Lack of asset visibility leads to more security incidents

Widening visibility gaps in cloud infrastructure, end-user devices and Internet of Things (IoT) device initiatives are leading to increased risk and security incidents according to a study carried out by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) for Axonius.

More than 70 percent of respondents report that additional complexity in their environments has contributed to increasing visibility gaps. More than half cite the rapid shift to remote work and changes to technology infrastructure necessitated by security and privacy regulations as key reasons for this increased complexity.

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Majority of enterprises lack mature data strategy

financial data exchange

A new study reveals that 70 percent of enterprises lack a mature data strategy. The study from cloud migration and managed services company 2nd Watch finds only 26 percent have any data strategy at all.

Most organizations recognize the importance of comprehensive data management though with 60 percent of respondents claiming to have an enterprise-wide data catalog.

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Hidden settings in Windows 10 unlock new Sun Valley floating menus

Windows 10 floating menu

Microsoft has big plans in store for Windows 10 with its upcoming Sun Valley overhaul. There are many interesting visual changes on the horizon in Windows 10 21H2, including the introduction of rounded corners and floating menus -- and, possibly, a floating Start menu too.

So far, however, the new aesthetic that the arrival of Sun Valley will bring has been limited to design mockups. But now this changes. Experimental flags in the latest builds of Windows 10 gives us our first exciting glimpse of what's to come -- and you can (with a little effort) enable the floating menus for yourself.

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CFOs want to see value from digital transformation investments

Money

Digital transformation is a priority for 80 percent of CFOs and 71 percent believe that these investments are key to their company's success.

This is according to a global survey of more than 1,500 CFOs and senior financial leaders by enterprise software services company Rimini Street which also shows that CFOs are keen to see IT investments deliver value.

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How to view Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 10

Laptop with red Wi-Fi logos

Looking to find the password for a Wi-Fi connection? There are various reasons you might want to retrieve the password for a wireless network you have already connected to, but it may not be obviously how to go about it in Windows 10.

Your router may have its security details helpfully printed on a sticker on the back, but this is not necessarily very accessible when you need to get the password for a new laptop or other device. Thankfully, there is a way to view saved Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 10, helping to make life a little easier.

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Thermaltake launches affordable TOUGHAIR 310 and 510 CPU coolers for PC enthusiasts

When you are a system builder, there are certain important aspects of the build that are often overlooked. For instance, many builders will opt for a cheap power supply and then wonder why their system is unstable. I know a PSU isn't as exciting as a CPU, GPU, or RAM, but it is still an important component.

Another tragically overlooked component? The CPU cooler. Maybe your processor came with a stock heatsink and fan in the box. You know what? Sometimes the included cooler can be pretty good. For the most part, however, it would be wise to spend a bit more on a third-party offering -- especially if you want to overclock your processor. Today, Thermaltake launches two affordable CPU coolers -- the TOUGHAIR 310 and 510.

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Why senior management needs to make cloud backup a priority

At work and at home, backup is critical. From making photocopies of significant documents to digitizing old family photos, relying on hard drives to replicating servers, we all know that it’s important to have multiple copies of the information that matters to our families and our businesses. Knowing we should do something, however, isn’t the same as doing it consistently and well -- which is why backup often fails.   

Many organizations still rely on outdated backup strategies that put the company at risk from cybercrime, human error, physical disasters and more. But because the business "already has a backup plan", or because backup isn’t a shiny new object, it can be difficult to convince senior management to make it a priority. 

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Reducing the carbon footprint of AI: The debate continues

Artificial intelligence

The debate about the energy greediness of large AI models is raging. Recently, an AI ethics researcher at Google was dismissed because she had pinpointed the upward spiral of exploding training data sets. The fact is that the numbers make one’s head swim. In 2018, the BERT model made the headlines by achieving best-in-class NLP performance with a training dataset of 3 billion words.

Two years later, AI researchers were not working with billions of parameters anymore, but with hundreds of billions: in 2020, OpenAI presented GPT-3 -- acclaimed as the largest AI model ever built, with a data set of 500 billion words!

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How biometrics is moving from verifying identity to verifying humanity

Biometrics

Even though 'face spoof' sounds like a piece of skateboarder terminology used to describe a particularly vicious wipeout, it’s actually something more commonly dealt with by InfoSec professionals who work for huge banks, telecommunications companies, and healthcare providers. 

Simply put: it’s when a scammer uses a 3D mask -- or a printed or on-screen image -- to fool biometric security measures a la "Mission Impossible" in order to gain access to the system those security measures are in place to protect.

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How government agencies are adapting to remote working [Q&A]

working from home

The last year has seen all businesses facing a major shift as employees have been forced to work from home.

Government agencies have been no exception to this, but they have specific issues relating to handling sensitive data. Last month the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a plan to expand remote work options and other agencies are expected to follow suit.

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I feel like an IDIOT for buying Apple AirTag

Am I an "Apple guy?" I suppose so; at least my iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV would suggest that to be the case. With that said, I don't blindly throw money at the company's latest products. For instance, I still use an iPhone 8 Plus -- with a home button -- as my smartphone. I don't have a fancy iPad Pro, but instead, a 7th-gen regular iPad with just 32GB of storage. True, my 2020 M1 Mac mini is very modern, but it is the extremely inexpensive base model.

Apple's newest product, AirTag, went on sale this past Friday, and for some reason, I got caught up in the hype and pre-ordered one. Not only did I buy the AirTag, but a red leather keychain for it too. Almost immediately after placing the order, I felt like a total fool. It is probably one of the stupidest tech purchases I ever made.

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Microsoft issues emergency update to fix game performance problems caused by KB5000842 and KB5001330

Colorful Microsoft logo

Microsoft has acknowledged that "a small subset of users have reported lower than expected performance in games" after installing one of two recent Windows 10 updates, and issued a rare type of fix.

Gamers complained about dropped framerates and poor performance after installing the KB5001330 update, and the same report came from those who installed the preview version of the same update, KB5000842. Now the company is using a fairly uncommon Known Issue Rollback (KIR) to resolve the problems, just after NVIDIA issued advice of its own to affected gamers.

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[UPDATED] NVIDIA has a simple, possibly inadvisable, solution for poor game performance caused by problematic Windows 10 updates

Nvidia headquarters

The issues caused by updates for Windows 10 have been varied and plentiful. With each new batch of updates, anyone willing to install them finds they are playing an unwitting game of Russian roulette; the patch may fix some problems, but the chances are that they will introduce new ones as well.

This month's KB5001330 update -- just like the non-security preview version from the previous month, KB5000842 -- was just the latest in a long line of bug-riddled updates. This time the plethora of problems includes a performance hit for a number of games and to help with this, NVIDIA has a simple (if slightly controversial) solution.

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How to hide News and Interests in the Windows 10 taskbar

Any changes that Microsoft brings to Windows 10 have a tendency to be rather polarizing, and the latest addition of News and Interests to the taskbar is no different.

While on the face of it, the ability to keep updated with the latest news headlines, see up-to-date weather forecasts, track stock prices and more from the taskbar may seem useful, it's certainly not of interest to everyone. So, if the feature has rolled out to you and you don't like it, here's how to disable News and Interests in the taskbar.

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BenQ launches MOBIUZ EX3415R 34-inch ultrawide curved gaming monitor

There are two curved displays in my home -- a television in my living room and a computer monitor in my office. Both look cool, but truth be told, the curve doesn't make any difference when watching TV. Since I sit far back from the television, the curve doesn't add any benefit. On the computer monitor where I sit much closer, however, the curvature lends to a more immersive experience. I can't recommend curved computer monitors enough -- for both gaming and productivity.

Today, BenQ launches its latest curved monitor. Called "MOBIUZ EX3415R," this 34-inch ultrawide gaming display has a resolution of 3440x1440 and a 144Hz refresh rate. While this monitor should be great for all games, BenQ is particularly focusing on sim-racing; it has a special mode designed specifically for that genre. It even comes with a handy wireless remote control to make changing between modes super easy.

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