Suppliers, distributors and customers alike are faced with rising supply chain costs, partly as a result of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea of smart contracts, using blockchain and the IoT to automate contract execution, has been around for a while. But is now the time for them to start coming into their own, and how can they benefit enterprises?

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Despite recently taking away the option to open internal links in other browsers, and stepping up its campaign to convince would-be Chrome users to stay with Edge, it seems Microsoft has made a surprise change in Windows 11 that will make it easier for users to set a different browser as the default.

At least, that is, if a change that crops up in the latest Insider build makes it into a future stable release.

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With so many competing providers advertising themselves as the best, it's essential to know how to find a cloud hosting partner who effectively serves you and your clients' needs. It can be enough of a headache managing your cloud services, let alone managing those of your customers, especially if you're in the UK.

Many businesses look for the infrastructure and the resources to avoid going over budget, but the options can be limited, leaving many companies struggling to host alone.

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Software development companies are among the most at risk from breaches, according to new research from cybersecurity firm Foxtech.

The research used cyber risk scores, calculated using publicly available information and an analysis of a wide range of cyber security indicators, as an indicator of how high or low the risk of a potential cybersecurity breach is for a company.

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Threats like phishing and spam are often linked to specific domains, understanding how to spot these can help to strengthen threat intelligence.

Domain name and DNS-based predictive threat intelligence company DomainTools has used its database of more than 380 million currently-registered domains to identify which are likely to constitute threats.

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While female employees have gained hard-fought ground in the workplace, in the tech sector a large gap still exists when it comes to opportunities for professional development and career advancement according to a new report.

The study from digital learning company Skillsoft identifies a misalignment between the workplace benefits women in tech are seeking and those currently being provided.

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The world’s most customizable browser just got a major update. Vivaldi 5.0 arrives on desktop and Android with a host of new features.

Desktop users get a brand-new Themes editor, with the ability to share custom themes with others easily, while two-level tab stacks have been added to the Android build.

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It is certainly not unknown for Microsoft to use Windows and other software it produces to promote its own products. In many ways, the likes of Windows 11 serve as an ad platform for the company. Now the Windows-maker has upped its efforts to discourage people from using browsers made by other companies.

If you use Microsoft Edge to download Chrome, you are now likely to see a message extoling the benefits of sticking with Edge. One prompt which is sure to raise a few eyebrows advises would-be Chrome users that Edge runs on the same technology (that is, the Chromium engine) "with the added trust of Microsoft".

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Having stepped down as CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey is not done with change. His other company Square has just announced that it is changing its name to Block -- something it says "differentiates the Square brand, which was built for the Seller business, from the corporate entity".

With the rebranding there will be no organizational changes; Square, Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 will continue to maintain their respective brands. While a press release expresses some of the thinking behind the change in name, many believe it is also a reference to blockchain, and could signal a move into cryptocurrencies.

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Meta recently announced that the protection, privacy and security offered by end-to-end encryption will not be coming to Facebook Messenger or Instagram until some time in 2023. Until then, anyone looking to send secure messages through Meta's platform will have to turn to WhatsApp.

What was not made particularly clear at the time of the announcement, however, is just why there is such a delay. Now Meta has opened up and revealed some of the thinking behind holding back on the roll-out of end-to-end encryption across all of its messaging services.

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Having taken a week off last week for Thanksgiving, the Windows 11 development team today rolls out a fresh new build to Insiders in the Dev Channel.

The key new addition in Build 22509 is a set of improvements designed to make it easier to browse the web in Microsoft Edge using Narrator, but that's not all. The clock and date will now show on secondary monitors, and there are also new layout options for Start, as well as Settings changes.

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Do you like to read? Me neither. I mean, sometimes it can be enjoyable, but let's be honest -- television is usually much better. Unless a book is truly exceptional, I'd rather watch a movie or TV show instead. And if I do have to read a book, it will not be a physical paper variant -- those are archaic. Digital reading is where it's at, folks. For book consumption, eReaders with e-ink displays are simply wonderful and put traditional tablets, such as Apple iPad, to shame in this regard.

When it comes to buying an eReader, you really can't go wrong with Amazon's e-ink Kindle devices. They are well-made and have access to an unrivaled number of books. Unfortunately, many people do not like or trust Amazon due to poor worker conditions and the negative impact the retailer has on small businesses. If you want a modern eReader that isn't made by Amazon, today, Barnes and Noble unveils its latest product. Called "NOOK GlowLight 4," it has a 6-inch e-ink screen and USB-C charging.

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Who could forget the infamous NotPetya attack of 2017? Within hours, malware crippled companies around the globe -- most notably shipping giant Maersk. Because while Maersk had backups of many of its mission-critical servers, no one at the company could locate a single backup of a domain controller. In other words, a backup of their Active Directory (AD) was all but lost -- leaving the company at a complete standstill. In total, the attack cost the shipping giant a whopping $300 million.

In today’s business world, as successful cyberattacks remain the norm, it’s imperative that organizations have backups in place for when a cyber incident inevitably occurs. And the best place to start mapping out your disaster recovery strategy is around your AD: the operations backbone of your organization.

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The pandemic unquestionably accelerated the move to working from home, and the likes of Zoom and Microsoft stepped up to provide the tools needed for this shift.

Today, Microsoft announces the general availability of Teams Essentials, a standalone, lower-priced version of Teams designed specifically for small businesses.

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The last couple of years have seen businesses undergo a major shift to remote and hybrid working, largely driven by the pandemic. But this same period has also seen record numbers of data breaches.

Often these attacks begin with phishing to get hold of credentials which can then put both in-house and cloud systems at risk.

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