Technology

After a couple of years of high excitement around the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive results for business, many leaders are now highly impatient to deploy the technology and have great expectations for what AI can deliver. Tech leaders are hopeful that AI can deliver everything from streamlined operations to game-changing improvements in the way the whole organization does business, and planned AI spending is rising 61% this year, according to new research. Business leaders need to maintain a firm grip on reality, and temper their AI enthusiasm with a grounded view of what the business really needs AI to deliver. In the past two years, many companies have invested in AI only to find that their proof-of-concepts have not delivered results. Getting the right results from AI investment requires careful thought beforehand, combined with precise attention to detail during the project itself.

The past two years have seen an unprecedented amount of technology hype around the potential of generative AI, so it’s all too easy to understand how a business leader could be tempted to ask their IT teams why they are not using generative AI right this second. The problem is that in those businesses, neither the leaders who are swept away in a wave of AI enthusiasm, nor their IT teams, really know how AI can deliver a business advantage. Before rolling out AI, leaders need to be certain that they are doing so for the right reasons (and not just using it because their competitors are).

The gap between exciting technology built in the laboratory and the day-to-day reality of business applications is very large, and it’s crucial not to fall into the trap of becoming over-excited about technology that has yet to cross that gap. Taking a short-sighted view and moving forward too early is how AI investments end up wasted.

Building the foundations

Even the very best technology is just a science experiment if it cannot be adopted and used in the real world. The single biggest reason AI ‘doesn’t work’ for businesses is that people try to ‘do AI’ rather than identifying where problems or inefficiencies exist. To find such problems, business leaders should first talk to partners, and listen to consumers and front-line employees. Does the business lack staff to talk to customers? Does the business need to find a way to cut fuel emissions? Beyond the hype, the real excitement of this technology comes not from thinking about AI as a standalone solution, but by adding AI into the solution to a real business problem.

What you need for success

All too often, the approach to AI is to have a specific ‘AI team’, rather than applying the technology across the whole business. This siloed approach is a key mistake. AI must be integrated with a holistic approach, and a view to scaling it across every part of the business. Business leaders must connect multiple teams together to initially implement the technology, and avoid cutting corners to ensure seamless integration. Business leaders need to design an effective proof-of-concept solution that includes AI appropriately in order to mitigate a business problem, and then scale it accordingly. For example, a generative AI chatbot that can answer niche questions could be made available to a small subset of customers initially, but rolled out to larger groups thereafter. Internal communication is also key as the business benefits of the proof-of-concept must be effectively communicated within the organization, as AI projects often fail to be exciting to leadership until they grow to a certain size.

Is generative AI right for you?

Even experts who have worked in the field for many years were caught by surprise at how the launch of ChatGPT made the pinnacle of AI technology so easy to adopt. This, in turn, made it easy for business leaders to imagine that generative AI should be adopted universally. But they should pause to think about whether such technology is the right choice, or if other forms of AI might do the job better.

The enthusiasm around generative AI has meant that it’s sometimes used in areas which don’t play to its natural strengths. Generative AI is great for conversational user interfaces such as chatbots, knowledge discovery and content generation. It’s also highly useful in segmentation and intelligent automation and anomaly detection. For example, one leading UK Industrial AI & IoT technology company used machine learning and computer vision AI technologies to enable its composite manufacturing process to be smoother and greatly reduce anomalies. This demonstrates how AI is already improving manufacturing quality control through various systems that accurately detect defects.

The companies getting the most from AI

Artificial intelligence is already helping organizations to solve real problems in sectors such as retail and manufacturing. AI helps to streamline and speed up processes, eliminating the amount of time spent by employees on mundane tasks. In both retail and manufacturing, computer vision is emerging as an interesting and successful use of AI, linking the physical and digital worlds, and helping to spot defects on production lines and offering valuable insight in retail settings.

Computer vision also has an important role in allowing retailers to draw important insights from cameras in retail stores, far beyond simply dealing with theft or similar incidents. One current system is able to offer insights into important trends around what customers are looking at and buying, and to validate the success of promotions. The system can identify everything from misplaced products to how retail media (advertising) within the store is performing in terms of views.

In manufacturing, computer vision helps make factories and laboratories more efficient and also safer for employees. For example, computer vision is already helping to conduct quality control checks on products, ensuring they are not missing any components, and monitors the number of products coming off a production line in any time period, also scanning for defects. But even more importantly, new computer vision systems are helping to make factories safer, scanning for smoke and fire, while also detecting accident-prone machinery.

A sensible approach

With excitement swirling around AI and generative AI in particular, business leaders need to ensure their feet are firmly planted on the ground, and take a sensible approach to the technology. This means focusing on real, tangible problems within the business, and working out how AI can deal with those problems. It’s also key to ensure that AI projects are ‘woven into’ the business effectively: not only should AI integration be closely linked to real-life problems, but the AI project should also be something that as many employees as possible can be ‘hands on’ with. This sort of holistic, integrated approach is the way to ensure AI projects do not fail in their early stages, and a foundation stone to using AI to gain a true competitive advantage.

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It's finally here! Apple Intelligence has arrived as part of iOS 18.1. The new update for iPhone brings the first wave of Apple's AI features to your device and can be installed right now.

This update includes the first set of Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools for proofreading and rewriting, Smart Replies to reply to messages quickly, Notification Summaries, Cleaning Photos, and a redesign of Siri. You'll also get these experiences on an iPad or Mac courtesy of iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, which also began rolling out today.

Other Apple Intelligence features, like Genmoji, Image Playground, and ChatGPT-integration for Siri will arrive in iOS 18.2 later this year. For owners of the best iPhone, the iPhone 16, Visual Intelligence using the device's Camera Control will also be made available as part of iOS 18.2.

We've been talking about Apple Intelligence for months, so it's incredibly exciting to finally be able to install the official release of iOS 18.1 and get started with everything Apple's AI-powered tools have to offer. If you'd like to know more about Apple Intelligence and its features, check out this list of Apple Intelligence features.

Unfortunately, to use Apple Intelligence on the iPhone, you need an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max. That said, iOS 18.1 offers a range of other updates outside of AI. On a Mac, you'll need an M-Series chip and on the iPad you'll need either the A17 Pro, M1, M2, or M4 chips to get Apple Intelligence.

This launch is for Apple Intelligence in US English, if you want to try Apple Intelligence but don't live in the United States, here's how to get Apple Intelligence in the UK and other countries.

• How to get Apple Intelligence

A new era

Siri's redesign on an iPhone 16 Pro Max (Image credit: Future / Apple )

iOS 18.1 also introduces a range of upgrades for AirPods owners, including an FDA-approved over-the-counter hearing aid feature for those with mild to moderate hearing loss.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro owners will also be able to change the camera that Camera Control launches, with a new option to switch quickly to the front TrueDepth Camera. You'll also find new Control Center options in the newly redesigned Control Center found in iOS 18.

iOS 18.1 also fixes many bugs and brings stability improvements to all iOS 18-compatible iPhones. That said, Apple Intelligence is really the star of the show here, and with the latest update, Apple looks to be prioritizing iPhone 15 Pro owners and newer.

Want to know more about our thoughts? Check out our iOS 18.1 Apple Intelligence hands-on to get a rundown of every AI feature you can use in the new update. If you're looking for a new Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone, check out our iPhone 16 review.

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Apple Intelligence for the Mac is here via macOS 15.1. Here’s how to install it, get new features, and figure out whether your current Mac will support the latest capabilities.

Apple's artificial features are finally rolling out today, but you might find yourself saying, ‘Is that it?’

Apple is rolling out iOS 18.1 now with Apple Intelligence. Here are all the top new features and how to download it.

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Keeping track of all your activity on Microsoft Teams should soon be much more straightforward thanks to a new update.

The video conferencing platform has announced a change that will bring all your chats, teams and channels into one location in the Chat menu.

Microsoft says the Teams update should make online collaboration much more efficient and effective, helping users stay on top of all the notifications that really matter.

Microsoft Teams channels upgrade

"The pace of work has increased exponentially, making it more challenging to keep up with the high volume of conversations, manage messages scattered across different locations, and find information," Microsoft wrote in a blog post announcing the change.

"We’ve redesigned the chat and channels experience to simplify your digital workspace by bringing chats, teams, and channels into one place under Chat."

As well as the new central hub for activity, Microsoft Teams is also getting a new @mentions view to help users get up to speed on direct messages in once place.

The tool will also offer new filters to help users focus on what’s important now, new controls to choose your personal workflow and preferred information consumption style, and more. Users will also get a range of new controls for greater visibility and personalization, meaning they can view chat and channels separately, see message previews, or display all channels in a single list.

Users will also be able to create custom sections, bringing together chats, channels, and meetings on a specific area, such as a specific work project or topic. There will also be a new favorites section, bringing together pinned chats and channels in one place.

The new approach will be coming to desktop, mobile, Android and iOS, meaning users can stay on top of their workloads on the move, with a launch expected within the next few days.

The company also revealed it is working on threaded conversations in Teams chat, to make the app "more streamlined and simpler" - it hopes to launch this feature mid-2025.

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If your spidey sense has been tingling lately, it might be because of a new surprise update released for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Version 1.004 is available now and introduces full PlayStation 5 Pro support.

Some of the best PS5 games have been receiving recent updates adding compatibility with Sony’s upcoming console, such as The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 update, detailed in a recent post by developer Insomniac Games, adds two new graphics modes: Performance Pro and Fidelity Pro.

Performance Pro mode will be the default setting on the PS5 Pro. It targets 60 fps but offers all the same graphical features of the Fidelity mode on the base PS5 in addition to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling. All ray-tracing features are also enabled by default, including ray-traced water and window reflections.

The developer states that “this mode is recommended for most players.” 

The Fidelity Pro mode is then an alternate option for those who really want to push their graphics to the max. It targets 30 fps and introduces new ray-tracing graphical features plus greater pedestrian and traffic density. This is in addition to higher-quality character hair. A handful of new features can be individually tweaked to target different frame rates, with support for variable refresh rate (VRR) displays.

These toggles include: RT Key Light Shadows, RT Reflections & Interiors, and RT Ambient Occlusion. The first is only available in Fidelity Pro mode and uses ray-tracing to offer more realistic shadows at medium to long distances - in theory improving wide views of the city. 

RT Reflections & Interiors can be set to Medium or High, with High only available in Fidelity Pro mode. This changes the resolution of ray-traced reflections and building window interiors. 

Finally, RT Ambient Occlusion can be disabled or set to Medium or High in order to leverage ray-tracing to improve ambient occlusion effects. Apparently, “the visual impact of this feature will vary greatly based on the scene” so it might be one to keep disabled if you’re looking for an easy and potentially less noticeable way to improve performance in Fidelity Pro mode.

If you want to get your hands on the console when it releases, PS5 Pro pre-orders are open now at a range of retailers.

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Microsoft’s new Windows 11 24H2 update has caused Intel Z890 motherboards to constantly crash or reboot, requiring users to change BIOS settings for a solution. This is another entry in the growing list of issues Windows users have faced with the major update.

According to a post (in Spanish) from El Chapuzas Informatico, who have closely monitored the situation, the issue with the Z890 motherboard appears to stem from an apparent conflict between dedicated and integrated GPUs. It doesn’t seem to be limited to one specific mobo, either; this glitch is reportedly occurring with boards from multiple brands including MSI and Gigabyte. It’s unclear at this point whether the blame lies directly with Microsoft’s update, or if Intel bears some responsibility here too.

The solution to the crashes requires users to enter the motherboard BIOS and disable their system’s integrated graphics before proceeding with any necessary BIOS updates. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound as though this issue will cause any irreparable damage to users’ boards, but it’s clear that Microsoft needs to release a patch ASAP to avoid any more potential problems.

El Chapuzas Informatico included this list of instructions for resolving the issue, originally provided by Asus. (Image credit: El Chapuzas Informatico ) The 24H2 nightmare update continues for Microsoft

The 24H2 update is proving to be a nightmare for many Windows users so far, with issues such as random BSODs (Blue Screen of Death) for those utilizing Western Digital SSDs, even before the current Z890 problem. This is especially frustrating for users since Windows updates are often automatically pushed when restarting or powering off their system (something that is still a major point of contention for many users).

While the current issue apparently isn’t bricking boards or causing any major damage, there’s no telling what other troubles the beleaguered Windows update could cause - there are plenty of PC users who maintain specific system configurations, and given the range of odd hardware-specific bugs with 24H2, it’s possible that some users could be hit with multiple issues that are hard to troubleshoot independently.

Fortunately, in this case, motherboard manufacturers are already pushing urgent BIOS updates to alleviate the problem, meaning there are solutions available - our hope remains that Microsoft acts fast to fix all the ongoing bugs, so we can properly appreciate the improvements that Windows 11 24H2 brings.

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Amazon has seized a number of internet domains used by Russian hackers to launch phishing attacks.

In a blog post, CJ Moses, Chief Information Security Officer at Amazon, said a Russian state-sponsored threat actor known as Midnight Blizzard (AKA APT29) was spotted running a large-scale phishing attack against government agencies, enterprises, and militaries.

The attacks were impersonating Amazon Web Services (AWS), the retail giant’s cloud arm, with phishing emails written in the Ukrainian language.

Midnight Blizzard attacks

The goal of the campaign was not to target AWS, or to steal AWS credentials from the victims, Moses noted - instead, Midnight Blizzard was looking for Windows credentials to use through Microsoft Remote Desktop.

“Upon learning of this activity, we immediately initiated the process of seizing the domains APT29 was abusing which impersonated AWS in order to interrupt the operation,” Moses added. “CERT-UA has issued an advisory with additional details on their work.”

CERT-UA is the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine, a specialized structural unit of the State Center for Cyber Defense of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.

You may remember Midnight Blizzard as the threat actor behind the famed Microsoft attack that forced the company to completely revamp its security policies.

In early 2024, Microsoft revealed it had been attacked by the group, which managed to gain access to corporate email accounts in the company’s cybersecurity and legal departments.

The tech giant later confirmed that the breach was not confined, and that corporate accounts belonging to organizations outside of Microsoft were also affected.

Because of this, and a number of other incidents, the company was slammed by both the cybersecurity community and the US government, prompting the Secure Future Initiative - the company’s promise of a complete security overhaul.

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As I write this, I'm holding an Apple TV 4K in my hand, trying to imagine it in aluminum and as more than just a set-top streaming device. The tactile experiment is prompted by a fresh rumor from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, positing that the next Mac mini will be a design departure, shrinking to nearly the size of the Apple TV in my hand.

There were a lot of leaks in Gurman's posts about the already confirmed upcoming Apple Mac launch, which we expect this week.

The Mac mini rumor stuck out for me because I think it might change how people think about and use this sometimes dismissed or at least uncelebrated Mac. Starting at $499 (education price), the nearly three-pound computer has long been a relatively affordable entry point into the Mac arena. It lacks a keyboard, mouse, and display but also affords the budget-conscious a way to supply your own more affordable alternative accessories.

I've never considered the Mac mini a portable computer. It's a lot to throw in the backpack when you're not even getting a screen or keyboard to support it. This rumored redesign could change that.

The current Apple TV 4K is 3.66 inches x 3.66 inches by 1.2 inches tall and weighs less than half a pound. If the new Mac mini is close to that size, say 4 x 4 inches and 1.5 pounds, that might offer a different calculation when it comes to portability.

My thinking is that professionals and students who want, say, M4 power with them wherever they go – but would rather leave the MacBook behind – could throw this new Mac mini into their backpack (with a power source, I assume). When they arrive at a library, dorm room office, or someone else's home, they can just hook up to any available display, keyboard, and mouse, and get to work. The rumored extra ports on the front for additional accessories you can borrow is just icing on the cake.

I'd probably travel with my mouse of choice if it were me. However, I would assume someone has a decent Bluetooth keyboard I could borrow.

In a school scenario, districts could hand these little boxes to students for them to take home. Not only is the portability a plus but there are no moving or fragile (think a glass-covered display) to damage.

Hold the price line

Naturally, this won't work if Apple raises the price of the new Mac mini, charging a premium for this shrinkdown. The $100 discount for education should be included in the newest model. If not, it'll be a big missed opportunity for Apple.

Beyond education, I think creative professionals will love having their favorite platform in their backpack if they show up at a client who doesn't have a Mac on the premises. The benefit is that they can connect to the largest screen in the office for maximum workspace without lugging around a hefty 16-inch MacBook Pro.

In the home, you can hide multiple Mac minis as you squirrel away the all-black Apple TV 4K boxes underneath your TV. A small computer connected to a TV just waiting to do your Apple Intelligence bidding. It probably wouldn't even look out of place in the kitchen. I would, though, request some more color options on these ultra-tiny Macs.

I get that none of this works if Apple only gives the M4 Mac mini a shave instead of a haircut. A 6-inch Mac Mini would not be the radical redesign I imagined.

You might think I'm focusing on minutiae, touting a potentially minor change, but as I often like to say, it's the little – or mini-er – things that truly count.

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Cybercriminals have successfully breached at least 30 organizations using a vulnerability in SonicWall VPNs, security experts have warned.

Earlier in 2024, SonicWall reported discovering, and patching, a critical vulnerability in the SonicWall SonicOS. This bug, which is tracked as CVE-2024-40766, has a severity score of 9.3 (critical), and can result in unauthorized resource access, and even crashes of the VPN.

At the time, the company did not have any evidence of in-the-wild abuse, however just a few weeks later, both new reports from Arctic Wolf and Rapid7 have now warned users to patch immediately after hackers started exploiting the flaw.

Akira dominating

The improper access control vulnerability is affecting Gen 5, Gen 6, and Gen 7 firewalls, as well as the firewalls’ SSLVPN feature. The researchers warned that the crooks were abusing them to deploy Akira and Fog ransomware variants. Akira, which seems to be the more active of the two, usually targets firms in education, finance, real estate, manufacturing, and consulting industries.

Of the 30 recorded victims, 75% were infected with Akira, and the rest with Fog. However, it seems that the two threat actors are deeply connected, sharing the same infrastructure, and are not competing for the same attack surface.

Besides abusing the SonicWall vulnerability, the researchers also said that the victims most likely did not have multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled on the compromised SSL VPN accounts, which would make things a lot more difficult for the attackers. Furthermore, they were running the services on the default port 4433, which also played to the attackers’ strengths.

"In intrusions where firewall logs were captured, message event ID 238 (WAN zone remote user login allowed) or message event ID 1080 (SSL VPN zone remote user login allowed) were observed," Arctic Wolf said. "Following one of these messages, there were several SSL VPN INFO log messages (event ID 1079) indicating that login and IP assignment had completed successfully."

CVE-2024-40766 was added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, giving federal firms a deadline to patch up.

Via BleepingComputer

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Apple is rumored to announce a range of Mac devices this week (the company has hinted as much) and while I don’t know what the company has in store, it’s likely we’ll be seeing new MacBook Pros and an iMac 2024, all powered by the M4 chip that launched with the iPad Pro earlier this year.

While those are no doubt exciting products, one rumor has me really keen to see what Apple announces – an M4-powered Mac mini.

Yep, for all the promises of new MacBooks and iMacs, I really believe that an M4 Mac mini will be the most exciting launch (if it does happen).

(Image credit: Apple) I ❤️ the Mac mini

Why? Well, in a rather scary bit of Monday-morning calculation, I’ve figured out I’ve been reviewing and writing about laptops and PCs for almost 20 years. And over the (many) years I’ve been doing this I’ve got a sense for when new releases are iterative updates, and when they are truly exciting.

If the rumors are true, the new MacBooks and iMacs fall into the former category: iterative updates. There will likely be no new designs (both have had major redesigns in the past few years), with the biggest changes being the addition of the M4 chip.

I have nothing against the M4 chip. Since I reviewed the iPad Pro earlier this year, I’ve been desperate to see what it’s capable of in a Mac device where it can run much more ambitious software. But Apple’s rapid release schedule for its M-Class chips (there have been four major releases since the M1’s launch four years ago) means that generational leaps rarely make a huge difference.

If you’ve got an M3-powered MacBook Pro or iMac, you’ll won't see a big enough performance boost to make upgrading to an M4 version worthwhile. Heck, I use a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip for music production and video editing, and if Apple announces an identical-looking M4 Pro model, I’m just not going to be interested in upgrading, as the M2 Pro remains so good (and is only two years old), that it still does everything I need it to do.

So, why is the Mac mini different? After all, there’s an excellent Mac mini M2 model (which got a rare five stars from me in my review), and it’s also likely (despite some rumors suggesting otherwise) that it’ll come with the same design.

Well, for a start, I genuinely think the Mac mini M2 is one of the best devices Apple has ever made. This tiny, discrete PC can be placed almost anywhere, and thanks to a choice of either the M2 or M2 Pro chip, you’re getting an impressively powerful bit of kit in an almost silent small form factor PC.

Whereas the MacBook Pro and iMac have Windows 11 competitors, there’s simply no small form factor Windows PC that comes even close to the Mac mini.

And, unlike those other two products, there hasn’t been an M3 version, which means the leap between an M2 Mac mini and an M4 Mac mini will be much more noticeable.

The idea that you can hide a Mac mini behind a monitor or TV is incredibly exciting, especially considering the gaming improvements on the M4 chip. This upcoming Mac mini, if it does exist, could be the closest we’ll ever get to an Apple console.

Then there’s the price. The current Mac mini starts at $599 / £649 / AU$999, making it by far the cheapest way to get into the Mac ecosystem. If a Mac mini is announced alongside MacBook Pros and a new iMac, it’ll offer the same level of performance as the other devices using an M4 chip – but at a fraction of the price.

It also means the idea of upgrading isn’t quite as intimidating. If you spent $1,000+ on a MacBook or iMac, unless you’re rich, you’ll likely need something really special to get you to consider upgrading. If you’ve spent $599, the threshold for an upgrade that makes financial sense is considerablylower.

That’s assuming that Apple will keep the price similar, which might be too big of an assumption these days. But even the idea of a compact PC that costs around $600 and offers enough power to be able to play modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remaster, is incredibly exciting – and it's why in a week that promises a lot of announcements from Apple, it’s the new Mac mini I’ll really be happy to see announced. So, the waiting game begins...

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The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE has barely been out for a month, but we’re already hearing the first murmurs about its follow up – ostensibly named the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE.

These first rumors concern the chipset the phone will ship with, potentially marking another chapter in Samsung’s long struggle to implement its own Exynos chipset across its smartphone lineup.

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by tipster Jukanlosreve, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE could come equipped with Samsung’s proprietary Exynos 2400 chipset.

This apparently follows failed negotiations between Samsung and MediaTek, which first aimed to equip the Samsung Galaxy S25 series with a MediaTek Dimensity-series chipset, before shifting focus to the S25 FE.

This corroborates an earlier post from notable phone tipster Ice Universe (via Wccftech), who recently suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, rather than the Exynos 2500 or Dimensity 9400.

Some comments on Jukanlosreve’s post ask why the Galaxy S25 FE would receive the Exynos 2400 rather than the rumored flagship Exynos 2500 chipset. In response, Jukanlosreve suggests that the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE will launch in April 2025 to directly challenge the rumored iPhone SE 4, which we expect will launch in early 2025 also.

This would apparently preclude the S25 FE from using the Exynos 2500, which Jukanlosreve implies could debut with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, rumored to launch in summer 2025.

This is in contrast to the usual fall release schedule of the Galaxy S FE series, not to mention very close to the release of the latest model – in fact, we’ve only just published our Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review.

We’d suggest taking this part of the rumor with a particularly large pinch of salt for the time being, as Samsung very rarely changes its release schedules and doesn’t tend to time releases in sync with competitors.

And the rest of these rumors – though a touch more substantial – are all totally unofficial at the moment, so be sure to keep up with our Samsung coverage and phones coverage for the latest official updates as we hear them.

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Business email attacks (BEC), a type of email-borne scams that impersonate executives, have “surged” in the third quarter of 2024, with the manufacturing sector hit particularly hard.

Analyzing 1.8 billion emails globally (208 million of which were malicious), researchers from VIPRE security group reported BEC made up more than half (58%) of all phishing attempts in the quarter.

It found most BEC attacks (89%) impersonated figures of authority, such as Chief Executive Officers (CEO), senior executives, and IT staff, and targeted those who are lower on the hierarchy chain.

Rising sophistication

In the first quarter of 2024, BEC attacks against the manufacturing sector made up just 2% of all attempts, rising five-fold to 10% in the third quarter of the year. VIPRE claims the rise may be due to the industry’s widespread use of mobile sign-ins and various worksites.

“Employees accessing systems “on the go”, often under pressure to meet production deadlines, are more susceptible to phishing attempts,” the company said.

For Usman Choudhary, VIPRE’s CPTO, email-borne attacks are growing more sophisticated by the day, and thus becoming harder to spot and neutralize.

“BEC email and phishing attacks are becoming more targeted and convincing,” he said. “Additionally malware distribution through malicious spam campaigns continues to pose a serious threat to organizations.”

VIPRE split BEC attacks into common scams (34%), commercial spam (30%), and phishing (20%), and stressed that combined, these attacks overshadow ransomware and malware, which comprised less than 20% of all email attacks.

Defending against BEC is just the same as against any other scam that starts with an email. Employees should be trained to be skeptical of all incoming email messages, especially those that require urgent attention and resolution.

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