Latest Technology News

The proliferation of fintech platforms has prompted consumers to demand more from their banks. Historically, legacy industry resistance to securely sharing customer data with third parties has deprived banks of opportunities to engage customers and foster longer-term retention more deeply. Many incumbent banks felt an open banking structure threatened their business models. However, as banks shift their mindset and embrace open banking, it’s evident that the 'mainstreaming' of an open banking infrastructure benefits both banks and consumers through a larger marketplace of product options.

Consumers can use open banking by consenting to share their data with other providers securely and receive a more comprehensive range of product offerings and more personalized and efficient services -- all in one place.

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In this new era of generative artificial intelligence, one of the biggest security risks involves business email compromise attacks. Countless malicious phishing emails are already being cloned, refined, and delivered by smart AI bots around the world.

A business email compromise (BEC) is a sophisticated cybercrime that uses emails to trick the receiver into giving up funds, credentials, or proprietary information through social engineering and computer intrusion techniques. Many BEC attacks combine multi-channel elements to make the frauds seem more convincing, such as incorporating fake text messages, web links, or call center numbers into the mix with email payloads. For example, the attackers might spoof a legitimate business phone number to confirm fraudulent banking details with a victim.

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The cybersecurity landscape is experiencing an unprecedented surge in vulnerabilities. In 2022 alone, a staggering 25,096 new vulnerabilities were added to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). This number represents the highest count of vulnerabilities ever recorded within a single year and reflects a 25 percent increase compared to the 20,196 new vulnerabilities reported in 2021.

This escalating trend indicates that cybersecurity threats are not only on the rise but are also accelerating at an alarming pace. The reasons behind this surge in vulnerabilities are multifaceted, stemming from factors such as the increasing complexity of software and technology systems, the rapid pace of digital transformation, and the growing sophistication of cyber attackers.

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One of the core principles of DevOps is to build a supportive culture, one based on collaboration and empathy. This is often overlooked in the rush to build, deploy and continuously run applications.

Empathic, collaborative environments equip DevOps teams to better understand the unique challenges they face as individuals, enhancing their ability to resolve issues together in a way that promotes a culture of blamelessness. This can help pave the route to a greater sense of psychological safety (the belief that you’re safe to take interpersonal risks, such as sharing ideas or soliciting feedback).

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft plans to move several native apps to a new System Components hub in Windows 11. The apps include Get Help, Microsoft Store and Windows Security. A new Systems label will be shown in the Start Menu as well and, somewhat surprisingly, for more apps.

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The European Union first proposed introducing a regulatory framework for AI back in 2021, the wheels of politics inevitably grind slowly, however, and it's still working on legislation to bolster regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence.

The proposed Artificial Intelligence Act has sparked a good deal of debate in the industry with many worried that it could harm business competitiveness.

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Adobe has released Photoshop Elements 2024, the latest version of what amounts to a cheap (ish), lightweight version of its Photoshop image editor. Some of the changes to be found in this latest release are AI-powered tools, much like many of the most exciting changes in its big sibling.

There are many reasons some people are put off by Photoshop, including its complexity and steep learning curve. But the fact that modern editions are only available on a subscription basis is turn-off for many. Not so with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024. Here, you get the best of all worlds -- a powerful yet accessible image editor, incredible new tools powered by artificial intelligence, and an old-fashioned pay-once price tag.

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A new report goes some way to showing that the BitLocker security feature of Windows 11 could be massively reducing the performance of SSDs.

An investigation found that the data encryption tool, which is enabled by default in Windows 11 Pro, can slow solid state drives by as much as 45 percent. While it would be reasonable to expect a bit of a performance drop overall as the software works away encrypting and decrypting files, few people would expect the hit to be quite so significant.

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VIZIO has teamed up with the National Football League to launch the NFL app on its smart TVs. This move is sure to delight football aficionados, as they now gain access not only to the NFL app but also NFL+, the league’s exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming service.

The availability spans across various devices within the United States, offering a comprehensive live stream of NFL Network and NFL RedZone. Subscribers will enjoy live out-of-market preseason games, live local and primetime regular and postseason games (although, the latter is restricted to phone and tablet only), live local and national audio for every game, and access to the coveted NFL Films’ archives among other features.

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IT security breaches are becoming more frequent and costly. According to IBM Security’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023 UK organizations shell out an average of £3.4m for data breach incidents. There isn't a CISO around that doesn't wish they had that kind of budget to spend on IT security. The tools to help security teams do their job more effectively are out there, but getting them approved in the annual budget is not guaranteed and investment can sometimes be too late.

So what can UK IT leaders do to make sure they continue to improve their IT security without blowing their budget? Here are eight ways to bolster cybersecurity resources: 

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A new study of go-to-market (GTM) leaders finds they expect investments in AI to pay off, with 85 percent of respondents believing the fusion of AI and GTM strategy will lead to revenue growth for their organization.

The report from Seismic shows that among this group leaders predict an average of 23 percent growth will be directly attributed to AI utilization over the next five years.

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As QR codes have become popular, they're used for all kinds of things from mobile payments to access control and even document sharing. The problem is that they can also hide risks so it's no surprise that they're becoming a popular vehicle for phishing.

New analysis from Hoxhunt finds the use of QR codes in 22 percent of attacks on its 'global human risk network' in the first weeks of October 2023.

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Microsoft has announced the general availability of its Azure AI Content Safety service. The system is designed to help platform operators to detect and filter harmful user-generated content and that generated by artificial intelligence in their services and apps.

Azure AI Content Safety can be used to scan and block text and image-based content, and Microsoft has made it highly customizable so it can be tailored for various modalities. The company says that the service can be used to weed out content that is offensive, risky, or undesirable, such as profanity, adult content, gore, violence, hate speech, and so on.

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Let’s talk about the personal information that belongs to you, your personal personal information. What is your level of tolerance for the amount of data collected about you? Are you willing to provide your email to get a 15 percent discount? What if it’s 50 percent? What if it’s your phone number, too? These are all questions that we are faced with almost everyday and everyone has a different opinion.

One of the biggest problems is knowing what you are signing up for, and what personal information may have already been obtained. When you first visit a site, cookies and other technologies can automatically collect your IP address, set trackers, and more. Once you enter your personal information into other places, you may unwittingly allow yourself to receive direct marketing, allow the business to sell your information, or allow it to be shared with others for purposes you were not anticipating. 

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Today, Seagate brings something new to the table for gamers and tech lovers with its latest FireCuda 520N NVMe solid state drive, designed in a compact 2230-S2 M.2 form. This new SSD is a great fit for popular portable devices like Valve’s Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface Pro, ASUS ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go, all of which have 2230 M.2 slots ready for an upgrade.

You can get the FireCuda 520N in either 1TB or 2TB capacities, and it’s built to work especially well in hand-held gaming gadgets. The 2TB version can read and write data super fast, at up to 5,000 MB/s, while the 1TB model is a tad slower, but still speedy at up to 4,800 MB/s. What’s exciting is that this drive brings the kind of performance you’d expect from a big desktop gaming setup into the palm of your hand. Plus, it’s flexible -- it can fit into older Gen3 and Gen2 PCIe slots too.

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