Latest Technology News

AI is exploding, particularly as large language models (LLMs) have infiltrated everyday life. Almost every new mainstream product seems to promote some usage of AI, and industry after industry is being transformed by its capabilities. But despite AI’s potential, some sectors have been slow to adopt it. Risk management is one of them. Fortunately, that is starting to change.

According to a 2023 Deloitte study, only 1.33 percent of insurance companies had invested in AI. Data from this year indicates a shift is underway. In Conning’s 2024 survey, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they are in some stage of adopting AI somewhere within their value chain. This may sound a bit nebulous -- some stage, somewhere -- but it represents a sizable jump from the 61 percent of respondents the prior year. Additionally, 67 percent of insurance companies disclosed they are currently piloting LLMs.

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Operational technology (OT) systems have long been common in industries such as manufacturing, utilities, and healthcare. However, as these systems now increasingly integrate with IT networks, they are becoming the responsibility of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). As a result, CISOs in these sectors need to secure OT systems alongside traditional IT systems. This added responsibility has significantly increased the demands on security leaders.

Now, to safeguard both IT and OT systems, CISOs must possess the right knowledge and resources. Understanding the complexities of OT systems is necessary for the protection of vital operations and infrastructures, however it can be difficult to separate genuine expertise from sales hype. 

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In today’s cybersecurity landscape, identity has emerged as the prime target for threat actors, with compromised credentials involved in 49 percent of breaches. Attackers exploit misconfigurations, use generative AI for social engineering, and purchase stolen credentials, highlighting the need for robust identity security. While Identity and Access Management (IAM) has been crucial, evolving threats demand a more proactive and multifaceted approach that integrates threat intelligence tools and processes to protect identity systems effectively.

Implementing a robust Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) strategy may be the solution. ITDR merges continuous monitoring and response with proactive measures, ensuring a resilient and adaptable security posture. A robust ITDR strategy not only prevents and detects threats but also investigates and coordinates responses to restore integrity after identity infractions.

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Dynabook Americas, Inc. has launched the latest model in its premium Portégé series. The 14-inch Portégé X40-M, equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and enhanced with advanced AI capabilities, starts at $1,499.

James Robbins, General Manager at Dynabook Americas, emphasized the enduring popularity of the Portégé series, stating, "The Portégé X40 has been a top seller for years. With the latest enhancements, we continue to strengthen its position as a key enabler of business efficiency." The new model integrates Intel’s latest processors and Copilot AI technology, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of technological advancements.

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Cooler Master has announced the release of two new PC systems, the HAF 5 Pro and NR2 Pro, which are designed to cater to high-performance computing needs with a focus on advanced cooling technology. These systems aim to meet the demands of both gamers and professionals seeking robust performance.

The HAF 5 Pro is built with the latest Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, targeting users who need to handle intensive gaming and professional tasks without compromise. The system features up to 16GB of DDR4-3200MHz RAM, facilitating seamless multitasking and a 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD that ensures quick load times. It also includes Cooler Master's Hyper 212 heat pipe technology, which enhances the cooling efficiency, vital for maintaining optimal performance under heavy loads.

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Almost half of financial services leaders had a positive view of AI in 2023. But despite this initial excitement, the implementation of planned initiatives this year has been sluggish.

A new report from Lucidworks finds only one in four AI projects have been deployed, similar to many of the other industries surveyed. In 2023, the most common expected impact of Gen AI for financial services was business operations improvement. The majority of deployed initiatives followed suit in 2024, however, the industry reports below average cost and revenue benefits.

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Take up of passkeys as a more secure means of accessing websites has been a little disappointing to date, but new research from Dashlane shows that passkeys are starting to gain traction with consumers.

It finds that early passkey adoption is largely being driven by the consumer space, with 'sticky' apps (those used frequently on a daily basis -- including Facebook and X) leading the way.

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We live in an age that is witnessing the rise of Artificial Intelligence. Many companies have begun incorporating AI features in their operating systems and apps, whether we like it or not.

AI assistants are not new per se, the likes of Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa have existed for over a decade. But, the emergence of Open AI's ChatGPT changed how people view digital assistants. Chatbots offer a more interactive experience, you can text them like would a friend, access a history of your chats, and get relevant results. This was something that the old-gen couldn't provide, contextual interaction.

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A new survey of 800 security decision-makers across the US, UK, Germany and France reveals that 76 percent of security leaders recognize the pressing need to move to shorter certificate lifespans to improve security.

However, the study from machine identity specialist Venafi, also shows many feel unprepared to take action, with 77 percent saying the shift to 90-day certificates will mean more outages are inevitable.

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Machine Learning Algorithms and Applications is for current and ambitious machine learning specialists looking to implement solutions to real-world machine learning problems.

It talks entirely about the various applications of machine and deep learning techniques, with each chapter dealing with a novel approach of machine learning architecture for a specific application, and then compares the results with previous algorithms.

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A new global ransomware study of nearly 1,000 organizations in a variety of industries finds most firms are facing a never-ending series of breaches, a serious epidemic that leaves them continuously in the crosshairs of ransomware gangs.

The study from Semperis also shows that 39 percent of attacked companies in the US, UK, France and Germany paid a ransom four times or more in the past 12 months.

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Of course all companies are vulnerable to email threats, but analysis by Barracuda of targeted email attacks over the past year, reveals that organizations are vulnerable in different ways, according to their size.

Lateral phishing -- where attacks are sent to mailboxes across the organization from an already compromised internal account -- makes up just under half (42 percent) of targeted email threats against organizations with 2,000 employees or more, but just two percent of attacks against companies with up to 100 employees.

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Apps, operating systems and websites have been offering users the choice between light and dark color schemes for a number of years now. While most of the big names have kept pace, there have been a handful of notable exceptions -- including Wikipedia.

Whether for accessibility reasons or just pure aesthetic preference, such has been the demand for a dark mode for Wikipedia that numerous skins and hacks have sprung up to give people what they want. But now such techniques are not needed as Wikipedia, at long last, has an official dark mode option.

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It’s not just you. The world’s software is feeling a little unstable lately. If it wasn’t the Crowdstrike outage that tipped you off, it was probably the many other outages this year, stopping burgers from being served, stranding passengers at Heathrow Airport, and delaying fresh food at the UK borders.

Did all those outages happen for the exact same reason? No, that wouldn’t be a fair assessment, but if there’s anything these outages tell us, it’s that something’s amiss in how our industry maintains software. You’d be forgiven if the headlines have you believing not enough maintenance goes into software. It’s actually the opposite. In an average developer work week of 41.1 hours, 42 percent of that time is dumped on maintenance, and over a third goes to dealing with technical debt.

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Troublesome apps can be terminated using Task Manager, but this feels like an unnecessarily lengthy process to simply kill something. How about a way to achieve the same in just a couple of clicks?

Despite the inherent usefulness of being able to kill tasks using Taskbar icons, Microsoft has seen fit to hide this option away to the extent that it's not apparent that it exist at all. But it does. Here's how you can add an End Task option to the Windows 11 Taskbar.

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