IT SPARC Cast

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger & Lou Schmidt break down a week where enterprise IT collided with energy policy, nuclear power, and outer space. UniFi Network 10.1 pushes further into enterprise territory with improved scalability and Wi-Fi visibility. Meanwhile, the White House explores voluntary agreements to manage rising energy costs from AI data centers. Then t...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down a shocking vulnerability: CVE-2026-2841 , a Remote Code Execution (RCE) flaw in the modern Windows 11 Notepad application distributed via the Microsoft Store. Yes — even Notepad isn’t safe anymore. This vulnerability stems from a command injection flaw in the modern Windows 11 Store version of Notepad (11.x...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger and Lou Schmidt explore three stories reshaping enterprise IT strategy. From a quantum cooling breakthrough that could accelerate real-world quantum computing, to Oracle’s plan to raise $50 billion for AI cloud infrastructure, the episode highlights how fast the AI arms race is escalating. They also break down why the AI boom is starting...

Agentic AI systems like OpenClaw represent the future of automation, productivity, and intelligent workflows — but today, they also represent a serious and underappreciated enterprise security risk . In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John and Lou break down why running OpenClaw (and related platforms like MoltBook) on corporate hardware or with access to enterprise data is dange...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger & Lou Schmidt break down three stories that reveal how enterprise IT is being reshaped by workforce realities, infrastructure constraints, and custom silicon. From mounting evidence that work-from-office mandates are driving top talent out the door, to a Los Angeles startup using SpaceX rocket technology to cool data centers without w...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break format to examine two high-impact security and privacy stories that every enterprise IT and security leader should be paying attention to. First, we dive into a new lawsuit alleging that Meta can access or infer WhatsApp message contents , despite years of public claims that WhatsApp is fully end-to-end encrypte...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger & Lou Schmidt dig into three stories that highlight how enterprise IT is quietly—but fundamentally—restructuring itself. From executives questioning the long-term future of traditional ERP systems, to Ubiquiti introducing a new orchestration-driven take on network fabrics, to a grounded discussion on whether the AI bubble is real and...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break from the traditional single-CVE format to examine VoidLink , a newly discovered Linux malware framework that represents a major shift in how cyberattacks may be built and executed going forward. Rather than focusing on one vulnerability, VoidLink is designed to chain together many smaller flaws across Linux, con...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John Barger & Lou Schmidt break down a week of moves that signal where enterprise AI, cloud platforms, and data center infrastructure are really headed. From Apple officially leaning on Google to power its AI ambitions, to Microsoft giving IT admins the ability to remove Copilot, this episode highlights growing tension between vendor momentum and...

This week on IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down CVE-2025-20393 , a CVSS 10.0 zero-day vulnerability affecting Cisco Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and related AsyncOS-based email security products. The flaw is actively exploited in the wild, remains unpatched , and—ironically—uses the spam filtering engine itself as the attack vector . With no user interaction req...

CES may be a consumer show, but this week it sent shockwaves through enterprise IT. In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down why nearly every major chip vendor chose CES to unveil next-generation CPUs, what Lenovo’s new agentic AI strategy means for IT teams, and why Microsoft embedding Copilot deep into Windows could fundamentally change how operating...

In the first regular IT SPARC Cast - CVE of the Week episode of 2026, John & Lou dive into a critical, actively exploitable vulnerability shaking the automation world. CVE-2026-21858—dubbed Ni8mare —targets the popular workflow automation platform n8n , earning a full CVSS 10.0 due to unauthenticated remote code execution. They break down how a content-type confusion bug inside n8n’s webhook p...

In this special predictions episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John Barger and Lou Schmidt kick off 2026 by trading bold, unfiltered forecasts for enterprise IT, AI, cloud, energy, and geopolitics. With five predictions each—and no prior coordination—they round-robin through what they believe will define the next year in technology. From the deflation of the AI hype cycle and Apple’s inevitab...

n this special CVE Year in Review episode of IT SPARC Cast, John Barger and Lou Schmidt break from the usual single-CVE format to count down the five worst IT security failures of 2025 . From long-lived remote code execution flaws in enterprise networking gear, to a ransomware attack that shut down a global distributor, to systemic cloud outages that shattered the concept of “five nines” availabil...

This week on IT SPARC Cast, John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down three stories shaping the future of enterprise IT—from continued AI spending despite questionable ROI, to radically new approaches to long-term data storage, and a major consolidation in the online learning market. ⸻ 📰 News Bytes 00:46 – CEOs Keep Spending on AI Despite Spotty Returns Despite mixed financial outcomes, a growi...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down a long-overdue security move from Microsoft: disabling the RC4 cipher by default across Windows authentication infrastructure. After more than two decades of known cryptographic weaknesses, RC4 is finally being deprecated in favor of modern encryption standards like AES. The discussion covers why RC4 persis...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes , John and Lou tackle one of the most emotionally charged weeks in enterprise IT. Google CEO Sundar Pichai openly acknowledges that AI-driven layoffs will cause real pain before progress—a statement that sparks a candid Hot Take on disruption, job loss, and opportunity. From there, the show dives deep into the mounting backlash against U.S. data center...

This week on IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt break down a code-red security situation affecting a massive portion of the modern web. CVE-2025-55182 is a critical, actively exploited vulnerability in React Server Components (RSC) that enables unauthenticated remote code execution , even in applications that don’t explicitly use server functions. With an estimated 33–35...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou cover a packed week in tech policy, AI disruption, and cloud infrastructure. Apple loses its AI chief as the company struggles to keep pace with rivals. India orders smartphone makers to preload a government surveillance app—then backpedals after Apple pushes back. Sam Altman declares a “Code Red” inside OpenAI as pressure mounts from Goo...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou break down Ubiquiti’s brand-new UniFi wireless bridging lineup, test drive the surprisingly powerful ChatGPT Group Chat feature, and review the newly released IT Specialist Simulator game—yes, it’s a real thing. Lou also shares his SuperComputing 25 highlights, covering quantum computing, CXL memory extension, and why this year’s show was...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast, Lou brings you a packed 8-minute walkthrough of the biggest themes and technologies from SuperComputing 25—the largest and busiest HPC show he’s ever attended. In this video, Lou covers: 🔥 Cooling Wars: immersion cooling, PG25 liquid loops, cavitation risks, phase-change fluids, and long-term hardware reliability. 🧠 CXL & Memory Expansion: shared GPU po...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou tackle a wild week in enterprise IT—from grounded aircraft disrupting hardware logistics, to open-source maintainers calling out Google, to sophisticated VM-based malware hiding inside Windows systems, to Santa Clara’s power grid collapsing under the weight of the AI boom. First, a tragic UPS MD-11 crash in Louisville forces both UPS and...

In this week’s IT SPARC Cast, John and Lou break down a Cisco security double feature —three critical vulnerabilities impacting Cisco ASA, Cisco Secure Firewall (FTD), and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). These flaws include authentication bypass, chained remote code execution, and a CVSS 10.0 root-level compromise via an undocumented ISE API. We explain how CVE-2025-20333, CVE-2025-20362, an...

In this week’s IT SPARC Cast – News Bytes, John and Lou go galactic—covering AI data centers in orbit, Microsoft’s blunders, and a nasty new Windows backdoor exploiting OpenAI’s API. First, it’s “IT in SPAAAAAACE!” as Google unveils Project Suncatcher, an effort to launch radiation-hardened Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) into orbit for solar-powered, space-based AI compute. Then, SpaceX announces...

In this episode of IT SPARC Cast – CVE of the Week , John Barger and Lou Schmidt dive deep into CVE-2025-52665 , a critical 10.0 CVSS vulnerability impacting Ubiquiti’s UniFi Access Management API . This flaw blends physical security and cybersecurity risks — allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute remote code, manipulate door access, or even lock users inside buildings . John and Lou break...