A new survey from Bitdefender, of more than 7,000 consumers worldwide, finds that 14 percent of respondents (one in seven) report falling victim to scams in the past year, with an additional four percent unsure.

Based on an average scam loss of $545, that equates to over $534,000 lost among survey participants alone. The US led in scam victims at 17 percent, followed by the UK (16 percent) and Australia (16 percent), while France had the lowest at 11 percent.

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Although 74 percent of IT leaders expect budgets to rise in 2026 more than half say they still lack the internal resources to fix issues quickly or drive innovation.

A new report from DataStrike also finds 60 percent of organizations now rely on MSPs to manage data infrastructure, more than double the rate reported last year. This highlights a growing dependence on external expertise as teams tackle modernization and technical debt.

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Avast has introduced Scam Guardian and Scam Guardian Pro for mobile devices, expanding its AI-driven scam protection from desktop to smartphones and tablets. The new tools, part of Avast Mobile Security and Avast Premium Mobile Security, aim to address the rising wave of scam and social engineering attacks on mobile platforms.

Avast, part of Gen, said that over 80 percent of mobile threats blocked by Gen Threat Labs this year were scams. In fact, on average, four mobile scam attempts are stopped every second. Scam Guardian and its Pro version extend Avast's existing protection ecosystem to mobile users on Android and iOS.

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A new report, based on data from 3.9 million skills tests taken by employment candidates globally, reveals a dramatic shift towards AI proficiency and cognitive capability across the global workforce.

The data from TestGorilla shows AI testing recorded the highest growth, up 166 percent in comparison to the previous year. Following closely are coding debugging (+133 percent), computer literacy (+77 percent) and data structures/arrays (+73 percent). Together, these underline the urgent demand for practical coding competence and AI fluency.

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A new compliance report shows a sharp rise in financial institutions capturing ChatGPT communications. Global Relay’s Communication Capture Trends Report 2025 found a 3,000 percent increase in the number of firms recording ChatGPT data compared with a year ago.

The report analyzed data from more than 12,000 financial institutions and over 200 communication channels to see how firms are adapting to changing workforces and the introduction of new communication tools.

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AI use cases in healthcare continue to expand, and organizations are identifying opportunities to leverage automation technologies to improve existing workflows.

However, after years of implementing new tooling and expanding tech stacks for better efficiency and backend processes, most organizations are left with disparate systems and datasets that make AI initiatives difficult to put into practice. IT teams are now forced to work backwards, embarking on time and resource consuming efforts to determine how automation can work within the parameters of these fragmented processes.

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For anyone embedded in the Google ecosystem, Gmail is indispensable. The search giant’s email tool has an extraordinarily large userbase, and Google continues to find new ways to make it more useful. The focus of so much of the company’s efforts have been AI-related in recent times, so it is refreshing to see that other options have not been completely abandoned.

With email communication now the default for pretty much everything, it is little wonder that inboxes are chaotic explosions. And it is with a simple change that Google is looking to make it easier to manage your emails with as little effort as possible.

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Microsoft’s suite of Sysinternal tools is an interesting collection. While not as exciting – or as frequently updated – as PowerToys, it is home to a number of incredibly useful utilities, especially for power users and system administrators.

But there are also instances of crossover, and the screen recording tool ZoomIt is a perfect example. Although ZoomIt has been merged into the PowerToys utility suite, a standalone version remains available for Sysinternal fans who want to steer clear of PowerToys. In an interesting move, Microsoft has pushed an update to the standalone version of ZoomIt with new features which are not available in PowerToys.

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The end has been nigh for Windows 10 for what feels like an eternity, but Microsoft finally pulled the plug on mainstream support last month. After a confused period of communication and a few niggles, the company has now released the first Extended Security Update for the operating system.

With the release of the KB5068781 update, Microsoft is now only addressing problems with Windows 10. With the ESU program now in operation, no new features should be expected.

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In October, one in every 44 GenAI prompts submitted from enterprise networks posed a high risk of data leakage, impacting 87 percent of organizations that use GenAI regularly.

A study from Check Point Research finds an additional 19 percent of prompts contained potentially sensitive information such as internal communications, customer data, or proprietary code. These risks coincide with an eight percent increase in average daily GenAI usage among corporate users.

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Banks, fintechs, and crypto platforms are ramping up investment in fraud prevention and identity verification (IDV), positioning it as the next layer of cyber defense, according to a new survey.

The study from Regula shows banks are leading this trend: the share of institutions intending to increase IDV budgets by more than 50 percent is nearly tripling -- from 4.4 percent to 15 percent in just two years.

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GitLab has published new findings highlighting what it calls the “AI Paradox,” whereby artificial intelligence is speeding up coding but introducing new productivity barriers as a result. The company’s 2025 Global DevSecOps Report, conducted with The Harris Poll, surveyed 3,266 professionals working in software development, IT operations, and security. The results suggest that while teams deploy faster than ever, they are losing time to inefficiencies that AI alone cannot fix.

According to the study, DevSecOps professionals lose about seven hours per week to inefficient processes. The main causes include fragmented toolchains and collaboration gaps between teams.

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MX Linux 25 “Infinity” has been released and offers a major update for the Debian-based distribution known for stability and usability. The cooperative project between the antiX and former MEPIS communities offers editions based on Xfce, KDE Plasma, and Fluxbox desktops and is built on Debian 13 “Trixie” with MX’s repositories included.

All core releases now include systemd by default, a shift from the project’s long history with sysVinit. Any users who prefer the older initialization system can still download alternative sysVinit editions. The developers say this change improves compatibility with modern Debian packages and simplifies maintenance going forward.

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Fitnexa has announced SomniPods 3 ultra-light earbuds developed for sleep use. They combine active noise canceling, sleep tracking, and app-based analysis to help users monitor and adjust their sleep patterns.

SomniPods 3 features a dual-microphone hybrid active noise canceling system designed to reduce external noise by up to 42dB in Fitnexa-tested conditions. The feedforward and feedback microphones detect and counter background sounds through reverse sound waves, cutting disturbances from snoring or low-frequency hums.

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Viwoods has introduced the AiPaper Reader, a 138g Android 16-powered e-reader that adds on-page AI assistance. The compact device lets readers verify terms, translate passages, or summarize figures directly within text. Viwoods thinks this will be of particular use to professional and academic users who read for long stretches or while traveling.

AiPaper Reader keeps answers beside the text rather than diverting users to another app or browser. Its 6.13-inch 300ppi E Ink Carta 1300 display features a low-reflectance layer and adjustable front light for comfortable reading in different environments.

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