Microsoft releases KB5055523 update to fix a glut of Windows 11 problems
It's time to update Windows 11 again. Microsoft has just unleashed the KB5055523 update, and it is chock full of fixes for a series of bugs, problems and irritations in the operating system.
One of the most frustrating issues addressed by the KB5055523 update is a peculiar flaw in Explorer that rendered the ... menu all but useless. But there are lots of other fixes to be found in this security update, as well as new features and options -- especially for Copilot+ PCs.
Meta brings teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger, and bolsters Instagram restrictions
Teen use of social media platforms is something that is concerning for many parents and has become the subject of political and legal debates. Having introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, last year, Meta has now done the same for both Facebook and Messenger.
Just as with Instagram, Teen Accounts on the social and messaging platforms have built-in protections and restrictions. At the same time, the company is also introducing additional controls and restrictions for teenage users on Instagram.
HPE launches new virtual private cloud solution
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is launching an expansion of its HPE Aruba Networking Central AI-powered network management solution, including a virtual private cloud environment.
This is aimed at customers who want the agility of cloud but with specific data security, data control or regulatory requirements, and an on-premises option that can operate while being disconnected from the cloud.
AI boosts cyberwarfare threat amid geopolitical tensions
According to a new report, 73 percent of IT decision-makers globally are concerned about nation-state actors using AI to develop more sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks.
The study from Armis warns that AI-powered cyberwarfare attacks are now becoming a supercharged cyber weapon and urges organizations to immediately close the divide between current cybersecurity programs and future proactive preparation as threats will increase.
Why 2025 is the year AI will revolutionize construction
Generative AI is the tech buzzword of the decade -- and the money has followed obediently. In 2025, American Big Tech firms alone announced an investment of $300bn in AI infrastructure. A year earlier, global venture capital investment into AI startups reached approximately $97 billion.
One sector that runs the risk of falling behind is construction. ONS Business Insights report only 12 percent of UK construction businesses use AI, which likely reflects (and contributes to) a more skeptical view of AI in the industry. Compared with UK employees across other industries, 11 percent fewer construction employees are excited by the prospect of AI in the workplace and 34 percent of construction workers are worried about the technology.
Traditional vulnerability assessment falls short on third-party risks
As organizations increasingly rely on third-party vendors, open-source components, and cloud services to bolster efficiency and scalability, they also open themselves to risks.
Historically they've relied on CVSS scores to measure the severity of risks, but a new report from Black Kite suggests that this method alone is not enough.
IBM brings new AI capabilities to the mainframe
IBM has announced what it's calling its most advanced mainframe to date, with major new AI capabilities.
Powered by a new IBM Telum II processor, the IBM z17 expands the system’s capabilities beyond transactional AI capabilities, enabling the platform to take on new workloads.
Meta has officially stopped using third-party fact checkers, relying instead on Community Notes
Back at the beginning of the year, Meta announced that third-party fact checking would become a thing of the past on its platforms. The company revealed plans to go down a similar route to X and use Community Notes to allows for crowd-sourced fact-checking instead.
After a short period of testing -- less than a month, in fact -- Community Notes are now starting to appear on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta has also confirmed that, with immediate effect, there will be no new fact check labels on content in many parts of the world.
Microsoft listens to users and revises its WSUS driver synchronization deprecation plans
Microsoft had made much of its plans to deprecate WSUS driver synchronization, announcing the intention in the middle of last year. In January, it issued a reminder that service was being closed down, and then again in February.
But now the company has had a change of heart. WSUS support for driver synchronization was due to come to an end this month, but Microsoft has backtracked saying that -- based on “your valuable feedback” -- it has revised its plans and will keep the service active.
Only a fifth of companies confident their data is AI ready
A new survey, of 1,000 purchasing decision makers across the US, UK, France, and DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) regions, reveals that while AI investment is the top spending priority for nearly half of businesses, only one-fifth of surveyed companies feel confident their data is AI-ready.
The research from Nasuni finds 96 per cent of respondents say they face challenges migrating their file data, creating a major roadblock for AI initiatives. There's also a misalignment in investment priorities, while nearly half of respondents cite AI as their top spending priority over the next 18 months, only a third will invest in the necessary cloud data management.
Trump’s tariffs just broke the US laptop market -- Framework is the first casualty
Framework just pulled a couple laptops from its US store, and sadly, it’s for political reasons. You see, thanks to new tariffs launched by President Donald Trump, shoppers in the United States can no longer buy two base models of the company’s Laptop 13. The two impacted models are powered by Intel’s Ultra 5 125H and AMD’s Ryzen 5 7640U.
No, folks, this is not due to a supply chain issue or a production delay. Make no mistake -- according to a tweet, it’s simply economics fueled by government policy. In other words, Donald Trump’s tariffs are breaking the laptop market.
Google brings powerful visual search to AI Mode for Android and iPhone users
Google may be the current king of search, but thanks to competition from artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT and Grok, its continued dominance is becoming less guaranteed. In other words, Google can no longer rest on its laurels with search -- it must either evolve or dissolve.
In an effort to keep up with the times, Google is delivering its AI Mode feature to more users in the U.S. today. This essentially adds new capabilities that combine visual search with the Gemini AI model. Originally limited to Google One AI Premium subscribers, the feature is now available to millions through the Labs program, accessible in the Google app for both Android and iPhone.
Why companies may be overthinking their cloud transformation
Cloud migration is an essential step for companies looking to scale, optimize, and future-proof their operations, but many organizations find themselves overwhelmed by the complexity of migration, often overthinking the process and getting stuck in a paralysis of what if rather than keeping focused on the more important why.
The problem with this hesitancy is that it is slowing progress for their overall digital transformation. Indeed, cloud migration is a complex journey, especially if the organization in question has multiple sites and decades of sunk costs in legacy technologies. But the cloud migration process can still be simplified and executed successfully, provided organizations focus on the right strategies.
The shift from on-call engineers to agentic incident management
Every engineering team I’ve been a part of has had a 10x engineer. They were active contributors to design reviews -- developing a deep, intuitive understanding of the product and every new feature. Beyond writing code, they reviewed every pull request, tracked every change across the product, and kept a mental map of how all the pieces fit together. They were in the right Slack channels, constantly evaluating process or infrastructure changes to understand how their team might be impacted.
They built operational dashboards, and spent the first 15 minutes of their day scanning key metrics to learn what “normal” looked like so they could spot anomalies instantly. They knew their upstream and downstream dependencies, tracked bugs and releases, and stayed up to date on the tools and platforms their team was built on. All of this context led to one inevitable, risky outcome: whenever something broke, they were the only one who knew where to look and how to fix it.
The impact of AI on professional services [Q&A]
Traditional business models are changing as the adoption of artificial intelligence increases. In the professional services sector there's still heavy reliance on spreadsheets, but a recent survey reveals optimism about AI's impact.
We spoke to Andy Campbell, director of solutions marketing at Certinia, to learn about the impact AI is having on professional services and his outlook for the market.
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