Microsoft is about to make a crazy change to Windows 11 that will draw the ire of users
Change is often good, but not when it comes to changing the way Windows works -- particularly the fundamental features that people have become used to. But this is precisely what Microsoft is looking to do by introducing a controversial new limitation on Alt-Tab in Windows 11.
As anyone who has used Windows for any length of time will know, the Alt-Tab keyboard shortcut provides an easy way to switch between open apps and windows. In recent years, Microsoft has added functionality by making it possible to Alt-Tab through Edge tabs, but now the company is testing a new implementation that reduces its usefulness.
Microsoft backtracks on new Content Adaptive Brightness Control feature in Windows 11 -- desktop users to miss out
When Microsoft released the latest Dev build of Windows 11, one of the new additions was Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) -- an energy-saving feature that works by dimming areas of the screen depending on the content that is being viewed. Much was made of the fact that CABC was something that would benefit everyone, including desktop users. But it turns out that this is not actually the case.
Microsoft has now backtracked on its announcement, revealing that CABC is rather more underwhelming than we were first led to believe -- and far fewer Windows 11 users will be able to take advantage of it than first suggested.
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Watch ChatGPT generate a string of valid Windows activation keys
OpenAI's ChatGPT can be used for all sorts of things, from answering questions and translating text, to generating original content like stories, poetry and code.
Given the right prompts, it can even be tricked into producing valid license keys for software. YouTuber Enderman managed to overcome ChatGPT’s initial reluctance to do this and got it to provide him with a selection of working keys for Windows 95.
Sharing deployment best practices helps all developers
Developers are constantly innovating better and more efficient ways to deploy software, but not all teams are privy to the new strategies. We as a developer community need to eliminate all gatekeeping and share best practices. What benefits one team will help another, allowing us to continuously build on these improvements together.
Deployment velocity drives business value, but only if the software is reliable. Users won't care about receiving frequent updates if they don't work. Sharing deployment best practices can eliminate manual tasks and enable developers to focus on coding, leading to more reliable deployments and apps and more efficient processes.
Novel social engineering attacks surge by 135 percent driven by generative AI
New research from cybersecurity AI company Darktrace shows a 135 percent increase in social engineering attacks using sophisticated linguistic techniques, including increased text volume, punctuation, and sentence length, and with no links or attachments.
This trend suggests that generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are enabling threat actors to craft sophisticated and targeted attacks at speed and at scale.
If businesses are to get a grip on their cybersecurity, they need to close the gender gap
Cybersecurity threats are growing at an alarming rate across the globe while at the same time, cybercriminals are becoming even more sophisticated in their methods of attacks. Meanwhile, the shortage of cybersecurity talent is making it difficult for organizations and industries to meet these constantly shifting security demands.
As such, the cybersecurity landscape has become increasingly challenging. In fact, cybercrime is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 but organizations are struggling to build the specialized skills required to manage these growing threats. According to ISACA’s latest State of Cybersecurity Report, 63 percent of enterprises have unfilled cybersecurity positions while labor shortages in the UK have become particularly acute. In fact, while there are currently about 339,000 cyber professionals in the UK (up 13 percent year-on-year), there is still a shortfall of 56,811 workers (up 70 percent year-on-year).
32 percent of remote workers use unapproved apps and software
Remote working poses a number of risks from an IT security point of view. A new report from Lookout finds that 32 percent of remote and hybrid workers use apps or software not approved by IT and 92 percent of remote employees perform work tasks on their personal tablet or smartphone devices.
Remote workers are also less likely to follow best practices for security. 90 percent access corporate networks from areas other than their home, with an average of five different locations -- introducing security risks as company data could be exposed across multiple networks not monitored by IT. 45 percent use the same password for work and personal accounts too.
Why cyber insurance policies may be in jeopardy [Q&A]
Cyber insurance has often been seen by business leaders as a monetary guarantee that even if hackers do break into their networks and steal their data, they can still escape financially unscathed.
Yet this premise was recently rocked after Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance syndicate, redefined its policies to no longer cover for nation-state cyberattacks. There are other challenges facing the cyber insurance sector in the year ahead too.
[UPDATED] Content Adaptive Brightness Control will make Windows 11 more energy-efficient
Adaptive screen brightness is a familiar function of smartphones, with both iOS and Android boosting brightness in lighter conditions to improve screen visibility, and dimming it when it is darker so you're not blinded during nocturnal social media sessions. Now Microsoft is bringing a similar -- but better -- feature to Windows 11.
Microsoft's take on the feature is called Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC). There is a clue in the name about how it works, and it is about more than just ambient lighting conditions. [UPDATE: Microsoft has had something of a change of heart, as detailed here.]
Microsoft brings green screen feature to Teams meetings
Users of Microsoft Teams have a new option to experiment with that can make meetings both more interesting and more private -- green screen.
The ability to change backgrounds in video chats is something that has been available in numerous apps for quite some time, but the results are patchy at best. With the arrival of support for cinema-style green screen though, Microsoft is upping the ante.
TEAMGROUP unveils MP33Q M.2 PCIe SSD and T-FORCE VULCAN Z QLC SATA SSD
TEAMGROUP has launched two new QLC SSDs: the MP33Q M.2 PCIe SSD and the T-FORCE VULCAN Z QLC SSD. The MP33Q is a high-performance NVMe SSD with up to 2,500MB/s read speeds, while the VULCAN Z is a 2.5-inch SATA SSD with up to 550MB/s read speeds.
The TEAMGROUP MP33Q M.2 PCIe SSD is designed with 3D QLC flash memory chips, PCIe Gen3x4 interface and NVMe 1.3 protocol. With up to 2,500MB/s in read speed and 2,100MB/s in write speed, it outperforms SATA III SSDs by five times and is available in capacities of up to 2TB.
Purple Team engagements uncover security weaknesses
Our threat researchers at Lares encounter a broad range of security flaws and vulnerabilities when we conduct Purple Team exercises on behalf of our clients. Over time, the same unforced errors seem to come up so often that we warn security teams to develop standardized practices to defend against them.
The Lares Adversarial Collaboration Unit assists clients with defensive collaboration engagements and Purple Team assessments, which combine offensive and defensive techniques to strengthen security protections. Red Teams emulate external or insider attackers, while Blue Teams serve as internal security defenders. Purple Teams assist both sides by aligning the defensive tactics of the Blue Team with the threats attempted by the Red Team.
Google launches Nearby Share for Windows in beta to simplify sharing files between Android and PC
As any owner of an Android device will tell you, while there is a lot to love about Google’s mobile operating system, there remains a lot of room for improvement. A good example is the sharing of files between a smartphone running Android and a PC running Windows -- something that has proved bewilderingly and unnecessarily cumbersome in the past.
To make file sharing easier, Google has launched a beta version of Nearby Sharing for Windows, expanding the availability of what was previously a mobile-only app.
Kick Microsoft Windows 11 out of your life and switch to Linux Lite 6.4 today!
Linux Lite is a popular Linux distribution that is designed to be easy to use for people switching from Windows. The latest version, Linux Lite 6.4, includes a number of new features and improvements, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a reliable and user-friendly Linux distribution.
Linux Lite 6.4 is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS. The distro includes a number of bug fixes and security updates. The operating system is a smart choice for users who are new to Linux or who are looking for a more lightweight alternative to Windows or macOS.
Blender 3.5 unveils new GPU-based compositor backend and improved hair styling tools
The Blender Foundation has unveiled Blender 3.5.0, the latest 3.x point release of its popular and powerful open-source, cross-platform 3D creation suite. The new release boasts several new features, including GPU-powered viewport compositor and vector displacement sculpting.
Blender 3.5’s main highlight, however, is that it builds massively on the curves-based hair system it introduced in version 3.3 with the addition of 'hair assets', 26 pre-built textures users can simply drag and drop on to existing models.
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