The arrival of genAI could cover critical skills gaps, reshape IT job market

Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) is likely to play a critical role in addressing skills shortages in today’s marketplace, according to a new study by London-based Kaspersky Research. It showed that 40% of 2,000 C-level executives surveyed plan to use genAI tools such as ChatGPT to cover critical skills shortages through the automation of tasks.

The European-based study found genAI to be firmly on the business agenda, with 95% of respondents regularly discussing ways to maximize value from the technology at the most senior level, even as 91% admitted they don’t really know how it works.

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Apple secures WebKit as global ransomware attacks surge

If nothing else, Apple’s most recent emergency security update should be considered proof of an increasingly tense security environment.

Enterprises must understand that while Apple maintains a pretty solid ecosystem — certainly at present the most secure, even according to Cisco — that doesn’t mean it’s entirely safe, and every Apple customer needs to get wise to the growing proliferation of threats.

With more and more business users turning to the company’s solutions, it’s important to get ahead of the threat.

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Unused Gmail accounts head to the chopping block

It’s the last call to keep any Gmail accounts you haven’t used recently.

Beginning December 1, Google will start deleting accounts that have been inactive for two years, including all associated photos, Drive documents, contacts, emails, and calendar entries. The tech giant first announced this change in their inactivity policy in May.

Google confirmed to Computerworld that it’s proceeding with the deletion plan. “We plan to roll this out slowly and in phases, not all at once,” spokesperson Christa Muldoon said. “We’ll be starting with accounts that were created and never used.”

Separate Gmail accounts held by the same user under different names are also subject to deletion, Muldoon said.

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GenAI is highly inaccurate for business use — and getting more opaque

Large language models (LLMs), the algorithmic platforms on which generative AI (genAI) tools like ChatGPT are built, are highly inaccurate when connected to corporate databases and becoming less transparent, according to two studies.

One study by Stanford University showed that as LLMs continue to ingest massive amounts of information and grow in size, the genesis of the data they use is becoming harder to track down. That, in turn, makes it difficult for businesses to know whether they can safely build applications that use commercial genAI foundation models and for academics to rely on them for research.

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How to go incognito in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari

Private browsing. Incognito. Privacy mode.

Web browser functions like those trace their roots back more than a decade, and the feature — first found in a top browser in 2005 — spread quickly as one copied another, made tweaks and minor improvements.

But privacy-promising labels can be treacherous. Simply put, going “incognito” is as effective in guarding online privacy as witchcraft is in warding off a common cold.

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What is Contact Key Verification and how is it used?

Many business professionals require highly secure messaging solutions, particularly when they travel. Apple’s iMessage will soon offer a new secure identity verification system enterprise professionals might find useful. It’s called Contact Key Verification.

What is Contact Key Verification?

Apple actually announced the system in 2022. It is now expected to go live across the Apple ecosystem with the release of iOS 17.2 and updates for Macs and iPads.

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Critical zero-day flaws in Windows, Office mean it's time to patch

We are now in the third decade of Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday releases, which deliver fewer critical updates to browsers and Windows platforms — and much more reliable updates to Microsoft Office — than in the early days of patching. But this month, the company rolled out 63 updates (including fixes for three zero-days in Windows and Office).

Updates to Microsoft Exchange and Visual Studio can be included in standard patch release cycles, while Adobe needs to be included in your “Patch Now” releases for third-party applications. 

The team at Readiness has provided a detailed infographic that outlines the risks associated with each of the updates for November.

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Windows Hello for Business: Passwordless authentication for Windows shops

Microsoft is trying to get rid of that sticky note that you see taped to everyone’s office monitor. You know, the one with the password on it. The one with all of the old passwords crossed off one by one, each one subtly different from the last — an exclamation point turning into an ampersand, a one into a two.

Enterprises have really done this to themselves. The passwords that most organizations require — which have to be complex, with long strings of numbers and specially cased phrases with some (but not all! heavens no, not the one you want) symbols — are difficult to remember. There’s no hope except to write them down. Then you have to reset them every so often. Then they get recycled. And on and on the cycle goes.

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