In today's interconnected world, the threat of ransomware looms larger than ever before across industries. Malicious actors continue to exploit vulnerabilities, and the dark cloud of ransomware shows no signs of dissipating. Recent data from the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) shows that cost per ransomware incident doubled over the past two years and remains one of the top action types present in breaches.

In this article, we will explore how ransomware works and what steps organizations can take to protect employees and data from these attacks.

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The days when businesses operated within a defined perimeter that could be neatly protected by a firewall are long gone. Today’s enterprises are dynamic. In the era of cloud native, infrastructure is completely distributed -- from the traditional datacenter to multicloud instances, from physical servers and VMs to microservice-based applications and containerized workloads.

This change in how businesses operate necessitates a shift in how we defend. The old adage of "Trust but verify" has been replaced by, "authenticate everything all the time," otherwise known as "zero trust". Zero trust dictates that security teams must focus on each of the connection points on the network -- from the datacenter to the cloud to the endpoint, every connection must be verified and authenticated.

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Five-hundred-and-forty-seven 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 the last cumulative update for Windows 10 version 21H2. The operating system has reached end of servicing. Devices that have not been updated yet to either Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11 may be updated to continue receiving support.

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The world is increasingly buzzing with stories about AI generated content. Today when you contact a business you might equally well be talking to a bot as a human, but is it possible to spot AI generated content and should we be worried about it?

We spoke to Gaurav Kachhawa, chief product officer of conversational messaging platform Gupshup, to find out how to distinguish AI-generated content, as well as the ethics that surround its use.

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Porsche is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and so the car-maker has partnered with Microsoft to create something truly special. Together, the companies have unveiled a limited collection of custom Xbox Series X consoles and Xbox Wireless Controllers inspired by six iconic Porsche motorsport cars. Sadly, these exclusive gaming systems won't be available for purchase. However, fans have the chance to win them through a sweepstakes.

The partnership between Porsche and Microsoft's Turn 10 Studios dates back to 2005, and it has brought co-branded elements to the popular Forza franchise. From the original Forza Motorsport to the latest release, Forza Horizon 5, Porsche vehicles have consistently been an integral part of the racing experience. This collaboration has allowed fans to enjoy the thrill of driving a Porsche in the virtual world -- without actually buying one of the expensive vehicles.

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If you are a fan of the Sparky Linux distribution, I have some exciting news-- version 7.0 is finally available for download. This release is based on -- and fully compatible with -- the Debian 12 "Bookworm" operating system. For users with ancient hardware, Sparky 7.0 still provides support for x86 (32-bit) machines. But seriously, folks, just buy a 64-bit PC already...

By leveraging the stability and reliability of Debian, Sparky 7.0 inherits a rock-solid base that ensures a smooth and secure user experience. This compatibility allows users to seamlessly access the extensive Debian software repositories, opening up a world of possibilities for software installations and updates.

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Microsoft released a new Windows 11 preview build this week in which it changed the Chat integration in the operating system. The new build, which Wayne wrote about here, introduces a number of changes to the operating system.

One of these changes replaces the fly-out Chat interface with a shortcut to Microsoft Teams Free. When Microsoft launched Chat in 2021 on Windows 11's taskbar, it wanted to push Microsoft Teams usage on Home devices. Microsoft created the fly-out and made it difficult for users to remove it from the taskbar.

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A new study from O'Reilly Media looks at how developer enablement tools including GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT are impacting productivity within the workplace.

And the news isn't all positive; almost half of all respondents (46 percent) say they are struggling with AI-assisted low and no-code tools that have steep learning curves and barriers to entry.

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The latest Security Maturity Report, published today by ClubCISO, shows 76 percent of CISOs reported no material breaches over the past year, up from 68 percent in 2022.

Despite the difficult economic climate, heightened global tensions and the onset of new technology making cybercrime easier, 60 percent of those surveyed say that no material cyber security incident had occurred in their organization over the past 12 months.

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It’s no secret that rapidly rising prices, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine, have inflicted damage on the reputations of energy companies. While the companies themselves may not have caused those rising prices, it’s their logos that consumers see on top of their energy bills every month.

It should hardly be surprising then that a survey by Populous found that just 16 percent of Britons view the energy sector positively. These are people, remember, who’ve found themselves in the midst of one of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. Millions of them have also, at some point in the past few months had to choose between heating their homes and eating.

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The annual Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit is always fertile ground for discovering the latest trends in cyber security, with this year being no exception. The 2023 event was held in early June, and central themes of this year's summit were the increasing complexity of managing cybersecurity adversaries, the increase in data breaches, and the heightened risk identity poses in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

One of the most significant takeaways from this year's summit is the role of Privileged Access Management (PAM) within the Cybersecurity Mesh.  The Cybersecurity Mesh distributed architectural approach to scalable, flexible, and reliable cybersecurity control. The Cybersecurity Mesh allows the security perimeter to be defined around the identity of a person or thing, highlighting the critical role PAM plays in modern cybersecurity strategies. The shift to remote work, accelerated by the global pandemic, and the subsequent rise in cloud-based infrastructures, have further emphasized the importance of the shift from infrastructure-based perimeters to identity perimeters.

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Java is one of the most preferred languages among developers. It is used in everything right from smartphones and game consoles to even supercomputers, and its new features simply add to the richness of the language.

This book on Java programming begins by helping you learn how to install the Java Development Kit. You’ll then focus on understanding object-oriented programming (OOP), with exclusive insights into concepts such as abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, which will help you when programming for real-world apps.

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There are a lot of hidden or lesser-known features tucked away inside Windows 10 and Windows 11.

One of these undocumented functions is the Emergency Restart option which can really help if you run into problems with your PC and the Start button isn't working, or your system locks up while being used remotely.

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Companies have laid off thousands of workers in the first few months of 2023, many of whom signed non-competes or have few local prospects. Such a significant shift in the labor market means many people need jobs. Where do tech workers go after layoffs?

Although the rounds of layoffs in 2023 have affected many, the industry is relatively unchanged. There were around 6.5 million people in the tech sector as of December 2022, with a 1.8 percent unemployment rate. Even though tech firms primarily based in the United States let go over 147,000 employees during layoffs as of June 2023, the number is relatively small in comparison.

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A new survey of UK small and medium enterprises shows that 47 percent believe they are at greater risk of a cyberattack since the cost-of-living crisis.

The study from CyberSmart reveals that 38 percent believe this is due to increased malicious insider threats such as disgruntled employees making decisions that are not in the best interest of the company. While 35 percent believe it is due to negligent insider threats such as overworked or distracted employees making mistakes.

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