umsetzung? Reiß: Oft fehlt die Klarheit bei der Auslegung der Vorgaben. Viele Unternehmen – insbesondere KMU – wissen nicht, ob sie überhaupt in den Geltungsbereich fallen. Hinzu kommen Fragen zur Ressourcenzuteilung: Soll die Umsetzung intern erfolgen oder mit externen Partnern? Wer übernimmt die Verantwortung – die IT, die Compliance-Abteilung oder ein dediziertes Security-Team? Zusätzlich mangelt es häufig an Reifegrad und Bewusstsein, wo und wie Cybersicherheit strategisch verankert werden muss, damit derartige Themen angemessen umgesetzt werden können. Diese Faktoren lähmen den Fortschritt und kosten Unternehmen entscheidende Zeit. Ein „Kochrezept“ für Regularien gibt es nicht. Ich empfehle Unternehmen Ihre Ausgangslage zu analysieren, erste Schritte zu definieren und loszulegen. Mein Motto lautet: Starten statt Warten! Lesetipp: Klöckner-CISO im Interview – „In der Security geht es vor allem um Resilienz“ View the full article

Google on Monday released monthly security updates for the Android operating system, including two vulnerabilities that it said have been exploited in the wild. The patch addresses a total of 107 security flaws spanning different components, including Framework, System, Kernel, as well as those from Arm, Imagination Technologies, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Unison. The two high-severity shortcomingsView the full article

Adversaries are hijacking AI technology for their own purposes, generating deepfakes, creating clever phishing lures, and launching novel types of advanced attacks. They are also targeting AI systems with prompt injection attacks aimed at tricking models into revealing sensitive data. And users are leaking sensitive data through the unauthorized or careless use of AI. CISOs who don’t respond to these threats with their own AI-powered defenses are putting their organizations at risk. According to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report, based on a survey by the Ponemon Institute, organizations that extensively deployed AI across their enterprise cybersecurity defenses slashed the amount of time it took to recover from a breach by 80 days, lowering their average breach cost by $1.9 million. And 20% of organizations surveyed said they suffered a breach due to security incidents involving shadow AI. The additional breach cost associated with high levels of shadow AI was an estimated $670,000, according to the report. Virtually every established security vendor and scores of startups are touting AI-powered security solutions. Incumbents are embedding AI into their existing toolsets. And startups are offering autonomous agents that address specific areas such as vulnerability assessments, email security, endpoint security, or cloud data security. IDC analyst Craig Robinson says, “Vendors are rapidly embedding AI and generative AI into their incident response workflows to enhance speed, accuracy, and scalability.” Key applications include threat detection, triage, and anomaly detection; generative AI for automated report generation, timeline reconstruction, and executive summaries; natural language queries for log analysis and threat hunting; and AI agents for malware analysis, code interpretation, and adversary behavior prediction. A survey of CISOs conducted by Splunk reveals that the top use cases for AI and gen AI security are threat detection, triaging alerts, querying security data, automating alert management and response, threat hunting, suggesting investigation steps, threat analysis, and processing phishing emails. Novel uses of AI for defense are rapidly evolving, including machine-learning generative adversarial networks. And agentic AI use cases for cybersecurity are already on the horizon. For CISOs looking to enhance their security defenses with AI-powered tools, here are some key questions to ask prospective AI security vendors. But before CISOs engage with vendors, it’s important to get your ducks in a row. What CISOs need to think about before talking to vendors How does the use of AI at my organization expand our attack surface? It’s important to get a clear picture of how current and future AI implementations at your organization create new potential vulnerabilities. Achieving that clarity will require asking a wide range of questions that span the organization and beyond. For example, are we deploying or planning to deploy clusters of GPU-based servers in the data center to run AI workloads? Will my current network detection and response tools be able to handle this surge in additional traffic? Are software developers writing new AI apps? How do I protect that development pipeline? How is AI being embedded in my organization’s supply chain? Are we currently building or planning to build our own LLMs on premises, in the cloud, or will we be using third-party LLMs? Everyday SaaS productivity tools incorporate AI into workflows; how do I protect that back-and-forth traffic, which might contain sensitive information? According to the IBM-Ponemon breach report, 13% of surveyed organizations have experienced an attack on their AI models or applications. “That percentage is small, for now. We are likely to see many more in the coming 12 months, unless security leaders and their business counterparts recognize the risk and pivot to focus more intently on AI security,” says the report. What is my risk tolerance, level of maturity, and regulatory environment? There’s no point in buying an agentic tool that the vendor claims to be capable of acting autonomously, if the culture of your shop is that these types of tools won’t be completely trusted or properly deployed. Your security practitioners might not get full value out of them or might not use them at all. If your organization is in a highly regulated industry, will it pass muster with the auditors if your logs and other telemetry data are sent to the cloud for processing? What problem am I trying to solve? Before jumping into an AI security solution, CISOs need to clearly identify the highest priority risks. Are you worried about data leakage, ransomware, incident response, data privacy regulations, securing the application development pipeline, securing assets in the cloud? Or all the above? It’s important to align your most critical needs with the strengths of the vendor solution. Platform or point product? The perennial point product vs. platform conundrum applies to AI security as well. If my organization has an incumbent security platform vendor and is satisfied with that vendor, does the incumbent offer sufficient AI security capabilities to meet my needs, currently and in the future? Or do I need to seek out point products to address specific gaps? Questions to ask vendors about their AI security offerings There are several areas where CISOs will want to focus their attention when considering AI-powered cyber solutions, including the following: Shadow AI: Uncovering and addressing shadow AI throughout the organization is a key issue for security leaders today. But so too is ensuring that sanctioned AI-enabled solutions are not misused in similar ways.To protect against this, CISOs should ask: Does the vendor offer discovery capabilities to help identify shadow AI usage? What policies and procedures, education and training, identity management and access control, data leakage protection, does the vendor offer to enable employees to continue to use AI, while layering on security features? Data protection: The superpower of AI security tools is their ability to ingest and process vast amounts of data in near real-time. But where does that data reside? On-prem, in the cloud, or both? Who is responsible for protecting LLMs and other data stores both at rest and in motion? If the vendor is using homegrown or third-party AI models, and providing conduits to the customer’s third-party AI models, how does the vendor protect those pipelines? How does the security team detect vulnerabilities or data leakage in a “black box” LLM? Who is responsible for protecting LLMs against prompt injection attacks or other types of model manipulation? Will my data be used to train the vendor’s models and, if so, how can I be sure that data is protected? Metrics: Much of the initial hype surrounding AI has turned to disappointment because organizations are struggling to identify benefits from AI pilot projects. CISOs need to be able to provide measurable results for any AI security tool. That can include improved mean-time-to-discovery (MMTD) and mean-time-to-recovery (MTTR) in the event of a breach, a quantifiable reduction in the rate of false positives, improved productivity among SOC staffers, increased accuracy of anomaly detection and threat hunting activities. CISOs should ask vendors and advisors, What metrics will best reflect the value these AI capabilities will have, and can those be captured to help assess the efficacy of the AI capabilities and our use of them? Workforce: What kind of training does the vendor provide for the most efficient use of AI, generative AI, and most importantly, agentic AI. Will the AI tool be able to automate low-level tasks so that my SOC analysts can focus on higher-level activities? How does the vendor offering help me to address the skills gap? Are there models and best practices for reorganizing my workforce for the era of AI. Will the use of AI security tools help address overwork and burnout among my staff? Are there specific guidelines or best practices for how my security team should interact with the AI in a human-in-the-loop, copilot-style scenario? Integration: How will the AI security tool integrate with my current security stack and my security processes and procedures? Most CISOs already have an overload of tools — EDR, XDR, SIEM, SOAR, CSPM, etc. What APIs and pre-built connections are provided to seamlessly integrate with my existing infrastructure? What types of agreements and alliances do you have with other vendors? How can I maintain a single dashboard? If a platform vendor has recently acquired an AI security tool, how well is that new capability integrated within the platform? Regulation: How will your tool conform to the specific regulatory requirements in my industry with regard to data storage and data privacy. Do you keep up with changes to regulations? Trust: How can I make sure that my security team trusts the decisions and recommendations that the AI systems make? In what ways can security practitioners go back and retrace how a model reached a conclusion? Scalability: It’s to be expected that data stores will increase in volume. And an enterprise might pilot the tool at one location, with plans to roll it out globally. How can I be sure the cloud-based AI tools can scale to meet my needs? Can the system handle large traffic volumes without performance delays. Does the solution encompass endpoints, networks, cloud, SaaS? Roadmap: What is your roadmap for updating the tool, delivering timely patches and providing new capabilities on a regular basis? Model integrity: How do you address concerns about bias in your models. How do you ensure data accuracy and integrity? How do you assure that the models are constantly updated to reflect changing real-world conditions. Vendor credibility: How long has this vendor been around? Do they have leaders with an industry pedigree? Do they have references that you can check? What is the financial viability of the company? For a startup, how much money have they raised? Are they generating revenue? Cost: What are the licensing terms? What types of SLAs or other performance metrics are included with a subscription? View the full article

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In sad news for Aussie heavy music fans, promoters Destroy All Lines have announced that the inaugural PARK WAVES festival – that’s the Parkway Drive–curated circus-meets-metalcore mega-tour set for Feb/March 2026 – has officially been cancelled. The regional-roaming event, which was due to take Parkway plus The Amity Affliction, Northlane, Alpha Wolf and Story Of The Year on a massive 11-city regional run under a literal big top, will no longer go ahead. “The cancellation is due to a combination of challenges“ In a heartfelt statement posted today, organisers wrote: “We’re devastated to confirm the Park Waves Festival Australian tour will not go ahead. The cancellation is due to a combination of challenges, and ultimately, the numbers no longer stack up. With a heavy heart, we’ve had to make a difficult decision. We’ve tried everything. We’re gutted. We know everyone will be understandably disappointed. The ticket price and booking fees will be refunded, and more information will be sent to ticketholders via email. To anyone who bought tickets, and to everyone who keeps showing up for live music – thank you.” — Destroy All Lines & Park Waves Festival The news lands as a gut punch for fans who were gearing up for what would’ve been a once-in-a-generation moment: Parkway Drive and The Amity Affliction touring together regionally on Australian soil, backed by a blockbuster lineup and a travelling circus setup dreamed up by the Byron Bay titans themselves. Park Waves was shaping up to be one of the boldest festival concepts Australia had seen in years – a full-scale, 16+ roaming mini-fest inspired by Warped Tour and Parkway’s own overseas festival of the same name, complete with carnival rides, circus performers, sideshow chaos, and the biggest names in heavy music all under one tent. But as Destroy All Lines confirm, even with demand, ambition and a stacked bill, the economics simply “no longer stack up”. Ticketholders will receive full refunds, including booking fees, with further details to be sent directly via email. Massive love to everyone who poured their heart into this one – the fans, the crew, the bands, and the team behind the curtain trying to make something special happen in an increasingly tough climate for live music. Further Reading Park Waves 2026 Lineup: Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction, Northlane + MORE Parkway Drive To Headline Australia’s First Metal Festival Cruise, ‘Hellbound’ The Amity Affliction Drop First Single With New Clean Vocalist, Jonny Reeves The post Parkway Drive’s Aussie ‘Park Waves’ Festival Run Cancelled appeared first on Music Feeds. View the full article

In what might be the most delightfully chaotic musical two-for-one deal Australia has ever seen, Mariachi El Bronx and The Bronx are teaming up for a joint 2026 tour – and yep, that means both versions of the band playing back-to-back on the same stage. One night. One ticket. Two completely different identities. A full musical multiverse, LA style. The Super Show! Band on Band Action! Tour will hit Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane this March, marking the bands’ first visit in years and the first time ever Aussies have been treated to a full Bronx/Mariachi El Bronx tag-team spectacular. Mariachi El Bronx – ‘Forgive or Forget’ Born in the early 2000s from a spark of creative restlessness, Mariachi El Bronx began as the experimental alter ego of LA hardcore punk kings The Bronx – but then blossomed into its own internationally beloved project. Despite their contrasting aesthetics (charro suits versus sweat-soaked denim, trumpets versus fuzz pedals), both bands are built on the same foundation: raw, working-class storytelling delivered with zero pretence and maximum heart. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” vocalist Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working-class music. It’s real music.” And this tour is a first: both bands sharing one giant, shape-shifting set that leaps from high-octane punk chaos to full mariachi swagger – complete with a nine-piece band, deep cuts, top tracks, and some “new smash hits reimagined” for the occasion. Consider it a musical Transformers moment, we guess? After a decade-long hiatus, Mariachi El Bronx are dusting off their iconic suits (handmade by master craftsman Mr. George at Casa del Mariachi in Boyle Heights, ofc) and returning with their full 8-piece lineup. Meanwhile, The Bronx remain one of punk rock’s most enduring and electrifying forces – nearly 20 years deep, still writing like their lives depend on it, and refusing to slow down. Their latest material proves they’re hungrier than ever. Tickets are on sale now and you can suss all the details down below. The Bronx & Mariachi El Bronx 2026 Australian Tour Dates TUE 3 MARCH – FORUM MELBOURNE THU 5 MARCH – KING STREET, NEWCASTLE FRI 6 MARCH – ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY SAT 7 MARCH – THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE Tickets on sale now via Live Nation Further Reading The Bronx Discuss How They Have (& Haven’t) Changed Over The Past 15 Years & Why Touring Australia Is Now Their Yearly Tradition “You Can’t Just Ignore Injustice”: The Bronx’s Matt Caughthran On Politics In Music Mariachi El Bronx On Their Love Of Violent Soho & Australian Music Fans The post Mariachi El Bronx & The Bronx Announce Wild Double-Header Aussie Tour for 2026 appeared first on Music Feeds. View the full article

Rave kids, dig out your glow sticks and emotionally prepare your adrenal glands: it looks like legendary UK dance act Faithless are about to announce a fresh Australian tour. How do we know? Because tastemaking party overlords Untitled Group just dropped a not-so-cryptic social teaser that has the entire dance music internet pointing at the same conclusion: Faithless. Australia. 2026. “For the ravers: Insomnia is calling” The clip, soundtracked unmistakably by the group’s iconic 1995 anthem ‘Insomnia’, comes alongside the message “For the ravers: Insomnia is calling” while listing Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – revealing that a full announcement is landing Thursday 4 Dec at 4:30pm AEDT. It’s not technically confirmation… but come on. When you use that song and that line? The writing’s pretty much on the warehouse wall. If the rumours are true, this would mark the first Australian Faithless dates since the tragic passing of founding member and frontman Maxi Jazz in 2022. The group – now helmed by Sister Bliss and Rollo Armstrong – have continued to honour Maxi’s legacy through electrifying DJ sets and reimagined live shows built around their catalogue of era-defining rave classics. And given Untitled Group’s track record of bringing huge international acts back into the Aussie fold, fans have every reason to be losing sleep – pun 100% intended. We’ll bring you the full details as soon as the clock strikes 4:30pm AEDT on Thursday. Further Reading Faithless Lead Singer Maxi Jazz Has Died, Aged 65 Love Letter To A Record: Nadisko On Faithless’ ‘Outrospective’ Faithless Announce Split The post Are Faithless About to Announce an Aussie Tour? appeared first on Music Feeds. View the full article

Button up your waistcoats, mandolin frothers: Mumford & Sons are officially returning to Australia in 2026, bringing their full-scale arena show back to our shores for the first time since before the world collectively learned how to make sourdough (aka covid times). Fresh off a sold-out, one-night-only comeback at the Sydney Opera House earlier this year, the British folk-rock heavyweights will hit Melbourne and Sydney next March, armed with new material from their forthcoming sixth studio album Prizefighter (out 13 February) and supported on all dates by rising local heroes Folk Bitch Trio. Mumford & Sons, Hozier – ‘Rubber Band Man’ Co-produced with The National’s Aaron Dessner at his famed Long Pond Studio, Prizefighter marks a prolific new era for the Grammy-winning quartet – landing just months after their 2025 release Rushmere, which debuted at #1 in the UK. The new album features an A-list of collaborators including Hozier (above), Gracie Abrams, Chris Stapleton and Gigi Perez, and fans can expect the 2026 shows to mix fresh tracks with the cinematic folk anthems that made Mumford & Sons festival-headlining juggernauts. Formed in West London in 2008, the band rose from sweaty pub gigs to global stardom on the strength of banjos, big feelings and the type of stomping choruses that turn entire fields into cardio workouts. Along the way they’ve teamed up with everyone from Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen to Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile, building a rep as one of the most collaborative (and emotionally devastating) bands in modern folk-rock. If the Opera House comeback was the warm-up, these arena shows promise the whole shebang. Suss the deets down below. Mumford & Sons 2026 Prizefighter Australian Tour Dates Supported by Folk Bitch Trio Saturday 25 April – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, AU Wednesday 29 April – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, AU TICKETS ON SALE: Fri 5 Dec, 11am (Local) via Live Nation PARTNER PRESALES: Wed 3 Dec, 10am – Fri 5 Dec, 10am (Local) ARTIST PRESALE: Wed 3 Dec, 10am – Fri 5 Dec, 10am (Local) LIVE NATION PRESALE: Thu 4 Dec, 10am – Fri 5 Dec, 10am (Local) SECRET SOUNDS PRESALE: Thu 4 Dec, 10am – Fri 5 Dec, 10am (Local) Further Reading triple j’s Like A Version in 2010 Mumford & Sons Winston Marshall To Take “Time Away From The Band To Examine My Blindspots” Watch Mumford & Sons & Gang Of Youths Cover The Middle East’s ‘Blood’ The post Mumford & Sons Announce 2026 Aussie Arena Tour Dates appeared first on Music Feeds. View the full article

With the recent release of their ninth album Flowers, The Devil Wears Prada are stepping into one of the strongest eras of their career – but getting there was anything but smooth. From battling desert winds that destroyed their set pieces, to filming a music video on the one fog-drenched day in L.A., to literal floods in their rental house, the band’s creative process was equal parts inspiration and absolute chaos. Still, the result is a record that feels like a milestone. Flowers captures 20 years of growth, honesty and evolution, landing as one of TDWP’s most introspective and fully realised works to date. Fresh off a massive touring cycle and their first-ever Active Rock charting single, Jeremy DePoyster and Mike Hranica sat down with Music Feeds to share the stories behind the music – the accidents that turned into breakthroughs, the collaborators who shaped the songs, and the hilariously unfortunate moments that no one will forget anytime soon. The Devil Wears Prada – ‘That Same Place Where The Flowers Never Grow’ 1. “The Maypole Massacre”: When Their Flowers Video Shoot Fell Apart in the Desert Mike Hranica: Wyatt Clough, who directed all of the music videos for the album, shot the cover as well as the music video around Flowers and Wave. And the stuff we did with the maypole, and the flowers and the triangle, we did that in the desert. Wyatt’s wife built that, she does set design and whatnot. And the day was very windy, so it broke. So for the whole day, the staff, these amazing people that break their backs doing music videos and production, were just toiling to make that thing stand up for the whole day for the shoot. Jeremy DePoyster: They got it back up for like 15 minutes, they got a bunch of shots and then it broke again, it was really dramatic. We weren’t in that shot, we were just sitting in this tent in 100 degree weather going: “uh oh.” Mike: Luckily we got the cover shot before that. 2. “Welcome to Chernobyl”: How L.A. Accidentally Gave Them a Post-Apocalyptic Music Video Mike: For the Everybody Knows video, we just filmed that a few weeks ago, and it’s this grey hellscape. It’s super moody and it’s just Jeremy and I performing in fog the whole time. But the location in Calabasas outside L.A. was actually supposed to be extremely clear and looking out over the ocean. We got the one foggy day ever in Los Angeles, and we’re just like: there’s nothing else we can do. You can’t come do it tomorrow, we have the location for one day. So we shot in this post-apocalyptic-looking grey. But it was actually not supposed to look like that! Jeremy: It was supposed to be bright, fine, and vibrant — a coastal feel. Mike: Yeah, the same as Flowers. But now that it’s done, literally earlier today someone was like: “oh, it turned out so much better.” So it was meant to be. But what was supposed to look like L.A. looks like Chernobyl. Jeremy: Yeah, it was nuts. Mike: Our manager actually said people are going to be like: “oh, what’s the effect they used to make it look like that?” But it wasn’t an effect, we just coincidentally got a grey, foggy day in Los Angeles. Jeremy: And we had to climb six stories on a single ladder thing all the way up. And we don’t do well with heights. Mike: We did learn that Jon [Gering] doesn’t mind heights. He was just up there hanging out. But Jeremy and I don’t love heights. And because we were in fog all day, the metal railing, the rungs you’re using are slippery because it’s in the fog. Jeremy: We weren’t clipped in and we had signed a waiver so… 3. Accidental Genius: The Hit Song That Happened Because Their Writer Forgot the Date Jeremy: We did a lot of songwriting sessions with other people on this record because we had done that a couple of times on the last record, and we got some really cool unique stuff. It’s not like buying a song off of somebody, it’s collaborating with someone new, and it kind of opens up new pathways you might not have considered before. We’d gone out to L.A. to write with somebody, and the guy who was going to just be working the computer during the session was there and the writer had mixed up the days. So we were just there and he was like: “well, do you want to just start a song together anyway without him?” We did, and Everybody Knows is what came out of that. And that is one of my favourite songs on the record. It was basically just about making the best of a moment and saying: “well, we’re here anyway, let’s just do something!” Mike: I actually didn’t know that, I wasn’t around on that day! 4. From Dayton to Chart Toppers: Reuniting With an Old Friend After 20 Years Mike: On the writer note, one of the guys we worked with for Ritual and Cure Me is a fellow named Tyler [Smyth]. Tyler’s got GRAMMY nods, and he’s written a bunch for I Prevail and huge bands. For those who don’t know, Tyler actually grew up in Dayton, same as us, and he actually used to live with Chris [Rubey] and Daniel [Williams] from The Devil Wears Prada. Daniel and Tyler were very, very close, and Tyler ultimately ended up in L.A. and was writing for huge artists. But we knew Tyler from when we were 16 and basically living in a frat house on the campus of Dayton University. He just lived in this one little bedroom. Jeremy: It was like a pantry that he made into a bedroom. Mike: Yeah, he and his now-wife lived in there playing video games and just making music. And that was his start. Jeremy: We had never worked together musically for 19 years (laughs). Mike: Yeah, we never actually creatively did anything. It was awesome getting to work with Tyler after knowing him for 20 years. 5. Floods, Fog & Harley-Davidsons: The Total Chaos of Making Flowers Jeremy: This has nothing to do with the record, but one day while we were working on the record, Mike and Jon had left for the weekend. Mike: Jon had a wedding and we weren’t going to be working so I just went home. Jeremy: Mike went home and I was there with our photographer who was basically shooting the whole experience of making this record. We were like: “oh my god, we both have a bathtub in our bathrooms, we should take a bath!” She was downstairs, so she draws a bath and is in there, and I draw one upstairs. I’m in the bathtub watching Netflix, just relaxing. Then she calls me: “oh my god, it’s flooding!!” Basically, the house had never been lived in and the tub upstairs dumped water straight into her bathroom. Inches of it. We’re both down there trying to shut it off and clean everything before anyone came back. I ended up taking a bucket and dumping it into the sink little by little for days. It was ridiculous. Mike: While we were there I was also working on my motorcycle, and it tipped and punched a hole in the wall. Jeremy: Oh it did too! Mike: I was like: “should I paint it?” They said: “no, leave it alone.” I did patch the hole though. Jeremy: We had a lot of fun, though — we took our motorcycles out there and were just ripping around. Four of the five people in Prada ride. When we were in Hawaii, we actually rented Harleys and rode around the island. Four of us have Harleys, not just motorcycles. So we are basically a Harley band. Flowers is out now – get it into your ears here. Further Reading The Devil Wears Prada Share Their Favourite On-Tour ‘Rituals’ The Devil Wears Prada Releases New Version of ‘Reasons’ feat. LØLØ The Devil Wears Prada Confuse Aussie Fans, Replace Cancelled Tour With New US Shows The post Fog, Broken Props & Bathtub Disasters: TDWP Dive Into the Making of ‘Flowers’ appeared first on Music Feeds. View the full article

Best Buy is rolling out really great deals on some of our favorite tech that we've tested this year.View the full article

What is Jama Connect? Jama Connect is a software platform for requirements management, traceability, and product/lifecycle management. () In simple terms: when you’re building a complex product (hardware and/or software) with many moving parts and regulations, Jama Connect helps you keep track of what needs to be done, who is doing it, how it’s tested, and how everything links together. () It supports regulated industries (medical devices, aerospace, automotive) where traceability, compliance, risk management and versioning are critical. () It offers both cloud and self-hosted/on-premises deployment options for flexibility. () Why do we need it? (What problems does it solve?) Here are the key challenges Jama Connect addresses: Requirement definition & clarity With many stakeholders (engineering, software, hardware, QA, regulatory), ensuring everyone is aligned on “what must the product do?” is hard. Jama gives a central place to define, review and approve requirements. () Traceability As changes happen (requirements shift, tests change, regulatory standards update) you need to know: “Which requirement does this test cover? Which design element implements this requirement? What happens if I change it?”. Traceability ensures you can answer those. () Risk & compliance In regulated industries, you must demonstrate you followed correct processes, documented changes, managed risk, and validated the product. Jama supports regulated workflows, audit trails, compliance frameworks. () Collaboration & change management When teams are large, distributed, working on overlapping systems, you need visibility, review/approval workflows, and mechanisms to reduce mis-communication, rework, and defects. Jama helps unify product, software, hardware teams. () Reducing cost of errors and time to market By getting requirements right, maintaining traceability, and reducing rework, companies hope to deliver more reliably, fewer recalls or defects, and faster. The vendor claims this as a benefit. () Real use-cases (who uses it & how) Here are examples of how teams use Jama Connect in practice: A medical device manufacturer uses it to manage requirements for their device (hardware + software), ensure each requirement links to risk assessment and test case, and produce traceability reports for regulatory submission. An automotive/EV company uses it to coordinate software-defined vehicle systems (e.g., sensors, control units, user-interface) and ensure that when a requirement changes (e.g., regulatory safety requirement), the impact across all systems is visible. An aerospace company uses it to manage complex systems engineering: multiple teams (structure, avionics, software), many requirements, many tests, many interdependencies—and they need a central tool to avoid “document hell” and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. A general technology company with hardware + software + firmware uses it so that their product development lifecycle is visible end-to-end: define requirements → design → implement → test → release, with feedback loops and traceability built in. In short: any organization building complex, regulated or high-risk products with multiple interconnected teams and artifacts would benefit from Jama Connect. Pros & cons (simplified) Pros Strong support for traceability and compliance. Good for regulated, complex products. Central hub for requirements, tests, change management. Deployment flexibility (cloud or self-hosted). Integrations with other tools (e.g., issue trackers, ALM tools) to link work across toolchains. () Cons Because it is designed for complex use-cases, it may be overkill (and expensive) for small projects or simple software teams. Learning curve & process overhead: you may need to set up processes, workflows, train teams. If your project is small, simple, or non-regulated, simpler tools may be more agile/cheaper. Cost and time to adoption might be higher compared to lightweight project/issue trackers. Best Alternatives & Better Options If Jama Connect is good for heavy regulated/complex product development, you may consider alternatives (depending on your context: size, budget, complexity, regulatory needs). Here are some good options: AlternativeWhy consider itAtlassian JiraVery popular issue/project tracker, flexible for software teams, lots of plugins/integrations. Cheap/accessible. (But less built-in for full traceability and regulated hardware). ()IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS NextStrong requirements & traceability tool, more enterprise/regulation oriented. ()codeBeamer ALMAnother ALM/requirements management platform, alternative to Jama for regulated product development. ()Polarion ALMRequirements + test + ALM platform, used in some regulated industries. ()Smaller/lightweight tools (depending on project size): Smartsheet, ClickUp, JileIf your needs are less heavy (fewer regulations, fewer dependencies) these may be more cost-effective. () Which is “better”? It depends on your needs: If you are working in a regulated industry, building complex hardware-software systems with many interdependencies: Jama Connect (or one of the heavier ALM tools) makes sense. If you are a smaller software team, agile dev, low regulation: a simpler tool (Jira etc) may be “better” for you (lower cost, faster to deploy). If you want full lifecycle management (requirements → design → test → release) with strong traceability + risk management → pick the heavier tools. If you just need issue tracking / agile boards → pick lighter tools. Summary What: Jama Connect = a requirements + traceability + risk + lifecycle tool for complex product development. Why: Because when you build complex/regulated systems, you need visibility, traceability, alignment, risk management across teams (hardware + software + firmware + tests + compliance). Use-cases: Medical devices, automotive systems, aerospace, any multi-discipline engineering teams. Alternatives: Many — from heavy ALM tools (DOORS, codeBeamer, Polarion) to lighter project/issue tracking tools (Jira, ClickUp). The “better” option depends heavily on your project size, complexity, regulation. Bottom line: If your development is complex and regulated, Jama Connect can bring value by reducing risk, rework, cost. If your development is simple/straightforward, you might be better off with a lighter, cheaper tool. View the full article

Samsung today introduced the Galaxy Z TriFold, its first smartphone that has three total screens and two folds instead of one. The Galaxy Z TriFold features a 10-inch display when opened, and a 6.5-inch cover screen when closed, with "minimized creasing." The device has an inward-folding design that's meant to protect the main display, and Samsung says that the "easy opening and closing" folding mechanism has been engineered with an alarm that alerts the user if it's folded incorrectly. Samsung is using a titanium Armor FlexHinge with two differently sized hinges that work together with a dual-rail structure. Samsung claims that the new design offers a smoother, more stable fold despite the varying weight across each display, plus greater durability thanks to the inclusion of a "thin piece of metal" that protects the folding mechanism. A third of the display is 3.9mm thick when the smartphone is unfolded, though it is thicker in the area with the triple-lens camera. The main center screen is a bit thicker at 4.2mm, and the screen with the side button is 4mm. There is a reinforced overcoat over a shock absorbing display layer for better resistance, and the aluminum frame keeps the screens from making contact with one another. There's a 5,600 mAh three-cell battery system with one battery behind each display panel. Samsung says it is the largest battery that it has used in a smartphone to date. There are three cameras at the rear of the device, including a 200-megapixel wide angle camera, a 12-megapixel ultra wide camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. There are two 10-megapixel selfie cameras on the cover screen and the main screen. Galaxy Z TriFold users can use three different portrait-sized apps side-by-side, resize apps in a multi-window view, watch shows in full screen, or hold the device vertically for reading. Samsung added standalone Samsung DeX, so the Galaxy Z TriFold supports up to four workspaces with five apps running simultaneously. Samsung apps have been optimized for the larger screen, as has Google's Gemini Live. The Galaxy Z TriFold is launching in Korea on December 12, and it will expand to other markets like China, Taiwan, Singapore, and the UAE later. It will launch in the United States in the first quarter of 2026, and pricing is unknown. Tag: Samsung This article, "Samsung Launches Galaxy Z TriFold Smartphone With 10-Inch Display" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums View the full article

We're getting closer to the launch of the final major iOS update of the year, with Apple set to release iOS 26.2 in December. We've had three betas so far and are expecting a fourth beta or a release candidate this week, so a launch could follow as soon as next week. Past Launch Dates Apple's past iOS x.2 updates from the last few years have all happened right around the middle of the month, which gives us some insight into when iOS 26.2 will launch. iOS 18.2 - RC on Thursday, December 5, launch on Wednesday, December 11. Four betas total before RC, with beta 4 on Wednesday, November 20. iOS 17.2 - RC on Tuesday, December 5, launch on Monday, December 11. Four betas total before RC, with beta 4 on Tuesday, November 28. iOS 16.2 - RC on Wednesday, December 7, launch on Tuesday, December 13. Four betas total before RC, with beta 4 on Thursday, December 1. iOS 15.2 - RC on Tuesday, December 7, launch on Monday, December 13. Four betas total before RC, with beta 4 on Thursday, December 2. iOS 14.2 - RC on Friday, October 30, launch on Thursday, November 5. Four betas total before RC, with beta 4 on Tuesday, October 20. Apple has stuck to a December launch schedule for x.2 updates since 2021. Before that, updates were less scheduled with more variation in launch timeline. RCs have consistently come during the first week of December, with a launch during the second week. Possible Scenarios Compared to the past two years, Apple is a bit behind on the launch of the fourth beta. With iOS 17.2 and iOS 18.2, the last beta came in November, so the RC was able to launch earlier in the month. This year, we haven't had a fourth beta yet. We should be getting it sometime this week between Tuesday and Thursday. Apple has historically waited a week between beta 4 and the RC, and then another week before releasing the update. If Apple sticks to a similar timeline this year, we'll see the following: Beta 4 between December 2-4, RC between December 8-11, iOS 26.2 launch on December 15 or December 16. December 15 or 16 would mark the latest that we've had an x.2 release since Apple adopted a more consistent update schedule. It's possible Apple might want to speed things up. If that's the case, we could see this launch timeline: Beta 4 between December 2-4, RC between December 4 and 8, launch around December 11. Apple could condense the amount of time between the fourth beta and the RC, or the amount of time between the RC and launch. There's also a possibility that we don't get a fourth beta at all. With no fourth beta, the timeline looks like this: RC between December 2-4, launch between December 8-11. Apple has consistently done four betas before an RC, and there are some major regulatory updates in Japan, so the first scenario with the later iOS 26.2 launch date seems the most likely at this point. Either way, iOS 26.2 is coming in just a couple of weeks. iOS 26.2 Features iOS 26.2 isn't a major update for most people outside of Japan, but there are a handful of useful new features. Reminder Alarms - You can elect to have an alarm go off when a reminder is due, with standard stop and snooze options. Lock Screen - There's a slider that lets you adjust the Liquid Glass transparency of the clock. AirDrop - iOS 26.2 lets you generate a one-time AirDrop code for file sharing with someone who isn't in your contacts list. It supports file exchanges for a 30-day period. Sleep Score - Sleep Score ranges have been adjusted to better reflect how people might be feeling after a night's sleep. Live Translation - AirPods Live Translation is expanding to the EU. Japan - iPhone users in Japan will be able to download apps from alternative app stores and replace Siri with a different personal assistant. There are even more features in iOS 26.2, with a full list available in our features guide. iOS 26.3 Apple often follows launches with new betas, so while iOS 26.2 will be the last major software update of the year, we're still likely to get a glimpse of what's in iOS 26.3 before 2026 rolls around. The first beta of iOS 18.3 came out on December 16, the first beta of iOS 17.3 came on December 12, and the first beta of iOS 16.3 came out on December 14. The first beta of iOS 26.3 should come the day after iOS 26.2. Unfortunately, the x.3 updates are often more focused on internal improvements than outward-facing features, so we are finished with exciting updates until 2026.Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26Related Forum: iOS 26 This article, "When Will Apple Release iOS 26.2?" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums View the full article

Though you can buy things on the internet any day of the year, Cyber Monday just hits different.View the full article