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Computerworld News
Google’s Mandiant security division has come up with an unusual tactic to persuade organizations to stop using the aged and hugely insecure NTLMv1 authentication protocol: publish a data lookup that makes cracking NTLMv1 credentials trivial for attackers. The intention, Mandiant explained, is to draw attention to the fact that, despite decades of evidence that NTLMv1 (NT LAN Manager version 1) is insecure, organizations continue to use it. Anyone can use Mandiant’s Net-NTLMv1 pre-computed rainbow table lookup, downloadable from the Google Cloud Research Dataset portal, to map a given server response to reconstruct a real NT hash. Hashes, of course, are [...]
Meta’s major investment in Metaverse has not been a great success, and recently more than 1,000 people working on the project were laid off. The latest news is that the social VR platform Horizon Workrooms will be shut down on February 16, according to a support document on Meta’s website. At the same time, sales of the Meta Quest VR headset and associated software for business users will cease, reports The Verge. Going forward, the focus for Metaverse will be on mobile phones and smart glasses, which is a big step away from the original vision. [...]
Windows 11 users have discovered that, since the latest software update, their computers restart instead of going into sleep mode or shutting down. The problem is due to a bug in Secure Launch, a security feature designed to protect the computer’s firmware from attacks during startup. Fortunately, Microsoft has now begun rolling out a new emergency fix to address the issue, reports Engadget. It should be noted that the emergency fix also resolves an issue that prevented users from logging into the system via remote connection. More information about the update is available at the Windows message center. [...]
Gartner predicts that global spending on AI will reach $2.52 trillion in 2026. That is an increase of 44 percent compared to the previous year. Much of the growth is expected to be driven by AI infrastructure, particularly investments in AI-optimized servers, which are expected to increase by 49 percent and account for 17 percent of the total AI spend. The actual construction of AI infrastructure will result in $401 billion in additional spending in 2026, according to Gartner. AI investments will increasingly be driven by organizational maturity and proven business value, rather than visionary pilot projects. Gartner said AI [...]
Open AI will begin testing ads in Chat GPT for certain users in the US. The ads will be shown to free users and in the new Chat GPT Go subscription, which costs $8 per month. They will not be shown to Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise subscribers. The ads will be clearly labeled and kept separate from Chat GPT’s responses in a distinct section of the chat window. They will appear if there is a relevant sponsored product or service. Application manager Fidji Simo writes that ads should contribute to a more diversified revenue stream without undermining trust. Open [...]
Google has appealed a US ruling that in 2024 found the company had an illegal monopoly in internet search and search advertising, reports CNBC. After a special hearing on penalties, the court decided in 2025 on milder measures than those originally proposed by the US Department of Justice. Among other things, Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser, but will have to share certain anonymized search data and will be restricted in future exclusive agreements, for example with Apple. Google now wants to pause these requirements and warns that they could harm user privacy and stifle innovation. The [...]
Amazon Web Services launched a new independent cloud service aiming to address European customer concerns around digital sovereignty last week. But while analysts believe it will help European customers meet regulatory compliance demands, there are questions around how much sovereignty it provides in practice. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud data center is located in Brandenburg, Germany, with plans for additional facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud provides access to 90 AWS services but is “physically and logically separate” from AWS’s existing public cloud Regions, the company said. AWS established a new legal entity to [...]
Even as thousands of workers lose their jobs to AI, the number of job openings seeking “AI skills” continues to grow. Mentions of AI skills in job postings rose 5% year over year, according to data released in December by staffing firm Manpower Group. The staffing firm said the increase is partially due to AI buildout and growing demand for machine-learning skills. But what exactly are AI skills? Computerworld talked to experts and executives, who shared insights into the skills job seekers need to develop this year to stay competitive in a rocky job market. The consensus: it’s not just [...]
Long before Taco Tuesday became part of the pop-culture vernacular, Tuesdays were synonymous with security — and for anyone in the tech world, they still are. Patch Tuesday, as you most likely know, refers to the day each month when Microsoft releases security updates and patches for its software products — everything from Windows to Office to SQL Server, developer tools to browsers. The practice, which happens on the second Tuesday of the month, was initiated to streamline the patch distribution process and make it easier for users and IT system administrators to manage updates. Like tacos, Patch Tuesday is [...]
The first Patch Tuesday release of the new year addresses 112 CVEs across Microsoft’s product portfolio, including eight rated critical and three zero-day vulnerabilities. One of the zero-days (CVE-2026-20805), an information disclosure flaw in the Desktop Window Manager, is already under active exploitation. That prompted CISA to add it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with a remediation deadline of Feb. 3, 2026. Enterprise teams should prioritize Windows and Office updates this cycle (both have Patch Now recommendations), particularly since the Preview Pane attack vectors allow code execution without fully opening malicious documents. To help navigate the latest changes, the [...]