Sabrent DS-UFNC USB Type-C Flat Docking Station is a drive enclosure and cloner
Sabrent has a new product called "USB Type-C Flat Docking Station," and while it does, in fact, use USB-C for connectivity, it is not a docking station. The company calls it "flat" because it lays flat -- it isn't actually flat, obviously. While the name is a massive misnomer, it is still rather cool.
Carrying the model ID of DS-UFNC, this "docking station" is actually a dual-drive enclosure and cloner. You see, it can simultaneously interface with both an M.2 NVMe SSD and SATA drive (2.5 or 3.5-inch) and act as either an external storage device or a standalone bi-directional disk cloner. Best of all, it utilizes a toolless design, so you can physically add and remove drives without the need of tools.
Over 98 percent of organizations have misconfigured clouds
According to a new report, 98.6 percent of organizations have concerning misconfigurations in their cloud environments that can cause critical risks to their data and infrastructure.
The research from Zscaler finds cloud misconfiguration errors related to public access to storage buckets, account permissions, password storage and management, and more, have led to the exposure of billions of records.
Three out of four people feel unsafe online -- and cybersecurity doesn't help
A new report finds that even as internet users spend around a third of their lives online, most feel risks are increasing, and cybersecurity is too complex.
The report from F-Secure finds three out of four internet users worry about their safety online, while almost seven out of ten (69 percent) of those surveyed said they don't know who to trust online.
Prioritizing privacy and making social media 'social' again [Q&A]
While social media sites like Facebook remain popular, many people have worries about how their data is is being collected and used by the companies behind them.
Bret Cox is founder and CEO of True, a social network which doesn't monetize user information and focuses on people you really know. We talked him to find out more.
Windows 11 has a secret WASDK File Explorer app complete with an astounding new image gallery feature
The Insider builds of Windows 11 almost always have interesting new features and options to explore, but sometimes the tastiest morsels are hidden from sight as Microsoft is still working on them. The latest release -- Build 25300 -- is a good example, as it includes an experimental version of File Explorer.
This test version of Explorer is based on WASDK (Windows App SDK), and it includes a new image gallery feature that is sure to win itself a lot of fans.
Now you can pay to get verified on Facebook and Instagram as Meta takes a leaf out of Twitter's book
Not to be outdone by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg has taken to Instagram to announce the rollout of a paid-for Meta Verified program. While it is already possible to receive a Twitter-style blue tick of verification on Facebook and Instagram, the new subscription service will give users the opportunity to pay for the badge.
Echoing the claims of Musk, Zuckerberg says that "this new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services". With a charge of between $12 and $15 per month, there is obviously a financial benefit for Meta as well.
Unlocking productivity and uplifting efficiency with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central holds the key to unlocking efficiency and productivity in the workplace. With improved processes at the forefront of business objectives, Dynamics 365 Business Central is the necessary solution for automating and streamlining operations.
Digitization has taken hold of our day-to-day lives and businesses. The technologies we now have access to allow us to flourish like never before -- when understood and used properly. While this may be overwhelming at times, it should be looked at in a positive light.
Microsoft is massively increasing the cost of using Bing Search APIs
Twitter has received a lot of attention of late, with one of the most recent controversies relating to the decision to charge for access to the Twitter API, all but getting rid of the free tier. Now Microsoft is up to much the same trick, announcing this week huge increases that are coming for developers who want to use the Bing Search APIs.
New pricing for access to Bing Search APIs kicks in at the beginning of May, and the rise is significant. There are various access tiers available, and the cost of some is due to increase tenfold.
2023 needs to be a year of unification for cybersecurity
The past twelve months have been tough for a lot of organizations. From inflationary pressures to fears of a global recession, many economists have made pessimistic predictions about the year ahead. As a result, controlling and reducing costs is likely to be the focus for many companies in 2023.
Yet despite these economic stresses, IT spending has continued to rise. Gartner has estimated businesses spent around $4.5 trillion in 2022, up 3 percent year-on-year. While part of this spend is driven by digital transformation and the adoption of new technologies, a good part comes from unexpected expenses - especially when it comes to cloud where businesses can easily incur heavy costs without realizing it. Research finds that 80 percent of organizations lack awareness of how best to manage cloud computing, leading to overspending of between 20-50 percent.
The challenges for cyber resilience in 2023
Given we've all been told that it's inevitable that we'll get hacked, or at the least we need to assume that we will, what does this mean for businesses? It's clear that investment in cyber security measures isn't slowing down the attacks, and in 2023 it feels like there's been a significant increase in reported cyberattacks already. And we've only just hit February!
It would also appear that cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and technologically advanced. Fundamentally, you can't prevent a member of your team from clicking a phishing link, and the attack surface remains expanded due to the current hybrid working arrangements in place at most companies. So, if we are being told to expect an attack, does this shift the emphasis from prevention and defense, onto preparation and response? How would you recover your business?
Tips for overcoming challenges in a talent-constrained recession
The new year began with a curveball. Normally, when economic troubles occur, high unemployment follows. That’s not the case this time around: there are plenty of jobs that still need filling. This has created a rare talent-constrained recession, leading analysts such as Forrester to encourage IT leaders to maintain employee numbers.
This is especially true of companies that have committed significant resources towards creating a positive employee experience. In doing so, they’ve been able to attract candidates and retain skilled personnel. By taking a step back, a hard-earned reputation is tarnished and a useful recruiting tool diminished. The following takes a look at talent issues in the year ahead accompanied by some tips to overcome them.
Twitter is going to make you pay for some elements of 2FA -- act now to secure your account for free!
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an important means of securing accounts, making it significantly harder for hackers to gain unauthorized access. So it is perhaps a little surprising that Twitter has announced that it is locking one of the most popular 2FA methods behind a paywall.
The company has announced that SMS-based two-factor authentication will only be available to paying Twitter Blue subscribers. The change will take effect on March 20, and after this date non-paying Twitter users will be limited to securing their account with either an authentication app or a physical security key.
Google Calendar releases new spam protection
Spam in your calendar? It’s not something that most of us think about -- the word brings to mind email and phone calls and even just old-fashioned snail mail. But your online calendar is also a very real target and it may be growing worse.
It’s actually fairly ingenious; a spammer sends an invite to an event and, even if the email invitation goes to your spam folder, the event still goes to your Google Calendar. When you click on the event in your calendar it contains a malicious link. Even if you click 'decline' it can still take you to possible NSFW content, or worse. Plus, declining will simply cross out the appointment and leave the reminder behind.
How can SaaS give banks a competitive edge over BaaS users? Anyone? Anyone?
Core banking technology moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss out…
The reduced cost of fintech, and increased functionality of cloud-based "as a service" models can reduce the number of applications a bank is running by 30 to 40 percent, and the cost of ownership by 15 to 20 percent, when compared to traditional financial services IT infrastructure.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty 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 released an update this week that removed Internet Explorer 11 permanently from most Windows 10 devices. Windows 10 and 11 devices are impacted by a new known issue that affects DirectX.