Woman touching a phishing concept

Gen Z most likely to fall for phishing attacks

A new survey reveals that 44 percent of all participants admit to having interacted with a phishing message in the last year. Gen Z stands out as the…

By Ian Barker -

Latest Technology News

LibreOffice

Behind the Microsoft Office compatibility drive, LibreOffice 7.4 still manages to surprise with more new features

The fourth major point release of The Document Foundation’s open-source, cross-platform office suite has landed. As with the previous release in February, LibreOffice 7.4 is targeted towards improving the experience for those migrating from Microsoft Office.

The focus on improving compatibility with Microsoft Office -- both for those migrating away from the platform and others who need to share documents with MS Office users -- is an ongoing process, and the 7.4 press release focuses a lot of attention on LibreOffice’s "highest level of compatibility in the office suite market segment".

By Nick Peers -
ransomware laptop

Ransomware variants almost double in six months

In the past six months, FortiGuard Labs has seen a total of 10,666 ransomware variants, compared to just 5,400 in the previous half year.

In addition ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), with its popularity on the dark web, continues to fuel an industry of criminals forcing organizations to consider ransomware settlements.

By Ian Barker -
Windows-11-Widgets-Screen-1000x563-1

Microsoft is rolling out a Windows 11 update that adds widget notifications to the taskbar

When Microsoft introduced widgets to Windows 11, there was broad agreement that the company had not fully realized the potential of the feature. This is something that is somewhat addressed by a new update to the Windows Experience Pack.

The update means that widgets, including the weather widget, will now be able to get your attention by throwing up announcements and notifications. It's an update that could make widgets genuinely useful, but you may not see the new functionality immediately.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Kali-Linux-book

Get 'The Ultimate Kali Linux Book -- Second Edition' ($41.99 value) FREE for a limited time

Kali Linux is the most popular and advanced penetration testing Linux distribution within the cybersecurity industry. Using Kali Linux, a cybersecurity professional will be able to discover and exploit various vulnerabilities and perform advanced penetration testing on both enterprise wired and wireless networks.

The Ultimate Kali Linux Book -- Second Edition is a comprehensive guide for those who are new to Kali Linux and penetration testing that will have you up to speed in no time. Using real-world scenarios, you’ll understand how to set up a lab and explore core penetration testing concepts.

By Wayne Williams -
identity theft hacker

Pssstt... Wanna buy an identity? The price of data on the dark web

We all know that stolen information is traded on the dark web, and new research by Trustwave looks at what is available and how much it costs. It also uncovers the additional services that are being offered to make it easier to commit fraud.

Details of a stolen credit card can be bought for as little as $8. Much more valuable though is a card with 'fullz' -- extra information on the victim that makes the card more usable. These can cost up to $70.

By Ian Barker -
Netflix logo and remote control

Netflix's upcoming, cheaper, ad-supported tier has some serious drawbacks

If you have been put off getting a Netflix subscription because you think it's too expensive, the upcoming introduction of a reduced-cost, ad-supported tier may sound appealing. But there are numerous downsides, some of which are only just coming to light.

First of all, there is -- of course -- the fact that there are ads. But if you're happy to put up with this, you may be disappointed to learn that you won't be able to access all content either. But it gets worse. Sign up for the ad-supported tier and you could be missing out on some of the most useful functionality Netflix offers.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Windows 11 laptop

Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25182 with lots of important fixes

Some weekly Windows 11 builds come with new features for Dev Channel Insiders to play around with, while others are more about offering fixes and just generally improving the overall user experience.

Today’s new flight, Build 25182, falls into the latter camp, and comes with lots of important fixes. These include:

By Wayne Williams -
PowerToys

Microsoft is working on a new PowerToy that will let you copy text from an image

It is something pretty much all of us have needed to do at one time or another -- copy text from an image so it can be used in another document. Search online for how to extract text from an image, and you will be pointed in the direction of various OCR tools, but Microsoft is working on a solution of its own.

The ability to copy text from an image is coming to PowerToys. The developers are working on a new utility that will make the process very simple. Called PowerOCR, the unreleased PowerToys utility is undergoing testing right now.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
real-time data

Real time data is a must-have for enterprises

Real-time data is a 'must-have' not just a 'nice-to have' according to 78 percent of respondents to a new survey into the data strategies of more than 500 IT leaders.

The study from DataStax finds real-time data pays off in two ways: it leads to increased revenue growth and improved developer productivity. For example, 71 percent of all respondents say that they can tie their revenue growth directly to having real-time data.

By Ian Barker -
cloud dollars

Almost half of businesses are struggling with cloud costs

A new report published today by business monitoring firm Anodot reveals 49 percent of businesses find it difficult to get cloud costs under control, and 54 percent believe their primary source of cloud waste is a lack of visibility into cloud usage.

The report, based on a survey of over 130 US-based IT directors and executives, shows 91 percent of respondents report they currently have IT infrastructure in the cloud, while 60 percent say that migrating more workloads to the cloud is their top cloud initiative in the coming year.

By Ian Barker -
privacy key

Improved data privacy equals improved revenues

According to a new survey, 94 percent of chief data officers (CDOs) from healthcare organizations and financial services firms say that deploying data privacy technology that enforces existing privacy regulations would result in increased revenues for their organizations.

The study from privacy technology specialist TripleBlind finds 37 percent of respondents estimate improved collaboration would increase revenues as much as 20 percent. In addition, 46 percent say increased data collaboration would give their organization a competitive advantage over others.

By Ian Barker -
zero trust

What's all the fuss about zero trust?

If you’ve been in cybersecurity, IT, or operations for a minute, you’ve surely heard the term "zero trust." If you’ve been paying attention, the first time it came into use was in 2009. Although the term was defined at that point, it did not come into play in any significant way until nearly a decade later. And that fuss was driven, predominantly, by security vendors. Businesses, and in particular, security teams, were slower to evaluate and adopt zero trust.

First off, it took some time for everyone to agree on what zero trust really meant, what it entailed, and what it would accomplish. Although the term "zero trust" was first coined by a Forrester analyst and was based on ideas set in motion by the Jericho Forum, different individuals and entities tinkered with the meaning to best suit their situation and needs. So before we dive in too deep, a quick level set is appropriate here.

By Katie Teitler -
Windows 11 laptop

Microsoft may release Windows 11 22H2 update on September 20

When it comes to the release dates for big updates to Windows, Microsoft is notoriously cagey. The company gives itself a big window of opportunity to release feature updates by giving them names such as Windows 11 22H2. This tell us nothing more than the release can be expected in the second half of 2022.

But now we may be able to narrow down the release date to something rather less vague than a six-month period. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans say that the release of Windows 11 22H2 is scheduled for September 20 -- so just a month from now.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Windows key on keyboard

KB5012170 update for Windows is even more problematic than first thought… Boot issues and BitLocker irks abound

Microsoft may have issued a warning that the recently released KB5012170 update for Windows might cause 0x800f0922 errors, but it seems that the update is even more problematic. Users who have been able to install the update are complaining of numerous other issues including boot problems.

Among the issues being reported are the appearance of BitLocker recovery screens, slow boot times and more.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Asian boy playing computer game at home.

Chinese-made Linux distribution deepin 23 Preview now available for download

Created and maintained by Chinese developers, deepin has long been considered one of the prettiest Linux-based operating systems. Understandably, due to its development happening in China, many people do not trust the distribution -- especially with biometrics being added. Not to mention the recent dustup over Taiwan and apparent ongoing genocide.

If you are someone that trusts deepin despite its country of origin, however, I have some really exciting news. Today, an official public preview of the upcoming deepin 23 becomes available for download. The developers highlight the inclusion of the new "Linglong" package format, atomic updates, and new repositories.

By Brian Fagioli -
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