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High-profile and highly disruptive ransomware attacks have recently hit Colonial Pipeline, Ireland’s HSE health service and global food producer JBS. In the case of Colonial Pipeline, the organisation paid a ransom of over $4 million in Bitcoin for the key required to restore the affected IT network. A ransomware attack can, therefore, be highly damaging when it comes to providing services, it can damage the reputation of the organisation and it can cost a lot of money, both in terms of paying the ransom – if the victim chooses to pay, despite warnings it just funds and encourages criminality – and for restoring and securing the network after an incident....

In a note posted on its website, the 157-year-old liberal arts college in rural Illinois said it had survived multiple recessions, a major campus fire in 1912, the Spanish flu of 1918, the Great Depression, World War II, and the 2008 global financial crisis. But then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which harmed its already strained finances through a drop in enrollments and large tech investments required to support remote learning....

In a blog post, head of Food for Good Emily Ma wrote that the new Find Food Support site was created because Google saw a record number of searches for “food bank near me,” “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” “food stamps application” and “school lunch pick up.” Users can put their zip code into a map through the site and find the nearest food bank, food pantry or school lunch program pickup site....

Whether you’re a digital nomad with limited space in your bags or working from home with limited space on your desk, one thing is certain; there is no longer any need to put up with the annoying clutter of charging cables. Now you can enjoy the convenience of wirelessly charging three devices simultaneously with the Charge & Fold 3-in-1 Docking Station. You’ll never again have to worry about needing multiple cables and chargers; simply pop your earbuds, phone, and smartwatch onto their designated spots....

The blend of hybrid and fully remote knowledge workers will be more pronounced in the US than the rest of the world, which on average should see 39% of knowledge workers in hybrid work and 9% fully remote. Gartner said IT workers are more inclined to quit their jobs than employees in other functions as they look for greater flexibility, improved work-life balance, and better career opportunities. CIOs can maximize retention and attraction of talent by resetting their employee value proposition with a “more human” deal....

Now, CentOS 7, unlike CentOS 8, which got an abrupt end of life in December 2021, will still be supported until June 30, 2024. But that’s soon enough for big companies like Facebook, Disney, GoDaddy, RackSpace, Toyota, and Verizon, which had depended on CentOS, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone, to look at alternatives. And Rocky Linux is 100% compatible with RHEL. This news comes after Google announced a Rocky Linux customer support partnership with CIQ....

The report sent Roku shares down 10% in late trading. During a conference call wtih reporters following the results, CFO Steve Louden said sales in the quarter had been impacted by the decline in television sales, given that Roku’s is affected by the number of TVs tuning into Roku’s service. TV sales in the U.S. dipped 31% in Q3, noted Louden. U.S. TV sales, he said, were below pre-covid levels in 2019....

With it comes three models with across-the-board improvements, like new camera sensors for day and low-light photography, larger batteries, and even a tailor-made Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ‘for Galaxy’ mobile platform. Also: Everything Samsung just announced at Unpacked 2023 And while rumors leading up to Unpacked suggested a potential price bump with the new S23 models, Samsung is sticking to its $799, $999, and $1,199 price tiers, just like last year’s S22 series....

The issue stems from the Game Optimising Service (GOS) app on the phones, which automatically limits the performance of devices when it detects a gaming app is in operation. The South Korean tech giant said it plans to add an option in its game launcher app to allow users to prioritise performance through the software update. More details on how this option will work are expected to be announced later....

Curved gaming monitors are a great way to get a more immersive gaming experience. The 32:9 ultra-wide ratio curves your field view, giving you the feeling of VR without actually being in VR. You will also get a special Eye Comfort mode to help reduce blue light emissions and ease your eyes from eye strain. You can also adjust it with Optimized Viewing and can even mount it with VESA-compatible arms....

Google Messages, with Google’s broad support of RCS messaging, became the default messaging app on the Galaxy S21 last year in Europe and other markets, but not in the US. Now Samsung has made Google Messages the default messaging app in the US. Google has been pushing RCS, or Rich Communication Services, to be treated as a standard on all phones, including Apple’s iPhone. RCS is the would-be modern standard for SMS that allows WhatsApp-like functionality for the standard messaging experience on Android....

The Samsung MX-ST90B Sound Tower would suit any living room or audiophile’s bedroom. The device has the functionality of a typical soundbar, but Samsung has opted for a vertical design with a triangular structure for improved, bi-directional sound. The floor-standing speaker offers users 1700 watts of high-powered audio with Bluetooth connectivity and compatibility with Android and iOS devices. You can wheel the speaker around and make use of a party mode containing LED lighting effects, or link up more than one of the speaker systems for parties....

The Fimi X8SE is a durable drone designed to handle the toughest of conditions, including rain, snow, and even high winds (though we urge caution when taking it out in windy conditions). It can transmit video up to 6.1 miles away on the built-in Sony 48MP camera. Plus, it comes with HDR support and 3x digital zoom. With a f/1.6 aperture, the Fimi drone can shoot beautiful night videos and images....

Whatever the audio quality, earbuds need to be comfortable to wear. I found the earlier model a bit large and uncomfortable in my ears. I can’t have been the only one, as this time around the buds are a fair bit smaller and a little lighter – 5.8g here versus 6g for the previous model. They still feel a little bit chunky in my ears, but less so, and I wasn’t troubled by the discomfort I felt after an hour or so of wear this time around....

First, there’s a need to understand what real time is – definitions and perceptions of what constitutes real time have been all over the map. “The notion of what real time means varies depending on who you’re talking to and the specific domain,” says Joseph George, VP of product management with BMC Software. “While real time in mission-critical environments requires data to be processed within milliseconds or even microseconds, real time in the context of digital transformation and meeting customer expectations to deliver online services and information may have different requirements....

The industrial sector is undergoing a rapid shift from legacy, separate, on-the-floor systems to connected platforms that utilize IoT for maintenance, monitoring, and to collect data suitable for operations and future business decisions, in what is known as IIoT or Smart Factory (Industry) 4.0. However, when you create networks and bring devices online, you run the risk of allowing threat actors access unless adequate protection is in place. As IoT continues to accelerate and operational technology (OT) becomes smarter, companies need to make sure they manage and secure endpoints and industrial networks to mitigate the risk of damage, data theft, and disruption caused by external entities....

Some 82% of businesses said metaverse would have major or moderate impact on their business over the next year, while 84% believed this impact would be felt in three years, according to a study released by financial services technology company, FIS. It polled 160 executives in Singapore from both the financial services sector, including banks and insurers, and non-financial services industries, including retail, travel, and technology providers. The study was part of a global report that surveyed 2,000 executives across nine countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, and the UK....

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it would publish the framework for public consultation within the next three months, adding that it would encompass responsibilities of other key parties in the ecosystem. The industry regulator said in a statement Friday that the framework would operate on the basis that all parties had responsibilities to be vigilant and take precautions against scams. Financial institutions must safeguard their customers, such as through implementing “robust controls” to protect customer accounts and “effective measures” to detect and respond to suspicious transactions....

With that in mind, Slack on Wednesday unveiled a series of new tools designed to put an end to nonstop meetings and videoconferences. “Endless nine-to-five meetings are inefficient and, frankly, exhausting,” Slack Chief Product Officer Tamar Yehoshua said in a virtual presentation this week. “We need a digital-first approach to collaboration… with Slack as your virtual headquarters.” The new features include Slack’s own new video tools, a new “Huddles” tool for more ad hoc collaboration and a new form of workplace directory called Slack Atlas....

The researchers said the backdoor, which is compiled in 64-bit PE file format, stood out and is hard to detect because it operations filelessly and socketlessly on compromised Windows servers. “One of the command and control (C2) infrastructures that the threat actor used for malware distribution for the TiltedTemple campaign hosted SockDetour along with other miscellaneous tools such as a memory dumping tool and several webshells. We are tracking SockDetour as one campaign within TiltedTemple, but cannot yet say definitively whether the activities stem from a single or multiple threat actors,” the researchers explained....