Latest Technology News

Microsoft reveals the Windows Update policies you should set and why

Microsoft building in California

In a post on the Windows IT Pro Blog, Microsoft has provided what it describes as "an easy, go-to reference" for sysadmins to help them choose which Windows Update policies to put in place.

There is different advice for single-user devices, multi-user devices, education devices, kiosks, billboards, factory machines, and Microsoft Teams Room devices. Microsoft kicks off with a pretty simple suggestion: "The fewer policies, the better. Leverage the defaults!" That said, there are also lots of recommendations for different scenarios.

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Facial recognition comes to deepin Linux -- can you trust China with your face?

deepin is one of the prettiest Linux distributions, and many people use it every day. Unfortunately, there is a big problem with the operating system -- it is developed in China. While the Chinese people are good, the government of that country is not -- it oppresses its citizens and censors a lot of information. And so, some people are wary of using any Chinese-made software. That is understandable.

Normally I am OK with using deepin Linux, despite its Chinese roots, as it is largely open source. However, with version 20.5, I am a bit hesitant. You see, the newest variant of the operating system adds optional facial recognition for gaining access to your computer. This is similar to Microsoft's Windows Hello -- something I use regularly. But Microsoft is a USA company. When it comes to deepin, can we trust China with our faces?

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Log4j continues to be a problem for enterprises

It's now over three months since the Log4Shell vulnerability, affecting the Log4j logging framework, first appeared.

But new research from Randori shows that it's still giving headaches to enterprises and identifies the top 10 attackable targets.

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Microsoft introduces a new compatibility hold to block upgrades to Windows 11

Square Microsoft logo

With a warning that "IE11 data might not be accessible after upgrading to Windows 11", Microsoft has added a new compatibility hold to prevent some people from upgrading to the latest version of its operating system.

The issue affects Windows 11 version 21H2, and Microsoft has not given any indication of how many people might be impacted. It means that some Windows 10 users looking to upgrade to Windows 11 will simply not be offered the update until they have jumped through certain hops.

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Best Windows apps this week

Four-hundred-eighty-four 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 launched a new driver blocking security feature to boost Windows security.

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Why enterprises need to consolidate their cybersecurity efforts [Q&A]

DevSecOps

With the COVID-19 pandemic and drive for digital transformation the shift to a new distributed workforce model continues at pace.

But this can also leave businesses vulnerable as attack vectors have become more sophisticated -- resulting in a continued shortage of security experts.

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Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.57.0 -- and it's a huge update

Microsoft PowerToys

Microsoft has released the latest update to its PowerToys utility collection, complete with a massive changelog. Taking the software up to version 0.57.0, the latest release makes numerous improvements to PowerToys Run as well as the ever-popular FancyZones.

With PowerToys v0.57.0, Microsoft has taken steps to address an issue with Outlook PDF previews. There are also updates for ColorPicker, Always on Top, Video Conference Mute and much more.

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Ubuntu Linux 22.04 'Jammy Jellyfish' Beta now available for download

Just a couple days ago, Fedora 36 Beta was released, and now, Ubuntu Linux 22.04 Beta follows suit. Called "Jammy Jellyfish," this pre-release version of the Ubuntu operating system uses Linux kernel 5.15, Mesa 22, and the GNOME 42 desktop environment by default.

Don't like GNOME? Hey, that's cool. There are several flavors of Ubuntu that use alternative desktop environments, such as Kubuntu (KDE Plasma), Lubuntu (LXQt), and Xubuntu (Xfce) to name a few.

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Microsoft's Your Phone app gets a name change and a makeover

Microsoft first launched Your Phone three years ago, allowing Android users to access their text messages and photos on a computer, as well as run Android apps and make and receive calls in Windows.

Today, the software giant announces the app has a new name, and a new interface with an updated design for Windows 11.

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Tech is the most popular sector for UK career switchers

Chances are if you're reading this you already work in the tech sector. If you don't then a new study suggests you might well want to.

The Great Resignation has been driven by a desire for change across industries and research from telecoms company BT shows that 69 percent of UK employees would consider a career change if given the opportunity, and 18 percent want to switch to tech.

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High performance open infrastructure comes to Ubuntu

network

Canonical has announced the general availability of OpenStack Yoga on Ubuntu 22.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Beta and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

What does this mean? Yoga, the latest version of OpenStack, provides a foundation for next-generation, highly performant infrastructure as needed by telco NFV (Network Functions Visualization), media streaming, traffic analysis and high-performance computing (HPC) services.

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Why real-time experiences will make or break the metaverse

The metaverse is the latest battlefield for tech giants vying for business and consumer attention. Although the phrase has only fairly recently entered the public vernacular, when Facebook rebranded its parent company as Meta, it was actually coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in 'Snowcrash'. In many ways its rise in popularity marks the 'coming of age' of virtual and augmented reality to date.

To make these new virtual worlds a success will require a truly real-time digital experience. Without this, our virtual experiences are unlikely to be lifelike and nor will they be "better" than real life. But in order to make this real-time digital experience in the metaverse a reality, organizations will need a raft of technical capabilities. This is a significant challenge for tech behemoths today, let alone in the metaverse future. So, what is needed to ensure the metaverse is a long-term success rather than a passing fad?

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Get 'Privacy, Regulations, and Cybersecurity' ($27 value) FREE for a limited time

Privacy, Regulations, and Cybersecurity: The Essential Business Guide is your guide to understanding what "privacy" really means in a corporate environment: how privacy is different from cybersecurity, why privacy is essential for your business, and how to build privacy protections into your overall cybersecurity plan.

First, author Chris Moschovitis walks you through our evolving definitions of privacy, from the ancient world all the way to the General Law on Data Protection (GDPR).  He then explains -- in friendly, accessible language -- how to orient your preexisting cybersecurity program toward privacy, and how to make sure your systems are compliant with current regulations.

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World Backup Day highlights the importance of keeping your data safe

Backup key

Today is World Backup Day, which is a good opportunity to remind you that you only have a couple of days left to get your hands on some free backup software courtesy of our AOMEI giveaway.

It's also an opportunity to look at the continued importance of backups even in the modern world of clouds and SaaS applications. A new report from Crucial highlights the ongoing cost of data breaches which has risen 9.8 percent from 2020 to 2021.

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Over half of data security incidents caused by insider threats

Insider threat

A new study commissioned by Imperva from Forrester Research finds 58 percent of sensitive data security incidents are caused by insider threats.

And yet 31 percent of firms don't believe insiders are a substantial threat. Indeed only 37 percent of participants report having dedicated insider threat teams, and 70 percent of organizations in the EMEA region don't have a strategy for stopping insider threats.

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