Apple-iPad-Air-2025

Apple launches new iPad Air with M3 chip, AI features, and updated Magic Keyboard

Despite owning a fancy iPhone 16 Pro Max, I also have an iPad Air. Why? Well, even though my iPhone has a pretty big screen, sometimes I just want even bigger. Plus, I can use it when my iPhone is charging.

Why didn’t I go with an iPad Pro? Quite simply, Apple’s Pro tablets are too expensive for what I mostly use them for -- media consumption. Hell, I don’t need an expensive iPad Pro for watching TikTok on the toilet.

By Brian Fagioli -
Data cash balance

Enterprises struggle to balance data retention costs with compliance

A new survey of 300 IT and security professionals, commissioned by Red Canary and conducted by Censuswide, finds that just 35 percent of data stored in legacy SIEMs delivers tangible value for threat detection.

In addition, only 13 percent of organizations separate out low value data for cheaper storage in a raw data repository. Due to SIEM storage costs, 68 percent of IT security decision makers say they discard low value data and have to hope they won't regret it.

By Ian Barker -
Industrial control system

Over half of organizations experience incidents involving industrial control or operational tech

Over the past year, more than 50 percent of organizations have experienced at least one security incident involving ICS/OT systems. Among the top vulnerabilities exploited are internet-accessible devices (33 percent) and transient devices (27 percent), often used to bypass traditional defenses.

A new report from the SANS Institute, in partnership with OPSWAT, shows that while 55 percent of organizations reported increased ICS/OT cybersecurity budgets over the past two years, much of that investment remains heavily skewed toward technology, with limited focus on operational resilience.

By Ian Barker -
AI robot security

78 percent of CISOs say AI-powered threats have a significant impact

New research from Darktrace finds that 78 percent of CISOs say that AI-powered threats are having a significant impact on their organizations, a five percent increase from 2024.

There's more confidence about dealing with them though, more than 60 percent now say that they are adequately prepared to defend against these threats, an increase of nearly 15 percent year-on-year.

By Ian Barker -
Ecobee

ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential now available

Back in January, we told you about the all-new Smart Thermostat Essential from ecobee. Is it an innovative product? Not at all. However, this new thermostat doesn’t need to break new ground. Instead, it aims to offer a reliable experience at an affordable price. Quite frankly, that’s really all a homeowner wants from a thermostat these days.

ecobee promised the Smart Thermostat Essential would hit stores in March, and wouldn’t you know it, we are now in March. And so, staying true to its word, the affordable thermostat can be purchased immediately.

By Brian Fagioli -
Healthcare cybersecurity

60 percent of healthcare organizations unprotected against a second major data breach

Inconsistent adoption of DMARC standards is leaving 60 percent of US healthcare organizations that have already reported breaches exposed to a second attack.

The study from Red Sift looks at breaches reported to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during 2023-2024 shows that of 101 companies analyzed, 61 percent remain unprotected, with 33 having no DMARC policy and 28 lacking any data on DMARC.

By Ian Barker -
Magnified certificare

New solution provides visibility into certificates

Certificates are an important part of security for organizations but they're not without risks. These include certificates with long lifespans (one in every 13 certificates have lifespans over two years), certificates without key usage (one in every 25 certificates), certificates with negative serial numbers (one in every 27 certificates), and unsanctioned domain usage.

Keyfactor is launching a Command Risk Intelligence which will visibility into every certificate in use and helps teams proactively identify and mitigate certificate-related risks before they disrupt business operations.

By Ian Barker -
Observability magnifier code

What happens when data observability meets unstructured data? [Q&A]

In DevOps and IT circles, the word 'observability' has been bandied about for the past few years. Observability is one of those hot and trendy terms which also means different things to different people.

Yet the goal is generally the same: how can we observe our environment and then proactively and even automatically make fixes to things that aren't working, are anomalous, suspicious and/or could potentially cause a disastrous outcome? Such outcomes could include a network failure, a security breach, a server reaching capacity, or in the unstructured data management world -- something else entirely.

By Ian Barker -
IMG_0110

Xiaomi 15 smartphones and Pad 7 tablets are here

Today, Xiaomi introduces its latest flagship devices -- the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro. The lineup also includes the Xiaomi 15 smartphone and Xiaomi Pad 7. Yes, there are Pro and non-Pro variants of both the smartphone and tablet.

Xiaomi says the 15 Ultra is designed with photography in mind, featuring a quad-camera system developed with Leica. The main camera includes a 1-inch 50MP Sony LYT-900 sensor with a variable ƒ/1.63-ƒ/4.0 aperture for improved light control and depth of field. It also uses a Leica Summilux optical lens with an 8P aspherical high-transmittance design and dual anti-reflection coating to reduce glare.

By Brian Fagioli -
IMG_1588

Datacolor LightColor Meter brings Bluetooth precision to photographers and filmmakers

If you are a photographer or videographer, you know just how important lighting is. You can have fancy high-end cameras, but if your lighting sucks, the end result can really suffer. Wouldn’t it be cool to scientifically monitor lighting rather than trust your gut?

Well, if you like that idea, I have great news. You see, Datacolor has launched a really cool new product called “LightColor Meter.” This diminutive device is designed to measure both light intensity and color temperature.

By Brian Fagioli -
MTE255S

Transcend unveils the MTE255S PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD

Transcend has launched a new solid state drive that is largely unremarkable. Called “MTE255S,” it features a PCIe Gen4 x4 interface and reaches read speeds of up to 7,400MB/s and write speeds of up to 6,500MB/s. While this performance is hardly the best on the market, it is still quite respectable.

With 1TB and 2TB storage options, the MTE255S comes equipped with a graphene heatsink to assist in cooling.Transcend includes LDPC error correction, though this model sadly lacks a DRAM cache and RAID engine -- something to strongly consider if you need sustained high-speed writes.

By Brian Fagioli -
Skype closure

Get ready to say goodbye to Skype (if you haven't already)

Before VoIP communication turned mainstream, Skype was a pioneer of the technology. Launching back in 2003 it became the go to application for people wanting to make calls over the internet and contact phone numbers from their computer.

Since then it's had something of a checkered history. It was bought by eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005 before Microsoft snapped it up for $8.5 billion in 2011 as a replacement for Live Messenger.

By Ian Barker -
Passkey vault lock

87 percent of enterprises are deploying passkeys

A new report shows that 87 percent of companies in the US and UK have, or are in the process of, rolling out passkeys with goals tied to improved user experience, enhanced security, and compliance.

The research from the FIDO Alliance, along with underwriters Axiad, HID, and Thales, finds 47 percent report rolling out a mix of device-bound passkeys on physical security keys and/or cards and passkeys synced securely across the user's devices.

By Ian Barker -
18 plus

Apple announces new features to help protect children, including a revamped age rating system for the App Store

Apple has just announced a series of new tools, features and improvements that it says will “help parents protect their kids in a way that is designed around privacy”.

One of the biggest changes is an overhaul of the age rating system that is used in the App Store, with the number of categories expanding to five. But this is far from being the only changes Apple is unleashing.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
EU security NIS2

Navigating NIS 2 compliance [Q&A]

As the European Union updated the Network and Information Security (NIS 2) Directive in October last year, many companies were asking: what does it take to comply with this sweeping new regulation? Designed to tighten cybersecurity across critical industries, NIS 2 goes beyond the original directive’s framework, bringing strict rules, wider sectoral reach, and substantial penalties.

We spoke to Sam Peters, chief product officer at isms.online, to find out what businesses need to know to ensure compliance and understand the directive's impact on both operations and reputation.

By Ian Barker -
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