BetaNews Staff

If you are using a computer, the companies that make the software you use every day are probably gathering data about you. While some of this is obvious -- there is a reason you see the ads you do online, after all -- some of it is more covert.

Software from the likes of Google, Microsoft and other big names include telemetry components that can invade privacy by collecting personal data. Instead of manually working through settings, or tinkering with the registry, you can turn to the newly released Ashampoo AntiSpy Pro to help protect your privacy.

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Good people continue to be harmed by exposure to the dynamics of a toxic workplace culture and organizations lose their functional viability and sustainability. This is not a new discovery or topic of discussion for improving organizational health and individual wellness.

This reality begs a question: Since leaders are responsible for organizational culture and toxic cultures are so destructive to people and the organization, why do leaders continue to perpetuate toxic workplace cultures and habitually retain toxic workers?

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COVID-19 has completely transformed the way we work. As the rapid spread of the virus forced the UK Government to impose a national lockdown on March 23 2020, businesses across the country were forced overnight to operate remotely. Indeed, many employees have not worked in a traditional office setting for almost one year.

In most cases, workforces have successfully acclimatized to this 'new normal'. Communication platforms such as Zoom and Slack have reigned supreme, ensuring that teams are able to communicate on a daily basis with little hindrance to their performance.

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There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape of the retail sector. Social distancing regulations and civil anxiety surrounding the virus mean that physical stores do not offer the same browsing experience as we would usually expect. Meanwhile, a growing reliance on online shopping has been boosted by instructions to remain at home as much as possible.

The impact of COVID-19 and our new shopping behaviors have a profound effect on retailers. Changed buying experiences, falling and rising sales, and new consumer demands have defined an adverse year in retail. Here, we look at how customers and businesses have been affected by these changes.

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When the coronavirus first appeared, organizations everywhere were forced to accelerate digital transformations to comply with stay-at-home orders and maintain business continuity. Now, thanks to the heroic efforts of IT and security teams to adapt to new challenges, we have a luxury we didn’t just over a year ago: time.

Today we can proactively think through new technologies and make long-term, strategic decisions about how they affect organizational strategy. And one of the most valuable ways that security pros can get ahead of the next challenge is by thinking through and scaling up their organization’s zero-trust mentality. Let’s look at what we mean by 'zero trust' and some tips for implementing it effectively:

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Every year, cybersecurity becomes a bigger issue for businesses large and small. While computer experts and regular people are getting better at protecting their data, hackers and digital criminals are keeping up every step of the way.

A well-informed and bad-intentioned hacker could cause your business serious harm, engaging in such nefarious behavior as freezing your accounts, demanding a ransom, and stealing your customers’ sensitive personal data. In order to avoid these catastrophes, you need to do everything you can to beef up your cybersecurity operations. These days, failing to take these threats seriously is simply asking for trouble. Here are seven essential cybersecurity tips that can benefit any small business owner.

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At this point, even the most stubborn holdouts have to admit that the cloud offers unbeatable levels of performance, stability, convenience, and security. Working through the COVID-19 pandemic has made that abundantly clear. Keeping key files in local storage quickly loses its luster when you’re unable to access that local storage due to travel and workplace restrictions.

If you’re in that position, then, you’re likely in the phase between accepting what you need to do (move your files and processes to the cloud) and actually doing it. And while there is a sense of urgency to the task ahead of you, it’s entirely reasonable to think things through before you proceed. It’s a massive change, after all, and you want it to be as smooth as possible.

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Putting a computer online without adequate protection is simply asking for trouble. Even the most tech savvy user can fall victim to viruses, malware and other forms of cyberattack -- so security software is essential these days. In the latest update to its offering in this field, IObit has released Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 14.

With the coronavirus pandemic meaning that more people than ever are working from home, it has never been more important to keep your computer locked down against attack and infection. As well as offering a range of security and protection options for Windows users, the Advanced SystemCare Ultimate suite also provides a range of optimization tools and a selection of handy utilities to make day-to-day computer use easier, more secure and more pleasant.

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If you use SQL Server, you know there is a significant price difference between the Standard and Enterprise editions. If you have had the Enterprise version for a while, you probably bought it for features not available at the time in the Standard version. But over the past few years, things have changed.

Today’s SQL Server Standard edition can make more sense to your organization with its lower license fee without sacrificing performance, features and availability. Its added functionality and resources, such as the increased number of supported cores, increased maximum memory per instance, database snapshots, table/index partitioning, compression, in-memory OLTP, and Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), make it an attractive alternative to the Enterprise edition.

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Despite an inarguably terrible year and many concerning events happening around the world -- pandemic notwithstanding -- technology is still advancing at breakneck speeds. That looks to continue well into the coming year, with many fascinating and emergent solutions bubbling to the surface.

Here are 10 emerging technologies everyone should be on the lookout for in 2021:

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Telecom companies have become integral in our hyper-connected modern world. In the past, most telco revenue was generated from voice traffic (i.e., premiums on long-distance calls). An explosion in technology has given rise to a fundamentally different industry landscape with myriad new factors and considerations. From sending a simple text to confirming a reservation at a restaurant, telecom has changed forever. Yet, despite the increasing necessity of telecom to keep us connected, maintaining customer loyalty hasn’t been easy.

Customer loyalty has been on the decline in recent years. As a result, the telecom industry must work harder than ever at customer retention, which can prove challenging in the saturated cloud provider market. There are many unique and situational reasons businesses might choose to leave their Communication Service Provider (CSP). Changing consumer preferences demanding immediacy and personalized service have impacted some relationships, while the ability to provide global customer support has affected others. Evolving preferences might be one reason why 77 percent of consumers are no longer as loyal to brands as they once were.

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2020 showed all the ways that data protection could go wrong. Ransomware took off on a steady incline throughout the year with record numbers of data theft, corruption, etc. Data sprawl and cloud access to data have also become threats, as many employees moved to remote work and expanded companies’ potentially vulnerable data environments. 

Organizations are paying more attention to security and data protection issues while utilizing cloud to better manage and protect their critical data. 

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During the pandemic, we’ve seen examples of local authorities moving from hypothesis to a live service, that’s been tested and iterated, within a matter of days. Low-code has made that possible; a type of software that allows non-technical people to create user interfaces like online forms without needing to do any traditional computer programming or coding.

Low-code platforms are able to produce neat digital services through configuration, rather than the normal route which demands service creators have good coding skills. This has allowed councils to deploy services at impressive speed. We all know that responding at pace is important in a crisis, and with many vulnerable people needing support right now, the rapid deployment of digital services has been vital.

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After an extraordinary year, businesses around the world are anxious to embrace 2021 as a year of renewed focus and a return to normalcy. But businesses must continue to focus on best practices and investments that will enable them to navigate the path ahead.

Much uncertainty remains in the coming year as the impacts of the global pandemic linger. Many of the workplace changes we adopted in 2020 will, by necessity, continue this year.

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To say 2020 was a year of change is probably an understatement, and that’s no different for IT leaders. Pressure to optimize costs while simultaneously maintaining key operations to ensure survival (or even growth) has led to a lot of re-evaluation and, hopefully, reflection for the industry.

Technology now sits at the heart of almost every organization, but managing technology costs has become incredibly complex due to things like the flexibility of cloud, proliferation of the use of SaaS applications and increased investment in IT by business units outside of IT.

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