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• The Tech University Health Sciences Center in Texas and El Paso confirmed suffering a cyberattack
• Data on 1.4 million people were exfiltrated in the attack
• A threat actor named Interlock claimed responsibility for the attack

Another major US hospital has suffered a cyberattack recently, and as a result, lost sensitive data on more than a million patients.

In an announcement published on its website, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (HSCs), confirmed suffering a “temporary disruption to some computer systems and applications.”

Subsequent investigation confirmed that the disruption was the result of a ransomware attack, in which “certain files and folders” were removed from the HSCs’ network. The attack allegedly happened on September 17, and was discovered more than a week later, on September 29.

Another hospital attacked

In the notice, it did not say how many people were affected, or who the attackers were, but in a separate filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, it said the number was 1,465,000.

HSCs concluded that crooks stole sensitive data such as people’s names, date of birth, address, Social Security number, driver’s license number, government-issued identification number, financial account information, health insurance information and medical information, including medical records numbers, billing/claims data and diagnosis and treatment information.

The threat actor behind this attack is called Interlock, and appears to be a relatively new ransomware operation, which targets high-profile organizations and demands hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom. The group recently added HSCs’ data to its leak website, where it showcased 2.1 million files, totaling 2.6 terabytes.

To combat the attack, HSCs are currently reviewing existing security policies and procedures, and are implementing additional safeguards to enhance system protection and monitoring, it was said in the announcement. Out of an abundance of caution, HSCs added, affected individuals are offered complimentary credit monitoring services, free of charge.

Via BleepingComputer

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Modretro Chromatic: Two-minute review

The Modretro Chromatic is a 2024 take on the Game Boy Color and is an excellent portable handheld device that elevates the experience of using Nintendo’s 1998 iconic video game console.

The Chromatic is founded upon nostalgia, it’s a modern device that requires three AA batteries to run, doesn’t have Bluetooth for audio, and perfectly recreates the 160x144 pixels of its spiritual predecessor, improving it with gorgeous backlighting and a very durable sapphire crystal front. The console can run physical Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, but there's no emulation, and it even has a volume wheel. With so many inconveniences, it’s still incredibly fascinating to use and takes you right back to the heyday of trading Pokemon with friends in your backyard through a link cable.

Make no mistake about it, the Chromatic is a product built for those of us who are nostalgic about the 90s, but it’s so well-made that its limitations are almost justifiable. With a supposedly indestructible magnesium alloy shell, a display that’s been built from the ground up to replicate and enhance your favorite childhood games, and excellent mono speakers, Modretro has captured the imaginations of those seeking the coziness of their youth. But in 2024, there are plenty of other devices that offer similar experiences, and the Chromatic’s confidence in what it is and who it’s for means that it’s an incredibly niche product.

I’ve been using the Modretro Chromatic for a month, and as someone who loves retro gaming from the 90s and early 2000s, I’ve got the expertise to assess the Chromatic’s biggest achievements and its shortcomings. This might be one of the most difficult products I’ve ever had to review, purely because its whole reason for existence is nostalgia. And nostalgia, as enjoyable as it can be, isn’t always worth your hard-earned cash.

I love the Modretro Chromatic, it’s a readily available Game Boy Color made in 2024 that’s stocked on shelves in GameStop. If you’d told me last year that I could buy a handheld in stores that plays my Pokemon Gold and Link’s Awakening cartridges from my youth I’d have been overcome with emotions. Ultimately, when it comes to spending $199 / £159 / $AU 316 a product needs to be more than just a time machine back to the past, and rising retro game console prices combined with a stagnant game library (even if Modretro is producing new cartridges based on new IP and old Game Boy titles) means the Chromatic is excellent for those who know exactly what they want from a device like this, but not necessarily for a mainstream audience.

Modretro Chromatic with its screen turned off (Image credit: Future) Modretro Chromatic: Price and availability

• List price: $199 / £159 / $AU 316
• Comes in six colors based on original Game Boy Color options
• Widely available in most regions and sold in GameStop stores in the US

The Modretro Chromatic is available now directly from modretro.com, and is also on shelves this holiday season in GameStop stores around the US. Priced at $199 / £159 / AU$316, the Chromatic comes bundled with a newly produced Tetris cartridge as part of Modretro's Chromatic First Edition release. The company hasn't disclosed whether the handheld will be sold without Tetris at a later date, but at the time of writing the only way to purchase a Chromatic is with a copy of the world's best-selling video game.

My review unit came in the Leaf color option, which is a similar green to my first-ever Game Boy Color and it's beautiful. The Chromatic also comes in Inferno, Bubblegum, Volt, Wave, and Midnight. All color options can be purchased with either English or Japanese markings for A, B, Start, and Select buttons.

One of the Chromatic's biggest strengths is how readily available it is. Competitors like the Analogue Pocket are often sold out online, and original Game Boy Colors can't be purchased in-store. Modretro, on the other hand, ships right away online and has teamed up with GameStop to offer the Chromatic to customers shopping in-store in one of nearly 3,000 retail locations.

Cartridge slot of Modretro Chromatic with Pokemon Gold (Image credit: Future) Modretro Chromatic: Specs

Modretro Chromatic with Modretro-produced cartridges and Zelda: Link's Awakening (Image credit: Future) Modretro Chromatic: Design and features

• Magnesium alloy shell feels incredible in hand
• Display built from the ground up with durable sapphire crystal cover
• PBT buttons are excellent

Modretro has not cut any corners when it comes to producing the Chromatic. Make no mistake about it, this is a very premium product at an equally premium price point. The design is an ode to the original Game Boy Color with a volume wheel, AA batteries, a tactile sliding switch for power, and even a satisfying "thunk" when you pop in a game cartridge.

The Chromatic feels excellent in hand, with its magnesium alloy shell weighty but not uncomfortable, and its PBT buttons and d-pad every bit as nice to interact with. Modretro has also built a 160x144 pixel modern display with subpixel-level accuracy from the ground up. The company wanted to create the ultimate Game Boy Color screen without straying too far away from the original and they've definitely managed to do so. If you were to imagine a Game Boy Color built in 2024, this would be it.

Modretro Chromatic with Pokemon Gold on the screen (Image credit: Future)

The Chromatic is very tricky to review, on one hand, it does everything it sets out to do in modernizing the Game Boy Color. On the other hand, however, it's so faithful to the original that it fits into a weird space in between the original hardware and the class-leading Analogue Pocket.

I've loved my time playing Pokemon Crystal on the Modretro Chromatic, it has felt like a warm hug every evening in bed as I explore Johto for the thousandth time. But that experience is expensive to recreate, especially considering games like Pokemon Crystal can cost upwards of $100 / £100 on sites like eBay. The Chromatic can't play any titles via emulation, so it relies on a large cartridge library and that could be a deterring factor for many people. While the screen is infinitely better than the original Game Boy Color's one that required direct light to really see it, there's no increase in resolution which feels authentic but limiting.

Modretro sells Modretro-published games for the Chromatic on its website and alongside Tetris there are excellent adaptations of games like Toki Tori as well as new IPs like Tales of Monsterland DX. That said, one of the Chromatic's most limiting elements is the Game Boy and Game Boy Color games library. Taking off my nostalgia glasses for a minute, the lack of Game Boy Advance compatibility really impacts the Chromatic. The Game Boy Advance offers a wide range of some of the best video games of all time, and I found myself yearning for games that can't be played on the Chromatic. While it might not be readily available, the Analogue Pocket can play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance cartridges, and so much more at a very similar price point.

If you're looking for a Game Boy Color with a better screen and better build quality then the Modretro Chromatic fits the bill. But for those people who want pure nostalgia, an original Game Boy Color and all its inconveniences is probably more up their street. For people who want a modern Game Boy experience as well as access to a larger game library, it's hard to not pick the Analogue Pocket's 1440p display.

Modretro Chromatic AA batteries (Image credit: Future) Modretro Chromatic: Performance

• Faithful FPGA hardware emulation of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games
• Excellent battery life (albeit inconvenient to refill)
• Comfortable for long play sessions

In terms of performance, the Modretro Chromatic is excellent at recreating Game Boy and Game Boy Color games and had no issues running any of my cartridges. The display is bright and easy to see in all environments, including direct sunlight and the speaker is much, much better than its spiritual predecessor. The sapphire glass on the front of the display means you don't need to worry at all about scratches, and combined with the durable shell makes for a stress-free gaming experience where you're never worried about damaging the handheld.

Games run excellently from classics like the Game Boy Color's Pokemon Gold to original Game Boy games like Link's Awakening which see the FPGA hardware as a Game Boy Color, adding color palettes and filters just like it would on original hardware.

Modretro has decided to use AA batteries to power the Chromatic, an ode to the past when the inconvenience of swapping out batteries was absolutely not a fun time. Well, over 20 years later and using single-use batteries still sucks. Modretro, there are some nostalgic elements that are worth keeping in the past, and AAs are one of them.

Despite the fact that replacing batteries is very inconvenient, the battery life is stellar and in my time using the handheld I only needed to swap out AAs once. Modretro says it's working on a rechargeable battery pack, but you'd expect this will cost extra once it launches.

Modretro Chromatic (left) next to Analogue Pocket (Image credit: Future)

I want to harken back to the display as aside from availability compared to sourcing second-hand hardware on sites like eBay, that's the real selling point here. The Chromatic's display is genuinely incredible, if you're looking for a faithful Game Boy experience with a little added oomph. The pixel lines from the low resolution are amazingly accurate and capture the joy of being a kid playing a Game Boy perfectly.

There were times during my time with the Modretro Chromatic that I genuinely felt transported back to my childhood, and that's something even products like the Analogue Pocket haven't been able to quite achieve. In that sense, the Chromatic's hardware and performance nails exactly what it's trying to achieve, it's just an excellent Game Boy Color Pro, a mid-console refresh if you will.

Modretro Chromatic display on left compared to Analogue Pocket display on right (Image credit: Future) Should you buy the Modretro Chromatic Buy it if...

You want a better Game Boy Color
If you're looking for a Game Boy Color and want a better screen than the original then the Modretro Chromatic is for you. The display is gorgeous, it has excellent build quality, and the buttons are a joy to use. If you only want to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, this is the handheld for you.

You own a large Game Boy cartridge library
If you've still got all of your old Game Boy cartridges then the Chromatic will give you hours and hours of joy. The console can play any Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge, so dust off your favorites and jump back in where you left off all those years ago.

You want a handheld retro console for the holidays
The fact that GameStop is stocking the Modretro Chromatic is not to be scoffed at. The Analogue Pocket is an excellent competitor, but it's always sold out and can't be found in stores. So if you're looking to pick up a console to play Game Boy cartridges the Modretro Chromatic will be your best bet this holiday season.

Don't buy it if...

You don't own Game Boy cartridges
If you're thinking of starting a Game Boy cartridge collection then ignore this point. But if you don't own any games already, the Chromatic will quickly become a far more expensive purchase. Some Game Boy games go for hundreds of dollars and you need to be ready to invest that into an extinct gaming system. Modretro's cartridges somewhat solve this but they won't be publishing Pokemon and Zelda, so...

You want to play Game Boy Advance games
Only purchase the Chromatic if you love Game Boy and Game Boy Color. I found myself wishing I could play games on other systems like the Game Boy Advance which ultimately meant that I chose to play games on other hardware with more variety.

You want better resolution and flexibility
The Chromatic will replicate Game Boy games in a pixel-accurate 160x144 display. If you're looking for a handheld that enhances Game Boy games for a modern audience with increased resolution, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Also consider...

If you’re still not entirely sold on the Modretro Chromatic then check out these excellent similar products for comparison and consideration.

Analogue Pocket
The Analogue Pocket is a direct competitor to the Modretro Chromatic, offering more game libraries and a larger 1440p screen. The Chromatic feels more premium in hand and has sapphire glass to protect the 144p screen, but Analogue's offering gives you more bang for your buck and fewer restrictions. Do you want a reimagining of the Game Boy Color in the form of an Analogue Pocket or a modernization of it in the form of the Modretro Chromatic?

I've owned the Analogue Pocket for over a year and use it every day. My review of this direct competitor to the Modretro Chromatic is currently in progress and will be added here soon.

Nintendo Switch OLED
If you're just looking to casually play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the go, the Nintendo Switch offers a range of games on its Nintendo Switch Online service. Add to that the extensive Nintendo Switch library and a gorgeous OLED display, and this might be the best middle ground for those looking for the perfect handheld gaming console.

For more information, check out our full Nintendo Switch OLED review.

Super Pocket
The Super Pocket packs power, fantastic controls, and a strong selection of built-in games from either Capcom or Taito into an attractive pocket-size package. While it may not be as capable as the other recommended options, for such a low price you really can't go wrong with this handheld device.

For more information, check out our full Super Pocket review.

How I tested the Modretro Chromatic

• Tested for a month
• Compared it directly to other retro handhelds
• Tested across game types and cartridge types

I've used the Modretro Chromatic for a month now, and have used it as my primary retro gaming handheld.

I've tested the console with all of my original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges including Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Yellow, and Link's Awakening, just to name a few. I also played Modretro-produced games such as Tetris, Toki Tori – Ultimate Edition, and Tales of Monsterland DX.

The Modretro Chromatic has been my main handheld gaming console over the course of the last 30 days and I've made comparisons with my Analogue Pocket.

Read more about how we test

If you’ve been following the news from 12 Days of OpenAI, you’ll know that OpenAI has released ChatGPT search to the world as part of its Christmas-themed launch extravaganza.

This means that everybody with a ChatGPT account (you need to be logged in to use it) now gets access to ChatGPT search. OpenAI has also added ChatGPT search to Advanced Voice mode, and made it faster and better on mobile.

Previously, ChatGPT search was only available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers and people who had signed up to the waiting list. Now it’s available to everyone. All you need to do to use it is go to ChatGPT.com or open the ChatGPT app on your phone, tap or click on the little world icon in the ChatGPT prompt window and a blue 'Search' label appears, to indicate that whatever you type in next will become a web search, not a typical chatbot interaction.

Just what is an AI search engine anyway?

An AI search engine differs from a conventional search engine, like Google, in a few key ways. First, you can use natural, conversational language instead of search terms. We’re all so conditioned to using Google these days that we default to a search term-based language when we use it, and not doing that can take a bit of getting used to.

So, for example, you could start off by asking “what are the best laptops around right now?”, in the same way you would in a conversation, and then when you get the results you can follow up with “I want one for gaming” and ChatGPT will know what you’re talking about, and give you some more results.

Second, there are no adverts. Some people enjoy sponsored content links in searches, since it quite often gives you a link to exactly what you’re looking for, but you won’t find any in ChatGPT search. It very much reminds me of the early, simpler days of Google.

Perplexity vs ChatGPT

The concept of an AI search engine isn’t that new, in fact there’s another contender in the field that has been doing it for longer than ChatGPT has, and that’s Perplexity. Perplexity is perhaps the original AI search engine. From the start it was designed to search the web and find results, then give you an accessible, and conversational answer.

Now we have two AI search engines going head to head, so it’s natural to want to compare them. I picked a range of subjects to ask both about, and I was quite shocked by the results.

I started with: “I love pizza, are there any good pizza restaurants near me?”

I was a bit surprised when both search engines initially recommended restaurants that were in my nearest city, rather than local to me; however, after I told them exactly where I lived I got better results – and very similar results – from both. In fact they recommended exactly the same restaurants. What really surprised me was the amount of detail I got from Perplexity – a lot more than I got with ChatGPT search.

ChatGPT search results: Uncluttered, plain and simple, but unexciting? (Image credit: OpenAI)

Perplexity: Nicely organized results, lots of information, and colorful pictures! (Image credit: Perplexity)

On web or mobile, ChatGPT’s search results appear as quite a boring text-based list. You get a simple description of each restaurant and a link to its website; that's it. In contrast Perplexity gives you a lot more information, and it's a lot more interesting to look, at since each result is broken down into subheadings – in this case Address, Highlights, Features and Rating. There are links to the websites, plus to the reviews online. You can choose to show all the sources in a list on the right-hand side of the page, where you also get a selection of images of the subject you're searching for.

It was the same when I tried other searches like, “Who will be the next James Bond?”, or “What laptop should I buy for Christmas?”. The ChatGPT search results were sparse and lacking in detail, while the Perplexity results had many more links to sources, and just felt more fleshed out and informed.

My overall recommendation? Perplexity is better. Both search engines produced similar results in terms of the sources found, but Perplexity presents the information in a better way, and with more detail that makes it easy to progress your search to the next thing you’re likely to be looking for, like a review.

Sorry, ChatGPT search – you’re good, but you’re still new to this game, and Perplexity has the edge right now.

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In a previously unreported August memo, the Department of Homeland Security urged state and local police to conduct exercises to test their ability to respond to weaponized drones.

• Many home devices harvest and share more data than is necessary
• US and UK watchdogs are setting out rules to protect device owners
• Researching appliances and using them offline can help keep data secure

Last month, consumer body Which? revealed that many popular smart home devices, including air fryers, may be capturing unnecessary data and sharing it with third parties - facts that you could easily miss when choosing and setting up a new appliance. Now, consumer rights watchdogs in the US and the UK have outlined plans to force companies to be more transparent about what information they keep, and how it's used.

As Gizmodo explains, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK is planning to issue new guidance to companies early next year specifically related to smart home tech and user privacy. According to the ICO, this "will outline clear expectations for what they need to do to comply with data protection laws and, in turn, protect people using smart products."

Meanwhile, in the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a new rule that would limit brokers' ability to sell personal information that might been acquired in data breaches. Under the proposed rule, these brokers would be treated like credit bureaus and background check companies, and held to the same standards.

How to keep yourself (and your data) safe

This is promising news, but how can you determine whether a smart home device is safe to use right now? Reading the privacy policy thoroughly is the obvious first step, but some can be prohibitively lengthy.

Home tech companion apps come with their own privacy policies too, but remember that just because a device has a companion app, or can be connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it's often not necessary to use its key functions. For example, my electric toothbrush has an app that awards you badges for brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day, but it works perfectly fine without that. Similarly some of the best air fryers have an app that lets you adjust the temperature remotely and provides recipe ideas, but isn't mandatory for cooking your fries.

Your appliance may have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, but you don't necessarily have to use it (Image credit: Getty Images)

If your device does need to be online, The Mozilla Foundation's Privacy Not Included report is a good starting point. The foundation's researchers have pored over the privacy policies for dozens of products, including home security cameras, smart thermostats, and robot vacuum cleaners, to find out exactly how much data they gather, what their default privacy settings are, who your data may be shared with, and what could happen if the company suffers a data leak.

For example, the Garmin Index S2 smart scale collects a lot of personal information (gathering biometrics is its job, after all), but the company's privacy policy is transparent, neither shares nor sells your data, and has acted on previous advice from Mozilla to make it clearer that all users have the right to delete their data, regardless of where they live.

Ecobee (maker of one of the Ecobee SmartThermostat) also earned praise for its SmartCamera home security device, which sends encrypted video footage directly to your phone without being recorded. If you do choose to save any photos or clips, the company says they will be deleted from its servers automatically when you uninstall the app.

Make sure that any connected devices are set to receive automatic security updates so any vulnerabilities discovered are patched as soon as possible.

What's the worst that could happen?

If your data isn't properly protected, the results can be devastating. Just last week, personal data from matchmaking site Senior Dating was discovered on data leak site Have I Been Pwned, exposing sensitive data relating to over 700,000 people, including photos, email addresses, and physical locations.

In October, a Brazilian driving school was found to have exposed the sensitive data of 400,000 people by leaving a database unsecured. Photos, full names, addresses, and government ID numbers were all left unsecured, putting people at serious risk of identity theft and harassment.

When we review a product here at TechRadar, we'll always let you know whether a mobile app is available, and what it actually does so you can make an informed choice about what data you're sharing.

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• Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has doubled down on the company's multiplatform plan
• The CEO said he is "feeling, very, very good about where we are in gaming"
• Nadella explained that Microsoft is "redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan"

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has said the company wants to redefine what it means to be an Xbox fan as he doubles down on its multiplatform plan.

This comes from Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting last week, via GameFile, where Nadella and Microsoft’s vice president of investor relations, Brett Iverson, discussed the company's gaming strategy while also reflecting on its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

When Iverson asked Nadella how he feels about the early return on that investment and current progress of Microsoft's gaming strategy, the CEO said he is "feeling, very, very good about where we are in gaming."

"In fact, right now, this is, like, the peak season in gaming, obviously with Black Ops and the new Call of Duty," said Nadella, referring to Black Ops 6' launch and day one release on Xbox Game Pass.

"It’s just been fantastic to see the launch and the marketing around it, the buzz around it and the love for gaming... If I think about it right, we chose the secular growth category in entertainment, which we think is gaming and said, ‘Let’s double down on it’."

The CEO pointed to the company's recent 'This is an Xbox' marketing campaign, which showcased the range of devices players can use to access Xbox games, explaining that it's a way Microsoft is "redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan: it’s about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your devices."

"And, more importantly, I think in [the] long-term, as a company, we can bring the best of the AI innovation, cloud innovation, console innovation, PC innovation to build the best games that can be enjoyed by gamers everywhere," Nadella added.

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The New York architect facing murder charges in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings was charged in the death of Valerie Mack, 24, whose remains were found on Long Island in 2000.

(Image credit: James Carbone)

• Microsoft wants to sell you a subscription to use Skype
• You can no longer buy Skype Credit to make phone calls
• Custom phone numbers have been discontinued, no replacement

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft Teams fully replaced Skype when it launched in 2017, but its video conferencing predecessor is still going strong, and has jumped on the subscription train.

In a major change for the platform, Microsoft has quietly removed two of its key premium features – Skype Credit and custom phone numbers.

Instead, Microsoft is pushing Skype customers towards subscriptions for calling plans, ending the flexibility that one-time credits previously offered and potentially proving more costly for irregular users.

Skype goes subscription-based

The change was first noticed by a moderator on Microsoft’s Skype forums, who stated: “Skype has stopped purchase of Skype Credit for all users. The only option available now are monthly calling subscriptions.”

Microsoft later confirmed the changes in an email to TechCrunch, adding it, “continuously evaluate(s) product strategy based on customer usage and needs.”

Anybody with credit already applied to their account can continue to use it, so long as they use it once every six months to keep it active, however new purchases for credit are no longer possible.

Calling landlines and mobile numbers now requires a subscription, and Skype-to-Skype calls remain free and unaffected. However, users of Skype’s virtual phone numbers for international calls or outbound SMS messaging have been most affected, because Microsoft has not confirmed a direct replacement.

In the years following its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype in 2011, Microsoft has slowly deprioritized the platform and largely replaced it with Teams. The company no longer shares its user base in earnings reports, however increased competition from the likes of Zoom and Cisco have put pressure on Skype in a post-pandemic world where video conferencing remains a staple of hybrid working.

In the meantime, Skype’s interface still suggests that users can buy credits, leading to failed payments. Microsoft acknowledged inconsistency in its messaging, and promised to update it accordingly.

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The Christmas season is all about being with family and having fun. Yet, while classic board games get replaced by their online counterparts, your online privacy is increasingly at risk – not the best way to start the new year!

For instance, five of the most popular holiday-themed gaming apps are specifically Christmas-related. Worse still, free festive apps are especially data-hungry, reportedly sharing five times more data with third parties than their paid version.

These are some of the worrying findings from new research conducted by Surfshark, one of the best VPN providers on the market. Keep reading as I explain everything you need to know to stay safe.

Christmas online gaming: how much data collect?

To determine the real price we pay to enjoy festive apps, the Surfshark team analyzed the 21 most popular mobile game applications on the UK App Store across the Board Games, Family Games, and Christmas lists.

These included games, but also countdowns (Santa Tracker, Christmas Countdown!), photo editing (ElfYourself), festive music (Christmas Radio+), and gift-shopping aids (Gifster).

The App Store provides a list of 35 unique data points categorized into 16 unique data point categories. The experts analyzed the data set according to the number, type, and handling of the data points collected by each app. Needless to say, the team found most of these apps to be pretty data-hungry.

Make sure to delete all the festive apps you've downloaded after the holidays are up

While the average number of unique data points collected by the most popular festive apps is seven, some gather as many as 13 out of 35.

The digital adaptation of the famous board game, Monopoli Go! tops the list of data-hungry apps with 13 unique data points collected. All of them are data linked to you, while 10 are actively used for online tracking. This means the app shares your details, including your location, with data brokers or other third parties to build your profile across different websites for targeted advertising.

The third most popular free board game app, Hexa Sort, shows a similar behavior, collecting 13 unique data points, 10 of which are tracked, including location and purchase history. Bubble Pop!, and ElfYourself are also among the most data-hungry apps.

As expected, free apps collect and share the most data, and experts found that Christmas freebies share five times more data with third parties than paid apps.

As Tomas Stamulis, Chief Security Officer at Surfshark, explains, mobile app developers are increasingly taking regulations and data protection requirements into account.

In the past, gaming apps often requested broad access to your data, while today's developers are more likely to focus on information that is truly necessary for the software to function properly.

Yet, Surfshark's research nonetheless shows how free applications consistently put your privacy at risk by sharing significantly more data with third parties compared to paid apps. This, according to Stamulis, highlights the importance of evaluating privacy implications.

He said: "A responsible approach to data protection might encourage users to opt for paid versions of apps, look for alternative apps, or consider whether the app can function without granting permissions that may not be truly necessary. If such options aren’t provided, it raises important questions about the intent behind the data collection."

Another crucial thing to keep in mind is the aftermath of the Christmas season. The likes of Christmas Countdown!, Santa Tracker, and Christmas Radio+ could track and share your location data with third parties, for example, even when you're not using the app anymore. As a rule of thumb, you should delete all the festive apps you've downloaded after the holidays are over.

While security software like virtual private network (VPN) and ad-blocker services can only boost your privacy a little – by, for instance, masking your real IP address location and protecting your device from malware – they cannot prevent the applications from tracking you. However, you could use a data removal service like Incogni afterward to ask data brokers to delete all the details they have on you.

As businesses embrace multi-cloud environments for their flexibility, scalability, and agility, they encounter new challenges in managing these complex systems. Gartner predicts that by 2028, cloud environments will become a “business necessity” and over 70% of enterprises have already embraced some form of hybrid or multi-cloud solution. The ability to distribute workloads across multiple platforms, the reduced exposure to vendor lock-in, and the potential gains in cost and performance are simply too good to pass up.

The challenge of operational silos

Despite the benefits, multi-cloud environments can create operational silos among network (NetOps), security (SecOps), and cloud operations (CloudOps) teams. This fragmentation in managing critical services like DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (collectively known as DDI) exposes businesses to downtime, increased costs, and security risks caused by a lack of control and visibility across the network. The more businesses distribute their workloads, the greater the risk of silos emerging, making a strong case for unified, automated, 360-degree management of DDI (DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management) services.

Without a unified approach to managing these network services, there is an increased risk of misconfigurations, undetected issues, and downtime. For example, if one team doesn’t have visibility into changes made by another team, the impact of those changes might not be noticed until it causes a disruption. Cost is also a factor: fragmented management often leads to inefficiencies, such as duplicated efforts or the use of multiple tools that don’t integrate well. These inefficiencies drive up operational costs as businesses spend more time and resources managing their network manually or purchasing additional solutions to bridge gaps. Silos can also weaken security: SecOps teams might not have full visibility into what the cloud or IoT networks teams are doing, leading to potential security blind spots. This fragmented view makes it harder to detect and respond to security threats across the network, leaving vulnerabilities unaddressed.

The fragmentation trap

Deploying different DDI solutions across multiple cloud platforms leads to a disconnected ecosystem, with teams juggling disparate tools and workflows. The disjointed management creates bottlenecks, slows response times, and increases the risk of errors as teams often fall back on manual workarounds. When DNS solutions from different vendors are used across a hybrid or multi-cloud setup, achieving full visibility and control over the network becomes nearly impossible, because each platform typically has its own tools, interfaces, and configurations. As mentioned above, teams are then forced into workaround solutions that stifle productivity and heighten the risk of human error.

Especially manual or duplicated work can delay application deployment by weeks, affecting a company's ability to innovate and compete. Competitors with more agile processes capitalize on opportunities faster, while businesses stuck in manual workflows are left behind, facing higher operational costs and possibly damaged reputations. Consider a tech company that manually provisions critical network services for new applications. This process can take anywhere from a month to six weeks, significantly delaying product launches. We saw one customer, for instance, manage to reduce their provisioning time from six weeks to just 15 minutes by adopting the automation capabilities of our DDI solution, dramatically accelerating their time-to-market. However, the true cost of manual provisioning isn’t just about delays; it’s about lost sales and missed opportunities.

Unified DDI management

To overcome the challenge of fragmentation and gain control and visibility over their network, organizations need a unified approach to managing DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management across all of their cloud environments. Consolidating the management of these services into a single platform eliminates silos, enhances collaboration, and improves operational efficiency. A Universal DDI solution provides full visibility across multi-cloud environments, ensuring that all network assets, regardless of their location, are visible and manageable from a single interface, reducing the risk of oversight and enhancing operational efficiency. In addition, scalability and flexibility allows such solutions to scale seamlessly with the business’s growth and adapt to changing needs, ensuring it can handle increasing workloads and evolving technological landscapes. But it goes further than this: Automation and orchestration capabilities minimize manual intervention, reduces errors, and accelerates response times further.

Security and compliance are also critical considerations, particularly when it comes to multi-cloud environments. A unified DDI solution can offer full visibility across the entire network, allowing organizations to detect and respond to security threats more quickly, while also ensuring that all data handling and processes meet regulatory standards. Fragmented management of DNS, DHCP, and IPAM, as noted above, only increases the risk of non-compliance, particularly with regulations like GDPR or CCPA, where even minor oversights can lead to costly fines and reputational damage. A centralized approach not only reduces these risks but also bakes essential security measures – such as DNS protection – directly into critical network services management, enhancing an organization’s overall security posture.

It's time to rethink how critical network services and security are managed in the multi-cloud environment. By adopting universal management of DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management, businesses can eliminate silos, improve efficiency, and avoid the fragmentation trap, allowing them to fully capitalize on the benefits of multi-cloud environments.

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People in Syria are looking for their relatives and friends in prisons, hospitals and morgues. The U.N. estimates over 100,00 people have gone missing in Syria under the Assad regime.

(Image credit: Claire Harbage)

Generative AI (GenAI) is leading a widescale evolution of business processes across industries. The rapid development of use cases for the technology makes it critical that organizations invest now or risk falling behind. A recent report showed that 82% of organizations plan to introduce AI agents across their business in the next three years. It’s easy to see why. AI agents, particularly GenAI, have enormous potential to accelerate digital transformation journeys—from improving operational efficiencies to helping multi-channel contact center agents deliver experiences that delight and surprise customers.

The race to an AI-driven future

As technology develops, organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate to customers and investors that they are at the forefront of innovation. They are looking to embrace GenAI to create new value by augmenting traditional business processes with new efficiencies and to drive better customer experiences. However, there is a risk of investing in technology for its own sake if they don’t embark on their adoption strategies with a clear goal in sight. This is especially true when it comes to GenAI. Two years after the emergence of ChatGPT, we’ve seen countless use cases being explored and developed. The time for experimentation is over.

In 2025, organizations need to focus on proven, value-driven applications of GenAI aligned with clear business objectives. Without this more purposeful approach, they will only scratch the surface of the benefits the technology can unlock. With the clock ticking, organizations must quickly determine which use cases to focus on and how to integrate them into their operations to create value. Here are three of the most impactful GenAI use cases that are already proven to elevate business processes to a whole new level:

1. Enhanced central business functions

GenAI should not be about reinventing the wheel. As a first step, organizations should focus on improving central business functions they already perform well. Initial use cases should be aligned to streamlining key processes such as document handling and supply chain management. These use cases will be more effective with focused AI models trained on targeted data sets that provide the rich context needed to automate specific functions with precision.

As a result, organizations will increasingly embrace Small Language Models (SLMs) in 2025. These approaches are more cost-effective, easier to customize, and have fewer parameters than Large Language Models (LLMs), making them better suited to targeted business functions. In fact, 56% of organizations plan to use SLMs within the next three years, demonstrating the central role they will play in future GenAI strategies. As they continue to curate SLMs for new use cases, organizations will be able to power further AI solutions to streamline additional business functions.

2. Improved CX and quality of life

Customer experience (CX) is another function organizations can take one step further with GenAI. Most significantly, GenAI assistants can make life easier for service agents and help them deliver better outcomes for the business, especially those in CX roles. For example, contact center teams may have to search multiple systems for the information they need to handle customer complaints or reschedule an appointment during a support call. This process takes time, keeping the customer waiting longer and degrading their experience — especially if they are forced to recount previous conversations with other team members.

With a GenAI assistant, time-consuming tasks associated with document processing and information gathering can be automated. This helps agents deliver experiences far beyond what callers expect, allowing organizations to surprise and delight their customers. It also enables service agents to focus on higher-value tasks such as building relationships with customers, giving them greater job satisfaction, and alleviating burnout. As these capabilities mature, leveraging a blend of humans and GenAI agents will revolutionize customer experience through predictive analysis and process automation, helping organizations to remain agile and carve out a more decisive competitive advantage.

3. Advanced communication skills

Finally, GenAI has real potential to reduce language barriers and empower service agents to support customers from any location. A recent report found that AI can deliver a 90% reduction in document translation time, resulting in efficiency savings of up to 2.79 million euros. GenAI can use a similar capability to detect language and automate responses to frequent customer queries via webchat, email, social media, and even phone. In many cases, this removes the need for customers to speak with service agents. That not only improves customer satisfaction by accelerating resolution time but extends the organization's reach by moving beyond traditional communications channels.

Human agents can also leverage AI-powered voice assistants to translate conversations during live service interactions so that they can speak with customers without being fluent in their language. This means that in 2025, human empathy and experience in dealing with complex customer challenges are the skills that will matter most for service agents, not the number of languages they speak. As their use cases for GenAI mature in this area, organizations will propel customer experience to the next level by streamlining workflows and reducing case resolution times dramatically.

Generating value with AI

GenAI has huge potential to transform business processes, but organizations urgently need to move beyond the experimentation phase to tap into this opportunity. As tangible use cases continue to emerge, organizations must have clear, customer-focused objectives and a well-defined roadmap to ensure they integrate these technologies in a way that drives value. With this more considered approach, they will be much better poised to reap the rewards of GenAI and deliver market-leading innovation.

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Kanto Ren: Two-minute review

The Kanto Ren powered speaker system is, basically, ace. Designed with multi-functionality in mind, Ren is a broad-strokes stereo hi-fi that can speak to most anything you’d want it to. With HDMI ARC, optical, USB-C, RCA and 3.5mm aux inputs, and with strong Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity besides, this is the does-everything bookshelf hi-fi system that most people spend a long time putting together piece by piece – and it sounds brilliant, as well.

These active speakers are relatively low-profile against similarly-powered hi-fi and AV systems, but pack a punch with their 100W RMS of auditory juice. There’s nothing lacking frequency-wise, with a rich and compelling responsiveness across the spectrum. This, coupled with its incredible dynamic response, makes it a supple system for TV and video games, as well as an impressive and convenient music delivery system.

In short, these are plug-and-play stereo speakers with quality internals and unbeatable I/O, and at quite a competitive price for its unique placement in the audio-tech market. The Kanto Ren should appeal to quite a few different people, whether you’re after a new bookshelf hi-fi, an alternative to a TV soundbar or a no-fuss all-in-one sound system. Some of the best stereo speakers we've tested in a while then? Why, yes.

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) ) Kanto Ren review: Price & release date

• $599 / £599 / €719 (around AU$1,199)
• Launched on December 2nd

Most powered speakers of this ilk exist in the studio monitor space, as reference speakers for audio engineers and music producers – a few popular examples being Yamaha’s HS-series speakers and Adam Audio’s T5Vs (amongst a great many others we haven’t the time to profile here). These, though, are designed as practical utilities, and with music production specifically in mind – meaning fewer consumer-friendly inputs, and a frequency response curve that aims to be as flat and neutral as possible.

The Rens take the operating principles of these integrated desktop/studio solutions and brings them to the world of hi-fi, making for a genius marriage of smart audio-tech design and consumer need. In a market where customers are willing to spend upwards of four figures on a soundbar, this powerful and portable pair of highly-connectible modern bookshelf speakers is sure to stun.

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) ) Kanto Ren review: Features

• Wide range of inputs – including USB-C and Bluetooth 5.3
• Optional subwoofer out for controlled bass
• 100W amplifier brings the juice

The Kanto Ren active speaker system is a well-featured all-in-one hi-fi dealio, cramming a powerful amp with some peerless connectivity into the chassis of one of the speakers. There’s six inputs to switch between here, including: USB-C, HDMI, optical, RCA, 3.5mm aux and Bluetooth 5.3. All of these are switch-between-able on the handy included remote control, which also gives you immediate control of bass, treble and volume levels (if you don’t feel like controlling any of the latter with the powered speaker’s front-borne rotary encoder, itself a satisfyingly tactile little knob).

The Kanto Ren is a stereo speaker system, and its integrated amplifier circuitry basically follows suit – which means no extending your setup to surround-sound (though why you’d ever want to do so with this particular setup is another question entirely). There is, however, an RCA subwoofer output – which naturally cries out to be paired with Kanto’s existing SUB8 sealed subwoofer. With a subwoofer plugged in, any sounds below 80Hz are neatly and automatically redirected to it; our review is a sub-less one, though, to focus on the merits of the Rens alone.

Inside, there’s some clever digital goings-on alongside the smart convenience displayed outside. There are two digital sound profiles you can engage and switch between – namely, the Vocal Boost and Night Mode algorithms, which respectively solve the two biggest problems facing the modern TV-binger: quiet dialogue and paper-thin party walls.

Another nifty digital feature is the Ren’s auto-wake function, which you can toggle on and off with the remote. This feature ensures the speakers leap to life the moment they detect incoming audio – meaning you can enjoy their enhanced sound soon as you switch your TV on. Everything’s geared to user convenience, and it shows; using the Kanto Ren system has been nothing but a breeze from day dot.

• Features score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) ) Kanto Ren review: Sound quality

• Simply: massive
• Incredible clarity of sound
• Slightly flabby low end

The Kanto Ren system was first put through its paces via its optical input, connected to my TV. My partner and I had picked an excellent time to rewatch the first two seasons of Twin Peaks together; Angelo Badalamenti’s intro theme was a hugely gratifying listen every time the opening credits swelled in, and every tense spook was robustly supported by the wellsprings of low end these speakers are capable of producing.

Speaking of spooks, the dynamic range of the Rens was thoroughly tested by my tremulous playthrough of mind-bending action-horror Alan Wake II on the PS5 – an excellent game whose subtle nods to the Twin Peaks mythos are more like vociferous headbangs. From subtle tension to outright jumpscares, the game’s sound design is a dynamic delight; the Rens handle every jolt and spike with great humour, even when in neighbour-placating ‘night mode’ setting.

The sonorous bass is supported in no small part by the ported rear, which supplies a lot of air movement – and, naturally, makes for a pumpy, slightly indistinct low-end. With this less-sculpted breathy ‘flab’ at higher volumes, you can see why Kanto went to the trouble of including a subwoofer output. Granted, my corner-alcove placement for TV listening won’t be winning any awards (and neither will my makeshift stacked-book speaker stands, for that matter), particularly with respect to bass response – which is why I tested them elsewhere in my house for their Bluetooth and aux-input musical merits.

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) )

In testing out the Bluetooth mode, I whacked on Richard Dawson’s 2023 album The Hermit via Spotify – the title track of which is a 45-minute post-folk micro-odyssey through bucolic far-future Northumberland. This album-length song is extremely dynamically rich, and the Rens don’t falter for a moment in representing that richness.

Dawson’s croaked whispers vault into soaring leads, and tactile, distant electric guitars get swallowed by a Talk-Talk-y orchestra of loud-yet-ambient instrumentation; all of this is clear, distinct and well-separated, and as gratifyingly dynamic as the song could ever demand to be, all in spite of the potential throttling either Spotify or the Bluetooth codec can employ. Good work, Ren! That subtle breathiness in the bass is less pronounced without my bass-trappy alcove – but even within, the Rens still retained clarity and purposeful responsiveness practically everywhere else.

To test its handling of transients in a more controlled setting, I also listened to Cool Sounds’ Like That, an irreverent record full of groovy guitars and bright disco drums; Part-Time Punk’s gloriously dead 70s drums are tactile and three-dimensional, dance-y right-to-left tom fill revealing the strength of the Ren’s soundstage.

In all, the Kanto Ren stereo pair is a delightful-sounding array, and great in practically every scenario in which they could conceivably be placed. There are obvious shortcomings with respect to the ultra-low end, but shortcomings overcome by clever design – and which aren’t all that short of the mark to begin with. They’re loud, proud and unequivocally hi-fi, beating out a great many systems built for similar or even greater price-points. For this price, and with their place in the market borne firmly in mind, they’re practically perfect.

• Sound quality score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) ) Kanto Ren review: Design

• Beautiful – if delicate – matte finish
• Sleek front face
• A contemporary joy

The Kanto Ren speakers are, in a word, fetching. The MDF chassis combine considered contours with sleek surfaces; the flat front panel and its sharp vertices are offset by how beautifully the speaker cones are countersunk in – the dust covers of which are, themselves, delightfully suave.

This writer’s review set came in a fetching matte blue – but there are four other fetching matte colorways for you to pick from, including a fetchingly nostalgic orange. The slight disappointment of not getting the orange Rens to review was offset immediately by how tastefully – might I say, fetchingly? – the blue ones straddled our rather fetching orange TV stand.

The tasteful nature of the speakers extends to the soft LED dot on the active speaker unit – which smoothly changes hue depending on the audio sources you switch between. The optical source, which was used for the majority of this review, is represented by a shade of lilac I’d only describe as ‘kind’.

A small niggle, though, presents in how stubbornly finger-marks stick to that fetching matte finish. Despite the conclusions you may draw from the pictures supplied with this review, its writer’s hands are not grubby little mitts after all – but rather clumsy ones, the evidence of which is borne out by the near-unmovable streaks of dark across the otherwise-fetching front faces of the speakers. I digress.

As far as practical design is concerned, the Rens serve well. Threaded holes on the rear provide for those that might want to wall-mount their speakers, and rubber feet are provided separately so as not to rob you of choice in any matter. There are even some optional speaker grilles you can place over the front, held in place magnetically so as not to mar the sleek front with anchor slots. All told; the Kanto Ren system is designed beautifully, and considerately too.

• Design score: 4.5/5

(Image credit: Future (James Grimshaw) ) Kanto Ren review: Setup and usability

• Pretty much plug-and-play
• Intuitive controls
• Could stand to ship with more cables

Being active speakers, setting up the Kanto Ren stereo set is an absolute trifle – the hardest part being the safe manoeuvring of the speakers into place without scuffing that fetching (I said it again!) matte finish. There’s no additional hi-fi amp-wrangling or cable-knotting to contend with, past the simple fact of connecting speaker to speaker, and audio source to system. Indeed, setting these up is about as simple as setting up any decent hi-fi system could ever be (and especially so for AV setups).

The remote control is the thing you’ll be interacting with the most by far, and it couldn’t be simpler to operate. Everything’s clearly signposted, and you barely need the remote control ‘map’ to know what you’re pressing. A minor point presents in the occasional unresponsiveness of the volume control to repeated presses, but a little patience goes a long way with smooth control of the Ren’s various parameters (as it of course does with life in general).

The speakers ship with a length of two-core speaker cable for you to connect left speaker with right, via the screw terminals at the rear. Unfortunately, the Rens don’t ship with additional HDMI or optical cables for comprehensive out-of-the-box connectivity; if you don’t already have the requisite cables to hand, you might be ordering in and waiting a day for what you need. This writer had – and most of you will have, at that – cables aplenty to hand, but a spare HDMI wouldn’t have gone amiss as a little out-of-the-box sweetener!

• Setup and usability score: 5/5

Kanto Ren review: Value

• Not an inconsiderable expense…
• But extremely well-priced for what you get
• Will knock the socks off most, if not all, soundbars

The $599/£599/€719 (so, around AU$1,199) price point is not a trifling one, even if it does technically fall towards the lower end of the price spectrum in a broader field of living-room sound-system solutions. It’s an investment for an integrated hi-fi system, whichever way you slice it – but it’s a great investment too, and in all the same slice-ings.

If you’re wanting a genuine upgrade from the soundbar you got last Black Friday which sounds ‘ok I guess’, you’ll be blown away by the difference these full-throated speakers provide. If you’re looking to invest in better sound for your TV for the first ever time – and looking for a foolproof plug-and-play place to start – you couldn’t spend $599 much better if you tried. Great-sounding integrated systems are hard to come by, but for me the Kanto Ren ticks all the right boxes. As a living-room stereo pair, these are perfectly pitched to handle everything – and pretty darn well, at that.

• Value score: 5/5

Should you buy the Kanto Ren? Buy them if...

You want excellent hi-fi sound without the faff
The Kanto Ren system packs a shedload of functionality into the form of two mid-sized bookshelf speakers. You don’t need anything else to guarantee a quality listening or watching experience – save for a decent subwoofer to tack on if you’ve a larger space to serve. With its broad connectivity, it can be your everything-system for anything – whether you connect your laptop via USB-C, your Wi-Fi streaming set-up via optical, or your TV via HDMI.

You’re thinking about buying a soundbar
Yes, soundbars are pretty nifty looking, and yes, some soundbars purport to do pseudo-surround sound really well, but all soundbars are undeniably limited by their form. The Kanto Ren brings controlled richness and huge dynamic range in an unconventional iteration of a conventional hi-fi format, and will resultingly blow any and all consumer-grade soundbars out of the water with consummate ease.

Don't buy them if...

You want a surround-sound AV setup
Being an active stereo speaker array, it should not come as a surprise that the Kanto Ren’s integrated amplifier is stereo through and through, and does not have an additional 3 channels for surround sound. Still, if you’re wanting something that’s more expressly home-cinema-coded, maybe give these a miss.

You value upgradeability
The Kanto Ren is an integrated stereo amplifier system, with all the bells and whistles built right into the speakers themselves. If you like the idea of trying out some new speakers in the future, or eventually investing in some audiophile-grade tube amplifier system, you should be spending your money on a more modular type of hi-fi system.

Kanto Ren: Also consider

Klipsch R-51PM
Klipsch is another vaunted name in hi-fi, on account of the incredible dynamics their speakers are capable of representing (amongst other things). These are an active bookshelf offering, with optical, USB and RCA in amongst other I/O opportunities. There’s no HDMI ARC here, but there is an incredible soundstage – and a built-in phono pre-amp for the budding vinyl enthusiasts in the room.
Read more in our full Klipsch R-51PM review View Deal

KEF LSX II
KEF’s LSXII stereo speakers are similarly impressive in terms of connectivity, with HMDI ARC, optical and USB-C as well as KEF’s own W2 streaming architecture. The cones are a little smaller, and the price a little higher – but there’s some signature KEF quality in these tiny bookshelf powerhouses.View Deal

How I tested the Kanto Ren

• Tested for 4 weeks
• Used primarily in living room, as main system for TV and for audio streaming.
• Briefly tested in other regions of the home as an auxiliary hi-fi system (and to ensure verdicts weren’t skewed by the sound profile of my living room alcove).

The Kanto Ren speakers spent most of their time bookending my TV in the inner alcove of my living room, where they were put to the test, via HDMI ARC and optical input, as the primary audio system for watching TV and playing video games – as well as, in hi-fi terms, for Bluetooth streaming. Phono and Bluetooth were also trialled in my attic office, in order to assess the frequency response of the speakers in different acoustic spaces. I listened to personal-favourite records, the sound of which I could comfortably corroborate against the performance of other systems with which I’m familiar.

First reviewed: December 2024

Read more about how we test at TechRadar

• CISA added two new flaws to its KEV catalog
• One of the bugs affects the Windows kernel, the other one was found in an Adobe product
• US government agencies ordered to patch now or risk attack

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) has added a new Windows flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, giving federal agencies a deadline to apply a patch, or stop using the software altogether.

The bug is a Microsoft Windows Kernel-Mode Driver Untrusted Pointer Dereference Vulnerability with a high severity score of 7.8, tracked as CVE-2024-35250.

The bug can be used to gain system privileges in low-complexity attacks that don’t even require any user interaction.

Adobe ColdFusion

"An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges," Microsoft said in its advisory.

Since Microsoft did not share any further details about this vulnerability, the publication cited the DEVCORE Research team, who demonstrated how the bug works during this year’s Pwn2Own Vancouver hackathon. The same team reported the bug to Microsoft, who patched it in June’s Patch Tuesday cumulative update, A proof-of-concept (PoC) was released to GitHub a few months later.

When a vulnerability is added to KEV, that means that there is evidence of in-the-wild abuse. Federal agencies have a three-week deadline to apply the patch, or stop using the flawed software.

At the same time, CISA also added an Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-20767. This one is described as an improper access control weakness that grants unauthenticated remote threat actors the ability to read sensitive files. It affects ColdFusion versions 2023.6, 2021.12 and earlier, and has a high severity score of 7.4 - and Adobe patched it in March 2024.

“An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access or modify restricted files,” reads the flaw’s description on CVE.org. “Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction. Exploitation of this issue requires the admin panel be exposed to the internet.”

CISA stressed that these types of vulnerabilities are “frequent attack vectors for malicious cyber actors” and as such pose a significant risk to the federal enterprise.

Agencies have until January 6, 2025 to apply the fixes.

Via BleepingComputer

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