Ransomware victims increased by 26 percent in 2024
Nearly 5,300 ransomware victims were reported last year, a 26 percent increase from the previous year, according to new analysis.
The Cybernews team looked at data from the Ransomlooker tool, which monitors the dark web and other hidden areas of the internet, and found that the number active ransomware gangs also grew over the previous year.
Newegg RTX 50 Series launch shows gamers will pay anything for the latest GPU
Newegg’s launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs was nothing short of a frenzy, with stock selling out in minutes as gamers rushed to secure the latest tech. The retailer has promised restocks as more inventory becomes available, encouraging customers to stay tuned to its social media for updates.
The demand was off the charts. Newegg reported that 18 of its top 25 most-viewed product pages belonged to the RTX 50 Series, proving just how eager buyers were. Searches for “RTX 5080” and “RTX 5090” skyrocketed, making up 9 of the top 10 search terms on the site. Compared to the previous week, searches for these GPUs spiked 25 times. The rush also caused a massive traffic surge, with site visits increasing by as much as 10 times during the launch window.
Best Windows apps this week
Six-hundred-thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft announced two new Surface for Business Copilot+ PCs this week that are powered by Intel Core Ultra processors.
The challenges of managing non-human identities [Q&A]
Non-human identities (NHIs) outnumber human identities by between 10 and 50 times, but the industry lacks solutions to properly address this hole in the security perimeter.
Traditional IAM solutions and best practices aren't sufficient when it comes to managing NHIs, as evidenced by some recent breaches that have stemmed from exploitation of NHIs.
IT industry today faces same issues that aggravated 1990s manufacturing: How can we take a cue from history?
Until the late 1990s, manufacturing reigned as the lifeblood of the global economy -- leading in productivity, employment, growth, and investments across all points of the world. However, once we neared the close of the 20th century, manufacturing found its Achilles heel in the compounded complexity accrued from outdated processes, an over-reliance on human labor that simply couldn’t meet its extreme needs, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs.
I fear that today, the information technology industry finds itself at all-too-familiar cross-roads. Why is this?
Microsoft expands its Surface for Business Copilot+ PC lineup with new Intel Core Ultra-powered Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7
Microsoft has today announced two additions to its Surface for Business Copilot+ PC family, with new versions of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop that, instead of using Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X CPUs, will be powered by Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2), giving buyers a choice.
Microsoft says the Surface Pro 11 for Business is designed to deliver high performance, versatility, and security. The device offers up to 28 percent more overall performance, 98 percent better graphics performance, and double the battery life during Teams calls, compared to the Surface Pro 9. The 13-inch PixelSense display features optional OLED technology with better color accuracy, and anti-reflective properties for improved visibility, even in direct sunlight.
Inside Pluton -- Microsoft's security processor that's coming to a PC near you soon
Microsoft first announced its Pluton security processor as far back as 2020 and more recently has said it will be enabled by default on all Copilot+ PCs as part of the company's commitment to Secure by Design.
Today the company is releasing more details about Pluton and how it operates. Operating directly on dedicated hardware on the CPU system-on-chip (SoC), Pluton helps provide additional protection for sensitive assets like credentials and encryption keys, using a combination of hardware, firmware and software
Deepfakes, workforce fraud and phishing incidents on the rise across businesses
Half of businesses have reported a growth in deepfake and AI-generated fraud, alongside rising biometric spoofs and counterfeit ID fraud attempts, according to the 2025 State of Identity Fraud Report, released today by AuthenticID.
The report analyzes internal proprietary data anonymized from AuthenticID's identity verification and fraud detection technology. When paired with insights from annual fraud surveys of both fraud and technology professionals as well as consumers in North America, the report offers a comprehensive view of the fraud landscape.
Remote employees work longer hours
In findings that rather seem to contradict the wisdom of President Trump's return to office mandate for government employees, a new report from Cloudbrink shows that 'work from anywhere' employees actually put in longer hours than their nine to five counterparts.
Analysis of usage data from thousands of users of Cloudbrink's Personal SASE service shows heavy transfer of data on Fridays and heavy usage starting at 7:00 am and continuing to 7:00 pm. The report concludes that employees are working quite a bit outside the office, but could be even more productive if technical challenges could be reduced.
I asked ChatGPT and DeepSeek to generate some random lottery numbers -- what happened next defied all odds [updated]
For a bit of fun, I thought I would ask ChatGPT to generate a set of numbers for the EuroMillions draw on Friday. Then, seconds later, I asked Chinese upstart DeepSeek to do the same.
My plan was to play both sets of numbers and see which, if any, of the two AIs could win me money. The result was not at all what I expected.
Microsoft releases KB5050094 update to fix audio issues caused by earlier update
When Microsoft released the January security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11 earlier this month, there were soon complaints from users about audio issues. Having only recently acknowledged a link between the update and the problems, Microsoft has now issued a fix.
The release of the KB5050094 update will give those who are willing to install preview versions of updates the chance to get their audio devices working again. The way in which this problem is being address is not ideal, and will raise questions from many people.
Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.88.0, killing off Video Conference Mute to make way for a new utility
With the v0.88 release cycle for PowerToys, Microsoft says that it will be focusing on “new features, stability, and improvements”. And the release of PowerToys v0.88.0 gets things off to a good start with the arrival of a new tool.
But this release also sees Microsoft giving with one hand and taking with the other. The arrival of the new ZoomIt module is balanced by the departure of Video Conference Mute which has been deprecated and removed from the suite of Windows utilities.
MLS Season Pass returns to Apple TV for 30th season but do Americans really care?
Major League Soccer is back on Apple TV, and if you’re one of the people who actually follows the league, you can once again stream every match with no blackouts through MLS Season Pass. Starting today, fans in over 100 countries can subscribe, unlocking access to all regular-season games, the MLS All-Star Game, and even the playoffs. Exciting, right?
The 2025 season kicks off on February 22, marking year three of Apple’s 10-year deal with MLS. This season also introduces the league’s latest expansion team, San Diego FC, because apparently, North America just can’t get enough soccer teams. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Services, hyped up the service, saying, “MLS Season Pass delivers fans exactly what they want.” That may be true for soccer diehards, but let’s be honest -- MLS is nowhere near the NFL, NBA, or even MLB in terms of mainstream appeal.
New tools help prevent leaks of personal data
One of the risks AI teams face is sensitive data lurking where it shouldn't be -- risks that are increasing as the volume unstructured data grows across all industries, a situation made worse still by GenAI.
Unstructured data management specialist Komprise is launching new sensitive data detection and mitigation capabilities to help organizations prevent the leakage of PII and other sensitive data to AI and reduce the risk of potentially ruinous data breaches.
AI-powered Chrome extensions are watching you…
It's not exactly Big Brother, but a new analysis of Chrome extensions from Incogni reveals that 67 percent collect user data, and 41 percent collect personally identifiable information (PII), including sensitive details like credit card numbers, passwords, and location data.
Extensions like Grammarly, which make writing almost anything effortless, or Vetted, which act as online shopping assistants, are quickly becoming essentials of everyday life. But because many users trust Google's ecosystem, they also assume that third-party extensions vetted through the Chrome Web Store are equally safe.
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