A defective software update has left industries across the world reeling with everything from flights to hospitals impacted.

News of major outages started being reported yesterday but this morning, there has been a flood of stories from across the globe.

Cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, has put up its hand and admitted that a “defect” in one of its software updates has knocked out Windows operating systems.

Planes, Trains and Everything Else

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that some airlines in Central US opted to ground flights after reporting issues with the Microsoft cloud service system, Azure. Microsoft responded on X that it was “…working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion.”

Hours later, FlightGlobal reported that United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines had all stopped departures. Aviation analytics company, Cirium, provided figures to BBC News revealing that 512 flights had been grounded in the US; 92 in Germany and 56 in India though Italy, Holland, Australia and Canada were also reporting issues. Check-ins were impacted in Sydney, Paris, Berlin and across Spain, reported NBC News.

Critical Services Impacted

For NBC News, the impact was felt at home. Its British partner, Sky News, went offline as the issues quickly spread beyond the world of aviation. “Sky News have not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologize for the interruption. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services,” Sky News Executive Chairman David Rhodes said on X.

Critical services were also impacted. Israel reported disruption in some of its hospitals. Posting on Facebook, the Alaska State Troopers warned the public that 911 and non-emergency phone numbers across the whole state were not working “due to a nationwide technology-related outage.”

In the UK, the National Health Service released a message on X saying that it had been affected as had some pharmacies. Train operators in the country pointed to the outage as some departures were cancelled. The impact were also felt at the London Stock Exchange where its regulatory news service fell silent. Supermarkets started reporting problems at cashiers while some businesses shared they were having issues accessing Teams video conferencing.

Cyberattack Ruled Out

While the chaos continued, the chief executive of CrowdStrike was keen to allay fears that this was an attack. George Kurtz said in a statement that his company was “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” He added: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft continually updated customers, admitting, even when “the underlying cause” had been fixed, that “residual impact is continuing to affect some Microsoft 365 apps and services”.

James Bore is a UK-based Chartered Security Professional, author and consultant focusing on security and technology. He echoes Microsoft, warning that this outage is not going to be swiftly solved.  He told Tech.co “Because of the manual nature of the fix, problems are going to persist likely for days. Even then I expect there will be systems which are only used maybe once a month that people won’t even notice have failed until payroll doesn’t happen.” He advises: “Anyone impacted by this should be doing a full audit of all their systems, including the ones everyone’s forgotten about.”

Could IT Outage Happen Again?

As normality slowly returns; and a very bashful CrowdStrike CEO gives what will be the first of many broadcasted apologies, CrowdStrike has taken a financial hit for the outage. BBC News reports that it “…has lost a fifth of its value in pre-market trading in the US – down 21% in unofficial trading.” This could equate to a loss of $16 billion in its overnight valuation.

There will be financial implications for many other businesses around the world as well as some big questions to grapple with. As Bore says, this outage should be a lesson to businesses that they must have continuity plans in place so that they can “…keep the business functioning at a basic level without technology”. He points to doctors resorting to writing paper prescriptions in the UK as an example.

He is blunt in his appraisal of the outage. “Other businesses have relied too much on technology and so don’t have these continuity processes, and they’ll be hardest hit”, he says. For emergency services, there shouldn’t be “one single point of failure”, he explains and this is got round by using technological diversity. After all, he states: “…a simple software bug in a third party security tool should not be able to take down emergency services lines.”

DeepL has released its latest LLM translator with the bold claim that it outperforms its competitors for translation quality.

The German Unicorn proudly states that “blind tests show that language experts routinely favor DeepL’s translations”. It was preferred 1.3x more often than Google Translate; 1.7x more often than ChatGPT-4 and an embarrassing 2.3x more often than Microsoft’s tool.

DeepL also claims that its latest offering will deliver a far better user experience than rivals as its output needs less edits. Tests carried out by professional translators revealed that Google needs twice as many and ChatGPT-4 needs three times the number of edits “to achieve the same quality”.

Specialized Training Models

DeepL emphasizes that it uses proprietary data to train its LLMs as opposed to mining from the internet. After tweaking using these specialized LLMs and “the expertise of thousands of hand-picked language specialists”, this model is said to deliver more human-like translations. This also means a lower chance of hallucinations and misinformation than both its predecessor and rivals.

As a result, promises DeepL, it will save your enterprise money and time. It’s backing these claims with a 2024 report from global market research company, Forrester. This says that the classic model reduced translation time by 90% and cut translation workloads by 50%, delivering a 345% return on investment. The company is claiming though that this new model delivers a significant step up from the classic offering, with a 1.7x improvement between English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese translations; and a 1.4x improvement between English and German.

The DeepL team also addressed any security concerns sharing that the new tool delivers ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance.

Access for Pro Users Only for Now

Access to the shiny new model is currently restricted to DeepL’s Pro users and they can currently translate from Japanese, German, and Simplified Chinese to and from English. It promises that there are more languages to come though will be scrambling to compete with Google and Microsoft on that score.

Despite this, DeepL is riding high since launching its Translate tool in 2017. It secured a $300 million investment in May and this kicked off what CEO and Founder, Jarek Kutylowski, said would be the company’s “…most transformative year to date”. He added: “This brings us closer to a future where all companies, wherever they are, can easily operate on a global scale with the help of our AI.” It also achieved a valuation of $2 billion.

As users start to experiment, there will no doubt be feedback especially on accuracy, which is where this smaller venture is outperforming the big guys.

Kaspersky is starting to shut down its business in the US but before it goes for good, it’s offering its customers free security software.

For the next six months, the cybersecurity company is promising current US customers access to free products as well as tips.

This is a one-time offer from the Russian software company as from September 29, it won’t be able to sell and distribute its products in the US. It has finally been blacklisted as a threat to US interests by the Biden administration after years of warnings. It had been banned for all Governmental use in 2017 – a move that Canada followed with in October 2023 – but this ban impacts consumers.

Winding Up US operations

Bleeping Computer reports that the offer was made to customers in an email thanking them for their “trust”. It arrived in inboxes just days before the company starts to wind down its US operations on July 20. This will include laying off staff.

Kaspersky’s fate was sealed when its name appeared on the US’s Government’s Entity List. Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of Commerce, explained: “Russia has shown time and again they have the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive US information, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to safeguard US national security and the American people.” Kaspersky responded that the judgement made “…business opportunities in the country [US] …no longer viable.”

For current customers, this means they won’t get automatic updates and antivirus definitions for their software. Instead they might have throw caution to the wind and resort to downloading directly from the company’s website. This is only if Kaspersky enables this option. There are plenty of antivirus alternatives though and we’ve rounded up some of the best on the market for you.

Caution Encouraged in Europe Too

It’s not just the US where Kaspersky is feeling the heat. The German Government started advising its citizens against using Kaspersky’s antivirus software in March 2022. Its Office for Information Security (BSI) stated that “a Russian IT manufacturer can carry out offensive operations itself, be forced to attack target systems against its will, or be spied on without its knowledge as a victim of a cyber operation or be misused as a tool for attacks against its own customers.”

EU lawmakers are pushing for a ban in use across the bloc for governmental uses, with Kaspersky targeted alongside Chinese social media giant TikTok; and telecommunications company, Huawei. All three are being accused of allowing “…foreign governments [to meddle] in the Continent’s politics through disinformation, cyberattacks, and the disruption of critical infrastructure”, said Politico. One Latvian lawmaker told the website that these measures were absolutely necessary because “democracy is under attack”.

Kaspersky continues to deny any kind of relationship with the Russian government. Responding to the German government’s bid to ban it in a statement to Motherboard, Kaspersky said: “We believe this decision is not based on a technical assessment of Kaspersky products – that we continuously advocated for with the BSI and across Europe – but instead is being made on political grounds.”

The beleaguered software company is now waiting to see if any countries follow the US’s lead and no doubt looking for new markets in which to sell its wares.

Employees at Dell are accusing management of ignoring their discontent after an annual survey revealed deep dissatisfaction across the company.

The “Tell Dell” questionnaire has been circulated for eight years now but this year, it was a chance for employees to give their views on the computing giant’s increasingly brutal return to office (RTO) policy. Their response was a firm thumbs down.

The backlash follows months of Dell attempting to coax employees back to the office, trying everything from tracking workers to threatening to withhold promotions.

Widespread Anger at Dell’s RTO Policy

The results of the annual survey were shared with Business Insider. Around 98,000 employees are reported to have taken part and a key metric was the employee net promoter score (eNPS). This is how employees would rate Dell as a place to work if asked for a recommendation.

The score is created by taking the percentage of “detractors” away from the percentage of “promoters”. This year, it dropped double digits from 62 to 48. A breakdown revealed that the global marketing team had a 68% drop and there were even teams whose eNPS now sit at a chilling zero.

Worst still is the accusation that the survey results are being glossed over. “It’s as if every leader was given the OK to ignore it,” one Dell employee told Business Insider. This is in stark contrast to previous years in which concerns were reported company-wide and management responded with action plans. In a statement to the news site, a Dell spokesperson played down the results, declaring that the eNPS is “just one question in a robust survey that gives us a current snapshot of employee sentiment.”

Dell Culture Compromised

Rebellion has been brewing since the computing giant reversed its remote working policy just over a year ago. An internal memo mandated that all employees living within an hour of a Dell hub had to be at their desk three days a week. This is despite CEO Michael Dell stating on LinkedIn that companies with ‘forced hours in an office’ were ‘doing it wrong’.

The move immediately caused anger among employees and recriminations flew that this was a ‘soft layoff’ measure – a pill hard to swallow after the widespread lay-offs the company made in February last year. This view was given weight as another leaked internal memo – in February of this year – was shared with The Register. It targeted hybrid workers for a compulsory three day return – irrespective of their distance from an office – and made it clear that non-compliance would be “career-limiting”.

RTO Fosters a Surveillance Society

As if this wasn’t enough, a company whistle-blower revealed to The Register in May that Dell had started using a color-coding system to track employee attendance. For persistent offenders, this could mean a red flag by their name.

But, in a trend echoed across the tech world, employees are ignoring the threats and unabashedly continue to work from home. Business Insider reported last month on data that revealed nearly half of Dell’s full-time US workforce has rejected the RTO mandate.

Dell’s increasingly draconian response is mirrored across all sectors. Elon Musk was one of the first to demand his employees at both X and Tesla get back to their desks. Apple waivered after it faced pushback; but CEO Tim Cook ultimately doubled down on the RTO policy, insisting it was necessary for collaboration.

Companies are now baring their teeth to enforce their mandates. Amazon is the latest company to use surveillance in a bid to outfox employees who “coffee badge” or come to the office to show their face and grab a coffee before exiting. Employees continue to fight back either by ignoring the consequences or, in the case of SAP, openly stating that they feel “betrayed” by their employer. Flexibility remains a key want, says PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024, which was published last month. Will those employers who ignore this be faced with mass disobedience or, worse, mass quitting?

Multinational tech behemoth Amazon continues to push its three day a week, return-to-office mandate. And its latest attempt involves monitoring its hybrid workers’ in-office hours in an attempt to cut down on the practice of coffee badging.

For the uninitiated, coffee badging is when hybrid employees swipe into work just long enough to meet their company’s RTO requirements – anything between 2 to 6 hours a day in Amazon’s case – and quickly leave to spend the bulk of their workday remotely.

The post-pandemic landscape has seen a number of corporations desperate for its workforce to get back in the office, and Amazon has been keen to lead the charge for its employees.

Amazon Targets “Coffee Badging” in Ongoing RTO Push

Last year saw Amazon inform its corporate employees that they’d need to return to the office three days out of the week – although they declined to set any minimum hours. That left a lot of room for interpretation, and certain employees began quickly dropping in to grab a coffee, show their face, and so satisfy that requirement.

As Business Insider reports, Amazon has now begun monitoring the amount of time employees spend in the office in a move to “crack down on people who are trying to skirt the company’s return-to-office policy.”

The amount of time required to meet that RTO requirement, however, has differed across departments. For example, the retail and cloud-computing teams are required to clock-in for a minimum of two hours, while others were told to be on site for six hours – almost an entire workday.

The War Between WFH and RTO

With remote working proven to be a productive – and for many, very desirable – option, a significant proportion of employees don’t want to be shuttered back into the corporate environment.

Since 2023, Amazon has tried various methods to coerce their employees back on site. This approach has included giving managers the right to terminate employees who refused to return and making full-time employees working from home ineligible for promotion.

As a result, Amazon has faced resistance following its stipulation last year that employees commit to three days on site. Since then, it’s been reported that 30,000 people have signed an internal petition to oppose the move.

Yet not everyone is down on Amazon’s mandate. Company spokesperson Margaret Callahan reports that asking employees back to work has greatly benefited the work culture, customers, and the company.

“The vast majority of employees are in the office more frequently, there’s more energy, connection, and collaboration, and we’re hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices.” – Margaret Callahan, spokesperson for Amazon

Why the Resistance to RTO?

Amazon isn’t the only company in an ongoing power struggle over its employees’ working habits. Only last month, we reported on a leaked memo from Dell, who, like Amazon, informed their staff that they’d forgo career advancement if they didn’t haul ass back to the office.

Yet the threat of being held back by their employer, or losing their jobs even, didn’t seem a sufficient deterrent. Almost 50% of Dell staff chose to stay working remotely, according to internal data on the entire full-time workforce that Business Insider obtained. Meanwhile, a recent study suggested that two-fifths of European jobseekers would forgo an attractive offer if it didn’t come with an element of remote or hybrid working.

According to a survey by eLearning company Skillshub, almost half said they’d consider quitting their jobs if they had to return to the office. Why the pushback? 19.7% of respondents concurred that the work environment caused anxiety and stress. Another 19.5% believed it negatively impacted their diet, while 17.4% reported that it was detrimental to their work-life balance.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. There were a greater number of people who thought the office milieu could positively improve well-being — 31.1% of those surveyed. Given that everyone thrives under different conditions, surely an individual approach to working patterns provides the optimal way to keep employee morale and productivity high?

Android users can breathe a sigh of relief: Anthropic have just launched the Claude app for Android devices, just two months after premiering its  AI app for iOS. Finally, it’s no longer Apple users getting to have all the fun.

The company’s recent announcement will find Anthropic’s flagship chatbot in the hands of a much wider audience. Claude may be behind the curve of OpenAI’s ChatGPT – it released its app to Android users a year ago now – but it’s proving to be one of its fiercest competitors.

Functioning just like its iOS offering, the Claude app on Android features a host of impressive features which we’ll go into more detail about below. It’s also free and easy to download for all Android users.

What Features Does the Claude App Offer?

Android users can now utilize the powerful functionality of Claude 3.5 Sonnet beyond the constraints of a web browser. That means having complex requests carried out following a variety of user prompts – including text, numerical data, video data inputs – while on the go and across a range of devices.

Some of the Claude app’s impressive features include:

• Multi-platform support: log in to your account from multiple platforms and devices, across web browsers, iOS and Android apps. That offers the hugely beneficial advantage of being to pick up with Claude wherever you left off.

• Vision capabilities: upload new images or upload files for real-world analysis. Claude can identify objects and people in the image and interpret the context of the image itself.
• Multilingual processing: Real-time language translation to help communicate or translate aspects of the world around you.
• Advanced reasoning: Claude can provide thoughtful outputs to complex problems: analyzing numerical data, breaking down business contracts, or conducting market research.

More generally, Claude can withstand what you might call some pretty substantial “data dumps”. For instance, the chatbot can process up to 200,000 words of text in a single request. That means Claude is invaluable when it comes to analyzing those doorstep-sized business reports.

Get Up and Running with Claude

The first step, naturally, is to download the app, and you’ll find it on the Google Play store. The app is completely free to all Claude users, although there are some limitations. Also, if you haven’t already got one, you’ll need to create an account to start using Claude.

Once you’re up and running, simply enter your prompts into the text box, or use the paperclip icon in the app’s bottom left hand corner to add multimodal content to your chat (text documents, image, speech, video, or a combination of these).

As we mentioned, the app is totally free…but that does come with some minor limitations, like a daily message quota. This will vary depending on demand but you’ll be notified when you reach your limit.

Finding those daily restrictions prohibitive? You might consider paying up for the Claude Pro plan. The advantages are that it boosts the amount of prompts you can use by a five times as many, while providing a number of extra features, too.

Data Privacy and Transparency

Anthropic remains sensitive to user’s data privacy concerns, especially those surrounding the ongoing explosion of AI software and its regulation.

The company states that it won’t access password protected pages. Neither does it bypass CAPTCHA controls. It also helps users keep their data out of the hands of bad actors, by refraining from using Anthropic’s services to process personal data.

Anthropic is also refreshingly up front about the technology’s limitations. It has noted that the software, like all AI chatbots, can ‘hallucinate‘, throwing up odd responses or flat out lies.

Nobody wants to admit it, but everybody has a favorite. WhatsApp knows this, and so one of the social messaging giant’s latest updates is “Favorites,” an easy way to organize the contact details of your top people and stay in touch.

The Meta-owned WhatsApp has over 2 billion monthly active users and counting, so rolling out improvements to the app can have a big impact on a lot of people.

In this guide, we detail the flurry of updates recently implemented by WhatsApp, including how to use the new “Favorites” feature.

Say Hello to Your “Favorites”

As detailed in the WhatsApp blog announcement yesterday, the new “Favorites” functionality allows you to “quickly find the people and groups that matter most.”

In a few easy steps, you can effortlessly contact and access your very own VIPs under the “Calls” and “Chats” headings:

• Open WhatsApp on your mobile device, tablet or desktop
• In the Chats screen, select the Favorites filter and select your contacts or groups.
• On the Calls screen, select Add favorite. You can then pick as many contacts as you’d like, all of whom will be grouped at the top of the page.
• Then select Done when you’re finished.
• Manage your favorites by going to Settings > Favorites > Add to Favorites, where you can reorder your besties at any time.

This latest update isn’t available to everyone just yet. So, if you haven’t got Favorites, don’t panic – you’ll find it rolled out to all users over the next couple of weeks.

Other New WhatsApp Features

WhatsApp is no stranger to refining its beloved instant messaging platform for the benefit of all: making it pain-free for people to stay connected and helping us all to capitalize on our social-media scrolling.

In June, the company announced a number of calling updates. This meant the platform was now able to support up to 32 people on video calls; initiating a speaker spotlight function to let attendees easily identify who’s talking – or who’s loudly rustling their packet of crisps – and screen sharing with audio, which allows a user’s audio and video stream to be shared to the group.

Coming just a month prior were additions to WhatsApp Communities, which are only gradually being implemented. To help make it simpler for groups with common interests to plan and discuss big events, a number of new features were added. Among them were organized replies and Events. The former reduces the stress for admins juggling heaps of replies – minimizing and grouping them together and – mercifully – muting the dreaded “ding, ding” of incoming notifications.

Meanwhile, April saw Meta AI filter down to all its product offerings – Instagram, Facebook, and of course WhatsApp. Rolled out in the US and coming to a dozen or so other countries soon, it promises invaluable AI assistance in-app. That means being able to search the best places for dinner while simultaneously keeping the conversation flowing in your sibling WhatsApp chat.

WhatsApp Business: New and Improved

It’s not just individuals benefiting from the raft of app updates being rolled out, many of them driven by advances in AI technology. Debuting in early 2018, WhatsApp Business has also witnessed a number of changes: for example, helping to integrate social media into a company’s sales and marketing departments more seamlessly.

There were a trio of improvements announced in April, though so far, they’ve had only a limited rollout. They included AI tools, Meta Verified, and the functionality to call larger business at the touch of a button: a boon for both businesses and its customers.

Meta Verified is a particular benefit: it displays a digital badge on a business’s social medial profile that reassures its customers that the company is registered with Meta, completely legit, and receiving “impersonation protection.”

Although Meta Verified on WhatsApp Business is currently only available currently in Brazil, Indian, Indonesia, and Columbia, it’s a big step in helping to reduce fraudulent activity and scams by separating genuine companies from inauthentic actors looking to trick individuals out of their cash or personal data.

iOS 18 is the forthcoming latest iteration of Apple’s operating system for iPhones, announced at the tech giant’s annual WWDC 2024 conference in June.

The new OS is currently available in beta for iPhone users to download, with an expected full release date in September as has become customary since iOS 6 back in 2012. iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 were also announced in Cupertino during WWDC.

While it’s sometimes difficult to think of the yearly iOS updates as more than merely iterative, Tim Cook and co did reveal an array of reasons to be excited about iOS 18’s release. Here we’re throwing a spotlight on the upgrades that make the update worthwhile.

iOS 18 Features: Additional Customization

Your iPhone’s home screen, lock screen and Control Center are all getting a facelift, with aesthetic and UX tweaks on their way with iOS 18.

You’ll immediately notice a change to the way that app icons and widgets appear, with a so-called “Dark look”. You can tint them with any color you choose, or let the OS do the work with color suggestions to work best with your wallpaper.

But outside of pure cosmetics, other tweaks to the screens you use most include:

• Rearrange apps and widgets: Greater user control to allow you easier access to the apps and tools you use most.
• Locked and hidden apps: For any apps that are sensitive or you don’t want others to access, you can set Face ID, Touch ID or passcode access to ensure that they can’t be seen by others.
• Redesigned Control Center: To include grouped controls and single swipe access.
• Controls gallery: Additional controls added, with all accessible from a single location and able to be grouped. You can also rearrange where they are placed, and enlarge the ones you use most.
• Controls on lock screen: Personalize your lock screen to add easy-to-access controls. The examples Apple gives are “taking a note when an idea strikes or quickly capturing the moment for your social media”.

iOS 18 Features: Messages

Competing against the likes of WhatsApp, Telegram and other messaging apps, Apple is improving its own iMessage app. And there are some notable changes.

One of the most surprising is the decision to support RCS and move away from SMS technology. This brings iPhones into line with Android devices, allowing better compatibility between the operating systems in terms of sending and receiving image/video files, getting delivered and read receipts, and seeing typing indicators when the other person is penning a response.

Outside of minor tweaks that let you “apply playful animated effects to any letter, word, phrase or emoji”, the newly granted ability to schedule messages is a genuinely welcome addition to iMessage’s functionality.

iOS 18 Features: Photos

Apple claims that the changes made to its Photos app for iOS 18 constitute its biggest redesign ever.

“The new Photos app keeps your library organized and makes it super‑easy to find photos fast. Its gorgeous yet familiar look puts everything you want at your fingertips, so you can spend less time searching and more time enjoying your memories.” – Apple

The official preview is a little light on the details, but says that the app will automatically organize your photos into ‘Collections’. Examples given are Recent Days, Trips, and People & Pets.

Not a game-changing improvement, but users of the iOS 18 Beta have also noted the introduction of a ‘Recovered’ folder in the Photos app. This new addition recovers photos and videos that have otherwise been lost due to software errors or database corruption.

iOS 18 Features: Passwords App

With the average person having around 100 passwords to remember, iOS 18 will introduce Apple’s own password manager app.

Named – you guessed it – Passwords, it seeks to store all of your passwords, verifications and security alerts in one go-to app, and prove more accessible than iCloud Keychain which has previously carried out a similar function.

Passwords will also be made available on iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia and visionOS 2, meaning you can sync your passwords across devices. If you also have Windows devices, this will extend to those thanks to the iCloud app for Windows.

To ensure all of this sensitive information is kept safe, all syncing is secured with end-to-end encryption.

iOS 18 Features: Best of the Rest

Other improvements coming with iOS 18 include changes to the following apps:

• Mail: More effective auto-categorization and grouping on your device will help keep your inbox more orderly.
• Safari: Reader has been improved to summarize more astutely at the top, and new Highlights feature “will automatically detect relevant information on a page and highlight it as you browse”.
• Maps: Budding hikers will benefit from topographic maps of popular trail networks, with thousands of routes accessible even when offline.
• Notes: Live audio transcriptions can be turned on when you record sound, while sums you type in will be solved in real time without the need to open Calculator.
• Wallet: Tap to Cash feature makes transferring money to other Apple users in person quick and easy.

To see Apple’s full explanation of what it has in store, head to its official iOS 18 Preview.

What About Apple Intelligence?

One of the biggest announcements at WWDC 2024 was the unveiling of Apple Intelligence.

This isn’t strictly a feature of iOS 18 (hence not being included above), but Apple has said that its new ‘personal intelligence system’ will be “deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia”.

In short, it is Apple’s inevitable use of generative intelligence and large language models to improve the functionality of apps on iPhones, iPads and Macs.

The company has long been developing its own proprietary AI chatbot called Ajax. But Apple also announced during the WWDC 2024 keynote that ChatGPT will be coming to a host of its apps, including the integration of the technology from competitor OpenAI within Siri.

How to Get iOS 18

While the vast majority of iPhone users will be content to wait for the fully tested and polished iOS 18 operating system to be launched (almost certainly) sometime in September, it is possible to download the – potentially glitchy – beta version immediately.

So if you have an iPhone XR or newer (i.e. any model released from 2018 onwards), you can do so by first signing up to Apple’s beta program.

Then go to Settings > General > Software Update and, if you can’t already see the OS 18 Beta listed, look for it in Beta Updates. Then you simply have to decide whether to update your iPhone immediately or overnight. Easy!

If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, you may soon be treated to the reappearance of photos that you feared were long since lost or destroyed.

As part if its iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system roll out – which is currently in Beta, but is expected to be released fully in September – Apple has added an additional folder to its Photos app named ‘Recovered’. Clicking on the folder will reveal photos you’ve previously taken that may have been the victim of, for example, faltering software or database corruption.

Thankfully, locating long lost images and videos on your device is straightforward and, in this article, we’ll take you through the steps required to do so.

Where Have my Photos Been Hiding?

Although it’s not a common or particularly pernicious issue, you may have occasionally noticed that photos you thought you had taken on your iPhone or iPad don’t appear where you would expect in your Photos app.

The issue can raise its ugly head when there’s in issue saving an image that you have taken. There’s a few reasons why this might be the case, including a lack of storage space, network connectivity issues, or a good old fashioned software error (yes, these can still happen, even on an iPhone!).

If you’ve been unlucky enough to fall victim to this scenario previously, such content has not been recoverable. However, all that is about to change.

How to Recover Lost Photos on iOS 18/ iPadOS 18

Apple has done all the hard work for you to recover these long-thought forgotten images and videos. If you have iOS 18 or iPadOS 18, you simply have to follow these instructions:

• Open the Photos app
• Tap on the ‘Albums’ icon at the bottom of the screen
• Scroll down to find the ‘Utilities’ menu
• Tap the ‘Recovered’ option (you may be asked to verify your identity with Face ID or Touch ID)
• Tap individual images and videos or hold to select multiple items
• Tap either ‘Restore to library’ or ‘Permanently delete’

Tapping ‘Restore to library’ will send your selected images back to the Photos app album you would normally expect them to have ended in.

If you upgrade to iOS 18, head to the Photos app and don’t see the Recovered option, there’s nothing to be concerned about – it simply means that you do not have any recoverable photos on your device.

What Else is New With iOS 18?

The introduction to iPhones and iPads of the new photo recovery functionality is probably better described as a bug fix than as a full-blown headline-grabbing new feature of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.

One of the most eye-catching announcements from the WWDC 2024 keynote speech was that OpenAI’s ChatGPT is coming to a host of Apple apps – most notably integrated into Siri – as part of the tech giant’s Apple Intelligence launch.

Other new tools and features included in the iOS 18 roll out include the ability to schedule messages in iMessage, more extensive home screen and Control Center customizability, and a new Math Notes add-on for the Calculator app that solves handwritten sums and equations.

iOS 18 Beta 2 has also debuted RCS (Rich Communication Services) on iPhones, signalling a move away from traditional SMS technology currently used by iMessage.

The era of AI has ushered in a lot of changes in the online world. From AI-generated content on every social media platform to AI chatbots in every piece of business software, the technology is evolving at break-neck speed.

With that evolution, though, comes some serious risks. In fact, scammers have been quick to adopt the technology in their nefarious deeds, leading to a whole new aspect of internet fraud to keep an eye out for.

In this guide, you’ll learn about some of the newest scams that are powered by AI, as well as a few tips for how to avoid them in the future.

AI Scams in 2024

Scams have been notably on the rise in 2024, which means understanding what kind of threats are out there will be vital to protecting yourself online. Here are some of the AI scams you should be watching out for in the modern era:

• Deepfakes
• Voice cloning
• Phishing scams
• Listing scams

Deepfake scams

Deepfake technology has been around for a while. It describes video content that shows a falsified image of another person. These digital manipulations have been used for a wide range of purposes, from scams to misinformation, but until recently, most of them were pretty easy to spot.

Unfortunately, that is very much not the case in the era of AI. Deepfake technology has been drastically improved by the evolution of the technology, leading to some troublingly accurate portrayals of individuals online.

Even worse, these likenesses are being used for a wide range of nefarious reasons. From celebrity lookalikes selling fake products to personal friends asking for money, the ways in which scammers are using deepfake technology are nothing if not expansive.

Examples of a deepfake scam

One of the most prominent deepfake scams that hit individuals this year was one involving arguably the biggest star in the world right now: Taylor Swift. The pop star was seen online to be giving away 3,000 Le Creuset kitchenware products in a video posted to social media. The problem? It wasn’t actually Taylor Swift and there were no Le Creuset kitchenware products to speak of.

Instead, the video was a deepfake scam featuring Taylor Swift, designed to steal personal details and financial information by requiring a small charge for shipping. Of course, the kitchenware never shows up, and your personal data is compromised forever.

Find out how to avoid Venmo scams here

Voice cloning scams

Much like deepfake videos, voice cloning is a popular and terribly unsettlingly means of scams people out of their money. The practice involves replicating the voice of someone you know, typically a loved one whose voice you would immediately recognize. Then, they can take advantage of your obvious trust by asking for money, personal information, or pretty much anything you would give that friend or family member.

The biggest risk of this scam is how accurate AI has made the voice replication process. Individuals that were victims of voice cloning scams noted afterwards that they “never doubted for one second” that they were talking to their loved one on the phone. And considering some surveys have found that very few can recognize the difference in voice cloning scams, this kind of thing should be on your radar at all times.

Example of a voice cloning scam

Obviously, celebrity sound-a-like scams wouldn’t play as well as deepfake videos, but voice cloning scams typically go a different route.

The most common is the family emergency angle, in which a family member, typically a son or daughter, will call someone and say they are in trouble. Either a car accident, arrest, or other crisis that would require some kind of financial solution. Once you’ve paid to have the non-existent emergency solved, you’ll have no resource for getting it back.

Phishing scams

Phishing scams have been a common problem on the internet for a long time. Hackers and scammers trying to get you to provide personal information or financial data with fake emails impersonating reputable businesses is a practice as old as time at this point.

Now, though, AI is making it a whole lot easier to get the job done. In most cases, these phishing emails and text messages are littered with spelling errors and other key indicators. However, these phishing scams are getting harder and harder to spot, thanks to AI providing a bit more power to generate more legitimate-seeming content.

Even worse, generative AI platforms are making it easier to create more and more phishing emails. Sure, many of these chatbots have safeguards to prevent that kind of things, but we’ve found that a few simple commands create a loophole that allows you to generate phishing content easily and effectively.

Example of a phishing scam

One of the most common phishing scams in circulation right now is a text message that says your package from UPS has been delayed and you need to confirm your details to get access. When you click on the provided link, you’re taken to a strikingly realistic looking UPS website that has you fill out a form to get access to your package. Of course, your package isn’t lost, but your financial data and personal information is.

AI hasn’t drastically changed phishing scams, but it has made them more prevalent and harder to spot. Content generators make them more accurate and easier to create, so if you see a significant uptick in the coming years, be wary where you input your information.

Listing scams

Like some of the other scams we’ve covered here, listing scams are nothing new, but AI has given scammers the ability to produce them at speed and volume on a scale that we’ve never seen before. Like most scams, it’s a game of numbers, and it only takes one person to respond to make it worthwhile.

Listing scams covers everything for sale from electronic goods to cars to homes. Generating fake listings is easy now, thanks to how convincing AI text summaries can be. Some scammers will even go so far as to generate AI images of the products in question, making a ‘unique image’, meaning it won’t show in a Google image search as being stolen from elsewhere (previously, a pretty good way to identify a scam). Once the scammer has your money, you’ll never see the product, and you could even open yourself up to further scams down the line from the ‘seller’.

It’s not just goods that are open to listing scams. Last year saw a huge rise in the number of job listing scams, with their increased prevalence being blamed on AI. These scams promise jobs that are too good to be true, before demanding that money is sent to secure the position, or for training purposes. AI helps create realistic company websites, staff headshots, and can even be used for fake interviews. Read our guide to avoiding WFH scams.

Examples of a listing scam

One of the most common AI listing scams is the sale or rental of property. Scammers create realistic ads for properties, usually in desirable areas at competitive prices. Then, they’ll ask for money upfront, such as a deposit or several months rent.  It’s a lucrative scam, as they’ll often be speaking to several victims at once.

What’s particularly nefarious about this scam is that AI enables the scammer to generate reasonably realistic property documents, which might convince the victim that the transaction is legitimate. They might also ask for personal information as well as money, leaving your data compromised.

How to Avoid AI Scams

You’ve already taken the first step towards avoiding AI scams, and that’s understanding what kind of scams are actually out there. That’s right, just by opening and reading this article, you’re on your way to a more secure online existence. Here are some other tips for avoiding AI scams:

• Always confirm – Whether it’s a deepfake or a voice cloning scam, find a way to confirm the source of information. A simple Google search or call to a loved one can save you a lot of strife.
• Be careful what you post – A lot of scammers uses data from social media to either target vulnerable individuals or train models on your voice.
• Report the scam – It may not help you avoid it, but by reporting the scam to the proper authorities, you can be sure that future attempts fall flat, no matter how much AI they use.

Beyond that, it’s important to be a bit skeptical when it comes to providing financial information or personal data online or on the phone. AI is making these scams infinitely more convincing, so carrying a bit of healthy skepticism when approaching these transactions can go a long way in keeping you safe.

Russia-backed internet security company Kaspersky has taken the decision to close down its operations in the US.

The somewhat inevitable move has come in the wake of the government officially banning the use of the company’s antivirus software within the US, which takes effect this Saturday, July 20th.

The effect of the closure means the cost of Kaspersky employees’ jobs in the US, with the estimated count of those losing their positions as fewer than 50.

Kaspersky Closure in US

Originally reported by the Zero Day cybersecurity blog, Kaspersky’s decision to leave the US has confounded the expectation that it would contest the ban.

Instead, it has confirmed that it will “gradually wind down” its US-based operations from July 20th when the prohibition comes into effect.

Although Kaspersky hasn’t confirmed the exact number of employees who will be let go as a result of the closure, a statement from the company confirmed that “it affects less than 50 employees in the US”.

Zero Day reached out to affected employees, who told the publication that they are set to receive severance packages.

Safeguarding National Security

The US government’s decision to ban the use of Kaspersky was announced back on June 20th.

In explaining the decision, the US Department of Commerce referenced the Russian state control over Kaspersky and expressed concerns over the “capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive U.S. information,” together with the necessity to safeguard national security.

Giving users 100 days to find alternative internet security solutions before enforcing their total banishment from within US borders, Kaspersky’s decision to wind down operations signals its intent not to appeal the ban.

Kaspersky Concerns

Despite frequently performing well in independent antivirus testing, there has long been a tension – dating back to its introduction to the US market back in 2005 – around the use of Russian-backed cybersecurity in North America.

The June 20th announcement was far from the first time that Kaspersky’s threat to US national security has been suggested. A governmental office in Germany also advised companies to ditch Kaspersky antivirus software.

Concerning stories have emerged over the the years challenging the trustworthiness of the software. We reported, for example, on a major security flaw in its VPN service that Kaspersky had to patch in 2022.

Alternatives to Kaspersky

If you’re a Kaspersky antivirus user and are wondering what you should replace the software with before the September 28th 100-day deadline, the alternatives to protect your PC and other devices are plentiful.

Norton and McAfee are two of the most secure and affordable options out there for Windows computers, each with a choice of packages that let you tailor the internet security to your specific needs (you can compare them in our dedicated Norton vs McAfee guide).

Or if you’re an Apple user, we consider Avast Premium and Bitdefender Premium to be the best antivirus for Macs. The former combines effective protection with an intuitive user experience. While Bitdefender is pricier, it throws in extra tools like a VPN and advanced parental controls.

Meaningful AI regulations are finally on their way, with a new proposed law from the US Senate that could make it illegal to remove the watermarks on content generated by AI.

The potential for generative AI to cause serious problems, particularly during an election year, is undeniable. That’s why watermarks on AI-generative content are so important, since they allow users to understand when something is clearly fake.

Fortunately, legislative bodies have begun taking this kind of threat seriously, protecting AI watermarks with laws that make their removal illegal.

Bipartisan Law Could Ban AI Watermark Removal

A new bipartisan bill from the US Senate, dubbed the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act (COPIED ACT), posits a wide range of measures that aim to regulate generative AI technology.

One of the main points of the bill is to make a clear distinction between real content and AI-generative content with a watermarking process that will not only effectively label this content, but also make it illegal to tamper with.

“Artificial intelligence has given bad actors the ability to create deepfakes of every individual, including those in the creative community, to imitate their likeness without their consent and profit off of counterfeit content. The COPIED Act takes an important step to better defend common targets like artists and performers against deepfakes and other inauthentic content.” – Marsha Blackburn, US Senator from Tennessee

Considering the increasing number of scams that use celebrity likeness to sell products, steal data, and generally make the online world a worse place to be, this kind of law is very much a welcomed change to the lawless nature of the technology in the last few years.

What Is the COPIED Act?

The COPIED Act is a bipartisan bill championed by Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) that aims to combat the growing problem of deepfakes amid the explosion of generative AI technology.

In addition to banning the removal of watermarks from AI-generated content, the new bill would enact a wide range of other regulations on the technology. Here are some of the measures that the law says it would establish:

• Create transparency standards
• Allow people to sue violators 
• Put creators in charge of content 

The bill already has some serious endorsements from organizations around the country, including SAG-AFTRA, the National Music Publishers’ Association, News/Media Alliance, the National Association of Broadcasters, and Public Citizen, among others.

The Dangers of AI Deepfakes

This kind of law may not seem necessary to some. After all, AI image generators are just fun tools for goofy pictures of dogs and professional headshots, right? Well, not exactly.

In the last few years, scammers have taken advantage of the improved performance of deepfake technology to do a lot of harm to people around the world. Mr. Beast and Taylor Swift are two examples of celebrities whose likenesses were used to shill fake products, steal user data, and simply scam unaware individuals online.

While watermarks will hopefully become standard for this kind of content, this law is still very much in its infancy. As a result, you may want to learn how to spot AI content before you too end up the victim of these unsettling scams.

Are you tired of your daily commute? Well, we’ve got some good news for you, as Microsoft is currently hiring for a wide range of remote jobs that could help you ditch the office to work from home.

It’s no secret that the majority of workers got used to the remote lifestyle during the pandemic. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case, with more and more businesses opting for strict return-to-office policies that, truthfully, aren’t backed up by data in any meaningful way.

Subsequently, if you’re in the market for a new gig that will allow you a bit of scheduling flexibility, we’ve collected some top remote positions from Microsoft that you can apply to right now.

Fully Remote Jobs at Microsoft for July 2024

According to the Microsoft career page, there are currently 832 openings at the tech firm that are eligible for 100% work-from-home status. Here are some of the options we found but be sure the check it out for yourself if you don’t see anything that fits your experience below.

• Business Applications Sales Specialist (Seattle, WA, USA)
• Principal Data Processing Unit Software Engineer – Compute (Santa Clara, CA, USA)
• Developer Partner Manager-Xbox (London, UK)
• Principal Product Designer – Team (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
• Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst (Reston, VA, USA)
• Principal Software Engineering Manager (Bucharest, Romania)
• Data Center Construction Program Director (Milwaukee, WI, USA)
• Software Engineer (Sydney, Australia)
• Principal Datacenter Electrical Engineer (Toronto, Canada)
• Technical Specialist Manager – Azure (New York, NY, USA)
• Principal Software Development Engineer – PostgreSQL (Bangalore, India)
• Strategic Global Account Executive (Atlanta, GA, USA)
• Senior Analog Design Engineer (Hillsboro, OR, USA)

While these roles are all eligible for work from home, we did include the city and country in which the jobs are based, just in case you want to align your new remote job with your current location. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to drop in for happy hour every once in a while!

Is Microsoft a Dependable Company to Work For?

When looking around for a new employer, you’ll often have questions about their legacy, and if they’ll stick around longer than five minutes. This is especially pertinent if you’re looking at start ups in your industry.

Microsoft, you won’t be surprised to hear, isn’t going to fold overnight. The company’s revenue for the last financial year was a rather impressive $236 billion, which was 13% up on the year before. So yes, financially, the company is looking pretty dang healthy.

However, that’s not to say that jobs at the company won’t be at risk at any point. In fact, Microsoft tends to have quite large lay off announcements when it does have them, purely by the virtue of the fact that it employs a heck of a lot of people, 221,000 to be precise, with 120,000 of those in the US.

At the start of the year, Microsoft got rid of almost 2,000 employees, though that’s just a drop in the ocean compared to the 10,000 it shed in 2023.

Remember though that nearly all companies have lay offs at some point (especially in the tech industry), and when it comes to Microsoft, only a very small percentage of staff are affected.

Do People Like Working at Microsoft?

Last year, Time magazine rated Microsoft as the best company in the world, and not just because it’s making money hand over fist (which it is, don’t doubt that for a second). One of the major contributing factors to this impressive achievement was an employer satisfaction rank of one, beating out the likes of Apple and Alphabet.

It also has a very healthy rating on Glass Door, with 86% of workers saying they would recommend the company, based on over 40,000 reviews. 91% of employees approve of CEO Satya Nadella. It’s a stark contract to a company like X (formerly Twitter), where only 35% of workers would recommend working there, and CEO Linda Yaccarino has a measly 27% approval rate. Ouch.

You can also expect a lot of benefits when working at Microsoft, including an education budget, so you can learn as you earn, as well as employer discount on products, access to internal clubs, and excellent health care benefits.

Don’t forget to check out other remote vacancies in July, including those offered by Google.

If you haven’t heard of noplace (yes, the lowercase spelling is intentional) yet, don’t worry, there’s a chance it could well be the ‘next big thing’ very soon.

The social media app shot to the top of the app charts recently, beating out heavy hitters such as Temu and TikTok, albeit briefly.

We take a look at the app, and what it offers to differentiate itself from other social media platforms.

What is noplace?

noplace is a social media platform that is aimed squarely at Gen Z, offering up a refreshingly stripped back interface that will be familiar to anyone that spent way too much time online in the early 2000s. In fact, there’s one particular social media platform of yesteryear that it has clearly drawn inspiration from – MySpace.

While MySpace may have been side lined over the years by the likes of Facebook and Twitter, the meteoric rise of noplace shows that there is still a degree of nostalgia for the more simple approach.

noplace is the creation of CEO Tiffany Zhong, who made the Forbes ’30 under 30′ list in 2020 for her work with Zebra IQ, a company that helps brands connect with Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

You Can’t Do Much on noplace (At the Moment)

Frankly, the list of things you can’t do on noplace right now is far greater than what you can. The app, barely a week old at the time of writing, is still in its infancy and is barebones. It’s a welcome break from the overbearing feature bloat that curses a lot of social media platforms, but for some, it might be too scant.

Let’s tackle the big issue first – you can’t post photos or videos. While you can add a profile picture of yourself, you can’t add images, gifs or videos to your feed, which is a bold move in a market where visual content is king. It’s no coincidence that the largest social media platform for noplace’s target generation, TikTok, is based solely on viral video content, and its absence could well hurt the app.

What you CAN do, is chat with friends, tell the world who your favorite artist is, and brag about your top 10 friends (another feature swiped wholesale from MySpace). It’s also possible to chat with other users of the app who you’re not linked to.

It’s also awash with customisability options for your profile page. In fact, check out most user reviews of the app, and at some point you’ll come across glowing words about its ‘aesthetic’, which appears to be one of the main selling points of the platform.

noplace has a levels system, which is the app’s gamification angle, rewarding users for spending more time on the app and engaging with others. Your level is displayed on your profile, so it’s easy to show off your noplace credentials.

Word of warning – if you have an Android device, you’re out of luck, as right now the only place to get noplace is on Apple devices.

Is noplace the Next TikTok?

In a word, no. Despite both being aimed at a savvy Generation Z audience that makes social media an integral part of their lives, the two platforms are actually quite different in intent. TikTok relies on viral moments, making stars of its creators, while its algorithm means any user could be the next person to be plucked from obscurity, thanks to a ten-second video.

It’s worth noting though that TikTok has been instrumental in nospace’s success to date. In the build up to the official launch of the app, the brand’s TikTok account has amassed over 100,000 subscribers, and five million likes across its promotional video content.

noplace doesn’t have that viral aspect to it, mostly because it’s text based. It’s hard to imagine a user’s noplace message taking off outside the platform and becoming a viral meme…

However, what noplace does have in its favor is that it’s refreshingly corporation free. It many ways it’s this, rather than the aesthetic of the app, that gives it that early 2000’s vibe. You’re not going to be served adverts on the platform (at least not yet), or come across large companies trying to infiltrate the app to sell you their wares. Again, not yet. How long this lasts depends on how popular the app becomes.

It’s also a fairly small venture. According to the company’s LinkedIn page, there are currently only two members of staff working at noplace, and that’s going to make scaling up at speed a serious task.

The fate of noplace depends on word of mouth and momentum. It might not be the next TikTok, but there could still be a space in the social media landscape for noplace.

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic isn’t resting on its laurels. Mere weeks after releasing Claude Sonnet 3.5 – the latest addition to the Claude family of large language models (LLMs) – the company has just announced a raft of new updates to its Anthropic console.

The latest iteration of Claude has already claimed the top spot in the S&P Global leaderboard of Large Language Models (LLMs), beating out rivals such as OpenAI’s Chat GPT and Google Gemini rivals. Now it’s going even further by providing users with the tools to “generate, test, and evaluate prompts” in the aim of delivering the most efficient outcome for your needs.

Recognizing that generating efficient prompts can be a challenge, but these new features – including the ability to generate test cases – promise to “make it easier for users to produce high quality prompts.”

What New Features Does Claude Sonnet 3.5 offer?

The new and improved Claude announced by Anthropic can assist with generating prompts, conjure up test cases, and lets you compare a range of prompts, making it less of a chore to get the results you want. It’s also available for free on Claude.ai and the Claude iOS app.

You can now let Claude generate a prompt for you based on a simple description outlining your requirements. The new test case generator function produces input variables and allows you to interrogate that prompt to see how well it meets your needs and responds to a range of request.

You also have the option to create a test suite with the “Evaluate” feature, too. This lets users see how their prompts respond to “a range of real-world inputs,” and directly in the Anthropic console – saving you the trouble of toggling between a dozen different documents. You can add tests cases manually or ask Claude to generate some for you. Modify as needed, click “Run all,” and voila! You’re then free to tinker until your prompt provides the ideal outcome.

Anthropic now also allows users to compare the outputs of two or more prompts side by side, which makes it far simpler to evaluate the impact of any changes you’ve made.

Looking for further details on how to generate your own prompts? Check out the extensive user guide from Anthropic.

Take the Pain Out of Writing Prompts

Struggling to refine your prompt writing skills? A well-crafted text can make all the difference in getting the results you’re seeking, as users of Microsoft’s ubiquitous AI companion Copilot have recently lamented. Yet, unlike Microsoft, Anthropic has acknowledged these difficulties and aimed to make its software even more accessible.

So, whether you use Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, there are a number of ways to ensure your prompt-writing is getting the results you need:

• Consider taking an AI course like that offered by LinkedIn.
• Explore your options with some of the best AI chatbots available
• Read about how to craft an effective ChatGPT prompt

If you’re looking to get the best results from your chatbot, steer away from subjective language and provide plenty of contextual information. Also, reference materials if you’re looking to get domain-specific knowledge.

Have you recently made a new online friend with someone resembling Taylor Swift? It’s more than likely you’ve been catfished. Fortunately, thanks to dating app Bumble, that’s going to happen a lot less often.

The rise in AI means that it’s easier than ever to be duped by social media scams. Luckily, AI is being positively employed to help prevent it.

In fact, Bumble — the second most popular dating app in the US — is rolling out a new “Fake Profile” option on its platform to safeguard its members, allowing users to flag accounts they believe are AI-generated and being used in bad faith.

Bumble Gets Busy Eliminating Fake Profiles

Risa Stein, Bumble’s vice president of product, is serious about rooting out fake profiles, according to the new report. With the tools to create AI content increasingly accessible and sophisticated, bad actors are taking advantage of the technology to create fake images and video content to scam and deceive social media users. And Bumble continues to make strides in combating this growing trend.

Stein recognizes that fake profiles undermine subscribers to sites like Bumble who are looking to make life-affirming, genuine connections.

“An essential part of creating a space to build meaningful connections is removing any element that is misleading or dangerous. By introducing this new reporting option, we can better understand how bad actors and fake profiles are using AI disingenuously, so our community feels confident in making connections.” – Risa Stein, vice president of product at Bumble to TechCrunch

To facilitate this, Bumble has implemented the “Fake Profile” option. The feature allows the app’s users to raise the alarm on accounts with suspected AI generated content, thereby helping to reduce the number of fraudulent encounters online.

How to Take the Sting Out of Bumble

Reporting a suspicious account is easy to do. Users should simply:

1. Choose the “Fake profile” option.
2. Select “Using AI-generated photos of videos.”

That’s just the latest of many Bumble features helping safeguard users. The platform also allows its digital citizens to blow the whistle on:

• Scams
• Inappropriate content.
• Underage users
• Microaggressions
• The use of someone else’s photos

Meanwhile, Bumble’s “Deception Detector” made huge strides in combating “fake profiles, spammers and scammers.” Released earlier this year, it’s led to a hefty decrease in members reporting such cases by an impressive 45%.

Picture Imperfect?

Does the person you’ve matched seem a little too picture perfect? If something about their social media account seems a little off – e.g., they bear an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt – it might be worth checking certain indicators to see if they might be a potentially fraudulent, AI-generated imposter.

For one thing, AI generated images can produce odd lighting effects and shadows that don’t align with the sitter’s immediate environment. There’s also the effect of fake, AI images appearing “hyper real,” or more real and vivid than your typical photo.

Another tell-tale sign? The disfigurement of bodily features like ears, arms, and hands. AI hasn’t quite got the knack of replicating them yet, and so they’re often rendered as a fleshy, nightmarish blur, or contorted in a way that you very rarely see in the real world. The grain of an AI image can also be a dead giveaway. On comparison with a real photo, it will look markedly different.

Used in the right way, however, AI can be an assistive tool. For those requiring professional looking headshots without the extortionate price tag, there are heaps of free and low-cost options to achieve the required effect – and without the need to falsify or deceive.

A recent study has uncovered that the use of generative AI (GenAI) by organizations in China is outpacing those in the US, with 83% of China’s business decision makers reported using the technology, as opposed to just 65% in the US – behind the UK but ahead of Australia.

However, China doesn’t have the upper hand across the board, as almost a quarter of the US business leaders surveyed (24%) had fully implemented GenAI within their organizations. In this domain, they were leading the way, leaving China trailing behind with 19% have full integrated the tech into their business architecture.

The fully tested implementation of GenAI, rather than its overall use, may be a better indicator of future success. As Stephen Saw, Managing Director for Coleman Parks commented of the report’s findings, “higher adoption doesn’t necessarily equate to effective implementation of better returns.”

AI is a Marathon Not a Sprint

The SAS study into global AI adoption in the workplace, surveyed 1,600 decision makers in key markets and across a range of industries.

Bryan Harris, Executive Vice President at SAS, stated that it is necessary for companies to separate “hype from reality,” and to focus instead on “purposefully implementing and delivering repeatable and trusted business results.” Considering the various ethical concerns about AI’s usage, including around data privacy, it seems sensible for businesses to adopt a more measured approach.

In terms of full implementation regionally, North America (the US and Canada) was the leading example with 20%. Although far from an outlier, the APAC region (including countries like China, Australia, and Japan, among others) reported that exactly half that figure (10%) had fully implemented AI into their companies’ daily processes.

Business Obstacles to Implementing GenAI Identified

Three of the main concerns that global business leaders identified as impeding their effective utilization of GenAI were:

• Lack of a Clear GenAI strategy. Nine out of 10 Senior Technology decision makers didn’t understand how GenAI impacted business processes.

• Insufficient data. There was not the quantity of data needed to train Large Language Models (LLMs), like OpenAI’s upcoming ChatGPT-5.

• AI regulation. Only a third of the companies felt they were equipped to comply with incoming regulations and only 5% had a reliable system to safeguard against bias and privacy concerns.

Hampering organizations globally from embracing GenAI’s potential appears to be down to a lack of a business strategy and serious knowledge gaps, with key information failing to trickle down from senior decision makers. Despite the obstacles, however, early adopters have reported hugely positive benefits.

What are the Benefits of GenAI?

The SAS Institute study provides some very promising feedback on AI’s real-world benefits. They not only improved a company’s bottom line (operational costs were reported to be lower) but brought improved satisfaction levels across the board, from employees to customers.

Of those working with GenAI, 89% noted “improved employee experience.” Businesses utilizing AI were also more likely to keep customers happy, with 82% noting that “customer retention is higher.”

Additionally, research by J.P. Morgan underscored some key reasons why preparing your company for GenAI was the sensible thing to do to remain competitive. Their findings cited that the technology:

• Reduced the money and time needed for content creation
• Boosted productivity and profitability
• Helped facilitate innovation and improved business models

They also concluded that GenAI could “result in a massive workplace productivity boom over the next one to three years,” in addition to stimulating the economy and adding $7-10 trillion to worldwide GDP.

HP is significantly revisualizing its ‘smart printing system’ experiment, after discontinuing its e-series LaserJet printers and preventing new customers from signing up to its Instant Ink subscription service.

The decision comes in the wake of customer complaints about its Instant Ink and HP+ offerings, with users experiencing difficulties caused by the necessity for their printers to be online at the point of use.

The termination of e-series hardware goes hand-in-hand with the alterations HP is making to its subscription services. Although most HP customers have the option of whether or not they wish to subscribe, those buying e-series models have been required to sign up to HP+.

End of an Error?

HP’s decision to u-turn on its move towards a subscription model has been reported by German website Druckerchannel, which specializes in printer news and reviews.

It says that all of HP’s LaserJet printers with a model name ending in an ‘e’ will disappear from the market and, with them, the obligation to sign up to an HP+ subscription.

Those with existing HP+ and Instant Ink subscriptions and are happy with the services have nothing to worry about – existing plans will continue.

And although both services will be brought to a close for new LaserJet customers later in the year, for now they are still available for fresh registrations.

It’s also worth noting that no changes are expected for InkJet printers, with only LaserJet printer users impacted.

Instant Ink Issues and HP+ Problems

Launched in 2013 and 2020 respectively, HP’s Instant Ink and HP+ subscription services require the printer to be online at all times to effectively automate the ink buying process. This has led to a series of complaints from customers, which appears to have influenced the decision to remove mandatory HP+ sign ups and Instant Ink altogether from LaserJet models.

Another perceived problem is that the two separate subscription services – that are distinct from one another, yet also have crossover – is a confusing proposition for customers.

Instant Ink is a straightforward ink replacement service where the user chooses a usage plan based on the number of pages they print per month and pays a monthly fee accordingly. HP then sends out toner to meet that demand.

HP+ turns the user’s hardware into a ‘smart printer,’ with “intelligent, cloud-based connectivity and security.” It includes an Instant Ink subscription, along with access to the advanced HP Smart app and a two-year warranty.

“Since the introduction of HP+, our smart, connected printing system has been embraced by customers who appreciate the convenience, extended warranty and solutions. We know that some customers in IT-managed office environments are unable to meet the cloud connection requirements for HP+. To provide our customers with an exceptional printing experience in all office environments, we will no longer offer LaserJet series products with HP+.” -HP statement to Druckerchannel

However, HP+ also requires its subscribers to use original HP ink cartridges only – another subject of consternation for anybody who has signed up (whether by choice or by mandatory requirement) and who would prefer to buy more affordable third-party cartridges.

It may seem like an unfathomably large figure, but Fortune 500 companies are wasting 25 billion working hours each year due to ineffective collaboration.

That’s according to a new study of workers and executives at those incorporations, which also estimates that less than a quarter of their teams’ work is spent on mission-critical work.

The effect of artificial intelligence tools on productivity was also a subject of the report, with only half of the respondents feeding back that they use AI on a weekly basis.

Teamwork Doesn’t Always Make the Dream Work

The State of Teams report carried out by global collaborative software company Atlassian surveyed 5,000 knowledge workers and 100 executives at Fortune 500 companies, with questions focused on team collaboration.

It found that respondents generally agreed that they are busier than ever but are accomplishing less. 93 of the 100 executives concurred that their teams could deliver similar outcomes in half the time if they collaborated more effectively.

Those same executives estimated that only 24% of their teams are doing mission-critical work. With that eye-catching figure, wasted work hours totted up to 25 billion due to ineffective collaboration between teams.

Wasted Time

The study probed further into the wasted work hours, asking the knowledge workers why they think their teams work inefficiently. They answered:

• 65% – Responding quickly to messages instead of progressing top priorities
• 64% – Pulled in too many directions
• 56% – Teams at company work in different ways
• 55% – Find it hard to track down required information
• 50% – Spending more time in unnecessary meetings than progressing high-priority work
• 50% – More than one team working on the same project

With another recent study suggesting that eligible employees currently spend 2.2 days per week working remotely, these numbers show the paramount importance for businesses to concentrate on getting remote collaboration right.

AI Is Effective But Underused

The study also shined a spotlight on the use of AI as a means to be more productive.

It reports that executives using AI have 12% more time to focus on their business priorities and 19% more time to create work with their teams. Teams who use AI on a regular basis will be 1.8 times more likely to have goal clarity and more than two times more able to “make knowledge easy to find.”

However, only 50% of the workers and executives who participated in the survey said that they used AI on a weekly basis for work. That’s despite the majority (79% of executives and 63% of workers) agreeing that AI is important, but that they don’t really know how to use it effectively in their daily work.

Working on the Right Things

To complement its research, Atlassian set out areas that businesses should focus on for more effective collaboration.

“Innovative teams prioritize the highest-impact work over short-term performative goals. They make it a point to ask themselves, ‘When we look back in a year, or at the end of the quarter, will we have done work that advanced mission-critical goals?'” – Atlassian State of Teams 2024

To ensure teams are working on the right things, the company suggests setting clear goals, making goals visible to everyone, and building rituals that clarify priorities.

To progress goals, it says, business leaders should make calendars reflect priorities, run more meaningful meetings, and share updates through videos rather than meetings.

While using AI and obsessing over the quality of documentation will help to make knowledge easier to find in the organization.

Days after 440,000 tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour were leaked, hackers have released nearly 40,000 more Ticketmaster tickets to 150+ global events.

The so-called Sp1derHunters threat actor has obtained access to printable tickets to acts including Pink, Neil Young, Alanis Morisette, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen and Cirque du Soleil.

The hacker has also demanded that the ticketing giant pays it $2 million to stop it leaking ticket barcodes to all of Ticketmaster’s events, which comes after a group called ShinyHunters ransomed the Taylor Swift tickets last week for $8 million.

Ticketmaster Woes Continue

The original breach of Ticketmaster’s systems took place in May, with over half a billion customers having their data compromised. Names, addresses, contact details, order history and partial payment data was all made available for sale by ShinyHunters.

The threat actor then confirmed last week that it had managed to obtain 440,000 tickets to Taylor Swift’s epic Eras Tour.

Ticketmaster responded to that claim by saying that its ‘SafeTix’ technology “protects technology by automatically refreshing a new and unique barcode every few seconds so it cannot be stolen or copied”.

Sp1d3rHunters Strike

BleepingComputer has now reported, however, on a post from Sp1d3rHunters on a hacking forum, where it calls Ticketmaster’s comments “lies” as the ticket database it has accessed “includes both online and physical ticket types”.

Sp1d3rHunters followed the response with a link to a CSV file with the barcode data for over 38,000 tickets it is leaking, together with instructions for making PDF tickets from the obtained TicketFast ticket types – concluding with “Enjoy your free event!”

“Ticketmaster lies to the public and says barcodes can not be used. Tickets database includes both online and physical ticket types.” – Sp1d3rHunters

Ticketmaster Warns Customers About Data Breach

Canadian public broadcaster CBC has since reported that Ticketmaster has sent emails to customers in Canada to notify them of the data breach and warning them to be vigilant to protect themselves against identity theft and fraud.

Recipients have since taken to X to share screengrabs of email that details the “unauthorized activity” that occurred in April and May and the information that was involved.

It also confirms Ticketmaster’s next actions. The company says that has been “diligently investigating” the incident and cooperating with US federal law enforcement agencies. It also rather vaguely says that it has “taken a number of technical and administrative steps to further enhance the security of our systems and customer data”.

Anyone else get this email from @Ticketmaster just now? Legit? Talk to us #Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/eCSEBI55gT

— Gee Dee (@nowheremanoman) July 8, 2024

What You Can Do About Ticketmaster Breach

The email also contains general advice for Ticketmaster customers who may have been affected by the hack. As well as the rather unhelpful advice to “remain vigilant”, it suggests that recipients of the email monitor their bank account  and credit card statements for suspicious activity. It also recommends carrying out a free credit report for the same reason.

It goes on to offer to cover the costs of identity monitoring through credit reporting agency TransUnion.

Other ways to protect yourself from the result of data breaches include updating your online passwords to long, secure combinations, being alert to suspicious emails or telephone calls that may be phishing scams, and visiting the haveibeenpwned.com website to see if your details have been exposed.

Bad spellers rejoice, Microsoft has finally added a spellcheck function to Notepad, and it only took 41 years.

In a year that has seen ChatGPT and other super intelligent AI systems thrust into the public consciousness, it’s not until now that Microsoft has decided to add the ability to check your spelling in its plucky little note taking app. In fact, Microsoft has been adding rather a lot of new features recently, including auto save, and AI.

We explain how to get spellcheck in Notepad, and how it works, and hopefully it’ll stop you making blunders like our rather clunky headline here…

Microsoft Adds Spellcheck to Notepad

Notepad may not be the most glamourous of Microsoft’s applications, but to go so long without a basic function such as spellcheck feels almost cruel, especially when practically every other device, from your phone to your refrigerator (probably) has been able to do it for years.

Back in March, Microsoft announced that it was bringing the feature to its Insider program, and now it’s finally ready for the rest of us, being rolled out to users this week.

How Spellcheck Works in Microsoft Notepad

Now, Microsoft Notepad will automatically enable spellcheck by default, assuming you’re running the latest version of the app in Windows 11. Offending words are underlined with the classic red squiggle that we’ve all come to love/hate.

From here, it’s a case of clicking on the word, or using the Shift + F10 keyboard shortcut to be presented with a list of alternative words. Select the one you were trying to spell, and your original word will be replaced with the correct version.

You can also choose to ignore words or add them to the dictionary, so that they won’t get flagged again. This feature is particularly useful for names or brands that might not be recognised.

If you’re someone that doesn’t care for spellcheck in Notepad – maybe you’re a coder that uses it to dump sections of code and don’t want them awash in a sea of red – you can turn the feature off in the settings menu.

Microsoft Notepad’s New Makeover

If you haven’t used Notepad in a while, you might be surprised to learn that it has taken this long for it to get spellcheck added, but that’s not all. Microsoft has been rolling out multiple quality of life features to the app for sometime now. While it doesn’t, and won’t ever, have the sort of functionality you’d expect from Microsoft Word, it’s still pretty capable.

In December last year, Notepad was granted a character counter by Microsoft, in a first for the app, meaning no more having to use a third party plugin. If that doesn’t impress you, then how about the fact that it also now has an auto-save feature? It also boasts a native dark mode, too.

Of course, much like many other Microsoft apps, Copilot has also been added to Notepad, in what must be its most impressive technological advancement to date. ‘Explain with Copilot’ allows users to analyze copy from directly within the app.