Get 'Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies, 6th Edition' (worth $25) for FREE
There's a Swiss Army knife in your digital toolbox that can multiply your productivity and make you the smartest guy or gal in almost any room. It's called Microsoft Excel.
If you're like most people, you've barely scratched the surface of what this powerful tool's hundreds of built-in functions can do. But with a little help from Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies, you'll soon be organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data like a pro.
Almost three-quarters of US companies have a deepfake response plan
Given the level of worry around the influence of deepfakes -- as we reported yesterday -- it's perhaps not surprising to learn that companies are developing their own deepfake response plans.
A new survey of over 2,600 global IT and cybersecurity professionals, from software recommendation engine GetApp, finds 73 percent of US respondents report that their organization has developed a deepfake response plan.
Micron 9550 NVMe SSD is world’s fastest for data centers
Micron has introduced the 9550 NVMe SSD, heralded as the fastest SSD for data centers, particularly optimized for AI workloads. This product integrates Micron's proprietary technologies including its controller, NAND, DRAM, and firmware into a cohesive solution designed for high performance, power efficiency, and enhanced security in data center operations.
The Micron 9550 SSD boasts sequential read speeds of 14.0GB/s and write speeds of 10.0GB/s, claiming up to 67 percent better performance compared to similar SSDs on the market. It also excels in random read and write speeds, which are essential for demanding AI applications such as large language models and graph neural networks. The SSD notably improves workload completion times by up to 33 percent in specific AI training tasks and increases throughput for NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage by up to 34 percent.
Cyber threats we can expect at the Paris Olympics
Nation state-sponsored threat actors, organized cybercriminal cartels and hacktivists are expected to be active during the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and Paralympics, which will be hosted against a fractured geopolitical landscape, including Russia's war in Ukraine and Israel's conflict with Hamas. There will likely be three types:
Nation-state sabotage: Russian nation state-level cyber units will likely attempt to sabotage the 2024 Games, something that we have already observed in previous years during both the 2018 Winter Olympics as well as the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics in which Russia’s GRU military intelligence service engaged in cyber reconnaissance, targeting officials and organizations involved in the events. With Russia being suspended from participation as a sanction from the International Olympic Committee for its invasion of Ukraine, operations launched by Moscow-aligned cyber forces, such as Sandworm (a group that attacked previous events with the “Olympic Destroyer” malware), will likely surge in retaliation. Motivation for these efforts would likely include retaliation, damaging the reputation of the Paris Olympics to promote its own 2024 World Friendship Games in September, and to counter French President Emmanuel Macron’s pro-Ukraine position.
Six steps to protecting data in financial services companies
There is no shortage of news headlines about companies falling victim to cyber breaches and the astounding costs associated with them. According to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, a 15 percent increase since 2020. For the financial services industry, the cost is even higher at $5.9 million per breach; that is 28 percent above the global average.
In addition to the higher price tag associated with a cyber breach, companies within the financial industry must also adhere to evolving compliance regulations that dictate how they respond to an attack and where they must invest to reduce the total risk.
Migrating to the cloud: The key to business scalability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness
Whenever a new technology hits the business mainstream, key decision makers try to figure out how it can be incorporated into their existing workflows. This is driven by the need to stay on the cutting edge and not lose out to competitors, as well as the goal of constantly improving efficiency and cutting costs. The most obvious current example of this is AI, which is the hot new piece of technology that businesses are trying to utilize. The other main technology that exemplifies this is cloud computing.
There are many reasons organizations are looking to the cloud as a business enabler, with scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness being only a portion of the long list. Any business that is not currently considering incorporating some aspect of cloud technology into their existing systems will fall behind compared to the rest of the industry, due to the many ways in which it can benefit workflows and help drive revenue.
Windows 10 KB5040525 update patches a slew of WDAC problems, fixes Windows Backup, and addresses many more issues
It is the time of the month when Microsoft releases preview versions of updates for Windows, and with the KB5040525 update the company has a large number of fixes that will be welcomed by Windows 10 users.
Among the biggest improvements are fixes for various issues with Windows Defender Application Control. As well as addressing a troublesome memory leak, Microsoft has also taken steps to prevent stop errors caused by certain policies. Elsewhere there are WPA3 fixes, a problem with Windows Backup has been patched, and a DHCP Option 235 gremlin has been thwacked.
Facing the security challenge of quantum computing [Q&A]
Now that we're beginning to overcome the obstacles to creating a commercially viable quantum computer it's important to consider the security threat that these vastly more powerful machines will pose.
Not least of these is the threat to encryption which puts everyone's online security at risk. We spoke to Nils Gerhardt, chief technology officer and head of product for Utimaco, to explore what a post-quantum future may look like.
MSI announces new Cubi NUC mini PC
MSI has launched the brand-new Cubi NUC series mini PC. The MSI Cubi NUC Series, which includes the Cubi NUC 1M, Cubi NUC 1MG, and Cubi NUC 13MQG, is recognized for its sleek design that integrates into any modern workspace or home environment. It has been crafted with attention to detail, and its compact form factor is complemented by environmentally friendly materials, such as PCR plastics and recycled molded pulp for packaging, aligning with MSI's sustainability efforts.
The Cubi NUC 1M features Windows 11 Home, with MSI recommending Windows 11 Pro for business. It is powered by Intel Core processors, including the i7-150U, i5-120U, and i3-100U. The device uses the Intel SoC chipset and supports up to 64GB of DDR5 memory with two SO-DIMM slots. Graphics are handled by Intel Graphics, and security features include support for dTPM 2.0. The sound system is managed by Realtek ALC256.
Accenture launches AI Refinery framework with NVIDIA AI Foundry for custom Llama 3.1 models
Accenture has unveiled its Accenture AI Refinery framework, built on NVIDIA AI Foundry, to help clients develop custom LLM models using the newly introduced Llama 3.1 collection. This framework, part of Accenture’s foundation model services, is designed to enhance the use of generative AI by allowing businesses to create LLMs tailored to their specific domains and business processes.
The AI Refinery framework includes four main components: domain model customization and training, the Switchboard platform for model selection, an enterprise cognitive brain for indexing corporate knowledge, and Agentic architecture for autonomous AI actions.
ShowMeCables launches new right-angle Ethernet cables
ShowMeCables has unveiled a new series of Cat 6a right-angle Ethernet cables. These innovative cables feature 90-degree angled connectors designed to ease installation in spaces with dense cabling. The line offers low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) rated jackets for environments where PVC is banned, and CMX jackets for standard communication settings.
These Cat 6a cables are equipped to handle 10-gigabit speeds, making them suitable for a variety of indoor uses such as data centers, offices, industrial sites, home networks, and transportation systems.
Cloud and AI expansion lead to data protection challenges
Enterprise IT leaders are grappling with unprecedented challenges in data protection and governance, driven by the rapid adoption of cloud applications and generative AI, according to a new report.
The study from backup and recovery platform Keepit finds that although 70 percent of respondents report that their financial applications are covered by data protection strategies, a significant portion of other key systems and custom applications remain vulnerable.
72 percent of Americans worry about deepfakes influencing elections
New research from identity verification company Jumio finds growing concern among Americans about the political influence AI and deepfakes may have during upcoming elections and how they might influence trust in online media.
The study of over 8,000 adult consumers, split evenly across the UK, US, Singapore and Mexico, finds 72 percent of Americans are worried about the potential for AI and deepfakes to influence upcoming elections in their country.
Intel finally determines cause of processor instability issues and has a patch in the pipeline
Users of Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen Desktop Processors have been plagued with instability problems for some 18 months or more. The issue has been causing crashes and blue screens and the chipmaker has now finally announced that it knows what is causing the problem.
Having determined that "elevated operating voltage stemming from a microcode algorithm" is causing incorrect voltage requests to CPUs, Install says it is ready to issue a micropatch. Well, almost ready.
Kodi alternative Stremio OS is now available for Raspberry Pi 4 and 5
Stremio OS is now available for Raspberry Pi 4 and 5. This lightweight operating system is designed to run the Stremio media center application, which aggregates streaming content from various services into a user-friendly interface.
Unlike Kodi, none of Stremio's addons are installed on your computer so there's no danger of introducing rogue code (Stremio itself is open source). It will recommend content that you might be interested in and tell you if it’s free and where you can find it. It can play HTTP links, as well as magnet links and torrent files (drag and drop).
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.