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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Interconnected digital technology advances at a rapid pace, and so do the tactics and strategies employed by malicious individuals, criminal groups, and even nation-states. The World Economic Forum predicts global cybercrime will reach $10.5 trillion by 2025, forcing businesses and governments to look for next-generation solutions against emerging digital threats.

Unfortunately, deliberate criminal activity is only part of the challenge in this data-driven era. Costly leaks of sensitive data might happen due to simple human errors -- in September, Microsoft’s data was leaked two times, not only disclosing the company’s plans for the next-gen Xbox but also exposing private employee data. As we already know, at least one of these events happened due to an accidentally misconfigured URL link.

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In an era driven by digital transformation, cloud computing has emerged as a game-changer for businesses of all sizes. However, as cloud adoption continues to soar, so does the need to manage cloud costs effectively. Balancing cost reduction with maintaining and increasing resiliency has become a top priority for businesses seeking to maximize the benefits of the cloud.

The need to optimize is evident, but achieving this goal can be complicated. Without appropriate cost containment and governance strategies, organizations risk falling into a continuous climb spend pattern. Often, businesses address cost optimization as a sporadic, reactive exercise -- like making annual bulk purchases of reserved instances. To break free from this cycle and achieve sustained cost efficiency, a shift towards a collaborative, ongoing and iterative approach to cost optimization and management is a key priority.

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A new report from GuidePoint Security's Research and Intelligence Team (GRIT) shows a total of 3,385 publicly posted ransomware victims in the first three quarters of this year, claimed by 57 different threat groups, representing an 83 percent year-on-year increase.

Attacks directed against US-based organizations decreased, but there has been a marked increase in attacks impacting other nations. Other countries consistently affected, like the UK, saw an approximate 41 percent increase in attacks in Q3.

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Google has announced a number of upcoming changes to the address bar in Chrome. The company says that the five improvements will help people to browse even faster.

Some of the enhancements are long-overdue, such as updating URL autocomplete so that characters you type do not have to be the first part of the address. Others are sensible ease-of use and security-related improvements, such as automatic typo correction for typed URLs.

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Life is about to get a little easier for WhatsApp users with more than one account. Many people have a work phone and a personal device, each associated with a different WhatsApp account. There are also plenty of users with two phone numbers for other reasons.

Simplifying living with more than one account, WhatsApp is introducing the ability to log into two accounts simultaneously. This eliminates the need to keep logging in and out, or having to carry two phones around to stay connected. So what's the catch?

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As Netflix revealed its quarterly earnings, the company also announced a couple of subscription price hikes for its customers in the US, UK and France. The price increases come despite Netflix's recent password-sharing crackdown which it says has resulted in millions of new revenue-bringing subscribers.

Both the Premium plan and the Basic plans will increase in price, but the Standard and ad-supported plans will remain as they are. Although Netflix's Basic plan is no longer available to new customers, users who have been grandfathered on this tier face the largest price jump.

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Western Digital is back at it, unveiling a new range of storage gadgets under its SanDisk brand. In a time where digital memories are stacking up, the demand for extra storage is a no-brainer. Whether it's about saving baby's first steps, a weekend wildlife expedition, or just backing up a hefty music collection, SanDisk is pitching its latest gear as the go-to fix.

Susan Park, the Vice President of Consumer Solutions at Western Digital, explains, “We get it. People need more room for their digital stuff, be it personal or work-related. That's what keeps us on our toes to come up with something that folks can count on, now and later. We're hoping the new gear we're launching will get people excited to create more.”

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Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev Channel today get a new build with multi-monitor support for Copilot AI. For those testers who prefer to live on the bleeding edge, there’s also a new Canary Channel build with numerous new features.

Additions in Windows 11 Canary Build 25977 include improved support for hearing aids equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)  Audio, new controls to manage which apps have access to the list of local Wi-Fi networks, and additional access control options for clients in SMB over QUIC.

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Development continues apace on Windows 11, and today Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel get a new flight which introduces improvements to Copilot, Microsoft’s AI component.

With Build 23570, Copilot can now be used across multiple monitors and Microsoft has made this addition very easy to configure and use.

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Kodi 21 -- codenamed 'Omega' -- is the next version of the hugely popular home theater software. The Kodi Foundation has been alpha testing its program over the past few months, giving users who don’t mind living dangerously the chance to try out new features, fixes, and cleanups.

Today, a brand new build arrives, which will be more appealing to those users seeking greater stability from the software.

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X -- the platform formerly known as Twitter -- is testing out a new 'Not A Bot' program that will allow users to pay a small annual fee to verify that they are in fact a real person.

Initially available only in New Zealand and the Philippines, it will require new and unverified users to verify their phone number and pay a nominal $1 per year in order to be able to post and interact with other posts.

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The power that quantum computing makes available offers benefits in many areas, but it also means cracking encryption becomes much easier, which poses an enormous threat to data and user security.

At its annual Trust Summit conference, DigiCert has released the results of a global study exploring how organizations are addressing the post-quantum computing threat and preparing for a safe post-quantum computing future.

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