Technology

Ange Postecoglou's Spurs head to the Netherlands for this last-16 match.

You'd be forgiven for missing the news. After all, Apple's had quite the week, and nobody's judging anyone for not being able to see past the new M3 chip-enhanced iPad Air, an M4 chip-enhanced MacBook Air, an M4 Max-enhanced Mac Studio (with an even better M3 Ultra option – is this confusing to anyone else?) plus some new budget-friendly iPads.

But AirPods owners should know that while all this was taking up space in your news boxes and Discovery feeds, Apple quietly published new and fairly extensive instructions for cleaning your AirPods, and even endorsed a third-party Belkin AirPods cleaning kit (which Apple is now selling).

Tim Cook's behemoth has decided to lead with instructions for cleaning the AirPods 3 and AirPods 4 (both variants), with detailed images circling which meshes you should clean.

If you're not buying the recommended Belkin kit (which costs $12.95, so around £10 or AU$20) Apple's list of items you'll need to buy is really quite specific too, including "Micellar water that includes PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, such as from Bioderma or Neutrogena; distilled water; a soft-bristled children's toothbrush; two small cups and a paper towel".

More than one way to clean an AirPod?

Clean tech is an area close to my heart, reader – not least because TechRadar's Senior Writer of AI, John-Anthony Disotto used to work at the Apple Genius bar, and his tale of customer earwax being flicked into his beard as he tried to clean their AirPods is the stuff of legend.

I too have penned a missive on how to clean your AirPods (or any wireless earbuds), and I'm happy to report that my methods are largely similar to Apple's, although Apple's use of highly-specific micellar water is new to me – and while Apple doesn't mention it, I have found on occasion that a quick blast from the nozzle of a compressed air can often dislodges dust and wax from those hard-to-reach metal contact points in the case.

And I'm not alone! TechRadar's Editor at Large, Lance Ulanoff has also extolled the virtues of a very quick but controlled blast of compressed air (cans are available for just a few dollars) on your tech.

Of course, Apple's AirPods are made by – you guessed it – Apple, and following manufacturer guidelines is also something I always recommend. And now, the company has nailed down a step-by-step procedure depending on which models you own, along with a recommended cleaning kit. It feels like a no-brainer if you're thinking your AirPods are a little gunky.

Oh, and one final recommendation: don't eat dinner before asking John-Anthony Disotto (or anyone who cleans Apple tech professionally, for that matter) to tell you about the worst experience he ever had trying to clean AirPods at the Apple Genius bar. How can you get actual cooked food stuck in AirPods though? How…

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• Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone has been detailed in a new report
• It contains some surprises relating to the price and Touch ID
• It’s still probably a few years away from launching

The likes of Samsung and Google have produced some of the best foldable phones over the past few years, but Apple has remained conspicuously absent. That might not be the case for long, though, as a new report has laid out the company’s folding iPhone plans in enticing detail. Look closely and you’ll find a few surprises.

The testimony comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a strong track record for Apple leaks. In the report, Kuo outlined his expectations of the device’s starting price, its features, and how well it might sell. Here’s the lowdown.

1. An eye-watering price

Folding phones command a premium price tag, and it looks like Apple’s attempt will be no different. Kuo estimates that the foldable iPhone will sell for “above $2,000,” with the price potentially going as high as $2,500 (around £2,000 / AU$4,000).

Considering the most expensive current-gen iPhone – the iPhone 16 Pro Max – starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149, that’s a massive increase on the price of a flagship iPhone. It’s also a decent chunk above what you’ll pay for the top-end foldables from Samsung and Google, both of which charge around $1,800 for their devices.

Yet that price might not matter. Given the iPhone’s top-tier reputation and Apple’s loyal fanbase, Kuo thinks the device will “generate strong replacement demand … provided quality meets expectations.”

Mass production will apparently begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 and Apple is expected to sell 3.5 million units, Kuo says. A second-generation model is tipped to enter mass production in the second half of 2027 and could sell 20 million units.

2. AI first

(Image credit: Apple)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage at the moment, and Apple is getting in on the act with its own (albeit flawed) Apple Intelligence system. This will be front and center in the foldable iPhone, Kuo says, with the device being positioned as a “true AI-driven phone.”

That means it’ll come with “Multimodal functionality and cross-app integration,” Kuo says. “Larger screens [will] enhance the AI experience,” he believes, “enabling scenarios like chatting with a chatbot about travel plans while viewing a full map app simultaneously.”

In other words, expect a truly next-gen iPhone that's been sorely needed for several years now.

3. A book-style design

(Image credit: Future / Alex Walker-Todd)

The foldable iPhone will apparently adopt a “book-style design,” according to Kuo, with a vertical fold rather than one that crosses the device horizontally. That means it's likely to be a Galaxy Fold 7 rival (or perhaps a Galaxy Z Fold 8 alternative by that stage).

Crucially, it will be crease-free, and the hinge will reportedly “combine stainless steel and titanium alloy, while the casing opts for titanium alloy,” Kuo reports.

As for the size, the device will apparently come with a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch outer screen. It will be 9mm to 9.5mm thick when folded, the report claims, and 4.5mm to 4.8mm thick when unfolded.

That would make the iPhone Fold (or whatever it's ultimately called) marginally thicker than the Oppo Find N5, which is 8.93mm thick when folded. But the camera bump will likely add a few millimeters to the total thickness anyway.

4. Touch ID returns

When the iPhone 16e replaced the iPhone SE, Apple phased out Touch ID in all of its iPhones. Or did it? As per Kuo, Touch ID will return in the foldable iPhone. It will seemingly find its way into a side button, which sounds reminiscent of the Touch ID button in the iPad Air.

Why might this old tech make a comeback when Face ID is more secure? Kuo states that “Face ID may be absent due to thickness and internal space constraints.”

5. A dual-camera setup

(Image credit: Future)

Fancy yourself as a photographer? The foldable iPhone might not be your first choice in that case, as Kuo thinks it’ll come with a dual-lens camera array.

This will presumably be a little less advanced than the triple-lens setup you get with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The dual-lens camera mirrors an earlier report on Apple’s foldable iPhone from leaker

There will also likely be a front-facing camera, and Kuo says you can expect “one front-facing camera [to be] available in both folded and unfolded states.”

6. An ultra-thin battery

Kuo quickly touched on the foldable iPhone’s battery life, which he argues will feature “the same high-density battery cells as the ultra-thin iPhone 17.” That’s likely a reference to the iPhone 17 Air (or whatever it ends up being called), a rumored super-slim iPhone that’s slated to launch in September of this year.

We don’t know what sort of battery life to expect from the foldable iPhone, though. But given Apple’s past marketing habits, it could well still be touted as “all-day battery life" despite its slim design.

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The return of pop icon Lady Gaga is imminent, and Spotify is hosting an exciting event in collaboration with the artist herself – and they’re getting the fans involved. To mark the release of Gaga’s new album Mayhem, which comes out on March 7, Spotify is hosting a live press conference with her, marking a first-of-its-kind event for the streaming platform. There’s just one catch: Gaga won’t be taking questions from journalists – just the fans.

You heard me right. For once Spotify is thinking beyond its general scope of subscribers and is paying attention to specific fan bases, and you can bet that I’ll be tuning into its fan-run press conference titled the 'Little Monsters Press Conference'. When Gaga took to Spotify’s social media accounts on February 21 to announce the event (see below), she said: “I want you to ask me every burning desire of a question [you] have,” so by the sounds of it, nothing is off limits at this Spotify-exclusive press conference.

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For most Spotify subscribers, this news won’t be as exciting as its long-awaited Spotify HiFi tier – but in spite of that absence, Gaga’s press conference with the music streaming service marks one of the first major fan-centric events at Spotify, which is a pretty exciting step towards fan inclusion if you ask me. Spotify has nailed it with its social features and personal interactional functions, but has yet to really make space for fan bases to thrive. Until now.

The burning questions are: 'How do I stream Lady Gaga’s Spotify press conference?' and 'What can I expect from this unprecedented event from Spotify?'. Luckily, you’ve found the right person to tell you everything you need to know.

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How can I watch the Spotify Presents: Little Monsters Press Conference?

The press conference will be taking place today (March 6) and will be live streamed on Spotify's TikTok and Instagram pages, as well as the Spotify YouTube channel. The event starts at 6pm ET / 3pm PT, meaning 11pm for UK fans - a late start, but one that's worth staying up to catch.

If you find yourself in a location where Spotify's channels may be blocked or unavailable, it's worth seeking out your options so that you don't miss out on the fan event, or you want to stream it securely. We recommend using NordVPN.

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What can I expect from Spotify Presents: Little Monsters Press Conference?

Well, since it's a first-of-its-kind event for Spotify, it's difficult to guess exactly what will be discussed and what will occur during the livestream. However, given Gaga's encouragement to fans in her social media announcement, the event could take an unexpected direction and invite queries outside of the expected music and streaming-related questions.

Since it's been nearly five years since Gaga's last solo studio album Chromatica (2020) – sorry, I'm not counting her passion project Harlequin (2024) – I'd imagine that a lot of the questions will get to the nitty gritty of the next project's inspiration and roots, and possibly what comes next once it drops on March 7.

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Apple might have only unveiled the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 yesterday, March 5, 2025, but I’ve gotten an early preview, putting my eyes and hands on the latest laptop from the Cupertino-based tech giant.

While the leading feature is in the name – the M4 chipset – two other things bubbled up in my mind: the new Sky Blue shade, which has a unique quality to it, and that more affordable price.

I didn’t get to do a formal hands-on, per se, but here are my thoughts after seeing the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air in all four colors, along with some photos and videos of them in action.

Sky Blue really looks stunning

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

I wasn’t expecting an all-new color for the MacBook Air, but I am thrilled to see Apple expanding the lineup. I, of course, just wish a few more shades were ushered in, potentially some more vibrant colors like the pink and orange of the iMac. One can dream.

In person, the Sky Blue shade is really delightful and almost an optical illusion. Depending on how the light hits it, it can sometimes look silver. It’s not a vibrant blue or a darker one like Midnight, but rather, it sticks out as a light, pastel-y shade of turquoise.

Further, as much as I’d love a punchy Ultramarine MacBook Air like the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, that’s not the case here.

While Apple is ushering Sky Blue to the MacBook Air color options, it’s replacing Space Gray. So, if you don't want the new color, your options are Starlight, Silver, or Midnight – you can see them in the gallery below.

Apple added its special anodization process to Midnight with the M2 model to help reduce and remove fingerprints – mileage varied at times here. that's unchanged with the M4, but there's no such finish on the Sky Blue MacBook Air.

Image 1 of 6

The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Sky Blue. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Image 2 of 6

Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air in M4 in Sky Blue. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Image 3 of 6

Apple's 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 in Sky Blue. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Image 4 of 6

An up-close look at the MagSafe and USB-C/Thunderbolt ports on the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 in Sky Blue. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Image 5 of 6

Lid of 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air M4 in Sky Blue (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Image 6 of 6

The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M4 in Sky Blue on a table. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Even so, Sky Blue does a pretty good job of hiding fingerprints and smudges on the outer shell. It’s a natural property of this shade and the materials here.

If I were to purchase a MacBook Air right now, I would choose Sky Blue for either size. It’s a great shade – not too poppy or vibrant, just the right amount of color to add flair. Please don’t snap a plastic case on the outside of it; stickers are fine, though.

I do hope that with whatever comes next – maybe it’s M5 MacBook Air? – Apple rolls out some additional shades.

A return to form for price

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

In the United States, the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 for the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. That same model is £999 in the UK or $1,699 in Australia, which is actually a price cut, and Apple’s really stretching the value here. That’s even better than when the MacBook Air M1 rolled out.

Although I didn’t spend much time playing around with macOS on these MacBook Airs, I have zero doubts about the M4 chip's performance. I saw demos of it playing a game and performing some masking in Pixelmator Pro without skipping a beat or dropping frames.

When I reviewed the iMac as well as TechRadar’s Matthew Hanson with the Mac mini and Lance Ulanoff with the 14-inch MacBook Pro last October – all featuring variations of the M4 – the speeds and performance were fast.

I have a feeling that for the price, the MacBook Air will be the obvious choice for most folks – even for the 15-inch, starting at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, which also got a price cut.

@techradar

♬ Pretty (Sped Up) - MEYY

Alongside the new color and the M4 chip, Apple also made another change to the MacBook Air: upgrading the FaceTime camera to a 12-megapixel lens with support from CenterStage.

I quickly tested this. As I moved the MacBook Air up or down, the camera frame moved swiftly to keep me in the video (it does this via a crop of a much wider 12MP video frame). It’s nice to have, and considering Center Stage also arrives on the MacBook Pro with the M4, it’s good form to trickle it down to the MacBook Air.

I wish Apple had at least offered the nano-texture option here, as it works great on the MacBook Pro. While I’m at it, upping the base storage to 512GB would also be nice. As it stands, I think this is one of the best MacBook Airs, yet from the price cut to the M4 chip to the shiny shade of blue.

Be sure to check out our first look video with the MacBook Air below, and stay tuned for a review once we get our hands on it, as there is plenty to test here.

If you're already sold, the M4 MacBook Air is up for preorder now and will formally launch on March 12, 2025.

• 13-inch MacBook Air with M4, starting at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 from Apple or Amazon
• 15-inch MacBook Air with M4, starting at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099 from Apple or Amazon

@techradar

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• 12 Chinese hackers have been charged by the US Department of Justice
• Two of these were allegedly involved in the 2024 US Treasury hack
• The individuals have not been apprehended

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced it is bringing charges against 12 Chinese hackers who are accused of targeting over 100 American companies, including the US Treasury.

The individuals are all accused of playing key roles in Chinese hacking offensives. Officials confirmed some of those charged were contract hackers and Chinese law enforcement officials who targeted firms in the US and worldwide in order to suppress “free speech and religious freedoms”.

Of those twelve, two of the individuals are allegedly linked to the state-sponsored hacking group Silk Typhoon - identified by Microsoft as the group responsible for the US Treasury hack in late 2024.

Hackers-for-hire

The attackers targeted law firms, defense contractors, government agencies, universities, tech companies, and healthcare services, prosecutors confirmed - gaining access to victims' networks by exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities in enterprise software.

The DoJ also announced it was bringing charges against eight individuals who were part of an organization, Anxum Information Technology Co.Ltd. - nicknamed “i-Soon”.

This organization, “conducted computer intrusions at the direction of the PRC’s [Ministry of Public Security] MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS)” - for which the MPS and MSS “paid handsomely", allegedly rewarding between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox the group successfully exploited.

“The FBI is committed to protecting Americans from foreign cyber-attacks,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division.

“Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

None of the individuals have been detained, and the US Government has offered up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests and convictions of the malicious cybercriminals.

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• Nisos uncovers network of fake identities, all looking for software development work
• At least two personas are working in small businesses
• The goal is to earn money for North Korea's weapons program

North Korean cybercriminals are faking their identities in order to get jobs in software development companies in Asia and the West, new research has claimed.

A report from researchers Nisos claims to have identified at least four fake personas working as software developers, blockchain developers, IT pros, and similar, with the goal, “to earn cash to fund Pyongyang’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development programs."

To create these fake identities, the threat actors are using GitHub and reusing matured GitHub accounts and portfolio content from older personas. This helps them backstop their new identities, the researchers said. It also helped two individuals get jobs at companies with fewer than 50 employees.

Lazarus?

While these identities have accounts on employment and people information websites, they don’t have social media accounts, which is always a red flag. Furthermore, their profile photos are “photoshopped” and they have, in some cases, obviously pasted a different face over a stock photo to show them working in a team.

Finally, all personas in the network use similar email addresses, often including the same numbers and the word “dev”.

While it’s difficult to know for certain, Nisos says there are “several indicators” that the hackers are affiliated with the North Korean government, including “consistent tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) attributed to North Korean employment fraud actors.”

In the past, there have been reports of Lazarus, a known North Korean state-sponsored threat actor, hunting for software development jobs. Getting hired helps them gain access to the company’s back end, which they use to steal sensitive data, or even money.

Lazarus was also observed creating fake companies and fake jobs, and head-hunting software developers in major IT firms. During the “hiring process”, they would drop malware onto their victim’s devices, with the same goal of accessing their employer’s IT infrastructure.

The group usually targets blockchain-related businesses and has pulled off some of the biggest crypto heists in history.

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• Nvidia released a new Game Ready Driver for RTX 5070 support and DLSS 4 updates for some new and current games
• Users continue to voice frustrations regarding black screen issues after new driver update
• It may be ideal to hold off on updates until Team Green releases more stable builds

The tables are gradually turning in the battle between Nvidia and AMD in the GPU market, with the former's RTX 5000 series launch coming with a litany of problems, which AMD is taking full advantage of with its Radeon RX 9000 series launch. While Team Green's new Game Ready Driver promises a fix for some previous issues, it may be a good idea to stay away from it for the time being.

In a blog released by Nvidia, a new Game Ready Driver (572.70) is available which provides support for its new RTX 5070 GPU, along with DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation support for some games. It also suggests a fix for a previous black screen issue when attempting to boot into systems while using DisplayPort.

This issue seemed to be widespread after people installed driver 572.60 - I can corroborate this as booting into Windows 11 resulted in the login screen disappearing, leaving only the mouse cursor. The solution was uninstalling the 'latest quality update' in Windows 11's recovery mode, and rolling the driver back to 572.47 for stability.

It's not the first time this has occurred - the driver that introduced DLSS 4 override for RTX GPUs (572.16), reportedly caused Blue Screen of Death errors when gaming, notably in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 when activating or adjusting Frame Generation settings.

A hotfix (572.65) was released to address 572.60's major bug, but the issue remained (according to some Reddit users). Meanwhile, whilst the release notes for the new 572.70 update suggest the black screen issues have been resolved, users are still reporting the same problems, alongside stuttering in games and a black screen bug during the driver's installation. This isn't ideal, particularly for those using Team Green's new RTX 5070 (the driver has been specifically released to support the GPU), and adds to the list of controversies surrounding the new Blackwell GPUs.

Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia

(Image credit: Future) Roll back your drivers, and stay away for now

Unless you're using an RTX 5070, I would suggest you roll back your Nvidia graphics driver as soon as possible - I've been using driver 572.47 ever since encountering the black screen booting issue, and haven't looked back.

Team Green is under fire for several problems regarding its Blackwell GPUs, and I worry that it won't end anytime soon. The last thing you want to happen is for a future unstable driver to drastically affect your system, and recurring BSoDs, in-game crashes, installation issues and unresponsive black screens are not a great sign in my book.

I must note that all PC configurations aren't the same, and it's likely some may not run into any of these issues (which I hope is the case) - but with the consistency of frustrations shared and the similarity between them, I'm willing to stick with what is most stable for now (even if it means losing out on any game enhancements).

I hope that Nvidia can get back to launching stable drivers that don't further damage its reputation - though bear in mind, drivers may always have one or two issues for a number of users - but until then, I'll be keeping my system clean of any GPU driver updates.

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• Some worldwide retailers have confirmed the RX 9070's timed MSRP
• It's claimed only the first batch of select models will be available for $549
• Once sold, the new prices could match (or narrow) that of the RX 9070 XT

It's launch day for AMD's RDNA 4 graphics cards, with the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT now available on store shelves. However, as some online retailers have mentioned already, the former's respective MSRP ($549) may only apply to the initial batch of the GPUs sold, with future supply seeing a potential price increase.

As spotted by Videocardz, it's alleged that the RX 9070 will only be sold at its MSRP of $549 for a limited time, as AMD's partners will be able to set their prices. Swedish retailer Inet.se informed the outlet that the MSRP would only be respected for the first run, as the company evidenced this with its selling of PowerColor Reaper variants, as the prices of a second shipment are reportedly already higher.

The retailer explained how its AMD RX 9070 stock prices will depend on the manufacturer shipping the different cards, outlining that with "Sapphire and Asus it will be just usual" as you'll be able to buy the GPUs at MSRP until they run out. However, it also said that it will be different with PowerColor. "Our second shipment from PowerColor is already waiting, and we cannot it at MSRP prices".

To clarify, it says it will sell the first run of PowerColor Reaper RX 9070 cards it has in stock until they are sold out, and then increase prices when it is fulfilling orders from the second batch. "If you receive an order with MSRP price even though the cards are sold out we will of course give you that price, but unfortunately we have no way of continuing to sell cards at MSRP after the first deliveries are sold out".

This is a problem that seems to impact prospective buyers in the UK as well. Andrew Gibson, Purchasing Manager for Overclockers UK, spoke about the limited amount of RX 9070 stock at MSRP from the retailer. He explained the retailer had around 5,000 cards in total from Sapphire (2,000), PowerColor (1,000), and ASRock (1,000), but that "MSRP is capped quantity of a few hundred, so prices will jump once those are sold through".

It's believed that only four different variants of the AMD RX 9070 will be available for its MSRP price: the PowerColor Reaper, Sapphire Pulse, Asus Prime, and XFX Swift, at least for the initial shipment window, as outlined in Sweden and the UK. There's a possibility that things could be broadened in the US; however, there's also no guarantee that the prices you'll see today (and over the next few days) will be as low as what could come shortly if you don't pull the trigger early.

A wrench in the works for RDNA's budget performer

Earlier today, we praised the fact that many retailers were (seemingly) flush with options for RX 9070 XT stock on launch day, something that we cannot say for the dismal state of Nvidia's RTX 50 series in contrast. However, while availability doesn't appear to be marred the same way, the fact that the aggressive $549 starting price seems so ephemeral is disappointing, given the overall value proposition.

As it stands, the RX 9070 is just $50 cheaper than the (current) RDNA 4 flagship model, the RX 9070 XT, which is available for $599. However, if you're unable to secure a non-XT model for its recommended retail price, then the overall point of the card in the face of its sibling seems moot by comparison. While stock is flying off the shelves (many of the MSRP models mentioned above are no longer available), you're prompted to pay extra to get one instead, which is far from ideal.

As such, what's the point of the RX 9070 if you're going to have to spend the same money (or more) than purchasing the RX 9070 XT instead? The latter appears more available with retailers such as Best Buy, Newegg, B&H, and Micro Center having stock by comparison. To try to avoid disappointment, we recommend keeping up with our regularly updated dedicated RX 9070 and RX 9070 stock tracker.

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• Google Cloud launches new AI Protection security suite
• Offering identifies, assesses, and protects AI assets for vulnerabilities
• Even more security features are coming soon

Google Cloud has launched AI Protection, a suite of security features designed to mitigate risks across AI workloads and data, regardless of the platform used.

The new offering will give businesses a centralized view of their AI standing, allowing them to manage the risks and spot threats before they become a concern.

"As AI use increases, security remains a top concern, and we often hear that organizations are worried about risks that can come with rapid adoption," noted Archana Ramamoorthy, Senior Director, Product Management, Google Cloud Security. "Google Cloud is committed to helping our customers confidently build and deploy AI in a secure, compliant, and private manner."

Boosted protection for AI workloads

(Image credit: Google Cloud)

AI Protection will be built into Security Command Center (SCC), providing a centralized AI security management system alongside other cloud risks.

Among the core capabilities of the new platform are AI Inventory Discovery (identifies and assesses AI assets for vulnerabilities), AI Asset Security (implements controls, policies, and guardrails to secure AI resources), and Threat Management (offers detection, investigation, and response mechanisms for AI-related threats).

Furthermore, Google Cloud explained that its Sensitive Data Protection (SDP) Enhancements now extend to Vertex AI datasets, enabling automatic discovery and classification of sensitive training and tuning data. After discovering sensitive data, AI Protection will use SCC’s virtual red teaming to identify potential attack paths on AI systems and suggest remediation steps.

Google Cloud also said Model Armor, a core capability of AI Protection, is now generally available. It is designed to protect against prompt injection and jailbreak attacks, data loss and malicious URLs, and offensive content. It can be integrated into applications via REST API, Apigee, and soon Vertex AI.

Finally, AI Protection will operationalize security intelligence and research from both Google and Mandiant to help defend AI systems.

Initial access attempts, privilege escalation, and persistence attempts for AI workloads can all be detected via SCC, while new detectors to AI Protection, based on the latest frontline intelligence, are “coming soon”. These will help identify and manage runtime threats such as foundational model hijacking.

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Today, cybersecurity is rightly on everyone’s mind. The ITRC tracked 3,205 data compromises, while increased AI availability is causing the scale of security ecosystems to grow even more; with multiple tools being used in a variety of ways by both businesses and their partners.

To build and maintain trust, businesses need to scrutinize not just their own security, but the security of their entire ecosystem. Every business relies on vendors to build parts of their product. And with introduction of each vendor there is additional risk, making third party security the business’s responsibility. Because in the event of a breach, a customer won’t care about who was responsible; only why it has impacted them.

The time of risk management being exclusive to a single organization is long gone, making managing third-party risk an even greater priority for leaders. But when IT and security resources are already stretched, how realistic is this?

Scaling to secure the business ecosystem

Admittedly, it’s not easy for businesses to keep up with the growing compliance burden and to maintain a strong security posture. According to Vanta’s State of Trust Report, global business and IT leaders cite a lack of staffing (33%) and of automation to replace manual work (32%) as the top blockers to proving security externally. Adding to this is the fact that 98% of organizations worldwide have integrations with at least one third-party vendor that has been breached in the last two years.

To meet their security needs, businesses must scale their third-party risk management program and find new ways, including utilizing AI tools, to manage the extensive workload this incurs. Fortunately this is more within reach than ever. So, what needs to change to enable businesses to do a lot with a little, and ensure their security posture isn’t weakened by limited resources and legacy systems?

Centralize vendor reviews

Vendor security reviews are a key component in protecting business ecosystems. But the number of applications and third-parties businesses use is growing. In 2022, organizations worldwide were using 130 SaaS applications on average. Further, vendors are changing all the time and reviews often involve regular, manual, multi-step processes. For instance, it can take hours to scour through information in the documents supplied by vendors, such as SOC 2 reports.

The answer for businesses is a solution that can automate faster, more efficient security reviews. One that can cover the breadth of the vendor relationship before, during and after. This includes managing everything from onboarding vendors, to utilizing AI to gather security vendor information, to analysing and extracting findings. Having these details along with risk assessment in a single source of truth can drive visibility and cross-functional awareness and ownership.

Bring costs down

Today, as many as 60% of companies reduced or were planning to reduce IT budgets. This shows just how little businesses are working with, not to mention startups that run a leaner operation. But regardless of budget or head count, there can be no compromise on security.

Automated third-party risk management solutions can reduce the strain on threadbare teams and ensure their time is spent on strategy, not tedious manual tasks such as vendor discovery, documenting findings and offboarding. Automating these tasks ensures that IT and security budgets – however limited – work harder, with teams focused on the work that delivers the biggest ROI.

Keep the ball rolling

A collaborative effort between stakeholders in executive leadership, procurement, information security, IT, legal and compliance makes the difference when managing third-party risk.

This is a tall order for any business, and leaders need to balance speed and business enablement, while doing due diligence around new vendors. Third-party risk management solutions bring a depth and breadth of automation like integrating with your procurement tooling that efficiently maintains compliance and quickly reacts to internal needs. This gives security teams relief and transforms third-party risk management from being point in time to a continuous, standardized process.

Adapt to AI

The future of trust in an AI world is less than certain, with 42% percent of experts saying they are equally excited and concerned about the impending “humans-plus-tech” evolution. But while businesses might not be able to control how AI evolves (or how quickly), they can control how they manage security.

The rise in AI tools being used across vendors, and their associated risks, are complicating third-party risk management, creating a tricky balance for businesses who must develop more comprehensive oversight, but also make sure they are not hampering innovation. With their customer data and reputation on the line, keeping tabs on the AI tools used by vendors, and the associated security risks, is one area where businesses must ensure their decision making is clinical.

AI can actually help organizations manage this. Through its ability to scrub large amounts of information in little to no time, AI can help you find the information you need, dig deeper and even answer any remaining compliance questions.

Put minds at ease

Third-party risk management isn’t new, but it has gotten harder to manage, and businesses must think bigger to anticipate and minimize risk as much as possible.

Moving from reactive to proactive third-party risk management can help businesses take the pain out of the process and maintain a security posture that doesn’t derail their priorities. This involves reducing manual work via automation and using AI to free up time for more strategic security work. The end result? You and your team grow in confidence, helping your workplace feel a lot more secure – in more ways than one.

We list the best IT management tool.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• A Select Committee has heard concerns from a former NSA cybersecurity chief
• Rob Joyce has warned layoffs will have a devastating affect on National Security
• Over 100,000 federal workers have been made redundant or taken retirement

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has been told by the former National Security Agency (NSA) director of cybersecurity how culling workers from federal departments will have a “devastating impact” on national security and cybersecurity.

Over 100,000 federal workers have been laid off or have taken early retirement as part of the new administration’s plans to drastically downsize the federal government workforce. This includes more than 130 positions cut from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA).

“I want to raise my grave concerns that the aggressive threats to cut U.S. government probationary employees will have a devastating impact on the cybersecurity and our national security,” Joyce said.

Slashed budgets

Probationary staff, or staff who have been with their government agency for under a year, were almost all eliminated in this round of layoffs, which Joyce argues will “destroy a pipeline of top talent responsible for hunting and eradicating [China backed] threats”.

A Federal judge in San Francisco has since deemed these layoffs illegal and has ordered agencies to rescind the directives - with some Republicans reportedly urging Musk in private to consult Congress on the cuts.

It should be mentioned that these cuts have largely come at the hands of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Most recently, the tech billionaire orchestrated the shutdown of tech unit 18F, a department of software engineers and strategists which serviced the General Services Administration, developing login systems and public-facing IT services.

Musk is an unelected official, and his plans to slash federal spending have also attracted a wave of lawsuits following privacy complaints, as the department allegedly accessed "extraordinarily sensitive” federal worker details.

Via TechCrunch

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, March 5 (game #367).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #369) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… All decked out

NYT Strands today (game #369) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• STRAY
• CATS
• BRIBE
• MICE
• LINER
• SPAM

NYT Strands today (game #369) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs

NYT Strands today (game #369) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 4th column

Last side: top, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #369) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #369, are…

• CRIBBAGE
• POKER
• CANASTA
• RUMMY
• EUCHRE
• PINOCHLE
• SPANGRAM: CARD GAMES

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 hints

After a very brief thought that we could be looking for something to do with ships today, I immediately spotted POKER before struggling to get anything else.

I love CARD GAMES, but it’s funny how you get stuck playing Big Two or Black Jack or, erm Snap depending on your family and friends, so several of today’s answers were new to me. I’ll be looking to learn EUCHRE, which sounds like excellent fun.

Our most recent family obsession is Mind, which is sort of a card game but not really. The idea is to put cards that are marked 1 to 100 down in order without seeing or knowing what anyone else has. It’s non-competitive but oddly compelling and you get to kid yourself that you can read minds. Not that anyone would want to read mine, unless you’re interested in doughnuts floating in space.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 6 March, game #368)

• MATCH
• LIKE
• CHAT
• GHOST
• PROFILE
• SWIPE
• MEETUP
• SPANGRAM: ONLINE DATING

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, March 6 (game #634).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #635) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• AMPLE
• CASH
• LABEL
• LUMON
• BUFFALO
• MARK
• HELENA
• MERCURY
• SEAL
• IRVING
• DYLAN
• DOTE
• BROWN
• STAMP
• POACH
• PHOENIX

NYT Connections today (game #635) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Insignia 
• GREEN: Not complete unknowns
• BLUE: Nice town 
• PURPLE: Altered fruits

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #635) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: EMBLEM 
• GREEN: SUBJECTS OF ACCLAIMED MUSICAL BIOPICS 
• BLUE: U.S. CITIES 
• PURPLE: FRUITS WITH THEIR SECOND LETTERS CHANGED 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #635) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #635, are…

• YELLOW: EMBLEM LABEL, MARK, SEAL, STAMP
• GREEN: SUBJECTS OF ACCLAIMED MUSICAL BIOPICS BROWN, CASH, DYLAN, MERCURY
• BLUE: U.S. CITIES BUFFALO, HELENA, IRVING, PHOENIX
• PURPLE: FRUITS WITH THEIR SECOND LETTERS CHANGED AMPLE, DOTE, LUMON, POACH

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 mistakes

I was convinced there was a musical category today, as there were plenty of connections even beyond the SUBJECTS OF ACCLAIMED MUSICAL BIOPICS.

The puzzle also featured the brilliant French group PHOENIX, pop legend SEAL, and hints at two classic '90s rock bands MERCURY (Rev) and BUFFALO (Tom).

Surely no coincidence.

Meanwhile, I struggled with U.S. CITIES but took a gamble on HELENA, which I have since learned is the state capital of Montana. Apologies to any Montanans reading this.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 6 March, game #634)

• YELLOW: WANE DWINDLE, FADE, PETER, TAPER
• GREEN: DO SOME TASKS IN THE GARDEN PLANT, PRUNE, WATER, WEED
• BLUE: SHOES FLAT, MARY JANE, MULE, SLIDE
• PURPLE: SAND__ CASTLE, PAPER, PIPER, STONE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, March 6 (game #1137).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1138) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1138) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1138) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1138) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1138) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• G

• S

• D

• M

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1138) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1138, are…

• GLEAN
• SHINY
• DECRY
• MANGA

With my paucity of green letters from my three starting words I thought I was going to struggle today, but getting SHINY ahead of a few other options set me on the path to glory…

That is until I ruined a nice run by impulsively thinking I had the correct word with Vegan, without properly looking at the letters I already had.

Still, one error is not bad going.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1138) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1138, are…

• POLAR
• DRAWL
• SLICE
• LEMON

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1137, Thursday 6 March: TRICE, EIGHT, BELCH, RIPER
• Quordle #1136, Wednesday 5 March: PLEAD, TWANG, MAJOR, RISKY
• Quordle #1135, Tuesday 4 March: FLOWN, ETUDE, TOPAZ, JOKER
• Quordle #1134, Monday 3 March: FRILL, KAYAK, REBAR, WORDY
• Quordle #1133, Sunday 2 March: TUNIC, GLOSS, DEBUG, LARGE
• Quordle #1132, Saturday 1 March: DENSE, BONEY, KITTY, SMEAR
• Quordle #1131, Friday 28 February: PASTA, RAZOR, PLUMB, DROOL
• Quordle #1130, Thursday 27 February: THIEF, CHAIR, ETHER, GRIME
• Quordle #1129, Wednesday 26 February: LOVER, SPIED, VAPOR, METER
• Quordle #1128, Tuesday 25 February: TWIST, TWEAK, MEANT, CLEAR
• Quordle #1127, Monday 24 February: LEASH, LEVER, TOTEM, CREME
• Quordle #1126, Sunday 23 February: RABID, RELIC, SCRAM, BASIS
• Quordle #1125, Saturday 22 February: ETHER, SONIC, VAUNT, ROUSE
• Quordle #1124, Friday 21 February: STIFF, PRIZE, SCOWL, DONUT
• Quordle #1123, Thursday 20 February: HASTY, DRAPE, FICUS, CRAZE
• Quordle #1122, Wednesday 19 February: ABATE, TROVE, VENUE, DRAPE
• Quordle #1121, Tuesday 18 February: TAMER, SCRUB, BRICK, DRIFT
• Quordle #1120, Monday 17 February: SADLY, WAFER, LITHE, IDIOM
• Quordle #1119, Sunday 16 February: GHOUL, AFIRE, COVEN, FIERY
• Quordle #1118, Saturday 15 February: CREEP, CONDO, GRILL, FANCY

• Cloudflare is reportedly blocking some browsers from accessing some sites
• Pale Moon, Falkon, SeaMonkey and even Firefox are affected, users claim
• It’s unclear whether a more permanent solution is coming

Cloudflare has admitted its browser-detection system is blocking some users’ access to websites if they’re using lesser-known web browsers.

Affected browsers include Pale Moon, Falkon and SeaMonkey, as well as some versions of more popular offerings such as Firefox 115 ESR.

The issue is caused by Cloudflare’s security system, which blocks browsers it doesn’t recognize from certain sites (including, embarrassingly, its own community site) – potentially mistaking privacy-conscious users for bots.

Cloudflare keeps accidentally blocking less common browsers

Users encountering the problem have no direct way to report it except through Cloudflare’s forums, but it seems that they’re not actively monitored. Moreover, it’s hardly a new problem, with similar reports dating back to 2015.

Some affected browsers have attempted workarounds, but either Cloudflare’s system keeps reintroducing the problem or users encounter different problems.

For example, release notes for Pale Moon v33.6.0.1 read: “This is an extra update to mitigate as much of the CloudFlare issues leading to browser hangs and memory issues as possible on the web browser side.” However, efforts to circumvent Cloudflare’s security measures often

One user on the Hacker News thread explained what Cloudflare’s doing is like “like kicking anyone wearing dark sunglasses out of a physical store” – although burglars might want to obscure their faces, there are endless reasons to want to wear sunglasses, and there are endless reasons why internet users might want to protect their anonymity.

It’s not just Cloudflare customers who are being restricted from certain areas of the web. Another commenter wrote “Vendors who block iCloud Relay are the worst… Blocking IP addresses is o-ver.”

TechRadar Pro has asked Cloudflare to comment on the matter and to share its plans on any fixes, but we did not receive an immediate response.

Via The Register

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• New data suggests most iPhone and Galaxy users find AI adds little to no value to their experience
• More than 2,000 smartphone users were surveyed by second-hand phone marketplace SellCell
• Data suggests users just aren’t interested in AI features

It’s likely that if you own a smartphone, it’s been updated to include some form of artificial intelligence within the last 12 months – that’s if it didn’t ship with some kind of AI out of the box.

However, with all the buzz around Apple Intelligence, Galaxy AI, and Google Gemini coming to the best phones, it's important to take a moment to ask whether any of us are actually getting any use out of AI – luckily, a new survey has poised that exact question.

A survey of more than 2,000 smartphone users by second-hand smartphone marketplace SellCell found that 73% of iPhone users and a whopping 87% of Samsung Galaxy users felt that AI adds little to no value to their smartphone experience.

SellCell only surveyed users with an AI-enabled phone – thats an iPhone 15 Pro or newer or a Galaxy S22 or newer. The survey doesn’t give an exact sample size, but more than 1,000 iPhone users and more than 1,000 Galaxy users were involved.

You'll need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 series handset to access Apple Intelligence on your phone (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Further findings show that most users of either platform would not pay for an AI subscription: 86.5% of iPhone users and 94.5% of Galaxy users would refuse to pay for continued access to AI features.

That’s especially pertinent for Galaxy users, as all Galaxy S25 phones come with six months of Gemini Advanced for free – it doesn’t seem like many will be choosing to renew that subscription. Apple has yet to announce any plans to monetize Apple Intelligence.

The survey also found that AI plays a small role in compelling users to switch platform: 16.8% of iPhone users surveyed would switch to Galaxy for better AI features, while just 9.7% of Galaxy users would make the inverse switch.

However, almost half of iPhone users consider AI an important factor in buying a new phone, with 47.6% saying they consider AI when it comes time to make a purchase as compared to 23.7% of Samsung users.

iPhone users are also generally prouder of Apple Intelligence than their Samsung-wielding peers, with 15.4% saying Apple Intelligence is better than Galaxy AI. Conversely, only 7.8% of Galaxy users stepped up to say Galaxy AI is better than Apple Intelligence.

My analysis – do people just not care?

Apple Intelligence was one of the biggest product launches of 2024, but does anyone care now? (Image credit: Apple)

From the data listed so far, it seems that people just aren’t using AI. In the case of both iPhone and Galaxy users about two-fifths of those surveyed have tried AI features – 41.6% for iPhone and 46.9% for Galaxy.

So, that’s a majority of users not even bothering with AI in the first place and a general disinterest in AI features from the user base overall, despite both Apple and Samsung making such a big deal out of AI.

But why is that? The survey suggests that the majority of iPhone users simply haven’t updated to iOS 18.1 to access Apple Intelligence, while Galaxy users are most likely to just not be interested in available features. Just under a fifth of iPhone users and just less than two fifths of Galaxy users also felt that AI was too inaccurate to use.

I have some theories about what could be driving this apathy. The first centers on ethical concerns about AI. It’s no secret that AI is an environmental catastrophe in motion, consuming massive amounts of water and emitting huge levels of CO2, so greener folks may opt to give it a miss.

There’s also the issue of AI and human creativity – TechRadar’s Editorial Associate Rowan Davies recently wrote of a nascent “cultural genocide” as a result of generative AI, which I think is a compelling reason to avoid it.

It could also be that everyday consumers have tuned out due to the prolonged, messy software rollouts of Apple Intelligence and One UI 7 – even as a full-time tech journalist, I’ve found both hard to follow at times.

Ultimately, though, I think AI just isn't interesting to the everyday person. Even as someone who's making a career of being excited about phones, I’ve yet to see an AI feature announced that doesn't look like a chore to use or an overbearing generative tool. I don’t use any AI features day-to-day, and as such I don’t expect much more excitement from the general public.

In any case, I’ll be looking to Apple and Samsung to spark that interest with high-quality, useful, ethical AI additions in the future. If you’re already ready to jump in, be sure to check out our list of the best AI phones, and let us know what you make of mobile AI in the comments below.

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