Parents worry about children falling for online scams but fail to monitor usage
A new study of over 1,000 US parents with children at home between the ages of two and 20 finds that 35 percent of families have experienced a phishing scam via text, email or chat, and 25 percent have had a game or social media account hacked.
The report from Bitwarden finds that children as young as three to five are already using the internet, and 42 percent of parents in this age group say their child has unintentionally shared personal information. Nearly 80 percent of kids ages three to 12 have their own tablet, making device access nearly universal by early elementary school.
AI readiness helps companies gain an edge over their competition
The latest AI Readiness Index from Cisco is based on a study of over 8,000 AI leaders across 30 markets and 26 industries. It finds that what it calls ‘Pacesetters,’ about 13 percent of organizations for the last three years, outperform their peers across every measure of AI value.
Of these Pacesetters 98 percent are designing their networks for the growth, scale and complexity of AI compared to 46 percent overall.
Organizations face more AI-powered fraud attacks but privacy tools make detection harder
A new study from fraud prevention specialist Fingerprint finds 41 percent of over 300 fraud and technology leaders surveyed say their organizations are already facing AI-powered attacks.
These sophisticated threats, which range from generative AI phishing schemes to automated bot attacks, are creating a significant operational crisis. According to the report, 93 percent of fraud teams have seen noticeable operational impacts, with 38 percent of organizations citing higher costs from manual review and triage as a top business concern.
Lack of fiber infrastructure delays UK data center projects
A new study finds that 82 percent of UK data center operators say they have delayed site builds or expansion due to optical fiber availability. 95 percent of these operators say that access to new high-capacity fiber networks will now influence their expansion plans.
The survey, carried out by Censuswide for B2B connectivity company Neos Networks, included data center operators, enterprise IT leaders and local government stakeholders -- 100 of each. Across all three groups, there’s an overwhelming consensus that core fibre networks are the foundation of the UK’s AI infrastructure.
Who’s paying the price of cybercrime?
Cybercrime has become a global epidemic, with costs soaring across sectors and borders. But who’s paying the price and how has that changed since the turn of the century?
Researchers from vpnMentor have analyzed 25 years of FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data along with a review of major global incidents to discover the cost of cybercrime and how it’s evolving.
Infrastructure is having a moment -- why it’s finally getting the spotlight [Q&A]
AI, automation, seamless collaboration. These are the technologies that dominate headlines and drive business strategy. But beneath all the buzz, there’s a quiet but powerful shift happening: infrastructure is back in the spotlight.
Just look at Alphabet -- Google’s parent company -- which recently surprised investors by announcing it’s planning to spend a jaw-dropping $85 billion in 2025. That’s $10 billion more than they originally expected. And what’s fueling that massive investment? Nearly two-thirds of it is going toward the nuts and bolts of tech infrastructure like data centers, servers, and everything needed to power AI, the cloud, and our increasingly real-time digital world.
Can’t FB ATM, BB -- the social media acronyms that have us scratching our heads
The tech industry has always been fond of acronyms for various technologies, and the rise of social media has brought many more into everyday use. But how many of these have you shrugging your shoulders and saying IDK* what that means?
Website design agency ProfileTree has analyzed the monthly search volume for each acronym to see which are the most confusing and misunderstood.
The rise of voice -- is typing holding developers back? [Q&A]
Voice is in the process of replacing the keyboard in ways that could shake the foundations of how developers work, collaborate, and even think.
We spoke with Natalie Rutgers, VP of product at Deepgram, to find out how voice-first development tools are gaining traction and why companies that fail to adapt risk losing their edge -- and their top talent.
Ransomware attacks on healthcare businesses increase 30 percent
New research from Comparitech, based on data from its worldwide ransomware tracker, finds a 30 percent rise in ransomware attacks on healthcare businesses in the first nine months of 2025.
It recorded 293 ransomware attacks on hospitals, clinics, and other direct care providers -- a similar number to 2024 -- but there were a further 130 attacks on businesses operating within the healthcare sector, such as pharmaceutical/medical manufacturers, medical billing providers, and healthcare tech companies.
SMBs vulnerable to AI-powered cyberattacks and complacent about ransomware
A new report from Cork Protection looks at the security challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), backed up by comment from a range of industry leaders. Challenges include an asymmetric threat landscape, defined by the misuse of artificial intelligence and relentless exploitation of human vulnerabilities.
Among the findings are that AI-powered adversaries are launching automated, sophisticated campaigns at unprecedented scale. Also the financial fallout of a breach now extends far beyond ransom, often resulting in business-ending costs.
America embraces AI but some states show greater interest
Americans are increasingly turning to AI to save time, automate tasks, and boost creativity. Research from AI company Chatronix shows that the US is embracing the use of AI but that some states show more interest than others.
Analysis of Google Trends data between June 2024 and June 2025 reveals where searches for ChatGPT and Gemini are most concentrated. Scores from 0-100 represent the relative popularity of each search term by state, as a fraction of total Google searches in that region. Higher values reflect a larger share of interest, not higher total search counts.
Software engineers love building new features but are spending more time on other things
A new survey of 1,200 software engineers and technology leaders finds that only 33 percent of engineers strongly agree that they spend the majority of their time on work that energizes them. They spend just 16 percent of their week building features, despite 93 percent saying it’s the most rewarding part of their jobs
The study from Chainguard looks at how friction from repetitive maintenance, fragmented tools, and burnout continues to weigh heavily on the developer experience, while also revealing how AI and automation ease workloads to give software engineers more time for meaningful work.
Cyber skills gap leads to escalating security risks
A shortage of skilled cyber professionals is leading to critical security roles being unfilled at a time when they are needed most, according to a new skills gap report from Fortinet.
Organizations are turning increasingly to AI to strengthen their cybersecurity postures and fill gaps, but they also acknowledge that AI may be used against them as an engine of new or improved cyberattacks, especially given the lack of AI skillsets across teams.
Poor API security practices could put agentic AI deployments at risk
A new report exposes a disconnect between rapid API adoption and immature security practices, which threatens the success of critical AI and automation initiatives.
The study from Salt Security, based on responses from over 380 professionals tasked with managing APIs, finds 80 percent of organizations lack continuous, real-time API monitoring, leaving them blind to active threats targeting AI agents.
US companies dominate as banks race to adopt AI
The leading banks for AI maturity have pulled away from their peers in 2025, consolidating earlier gains and increasingly realizing ROI for their AI investments.
The latest AI Index from intelligence and benchmarking platform for AI adoption in financial services, Evident, shows JPMorganChase, Capital One and Royal Bank of Canada are the three leading banks in AI adoption.
Ian's Bio
Ian spent almost 20 years working with computers before he discovered that writing about them was easier than fixing them. Since then he's written for a number of computer magazines and is a former editor of PC Utilities. Follow him on Mastodon
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