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This year marks the 20th Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and today, the prevailing theme, "It’s easy to stay safe online," remains a timely reminder. The message is clear: online safety can be achieved with the proper knowledge and tools. This comes with a bit of a caveat, however, as many of our current security processes are manual and rely on the end user's discretion and action, such as turning on MFA. Adding further complexity is the ever-growing challenges posed by nonstandard applications, which do not work with established security standards like single sign-on.

A report by Netskope paints a grim picture with its concerning findings. For instance, the report found that 97 percent of apps used within enterprises operate outside the traditional identity perimeter. While the ubiquity of these nonstandard applications is undeniable, the lack of oversight in their security is alarming. The Ponemon Institute's research reveals that only 34 percent of organizations are proactive in prioritizing the security of nonstandard applications. When educated on the risks, this figure jumps dramatically to 82 percent. People care once they understand the impact on the business.

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Industrial control system and operational technology environments are becoming increasingly interconnected and complex, offering efficiency and innovation. However, this also exposes organizations to heightened vulnerabilities from relentless cyber threats.

The latest SANS 2023 ICS/OT Cybersecurity Survey, sponsored by critical infrastructure protection specialist OPSWAT, shows the three items of utmost importance for ICS security programs in 2023 have been identified as network visibility, risk assessments, and transient device threat detection.

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It's that exhilarating time of the year for the Linux community -- the Ubuntu team has unveiled the Beta version of the Ubuntu 23.10 for Desktop, Server, and Cloud deployments. Now, if you're wondering about its reliability, rest assured; these Beta images are largely free from critical image build or installer issues.

Dubbed as the "Mantic Minotaur," this edition propels Ubuntu’s legacy of amalgamating the newest open source marvels into an efficient, user-friendly Linux distribution. Behind the scenes, the team has been burning the midnight oil, rolling out enhancements and ironing out the glitches.

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Almost every organization freely admits that people are the biggest risk to their security and are most vulnerable when using email. While the 'outbound' risk of an employee accidentally or intentionally leaking data is very clearly categorized as an insider risk, even a phishing attack that originates from outside the organization requires an insider to, essentially, open the door.

And it’s a valuable vulnerability for threat actors to be aware of; the FBI reported that Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams accounted for $50 billion in losses between June 2016 to December 2022.

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Remediating security issues and potential software vulnerabilities is one of the fastest ways to improve security and prevent attacks. It’s a standard process for security teams, and it should make the job easier for everyone involved. Yet many of the security issues that we see exploited remain known software vulnerabilities -- in Qualys' Top 20 Security Vulnerability Research this year, the top five most common exploits include a privilege escalation issue in the Zerologon protocol, remote code execution (RCE) problems in Microsoft Office and Wordpad from 2017 and even an RCE with Microsoft Windows Common Controls from 2012. These issues still exist, and have been targeted by threat actors this year.

So why are these old problems still present in production systems years after patches have been released, and why have they not been fixed? What is holding IT teams back around this backlog of vulnerabilities, and how can teams improve their processes to get ahead of these problems in future?

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In an era where the need for high-performance computing is ever-present, T-CREATE, a dedicated sub-brand of the renowned memory provider TEAMGROUP, unveils its latest offering -- the T-CREATE MASTER DDR5 OC R-DIMM. This overclocking DDR5 ECC Registered DIMM memory is tailored for workstations and servers.

The T-CREATE MASTER series is designed for professionals who grapple with large-scale projects, data analytics, and multiple specialized applications. The newly launched MASTER DDR5 OC R-DIMM stands out with its one-piece heat spreader, replete with ventilation holes, ensuring efficient heat dissipation courtesy of its thermally conductive silicone. And with on-die ECC, professionals can trust in its stable performance.

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Both government agencies and corporations are being tasked with developing strategies for protecting mobile devices from an increasing wave of attacks. CISOs and business leaders are asking themselves not only how they can use mobile devices to make employees more productive, but also how to realize the full potential of a mobile-powered business.

As leaders execute their mobile-powered businesses, they will also need to parallel these initiatives with mobile-first security strategies to address the fast-growing attack surfaces that bad actors are increasingly jumping on. We spoke to Shridhar Mittal, CEO of Zimperium to discover more.

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Over the years, the Start menu has evolved from a handy place to house shortcuts to apps and system settings into the slightly chaotic mess users are now presented with in Windows 11. The Windows 11 Start menu is still home to shortcuts -- and more -- but Microsoft has taken a different approach when compared to previous versions of the operating system.

One of the more controversial aspects is the Recommended section. This is used for various things, from highlighting recently installed apps to, more divisively, advertising apps Microsoft would like you to install. And now the company is experimenting with adding even more recommended content.

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Just in time for the 2023-2024 football season, VIZIO has launched a new television. Say hello to the Quantum 4K QLED Smart TV, a high-end yet incredibly affordable television that is set to redefine the way we watch and play. And guess what? It's available today in 65" (M65Q6-L4) and 75" (M75Q6-L4) sizes.

When it comes to picture quality, the Quantum 4K QLED Smart TV is nothing short of breathtaking. We're talking over 1 billion shades thanks to Quantum Color, brighter brights, wider viewing angles, and crisper contrasts. Whether you're cheering for your favorite team or in the middle of a heated game of Madden, the Quantum's visual brilliance will make every moment pop.

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Microsoft today announced its upcoming huge update to Windows 11, with 150 new features, including -- naturally! -- Copilot, its AI assistant, which is going to be everywhere this fall.

Not everyone wants AI invading their operating system, however. Some people would just be happy with a version of Windows 11 that works and offers a decent selection of powerful features. Those people, would prefer Windows 11.2.

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Canadian digital editing and management developer ACD Systems has celebrated its 30th anniversary with the release of ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2024 and its bigger siblings, ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2024 and ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2024.

The company’s flagship product comes with the twin promise of new AI-powered features and what it dubs "significant" improvements.

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Although today's big Microsoft event was mostly supposed to focus on new Surface devices, the company devoted a lot of time to AI, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered companion, is coming to pretty much everywhere, including Windows 11, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 Copilot. For Windows 11 users, that is huge news, and the feature is set to arrive from next week.

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Today, at its hardware event, Microsoft took the wraps off four brand-new Surface devices aimed at end users and IT professionals.

According to Nancie Gaskill, General Manager, Surface, these new products "have been redesigned to reflect our longstanding commitment to integrating the voice of commercial customers" while also "supporting the needs of IT professionals to deploy, manage and support these devices at scale." These are the four new devices that were announced:

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According to a new survey from Censuswide for Veeam Software, UK business leaders rate ransomware as a more significant threat to their organization (43 percent) than the economic crisis (41 percent), skills shortages (34 percent), political uncertainty (31 percent), and Brexit (30 percent).

The survey 100 directors of UK companies with over 500 employees who had suffered a ransomware attack in the past 18 months finds 61 percent are anxious about the prospect of another attack.

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While many IT workers see the productivity benefits of AI, 56 percent believe it benefits employers more than employees. Additionally, 63 percent are concerned generative AI tools might take their job in the next five years compared to 44 percent of general office workers.

These are some of the findings of a new report from Ivanti. It also looks and digital experience (DEX) and finds 58 percent still prefer dealing with a human rather than a chatbot.

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